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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | throwing our pearl? | Matt 7:6 | Dave R. | 41312 | ||
Dallas Willard, author of "The Divine Conspiracy" said, in his view, that Jesus didn't teach rules on how to live, but taught the way things are. In other words, according to Willard, Jesus, as creator and designer of us, knows how we are wired and taught the way His creation was designed to work. He also taught how things behave in a fallen world such as ours. For example he taught we would be blessed in marriage if we stayed married to the same woman for life (see Matt. 5:27-28). He didn't teach that if you divorce you will go to hell, but rather, in the kingdom of heaven, marriage is for keeps and should not be entered into or exited from lightly. Becuase of our fallen nature, there will be christian divorces. What Jesus taught was that life will be harder as a result because His intent was for marriage to endure. Likewise, I believe in the case of casting pearls, Jesus is offering a scenario of what is likely to happen if one "preaches" rather than "loves" those whom one would view as vile low lifes, the unlovable in other words. Those who opposed Jesus most strongly were the self-righteous. The ones who were so certain of there theology that they missed the very one on whom they supposedly based their lives. Jesus reacted very strongly to these folks, and I believe in this teaching, which follows on the heels of his discourse on judgment and condemnation, He is saying self righteous condescension will be received badly whether you are delivering the truth or not. |
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2 | throwing our pearl? | Matt 7:6 | Reformer Joe | 41318 | ||
Willard's book is an excellent one, but I have to disagree that Jesus was opposed to the Pharisees simply because they were "sure of their theology." Jesus Himself was absolutely sure of His theology as well; the problem with the Pharisees is that their theology was invented by them rather than derived from God's revelation. "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'" --Matthew 15:7-9 Jesus taught more than anyone else in the Bible on the issue of hell, and He most certainly did preach things that caused people other than Pharisees to go away from Him (John 6:66). Therefore, "preaching" and "loving" are not opposites. Here are some differences between the Pharisees' preaching and that of our Lord: 1. Jesus' theology was correct; the Pharisees added their own legalisms and misinterpreted the nature of the Law. 2. The Pharisees wrongly placed themselves in a moral category separate from those to whom they were preaching. All good preaching by sinful human beings is not from "me" to "you all," but from "me" to "us all." Jesus lived what He preached perfectly, but we get a very real sense that He does not place Himself outside of His preaching, since He was at the same time God and a man under the Law. 3. He held the truth with humility, whereas the Pharisees thanked God that they were "superior" to other men. There is much false teaching in the church today on exactly what the nature of the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees happened to be. People have used the term "Pharisee" to describe anyone who points out a brother's sin and dares to call it so, rather than tolerating sin like the Corinthians did (1 Corinthians 5); to describe anyone who loves God's law like David did (Psalm 119) rather than despises it like modern-day antinomians do; and to describe anyone who insists that there is a Biblical pattern of church government rather than "every man for himself." We really need to get a handle on what exactly made the attitude of the Pharisees so detestable to the Holy One of Israel, so that we don't paint a caricature of Christ that doesn't reflect His true nature. --Joe! |
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3 | throwing our pearl? | Matt 7:6 | Dave R. | 41321 | ||
No argument from me here, Joe. Good post. I especially like your challenge to accurately assess the nature of Jesus' conflict with the Pharisees. Understanding this seems to be a long reach toward understanding ourselves. Thanks, Dave R |
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