Online-SUNDAY SCHOOL
Ready Faith 3
AUG 14
1 PET 3:13 An important promise is
made in (1 Pet 3:12 RSV) "For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against
those that do evil."" Dr. Herschel H. Hobbs in his Studying Life and Work Lessons,
July-September 1980, page 82 wrote "Assuming that the Lord watches over
his own, who can “harm” them? … “The one doing evil” renders a future
participle. So the possibility of such is still in the future. This suggests
that the readers were not at the same time actually being persecuted, but the
probably was there - maybe threatening at any time.”
Note that Peter
addresses spiritual harm. God never promised physical protection. But naturally
we want physical protection. No normal person wants to be physically hurt. Dr.
Hobbs, page 82 “However, he qualified the idea with a condition. The “if”
clause expresses a condition not yet fulfilled but with the possibility that it
will be true….”Followers” renders the word for “zealots” (zelotai).” Thus a growing
Christian will not be spiritually harmed. But a babe in Christ might be. A case
in point is Acts 5. But Eternal Security is not negated. (Eph
1:13-14 RSV) "In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the
promised Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we
acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."
1 PET 3:14 Dr.
Note
what is going on in Iraq at this moment in time: This is by Gregory Tomlin, a
writer based in Fort Worth, Texas for the Baptist Press posted online on Jul
24, 2014. [Red
is my emphasis]
“Islamic militants
have eradicated virtually every trace of Christianity from Mosul,
Iraq's second largest city, Nina Shea, director of
the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, said on July 23.”
"There are
no Christians left in Mosul," Shea told CBN News. "They have all been driven out. They have
been told to convert to Islam or die, or to leave."
“Shea also said she saw reports of ISIS [Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria] militants destroying or defacing ancient Christian sites, such
as the supposed tomb of the prophet Jonah, fourth century monasteries and
churches. She added that militants tore down crosses in the city and burned
ancient Christian manuscripts.”
"There is zero
tolerance for the religious other on the part of this group," Shea said. "They are rabidly bigoted against Christians. They hate
Christians. They are eradicating every trace of the 2,000 year
history of Christianity in every area they have conquered, including in Iraq's
second largest city, the center of Christianity in Iraq, which is Mosul."
At
this moment there are no public Christians in Mosul. As far as ISIS knows, all
have either fled, been killed, or have converted. So how can we apply Dr. Hobbs
statement “Christians are not to be overcome by fear or to be “troubled””? Talk
is easy. As some ex-Christians in
Mosul may have done {my speculation], they have pretended to convert. Is this
correct? Should they have fled or stayed and been martyred? Consider (2 Ki
5:18-19a RSV) "In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant [Naaman]:
when my master [the king] goes into the house of Rimmon [the god of Damascus] to
worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when
I bow myself in the house of Rimmon,
the LORD pardon your servant in this
matter." {19} He said to him, "Go in peace."" Certainly when
Naaman “bowed himself in the house of Rimmon” all in this house (temple of pagan worship to Rimmon) thought Naaman was really
worshiping Rimmon. Technically he broke the Law, most notably the First of the
Ten Commandments: (Exo 20:3 RSV) ""You
shall have no other gods before me." The Hebrew means for before Me. Literally, in My sight
(i.e., either in addition to Me or in opposition to Me). God will not share His
worship with another. But Naaman did not do (Deu 8:19
RSV) "And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and
serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you this day that you shall surely
perish."
Who
are we to judge these Iraq Christians? We have not real personal reference. Would
they be sinning if they lied about worshipping Allah? Could we give them
assurances as Elisha assured Naaman that God would understand? What is Ready Faith
but a faith that is 1 PET 3:15? No Christian is to fear losing his/her
salvation and of going to Hell. How can we not fear bodily harm when Jesus said
(Mat 26:39 RSV) "And going a little farther he fell on his face and
prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;
nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."" It was because the
cup was all the suffering involved in the sinless Son of God taking upon
Himself the sin of mankind for all of time, including the necessary, though
temporary, separation from God (MATT 27:46). Jesus naturally shrank from this,
though He willingly submitted to it.
1 PET 3:15 Dr. Hobbs, page 83
"In the best Greek texts the reading is not "Lord God" but
"Lord the Christ." There is no article with "Lord." So it
reads "the Christ as Lord."... "Sanctify" means to set
apart" Jesus is the Lord Christ. A
ready and
Dr. Hobbs made a
vital point on page 84: "Your word of witness will be no stronger than the
example of witness found in your life-style." If you are not living as one
actually following Jesus as Lord, your witness will have poor quality. Dr.
Hobbs, pages 83-84 wrote “Later in the first century, Christians did exactly
this during the persecution by Domitian around A.D. 95. The issue involved
emperor worship in which people were to declare “Caesar is Lord.” [i.e. Caesar is a divine god.] Christians refused, instead saying “Jesus is
Lord.” For this they underwent terrible persecution, some even unto death.
Since the worst of this persecution centered in the Roman province of
It should be
noted that the majority of citizens and non-citizens went through the verbal
acknowledgement of saying “Caesar is Lord” but they did not believe it and did
not practice any worship to Domitian. So why did not the Christians do the
same? Consider again 2 Ki 5:18-19a. And note the comment of Dr. Hobbs on page
84 “Your word of witness will be
stronger than the example of witness
found in your life-style.” Respecting another person’s religious beliefs does
not mean you condone or endorse them. How does 1 PET 3:15 apply to Naaman and
the Iraq Christians of today?
1 PET 3:16-17 Dr. Hobbs, page 84 “A “good conscience” may
read a “positive attitude.”” Christians have every reason for a positive
attitude because of Eternal Security. The matter of evil doers being “ashamed”
may not happen until the Second Coming and White Throne Judgment, as Peter
pointed out earlier. This makes the issue of suffering very hard to take. You
may die and never see as a evil
person being made ashamed.
1 PET 4:1-2 Dr.
What is this
“same mind”? It is the dedication to service to whatever God calls a person to
be and do and to do so against all odds and all persecutions. The key words are
“Stand therefore, having girded your.” It is your responsibility and duty to
grow up! (1 Pet 2:2 RSV) "Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual
milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation;" This puts to practice (Phil
2:5 RSV) "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ
Jesus," Jesus showed the ultimate Ready Faith. We are to mature to attempt
to do the same, if we are tested to remain opening faithful.
Marvin
Ganote, Hobbs Study Class, Adult Teacher. Lesson at: http://dma1.org/~ganotemd/lesson.htm
or http://academic.udayton.edu/MarvinGanote/Bible/lessn.htm