In that day you shall
not be shamed
for any of your deeds
in which you transgress
against me;
for then I will take away
from your midst
those who rejoice
in your pride,
and you shall no longer
be haughty in
My holy mountain.
I will leave in your midst
a meek and humble people,
and they shall trust in the
name of the LORD.
Zephaniah 3:11-12
The above verse was written in the first place to the nation of Israel and it application was not only for them but extends to all of God's children who are the spiritual Israel: "But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called.' That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed" (Romans 9:6-8). God's children, those He elected for salvation, are heirs of His promise, this the Bible is clear, and plain, with full understanding unless a person disagrees and imputes his own interpretation, but the writer of Hebrews gives this statement: "Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it be an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us" (Hebrews 6:17-18). The heirs of God's promise is for us who are the seed of Abraham. Many though over the years have attempted to introduce heresy into the Church and we must look back into history to determine what the Church faced and how they faced such invasion so that we can learn how to face the heresies and false teaching, poor methods that are not contributing to the message of the Gospel, and are demeaning to the heirs of God's promise.
We have a letter known as The Epistle of Barnabas, better known as Pseudo-Barnabas because there is some conflict as to who actually wrote this letter. Some early Church fathers applied this letter to the Barnabas mentioned as a companion of Paul, others say it was a Christian from Alexandria, and the internal evidence of the letter may attest to that it was not the Barnabas of the New Testament. This letter was written after 130 A.D. and was intended to help converts from paganism because there were Jewish Christians that demanded and attempted to persuade to hold to the law of Moses because they believed that that law was still in force, they were known as Judiaizers. This writer gives evidence and is apologetic telling that the life and death of Jesus Christ are completely adequate for salvation and that Christians are not bound to observe the law (here we are not saying that Christians are not bound by the ten commandments, this Jesus made clear by summing up the ten commandments that Christians are to Love God and to love others: Matthew 22:36-40). Further, this writer stated that the Mosaic covenant has ended with the death of Jesus Christ.
While this writer is important in many ways he still goes beyond just the facts and goes beyond legitimate typology to allegory in order to derive meaning that he wants from the Old Testament which he has 119 quotations in his letter. This practice of allegorization is a practice that comes for Philo of Alexandria who thought that he could reconcile Geek philosophy and Old Testament and even Origen, another Church father was influenced by allegory. It has done much harm to sound interpretation of the Bible. Yet, there are many pastors who fall victim to allegory as the method for their preaching, many stories, many applications that sound good, but are far from what the Scriptures are actually meaning.
In the Epistle to Diognetus a rational defense of Christianity is presented showing the folly of idolatry, the inadequacy of Judaism, and the superiority of Christianity in its beliefs, the character it builds, the benefits which it offers to the convert. This begs a question: has Christianity, your faith in Jesus Christ changed your character, your belief in God, so that your life is as being a new creature: "But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:20-24).
While there is not attempt on my part to make notations of all the early Church fathers, there is an attempt to give enough information to build interest on your part to examine them further, and I gave in my last blog the website by which you could do so. The goal of this blog is never forgotten as it is showing that we must change from the inside out. We are not to just be "channels" only, rather we are to be sons and daughters of God, this is what salvation is all about: we are to be children of the promise, heirs to the salvation provided for His children, promised, determined, elected before the foundation of the world. We are not to become so sort of "spiritual medium" as some Churches, like the Bethel Church of Redding has become, so that they allegorize the Gospel, they teach what the Bible condemns, all in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. What are to be in this life is to be messengers but before that can happen that message must become a part of ourselves. Our lives must be a sacrament to that message. Our hearts must be broken by the conviction of sin, not that we were caught in sin, rather that we sinned against a Holy God, a God of grace, mercy, and has by Himself provided the needed propitiation for our sins. We have no need to give a testimony, rather we are to live our testimony. Jesus Christ must be the incarnation of our lives and that incarnation is what the message of the Gospel proclaims. Furthermore, we must allow God to have all liberty with our lives,this liberation is to be real in us, and by Him having liberty with us, our very souls, then God's message can liberate other souls. To help in this sanctification process that needs to occur in our lives in this life we study, we examine, we learn as we have been doing, and listen to those who were of the Church in the early formation of the Church. If you do, your faith in God will grow leaps and bounds, and nothing this world has to offer you will be of any interest. You will be free to live in freedom, a life that is pleasing to God, used by God, you will have eternity in full view, and no heresy, no false teaching will be admitted into your faith.
Therefore He says:
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
and Christ will give you
light."
Ephesians 5:14
Read His Word-There He Will Be Known
Richard L. Crumb
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