Get Busy! Preach the Kingdom! by Bethany Reise

Get Busy! Preach the Kingdom!

It’s great to have knowledge, especially the true knowledge of the kingdom of God! However, it is also important to ask ourselves – what are we doing with this knowledge? Are we holding it to ourselves, stuck in our own little “Christian bubble,” or are we actively sharing it? If we’re not sharing it, we are not obeying Jesus’ command to preach the gospel and make disciples! We will be held responsible for what we know and what we’ve done with it. So I wanted to share an assignment from my evangelism class this year, to write a letter to someone explaining the gospel to them, and encourage you to think about how you can be proclaiming this live-saving message! How would you share it, and what are the necessary “ingredients” of the message?

(If you think this letter would be useful to share with someone, by all means copy it and adapt it to your situation!) Let’s get busy sharing this amazing truth!


“Dear —-,
Just finished up my evangelism class last week, and it has really got me realizing the seriousness of the things that God has said and how unprepared the Episcopal Church had left me, and I presume you and M— as well. It seems to me that it is easy to have a false assurance of salvation in that church, because of certain doctrines and practices they uphold. For instance, the church practices infant baptism. This practice usually connotes that an infant is eternally saved and a part of the church after they are dunked in water. However, the Bible does not support this notion. In the Bible, one is only baptized after repenting of their sin and believing the gospel message about the kingdom of God, Jesus’ atoning death, and his resurrection. It is only after believing Jesus’ gospel message and responding to it by obedient faith that one receives forgiveness of sin, the gift of the holy spirit, and reconciliation with God.

Baptism then, is response of faith to the gospel message (and a command from Jesus for all those who believe); the mere act is not a source of salvation by works. In other words it requires an intelligent confession of faith and repentance from our sin. Baptism symbolizes the believer dying to his old self, his sinful ways, and being spiritually reborn as a child of God. So infant baptism clearly isn’t biblical, and I am concerned because it can lead to a false assurance of salvation by nullifying the necessity of personal repentance, belief in the gospel message, and obedience to Jesus as spelled out in the Bible.

Another thing that I don’t think is wholly made clear, at least from my limited recollection, is the idea that faithfully going to church and “being a good person” will not be enough when we stand before a just and holy God on judgment day. Just think of a person who has been caught in the act of robbery and is being brought before the court. They are standing in front of the judge, who asks him if he has anything to say for himself. So the robber says, “Judge, I know that I robbed a bank but I really am a good person so you should let me go. I tithe my earnings faithfully and have gone to church every week. Really, I am a good person.” But is the judge going to let the robber off the hook? No! Any human court would send that robber to prison for his crime, regardless of the good things he had done. And that’s the way that it will be before God, for God is just and holy. We cannot stand on our own good deeds, we are being tried for our rebellion against Him! All the good works in the world cannot eliminate our sin.

So then, if our good works, our righteousness is considered as “filthy rags” before God, how can we be made right with Him? Fortunately God, in His great love for us has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him. We can be reborn again spiritually through the gospel. You know that part of the gospel, namely that Jesus died and took the punishment for our sins so that we could be cleansed from our unrighteousness. He made us righteous, reconciled to God. But the other part of the gospel seems to be lacking, the gospel of the kingdom. During his ministry Jesus proclaimed the message of the coming kingdom of God and gave people a “taste” of the kingdom through the miracles, healings, and exorcisms he performed. The kingdom of God concept has its roots in the Old Testament. It is the restoration of the world to the way God intended it to be, just like in the beginning of the Bible. In the beginning, God created mankind to dwell with him and reign over the earth. But mankind rebelled and was separated from God. But God set in motion a plan of redemption for mankind and a plan for the restoration of the earth, which is being fulfilled and will be fulfilled through Jesus. His sacrificial death has cleansed us from our sin so that we might have entrance into the kingdom of God, for no one unclean or sinful may enter in. But this isn’t the end of the story.



Jesus will be coming back on the Day of the LORD and all of those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of His Son will be destroyed. Those who believed the gospel and obeyed Jesus will be raised from the dead, just as Jesus was! Jesus will then establish his kingdom on the earth and will rule the world as God’s anointed King, with justice and righteousness. Jesus’ follower’s will reign with him and be kings and priests to God. After a millennium, Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire never to be released again, and the kingdom will be handed over to God. In God’s kingdom there will be no more pain, death, or sorrow. There will be peace, righteousness, and justice throughout the world. And God will dwell with his people forever. What a wonderful future for God’s children.


Jesus calls us to live our lives in light of this coming kingdom of God. By believing his gospel message, we are swearing our allegiance to God, through Jesus our King. And this requires living out a life of obedience to God. We are to learn Jesus’ commands and live them out in our daily lives. The Bible says in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” So this is a serious matter! We must learn what the will of God is, and do it! Hebrews 5:9 says that Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Eternal life is a gift to those who obey Jesus. That is why we really do need to follow Jesus, learn what he said, and do it.

God desires that we come to know Him and have an intimate relationship with Him because He loves us so much. We are literally, in His eyes, to die for. Jesus knew God as “Abba” or “Daddy,” and God wants us to have that same kind of intimate relationship with Him. And we can. Through the blood of Jesus, we are made right with God. We then can come to God and get to know Him through prayer and studying and our everyday life experiences. He wants us to be alive to Him in every aspect of our lives, to love Him and be loved by Him. He wants to be our Dad. So I just wanted to encourage you to seek to know Him more intimately, for He says that when we search for Him with all of our heart, all of our being, that we will find Him. God wants us to find Him. And I want to encourage you to follow Jesus and apply his teachings to your life, because it is only in him that we have eternal life.

Hope you’ve enjoyed just a taste of what I’ve been studying!
Love,
Beth”

The above article was taken from:

the Kingdom Ready Blog

Red-Letter Revelation by Bethany Reise

Red-Letter Revelation

Red-letter Bibles can be both a blessing and a curse – a blessing because they highlight the important words of our Lord Jesus, but a curse to the uninformed reader because occasionally the words highlighted in red are not actually the words of Jesus! One influential example of this may be found in the book of Revelation. In the New American Standard Bible, Revelation 1:8 is highlighted in red, suggesting that the following words are the words of Jesus. This verse reads “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” This red-letter emphasis conveys the idea that Jesus is the Lord God, the Almighty. However, a careful reader of the book of Revelation will question the accuracy of this red-letter emphasis, which is an editorial interpretation and not of the authoritative inspiration of God.

There are many commentaries that lend support the notion that the speaker in Revelation 1:8 is Jesus, the view put forth by the editors of the New American Standard Bible. The commentary titled Revelation, Four Views: A Parallel Commentary recognizes that “the expression who is and who was and who is to come has previously been used of God the Father,” citing verse four of Revelation, but believes that “the expression fits equally well when applied to Christ.”[1] The editor believes that expressions which are clearly applied to God the Father, like “Alpha and the Omega” and “the Beginning and the End,” seem to refer to Jesus in Revelation 22:13. Therefore, he asserts, that Jesus may be called the “Almighty” in verse eight, because Revelation “attributes to Jesus Christ titles uniquely attributed to the LORD in the Old Testament.” The Matthew Henry’s Commentary, with even less justification, writes simply that verse eight of Revelation refers to Jesus: “Here our Lord Jesus justly challenges the same honour and power that is ascribed to the Father, Rev. 1:4. He is the beginning and the end; all things are from him and for him; he is the Almighty; he is the same eternal and unchangeable one.”[2]

However, there are many other commentators which would disagree with the interpretation put forth by the Revelation, Four Views: Parallel Commentary and the Matthew Henry’s Commentary. Some, Like the Tyndale New Testament Commentary: Revelation of St. John, believe that the speaker of Revelation 1:8 is the Father. The author, Reverend Canon Leon Morris, writes “The Lord is most often used in the New Testament of Jesus, a usage which is found in Revelation (xi. 8, xxii. 20 etc.). But more often it refers in this book to the Father, as it does here.”[3]

...

Clearly it may be seen here that there are a number of commentators who would disagree with the red-letter highlighting applied to Revelation 1:8 by the editors of the New American Standard Bible.
Unsurprisingly, there are still other commentators who at such a loss over the identity of the speaker in Revelation 1:8, that they are unable to make any sort of positive identification. The authors of Revelation Commentary, write the following:

“1. The use of the phrase, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” has led to a debate. Is God the Father or God the Son referred to in verse 8? In the parallel passages of Rev. 1:17; 21:6; 22:1, Christ is equated with Almighty God. Yet, the Father is consistently identified with the same titles. Trying to decide which member of the Godhead is identified in verse 8 is impossible.”[5]

In the end, the commentators conclude that “It is as if both members are speaking at the same time. This may be closer to the truth John intends. This prophecy stands as the unanimous consent of God the Father and God the Son.”[6]

With all of the conflicting interpretations and explanations that are floating around the theological world, one must ask the question: What is the truth, who is the speaker of Revelation 1:8? The magnitude of this question must not be understated, for the answer impacts our understanding of the nature and identity of the Lord God, the Almighty. Tradition and Greek philosophy have taken a great toll on Christian “orthodoxy,” but there is still truth to be found through careful study of the authoritative words of the Scriptures. The controversy over the speaker of Revelation 1:8 may be easily cleared up if the Bible is allowed to speak for itself, without the bias of tradition and philosophy that has corrupted the doctrine of the church.

In the book of Revelation, God and Jesus are portrayed as two separate individuals, capable of interacting with each other. In Revelation 5, John records the scene of the opening of the book sealed with the seven seals. John sees the book “in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne” and is greatly upset when “no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or look into it” (Rev 5:1,3). However, he is reassured that “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals” (Rev 5:5). And he looks and sees a “Lamb standing, as if slain” between the throne and the elders…who “came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne” (Rev 5:5-7). This passage demonstrates that the person on the throne is someone other than Jesus, the Lamb who was slain.

Revelation 7:10 leaves no doubt in the mind of the reader who it is who sits on the throne: “…Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Rev 7:10). Clearly, it may be seen that Revelation makes a definite distinction between God, who sits on the throne, and Jesus, which would dispel any notion that God is a single person expressing Himself in three “modes.”

It has been proved that Jesus is identified in the book of Revelation as an individual who is separate from, and capable of interacting with, God. But does Revelation demonstrate that Jesus is God, perhaps the second member of the “Godhead?” There are several passages that would suggest that both Jesus and John thought otherwise. In Revelation 1:6, John writes that he, speaking of Jesus, “…has made us to be a kingdom, priests to his God and Father…” (Rev 1:6). So apparently, John though that Jesus had a God, whom he identified as the Father! But what did Jesus think; did he ever make any claims to be God? On the contrary! In fact, Jesus claimed that he had a God, not once, but five times!

In Revelation 3:2, he sternly warns the church at Sardis: “Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my God” (Rev 3:2). Ten verses later, Jesus encourages the church at Philadelphia, saying “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and My new name” (Rev 3:12).

Clearly, Jesus is not God, for one cannot be the Almighty God while having a God!
All of this evidence suggests that Revelation 1:8 cannot possibly be referring to Jesus, because it identifies the speaker as the “Lord God,” the “Almighty.” A reading of this verse in its original context will confirm the fact that the speaker of Revelation is in fact not Jesus, but God the Father. John starts off his message to the seven churches with the following greeting:

“John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood— and he has made us to be a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen”
(Rev 1:4-7).

In this greeting, the one “who is and who was and who is to come” is the one who sits on the throne. This individual has been identified in Revelation 7:10 as God. Jesus is mentioned here separately from God, and is said to have a God, the Father. So God, the Father, is the individual on the throne who is identified as the one “who is and who was and who is to come.” Immediately following John’s greeting is the controversial verse, which states “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:8). God the Father, the one who is identified in verse four as the one “who is and who was and who is to come,” is identified by the same expression in verse eight. The book of Revelation lends itself to no other possibilities – the Father is the Lord God, the Almighty, the only true God.

Revelation is not presenting any new theology or Christology, and the conclusion that has been drawn is consistent with the rest of the Bible. The Bible presents the Father as the only true God and Jesus as His uniquely born human son. The Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4, Israel’s monotheistic creed, states “Hear O Israel, Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The book of Isaiah clearly demonstrates that Yahweh is the Father and the only God: “… you, Yahweh, are our Father, ‘Our Redeemer’ is your name from of old” and “I am Yahweh, and there is no other; there is no God but Me” (Isaiah 63:16b; Isaiah 45:5).

The New Testament reaffirms this information. In his prayer addressed to the Father in John 17, Jesus says: “This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent–Jesus Christ” (John 17:3). It could not be any more obvious: Jesus believes that the Father is the only true God and that he himself is the one whom God the Father has sent, the Messiah.

Paul reiterates this same concept in 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). For Paul, the Father was the only true God and Jesus was his human son, who was the appointed Messiah, the future king of Israel.

Clearly, it may be seen that the red-letter highlighting of Revelation 1:8 is incorrect; perhaps a mistake or possibly evidence of a Trinitarian bias on the part of the editors. In any case, it should serve as a warning to every Bible student to not rely on the editors of their Bibles, and rather to carefully test and examine the Scriptures to seek truth.

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[1]Gregg, Steve. Revelation, Four Views: A Parallel Commentary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997.

[2] Henry, Matthew. Revelation. Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete). 1706. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/revelation/ (accessed May 5, 2013).

[3] Morris, Rev. Canon Leon . Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: The Revelation of St. John. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdsmans Publishing Company, 1969, p. 50.

[5] Van Kampen, Robert, Lee-Warner, Rev. Bill, Cooper, Rev. Charles, & Vaterlaus, Gary. “Chapter One: Prologue.” Revelation Commentary. http://www.revelationcommentary.org/index.html (accessed May 3, 2013).

[6] Ibid

The above article was taken from:

the Kingdom Ready Blog

Paul and the Pastoral Letters – Did Paul think Jesus is God? by Bethany Reise

Paul and the Pastoral Letters – Did Paul think Jesus is God?

What did Paul have to say about God and Jesus in his pastoral letters to Timothy and Titus?
Did Paul believe that Jesus was God?

1. Paul believed and taught that God was the Father.

1 Timothy 1:2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Timothy 1:2 To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

2. Paul believed and taught that there was a distinction between God and Jesus.
This clearly implies that God is separate from Jesus. Jesus is not God.

1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope,
1 Timothy 1:2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Timothy 2:3-5 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
2 Timothy 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Titus 1:4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

3. Paul believed and taught that it was possibly to be in the presence of both God and Christ. Once again, Paul makes a distinction between God and Jesus. If Jesus were God, these statements would not make sense. It would also be redundant.

1 Timothy 5:21 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.
2 Timothy 4:1-2 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
1 Timothy 6:13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

4. Paul believed that Jesus was a man, the human mediator between mankind and God.

1 Timothy 2:3-5 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

5. Paul believed that it was God who gave life to all things.

1 Timothy 6:13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

6. Paul believed that the Only God and Only Sovereign was immortal and invisible. He also makes a distinction between Jesus and the only Sovereign. Furthermore, Jesus was neither immortal nor invisible. He died and many people saw him, during his life and after his resurrection.

1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy 6:13-16 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

7. Paul believed that Jesus was the agent through which God saved mankind.
Here’s where it might be a bit tricky, (if you aren’t familiar with the concept of agency), since Paul referred to both God and Jesus as our Savior. So stay with me.

1 Timothy 4:10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
Titus 1:1-4 Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior, To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Now be careful when you read this next verse. Many Bibles have a comma after “our great God and Savior,” implying that Christ Jesus is our great God and Savior. However, commas aren’t inspired. They were added afterward in translation and copying, because the original manuscripts had no punctuation!

Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

In this next verse, Paul helps us understand how he can say that God is the Savior of all men, and yet call Christ Jesus our Savior.

Titus 3:4-6 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Here we see that God is the one orchestrating salvation through Christ. God is the ultimate Savior, acting through Christ Jesus as his agent of salvation. God’s arm, his right hand man, is carrying out his salvation.


To summarize and condense:
Paul believed that God and Jesus were not one in the same, since he introduced them as separate persons in his greetings and also said it was possible to be in the presence of God and Christ.
Paul believed that the Father was the only God and Sovereign, the one who alone possesses immortality.
Paul believed that Jesus the Messiah was a man, not God, the mediator between mankind and God.
Paul believed that God carried out his plan of salvation through Christ Jesus, making God our Savior through Christ Jesus.


To further support the claim that Jesus is not God and is not the Father, consider the logic of the following:
Paul taught that the only God was both immortal and invisible (Jesus was neither).

1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Armed with this information, we can make connection to Paul’s statement further along in his letter to Timothy.

1 Timothy 6:13-16 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—
He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.
To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

What do we see here? Well first, we see a distinction between God and Jesus. We also see that God, who gives life to all things and alone is Sovereign, immortal, and unseen by mankind, is the one who will bring about the return of Jesus!
Wow! Remind you of anything from the gospels?
How about Jesus statement in Mark 13 where he is talking about his return?

Mark 13:31 -32 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

The Father is the only one who knows the day or the hour of the Son’s return!
Paul says that the only God and Sovereign, who is invisible and immortal, will bring about the return of Christ Jesus! Jesus himself identifies this figure as the Father!

The above article was taken from:

the Kingdom Ready Blog

{My addendum:
AMEN!! Please note: Also the resurrected man Christ Jesus now possesses immortality as a gift from GOD His Father; Christ will die no more! [Rom. 6.9-10] This same gift will be given to all believers on the last day, when Christ raises the righteous dead. They too will be given immortality.
[Rom. 2.7, 1 Cor. 15.53-54; 2 Tim. 1.10] }