N.T. Wright on How to Read the Bible

Check out this video (click HERE) over at secundum Scritpuras in which N. T. Wright offers his advice on how to read the Bible. He compares it to listening to a symphony and being swept away in the flow; what a great description!

Hidden your word

Do you find that you often think about certain passages of Scripture over and over again? If so, which ones do you keep coming back to? I realized this week that there are some passages which I regularly think about. I would say this is because I have been most impacted in one way or another by these three passages:

1. Genesis 3. This passage profoundly describes the nature of sin. When I’m being tempted, or when God is convicting me about sin, I often think about Genesis 3. The fruit was pleasing to the eye and seemed to offer something. Ultimately, however, sin questions God and his knowledge: “Did God really say?” Sin, even if it seems as innocent as eating a little piece of fruit, is an affront to a holy God, and therefore has drastic consequences — including death.
2. 1 Corinthians 13 (especially vv. 1-4). This passage describes the nature of love. I’m often challenged by the first verses, which teach that even the seemingly great things I do for God, things such as using my spiritual gifts, doing deeds of faith, or having unflinching devotion, are meaningless if I lack love. I’m continuously challenged to examine whether or not love is my motive.
3. Philippians 2:5-11. This passage describes the nature of God. I’m blown away that Christ chose to empty himself: to become a man, as a man to become a servant, and as a servant to die on the cross. And this he did because he existed in the form of God (v. 6). The fact that God is a giver and not a grasper is almost too much for me to comprehend.

What about you, are there certain passages you keep coming back to?

Logos 4

Recently I received Logos 4, a Bible study software for the computer. I received this software as payment for some articles I wrote a while back. Now the challenge is to figure out how this software works. I’m thrilled about many of the books in my Logos library; here are some that I had been wanting and now own:

• Synonyms of the New Testament (Trench)
• A Short Syntax of NT Greek (Nunn)
• A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (Metzger)
• TDNT (Kittel)
• The Works of Josephus
• A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the NT (Barclay Newman)
• The Genre, Composition and Genre of the Epistle of James (Cheung)
• GKC: Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar
• Greek-English Lexicon of the NT Based on Semantic Domains (Louw-Nida)
• A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint (Lust)
• An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (Liddell)

What resources do you find most helpful to your study of the Scriptures, which source do you use the most, and which should be found in every Bible student’s library? Let me know and I’ll be sure to add them to my new electronic library.

Pop Quiz: Got Jesus Figured Out?

Identify which of the following statements were said by Jesus in the Gospels. We’ll go over the answers at the end:

-If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

-Sell everything you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, then come, follow me.

-Before Abraham was born [hundreds and hundreds of years ago] I was already existing.

-Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life.

-Whoever wants to come after me must deny himself, pick up his cross [upon which the Romans brutally execute slaves and non-citizens], and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

-You all are from your father, the devil!

-I am the way, the truth, and the life; anyone who wants access to the Father must come through me and me alone.

-Your sins are forgiven.

-I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!

Are you ready now for the answers? All of these are genuine statements of Jesus (see Luke 14:26; 18:22; John 8:58; 6:53; Luke 9:23-24: John 8:44; 14:6; Mark 2:5; Luke 12:49).

Does this surprise you? Many people think that Jesus was simply a nice teacher who went around doing good things and helping people and offering kind advice. But the Jesus of the Bible was quite different. He was radical, and he made it extremely clear that following him was very difficult. In fact, Jesus was so radical that on numerous occasions people tried to kill him. And he often said such difficult things that almost all of his followers left him. He was not afraid to mince words. So, does your notion of Jesus correspond to the picture painted about him in the Bible? If not, perhaps its time to see what the Scriptures say about him. In your Bible, find the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, read this in whatever language you can, and then ask yourself what Jesus was like, and how your idea of him might need to change. And if you do not own a Bible and need help getting one, please let me know and I will do everything I can to help you get one.

Scripture as we live it: Spiritual songs

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God in the Sunday morning worship service: three songs led by the music minister, the first should be upbeat to get people energized, the third should be soft and contemplative” (Col 3:16).

See Alan Knox’s blog for the origin of “Scripture as we live it.” I assure you, I wrote this post this morning before checking Alan’s blog, only to discover that he had written a post on the very same thing! What a coincidence.

The thunderstorm and the cross

“The first time I ever read a book of the Bible from end to end it was, oddly enough, the book of Revelation. I was fourteen at the time . . . . I can still remember the explosive power and beauty of it, the sense that the New Testament I held in my hands had a thunderstorm hidden inside it that nobody had warned me about.”
-N.T. Wright, Following Jesus, 55

***

“Followers of Jesus sometimes imagine that the victory of their cause is all that matters, whatever means they use to that end. But this is a travesty of the whole meaning of the ascension, and of the cross and resurrection which give to the ascension its depth and resonance. God’s exaltation of Jesus vindicates not only him and his cause, but his way; and that way is the way by which his followers too must walk.”
-N. T. Wright, Following Jesus, 103

The Action Bible

I could not believe it when I read it, The Action Bible, “215 fast-paced narratives,” with “attention-holding illustrations . . . dramatic shading . . . bold and energetic designs, and emotionally charged figures.” Marvel and DC comics artist Sergio Cariello puts a whole new spin on the Bible.

I knew there were Bibles being produced for nearly every niche, such as the cowboy Bible, or the army Bible, but really, a marvel action Bible? I thought there was enough action in the Bible without the help of Marvel comic artists!

Tattoos and Beards

This past Sunday, JAY preached on Deuteronomy 12-24 and our relationship to the law. It was a great message, but one part really stuck out to me. Jay was explaining that we tend to pick and choose which OT laws apply today and which don’t. He referred to Leviticus 19:28:

“Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.”

Christians often refer to this verse as proof that it is wrong to get tattoos. Jay asked why v. 28 still applies as law, when we obviously do not feel obligated to obey 19:27–the verse which immediately precedes:

“Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.”

If it is wrong based on the law to get a tattoo then it is also wrong to trim your hair and beard. Pretty convincing example, if you ask me, of how Christians tend to treat the law inconsistently. Paul’s words ring true, “We know that the law is good if one uses it properly” (1 Tim 1:8).

Psalm 40:5

Wow, amazing or what:

“Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell you of them,
they would be too many to declare.”

-Psalm 40:5 (NIV, emphasis added)

Translation: Hebrews 4:1-14

These verses challenge believers to enter into the true rest offered by God through faith in Christ.

1 Therefore, we should fear, lest any of us be found lacking in faith and thereby fail to enter the promised rest. 2 For we have definitely heard the good news, just as they did. But the word they heard did them no good since it was not combined with faith. 3 For we who have believed are entering that rest, as He said,

I swore in my wrath,
They will by no means enter my rest.

Although God’s work has been completed since the world’s beginning. 4 For concerning the seventh day, He has said somewhere,

God rested on the seventh day from all his work.

5 Then again,

They will by no means enter my rest.

6 This word that some will enter rest still applies, and the former who had been preached to did not enter because of unbelief. 7 Let me reiterate this: God designated a certain day, “Today”. David continued speaking about it a long time after Moses, as has already been mentioned:

Today if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.

8 For, if the rest had been given to them by Joshua, God would not have continued speaking about the rest which was yet to come. 9 So then, there is still a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 The one who enters into His rest finds ultimate rest from his works, just as God did from his. 11 We should strive diligently, therefore, to enter into His rest so that we do not fall into the Israelite’s same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the Word of God is so alive, constantly at work, and incomparable with any sword in this world, slicing and dividing the hard to reach places such as soul and spirit, penetrating right down to the very core of one’s being, easily exposing the reflections and reasonings of the heart. 13 And nothing in all of creation can escape the Word’s illumining rays of light, but becomes naked and vulnerable before His eyes, the very one before whom we will give a final word. 14 Therefore, having such a great High Priest who has already entered heaven, let us cling tenaciously to our confession.

For comparison, the NASB reads:

1 Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.
2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,
“AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH,
THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST,”
although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.

4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS”;

5 and again in this passage, “THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.”

6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience,

7 He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
“TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.

9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged word, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

And the Message reads:

1-3 For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God’s goal for us, we need to be careful that we’re not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn’t do them a bit of good because they didn’t receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we’ll experience that state of resting. But not if we don’t have faith. Remember that God said,

Exasperated, I vowed,
“They’ll never get where they’re going,
never be able to sit down and rest.”
3-7 God made that vow, even though he’d finished his part before the foundation of the world. Somewhere it’s written, “God rested the seventh day, having completed his work,” but in this other text he says, “They’ll never be able to sit down and rest.” So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient. God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David’s psalm, centuries later than the original invitation:

Today, please listen,
don’t turn a deaf ear . . .

8-11 And so this is still a live promise. It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.” The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God. So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.

12-13 God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.

14 Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers.