The 10 Commandments In The New Testament

November 22, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

I have heard far too many people say, “The laws of the Old Testament were for ‘back then.’ We live in the New Testament era, so those laws don’t apply to us any longer.” This is a blatant disregard of facts.

Not only are every single one of the Ten Commandments reiterated in the New Testament, they are also amplified. Consider this example: Under the Old Testament law, as long as I hadn’t slept with someone other than my wife I hadn’t broken the 7th commandment (do not commit adultery). Jesus not only reiterated that 7th commandment, but He amplified it to say my lustful thoughts toward someone not my wife made me a violator of that commandment.

Here’s the list of the commandments reiterated and amplified—

10 Commandments In The New Testament

You may download a PDF version of this chart here → 10 Commandments In The New Testament

 

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Unbiblical Church Growth

November 18, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Jim CymbalaThis message from Jim Cymbala is a hard word, but right on target.

The apostles never tried to finesse people when they were presenting the gospel. Their communication was not supposed to be “cool” or soothing. They aimed for a piercing of the heart, for conviction of sin. They had not the faintest intention of asking, “What do people want to hear? How can we draw more people to church on Sunday?” That was the last thing on their minds. Such an approach would have been foreign to them.

Instead of trying to bring men and women to Christ in the biblical way, we are consumed with the unbiblical concept of “church growth.” The Bible does not say we should aim at numbers but rather urges us to proclaim God’s message in the boldness of the Holy Spirit. This will build God’s church God’s way.

Unfortunately, some churches now continually monitor how pleased people are with the services and ask what else they would like. We have no permission whatsoever to adjust the message of the gospel! Whether it seems popular or not, whether it is “hip” to the times, we must faithfully and boldly proclaim that sin is real but Jesus forgives those who confess.

Nowhere does God ask anyone to have a large church. He only calls us to do His work, proclaiming His Word to people He loves under the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit to produce results that only He can bring about. The glory then goes to Him alone—not any denomination, local church, local pastor, or church growth consultant. This is God’s only plan, and anything else is a deviation from the teaching of the New Testament.

Today we have an anti-authority spirit in America that says, “Nobody can tell me I need to change. Don’t you dare.”

Both in the pulpit and in pastoral counseling we have too often given in to this mentality and are afraid to speak the truth about sin. We keep appealing to Paul’s line about becoming “all things to all men” (1 Corinthians 9:22), not noticing that in the very next paragraph he says, “Run in such a way as to get the prize” (verse 24). Adapting our style to get a hearing is one thing, but the message can never change without leaving us empty-handed before the Lord.

UPDATE: This challenging word from Pastor Cymbala is one of the thoughts that helped form my thinking about what is considered “successful” in God’s eyes. I share these thoughts in my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter. 

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Both Testaments

July 23, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

BibleThis past week I’ve had two conversations that seemed like contradicting thoughts about the Bible, but they’re really exactly the same.

Conversation #1—Since Jesus Christ set us free from the law, there is no longer any need for us to read or study the Old Testament.

Conversation #2—The New Testament is a perversion of the Old Testament, so we should ignore it and stick with the “original” Scripture.

One thing that has helped me see the Scripture in a more correct light is a thought I picked up from Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola in their book Jesus: A Theography. Instead of the titles we’ve given the two divisions of the Bible, it will be better to call them the First and Second Testaments. “Old” and “New” have a tendency to make us think out-dated and updated; First and Second remind us that they go together.

Hosea is one of the first prophets in the First Testament whose words were put into writing. It’s interesting to note how many of the themes from the Pentateuch, Joshua and Judges are linked to Israel’s condition in the last few years before the northern tribes went into exile.

“Hosea’s allusions to Genesis through Judges are highly significant. First, they help to establish the fact that these books had already been written by the time of Hosea, in the eighth century B.C. (Many scholars consider these books to be from the sixth century B.C. and even later.) Second, Hosea’s construal of these books helps us to understand early Biblical interpretation, which in turn gives us a better understanding of how the [Second] Testament interprets the [First].” —Archeological Study Bible

When we move into the Second Testament, we see over 850 First Testament passages are quoted, sometimes entire paragraphs. In every instance, the Second Testament authors see the fulfillment of the First Testament in the life of Jesus Christ.

In fact, Jesus Himself quoted from 22 books of the First Testament, even on the day of His resurrection He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself (Luke 24:27), and He said He would open our minds so that we too could understand all the Scriptures (Luke 24:45-47).

Finally there is the issue of fulfilled prophesy. Not only were First Testament prophesies fulfilled during the First Testament time, but even more were fulfilled during the Second Testament. In Jesus Christ alone about 200 such prophesies were fulfilled.

Both Testaments are equally important, and equally valuable. In fact, either Testament without the other robs God of His glory and robs us of seeing His fullness.

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11 Quotes From “Pleasure & Profit In Bible Study”

July 19, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Pleasure & ProfitD.L. Moody’s book Pleasure & Profit In Bible Study is a Bible study rejuvenator for both the novice and experienced reader of the Bible. You can read my full book review by clicking here. Below are some of the quotes I especially appreciated in this book.

“The more you love the Scriptures, the firmer will be your faith. There is little backsliding when people love the Scriptures.” 

“I believe we should know better how to pray if we knew our Bibles better. … And if we feed on the Word, it will be so easy then to speak to others; and not only that, but we shall be growing in grace all the while, and others will take notice of our walk and conversation.”

“It is a very interesting fact that of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, it is recorded that our Lord made quotations from no less than twenty-two. … About 850 passages in the Old Testament are quoted or alluded to in the New…. In the Gospel by Matthew there are over a hundred quotations from twenty of the books in the Old Testament. In the Gospel of Mark there are fifteen quotations taken from thirteen of the books. In the Gospel of Luke there are thirty-four quotations from thirteen books. In the Gospel of John there are eleven quotations from six books. In the four Gospels alone there are more than 160 quotations from the Old Testament. … In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians there are fifty-three quotations from the Old Testament; sometimes he takes whole paragraphs from it. In Hebrews there are eighty-five quotations, in that one book of thirteen chapters. In Galatians, sixteen quotations. In the book of Revelation alone, there are 245 quotations and allusions.”

“It is very important that every Christian should not only know what the Old Testament teaches, but he should accept its truths, because it is upon this that truth is based. Peter said the Scriptures are not given for any private interpretation, and in speaking of the Scriptures, referred to the Old Testament and not to the New. … If the Old Testament Scriptures are not true, do you think Christ would have so often referred to them, and said the Scriptures must be fulfilled? When told by the tempter that He might call down the angels from heaven to interpose in His behalf, he said: ‘Thus it is written.’ Christ gave Himself up as a sacrifice that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. Was it not said that He was numbered with the transgressors? And when He talked with two of His disciples by the way journeying to Emmaus, after His resurrection, did He not say: ‘Ought not these things to be? am I not to suffer?’ And beginning at Moses He explained unto them in all the Scriptures concerning Himself, for the one theme of the Old Testament is the Messiah. … Christ referred to the Scriptures and their fulfillment in Him, not only after He arose from the dead, but in the book of Revelation He used them in Heaven. He spoke to John of them on the Isle of Patmos, and used the very things in them that men are trying to cast out. He never found fault with or rejected them.”

“Prophecy is history unfulfilled, and history is prophecy fulfilled. … Between 500 and 600 hundred Old Testament prophecies have been remarkably and literally fulfilled, and 200 in regard to Jesus Christ alone. Not a thing happened to Jesus Christ that was not prophesied from 1700 to 400 years before He was born.”

“Someone has said that there are four things necessary in studying the Bible: Admit, submit, commit and transmit. First, admit its truth; second, submit to its teachings; third, commit it to memory; and fourth, transmit it. If the Christian life is a good thing for you, pass it on to some one else.”

“Application to the Word will tend to its growth within and its multiplication without.”

“We learn that Christ prayed when he was baptized, and nearly every great event in His ministry was preceded by prayer. If you want to hear from Heaven you must seek it on your knees.”

“If you want to reach people that do not agree with you, do not take a club to knock them down and then try to pick them up. When Jesus Christ dealt with the erring and the sinners, He was as tender with them as a mother is with her sick child.” 

“Let us go to the Bible and see what that old Book teaches. Let us believe it, and go and act as if we believed it, too.”

“But we can not be ready if we do not study the Bible. So whenever you hear a good thing, just put it down, because if it is good for you it will be good for somebody else; and we should pass the coin of heaven around just as we do the coin of the realm.”

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10 Quotes From “C.S. Lewis In A Time Of War”

July 17, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

In A Time Of WarI loved C.S. Lewis In A Time Of War by Justin Phillips! It appealed to my interests in World War II history, old-time radio, and one of my favorite authors: C.S. Lewis. You can read my book review by clicking here. Below are 10 quotes from this book which will give you a little of the flavor of this work.

“In a time of uncertainty and questioning it is the responsibility of the church—and of religious broadcasting as one of its most powerful voices—to declare the truth about God and His relation to man. It has to expound the Christian faith in terms that can be easily understood by ordinary men and women, and to examine the ways in which that faith can be applied to present-day society during these difficult times.” —James Welch, the BBC director of religious broadcasting responsible for getting C.S. Lewis on the air

“It seems to me that the New Testament, by preaching repentance and forgiveness, always assumes an audience who already believe in the law of nature and know they have disobeyed it. In modern England we cannot at present assume this, and therefore most apologetic begins a stage too far on. The first step is to create, or recover, the sense of guilt. Hence if I gave a series of talks, I should mention Christianity only at the end, and would prefer not to unmask my battery till then.” —C.S. Lewis

“Having seen more of his original manuscripts than probably anybody else, Walter Hooper observes that there is next to no evidence of rewriting or of copious changes. The manuscript of The Screwtape Letters is a case in point. There was only the one draft.” —Justin Phillips

“A charitable trust was set up called The Agape Fund, using the Greek word for love. Until his marriage in 1957, two-thirds of all Lewis’s royalties went into this fund to help those in need—normally under the cover of anonymity.” —Justin Phillips

“If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.” —C.S. Lewis

“Walter Hooper had discovered a calculation made by Warnie [Lewis] in 1967, described in his diary some four years after Jack’s [C.S. Lewis] death, that by the time the typewriter was finally packed up Warnie must have written at least 12,000 letters on it on his brother’s behalf.” —Justin Phillips

“Any amount of theology can now be smuggled into people’s minds under the cover of romance without them knowing it.” —C.S. Lewis 

“But if you will go to God just as you are, fully admitting that you care about Him very little, and put yourself in His hands, if you’re even ready to be made to care and leave Him to work, He’ll do the rest.” —C.S. Lewis

“All I am in private life is a literary critic and historian, that’s my job. And I am prepared to say on that basis if anyone thinks the Gospels are either legends or novels, then that person is simply showing his incompetence as a literary critic. I’ve read a great many novels and I know a few amount about the legends that grew up among early people, and I know perfectly well the Gospels are not that kind of stuff. They are absolutely full of the sort of things that don’t come into legends. Take one simple example. The passage in which Our Lord is scribbling in the dust before He gives His answer about the woman taken in adultery. Nothing whatever comes of it, no doctrine has ever been based on it, it has no point at all; there’s no conceivable reason why anyone should ever have written it down, unless he’s seen it happening. From first to last the things strike me as records of fact. And, in my opinion, the people who think that any of the episodes in the Gospels are imaginary are the people who have no imagination themselves and have never understood what imaginative story-telling is.” —C.S. Lewis

“Numbers vary, but in the year 2000 some estimates put worldwide sales of Lewis’ books at over 200 million copies in more than thirty languages.” —Justin Phillips

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Be A Witness

July 7, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Good newsJesus said we have some really, really, REALLY good news to share! It’s news about how much God loves us and wants us to know Him personally.

Jesus wanted us to spread the word far and wide about this really, really, REALLY good news, but He didn’t want us to try to do it in our own power. In fact, the last words He spoke to His disciples before ascending into Heaven were—

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Did you catch those words: power TO BE witnesses. The Holy Spirit provides us with the resident, miracle-working, moral, influential, and enabling power not to do witnessing, but to be witnesses.

“The Pentecostal believer is to be something, not just experience something. He or she must become a living witness of Christ on earth.” —Charles Crabtree

There are really two ways that we are witnesses for Him. Our witness is:

(1) Strategic

  • The New Testament believers strategically met house-to-house and in the Temple (Acts 2:46).
  • The church strategically picked leaders to help them be effective in their witness (Acts 6:2-3).
  • The Holy Spirit strategically picked missionaries to be witnesses in far-off lands (Acts 13:2-3).
  • Those missionaries were strategic in following up on their witnessing work (Acts 15:36).

(2) Spontaneous

  • The newly Spirit-baptized believers were able to spontaneously worship God (Acts 2:4) and testify of His power to others (Acts 2:14).
  • Peter could spontaneously respond to the crowd’s question after Peter had finished his sermon (Acts 2:37-39).
  • Peter and John had a spontaneous reply when the Sanhedrin called them in to testify (Acts 4:8).
  • This spontaneous witnessing power was available to them through the Holy Spirit just as Jesus had promised (Matthew 10:17-20).

If we try to just do witnessing, our strategy will be lacking and we’ll quite possibly be caught off-guard in a spontaneous setting. But when we allow the Holy Spirit’s power to transform us TO BE witnesses, our strategies are more effective and our spontaneous moments are too! The Holy Spirit helps us share the really, really, REALLY good news!

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A Bible Knowledge Quiz

May 22, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

BibleGatewayThis is from Pastor Kevin DeYoung (you can read the original post by clicking here). I thought it was an eye-opening test.

A.  Who did the following?
1.   Wrote the book of Acts?
2.   Appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?
3.   Directed the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem?
4.   Killed a thousand Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone?
5.   Led the Israelites into the promised land?
6.   Was exiled to the island of Patmos where he wrote Revelation?
7.   Was going to curse Israel, but had to bless them?
8.   Became the first King of the 10 tribes that broke away?
9.   Rescued David from her foolish husband Nabal?
10.   Was rebuked by Paul for refusing to eat with Gentiles?

B.  Where geographically did the following events take place?
11.   God gave Moses the Ten Commandments?
12.   A silversmith caused a riot?
13.   Elijah had a confrontation with the prophets of Baal?
14.   Believers were first called “Christians”?
15.   The river Jesus was baptized in?
16.   The walls of the city collapsed after the Israelites marched around it?
17.   Jesus walked on water?
18.   The place where Jonah was supposed to be going when he fled to Tarshish?
19.   The place where Paul was heading when he was blinded on the road?
20.   The river Ezekiel was at with the exiles when he received a vision from God?

C.  In which book of the Bible do you find the following?
21.   Peter visits Cornelius where he learns that God accepts Jews and Gentiles?
22.   Paul asks a runaway slave to be welcomed back?
23.   Israel worships a golden calf made by Aaron?
24.   The story of Joseph and he brothers?
25.   Twelve men explore the land of Canaan, but only two trust God to give it to them?
26.   God’s judgment on Israel is pictured by a prophet as horde of locusts?
27.   A description of the armor of God
28.   The words “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” in the Old Testament?
29.   A prophet marries a prostitute?
30.   The Magi visiting the Christ child?

D.  In which book and chapter(s) do you find the following?
31.   God first speaks the Ten Commandments?
32.   The call of Abram?
33.   The Sermon on the Mount?
34.   The Great Commission?
35.   The Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples in wind, fire, and tongues?
36.   Just as Adam was the head of the old humanity, Christ is the head of the new: “Just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous”?
37.   ”But these three remain: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love”?
38.   A religious leader hears “Unless a man is born again he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven”?
39.   Satan bound for a thousand years?
40.   The three Hebrews saved from the fiery furnace?

E.  Give the main topic or event of the following Bible chapters
41.   Genesis 3
42.   Isaiah 53
43.   Romans 4
44.   Psalm 119
45.   Hebrews 11
46.   Acts 15
47.   John 17
48.   Revelation 21-22
49.   Luke 15
50.   Exodus 3

F.  Who said the following?
51.   If I perish, I perish.
52.   What is truth?
53.   After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?…Will I really have a child, now that I am old?
54.   O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
55.   Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in the kingdom.
56.   The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
57.   He must increase; I must decrease.
58.   Am I dog that you come at me with sticks?
59.   I know my Redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth?
60.   Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.

G.  If you encountered the following error, to which book would you turn for help? Choose the book that best addresses the error. Use each of the listed books only once: Genesis, Job, Song of Songs, Amos, John, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 Timothy, James, Revelation.
61.   ”As long as you believe the right things, it doesn’t matter how you live your life.”
62.   ”I’m sure I don’t have any spiritual gifts. Only special people do.”
63.   ”We are saved by Jesus, but we also have to do our part by obeying the law of the Old Testament.”
64.   ”If you are sick, you must have sin in your life. Good people don’t suffer.”
65.   ”God doesn’t care about the poor and oppressed. That’s the social gospel.”
66.   ”I know God promises to bless me, but I can’t really trust him through the hard things in life, like famine, barrenness, and imprisonment.”
67.   ”In the end it won’t make any difference who we followed or what we did with our lives. Jesus will treat everybody the same when he comes back.”
68.   ”There’s nothing special about Jesus. He’s just one way among many, just another prophet or good moral teacher.”
69.   ”The best way to pick your elders is by looking at how successful they are in the business world. Next, consider how many degrees they have. After that, popularity matters most. Finally, if you still can’t decide, go by good looks.”
70.   ”The Bible doesn’t say anything about intimacy between a man and a woman. That’s too fleshly for God to care about.”

H.  Arrange the following events in proper chronological order.
71-80.
a.   The giving of the Law
b.   The atoning death of Christ
c.   Malachi prophesies
d.   The promise to Abraham
e.   creation and fall
f.   Pentecost
g.   Exile in Babylon
h.   David is King over Israel
i.   Paul is shipwrecked
j.   The Judges rule over Israel

I.  Match the verse with the doctrine it best supports. Each doctrine from the list will be used only once: providence, atonement, election, justification, immutability, sanctification, inspiration, deity of Christ, Trinity, total depravity
81.   Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. 1 Peter 1:15
82.   God demonstrated his love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
83.   What you meant for evil, God meant for good. Genesis 50:20
84.   He chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4
85.   I the Lord do not change. Malachi 3:6
86.   Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not count against him. Romans 4:8
87.   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1.
88.   Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19
89.   For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21
90.   There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. Romans 3:10-11

J.  In which Old Testament book would you find the following Messianic prophecies? Books may be used more than once.
91.   The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
92.   He would crush the head of the serpent.
93.   He would come riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
94.   Born of a virgin.
95.   Came to preach good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, release the prisoners from darkness, proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and comfort all who mourn.
96.   Would be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
97.   Would be like a sun of righteousness rising with healing in its wings.
98.   ”They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”
99.   Buried with the rich in his death.
100.   Like a lion’s cub of the tribe of Judah.

How did you do?

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5 More Quotes From “The Ministry Of God’s Word”

May 16, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

The Ministry Of God's WordThere was simply too many passages I highlighted in The Ministry Of God’s Word by Watchman Nee to share in just one post. Pastor, you must read this book! You can read my full book review by clicking here.

“Each man’s special characteristic is brought out only when he is subject to the Holy Spirit.” 

“No one today can have God’s Word extraneous to the Bible; even the New Testament cannot exist alone, nor can the words of Paul. You cannot cut the Old Testament away and retain much of the New Testament; neither can you excise the four Gospels and keep the letters of Paul. … All the ministries in the Bible are interdependent; none possesses an unconnected revelation totally unrelated to the others and entirely disconnected.”

“How does God interpreted the Bible? How does He explain the words of the Old Testament to the New Testament minister? There are at least three distinct ways of interpretation in the New Testament: (1) prophetic interpretation, (2) historical interpretation, and (3) comprehensive interpretation. When New Testament ministers study the Old Testament words, they will approach the Scriptures from these different angles: they look to the Holy Spirit for interpretation of prophetic words, historical records, or comprehensive messages.” 

“Let us remember that ministry of the Word in our day ought to be richer than that of those who wrote the New Testament. … How, then, do we say that today’s ministry of the Word should be richer? Because Paul had in his hand only the Old Testament as the basis of his speaking, but we have in our hand the writings of Paul and Peter and others in addition to the Old Testament. Paul had only 39 books in his hand, but we have 66 books. Hence our ministry should be richer in Word. We have more materials at the disposal of the Spirit of God, more opportunities for God’s Spirit to explain. Our ministry therefore ought not be poorer but richer.”

“One should never deceive himself by thinking he can be a minister of God’s Word if he simply reads the Bible. The question is not whether he has read the Bible: it is instead, how has he read it?”

You can read other quotes from this book by clicking here and here.

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8 More Quotes From “The Ministry Of God’s Word”

May 9, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

The Ministry Of God's WordI stand by what I said: The Ministry Of God’s Word by Watchman Nee is a must read for anyone who preaches the Bible. You can read my full review of this book by clicking here. Below are some more quotes from this amazing book.

“Should anyone fail to see the necessity of having himself dealt with by God, fail to see how his habits, temperament and life need to be pruned and refined, he is of no use to the Word of God.”

“Never forget what the ministry of the Word is. It is the outflowing of the Spirit of God in man as well as in the Word. One part of it consists of God’s Word and the other part of man’s ministry. The Word of God comes to man, who adds in his ministry, and then the two flow out together. God’s Word is not delivered if it is just the Word without the human ministry.”

“Having been set apart as a minister of God’s Word from our mother’s womb, none of us can afford to be foolish before God.”

“A minister of the Word needs to rise very high before God; only then will His Word come through. The pureness of the Word released depends on the amount of discipline received before God. The more the man is broken, the purer the Word; the less that has been learned, the more corrupt its release. The ministry of the Word is based on the condition of the man before the Lord.”

“When the Holy Spirit finds it possible to put the Word in a person’s mouth because the emotion, thought, will, and spirit of that man are under His control, then there is revelation.”

“Every area of our life must therefore be dealt with by God. Always remember that to be a minister of the Word is not a cheap matter.”

“God does not put His Word in man for him to repeat verbatim. He puts His Word in man for the latter to search out with his mind. He gives light to man that man may grasp it and think on it. He places a burden in man for him to find appropriate words to express that burden. It is man who thinks, searches, and speaks; even so, God is able to acknowledge that it is in truth His very own Word.”

“If you as a person have not been pruned and refined by God, your opinion will not be dependable. Any bit of its projection will spoil the Word of God. How God has trusted you as His minister! He gives you a light and burden, and then allows you to think out and feel His Word, even permitting you to form your own opinion. He trusts you. He still works in you that all your opinion, thought and feeling will be like His. This is New Testament prophesying, New Testament ministry of the Word.”

You can read some previously posted quotes from this book by clicking here.

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Thursdays With Oswald—The Spirit Of Antichrist

May 1, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Oswald ChambersThis is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

The Spirit Of Antichrist 

     The spirit of antichrist is that spirit which “dissolves by analysis” the Person of Jesus—“someone unique, but not what the New Testament claims.” To preach the Jesus of the Gospels at the expense of the Christ of the Epistles is a false thing, such a false thing that it is antichrist to the very core, because it is a blow direct at what Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do, viz.: expound Him to the disciples, and “through their word” to innumerable lives to the end of Time. 

     If I say, “Of course God would never convey a right interpretation of Himself through a handful of men like the disciples,” I am casting a slur on what Jesus said, telling Him that His reliance on God’s promise of the Spirit was without justification; that His basis of confidence on the Holy Spirit’s revelation of Himself to the disciples was misplaced. 

From Conformed To His Image 

The spirit of antichrist is any thought that diminishes God’s Word, or diminishes the Person of Jesus Christ. But I don’t want to spend my time trying to spot the counterfeit, antichrist teachings. I want to know the Original—the Authentic—so well, that I can easily spot the antichrist forgeries.

This means that I must study all of the Bible. I cannot exclude the Old Testament; nor can I choose the Epistles and ignore the Gospels, or vice versa. As I study, I must rely on the Holy Spirit’s help. He breathed on the men that wrote the inspired Word, so He is the only One Who can breathe on my heart and mind the truth of the Word as I study it.

If the spirit of antichrist was already being discussed in the New Testament, and again by Oswald Chambers 100+ years ago, how much more prevalent must it be now! I must know the Authentic Word and the Authentic Christ so well that I can immediately identify the masquerading antichrist.

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