Sons of Korah - Psalm 130 Live

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 Sons of Korah

Sons of Korah - Psalm 93

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Sons of Korah

Do Christians and Jews worship the same God?

by Scott Rossy
A friend once asked me: “Since both claim to be worshiping the God of Abraham, do Christians and Jews worship the same God?”

I told her no, and gave her my reasons. She asked a bible teacher at her church and he responded by saying yes. He backed up his point by quoting the story of Paul while at Athens when he said “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.  For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:21-23). His (the bible teacher) point being that the Athenians were worshiping God, but they were just doing it in ignorance.

Notwithstanding his point, I still believe the answer is no.

I think the question should really be; “Does God accept their worship?” Many people “claim” to worship God, whether they are a Jew or a Gentile but does God accept or is He pleased with their worship?

When speaking of whether we worship the same God, I understand the question to be all encompassing, concerning our entire life offering, meaning; do we serve the same God? Do we pray to the same God? Do we have faith in and are we trusting in the same God?  Do we know the same God and are we known by Him? Do we all have equal access to Him? Are we all a part of His family? But even more importantly, does He accept or receive our worship, our prayers, our service, our life? Is He pleased with it? We may claim to be serving, worshiping, and praying to Him, but is it on His terms?

I believe the answer to this question is clearly, No. Reason being that Jesus Christ is the only way of access to the Father.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5)

There is no other way to come to the Father. All access to the Father is in and through Christ. Access to the Father not only for salvation, but also for prayer and worship as well. It is not possible to come to the Father some other way, to side step Christ and then expect Him to accept our worship. Only those (both Jew and Gentile) who have been adopted by the Father and have born into His family are at peace with the Him. Those who are outside of Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, are still abiding under the wrath of God. They have never been reconciled to the Father. Man may claim that he is worshiping the Father and that the Father is pleased with or accepts his worship but that is not the case.

“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.” (Proverbs 15:8)

“He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” (Proverbs 28:9)

Scripture is filled with examples of God rejecting the worship of man. This was particularly true of the covenant people of Israel and Judah. God rejected their worship in Isaiah 1:11-15 saying:

“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?  “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.  “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.  “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”

This is an example of people coming to God based mostly on the fact that they are the physical descendants of Abraham and assuming that He will be pleased with and will accept their worship. They overlooked the fact that their hearts were not right before Him. They still had hearts that were evil and corrupt. They possessed hearts of stone. They were never forgiven, cleansed, washed and purified. God will never accept worship from such a vessel. Even we as His children today will have our worship and prayers rejected if we cherish sin in our hearts, so how much more those who are outside of His family?

Being a descendant of Abraham wasn’t enough. John the Baptist said to the Jews of his day, “Do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9). Jesus said to the Jews who claimed that they were Abraham’s children, “You are of your father the devil.” (John 8:44). All who are outside of Christ are children of the devil, whether they are a Jew or a Gentile. So in what way can it be said that God accepts their worship? It can’t.

Old Testament saints

So what about the OT believers? Since Jesus had not yet come, was their worship, etc. accepted by the Father. Was it pleasing to Him? Where they coming to Him on His terms? Yes, it WAS accepted by Him. It was accepted by Him because they also were coming to God based on the cross of Christ. There is only one way of salvation. The cross of Christ is the way of salvation under both Covenants, the old and the new. Humanly speaking, they were looking ahead to the cross just as we look back to the cross. It was necessary for Christ to step into time during the incarnation but from God’s viewpoint, Christ’s atoning work was already accomplished. “For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.” (I Peter 1:20). He does not exist in time. He does not see “history” and “time” as we do. He sees as one, what is to us the past, present and future. Because of this, God accepted Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, David, etc. because from His viewpoint, their sins were already atoned for. Christ’s atoning work was a done deal. These godly men of faith understood that “the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” (Romans 4:5). They had placed their faith Him and understood that salvation was to come from and be provided by Him. They may not have had the understanding that we do today but they were trusting in the One who is to come, just as we trust in the One who has come.

Those who are outside of Christ (Jew and Gentile) are separated from God and still have their debt of sin remaining. It’s still between them and the Lord. It hasn’t been dealt with. As a result, God’s wrath is abiding on them.

”Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)

There is simply no other way to the Father than through Christ for both Jew and Gentile. Claiming to worship the God of Abraham without faith in the Christ (Messiah, Anointed One, Branch, Servant of the Lord) wasn’t acceptable in the OT and it is still the case today.

Worship in truth

Concerning worship, Jesus said, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24). To worship in truth is to worship in and through Jesus because He alone is the truth.

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

“truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21)

The Holy Spirit

It is necessary for the Holy Spirit to be present for all true worship to take place. At least worship that is pleasing to the Lord. It’s only what the Holy Spirit produces in us that is pleasing to the Lord. Apart form the Holy Spirit, no good indwells us. There’s nothing but our wicked, corrupt flesh. And since the unbelieving, unregenerate do not have the Spirit within them, all that’s left is their wicked flesh and the wicked flesh cannot produce a life that is pleasing to the Lord. “The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7-8). Those who are outside of Christ, whether they be a Jew or a Gentile possess neither the Holy Spirit or know the truth. They are still abiding in darkness. In fact, those who have never been born again with the Holy Spirit don’t even have the ability to understand the truth. “ The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (I Corinthians 2:14)

Regarding the Gentiles in Athens, Paul never said that the Father accepted or was pleased with their worship. He claimed that what they were doing was done in ignorance. That’s not a commendable place to be spiritually. I’m not sure why someone would use this verse to prove that those who are outside of Christ are presenting worship that the Father accepts.  Paul proclaimed the truth to them. He didn’t want to leave them where they were, in ignorance. He wanted them to convert. The same with the Jews of their day.  Peter, James, John and the other Apostles took the gospel to them because without it they were still rejected by God. If God accepted their worship, why would the Apostles have endured all the suffering and persecution that they did in order to try and persuade them to turn to Christ?

 “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.  Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.” (I John 2:22-23)

Salvation is available to all today, no matter what our ancestry may be. No matter where we are born or where we live. We may be born a Jew or we may be born a Gentile. The salvation that God has provided for man is in/through and by His Son. The message that Paul proclaimed to those in Athens is still true to man today. He concluded by saying:

“God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness  through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)

Jesus says: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Jesus on Homosexuality

by Scott Rossy

There are those within professing Christianity who support and defend the homosexual lifestyle and homosexual marriage. Among them there are those who are practicing homosexuals as well as those who although they themselves are not homosexual, are of those who give “hearty approval” (Romans 1:32) and support to those who are. This may sound strange since homosexuality is clearly prohibited in the bible, but in recent years there have been more and more Christians who gradually adhere to this view. So how then, does someone who claims to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ defend a lifestyle and an act that the bible calls an abomination?  

There are two lines of argument behind their reasoning:

1) Jesus never spoke about homosexuality, so therefore He never condemned it. They attempt to find support for their view from Jesus supposed silence on the matter concluding that He would support and condone homosexual marriage.

2) It was Paul (and Moses) who condemned homosexuality and since Christians are to be followers of Jesus, we don’t need to obey what Paul said. He was just a man and his words aren’t authoritative to Christians today. It’s only what Jesus spoke that matters.

Neither of these arguments are valid. Concerning the second argument about the authority of the Apostle Paul, please see the previous post titled, That's Paul, not Jesus  where I give some thoughts on the authority of Paul. 

But what about Jesus? Do we know His view on marriage and sexual relations? Did He ever speak on these matters? Yes! He absolutely did. Jesus did reveal His will on these matters. He spoke clearly on God’s will for marriage and sexuality. He clearly upheld and affirmed that marriage is to consist of one man and one woman. He states that this has always been God’s purpose and plan for marriage. He did this in a number of ways:

First, He speaks directly about marriage. “He[Jesus] answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,  and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6).  Of these 3 verses that Jesus spoke, the first 2 were quoted directly from the Genesis chapter 2 account of the creation of man and woman on the earth. The third verse was added directly by Him. He states clearly that marriage is between one man and his one wife. He upholds the Genesis account of creation and marriage. The institution of marriage has been created by God, not man. He states; “What therefore God has joined together…”  It’s a man and a woman joined together in marriage by God. This is exactly what happened in the Genesis account that Jesus quoted. After creating the first man (Adam), “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18).  The helper that God created for the man is the first woman (Eve). Genesis 2 continues; “The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:22).  The bringing of the woman to the man was done by God. He brought her to the man to be his wife, uniting them in marriage. This was His plan, His will and His purpose in creating marriage. The idea of marriage and the definition of marriage were not conceived by man. Again, this is what Jesus meant when He said; “What therefore God has joined together...”   It started with God, in His mind. Marriage exists by the work and will of God. It exists for His purposes. Man is not at liberty to change what God has created. He created the man and then created the woman as the corresponding helper for the man. He then brought the woman to the man and joined them together in marriage. Adam understood this and responded joyfully to what the Lord had done. The Genesis account ends with the words that Jesus quoted; “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24). The two become one in the union of marriage. This would prohibit the idea of polygamy as well.

Secondly, Jesus spoke more of the marriage/family unit saying, “‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ – (Matthew 15:4).  These two quotes are both contained in the books of Exodus, Deuteronomy and Leviticus.  Here, Jesus again affirms that the family unit is to consist of both a father and a mother. He does not say to honor “your parents” which is quite different and would have left it open for a mixture of family units, but instead He reveals that in His mind a child is to have both a father and a mother. Not a father and a father or a mother and a mother. In fact, Jesus quotes some 7 times the “father and mother” unit. Obviously, from His perspective, He considered this to be the norm.

In the Old Testament Moses speaks against and prohibits homosexuality saying,

“If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.” – (Leviticus 20:13).

“You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.” – (Leviticus 18:22)

These 2 verses are from the book of Leviticus.

Some attempt to pit the words of Jesus against the words of Moses or Paul, claiming their words don’t have the same authority as Jesus. It’s important to note that Jesus quotes Moses. In fact, Jesus quotes from the book of Leviticus, the very book in which Moses clearly condemns homosexuality. He (Jesus) affirms that what Moses spoke was scripture, the very words of God. Moses didn’t make these things up. This is what God revealed to him.

Man, who loves darkness, may choose to pervert God’s purpose and plan for marriage but man certainly CAN’T use Jesus to support his rebellion. For sure, those enslaved to homosexual sins can be cleansed and purified of their defilement and rebellion just the same as those enslaved to heterosexual sins can be cleansed and purified of their defilement and rebellion. But it is utter blasphemy to claim that the Holy Son of God who was without sin and obeyed the Law of God perfectly would in any way condone and approve of what is clearly prohibited in scripture.

There are countless matters that Jesus never spoke directly to. He never spoke directly of embezzlement, bribery, arrogance, rape, bestiality, etc., etc. His silence in these areas should in no way be taken as Him somehow supporting such acts.

Professing Christians who are not involved in the homosexual lifestyle yet support homosexual marriage may think they are being Christlike, loving and charitable but in reality they are of no help to those enslaved to this sin. Why not share the truth of the gospel with such folks, showing them that God has a better way and a better life for them where they can be reconciled to Him, cleansed and forgiven of all unrighteousness and defilement? Then will they experience His peace and joy, saying with the rest of the redeemed, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!”

That's Paul, not Jesus

by Scott Rossy
"Well, that's Paul, not Jesus.  Jesus never said that!"  Have you ever heard someone say this? People often say this when confronted with something in the bible that they disagree with or with something in the bible that they don’t like. It’s said in response to something the Apostle Paul said in one of the New Testament epistles. Since they don’t like what is said, they make the claim that since it was said by Paul and not Jesus, they can dismiss it. They claim that Paul’s words are not on the same level and don’t carry the same weight as Jesus words’, therefore, the words of Paul as recorded in the New Testament are not authoritative to Christians today.

But is this a valid argument? Are Paul’s words as authoritative as Jesus’ words? After all, Jesus is the Lord and Paul was only a mortal man.

No, it is not valid. It is an attack on the inspiration of scripture. Paul’s words as recorded in the bible are equal with the words of Jesus. They are equally authoritative. The reason being, the words that Paul spoke are the very words given to him by Christ. Paul did not write letters to churches to give his opinion. He was a called Apostle who was given direct revelation from the Lord.

“For I would have you know, 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 I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12)

“By revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (Ephesians 3:3-5)

The truth that Paul taught was not “discovered” by him, but was revealed to him by the Lord. His New Testament epistles are scripture themselves, equal with the Old Testament scriptures. The Apostle Peter refers to Paul’s letters (epistles) as scripture saying “just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (II Peter 3:15-16).

Paul’s letters are scripture as the “rest.” Whose writings are the “rest” that Peter is referring to? Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah, etc., and the rest of the Old Testament prophets. Those who distort scripture are described as untaught and unstable because all scripture originates from God. He is its source. It does not originate from these men themselves “For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (II Peter 1:21)

It originates from Him and is given to His holy apostles and prophets. Scripture is as the very breath of God. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (II Timothy 3:16-17)

Jesus frequently quoted Moses and the Old Testament prophets. He referred to their prophecies as the word of God. Like Paul, these were all mortal men. But Jesus affirmed that although they were mere men, they were speaking the very words of God. God revealed truth to them. He spoke through them. The Holy Spirit moved them to speak the very words of God. In like manner, Paul was given revealed truth as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. Paul’s words are as authoritative as the “rest” of scripture (Moses and all the Old Testament prophets).

The inspiration of scripture is one of the non negotiable cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith. To attempt to find a division or disagreement between the words of Christ and the epistles of Paul is to do so to ones own destruction. To discard the words of Paul is just as equal to discarding the words of Christ. You cannot pit one against the other. As Jesus said, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35)