Apprentice2Jesus

Ramblings of a Confessing Pentecostal

Archive for the category “Bible Study”

10 Feb 2012

The Beautiful Obligation

16 If I preach the gospel, I have no reason to brag, since I’m obligated to do it. I’m in trouble if I don’t preach the gospel.(1 Cor. 9:16, CEB)

16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! (1 Cor. 9:16, NIV)

16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! (1 Cor. 9:16, ESV)

The supposed freedom we may think we have in the gospel is indeed freedom, but it is a freedom binding us to a new “obligation.” The gospel of Jesus Christ turns all our definitions upside down.

Any sense of “obligation” we have in our lives today we tend to run from like it was the plague.

Any sense of “freedom” we think we may have, we sometimes viciously fight for that sense of “freedom,” only to find it has a steep price after all.

But in the Kingdom, the freedom of Christ has a sense of duty. It is a sense of call. It is the duty of proclamation. And it is not just proclamation in some way that WE feel “comfortable” with. It is the proclamation of the gospel in such a way that we work hard to make sure the gospel is communicated clearly to our audience.

For Paul, it meant that even with tremendous “freedoms” he felt no qualms about being “all things to all people so as to win some.” He wanted Jews to understand without too many barriers. He wanted Gentiles to understand without too many barriers.

That’s just hard work. Why? He was compelled. He had an obligation. Yet, it was a beautiful obligation. It was a longing for all to understand the freedom he found in Christ.

As Christians we give up “freedoms” and “privileges” at times because we want to be able to communicate as clearly as possible the beautiful message of freedom in Christ. It is not “losing” in the Kingdom. It may seem like “losing” to everyone around us, but it is not losing at all. When other find freedom in Christ, gain happens. We all win.

Posted in Bible Study, Evangelism and tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment
07 Feb 2012
6 Comments

Is He Indignant or Moved by Compassion?

I am a confessed translation junkie. As I read the Common English Bible and the NIV, I come across different ways certain phrases are turned.

Mark 1:41 is a good example. The leper comes to Christ and says, “If you are willing you can make me clean.”

The response is so interesting.

CEB:

41 Incensed,[a] Jesus reached out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do want to. Be clean.”

NIV:

41 Jesus was indignant.[a] He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”

ESV:

41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” (And no textual note. Probably because they know they are right.) Winking smile

The text note of the NET Bible indicates most manuscripts use the Greek word for “moved with compassion.”

Yet, some other texts would use the word for “indignation.” Those texts don’t seem to carry the “numbers” as the other manuscripts.

So… why did the CEB and the NIV go with a “minority” view on this point?

Posted in Bible Study, Bibles, Translations and tagged , , ,
26 Jan 2012
1 Comment

From Sorcerer to Magic Arts to Drug Users

The end of Revelation is one of my favorite places to camp. I honestly love the entire Book of Revelation if I can read through it without the voices in my head. (You know: Tim LaHaye, Jack VanImpe, Hal Lindsey, etc.)

In Rev. 22:15 I noticed different ways translations have tackled the Greek word pharmakos over the years. Last night I was reading the passage out of the Common English Bible, which is why I noticed.

In the ESV, which followed the King James, the word is “sorcerer.”

In the NIV it is “those who practice magic arts.”

In the CEB it is “the drug users and spell-casters.”

It is obviously a difficult word to translate, so newer translations are using phrases rather than trying to wrap it up in one word.

I think of the line out of the movie Super 8 where the kid is saying, “Drugs are bad. Very, very bad!” (You would have to know the scene for it to be funny, I guess.)

At any rate, yet another interesting phrase brought to you by the Common English Bible.

Posted in Bible Study, Bibles, Common English Bible, Translations and tagged , , , , ,
24 Jan 2012
4 Comments

James 2:1 in the CEB and the NRSV

I looked at James 2:1 in the Common English Bible and found it to be interesting because the phrase “deny the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ” was not in the NIV or ESV. Is the connotation there? If we are showing favoritism, are we denying the faithfulness of Christ?

My brothers and sisters, when you show favoritism you deny the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been resurrected in glory. (CEB)

The NRSV puts the verse into a question and comes closer to what the CEB did:

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 

What IS clear in this verse is a believer can not hold faith in Christ AND favoritism at the same time. It is much like Jesus saying, “You can’t serve two masters.”

When that is the underlying statement, the CEB does make sense… while putting in a phrase that isn’t really there…

I will admit this is a place where I struggle with the dynamic equivalence idea of translation. However, I can see the point in drawing something out to make the underlying statement more clear. That is still part of the translation process.

 

Posted in Bible Study, Bibles, Common English Bible, Translations and tagged , , , ,
22 Jan 2012

Repetition is Necessary

In a “been there, done that” world, one of the great habits of the Christian life (and the Church world) is to go back over something. We’re not very good at it, but the habit is built in.

In the tradition of the Church world going back centuries there is the repetition of the Lectionary readings. The gospels are visited every year and the story of Christ is told through the reading of the gospels every year. Other portions of the Bible are to be read aloud in a schedule every year.

For those who don’t fall along the “liturgical” lines of Christianity, it is still a good idea. There are some who will follow a “one year Bible” format. It is good to lock in the big picture on a regular basis.

Peter was not afraid to keep repeating things to his audience. It was necessary. Repetition helps establish new patterns. We need to find new paths for our walk of faith and those paths need to be set in our minds, our spirits, and our practices. Repeat early and often!

Years ago I was studying through the Book of Acts personally. When I finished that particular study I prayed and asked the Lord what book I should study next. I clearly heard the response: “Acts.”

I asked, “Why? I just did Acts!”

The response was gentle, but direct: “You didn’t get it that time. Do it again.”

“GET WHAT???”

There wasn’t an answer to that question that day. So, I pulled out a fresh notebook and off I went into Acts again. This time I found the Spirit waiting for me at a particular point and my life at that point hit a new level of understanding and prayer. I “got it” that second time around.

We need to be willing to stay at the task. Don’t think your reading of some book of the Bible one time earlier last year was enough. The Spirit may prompt you to get after it again. Rinse and repeat.

12 So I’ll keep reminding you about these things, although you already know them and stand secure in the truth you have. 13 I think it’s right that I keep stirring up your memory, as long as I’m alive. (2 Peter 1:12-13, Common English Bible)

 

Posted in Bible Study, Common English Bible, Spiritual Formation and tagged , , | Leave a Comment
13 Jan 2012
2 Comments

The End is Near!

The Mayans aren’t the only ones saying this! It’s Peter as well:

7 The end of everything has come. Therefore, be self-controlled and clearheaded so you can pray. (1 Peter 4:7, CEB)

See?!?! The end is near!

Rather than induce panic, Peter gives a more calm approach to the end (as does Jesus in the Olivet Discourse). It’s not scary. That is probably why we are more enthralled with the scary stuff of Revelation than a few verses in 1 Peter (even though I think Revelation gives us the same message). Our tendency is to love to be scared and Revelation is far more scary.

Knowing the end is near isn’t a call for panic. It is a call for clearheaded thinking for the purpose of prayer.

Knowing the end of all things is at hand should lead us to decisive action. Ironically, the decisive action isn’t to figure out who the Antichrist will be, or who the ten toes will represent, or how the mark of the beast will get on our hand or forehead.

The action we take is to keep on living as people of the Kingdom. We love each other, allowing the love of God to cover sin. We serve one another. We discover our gifts and use them.

It is rather boring stuff, which is why most people have quit reading this post by now. I’m not talking about the Beast or the tribulation or the rapture, so why talk about the mundane stuff of living in Kingdom power?

The end is very much at hand and our task is to live out the power of the Kingdom today. The injunction isn’t to go out and discover who the Antichrist is… the injunction is to go out and love one another. Be clearheaded in your thinking.

Posted in Bible Study, Common English Bible, Spiritual Formation and tagged , ,
18 Dec 2011
4 Comments

The Use of the Plural in Genesis 3

I am on the Common English Bible Advent Blog Tour, which has afforded me a great opportunity to dig into this new translation more carefully. Overall, I love the freshness of the language. There is a fresh clarity to some phrases that I find helpful. Using a new translation always keeps me on my toes as I read very familiar passages. It’s like getting a set of fresh eyes on the subject matter.

One such passage is today’s Advent reading in Genesis 3:15. This, of course, is a passage that is almost universally used to be the first prediction of Messiah. The CEB takes an interesting turn here.

First, the NIV:

15 And I will put enmity 
   between you and the woman, 
   and between your offspring[a] and hers; 
he will crush[b] your head, 
   and you will strike his heel.

And the CEB:

15 I will put contempt
   between you and the woman, 

   between your offspring and hers. 
They will strike your head, 
      but you will strike at their heels.

The question here, for me, is why the CEB went to the plural. Can you great Hebrew scholars help me with this one? Thanks!

Posted in Advent, Bible Study, Common English Bible, Translations and tagged ,
20 Nov 2011

Sheep and Goats

Tackling the parable of the sheep and the goats hasn’t been easy. I still don’t have this one working very well in my mind. Yet, when I think of this passage with “the least of these” being Jesus’ disciples (the Sent Ones), I reflect on those who have gone before. I think of those who have laid down their lives for the gospel of Jesus Christ and one day those who put them to death will stand before the King of Kings and given an accounting for what they did to “the least of these.”

For Graham Staines and his two little boys, martyred in India in 1999. For Mehdi Dibaj and Bishop Haik, martyred in Iran in the early 1990s, I want to honor their memory. I want to reflect on what it means to live all out for my King, even in the midst of the comfort of America.

 

Posted in Bible Study, Missions, Parables and tagged , | Leave a Comment
17 Nov 2011
6 Comments

The Discomfort of the Sheep and the Goats

The text for Sunday is Matthew 25:31-46, the parable of the sheep and the goats. As is typical for Jesus, there is something here to offend just about every theological stripe.

For those who fear the words “works/righteousness”, there is some contorting of the text that needs to take place to feel comfortable once again that it is “faith alone” or “just believing” that gets you into heaven.

For those who are universalists, the whole separating out and sending the goats off to “eternal punishment” takes some finessing as well.

For those who just don’t give a rip about the poor, or they should find their own way, or if they just worked hard enough… well, it’s not comfortable, either.

There are times where we need to realize the Word makes us squirm and we need to feel that discomfort. And we need to slow it down and not be so quick to explain things away so we can get back to our particular pet views. Too often we examine the Word and forget to let the Word examine us.

Posted in Bible Study and tagged
09 Nov 2011
1 Comment

Reading the Word

When we plunge into the Word of God, do we treat it as though we are the surgeon or scientist? Are we out to make the Word prove itself to us? Does our analytical approach make us “master” over the text?

How about this: how about allowing the Bible surprise you with its familiar words? Instead of us scrutinizing the Scripture, how about we let the Word examine us? That would truly be living dead. In reading we sense God’s utter joy. We can begin to see his thoughts. We can hear his words of discipline to us.

Too often we are ready to examine the text and leave it at that. What we need far more often is to allow the text to examine us.

Posted in Bible Study, Spiritual hunger and tagged

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