Synopsis
A Synopsis of the Tongues articleWhen in public Jesus Christ taught in parables. This is the method he used to veil the meaning of his teachings. Jesus would explain to His followers that the knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God was intended for them and not for unbelievers. This type of communication is referred to as “speaking in tongues”.
There is a separate ability or gift mentioned in the bible that is associated with the gift of speaking in tongues or parables. This similar gift involves the ability to interpret or explain a parable or message in tongues to other Christians.
This ability or method of teaching in parables is a gift from God and not a learned talent. Similarly the ability to explain a parable is not a learned ability but is a gift as well.
The Apostle Paul was without a doubt a Christian teacher of the first order. The majority of New Testament theology is based upon his understanding of Christ Jesus and his message to the world.
While teaching the Corinthians about the spiritual gift of “speaking in tongues” the apostle referred his students to Isaiah 28:11. The following phrase links the Old and New Testament understandings of this gift.
by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this people
When God commissioned the prophet Isaiah he was told to “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes”.
In the instance of Isaiah 28 the prophet Isaiah was sent to a particular group of sinful (unbelieving) priests or ministers to fulfill his commission. He told them that “their covenant with death had been annulled”. The purpose of this article is not to interpret this mysterious statement but to identify Isaiah’s statement as a message delivered to the Priests employing the gift of God called “speaking in tongues”.
The prophet spoke a “parable” or “a message in tongues” to the priests, and the purpose of the message from God was to cause the sinful priests to backslide in their faith.
The unbelieving priests considered the words of the prophet Isaiah to be foolishness. Since they could not understand Isaiah’s message to them the priests would not respond to His call to change. They would continue to pursue the wrong course in their ministries.
The obedient followers of God however would have understood that the message to the priests indicated that God would only give the disobedient priests a little understanding here and a little there. They would not be given the understanding necessary to lead people to progress spiritually.
These priests were not filling their office in a godly manner and God had decided to discipline them by withholding understanding from them. He told them this in a manner that would be understood by sincere followers of God. Insincere people however would consider this prophetic message to be foolishness.
In contemporary cases such as this a Priest or minister may try to continue in their ministry even after spiritual impotence has become apparent to others. This would involve transferring the emphasis of the ministry from Christ Jesus to a building project or a fund raising program. In such cases an entire group of people may end up being led by a spiritually blind leader.
This is a form of misdirection on the part of the leadership, and it will become apparent to the Priests followers. The influence of this type of Priest or minister will decline over time.
God wants the people who follow his son Jesus Christ to understand the Bible. This understanding either comes through a “gifting” or through natural spiritual growth. Those who hold themselves up as teachers or ministers are expected to make progress in their faith and help others do so as well.
Those who teach Christianity are subject to a stricter judgment than others. If they abuse the “gifting” of the Lord they will not be allowed to progress in their service to the Church of Christ.
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A Synopsis of the Law article
There are rules to Christianity. Most people know this, however some Christians are under the impression that since they are saved that they are no longer under the law. In their minds this phrase “no longer under the law” means that they do not have to submit to the rules that Jesus laid down. This is an incorrect application of biblical principles.
To be clear, the rules at question (God’s law’s) are summarized by the statement – You must Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.
If a Christian says that they are no longer under the law of God they are telling you that the law does not apply to them since they are under the grace of God. This is true but many times is misunderstood. They are usually quoting a portion of a bible verse, which says that – sin does not have dominion over them because they are no longer under the law, but under grace. The truth is that the law does apply to Christians and if they are not “under the law” they are not sinning and are under grace.
To understand what this really means a person must understand the concept of being “under” something. If a person is under something then that thing is over them. In this case a set of rules is the authority over the person who sin’s.
There is an example of this biblical principle in our society. If a person is “under’ the authority of the law they have violated the law and are subject to the judgment prescribed by the law’s of society. When this pertains to spiritual matters the governing authority is of course God, and the judgement is based on the laws mentioned previously.
In the old testament or old method of doing things a follower of God who had violated God’s law had to perform what the Bible calls a “work of the law”, (an action that the law requires) in order for the person to be forgiven. This was essentially some type of penalty, such as the sacrifice of some portion of the sinner’s property to God. The person would give the sacrifice to the priest (God’s representative) so that they could no longer benefit from possessing it. The priest would then kill the sacrifice to atone for the sin of the person. After this sacrifice the person could consider him or herself forgiven.
Under the new Christian system (after Jesus crucifixion), when a person recognizes their previous behavior to be in violation of the law’s of God they can go to Jesus for forgiveness. This is how the law of God leads a person to Christ. Upon the confession of their sin to God they are forgiven, and they are then under the grace of God. Under this new covenant with God the confession of the particular sin would be considered the “work” or action that the law requires of the person before they can be forgiven.
Contrary to popular opinion this forgiveness is conditional. The person first must recognize their behavior as sinful. If the sin is not recognized as a violation of God’s law the Christian could continue to practice the behavior and continue to be “under the law”. This Christian can expect to be judged according to the laws of God. Many times a person can continue in sin for years without recognizing their behavior as sinful.
The grace of God teaches a person not to sin. When a person is not in violation of the law’s of God they are “under the grace” of God. They are cooperating with the grace of God as it teaches them how to refrain from sinning.
The phrase – not under the law but under grace – applies to those people who are not sinning.
So it is clear that this misunderstanding springs from quoting a small portion of a bible verse and not quoting the verse in it’s entirety.
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