JESUS IS LIFE

Being a Christian means being a disciple of Jesus Christ. It does not mean just holding correct theological beliefs. It is a radical surrender to Jesus in our hearts and lives. And when we make that kind of commitment to surrender ourselves to Him, He becomes our life. He is the very reason for our existence.

Jesus lives within us and is to live life through us. Through the presence of the Holy Spirit, Christ lives within us and gives life to our mortal bodies (Romans 8:10-11). He is not talking here about the bodily resurrection at the end of time. Those will be IMMORTAL bodies (1 Corinthians 15:53).

Our mortal bodies are what we live in now. And because Christ is in us (Galatians 2:20), we have life in Christ. Jesus means real living. One of the greatest verses in the New Testament is where Paul says that Christ is our life (Colossians 3:4).

There is no other way to the Father in heaven except through His Son Jesus Christ. And He gives eternal life to those who view Him as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Christ GIVES life, and Christ IS life Himself. And those are two things that we must never forget or lose sight of.

John makes this statement: Whoever has the Son has life, and whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:11–12). We have life when we “have the Son.” This is a personal relationship with Him. When we choose Christ, when we choose to follow and love Him, we have eternal life. Without Him as the center of our life, we do not have life. So He gives life, but more than that, He IS life. Real life. Lasting life. Abundant life here (John 10:10). And eternal life in heaven.

Perhaps no greater statement has ever been made by a follower of Christ than this one: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). This is the perspective from which to view the world. This is the “correct” view of life on earth and everything about it.

Christ Himself is our reward. He is our salvation. He is our blessing. He is our Prophet, Priest and King. To us He is EVERYTHING.

So choosing to live for Christ becomes a life-changing event. Choosing to love Him and put Him in the proper place on the throne of our lives is truly what life on this earth is all about. It is all about Jesus Christ Himself.

      Bryan Dewayne Dunaway

JESUS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD

The Bible teaches that when Jesus was raised from the dead, He ascended to heaven forty days thereafter. This is a source of great comfort and encouragement regarding the accuracy of the Scriptures and our personal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself.

That He took His seat at the Father’s right hand in heaven when He ascended on high is a testament to the fact that His work was completed. The finished work of salvation allowed Him to “sit down” at the Father’s right hand (Hebrews 10:1-14). Jesus at the right hand of God speaks of His honor and His glory and His authority, as well as the fact that salvation is an accomplished mission.

Psalm 110:1 predicted the ascension of Jesus and His coronation at God’s right hand: “The LORD said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your foes a footstool for your feet.” The eternal purpose and plan of God concerning His accomplishments through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are tied to Jesus being seated at the right hand of the Father. The Bible makes continuous reference to this in that connection (Acts 2:33-36; Hebrews 1:3).

Why is He seated at the right hand of God? What is He doing? He is representing a finished salvation and serving as our advocate (1 John 2:1). “Christ Jesus who died—and more than that, was also raised back to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34).

What does it mean that Jesus is our intercessor and advocate? We don’t fully know. I don’t have to know and understand everything about what He is doing to know that He is doing it for me, for my well-being and on my behalf. And I can praise Him for it and be thankful for it, lack of understanding not withstanding.

This is a continual act of Christ on my behalf. And I am thankful for it.

Everything Jesus does, He does because He loves me and saves me. That’s the way we should view it.

All of us go through periods where we are not as strong in the faith as we would like to be or need to be. There are times of struggle, depression, loneliness, temptation, and all of these things war against us. But even when we sin, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

Because I have a friend in heaven, who represents me and did everything for me, I have confidence to approach God’s throne to find the grace and mercy I need in my daily life (Hebrews 4:14-16).

When we read about the “right hand of God,” we should immediately be mindful that it is a place of superiority, a place of honor and glory, and represents the finished work of salvation, as well as Christ’s ultimate victory over all of His enemies, and therefore over all of our enemies (Mark 16:19; Colossians 3:1).

When we think of Jesus at the right hand of God, we should also think of the word exaltation. Christ has been exalted above everything else. We know that the victory He accomplished at the cross was completely successful, and we also have the assurance that He will return from that exalted position to come and let us share in His glory when He comes again.

God “raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority” (Ephesians 1:20-22). All things have been placed under the feet of Jesus, signified by His rule at God’s right hand, meaning that He is what the universe and all that is in it is all about.

Jesus is what life is about. And He will one day come and bring all things into fruition that God has been working toward since the Garden of Eden—the glorified salvation and consummation of the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:24-25).

Jesus ruling in this heavenly position means that He now rules on “David’s throne” over the kingdom of God (Acts 2:22-36). God’s true kingdom was never a physical, earthly one. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). It does not “come with observation” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a spiritual kingdom and Jesus is the ruler. There is not an earthly throne from which Jesus will reign. He reigns in heaven right now.

Because our Savior reigns from heaven, we can live boldly and with absolute confidence in this world, not fearing anything (Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 3:21).

And the fact that He is in heaven must not cause us to think that He is far away from us. On the contrary, His presence at the right hand of God means that He can also dwell within us through the presence of His Holy Spirit.

He is paying attention to us, He cares about our lives, and He is there to help us (Hebrews 10:12-13). The old song says, “When He was on the Cross, I was on His mind.” But we are still on His mind as He reigns at God’s right hand.

When we think of salvation and eternal life, we need to think of Jesus at the right hand of God. We need to think of the fact that He is seated there because His work is finished, but we also need to remember it is from there that He has a bird’s eye view of our lives so that He can help and encourage us. He is not watching us to catch us doing something wrong. He is watching over us because He loves us and cannot take His eyes off of us.

As the great Stephen was being killed for his faith in Christ and the bold things that he said, he looked into heaven and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55-56). This is the only reference in the New Testament to Jesus “standing” rather than “sitting” at the right hand of God.

Why was He standing? No doubt out of respect for Stephen and to welcome him into His eternal arms.

Because Jesus is at the right hand of God, we can have the same assurance that such will happen to us. We may not see Jesus in the same way that Stephen did when it comes our time, but we will see Him through the eye of faith. He will be there, His grace and His presence will see us through.

And eternity in heaven awaits those who keep their “eyes fixed on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2). There the writer says that Jesus should have our full attention at the right hand of God because “for the joy set before Him” He “endured the cross” and then “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

This spiritual reality, which we know by faith because we believe the promises of God, drives us to and gives us the spiritual strength for a life of obedience and holiness. Jesus has prepared a place for us to go where He is, and so we can live with endurance and strength (John 14:2-3; Revelation 22:3). We should think about heaven because that is where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1-2).

      Bryan Dewayne Dunaway

JESUS AND THE GREAT TRIBULATION

The simple and biblical view of “The Great Tribulation” is nothing fanciful or speculative. And it may not be an “exciting” appeal to the flesh or an excitement to the intellect to occupy the mind. The truth, I believe, is far more direct and simple and meaningful than that.

According to Jesus, the great tribulation has already happened. It happened in AD 70 when Rome attacked the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the temple and killed millions of people. Yes, the great tribulation was the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies in the first century.

Jesus is the Prophet that Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18:15-18. He was not just A prophet, He was THE Prophet sent by God.

A prophet was one who spoke for and communicated for God. Jesus spoke with the absolute authority of God because He is God.

How do we know that He was a true prophet? One of the reasons is because He predicted the fall of Jerusalem a generation before it happened and before there was any reason to believe that it would ever happen.

In the Olivet Discourse, which was Jesus’s teaching on the Mount of Olives in answer to questions His disciples had about the fall of the temple and the end of the Jewish age. Jesus said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world until this time” (Matthew 24:21).

This was a direct reply to a direct question (Matthew 24:2-3). This was not just something Jesus brought up because it is even now yet to happen in the future. The disciples asked Him about His statement that not one stone would be left upon another when He viewed the temple. He predicted its destruction, in other words, and the disciples wanted to know when it was going to happen.

“Then Jesus went out and left the temple, and His disciples came to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, Don’t you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down. Now when He was on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:1-3).

That is how the whole teaching about the “great tribulation” came about. Jesus was answering a first century question in the first century. His words were spoken FOR us, but they were not spoken TO us. They were spoken to the people of that time concerning things that they would witness.

In spite of all of the blessings that God had bestowed on Israel as a whole, they, led by the religious leaders, rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Think of that. A religion based on awaiting the Messiah rejected Him when He came, which resulted in His death. That is what Jesus was talking about (Matthew 23:37-38).

The Jewish-Roman war occurred from approximately AD 66–70 and culminated with the fall of the city of Jerusalem and the total destruction of the temple, including all of the temple records upon which the Levitical system that developed under Moses was based.

This event was the fulfillment of much prophecy. Jesus Himself said plainly that these things would occur in the lifetime of the ones to whom He was speaking (Matthew 24:34). He was not talking to you or me. He was talking to them. Yes, it was said for our benefit because there are principles that we learn from it, as well as the fact that it reveals that Jesus could predict the future, which only God can do. But He was not warning us of anything that is still to happen in the future in this discussion. “That generation” has long passed and Jesus’s words were fulfilled. The great tribulation has already happened.

While Jesus gave no signs to look for that would herald His imminent bodily “second coming,” He did give many signs for first century believers to watch out for to know that the great tribulation—the fall of Jerusalem, the attack upon Jerusalem—was coming. When He spoke of wars and rumors of wars, and false Messiahs, and famines, and earthquakes, and persecution, He was talking about the impending fall of the temple (Matthew 24:5-9). We read about the fulfillment of these things both in the New Testament record as well as references from secular historians like Josephus.

During the reign of Claudius, there was a great famine, which was given great emphasis in the infancy stage of the early church (Acts 11:28). Acts 5:36-37 refers to the appearance of false Messiahs during that time. Jesus said to them, not to us, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that the desolation thereof has come near” (Luke 21:20).

That was THE sign that the great tribulation was about to happen. When Jesus’s followers saw the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem, they were to leave town as fast as they could (Luke 21:21-22).

We know from history that Christians who listened to Jesus did just what He said. They escaped the destruction because they knew what to look for and they had been warned concerning what was about to happen.

Christians avoided the great tribulation by fleeing to Pella in Greece before the Roman attack. They escaped this demonstration of God’s wrath for the rejection of His Son by fleeing. These were Jewish men and women who listened to Jesus and escaped the judgment of God because they accepted Jesus as their Messiah and obeyed His commands.

When Jesus referred to the fall of Jerusalem—the great tribulation—as the “abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24:15), His hearers (most of them, anyway), would have recognized that phrase from the Book of Daniel and the prophecy that Daniel made (Daniel 9:26-27). This had reference to the pagan Roman soldiers desecrating and then demolishing Solomon’s temple. As a means of mockery and humiliation, the Romans even brought idols into the temple’s holy place, which would have been called an abomination in the Old Testament. All of this was the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy that “the people of the prince who is coming will destroy the city and the sanctuary” (Daniel 9:26).

The things that Jesus said in this context had absolutely nothing to do with anything still to come in the future. He was not talking about the rise of “the Antichrist,” He was not talking about things happening between nations in our day, He was talking about something that was about to happen back then. The judgment for rejecting Christ was coming upon Judaism.

Jesus did use apocalyptic and symbolic language in reference to these things. When He said in Matthew 24:29 that the “sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,” that would not have been a surprise to His Jewish listeners who were familiar with the Old Testament’s apocalyptic language (Isaiah 13:10, Joel 2:10). This kind of speech is symbolism referring to the fall of nations and the opponents of God. It is not speaking about events that will literally happen in the cosmos.

Often when God brought judgment upon a nation, He described it as HIM coming upon that nation. While there will be a literal coming of the Lord at the end of time (Acts 1:9-11), the “coming of the Son of Man” in Matthew 24:30 must be interpreted in light of the context of what Jesus was talking about and the other things that He said. Here He was not talking about His bodily return, but about the fact that when the Roman armies came against Jerusalem, that was the judgment of God. And therefore God was “coming” in judgment.

We see that God “came on the clouds” to bring wrath upon Egypt (Isaiah 19:1). Using the same symbolism, Jesus came in the clouds of judgment against Jerusalem.

Revelation 1:7 is also about the coming of Jesus and judgment upon the nation of Israel when it says, “He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him.” Those who in the first century rejected Jesus and were responsible for His murder, would see Him coming in judgment when Rome attacked the city of Jerusalem.

While the temple was still standing, in the intervening period between the death of our Lord and the fall of Jerusalem, God stated that the Old Covenant was “ready to vanish away”  (Hebrews 8:13). It completely vanished, was gone, was taken out of the way, when the temple was destroyed.

So the Great Tribulation was an event from the past that has already happened. Its fulfillment happened literally in the first century. Jesus would go on in Matthew 24 to talk about His literal, bodily return, which suggests that the great tribulation was a “type” of the end of the world and God’s final judgment upon sinful humanity if they reject Jesus. But the great tribulation itself has already happened.

The great tribulation signified the end of the Old Covenant age and the establishment of God’s true kingdom. It did not have reference to something global and eschatological as far as the world itself is concerned. That will come, but that is not what the great tribulation was.

As long as the temple stood, Jews who rejected Jesus could point to the temple and say that “we are the true children of God.” But Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ, like Jesus and Paul and Peter and all the apostles and the church in Jerusalem that started in Acts 2 were saying, “No, Christians are the true children of God.”

And the Jews who rejected Jesus held an advantage over the Jews who accepted Him as long as the temple was still standing. Because they could point to the temple and say, “Everyone knows that God set that up.” But when the temple was destroyed, God showed the world who His true children, His true chosen people are—Jews and Gentiles who accept Christ.

If you want to understand when the great tribulation would happen, all you have to do is believe the words of Jesus: “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34). All of the things He spoke about up until that statement were going to happen in the historical context of the first century.

Some say this casts a negative light on the Bible’s prophecy. On the contrary, continuous unfulfilled speculation from “prophecy experts” about the end times and how Jesus is always “coming soon” because the “signs are being fulfilled” and “the end is near” because of how bad the world is—those are the things that make a mockery of Bible prophecy.

When people are told that they need to get their lives right “because Jesus is about to come,” and then He doesn’t come during the specified time, that means that biblical prophecy failed. But biblical prophecy did not fail. And it does not fail. Because what Jesus prophesied actually happened when He said that it would.

     Bryan Dewayne Dunaway

SPEAKING IN TONGUES

When it comes to questions such as, “Do Christians still speak in tongues today?”, we must decide in advance whether or not we are willing to base what we believe on what the Bible teaches.

If we base our beliefs on our experiences or on what we have personally seen and experienced in religious gatherings, then we are no different from other religions of the world. If the basis for what is true and what is not is one’s own personal experiences, then every religion would be legally valid. Because every religion has unexplainable and emotionally-driven phenomenon within them.

I have heard that some Hindus, for example, can walk across live, burning coals with their bare feet. I cannot explain how they can do that without being burned.

But if I let the Bible determine what I believe, then I cannot believe it is the Holy Spirit doing things like that. The Holy Spirit does not work in the Hindu faith.

And I could be wrong, for I do not have all the answers, but if we let the Bible determine what we believe about this subject, then we might come away believing differently than we would if we just went by experiences we have had and behaviors we have witnessed in other people and used a few Bible verses that we believe support what we have experienced. Again, everyone has had experiences they cannot explain. And every religion claims occurrences that cannot be explained.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS STUDY

Let me start by saying that I truly love all of my brothers and sisters in Christ who are in the “Pentecostal” denominations and “Charismatic” groups who believe that they speak in tongues. Nothing that I write here is intended to offend anyone and if you disagree with my conclusions, I hope that we can still love each other mutually in Jesus Christ. I am against the “miraculous gifts” doctrines of Pentecostalism, as are believers in most mainline denominations today. There are millions of believers who do not believe in speaking in tongues today.

That, in itself, does not prove anything. It could still be true, regardless of how many people do not believe in it. But I am just making the point that the biblical position that I take on this subject is not a novice one or new one or unique one. It has been around the longest and it is likely believed by the vast majority of Bible students and scholars today, even if they have not or do not know exactly how to articulate it.

Also, when I am dealing with something with which I disagree personally, I am not seeking to have a combative tone. One might notice that my writing approach on this subject, for example, is different from the way I attack the doctrine of Calvinism. I do not attack Calvinists personally because I believe that most of them are very sincere and love Jesus. But Calvinism and any other doctrine or system of beliefs which I believe strike at the very heart of the Gospel, make my Lord into something He is not, and make Him look bad in the eyes of people who need to know how wonderful He is, that gets the “fire in my bones” going.

Someone believing that they “speak in tongues” does not deny the Gospel, in my judgment. Not in any way. From my observation—and that is all I can go on in this matter—the vast majority of believers who claim to speak in tongues obviously love Christ personally. (I am not speaking about the ones you see on television. I do not know them personally, but the way most of them go about it seems very harmful to the cause).  Anyone who loves Christ that way is on the same team that I am on regardless of whether or not we agree on speaking in tongues.

The subject, however, is still an important one to study and try to get to the bottom of. Because if you believe that you speak in tongues and another believer believes that you don’t or that she does not, then there is an element of division, at least in that area over that subject. And anything that divides the people of Jesus needs to be dealt with and studied.

So regardless of whether or not you agree with my conclusions, know that I am coming from a place of concern for what I believe the Bible teaches because of my love for Jesus. And we have far more in common than our differences on “spiritual gifts.”

But we must admit from the outset that the phenomenon of speaking in tongues—glōssolalia, from the Greek γλῶσσα, glōssa, which means “language,” as much as it means “tongue”— has for many, many decades been a source of division and confusion and debate among the people of God.

While we know for certain that some Christians spoke in tongues during the days of the apostles that we read about in the Book of Acts and in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, many, if not most of us, believe that this was a temporary gift given by the Holy Spirit to some—not all—believers in Christ during what should be considered as the “building phase” of the church. The Gospel and the body of Christ were being confirmed and proven, if you will. A temporary, foundational time in history is clearly revealed in the Bible.

It took place between the time of the Lord’s death to establish the New Covenant and the body of Christ with His blood on the cross, and the end of the Old Covenant and the Law of Moses as competition with the Gospel.

This ending happened with the fall of the temple in AD 70 at the hands of the Roman armies. Between those two events—the death of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem—the church was being built and confirmed in the eyes of humanity as the true kingdom of God.

So we should liken spiritual gifts to scaffolding on a house while it is being built. It is necessary while the house is under construction, but once the house is completed, the scaffolding is no longer needed and is taken away.

Before the days of a completed revelation, like we have in the canon of Scripture, the temporary signs and wonders were needed to establish and confirm the Gospel and thus are no longer needed today. The Gospel has been confirmed.

Today, people have the choice to accept or reject the Gospel message. If they choose to reject it as it is revealed in the completed New Testament, then that is all they are going to get. The Gospel message is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who will believe it (Romans 1:16).

While this article is lengthy because there are many points that need to be made, I hope you will find it worth your time and that you will calmly consider the easily understood points that are made. Even if you do not read the entire article in one sitting, I encourage you to read it all.

Let us study this subject point by point. These facts did not originate with me, but I am “standing on the shoulders of giants.”

TONGUES WERE A SIGN

First, tongues were primarily a sign for Jewish men and women who did not believe in Jesus.

We have the authority of God, given by the writings of Paul—who was chosen by Jesus to be an apostle, and was miraculously enabled to speak and write the word of God—that tongues were a sign for unbelievers, not for believers.

This miraculous manifestation of God was given, in other words, to convince unbelievers of the truth of the Gospel.

Does the modern-day “tongue speaking” phenomenon convert unbelievers to the Lord? Or is it something that an unbeliever looks at and thinks is silly and untrue? Real speaking in tongues in the Bible convinced people of the Gospel’s truth. Even those who did not want to believe in the Gospel.

Here is what Paul wrote:

“Therefore tongues are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers…” (1 Corinthians 14:22).

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah had prophesied that there would come a time when God would communicate truth to His people in “strange lips and with a foreign language (tongue)” (Isaiah 28:11-12). God’s use of foreign languages (Hebrew: lāšôn ʾaḥēr) to those  of whom Isaiah prophesied means that He spoke in something other than their native Hebrew to indicate His extreme judgment for their unbelief.

Paul, writing in the Greek language centuries later, spoke to the Corinthian believers in 1 Corinthians 14:21 employing the Greek word ἑτερογλώσσοις (heteroglōssois), “other tongues/languages,” showing that the act of speaking in tongues was a legal sign to Jewish men and women who did not believe the Gospel. It was not intended as something people of God would do until the end of time.

THE SIGNS WERE TEMPORARY

Second, the New Testament explicitly teaches that the gift of tongues was temporary.

Paul had already said, concerning the miraculous gift of speaking in tongues, that it would cease:

“Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will pass away (καταργηθήσονται); as for tongues, they will cease (παύσονται); as for knowledge, it will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:8–10).

Paul, in plain  language, said that tongues would cease, but he used different words. He said that  tongues would “cease” (Greek: παύσονται, pausontai)—in the middle voice— indicating that tongues would play out on their own without external force.

Prophecy and what is clearly a reference to supernatural knowledge in this text would be “done away with” (Greek: καταργηθήσονται, katargēthēsontai)—a different verb in the passive voice, indicating that there would be an active removal of those things.

I believe, and there are many far more capable students than I am who would agree with me, that Paul’s use of different verbs here was intentional, demonstrating that tongues would be the first gift to cease. It was, in other words, the least important of all the signs. That is at least a possible interpretation.

Paul even said that he would rather people prophesy than speak in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:5) if he had to make a choice between the two.

If there would be no “outside factor” that would cause the end of tongue speaking, he seems to be saying that tongues would naturally expire when the gift had served its temporary purpose.

WHEN THE PERFECT COMES

Third, we need to look closely at Paul’s phrase that tongues would cease “when the perfect comes.”

In 1 Corinthians 13:10, Paul makes this informative statement:

“But when the perfect comes, that which is in part will pass away.”

While there is disagreement over what he meant by the phrase “the perfect,” this is the key to understanding when tongues would cease. Paul clearly said that they WOULD cease.  And it is difficult to find a reason why he would tell believers that they would cease if they were never going to cease at any point while the earth still stands.

Having said that, it is clear that identifying what “the perfect” is, is the key to knowing when tongues would cease, because Paul says when “the perfect comes” they would.

Those who believe that people today still speak in tongues argue that “the perfect” is a reference to the return of Christ and/or the end of time. Tongues, in other words, according to Paul, would continue until Jesus returns at the end of time.

But is that what he meant? Would that even be something that he would have to say, since obviously all aspects of Christian life and service on earth will cease when Jesus comes again?

You do not have to know Greek to have a relationship with Jesus, read and understand the point of the Bible, or to go to heaven. But when it comes to knowing what Paul meant on some issues, knowing the meaning of the words that he used helps tremendously. And since he wrote in Greek, knowing first century Koine Greek to an extent is very helpful and informative.

Paul wrote that when τὸ τέλειον (to teleion, “the perfect”) comes, tongues would cease. That word, while accurately translated as “the perfect,” also means complete or the end of something.

If he was referring to the completion of the New Testament record and the closing of the canon of Scripture—when the New Testament was finished, in other words—this would have been the perfect word to use in reference to that.

Notice in the context as you read it, in 1 Corinthians 13:8-13, that Paul is making a contrast. And the contrast is not between earthly life and eternal life in heaven, but between a knowledge or revelation that is incomplete and one that is complete. The revelation of truth is the context, not a discussion of heaven and earth.

James refers to “the perfect (Greek: νόμον τέλειον, nomon teleion) law of liberty” (James 1:25). So “perfect” can and does refer to completed Scripture.

The New Testament also teaches that, while God presented and revealed Himself and His word in different ways in times past—given in parts, in other words—He now speaks through the word of His Son (Hebrews 1:1–2). And the word of His Son is the completed New Testament.

So when the process of revelation was closed in the first century, and the canon of scripture was closed (even those who believe in speaking in tongues today, do not believe that anyone has the authority to write Scripture and add it to the Bible), the temporary gifts of confirmation, such as speaking in tongues, were no longer needed.

TONGUES WERE LANGUAGES

Fourth, tongues were languages, not enraptured utterances.

We are introduced to the miraculous gift of speaking in tongues in the second chapter of Acts when the Holy Spirit came down upon believers (Acts 2:1-4). And it is also this chapter that provides the clearest definition of what speaking in tongues actually was.

As the apostles “spoke with other tongues,” those who were listening did not hear gibberish or ecstatic utterances.

“Each one was hearing the apostles speak in their own language” (Acts 2:6).

The word translated language or tongues is διάλεκτος (dialektos). Think of the English word “dialect.” They were hearing languages, in other words, not strange sounds or some type of “heavenly speech” they had never heard before (when you read the word “tongues,” you should immediately think of the word “language”). That would not have been a sign of any kind to prove anything to them.

But the apostles’ ability to miraculously speak in other languages—the miraculous “translation” by God into some seventeen languages so that each one heard what was said in his or her own language (Acts 2:8)—was to convince their Jewish auditors that the words that they were speaking were truly the words of God.

God confirmed what they were saying, in other words, by the miraculous sign of tongues. Those who heard the apostles actually asked, “Why is it that each of us hears their words in our own native language?” (Acts 2:8)

So, according to the Bible, “tongues” were understandable human languages, not strange sounds that no one could understand.  The Greek word γλῶσσα (glōssa) that is translated “tongues” in the King James Version means “language.”

Think of the difference it would make if our Pentecostal brothers said, “We speak in languages at our church” instead of “we speak in tongues.” “Speaking in tongues” is actually a human construct based on a word that is not the best translation of that word.

So in the Book of Acts, if we let the Bible define what “tongue speaking” was, we see that it was comprehensible human languages. There is simply nothing in the Bible to support the idea that tongues were erratic or unintelligible sounds made by believers in the early church.

Some will argue that Paul spoke of the “tongues of angels” in 1 Corinthians 13:1, so human languages were not the only kind. These brothers and sisters maintain that an angelic language would be something that human beings on earth would not be able to understand with the naked ear.

But several observations need to be made concerning this point. First of all, if the “tongues of angels” was different from the “tongues of men” in which the apostles spoke in Acts 2, why does one continue while the other does not? If there were two different types of “speaking in tongues,” then why aren’t they both still around?

No one today is speaking in languages they have never studied, are they? If they are, they should be able to do so to convince those who do not believe that this is happening today that it really is. In other words, if you can speak in tongues, your attitude should not be, “you believe what you believe, but I know what I have seen and experienced.” But rather, you should demonstrate your ability to speak miraculously in a language that you do not know to convince us that you can.

Also, you cannot attach an interpretation to the “tongues of angels” that makes it support your theory and your experiences. It cannot mean now what it did not mean when Paul wrote it in the first century to the Corinthians. And nowhere in the Bible is there a reference to some “heavenly language” that angels speak that humans are not in on.

When Paul says the “tongues of angels,” the reasonable interpretation would be that he is using stylistic hyperbole. He also spoke, after all, in the same context, of “giving his body to be burned” and “having all knowledge,” and these were both hypothetical situations (v. 2–3).

No one in the early church possessed “all knowledge” and Paul did not at any point willingly give his body to be burned, nor did anyone else in the New Testament.

CONSIDER HISTORY

Fifth, I believe we need to consider the historical record.

The writings of the “early church fathers” in the centuries immediately following the first century reveal that believers accepted the fact that tongues had ceased by then. This may be debatable in the minds of some, but you can examine what is said for yourself historically, and see what you think.

What we know without question is that Christians did not obsess over and talk about “speaking in tongues” until the Pentecostal movement originated in Topeka, Kansas in 1901 and the subsequent “Azusa Street Revival” in Los Angeles from 1906 to 1909.

THE GOSPEL HAS BEEN CONFIRMED

Finally, we need to have proper respect for the fact that the Gospel message of Christ has been confirmed and is, by itself, powerful enough to convert people today.

Even Pentecostals agree that the canon is closed. Even though Pentecostal pastors and teachers often claim that God is speaking or writing through them, they stop short of saying that what they speak and write should be added to the Bible, the way Paul’s and Peter’s and John’s writings were. They admit that the canon is closed.

But if one miraculous gift—speaking in tongues—continues to this day, then why do they not all continue to this day? If one can miraculously speak in tongues today the way Paul did, why can someone not still write an authoritatively inspired document the way Paul did?

Why do preachers who claim that they work miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit today not also claim the ability to write Scripture and add to the Bible? Why has one miraculous gift—inspired writing—ceased, but another—tongue-speaking—has not?

If Pentecostal preachers and teachers went as far as to claim the ability to write Scripture and add to the Bible, they would be completely ostracized by the entire “Evangelical” community overnight.

The Word of God, the Gospel of Christ, was confirmed by the miracles that are recorded in the Bible. Something would be wrong with a message that needed to be confirmed repeatedly throughout history. No, it was confirmed during one foundational period and it remains sufficient and confirmed forever.

We simply must believe in the sufficiency of the Bible to give us the message of God and the sufficiency of the Gospel of Christ to convert people and strengthen them in the faith. In other words, the Gospel of Christ is sufficient to convert people to Jesus, and the words of the New Testament record are sufficient to strengthen and build us up in living for Him. This is because all of these things point to Jesus Himself and a personal relationship with Him. The Bible is about Christ, not about miracles, wonders and signs or the Pentecostal movement.

Yes, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us and helps us in obeying and serving God, but it does not teach that it does so today through miraculous gifts.

Jude 3 says that followers of Christ should “contend earnestly for the faith that was ONCE FOR ALL delivered to the saints.” The New Testament, and therefore the Bible itself, is complete because of the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20). The work of God through them was sufficient, and miracles, wonders and signs are no longer needed today.

Notice how the words of the inspired apostle Peter support this idea:

“We have the prophetic word confirmed more fully, to which you would do well to pay careful attention…” (2 Peter 1:19).

If you read Peter’s words in context, he is saying that the written word is more lasting and sure than even the actual experiences themselves upon which they are based. Because the Scriptures were given by eyewitness testimony, and by those who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write things for God.

CONCLUSION

A study of the Bible, church history, and the actual words that God employed through His apostles to teach us, support the fact that speaking in tongues was a temporary gift to serve a specific purpose in the first century. The church was in its infancy stage and needed to be confirmed as the truth of God by miraculous activity. The same way that Jesus worked miracles to prove that He was really from God (John 3:1-2; 5:36; 10:37-38; 20:30-31; Acts 2:22).

Tongues were actual languages known by people. They were words and sentences that could be understood. They were given primarily as a sign to physical Israel that the Gospel was true, even though the Old Testament temple was still standing at the time.

The miraculous gifts of the Spirit established the identity and authority of the apostles of Christ. Once the foundational truths of the Gospel were established and confirmed, and the temple was destroyed in AD 70, tongues had served their purpose and were no longer operative. They “ceased” just as Paul predicted that they would (1 Cor. 13:8).

Jesus said that He would “confirm the word” with miraculous signs until the end of the Old Covenant age, not until the end of the world (Matthew 28:18–20, NIV; Mark 16:15–20). The writer of Hebrews said that the Word of Christ has been confirmed by miracles, wonders and signs and gifts of the Holy Spirit through those who were with Jesus while He was on earth (Hebrews 2:1-4). It has been confirmed.

Let us say one final thing in this regard. If you are absolutely convinced in your own mind that you speak in tongues, or that speaking in tongues is for today, and nothing I have written in this article has convinced you otherwise, then it must be remembered that we are united by our common allegiance to and love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Your message should not be “speaking in tongues,” but it should be the glorious good news of how wonderful Jesus is, and how powerful what He has done to save us is, and how it is available to everyone.

Even while the apostles were alive, not every believer spoke in tongues and tongues had nothing to do with whether or not someone had faith in Christ or was a true believer.

In other words, while it is your choice what you will believe about this subject, it is not your choice when it comes to whether or not someone who disagrees with you is saved.

There are some “tongue speakers” and believers in current day miraculous gifts who seem to believe that those who truly have the Holy Spirit will have them. Even if they are speaking in tongues, they are making way too big of a deal about it.

If one is obsessed with speaking in tongues or the gifts of the Spirit rather than the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:2), then that in itself suggests that they are not really being led by the Holy Spirit. One who is led by the Spirit will focus on Jesus Christ, not on miraculous gifts.

So whatever your personal reasons are for believing that speaking in tongues is for today, it is not a part of the Gospel and does not have to be believed and accepted by others in order for them to know, love and follow Jesus. Childlike, simple, trusting faith and love will do that.

Tongues has nothing to do with anything when it comes to whether or not a person knows Jesus and has the Holy Spirit within them. Please don’t be divisive with your beliefs about speaking in tongues.

I realize this article does not cover everything and does not answer every argument or question on this subject. I also believe there are questions about it that no one can fully answer. But is the position taken a biblical and reasonable one?

I do not judge the sincerity of your beliefs, nor do I question your steadfast love for and commitment to Jesus. But focus on and talk about the things that all who love Jesus and believe in Him can be united on. Love and goodness and kindness and doing good to others in His name and living obediently to Him in this world. That is what being a disciple of Jesus is all about. It is about loving Him and striving to be like Him, not about “speaking in tongues.”

      Bryan Dewayne Dunaway

DAILY TIME WITH JESUS

The most important thing we have to do each day is to spend time with Jesus. We simply cannot afford to neglect this daily discipline. Our spiritual health and vitality depends on it. Jesus is the source of our life and our strength. Make time with Him the most important part of your day.

As our example concerning how to live close to God, Jesus made time to spend with His Father, no matter how busy He was (Luke 5:16). So many things are constantly clamoring for our attention. Christ, however, deserves to have the full attention of our lives, and He is the only one who does.

We are not talking about something that should be viewed as a duty, but rather as a privilege. It is our joy to appreciate Christ and who He is to be in our lives. There is no relationship with anyone, including Jesus, without spending time with them. Our time with Jesus needs to be daily fellowship.

Jesus said that He is the vine and we are the branches, and without Him we can do nothing (John 15:1-5). The way to be strengthened and enriched and fed by the vine is to take time to meditate on His word and talk to Him, believing that He is listening because He desires intimate fellowship with us.

The great invitation of Jesus is to “Come to me, all you who are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Coming to Him begins by coming to Him for salvation, but we should continue to come to Him daily in renewed fellowship and concentration on Jesus as our spiritual life.

While we need physical rest at times, and Jesus can certainly help us in every aspect of life, this is primarily rest for the soul that He promises us. It is a time of spiritual connectedness and renewal that can come only from the hand of Christ.

Time with Christ is never wasted. You are not too busy to spend time with Jesus. You are too busy NOT to spend time with Him. In other words, the affairs of your life need to be ordered with the correct priorities, with Jesus as the first one. Everything else is better when Jesus has His rightful place in our hearts.

We are mindful of God’s provision for His people in the wilderness, the daily manna with which He fed them (Exodus 16:4). They were not allowed to gather manna for the next day. They had to trust Him daily to provide for them. The only relationship with Jesus is a daily one. It cannot be once a week “at church.” Our devotional life is essential to being the people of Christ.

Jesus spoke often of “abiding” in Him. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31). Abiding in Him should be equated in our minds with thinking about Him, meditating on Him, and spending time with Him each day.

Jesus’s friend Mary knew that spending time with Christ was the “better part,” more important than any “work” that we can do for Him—as important as that is (Luke 10:42). Work must be understood as flowing from our relationship with Jesus.

Again considering the 15th chapter of John, we see that Jesus said that by abiding in Him, we will bear fruit. Working for Him will take care of itself if we spend time with Him.

Let us sit at Christ’s feet daily and receive strength from Him. Let us spend time with Him, like Mary sitting at His feet, to receive from Him the things that we need each day to live for God.

The sweetest thing in life is personal fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

     Bryan Dewayne Dunaway

THE AMAZING JESUS

There are so many reasons why Jesus is amazing. It would be impossible to list all of the ways in which He is. There has never been anyone like Him. There will never be anyone like Him again. He brings “life and immortality to light through His Gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). He is the most amazing man who ever lived. Yes, there is hope—real, lasting hope—because of Jesus.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried, was raised from the dead, and therefore, He is alive forevermore (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Because of His death and resurrection, because of the work that He did, we can be new creatures in Christ. Everything is made new because of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). He once lived in the flesh upon this earth (John 1:14). But where is He now? He is at the right hand of God, having ascended into heaven to represent and make intercession for His people (Hebrews 7:25).

And, what’s more, He is coming back. He will return to judge the earth and render His name and legacy in an exonerated manner to the world at large (2 Timothy 4:1; Matthew 25:31-32). That’s why the most important thing in life is to be one with Christ and live our lives for Him. Always be ready to meet Him. Accept Him as your Savior so that when He comes, it will be a day of celebration for you.

As we live in this world, our amazing Jesus brings peace and comfort to our trouble spirits (John 14:27). This is a world of difficulty and pain. Of this there is no doubt. Through Christ, we have the forgiveness of our sins and His powerful presence to give us abundant life through His strength and power even now (Philippians 4:13; Ephesians 3:20).

The only way to heaven is through Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Eternal salvation comes through Him, and it is offered to the entire world (Acts 4:12). We have hope through Him, we have eternal life through Him, and we have the greatest purpose for living that is humanly possible to have (Ephesians 2:8-9, Colossians 1:27).

The amazing love of Jesus is shown through His compassionate death in our place. He died the death that we deserve. He died for our sins so that we can be saved. Even though He is God, He “made Himself nothing” and lived as a servant (Philippians 2:7). His compassion and love for us, amazing in its capacity, is shown through His willingness to suffer in a world He created, and to be rejected by the very people He came to save (Luke 9:58; Isaiah 53:3). The greatest act of love in the history of the world happened when Jesus died on the cross for sinners.

And even in His death, we see how amazing He is, and how amazing His love is. For even as He was mocked, while dying, He was concerned about the souls of the ones who were responsible for His death. He prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Because He lived an amazing life of perfection and obedience to the Father’s will, and because He died a loving and sacrificial death for us, He now freely offers eternal salvation to all who will accept it (John 3:16). He was the most selfless man who ever lived. Truly amazing. He proved His love for us by dying for us (Romans 5:8).

Jesus is amazing because He completely and perfectly revealed God to us. We cannot understand or know God in and of ourselves. God has to reveal Himself to us, and He has willingly and freely chosen to do that very thing.

Jesus is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:1-3). He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:17). Everything we need to know about God is found in Christ Jesus.

Think of all the amazing works He performed while He was on earth to prove His authority over the world, over sickness and over death. No person can compare to Jesus, the Son of God. He turned water into wine (John 2:1-11), healed the sick and gave sight to the blind (Luke 17:12-19; John 9:1-7), and even commanded the winds and waves to be still (Mark 4:39). Even more amazingly, He brought his friend Lazarus back to life from the dead (John 11:38-44). Therefore, we are talking about a man who has authority and power over death itself.

And yet, we see His amazing character and the greatness of this man, not merely in the fact that He possessed such power, but in the way that He used it. He did not use it to make His life easier or to glorify Himself. He did things to help others and to bring glory to His Father.

Rather than using what He had been blessed with for personal gain and profit, He displayed an amazing love and acceptance for those who were oppressed, ostracized, sick and hurting in any way (Luke 4:18). He showed us what the Father is like, making God accessible to us and known to us (John 14:9). The miracles that He did were not a personal display of selfishness. They were not tricks. They were manifestations to prove that He was and is the Son of God and that He came to reconcile us to God the Father (John 21:25).

How amazing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is!

           Bryan Dewayne Dunaway

CALVINISM: “UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION”

Calvinism, by its very nature, complicates and obscures the simple and clear Gospel of Christ. It teaches things like “two wills of God” (revealed and secret), “two calls of God” (external to all and internal to the elect only), “two loves of God” (“general” “love” where He does nice things for people on earth but has chosen them to go to hell, and “saving” love which He only has for His “elect”), two levels of atonement (sufficient for the non-elect but efficient for the elect only), etc., etc. This is all just convoluted nonsense.

“From then on Jesus began to preach, Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17). Jesus spoke to the general population and told them to repent. And yet, according to Calvinism, He secretly knew that not everyone COULD repent. Only the “elect” can. So He was calling out to people telling them to do something He knew they could not do. That makes our Lord a deceiver. Any doctrine that would do that must be rejected outright.

Paul said to unbelievers, “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now He commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to Him. For He has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man He has appointed, and He proved to everyone who this is by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31). Paul told everyone that they must repent. But if “unconditional election”—the idea that God has elected some to be saved, and others to be lost—is true, then Paul was in on the secret and he deceived people, as well. He was commanding people to do something he knew full well that they could not do.

The Bible tells us “all Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Tim 3:16, cf. 2 Pet 1:21). What we need to know is what God has revealed. Endless speculation and theorizing about mysterious things like God’s sovereignty is not to be the believer’s focus. Of course we are to believe that God is sovereignly in control, but if we think that what the Bible teaches about sovereignty negates human responsibility, and ability, then we don’t know anything about the sovereignty of God.

The doctrine of unconditional election, espoused by Calvinist and “Reformed” theologians, plainly teaches that God selects some individuals to be saved, and others to be lost. How they describe God’s election of the unsaved to be lost is irrelevant. If God intentionally chooses some individuals and not others, then He has created some people to go to heaven and some people just to go to hell. Calvinism demonizes God and deifies human intellectualism.

Regardless of whether or not you have faith, in other words, God chose you to be saved. And they cannot deny this, because they deny that the fact that God foresaw who would have faith and who would not have it has anything to do with His election. It was totally by His own will. Which means that it is God’s will that people go to hell and be lost and that has been His will all along. If that were true, that would be His right. He is God. But since it is not true, and that is not the God of the Bible, this is a disgusting and offensive way to view God.

This doctrine is totally at variance with the Bible and the Gospel message. This is not the Gospel and there is no such thing as “unconditional election.” The Bible teaches that the Gospel is for everyone and that everyone has both the responsibility and the ability to respond to God’s gracious offer of salvation. Everyone.

The most familiar verse in the Bible has to be explained away by the Calvinist as though it does not exist. For it tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His Son to die for us so that we can all be saved (John 3:16). Everyone can be saved because Jesus died for everyone.

What does the Calvinist make of this verse? He has to say that the world “does not mean everybody in the world,” which it clearly does. They have to place a shady interpretation on it that says God elected people “from all over the world,” but not every single person, so not everyone can be saved. This is just false. Jesus said that “whoever” believes in Him and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16). And I believe Jesus.

If “unconditional election” was a real Bible doctrine to be taken seriously, then there would be no urgency to evangelism. In fact, there would be no reason to evangelize at all from any logical standpoint.

But even if you do so to obey a command, when you are sharing Jesus with the lost, if you believe that they are elect or not elect, trying to persuade them to come when you know some of them can’t come would be a foolish waste of time. You could just “obey the command” to tell them the Gospel. If you do and they don’t come, they are not your problem to worry about. You don’t have to try and persuade them. They can’t come if they’re not elect. Why would any Christ-follower want to believe something like this?

The proponent of unconditional election has too many Bible obstacles to overcome for this to even be taken seriously. God clearly says that He shows no partiality (Romans 2:11 (Acts 10:34; James 2:1, 9). Did He lie? What could be more partial than choosing someone to be saved and another to be lost?

Contrary to “unconditional election,” the Bible says that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all – ALL—should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). 1 Timothy 2:4 says God “desires EVERYONE to be saved.” It is impossible to harmonize these verses with the Calvinistic doctrine of unconditional election—that God willingly chose to elect some and not to elect others for salvation. In Acts 10:34-35, Peter plainly says that it is the “truth” that God shows no partiality,” but everyone who fears Him and seeks Him will find Him and be saved.

The Gospel is a universal call to everyone. Again, if that is true—and it is—then there is no such thing as unconditional election. Jesus invited “all” of those who are “weary and burdened” to “come to Him” for rest (Matthew 11:28). The requirement is not that you be “elected.” It is that you realize your need and decide to come. Revelation 22:17 extends the salvation invitation to anyone who wants to come.

Even though everyone does not choose to accept the call, the call is freely offered to everyone. The Gospel is for all. Calvinism is not. Calvinism is not the Gospel. It is a perversion of it.

Unconditional election is deterministic fatalism, whether we see it for what it is or not. It reflects negatively on the character of God, has Him making claims about Himself that are not true and requiring a higher standard of morality from His people than He exhibits Himself.

Contrary to Calvinism’s “unconditional election,” the Bible tells us to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) and to make “your calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10). In the Bible, the elect are those who accept Jesus.

God desires a reciprocal relationship with everyone. The will of humanity is not so corrupt that we cannot choose to follow Jesus without God doing the choosing for us. All of us have a choice to make. Will we receive or reject Jesus? And all of us have another choice to make. Will we accept the true Gospel or will we believe Calvinism?

         Bryan Dewayne Dunaway

JESUS OUR BEST FRIEND

It has been said that a true friend is someone who knows all about you and yet loves you anyway. That is certainly the case with Jesus. The hairs of our head are all numbered (Luke 12:7). He knows everything about our lives, our thoughts, our hopes, our dreams, our struggles—everything (Psalm 139:1–4).

The Bible says that a friend sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). That is descriptive of Jesus, the best friend you will ever have. Because the fascinating thing about it is, He does not just offer us friendship, but He offers us Himself. Meaning that He is always with us, He does not forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He is a friend, but He is more than a friend. He is our life (Colossians 3:4).

Which of your friends does this sound like:“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). Jesus proved the depth of His love and friendship for you. What would He have to do to prove His love and His loyalty more than what He has already done?

His death was about saving us from our sins. It was also about bringing us into a state of reconciliation with Him (Romans 5:10–11). That is companionship, where we are together forever with Him.

True friends are there for you when life gets tough (Matthew 11:28). Jesus is a safe space for His friends, bringing peace to our lives no matter what is going on around us (John 14:27). Friends are always ready with wise council when it is needed, and Jesus is not only the giver of wisdom (James 1:5), He IS true wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30).

No one on earth is a perfect friend to another person. But Jesus is perfect. And even when we fail Him, failing to show loyalty the way that Peter did, Jesus still wants what is best for us, looks for our return, and is ever ready to forgive us and restore us to Himself (Luke 22:61–62; John 21:15–17). This is a friend who takes up for you and looks out for you “when you’re not around” (Romans 8:34).

Your life will never be the same when your best friend is Jesus. If you want Him to be, He will be. Come to Him in faith. There is no one like Him. His love for you and His presence in your life are always constant.

Few things are better than spending quality time with a loyal friend. With Jesus, you can spend all the time with Him that you want. Daily, even moment-by-moment fellowship with Him is not only possible, but it is what He seeks. Listen to His voice and grow in your dependence upon Him through daily and consistent fellowship (Revelation 3:20; John 14:23).

Obey Him and allow Him to live inside of you (Galatians 2:20). By so doing, you will see His love overtaking you. Not only will His love embrace the totality of your life, but you will find yourself loving others because of Him (1 John 4:19).

One of the greatest blessings in the world is true and loyal friendship. It makes life better all the way around. But, unfortunately, in the world in which we live, true friends are not the easiest thing to find. But because God is a God of love, there is one friend that we can depend on no matter what. Jesus said to those who were willing to follow Him, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15). It is amazing to know that we can be on intimate terms of friendship and love with the creator of the universe.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is our Lord and Savior. But He is also the best friend you will ever have. Nobody loves you, cares for you, or likes you like Jesus.

      Bryan Dewayne Dunaway

RACISM

Racism among the people of God is simply unacceptable. In fact, living as a racist and claiming to be a Christian at the same time is impossible. Racism and love for Jesus are mutually exclusive and it is time that you accept that fact if you have not already.

There is no room for “respect of persons” when it comes to people who follow God, who is no respecter of persons. We should fight against oppression and any negative thinking toward people who look different from us. We must realize that our differences are superficial and skin deep. There is no superior race.

God asked through the prophet in Micah 6:8, “And just what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” A sense of right and wrong, and of justice, comes from God (Psalm 33:5). And those who follow God should stand up for those who are oppressed (Isaiah 1:17).

We are to love everyone and treat everyone right. We should see the brotherhood of humanity and that God only has one race in His mind, the human race. We are all descended from Adam and Eve. We are all one blood (Acts 17:26).

Racism would be eliminated completely if we would just do what God says. The constant command of the Bible is to “love your neighbor as yourself” (James 2:8; Matthew 22:39). And according to Jesus, that applies to everyone who is in any kind of need of your help.

He told a story that highlights both our responsibility to other people and the stupidity of racism (Luke 10:29-37). And those who have been victims of racism should remember that loving your neighbor as yourself includes loving your enemies (Luke 6:27-28).

How can people who are called to live with “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12) be racist in any way? How could we possibly think that one race is better than another in God’s eyes ?

As Christians, we can work together to make the world a better place. Although our focus should never be a “social gospel” or “reforming” a world that is under the control of the devil, we are to help people who are in this world by showing them the love and compassion of Jesus. Which means that we can take a stand against racism, whether it be systemic or individual. And the best way to do that—the way to start, if you will—is to make sure that you are not a racist yourself.

In Christ, we recognize that there are no racial distinctions in God’s eyes (Galatians 3:28). We are all one in Christ Jesus. So by taking our stand against oppression against anyone and refusing to take part in racist ideas and beliefs, we can work toward the unity for which Jesus prayed (John 17:20-23).

We are supposed to be one with everyone who is in Christ, and there are people of all races that are in Christ. So as believers, we see people as individuals created in the image of God for whom Christ died. We do not “see color.”

One of the things that the Gospel is capable of doing is breaking down any kind of divisions that exist among people. Racial divisions are brought down by the true Gospel of Christ. We have the answer to racism. Passing laws and signing bills, as important as those things are, has not ended racism. But the love of Jesus in the body of Christ would end it forever if people would believe and obey Jesus.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:14 that Christ “has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” That means that people who are oppressed by racial prejudice can run to Jesus for refuge and acceptance and love in the body of Christ. If they don’t find that love and acceptance where you are, then it is not the body of Christ that you represent.

James 2:9 is as plain and direct as could possibly be. If you show respect of persons, if you exercise prejudice against other people, you commit sin and have evil in your heart. You must purge this from your system. You must get rid of this. This is completely unacceptable and you cannot live for Jesus and do it.

The body of Christ, the church, is to represent to the world a unified picture. It is the church that should show people what unity in spite of being different “races” means. It is not the government’s role or the public school system’s role, it is the church’s role to show what true unity looks like. What living together as brothers and sisters with no racism looks like. The diversity of the body of Christ is one of its most important features (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).

The first ones to end segregation should have been the churches. In fact, there should have never been any segregation in the churches. But the churches were not the first ones to end it, the government was. And that is pathetic and sad. And even today segregation in churches is not a thing of the past as it should be. It is rightly said that Sundays are still the most segregated time in America.

“But we worship differently and have different cultures,” someone argues. To hell with our “different cultures” and “worship styles.” Those are not the things that matter. The things that matter are love for and allegiance to Jesus. And worshipping Jesus is not about a particular style of music or bodily movement, it is about focusing on the Lord Jesus Christ and loving Him above anything.

The very basis of racism is exposed and rejected by belief in the Bible, for the Bible teaches that we all descend from the same ancestors. We all come from God, Adam and Eve, and therefore there is in reality no such thing as a “mixing of the races.” We are all from the same father and mother, ultimately going back to the creation of the world.

Genesis 1:27 teaches that everyone has been created in the image of God. That means that the dignity of humanity forces us to recognize the dignity of every individual. We are one in Christ. End of story.

Did the apostles preach against racism? Of course they did. They weren’t dealing with “black versus white” racism, but with Jew versus Gentile racism. But the principles would apply no matter what races we are talking about.

Respect of persons, racism, is a sin and it will cost you your soul. Give it up. Repent. Confess the sin and change. Like any other sin, you can repent and stop living in it.

       Bryan Dewayne Dunaway

CHRIST IS THE SEED OF ABRAHAM

God’s covenant with Abraham is an important part of the Bible. To understand what God has done for us in Jesus, you need a knowledge of what God promised He would do through Abraham. And the glorious good news of the Gospel is that Jesus is the fulfillment of that covenant.

Jesus is what God’s promise to Abraham was all about. Jesus is Abraham’s inheritance. And all who believe in Christ and put their trust in Him as Lord and Savior become a part of that covenant and a part of that inheritance. Everyone who is in Christ is one of God’s chosen people. And we are the recipients of the blessings promised to Abraham.

This fact was included in the promise to Abraham. Even when the covenant was first made, it was not a fleshly covenant based on race. It was based on faith. Abraham had faith and we have faith, and God sees the faith we have the same way He saw the faith Abraham had. To Abraham, God even said that “all the families of the earth” would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3). God’s plan has always been to include everyone.

This promise is foundational for understanding the Old Testament. You do not have to understand everything in the Old Testament to know what it is about. It is about Jesus. And God’s covenant with Abraham is an important part of what God has done through Jesus. We see God reaffirm this covenant several times with Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 22:18, 26:4).

The New Testament interprets the Old Testament for us. We do not have to wonder what God’s covenant with Abraham was all about, because Paul explains it for us in the New Testament. Lest anyone get the wrong idea and think that it was a covenant with Abraham’s physical descendants, Jesus is the covenant with Abraham.

Paul said it was not to the multitude of Abraham’s fleshly descendants, but rather it was speaking of one single “Seed.” And Paul reveals who this was. It was not the physical nation of Israel or any other earthly nation. The Seed was Christ Jesus our Lord (Galatians 3:16).

Matthew was careful to show that Jesus was a descendent of Abraham (Matthew 1:1), which demonstrates the reality that Christ is truly the point of the covenant. Christ Himself is the heir of the covenant and all of the covenant promises, and those who belong to Christ are heirs of it as well through Him (Romans 8:17).

The covenant with Abraham was never a fleshly covenant. It never depended on mankind’s ability to do right. It was never a covenant of deeds, but rather a covenant of faith. It was not even a covenant based on the Law of Moses, which came 430 years later. But it was a covenant base on the unfailing mercy and love and grace of God (Galatians 3:17-18).

So we should rejoice at this wonderful news. It is the Gospel. The word Gospel means good news. And the good news of the Gospel is that everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike, who receive the Lord Jesus Christ, are one with Jesus and share in God’s promises to Abraham. Paul writes, “If you belong to Christ, then you are the seed of Abraham, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).

Your standing before God is based on your relationship with Christ. It has nothing to do with your social standing or your race (Galatians 3:26, 28). Having the faith of Abraham, not being a physical descendent of Abraham, makes you a child of God (John 1:12). When we trust in Christ, then we are people of faith the way Abraham was. We are trusting in the promises and character of God. And thus, the Bible calls Abraham the father of all who believe (Romans 4:16).

The promises of God find their “yes” and “amen” in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20).   Everything that the covenant with Abraham pointed to is found in Jesus Himself. Nowhere else. Nothing else. Only in Jesus. If you have Jesus as your Lord and Savior, which you can have any time you decide to, then you are blessed with Abraham, the believer (Galatians 3:9).

Since we are the spiritual family of Abraham, then we are the recipients of all of the covenant promises. We are the true children of God—those who believe in Jesus and serve Him with their lives.

God swore by Himself to “surely bless” and “multiply” Abraham’s descendants (Hebrews 6:13-14). That’s right. In Christ, you are a descendent of Abraham. And you have the eternal spiritual inheritance promised to him because of Jesus.

Your spiritual inheritance in Christ is based on His love and mercy and faithfulness. It does not depend on your ability to keep law or on what race you are (Romans 4:16). If we trust Him and receive Jesus Christ, then we are “found in Him,” and are made righteous, not because of who we are or what we have done, but because of Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:9).

It simply will not do to claim physical heritage while rejecting Jesus. That will get you nowhere. That does not make you a disciple of Jesus Christ who is saved. Jesus said to physical descendants of Abraham, “I know that you are the descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me...Abraham did not do such things” (John 8:37, 39).

God has always intended to reconcile all of humanity to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). It was never about flesh or one nation, it was always about those who would put their faith in God and serve Him faithfully. We receive new life in Jesus Christ, being born again into the family of God (John 3:3-4; 1 Peter 1:3), And we become “fellow citizens with God’s people and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).

The family of God is based on faith in Jesus Christ, and that is where the oneness and the unity comes from (1 Corinthians 12:27). We are not looking for, nor are we concerned about a physical land here on earth, but we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20). The land promise of Jesus is spiritual, eternal life in that heavenly land, that “better country” that Abraham was seeking (Hebrews 11:10, 16).

So Abraham’s Seed is Jesus and we are Abraham’s seed because we are in Jesus. This is God’s eternal plan of redemption for everyone. Trust in Christ and you are in on all of the promises God has ever made concerning eternal salvation to His chosen people. Believers in Christ are the chosen people of God, the children of God.

      Bryan Dewayne Dunaway

JESUS OUR HIGH PRIEST

The Book of Hebrews makes many pertinent and important points about Jesus Christ and our relationship to Him. The constant theme of the writer is that Jesus is better than anything else. He is the one, He is the way, He is what it is all about. Everything. And the doctrine of Christ as our High Priest is one of the most important doctrines in the Bible, most thoroughly dealt with in said Book of Hebrews.

We do not approach God in the same way that people who lived under the Levitical priests of the Old Testament did. We go through the new and living way of Jesus Christ our Savior, our Advocate and our High Priest. The priests of the Old Testament system were sinners who had to offer sacrifices in a physical, earthly sanctuary to atone for their own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

Jesus is radically different from them. He has no sins of His own for which to atone. He is absolutely perfect in every way. The Levitical priests also had to keep offering sacrifices over and over in the Old Testament. Jesus offered His own body on the cross and entered the heavenly sanctuary, making full and complete and eternal atonement for the sins of His people.

This once-for-all offering of a perfect man in our stead and on our behalf means that there is no need for any more sacrifices. So the sacrifices that had to be repeated in the Old Testament are done away with by the new covenant of Jesus (Hebrews 9:11–12, 14, 24, 26).

Jesus has an eternal priesthood after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7:17), because He is eternal, and He is perfect. Therefore, His covenant is better than anything that preceded it (Hebrews 7:11–12, 22, 24). The work that He did as our High Priest was completely sufficient and only had to happen one time (Hebrews 10:10-14).

We must consider the humanity of Jesus when thinking about his role as our High Priest. He could not have sacrificed Himself for our sins if He had not first lived perfectly in obedience to God as a man in a physical body. The second chapter of Hebrews points out that Jesus had to become flesh and blood—He had to be “made like His brothers and sisters”—in order to free us from sin and to be able to sympathize and help with our weaknesses (Hebrews 2:17). He was really tempted in the flesh exactly like we are. The difference? He resisted temptation and never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).

This means that Christ, as our High Priest, has firsthand knowledge of what it needs to be human. He understands our struggles and temptations and problems, not on a theoretical basis, but from personal experience from the life that He lived on this earth (Hebrews 2:18, 5:2).

Think of the things that He experienced: frustration, anxiety, betrayal, sadness, sickness. We better believe that He knows what it’s like to be human and that He can help us in our humanity. Knowing that He sits at the right hand of God, representing a finished salvation, as well His first hand knowledge of what it is like to live on this earth, brings great joy and comfort to our hearts. Focus on the fact that Jesus “knows how it feels.”

Nothing will embolden you more or give you greater confidence than knowing that Jesus is your High Priest. The work that Jesus did for you as your representative, and on your behalf, means that you receive the grace of God and look forward to an eternal home in heaven. This priest offered Himself rather than the blood of animals like the old covenant priests did. The blood of animals cannot take away sins (Hebrews 10:4), but the blood of Jesus can (Ephesians 1:7).

We do not have to go through a human priest in order to get to God. Because Jesus is our High Priest, we have immediate and direct access into God’s very presence (Hebrews 4:16, 10:19–22). So the Bible tells us to draw near to God in full assurance of faith, knowing that we can boldly receive what we ask for and receive the things that we need to live for our Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:16).

Even in the midst of trials and temptations, we have the confidence and the faith that we need to hold on to Jesus and serve Him for the rest of our lives (Hebrews 4:14). Nothing brings greater confidence and joy to the heart of humanity than knowing that Jesus is at the right hand of God interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34). You do not have to understand everything about His intercession to know that it is real and it is good news. We have an advocate with the Father of Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1-2).

The fact that Jesus is our High Priest, whether you understand everything about it or not, is a reason to be happy. Trust the word of God on that. He has done things for you that you could never do for yourself. It is tremendous joy to know that Jesus lives in us, and we live in Him. Jesus saves us and remains in our corner, on our behalf, forever (1 John 2:1–2).

There are simply no words to describe how wonderful Jesus is. But studying and learning about Him and what He has done for us in so many different ways will help us to grow in our love and appreciation for Him.

     Bryan Dewayne Dunaway