Hey, Pastor John!

Had a quick question.  I was thinking about the thief who was on the cross next to Jesus and how he was able to go to paradise.  I know that “You must be born again,” like it says in John, but does the thief being given the reward of going to paradise before Jesus sent back the Spirit mean that there are some cases where Jesus doesn’t require this?  Going off scripture that I’ve read, I know this can’t be, unless there’s a scripture or something I’ve missed.  I also know this can’t be right, because of another John scripture, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  I know God can be right any way He wants to be, and do anything He wants to do, but going by scripture this doesn’t seem like the reason.  Logically, and what I think is the right option, is it because the thief who was in the cross died before Jesus was able to send back the Spirit; therefore, it wasn’t required for him because it wasn’t even yet available?  Made me so thankful for His mercy, even for the thief in his last moments on a cross, for the punishment he deserved, and still Jesus showed mercy, wow!

Jacob C.

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Hi Jacob.

At the time the thief was on the cross, the Old Testament was still in effect, and everyone who was forgiven under the Old Testament went to Paradise when they died.  (At that time, Paradise was in the heart of the earth).  So, Jesus was telling the thief that he was forgiven and that he would enter into Paradise when he died instead of going into Torment (which was also in heart of the earth – Lk. 16:19–31).  

When Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, he transferred Paradise out of the heart of the earth into heaven, where it is to this day.  So, as always, when a faithful saint dies now, he enters into Paradise, but now, Paradise is in heaven, where the Lord is.  It is no longer in the heart of the earth.

The New Testament went into effect on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.  You are right to say that the coming of the Spirit was the turning point, but before the Spirit came, if God forgave someone (like the thief on the cross), he was taken by the angels into Paradise when he died, just as faithful believers are today.  The only difference is where Paradise is now located.

I hope that clears things up for you.  Thank you for the question.

Pastor John

Pastor John,

I know this is a basic, fundamental question.  I have known that  God created man on the 6th day before  He rested.  But in chapter 2, after He has finalized everything for creation, it says he made man to till the ground.

Is there any particular reason why it would say that God created man in chapter 2 as well as chapter 1?

Genesis 1:

26. And God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, after our likeness, and let them rule over the creature that swims in the sea, and the creature that flies in the sky, and the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every living thing that moves about on the land.
27. And so, God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him.  He created them male and female.
28. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.  And have dominion over the creature that swims in the sea, and the creature that flies in the sky, and every creature that creeps about on the land.”
29. And God said, “Behold, I have given to you every seed-bearing plant that is on the face of the whole earth, and every tree whose fruit bears the seed of a tree, for your food.
30. And to every creature on land, to every creature that flies in the sky, and to everything that creeps on the ground in which is a living soul, I have given every green plant for food.”  And so it was.
31. And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.  So, there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 2:

5. And no plant of the field was yet on the earth, and no herbage of the field had yet sprouted, because Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to work the ground.
6. But a mist went up from the earth, and it watered all of the ground.
7. And Jehovah God formed the man from dirt of the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.

Steven W.

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Hi Steven.

I have always read chapter 2 as giving us a little more detail about man’s creation, nothing more than that.  There is nothing in chapter 1 which lets us know that God created Adam from dirt, or that he breathed life into Adam’s nostrils, or that to till the ground was Adam’s work.  And there is nothing in chapter 2 that tells us that Adam was created in God’s own image or that God created male and female.  The details of Eve’s creation are added later in chapter 2.

Genesis 2:

18. Then Jehovah God said, “It is not good for the man to live by himself.  I will make a helper fit for him.”

. . . .

21. And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept.  Then He took one of his ribs, and He closed up the flesh in its place.
22. And Jehovah God made the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman.  And He brought her to the man.

Hope that helps.

Pastor John

 

John,

I was listening to a recent sermon, (I think it was the one entitled “How do you make Jesus feel?”)   I don’t remember where it was in the sermon, but you made a point that there was a difference between iniquity and lawlessness – and that lawlessness was the more accurate word for that scripture sentence.

Why?  

I studied the references in my concordance, and they both seem to indicate that both words are “transgressions of the law”, although iniquity seems to include the definition of wickedness, but lawlessness just means those who were not subject to the law, such as Gentiles.   

I would appreciate your clarification on this, if we must make the distinction between the two words. 

Thanks,

Brad

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Hi Brad.

Iniquity is lawlessness because “sin is lawlessness” (1Jn. 3:4).  What I was saying is that in the King James translation, and some others, the word that is translated “iniquity” is actually the Greek word for “lawlessness”.  We have chosen to translate that word as lawlessness because, in our view, it more precisely reflects the original mindset of the New Testament authors.

It is not that big a deal, really.  If someone prefers to use the word iniquity, that is not a problem.  It still gets the point across, which is, sin is bad, so don’t do it!

Pastor John

 

 

Hey, Pastor John!

I thought of a question yesterday that I wanted to ask you: When the Son of God came down in the form of a dove into Jesus’ body, was that life any different from the holy Ghost power?  Was Jesus any different than we who have the Holy Ghost now?  I know that the holy Ghost and the Son of God are separate things.  The Son of God was created by the Father as another heavenly being and the first of all creation, and the holy Ghost is the kind of life that both the Father and the Son share.

Thank you, and I look forward to your response!

Hope M.

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Hi Hope!

Thank you for the question.  It is a good one.

The Spirit that Jesus received at his baptism is the same Spirit that he gives to us (cf. Jn. 5:21).  It is the Spirit of eternal life which is in the Father and which the Father gave to the Son (cf. Jn. 5:26).  Jesus overcame the world by the wisdom and power of that Spirit, and he suffered so that we could have the same power to overcome the world that he had.  When Jesus came up from being baptized by John in the Jordan River and received the Spirit, he was “born again” just as we are when we receive the Spirit.  He was, as Paul said, “the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:29).  He also became a new creature, just as we do when we receive the Spirit.  The difference between the pre-baptism Jesus and the post-baptism Jesus was remarkable, especially after his forty days in the wilderness Temptation.

Nobody can be who Jesus is, of course.  There is only one mediator between God and man, and that is “the man Jesus Christ” (1Tim. 2:5).  He alone is the Savior of the world (Acts 4:12; 10:36).  However, Jesus has made the way for us to experience what he experienced (cf. Mt. 20:22), to be holy as he and the Father are holy (Mt. 5:48; 1Pet. 1:15), to share in their life, and to live in peace forever with them.  What a precious opportunity!  May God help us all take advantage of it!

Thanks again for the question.  I hope the answer is clear.

Pastor John

Pastor John,

I’m just curious.  In the verse below, I assume that Eliphaz the Temanite is referring to men who were older than Job’s father.  Is that correct?  Do you think this implies Job’s father was still alive?  Or does this just imply that Eliphaz the Temanite was older than Job?

Job 15:

10: Both the hoary-headed and aged are with us, much older than your father.

Wendell

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Hi Wendell.

I have never understood that verse to mean that Job’s father was still alive, but it is possible.  We are not given that information in the book of Job.  Neither are we told the age of Job’s three friends, including Eliphaz.  I have always taken that comment as referring to elderly men who were there with Eliphaz and his two companions (“with us“).  But again, we are not given that information.

Pastor John