Through Struggle: Christian Growth In The Midst of Persecution

          During the time of the Roman Empire, the Roman government sought to eradicate the spreading movement of Christianity.  America’s relative religious freedom and the space of history separate American Christianity from the barbarous persecutions of anti-Christian Rome. This separation can cause a lack of appreciation towards the persecutions Christians experienced in Rome.  The study of church history and the circumstances that brought the church to its current point can inspire gratitude for Christianity’s rich heritage.  Rome was the first, and arguably one of the worst, oppressors of Christians.  Maltreatment began under Nero in 64 AD and continued under emperors such as Domitian, Trajan, Maximinus, and Decius. The last and worst Roman concentration against Christians began in 303 AD under Diocletian.  Diocletian’s reign was polar opposites with his successor Constantine’s, whose toleration and even favor of Christianity gave the church a much needed respite from persecution. During this time of peace under Constantine the church experienced growth and prosperity which laid the foundation for the modern church. God used the reign of Constantine to establish the Christian church throughout the world despite Diocletian’s best attempts to destroy Christianity (Sell “Study 9:  The Church in Persecution—The Roman Persecutions”).

Born in 245, Diocletian grew up in an Empire focused on military strength and economic conquest. When he was old enough, Diocletian joined the Roman military quickly climbed in authority and prestige, and eventually became commander of the imperial guard. After the murders of Emperor Numerian and successor Carinus, Rome  began searching for a new ruler. Diocletian’s military prowess gave him political acclaim that led him to the  throne in 284 (Mindeman 206). For the next several years, Diocletian remained active in military fronts and defended Roman borders against invasions in the East from Syria and what is now modern-day Iran (Knox, “Emperor Diocletian”).

            Diocletian’s rule changed the structure of Roman government. Rome had previously been run by one emperor who controlled the whole government and possessed total power. In 294 Diocletian divided the empire into halves—East and West—controlled by four rulers—two Augusti (emperors) and two Caesars who acted as the emperor’s helpers and successors (Mindeman 206).  This new government became known as the Tetrarchy (Grant 17).  Maximian was Diocletian’s associate Augustus in the West and he appointed Constantius I Chlorus as Caesar (who was the father of Constantine the Great). Galerius served Diocletian as Casesar (18). For most of the Tetrarchy’s reign, Christians experienced peace and even appeared in the lower realms of the government. Others spent their time building churches, preaching, and bringing in new believers (Sell “Study 9:  The Church in Persecution—The Roman Persecutions”).

            Starting in 303, the Christian church experienced what is arguably the most horrific and intensive persecution that it endured (Rusten 112).  Scholars have debated the numerous causes that led to the start of Diocletian’s persecution, but there are two worth noting.  First, the Roman government relied on divination and pagan rituals as part of their military conquest.  The Romans believed that sacrifices made to their gods would win them military and political favor.  During the sacrificial ceremony, the haruspices (pagan diviners) examined the entrails of the dead animal.  Depending on the condition of and the marks on the entrails, the diviners either affirmed the emperor’s military strategy or advised against it.  Christians present in the imperial government opposed this practice in 299 by making signs of the cross in the imperial house in an effort to keep the Roman gods (demons) away.  When demons no longer worked through the haruspices, Diocletian and Caesar Galerius knew the blame fell on the shoulders of the Christians.  Secondly, Christians once again were blamed for fires that broke out in Nicomedia—Diocletian’s capital (Grant 127).  This blame is reminiscent of the first Christian persecution by Nero in 64 AD (Judge 816). 

            These factors, and Diocletian’s desire for religious unity, sparked five imperial edicts that outlawed and opposed Christianity. The first of Diocletian’s edicts, passed on February 23^rd, 303, ordered all Scripture and Christian churches to be destroyed and all Christian’s property confiscated.  Passed a day later, the second edict denied legal resources and privileges of governmental office to all Christians.  A third edict ordered the arrest of all Christian clergy.  Since Roman prisons became overpopulated, a fourth edict granted release from incarceration to Christians who performed sacrifices to the pagan gods.  Lastly in early 304, the last edict demanded pagan sacrifice from Christians throughout the entire Roman Empire.  The Great Persecution, as it became known later in history, had officially begun (Rusten 113).

            Serious illness forced Diocletian to abdicate his throne to Galerius. After convincing Maximian to join him, the two emperors both stepped down from office in 305 (Knox, “Emperor Diocletian”). Galerius, now emperor alongside Constantius I Chlorus, became responsible for the majority of the persecution that Diocletian started. (Mindeman 206).  After a power struggle amongst Constantine (Constantius I’s son), Maxentius (Maximian’s son), and a third man named Severus, Constantine and Maxentius rose to the position of Caesar (Hicks 264).  In the West, Galerius did everything in his power to destroy the Christian movement but to no avail. In the West, Constantius, who did not support the persecution and gave Christians peace instead, crippled Galerius’ efforts and divided the mission of the Empire (Rusten 113).   

Multiple stories arose out of this time that act as examples of what Galerius’ persecution was like. Early church father Eusebius collected these stories and compiled them in his book The History of the Martyrs in Palestine.  One of these stories tells of Romanus, a deacon in Caesarea, who faced death in 303 or 304 towards the beginning of the persecution.  Romanus was sentenced to be burned after refusing to make a sacrifice to the Roman gods, but Diocletian ordered that the saint’s tongue be cut out instead.  Even after his tongue was gone, Romanus continued to preach the gospel to his Roman persecutors (Eusebius Loc. 231-43).  His death came swiftly afterwards by what Eusebius referred to as “the strangling instrument” (Loc. 245).  Another story involved Timotheus in 305 (Loc. 249 ) who suffered violence at the hands of his own neighbors before being sent to the governor of Palestine (Loc. 255-62).  Timotheus was bound in fetters and whipped before he slowly burned to death after he refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods (Loc. 262-265).  Two more people, Agapius and Theckla, suffered tortured and were offered to the mercy of wild beasts (Loc. 269-270).  Perhaps the greatest story out of Eusebius’ book was of 19-year old Epiphanius (Loc. 306).  In 306, Epiphanius physically restrained Urbanus, a governmental official, from making sacrifices to the gods.  His actions warranted the worst tortures imaginable including being beaten, kicked, bridled, stretched, whipped until his innards were visible, disfigured beyond recognition, having his feet wrapped in cotton and oil and set on fire to the point that his flesh “dropped like melted wax” (Loc. 354), and finally being thrown into the sea to drown.  All this time,  Epiphanius stood firm in the faith and never denied his savior (Loc. 328-368).  Indeed, sobering brutality prevailed during the Great Persecution of Diocletian and Galerius.

            Despite Rome’s best attempts to destroy Christianity and introduce a state-wide pagan religion, Christianity persevered.  Until he died in 306 (Grant 228), Constantius I Chlorus favored Christians and saved them from persecution in places like Gaul, Britain, and Spain—an action that surely effected his son’s reign (Schaff “History of the Christian Church Vol II, Chapter 2, Sec. 24”).  When Galerius became ill and entered the last stages of his life, he realized that the persecution wasn’t having the desired effect.  The church wasn’t destroyed it was rather strengthened and encouraged by those who willingly died in devotion to God.  Galerius redacted Diocletian’s edicts and passed an edict of limited toleration in 311, which gave back to Christians the right to worship freely (Rusten 113).  The emperor even went as far as to ask the Christians to “pray to their god” for the emperors and Rome itself as an empire (Schaff “History of the Christian Church Vol II, Chapter 2, Sec. 25”).  Galerius’ death in 311 brought about the reign of Constantine (Hicks 264).

            Constantine the Great, emperor of Rome, has become one of the most important and influential political figures in Christian history.  His climb to the top of the Roman government is slightly hard to follow.  After the death of his father in 306, Constantine became Caesar under Galerius.  Maxentius became Galerius’ fellow Augustus, but Maximian took back the throne in 307.  Through a series of events involving his son, Maximian was kicked out of the seat of Augustus in 308 at the conference of Carnuntum, which also proclaimed another man, Licinius, as the new emperor in his place.  Maximian died in 310.  After Galerius’ death in 311, the seat of Augustus alongside Licinius rightfully belonged to Constantine (Grant 228).  However, Maxentius wished to take the throne that Constantine had rightfully earned and led troops against Constantine at the Tiber River in the Battle of Milvian (sometimes spelled Mulvian) Bridge in 311.  Legend has it that the night before the battle commenced God told Constantine that victory would be his if he carried the cross into battle.  During the battle the next day, Constantine’s troops, bearing the symbol of the cross, pushed Maxentius’ army back against the Tiber River and into a retreat.  In the ensuing chaos across the narrow Milvian Bridge, Maxentius fell into the river and drowned.  Constantine had successfully defended his title as Augustus (Galli 307).

            Constantine’s rule signaled the end of the Roman persecution and ushered in a completely different era of peace and prosperity for Christianity.  Like his father, Constantine was also tolerant of Christianity and let the Christians live and worship as they pleased.  Relief spread throughout the church when Constantine and his co-Augustus Licinius both left Christianity alone.  Shortly after his ascension to the throne, Constantine fully expanded Galerius edict of limited toleration into an edict of full toleration.  Constantine met with Licinius in Milan inn March 313, and passed the Edict of Milan, which gave “full toleration to the Christian faith ordering that all places of worship taken from the Christians should be restored without delay or charge, that any loss they had suffered should be made good and that Christian ministers should be released from all burdensome municipal offices” (Sell “Study 9:  The Church in Persecution—The Roman Persecutions”).  The Edict of Milan gave Christianity complete freedom throughout the entirety of Rome and acted as a testament to the resilience of the church through trial and persecution.  Unfortunately for the eastern half of the empire, Licinius rebelled against Constantine and began persecuting Christians once again. In 323 Constantine went to war against Licinius at Adrianople and Chrysopolis, effectively taking away his throne (Hicks 172).  With Licinius gone, Constantine did away with Diocletian’s Tetrarchy and became the sole Augustus of Rome.  Constantine moved the seat of government to Byzantium in the East (Galli 308).  The era of persecution ended and the Christian Roman Empire under Constantine began (Schaff “History of the Christian Church Vol II, Chapter 2, Sec. 25”).

            As with anything, Constantine’s staunchly Christian rule over Rome wasn’t perfect.  Though Christianity was preferred by Constantine, pagan practices still existed in the empire.  Not until 324 AD were pagan symbols and sayings taken off Roman coins (Hicks 173).  A large downside to Constantine’s reign was the rise of apostasy within the church. Because Constantine controlled the church politically many saw the church as a stepping stone into politics, and the church was diluted by people who were “politically ambitious, religiously disinterested, and still half-rooted in paganism. This threatened to produce not only shallowness and permeation by pagan superstitions but also the secularization and misuse of religion for political purposes” (Shelley 96).

Two specific negative movements began to appear in Roman churches: Donatism and Arianism. Donatists held to the view that those who had caved under the pressure of persecution during Diocletian’s reign and handed over Scriptures to be burned or offered sacrifices to Roman gods were false Christians that needed to be cast out of the church. Donatists believed that the real church consisted of those who bore the scars of persecution on their bodies and remained true to Christ. Because of their beliefs, Donatism claimed that the legitimacy of church rituals like communion relied on the morality of the person leading them, ultimately denying the power of the church and of God (Rusten 316). It wasn't until the Council of Ardes in 314, which excommunicated Donatus and his followers that the church began to formulate a strategy on handling these false church ideals (318).

            The church later faced Arianism, which denied the divinity of Jesus as being both fully God and fully man (Galli 336). Constantine’s political reign began to wed itself to religious affairs, and in order to combat beliefs like Arianism he called the Council of Nicea in 325—which deemed Arianism as heretical (Hicks 173). The Council of Nicea not only condemned Arianism, it set the standard for important future church councils like Chalcedon, Constantinople, and Carthage.

            Constantine’s reign brought about the finalizing of the New Testament canon.  Because of Diocletian’s persecutions, churches had to quickly decide which books in the New Testament and the New Testament Apocrypha were worth dying for.  While the finalization of the New Testament didn’t happen until the third council of Carthage in 397 AD—roughly 65 years after Constantine’s reign came to an end—the process began when Eusebius, under orders from Constantine, distributed fifty copies of the New Testament around the empire.  With the Scriptures being circulated around the empire once again, churches had to consistently agree on only one version of the New Testament (Duffield 14).

As the Bible circulated freely throughout the empire, various religious communities and organizations, namely monasticism, took shape.  After being baptized into Christianity in 313, an Egyptian named Pachomius began to live as a monk.  By 320, Pachomius began establishing monasteries (Rusten 318) and successfully established eleven monasteries before he died.  Pachomius is seen as the father of monasticism (319).

            As can be seen, Diocletian led one of the most horrific Christian persecutions in history, but God used Constantine to propel the church into a time of peace, restoration, expansion, and fortification.  Diocletian was the last emperor to heavily persecute Christianity, and Constantine was the first emperor to fully embrace the Christian church.  Constantine had, arguably, the largest impact on the church of any political leader. His reign, while not perfect, would influence many leaders after him. Under Constantine’s rule, the church and the Roman Empire left physical trials behind them and entered into a new time period of political upheaval and confusion with the marriage of the church and state.  It’s this relationship that the Roman Catholic Church finds itself in today, and one that began a mere 20 years after Diocletian’s persecution ended.  Opposites indeed.                                

__________________________________________________________________________   WORKS CITED

Duffield, Guy P. and Nathaniel M. Van Cleave. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology.     

     Los Angeles, CA: L.I.F.E. Bible College, 1983.

Eusebius of Caesarea.  Eusebius of Caesarea:  The History of the Martyrs in Palestine.

            Amazon.  Kindle Edition.  2010.

Galli, Mark and Ted Olsen. 131 Christians Everyone Should Know. Nashville, TN:             

     Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000. 

Grant, Michael.  Constantine the Great:  The Man and His Times.  New Nork, NY:             

     Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993.

Hicks, C. "Galerius, Valerius Maximianus". Who's Who in Christian History. Ed. J.D.        '

      Douglas and Philip W. Comfort. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1992.

Judge, E. A. "Nero". New Bible Dictionary. Ed. D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R.       

     Millard, J. I. Packer and D. J. Wiseman. 3rd ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, ILInterVarsity        Press, 1996.

Knox, Dr. E.L. Skip. “Emperor Diocletian.” Boise State.edu. April 14, 2014.                <http://europeanhistory.boisestate.edu/westciv/empire/16.shtml>.

Mindeman, G. "Diocletian". Who's Who in Christian History. Ed. J.D. Douglas and            

      Philip W. Comfort. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1992.

Rusten, Michael E. and Sharon. The Complete Book of When & Where in the Bible and     

      Throughout History. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2005.

Schaff, Philip and David Schley Schaff.  “History of the Christian Church Volume II,     

      Chapter 2:  Persecution of Christianity and Christian Martyrdom, Sec. 24.”      

      Christian Classics Ethereal Library. March 19, 2013.            

      <http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/2_ch02.htm>.

Schaff, Philip and David Schley Schaff.  “History of the Christian Church Volume II,     

      Chapter 2:  Persecution of Christianity and Christian Martyrdom, Sec. 25.”        

     Christian Classics Ethereal Library. March 19, 2013.            

      <http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/2_ch02.htm>.

Sell, Henry Thorne. Studies in Early Church History. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn        

      Electronic Publishing, 1998.

Shelley, Bruce. Church History In Plain Language. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson,          

      2008.

A Look at the Church of Corinth as seen in I and II Corinthians.

As one of two known letters to the early church in Corinth, 1 Corinthians receives the majority of attention.  1 Corinthians spends a lot of its time focusing on teaching and instruction for the early church—which is still applicable today, whereas 2 Corinthians spends more time discussing Paul’s ministry with the church and deals with issues that could be seen as being time-specific.  Whatever the reason, this first letter to the early Corinthian church holds a lot of truth in its teachings that are incredibly transcendent above time and can teach the modern church many wise lessons.  The lessons Paul gives to the Corinthians—and ultimately to all Christians in all time periods—are come from issues and situations that were present in the early Corinthian church, and these instructions tells us volumes about God’s purposeful intention for His church.

            A careful study of 1 Corinthians will show that the church Paul was writing to was struggling with a number of issues—divisions between Christians, immorality, matters of lifestyle and doctrine, idolatry, judgment, spiritual gifts, and the resurrection of Christ.  Paul obviously had an outstanding relationship with the church prior to writing the letter, which gave him the authority to call the church out on the problems they were facing.  This relationship can be seen in the greetings and thanksgiving that start out the letter (1:1-9) and Paul’s answer to questions “about which [the Corinthians] wrote” (7:1).  But despite Paul’s seemingly harsh attitude that he has throughout the letter, 4:14 shows that he saw the Christians in Corinth as “beloved children”.  Paul had a sense of ownership over the church and saw himself as a spiritual mentor to the Corinthians, disciplining them in the way that they should go.  Even though he loves the church dearly, he does not waste any time calling them out and disciplining them.  Paul tells the church time and time again how they should act and how he respects more from them (1:10, 3:3, 4:7, 5:1, 8:9, and 11:17).  Paul clearly loves the church deeply and desires more from them—live according to Christ—and for them—to be satisfied in living in the fullness of the life that Christ offers.

            God’s ultimate intentions for the body of Christ are displayed through the fulfilling life that He offers.  The church is “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” in 1:2 and seen again as a theme in 11:3.  Throughout the first four chapters Paul commands the church adamantly to be unified as one body (1:10 and 3:3).  Unity within the church reappears later in 12:12-31, which is perhaps the most important passage in 1 Corinthians that ties the entire book together.  Other themes appearing in 1 Corinthians that point towards God’s plan for the church are humility (4:7), purity (both sexual and spiritual; 5:1-12), and loving (16:14, which sums up the entire book in one verse, and chapter 14).

            Therefore, God’s intentions for his church can be drawn out of 6:1-11.  The church, the body of Christ, is supposed to be holy and set apart, sanctified and pure, to God as a righteous people.  The world will look at the church and realize that the church is something special.  If the non-Christian world can see Jesus represented in the church’s actions and unity, then the body of Christ is doing its job.

            1 Corinthians is a ton of instructions and commands to the early church in Corinth that paint a picture of God’s intention for the church.  The Corinthian church was not representing Christ in the way that God would have desired and Paul saw and attempted to correct that.  Just like a father disciplines his children to teach them lessons and grow them, so Paul disciplined the Corinthian church to grow them into the body that Christ desired them to be.  Paul’s relationship with the Corinthian church was one of the first examples of mentorship in the early church.  Looking at the growth the Corinthian church experienced through God using Paul as a mentor is a clear picture to modern Christians why mentorship and discipleship is so important.
            As established with 1 Corinthians, Paul had an outstanding relationship with the Corinthian church.  Throughout the first Biblical letter to the Corinthians is the feeling that Paul cared deeply for the church and thought of himself as a spiritual mentor to the church body in Corinth.  Here is where 2 Corinthians comes in, roughly 2-3 years after 1 Corinthians was written and delivered.  Paul’s ministry at Corinth was getting threatened by other leaders—seen in chapter 11—that put Paul’s teaching at Corinth in danger of being put on the back burner and forgotten.  In response, Paul wrote 2 Corinthians in order to defend his apostolic ministry to the Corinthian church, which gives the modern Christian reader insight into the nature and purpose of Paul’s ministry.

            Once again, it’s evident that Paul knew the Corinthian church for quite a while and was heavily invested in them.  7:7-9 recounts a previous letter—probably 1 Corinthians—that “grieved [the church] into repenting”.  Paul earlier (7:4) claims that he is “acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort”, thus suggesting that he is very pleased with the way the church is living after the reception of 1 Corinthians. 

            However, Paul knows that he’s not perfect, and he knows that there are other people who the church is more likely to listen to.  Admitting his imperfection in 11:6, Paul says that “I am unskilled in speaking”, and later in 12:7-10 admits that he is weak and imperfect.  Paul his humble and honest in his approach to the Corinthian church, and he realizes that he’s a man riddled with imperfections.  Through his imperfections though, Paul feels the need to defend the ministry he has with the church.  The church was beginning to listen to other apostles (“super-apostles”, 11:5) that were uprooting the ministry Paul had with the church.  It can be concluded from the tone of chapter 11 that these other apostles were preaching a slightly different gospel than Paul was and were leading the church astray.  Paul reminds the church of how good he was to them in 11:7-11, ending with “Because I do not love you?  God knows I do!”

            Paul’s defense of his ministry give insights into the nature and purpose of his ministry overall.  First, Paul was intentional in his ministry, as seen in 1:15.  Paul realized there was a gap in the teaching at Corinth and he desired greatly to fill it.  Second, Paul was loving, which can be derived from 2:4, “to let you know the abundant love that I have for you”, and, once again, 11:11.  Third, Paul saw the churches he ministered to like his own children.  A child has the capability of making a Christian parent immensely proud when they submit their lives to Christ.  This principle was also seen from Paul in 9:2, “for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia”.  Lastly, Paul feels a sense of ownership and jealousy for the ownership of the church, seen in 10:14, “for we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ” (emphasis added). 

            Modern pastors are called through 2 Corinthians to be caring and intentional leaders in their own churches just as Paul was a caring and intentional leader in the church of Corinth.  Therefore, 2 Corinthians is less of a letter of instruction like the first letter to Corinth was and more like a manual to pastors on what it means to care for and lead a church.  Pastors are called to be intentional, loving, fatherly, and committed to their church just like Paul was, but all while still being disciplinary (and sometimes harsh) in their teaching.  Thus, 1 and 2 Corinthians complement each other perfectly. 

            2 Corinthians is a clear image of Paul’s defense of his ministry in the Corinthian church.  This defense gives modern pastors a guideline to follow for personal ministry in their own churches.  Paul’s authority was challenged in the Corinthian church, which is sure to happen in modern pastors as well.  Only in the perfect unity of the church body, as seen in 1 Corinthians 12, will a pastor be able to function as the leader of a church.  And there is only one answer for challenging situations like the ones Paul faced in 2 Corinthians:  Love (1 Corinthians 13).

Romans: The New Law of Righteousness

The stories of the early church apostles in Acts lay the setting for the foundation of the doctrines of theology of the New Testament church, which comprises the rest of the books of the New Testament Scriptures.  Romans is the first of many letters of teaching and encouraging from Paul and also acts as the most important, theologically speaking, book in the entire New Testament.  In Romans, Paul lays out the foundations of Christianity.  Paul recognizes the Jewish sway of his intended audience and addresses Old Testament laws in an attempt to set a new standard of law in the hearts of Christ’s followers:  The law of righteousness.

            Ultimately through the gospel of the life and death of Jesus Christ, this law of righteousness is revealed—a point that Paul quickly brings to light in 1:16-17, and later in 3:5 and 3:21-26.  Humanity’s fallen state is only seen as being sinful when it is placed in the same light of Christ’s perfection.  Compared to Christ’s perfection, the sinful nature of humanity is seen for what it truly is—broken and in need of a savior.  As unrighteous sinners, Paul claims, we are recipients of God’s holy and just wrath (1:18).  A few verses later in 1:29 Paul describes unrighteousness as being “evil, covetousness, malice…envy, murder strife, deceit, maliciousness…”  God’s righteousness is the condemnation of man’s unrighteousness (1:32, 2:5, 2:8).  Therefore, Romans is built on the knowledge that sinners are unrighteous people in need of a righteous salvation.

            The Old Testament Law was meant to bring life to Israel, but because Israel broke God’s Law only death was received (7:10).  Only following the Law can bring about moral righteousness that Paul so eagerly desires (2:13, 3:22, 4:5-12, 6:13, 6:16, 6:18-20, 7:12, 8:4, 9:30, 10:5).  The Old Testament Law required circumcision of Jewish men to set them apart as holy.  However, in the New Testament the gift of salvation is open to Jews and Gentiles, non-Jews not bound by the Law of Moses.  Therefore, Paul teaches that strictly following a moral code and adhering to legalism does not grant righteousness or salvation.

            Righteousness in the New Covenant of the New Testament is brought through faith in the gospel of Christ.  Faith is the standard that the righteous live by (1:17, quoting Hab. 2:4), and does not come through the Law of Moses (4:13) since Christians are bound under a new law because of the sacrifice of Christ.  A Christian’s Law of Righteousness comes only “through the one man Jesus Christ” (5:17) and leads to “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (5:21).  Therefore, Christ did not come to negate the Old Testament Law, but to fulfill the Law and set a new standard of righteousness and salvation (10:3-4).  Christ’s fulfillment of the Law is why modern Christians are no longer bound to the Old Testament Law, but are instead bound to the Law of Righteousness found throughout the entirety of the New Testament.   

            Thus, Romans can be summarized by saying that the law of righteousness is following in the footsteps of Jesus and living by the Spirit (Chapter 8), which is through faith in the death of Jesus Christ (Chapter 10).  With these Pauline theological doctrines in place, one can begin to look at the rest of the New Testament in light of the sacrifice of Christ.  Just as Christ gave up His life for many, so Christians are called to daily lay down their lives for the true life that Christ offers (Matthew 16:24).

Ben Geib - My Story

Immanuel's Veins, Part 2

In my last blog I took a look at Isaiah 43 and God’s incredible love for Israel in the middle of their ripe disobedience.  Today, we’re going to look at the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1 as it has spanned throughout Old Testament history.  In this, I hope you begin to see a theme.  I pray you see that no matter how disgusting and murky our past is, how sinful and unfaithful (like Israel) to God we are, God can still use us. 

Let’s begin with a quick look at Matthew 1, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.  And Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,  And Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.  And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.”

Confused?  Why would I blog about a bunch of names?  How can God possibly speak through a list of names that led to His birth?  What does this genealogy have to do with you?  With me? 

In case you’re lost, Matthew 1 is a family tree of Jesus.  Yeah, that Jesus.  The incarnate son of God, the maker of the entire universe, who sent Jesus to die upon a sinner’s cross for the sin and shame we bear.  This is that Jesus’ family tree.  But what makes it so important? 

Let’s begin.

 

Abraham’s story starts in Genesis 12 when we see God calling him for God’s divine purpose—ultimately to father the nation of Israel.  The first thing we see Abraham do is lie about his wife Sarah being his wife while passing through Egypt.  If the Egyptians knew Sarah was his wife and they wanted her, they’d have to kill Abraham to get to him.  The first thing we see about the father of Israel is that he’s a liar who doesn’t really trust God to protect him.  Genesis 15 is important because it’s when God establishes the Abrahamic Covenant with Abraham.  God promises Abraham to make him into a huge nation—the nation of Israel that Jesus will eventually come from.  Basically, God promises Abraham that out of his descendants will come Jesus, the Messiah, who is promised to end evil (Genesis 3).  We’re told throughout this story that Abraham’s wife Sarah was barren; she couldn’t have children.  Now even though God promised to open up her womb and bring forth an entire nation, Abraham and Sarah both think it’s a pretty swell idea to try to bring forth God’s promised nation with Sarah’s servant, Hagar.  In Genesis 16, then, we read about Abraham doing the nasty with Hagar and bringing forth a child, Ishmael.  Sounds like a pretty good example of morality, right?  He was first an untrusting liar, now he’s sleeping with his wife’s servant to try to jumpstart God’s promise for a child.  Yup, he’s a great guy.  Four chapters later in Genesis 20 we see Abraham lying again about Sarah being his wife.  If there was ever anybody who didn’t trust God’s promises, it was this guy.  God promised to make him into a nation, which didn’t happen yet, so Abraham should trust that God will still bring that about, but we don’t.  Abraham fears man more than he fears God.  Isaac is eventually born (Genesis 21), and through his birth the nation of Israel begins to form.  Through the nation of Israel comes Jesus.  So the first guy in Jesus’ lineage isn’t the morally upright man that we make him out to be.  Even though Abraham is one of the most important characters in the entire Bible, and he does do the world a lot of good, we can see that he has a lot of character flaws that birth sin.  And yet God chose to bring his perfect son into the world to save the world through this man.  Amazing.

Over the next…while, I guess, I’ll be going more in depth about more people in the genealogy of Christ.  Hopefully as these blogs come together you can begin to see that even though a lot of these people are screwed up and ridden with sin, God still chose them and used them to do mighty things just like He chooses us to do mighty things.

Remember this:  You are never too far gone to be used by and for God.  There is always redemption at the foot of the cross.

To be continued...

Immanuel's Veins, Part. 1

One thing that I’ve been recently amazed by is God’s undying goodness to us.  Stop.  Read that last sentence again.  Think about it.  God’s.  Undying.  Goodness.  To.  Us.  Can you just stop and think about how good God is?  When was the last time you thanked God for His sacrifice?  When was the last time you actually meditated on the fact that He covers us in unfathomable love that we can’t even begin to try to understand?  When was the last time you thought about how that love knifes through all of our murky sin and unfaithfulness and how He still loves us the same?  Stop.  Think about it.

Now read on.

Isaiah 43 is my favorite chapter in the entire Bible.  The beauty of Christ’s love to a prostituted Israel that spit in God’s own face is heartbreaking.  Overwhelming.  In the middle of Israel’s sin, debauchery, and unfaithfulness that gave God every right to completely destroy them we have Isaiah 43. 

“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.  Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.  Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.  I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears!  All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true.  “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.  I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God.   Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?” Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel! You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense.
You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.  “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.  Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right.  Your first father sinned, and your mediators transgressed against me.  Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary, and deliver Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reviling.”

If that doesn’t stir the emotions within you, read it again.  Concentrate on God’s message to an unrepentant Israel.  If you read the history of Israel you will see them turn away from God time and time again and lose their faith in Him.  This unfaithfulness begins right after Israel’s exodus in Exodus 14:11 when the Israelites see the Egyptians pursuing them.  Remember, God just brought them miraculously out of captivity in Egypt and they say to Moses (and God), “It would have been better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”  Throughout the rest of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles Israel turns its back on God time and time again.  They make other idols, they worship other idols, they plunder their enemies when they’re not supposed to, they complain about having no food, they whore themselves out to other nations, they practice witchcraft…I mean, these Israelites used Jesus like a spiritual friend with benefits.  They praised Him when it convenience them, but most of the time was spent spitting in His face and throwing His love away.

Then in the middle of this, in the middle of Isaiah’s ministry to the Israelites God speaks through Isaiah and we get Isaiah 43.  Look at the first verse alone, “But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel:  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”  Wow.  Even through Israel’s unfaithfulness God still loves them like a son.  “I’ll be with you,” He says.  “I will not remember your sins,” He says.  Talk about the love that goes beyond our understanding!

Put it in today’s language.  You’re married to the person of your dreams.  As some of my EBC friends would say, “Perfect for you in every way, in every way…”.  Every little thing that you’ve ever wished to find in someone else is in this person, and more.  So much more.  You are beside yourself with love for this person and you can hardly believe your life to be true.  How did you get so lucky?  This isn’t just your dream person, it’s everyone else’s dream spouse as well.  Your friends can see the mental and spiritual beauty in this person and congratulate you wholeheartedly on your “catch”.  You’re beside yourself with joy and the rapture of human love. 

But here’s the thing, six months into the marriage you find out that this person, your true love has been cheating on you.  Not only once or twice, but consistently.  With multiple partners.  How do you feel?  You gave everything you had to love this person and felt like it was reciprocated, but was it a lie?  Is the relationship fake?  After confronting this person and tearfully making your way through a long process of healing you feel as if everything is going to be okay.  Unfortunately a week later you find out that the cheating has not stopped, but gotten worse.  How do you feel now?

As humans we would be inclined to throw in the towel right away and get out of the relationship.  Who wants to live with a broken heart anyway?  This is the way it was for the Israelites.  Israel is the cheating spouse and God is the brokenhearted victim.  But unlike humans, God doesn’t give up.  He chooses to look past the cheating, past the unfaithfulness, and past the broken relationship and remain with the spouse.  No matter how many times Israel cheats on God, God is faithful to Israel and he doesn’t give up.  No, He doesn’t give up.  He doesn’t give up on Israel, and He doesn’t give up on us.

Are you beginning to get a picture of how loving and forgiving and merciful and graceful God is?  Good.  Read Isaiah 43 another time.  And another.  Begin to get that picture of love that God had for Israel and has for us.  Equate yourself with Israel.  Recognize how unfaithful to God you are and picture Isaiah 43 being written to you.  Let it hit home just how much God loves you.

To be continued…

Set Apart

School started a few weeks ago, and I’m sure that everyone is wondering how my life is by now.  In a word:  Fantastic.  I can’t stress how much I love living in Simi Valley; there’s just so much life here and so much to do.  Don’t believe me?  How about you look up Milton, PA, on Google Maps then compare it to Simi Valley, CA.  Trust me, there’s lot’s to do here.  The people here are killer.  I’ve met mostly solid dudes and ladies while I’ve been out here and began making some good friendships.  It always takes me a while to lose that initial shyness that usually accompanies meeting a lot of new people all at once, but I’m working on it.  Classes are also going very well.  It’s a hefty work load—I’m not going to lie—but it’s so worth it.  All the reading we’re doing is so packed full of Scripture and great Truths.  It’s only been a few weeks and I feel like my head is going to explode with all that I’m trying to take in and understand.  If you’re reading this and you’re also the type that likes to pray for people, send praises and thanks up to God for all that He is doing in my life.  I’ve truly been blessed in multiple, huge ways.  God is so, so good.  As far as actual requests go, pray for a job.  I’m struggling mentally without a job, and I realize that sounds weird to say but it’s true.  I’ve had a steady job since high school, and even on days where I was lazy I would still be productive when I went in to work.  Since I have no job now, I’m struggling to feel productive and am feeling very lazy and, frankly, like a loser.  Prayer would be appreciated in this area.

That’s my school update, but here’s what I really wanted to write about.  I forsook my One-Year Bible the other day and am not going to pick it back up any time soon.  I have been feeling very dry lately, spiritually speaking, as far as my personal devotions go because I have been reading the One-Year Bible just for the sake of reading it and not getting into any serious studies.  With that said, I decided to start a serious in-depth study of the book of Romans, and within the few days that I’ve been setting aside time for it, I’ve only gone through the first verse!  I feel like God is pouring out so much desired Truth into my life through the first verse alone.

Romans 1:1 says, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.”  That’s it.  Nothing more.  What stood out to me in this verse was the phrase “set apart”.  I was reading the Barnhouse Romans commentary along with this verse and it stressed the importance of being set apart for something instead of just being set apart.  As Christians there are a lot of sinful things that we need to vacuum out of our lives.  In essence, there’s s small “don’t list” that we have to follow—things that delve into the sinful realm.  A lot of times, though, we focus on getting those things out of our lives and not necessarily replacing them with anything.  We focus on not lying, not looking at pornography, not lusting, stealing, murdering, and getting drunk, but we focus on those things to the point that we forget to fill ourselves with something better.  If we focus on not sinning and not focus on filling ourselves with good, we’ll end up empty.  We may have “righteous” acts of faith and service, but what are those even without Christ?

The challenge is this:  Focus more on Christ than the sin.  Focus on putting good in to change the bad inside.  Personally, I need to be focusing more on getting to know Christ better and studying his Word and Truth rather than not sinning.  The more I know Christ and fully understand His detest of sin and become better acquainted with His heart, then that will affect how I treat the sin in my life.  If I hate sin as Christ hates sin, then the grip that sin has on my life will be loosened.

Today, instead of focusing on the mountain to be faced, focus on the man who already conquered that mountain—Jesus.