MAX KLEIN BIBLE MINISTRIES
The Seven Baptisms
Written by: Max Klein
Baptism means identification or association:
Introduction:
1. This meaning began in Homer's time. Homer wrote of the one-eyed giant, Cyclops who had trapped Ulysses and his men in a cave and was eating them one at a time. The ingenious Ulysses devised a plan. He had his men sharpen a large log and together they rammed this log into the eye of the one-eyed Cyclops rendering him blind. They identified (baptized) the sharpened log with Cyclops’ eye which changed Cyclops from a seeing giant to a blind giant. Having blinded the Cyclops, they were able to maneuver their way out of the cave. Another example by Homer: Homer's Odyssey, book 9, used baptism for hot metal identified (baptized) with water when a smith dipped a piece of hot iron into water. This is how a blacksmith would temper swords in the ancient world. After this identification, the sword was made stronger and so less likely to bend.
2. Xenophon said that the Spartan military recruits after finishing infantry training would identify (baptize) their spears with pig’s blood. They would run by a barrel of pig’s blood and thrust their spears into this blood. This ritual, identified their spears with killing and the soldier’s readiness for combat with the enemy.
3. Euripides used the word for a ship identified with the bottom of the sea when it sank. Before sinking, the ship was valuable; after sinking it had no value at all.
4. So "baptize" in the classical Greek meant to identify one thing with another so that the characteristics of the original thing were altered. Therefore, the interpretation of the word "baptism" is identification with something that brings about a change.
5. There are a number of cognates related to this Greek word such as bapto, baptizo, baptisma, baptismos, baptistes, and embapto. A few examples follow:
6. John 13:26, “Jesus then answered, ‘That is the one for whom, I shall dip [the future of the Greek word bapto] the morsel and give it to him. So, when he had dipped [the aorist participle of bapto; the sop now takes on a new meaning that of honor] the sop [the morsel], He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.”
To give someone a sop [a special bit of food usually a piece of bread or meat with a tasty sauce] was the highest honor of a banquet. At a banquet a special piece of bread or meat was prepared along with a special sauce for the guest of honor who would then honor someone by giving it to that person. Jesus as the guest of honor took this sop and dipped it into a special sauce and gave it to Judas. In this way, the Lord Jesus Christ honored Judas as a member of the family of God, and for his ministry as an apostle to the Lost Sheep of Israel. This honor should have given Judas second thoughts regarding his plan to betray Jesus to the Sanhedrin.
7. Matthew 3:7, “but when he [John the Baptizer] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism [identification: the Greek word baptisma], he said to them, “You brood of vipers [poisonous snakes], who warned you to flee from the wrath to come [Baptism of Fire: identification with the fire of Torments and then the Lake of Fire]?”
8. Hebrews 6:1-2, “Therefore, leaving behind the elementary teaching about Christ, let us advance to maturity, not laying again the foundation [of the basics such as]: a change of thinking about dead works [just as an unbeliever must have a change of mind about Christ to obtain salvation, so the believer must have a change of mind about legalism (dead works) in order to obtain the spiritual life], and of faith toward God [Faith-Rest Drill], (2) doctrine of baptisms [the Greek word baptismos; a reference to the seven types of baptism as found in Scripture] as well as the laying on of hands [ritual rebound in the age of Israel], and of resurrection from the dead, and of eternal judgment [the Great White Throne Judgment].
9. Matthew 3:1, “In those days John the Baptizer [the Greek word baptistes; when John baptized someone into the Jordan River, the converts were identified with the plan of God and his kingdom.] came proclaiming [as a herald] in the desert of Judea.”
There are two categories of identification in Scripture namely an actual identification or a real baptism and a representative identification or a ritual baptism which uses water.
The four real or actual identifications with something that has significance.
1. The Baptism of Moses: 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 presents the baptism of Moses, "For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; (2) and all were baptized [the Greek word baptizo] into Moses in the cloud [the Lord] and in the sea." This was a real identification in which Moses was identified with the Lord and the open path through the Red Sea and the Jews were identified with Moses. By the way, none of the Jews got wet, only Egyptian unbelievers who were immersed in the water as a means of death.
2. The Baptism of the Cross is found in Matthew 20:22, “But Jesus answered [Salome by addressing her sons] and said, “You [plural: a reference to James and John] do not know what you [James and John] ask. Are you [James and John] able to drink of the cup [bear the punishment of all the sins of the world] that I am about to drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism [the sins of the world identified with Christ followed by the Father judging them] that I am baptized with [identified with]?” They [James and John] said to Him, “We are able. [the dumbest statement that James and John ever made]” [I selected the longer text as did Jerome.]
3. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Retroactive Positional Truth and Current Positional Truth) occurs at salvation for Church Age believers only.
Colossians 2:12. Having been buried [aorist participle] with Him [Jesus Christ] by means of the baptism [God the Holy Spirit identified us with the burial of Jesus Christ as part of our salvation] by means of which [Baptism] you have been raised up [main verb] with Him [in union with Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father] through faith [at the point of salvation] in the operational power from the source of God who has raised Him [the humanity of Christ was given a resurrection body] out from the dead [physical death].
Romans 6:3-9:
Romans 6:3: Or do you not know that all of us who [a correlative] have been baptized into [identified with] Christ Jesus [Current Positional Sanctification: we are in union with Christ in his life in heaven], have been baptized into His death [Retroactive Positional Truth and so identified with his substitutionary spiritual death on the cross]?
Positionally, (in union with Christ) we share His righteousness, heirship, priesthood, destiny, election, eternal life, royalty, sonship etc. All these making us a new spiritual species in Christ Jesus. The plural correlative hosoi (ὅσοι) means that if we were identified with Christ in heaven and we were, then also we have been identified with Christ in his substitutionary spiritual death in which he removed the power of sin nature. Thus, the sin nature should not have power over our lives.
A few more points will be noted:
1. Note that the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation enters the believer into union with Christ at the right hand of God the Father which union is called current positional truth.
2. This verse also mentions identification with Christ in His spiritual death on the cross which identification theologians call retroactive positional truth. Retroactive positional truth also includes identification with Christ in His physical death and burial as well.
3. Identification with Christ in His death, then, has a two-fold connotation namely all personal sins were judged at the cross and since that is the case, God the Father is free to provide in grace, the Recovery Procedure. The second connotation is that good and evil were rejected by Jesus on the cross since good and evil are a part of Satan’s policy and plan. On the cross, Jesus relied on the proto-type spiritual life which operated under the two power options namely God’s power system.
4. So, the old sin nature’s ruling power over the Christian has been broken since all sins were judged on the cross and the Recovery Procedure has been provided. So, Retroactive Positional Truth has destroyed the sovereignty of the old sin nature over the life of the Christian.
5. Also, since Jesus rejected the good and evil policy of Satan so should the believer reject Satan’s policy of good and evil as the believer applies Retroactive Positional Truth.
Romans 6:4: Therefore, we have been buried together with Him through the identification [Baptism of the Spirit] into His death [physical], in order that just as Christ has been raised up from the dead [on Resurrection Sunday], through the glory of the Father [through the Father’s power], [So also we, the dead in Christ, will be raised from the dead by the power of the Father, and those alive at the Rapture, by the power of the Holy Spirit.] in this manner we also might walk in newness of life [Experiential sanctification should reflect our future ultimate sanctification.].
Christ had to die physically “and Jesus having shouted clearly with a loud voice said, Father, into your hands I deposit my [human] spirit, and having said this, he exhaled” (Luke 23:46). This last exhale caused His soul and spirit to depart from his mortal body resulting in physical death. Just as Christ had to die physically in order to obtain his resurrection body, so we must depart from our body of corruption, or mortality in order to receive our eternal body called our resurrection body.
The Newness of Life:
1. The newness of life provided through the baptism of the Spirit includes positional freedom from producing good and evil. Not only are we free from the tyranny of good and evil but we are also free from having to produce good and evil.
2. The believer has no obligation to improve the devil’s world through social action, socialism, welfare state, communism, environmentalism, or any social gospel, social action, getting involved, etc.
3. The human race is protected from Satan’s policy of good and evil through the laws of divine establishment which promote freedom instead of improvement at the cost of freedom.
4. In addition to the Laws of Divine Establishment the believer is insulated from good and evil positionally through the baptism of the Spirit.
5. Divorced from the Old Sin Nature positionally and its useless activity of human good and the function of evil, the life of the believer can be devoted to glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ through maximum knowledge and application of Bible doctrine.
Romans 6:5: For if we have become united with Him [Christ, the new husband] in the likeness of His death [the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross], and we have, and not only this, but also, we shall be [united in the likeness] of His resurrection [Current Positional Truth: in union with the resurrected Christ].
Romans 6:6: Be knowing this [through Retroactive Positional Truth], that our old man [our former husband, the sin nature dates back to the Garden] has been crucified together [with Him], in order that the [human] body, with reference to its sin nature, [the sin nature located in the body] might be rendered powerless [when we use Recovery Procedure and the two power options], that we should no longer be slaves to the sin nature.
“Our old man has been crucified with Him” meaning that the power of the sin nature has been broken on the cross. Since the power of the sin nature was broken by the work of the cross, we as believers have no excuse for not executing the spiritual life. We will not be able to say to Christ at our evaluation that our sin nature was too powerful for us to execute the spiritual life.
A few points for further clarification:
1. Retroactive positional truth is that phase of the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation which identifies the believer with Christ in His spiritual death, physical death and his burial.
2. In the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross all the personal sins in human history were imputed to Christ, but at the same time the other two trends of the old sin nature were not imputed for judgment.
3. Good and evil is the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world and the function of the old sin nature as the sovereign of human life. In fact, the sin nature functions as the agent of Satan.
4. Good and evil were not imputed for judgment on the cross. Hence, in the spiritual death of Christ on the cross they were rejected to remain an issue in the angelic conflict, rejected to be perpetuated in human history as an issue every believer must face, and either overcome through the intake of doctrine or be entrapped by ignorance of doctrine and therefore lose out in glorifying God in time.
5. We are identified with Christ in His spiritual death, which means that we must understand that our sins have been judged and that good and evil has been rejected.
6. It all adds up to the fact that the sovereignty of the old sin nature over human life has been made powerless through retroactive positional truth.
7. The imputation of all personal sins of the human race to Christ on the cross means that the believer through the rebound technique is instantly forgiven sins, cleansed from all wrong doing which includes Satanic good and evil, restored to fellowship and filled with the Spirit.
Romans 6:7: For we who have died [the Christian is identified with the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ: theologically called Retroactive Positional Truth] have been acquitted [positional deliverance] from [the power of] the sin nature.
A few points for further clarification:
1. A dead person is discharged from the obligations of his former sphere of life. This is why the word “death” is used in this context. It is not a literal, physical death we are discussing but identification with Christ in His death.
2. As unbelievers we were under the authority of Satan as the ruler of this world, and under the authority of the old sin nature as the sovereign of human life.
3. Both the power of Satan and the old sin nature have been abrogated through the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation.
4. This passage, then, emphasizes the annulling of the power and the authority of the old sin nature as the sovereign of human life.
5. Positionally, the power of the sin nature has been broken. Experientially, the old sin nature controls to the extent that we fail to understand and utilize the provision and support of logistical grace.
Romans 6:8: Now if we have died with Christ, and we have [retroactive positional truth], we also believe that we shall live in association with Him [the instrumental of association; a reference to Current Positional Truth].
In this verse, the 1st Class conditional sentence shows the relationship between Retroactive Positional Truth with Current Positional Truth. The protasis, the ‘if’ clause states the reality of Retroactive Positional Truth and the apodosis, the concluding clause states the doctrinal inference and the reality of Current Positional Truth. While Retroactive Positional Truth presents positional rejection and separation from good and evil as the policy of Satan and the function of the old sin nature, Current Positional Truth relates the believer to the function of the royal family of God. In other words, they have separate functions.
Romans 6:9: Knowing that because Christ has been raised from the dead [He received a resurrection body], no longer can He die; [physical] death is no longer a master over Him.
Analysis:
1. Retroactive positional truth destroys the sovereign authority of the old sin nature over human life. Current positional truth, on the other hand, destroys the limited authority of physical death in human life.
2. Instead of being ruled by the old sin nature located in the cells of the human body and influencing our souls toward sin, good and evil, we now have a new sovereign, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are identified with Him in His deaths, in His burial, resurrection, ascension and session.
3. Before salvation and the baptism of the Holy Spirit our lives were under the absolute rule of Satan who is the ruler of this world and under the rule of the old sin nature which is the ruler of life, and under the limited rule of physical death. All of that, of course, has been changed since salvation.
4. Now both retroactive and current positional truth have abrogated the authority and power of these former rulers. The power of Satan over our lives has been broken through identification with the rejection of good and evil namely Satan’s policy and plan and through our position in union with Christ. The power of the old sin nature is broken through retroactive positional truth and the power of physical death is broken through current positional truth.
5. Therefore, having studied these things by principle and by implication we are now ready for application, verses 12 & 13 specifically.
6. Having been positionally liberated from the sovereignty of the old sin nature as an absolute ruler, and the authority of physical death, we must recognise and apply doctrine for the experiential victory commanded in verses 11-13.
Galatians 3:25-28, “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under the authority of [have need of] a school bus. (26) For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (27) For all of you who were baptized into Christ [identified with Christ through union with Him] have clothed yourselves with Christ. (28) There is neither Jew nor Greek [no racial distinction], there is neither slave nor free man [no social or economic distinction], there is neither male nor female [no gender distinction]; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [All Christians have the same privileges and opportunities to execute the spiritual life.]”
Current Positional Truth, Elaborated:
In the Church Age, Current Positional Truth establishes our relationship with Christ as opposed to religion. It refers to the Church Age believer in union with Christ and is the key to understanding the Church Age and how the royal family came into being. Therefore, it is the basis for distinguishing between Christianity and religion. Christianity is a relationship with God without merit whereas religion is a system of works to gain the approbation of God. Never shall the twain meet!
The mechanics of Current Positional Truth is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, whereby the Spirit enters us into union with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For also by agency of the one Spirit we are all baptized [identification resulting in becoming a new spiritual species] into one body [in union with Christ], whether Jews or Greeks [racial distinctions are removed], whether slave or free [class and economic distinctions are removed], even all were made to drink [the aorist passive, the voice of grace] the one Spirit [The Holy Spirit did not ask us whether we wanted to be put into union with Christ or not.].” Ephesians 4:5, “One Lord [becomes our Lord positionally at Salvation]), one faith [faith alone in Christ alone; Acts 16:31], one baptism [Baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place at salvation].”
Current Positional truth guarantees that there will be no judgment for believers in eternity, Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Thus, the condemnation which occurred at the first birth was removed at the 2nd birth. As a result of being born with the sin nature and the imputation of Adam’s Original Sin, we were condemned to the Lake of Fire for all eternity, but now that has been removed. Romans 5:12, “For this reason just as through one man [Adam] the sin [nature] entered into the world [procreation], and so spiritual death through the sin [the imputation of Adam’s Original Sin to the sin nature], and so spiritual death spread to all mankind, because all sinned when Adam sinned [since we were all genetically in Adam when he sinned, we will receive Adam’s Original Sin].” However, at our spiritual birth, the 2nd birth, our pre-salvation sins were all forgiven including Adam’s Original Sin. After which, the Spirit entered us into union with Christ where there is now no condemnation (Romans 8:1).
Current Positional truth qualifies the believer to live with God forever. To live with God forever, the believer must have eternal life and God’s perfect righteousness, 1 John 5:11-12, “And this is the deposition [testimony] that the God [the Father] has given to us, eternal life, and this life is in his son [Since we are in union with Christ, we share this life.]. (12) and he who has the son [a relationship with the Son] has the life [eternal life] and the one who does not have the son of God [relationship with the Son] does not have the life [eternal life].” 2 Corinthians 5:21, “And He [the Father] made Him who knew no sin [perfection] to be a sin offering [imputation of sins on the cross] as a substitute for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [current positional truth].” To live with God forever means you must have His life, and you must be as righteous as He is.
Positional truth guarantees the believer’s eternal security, Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death [nothing in death] nor life [nothing in life] nor angels nor principalities [ruling angels] nor powers [human organizations] nor things present nor things to come (39) nor height [nothing in heaven] nor depth [nothing in Hades] nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Eternal life in Christ is for all eternity!
Positional truth belongs to all categories of believers whether they be apostate, mature, immature, spiritually adult, or carnal. Since Current Positional Truth occurs at the point of salvation before experience in the Christian life begins, it doesn’t depend on that experience. 1 Corinthians 1:2, “to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus [at salvation], called saints together with all who call upon the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, their [Lord] and ours.” So, even though you may be carnal or in reversionism, you still have positional truth. Being in union with Christ has nothing to do with what you do [experiential righteousness], or don’t do [failure to execute God’s plan]. Current Positional sanctification is completely the work of God the Holy Spirit and so is not based upon our volition, but on the sovereign decision of God. We make the decision to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but we don’t make the decision to enter into union with Christ “all were made to drink the one Spirit” as per 1 Corinthians 12:13. God the Holy Spirit graciously did that for us and so it cannot be undone.
Current Positional truth creates a new spiritual species in Christ as per 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ and he is, he is a new spiritual species. The old things have lost their power; behold, new things have come to pass.” You become a new spiritual species at salvation by being put into union with Christ. It is what God does for you, and therefore it is grace. It is not what you do after salvation, such as the self-righteous works of legalism. The “old things” have to do with spiritual death and those things related to that death; the “new things” refer to things you receive at salvation such as the 40 assets and the unique spiritual life.
Positional truth should motivate the production of divine good and a pattern of life compatible with royalty as per Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his creation, having been created in Christ Jesus [a new spiritual species with many assets] for the purpose of divine good production [via experiential sanctification] which the God [the Father] has prepared in advance [in eternity past, God the Father provided election and predestination as part of our Portfolio of Invisible Assets], that we in the sphere of them [election and predestination] may pattern our lives.”
Even though a Christian may die the Sin on to Death, he will not lose his position in union with Christ (1 John 5:18-20), and so cannot lose his salvation. In order for a believer to lose his position in Christ, he would have to sin in that status, but since the believer cannot sin in union with Christ, he cannot lose his position in Christ and so cannot lose his salvation. Thus, it is comforting and reassuring to a believer to know that even though a loved one may have died the ‘sin on to death’, he has not lost his salvation.
Because we are in union with Christ, we share His:
1. Eternal life, 1 John 5:11, “And this is the deposition [testimony] that the God [the Father] has given to us, eternal life [At salvation, God the Father imputes this life to the human spirit], and this life is in his son [The Christian also shares the life of Christ through union with Him]. (12) and he who has the son [a relationship with the Son] has the life [eternal life] and the one who does not have the son of God [relationship with the Son] does not have the life [eternal life].”
John 14:6, “Jesus said to him [Thomas], ‘I am the way, the truth and the life [eternal life]; no person [in human history] comes face to face with the Father [having an eternal relationship with the Father] except through Me.’”
2. Perfect righteousness, 2 Corinthians 5:21, “And he (God the Father) made him [Jesus] who knew no sin (perfection) to be a sin offering as a substitute for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him [positional truth]. Sharing the righteousness of Christ, we become the objects of God the Father’s love as per Romans 8:39.
3. Election, Ephesians 1:4, “just as He [the Father] has elected us for Himself in Him [Jesus Christ] before the creation of the world [in eternity past], that we may be set apart [experiential sanctification] and blameless [ultimate sanctification] in the presence of Him [Father].”
4. Destiny, Ephesians 1:5, “By means of love, He has predestined us for the purpose of adoption as adult sons to Himself through Christ Jesus our Lord according to the grace purpose of His will.”
5. Sonship, Galatians 3:26, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
6. Heirship, Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit Himself testifies together [bears witness] with our [human] spirit, that we are the children of God. (17) Now, if we are children and we are, also heirs, on the one hand heirs of God [the Father], and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed [if it is true that], we suffer with Him [pass all three stages of undeserved suffering], that also we might be glorified with Christ.”
7. Sanctification, 1 Corinthians 1:2, “to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints together with all who call upon the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, their [Lord] and ours.”
8. Priesthood, Hebrews 7:12-19, “For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change in the Law also. (13) For the One [the Lord Jesus Christ] concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe [the tribe of Judah] from which no one has officiated at the altar. (14) For it is evident that our Lord has descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests, (15) and this is clearer still, if another priest arises similar to Melchizedek, and there has, (16) who has become a priest not on the basis of physical requirement [a reference to the Levitical Priesthood] but on the basis of indestructible life [the Lord’s priesthood is forever]. (17) For this reason, it is witnessed, ‘You are a priest forever similar to the order of Melchizedek.’” [We are in union with Christ. Therefore, we are royalty and priests forever. We represent ourselves before God as royal priests.] (18) For, on the one hand, there is a rescinding of the former commandment [the Mosaic Law that authorized the Levitical priesthood] because of its weakness and uselessness (19) (for the Law brought nothing to completion), but on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope [the second door of hope for the Church Age believer—a personal sense of destiny—by which we enter the adult spiritual life] through which we draw near to God.”
Hebrews 7:26-28, “For it is fitting that we should have such a high priest, impeccable integrity, the One who cannot do evil, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; (27) Who does not need daily, like those Levitical priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for their own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He [Jesus] offered up Himself. (28) For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of His [God the Father’s] oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, who has become perfect forever [Jesus Christ is a perfect high priest].”
9. Royalty, 1 Peter 2:9, “ But you and only you are an elect [elect by God the Father] race [as a new spiritual species], a royal priesthood [since Jesus is a king-priest], a holy nation [God’s entity: a nation of priests: every Christian is a priest], a people for God’s own possession [a protected people], so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him [Christ] who has called [in eternity past] you out of darkness [spiritual death and the Cosmic Systems] into His amazing light [his plan];”
10. New Spiritual Species, 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ and he is, he is a new spiritual species. The old things have lost their power [Old Covenant]; behold, new things have come to pass [This would include the New Covenant to the Church.].”
Current Positional Truth changes our relationship with Angels.
1. Through current positional truth the believer is higher than angels positionally.
2. Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, and so superior to all angels. By virtue of being in union with Christ, every believer is now positionally superior to angels.
3. Positional truth has fulfilled the believer’s triumph with Christ in the angelic conflict. We are victorious with Him already.
4. Furthermore, positional truth demands compatibility with experiential righteousness. Therefore, the believer’s walk on this earth must be compatible with positional truth since we have perfect security in Christ, we have the freedom to choose for Jesus Christ, to love Jesus Christ, to respond to His love, and to fulfill our purpose on this earth.
What positional truth is not?
1. It is not an experience, emotions or ecstasies.
2. It is not progressive; it cannot be improved in time or eternity.
3. It is not related to human merit or ability.
4. It cannot be changed by God, man or angels. It is eternal in nature.
5. It is not obtained gradually as you grow in grace, but in toto at salvation.
6. It is not known apart from the metabolization of doctrine.
7. From understanding the doctrine of positional truth, we progress in our spiritual life, but we cannot improve it since it is perfect at salvation.
8. We are not in Christ because of what we do (execution of the spiritual life) or fail to do (fail to execute the spiritual life), but because of what God has done.
A few points of explanation:
1. The conclusion from positional truth, whether retroactive or current, is that the Christian must apply these doctrines to his spiritual life.
2. In Romans 7:1-4 where we have an illustration of a woman whose first husband has died freeing her to marry another. This is what actually happens to us as believers at salvation. The old sin nature is the husband up to the point of salvation, but at the moment we believe in Jesus Christ positionally the sin nature is dead, as it were, the first husband has died and we have a new husband through union with Christ. Retroactive Positional Truth removes our first husband, the sin nature whereas Current Positional Truth enters us into union with Christ, our new husband.
3. The old sin nature-husband is still around, still seeking to regain his control over his former wife, the believer. But union with the second husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, has broken the first husband’s authority over the former wife.
4. The Baptism of Fire:
Matthew 3:11, “On the one hand I [John the Baptizer] baptize you [believers] by means of water because of a change of thinking [about Christ], but the one coming after me is mightier than I whose sandals I am not worthy to lace [loosen, remove]. He himself will baptize by means of the Holy Spirit [a reference to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age] and by means of fire [a reference to the Baptism of Fire at the 2nd Advent].”
Baptism of Fire: The baptism of fire (identification with fire) is defined as the judgment of unbelievers both Jew and gentile at the Second Advent. They will be removed from the earth and placed in fire for 1000 years until the Last Judgment, Luke 3:16-17; Mathew 25:31, 33. The analogy to the Baptism of Fire is found in Matthew 24:36-41. The one left in the field is the mature believer; the one taken is the unbeliever.
Parables of the Baptism of Fire:
1. The wheat and the tares (the unbelievers), Matthew 13:24-30, 36-40.
2. The good and bad fish (unbelievers), Matthew 13:47-50.
3. The ten virgins: five wise, five foolish (the unbelievers), Matthew 25:1-13.
4. The sheep and the goats (the unbelievers), Mathew 25:31-46.
5. The talent test, Matthew 25:14-30. The one talent man represents the unbeliever.
If Jesus Christ had not been rejected by the Jewish people, then the age of Israel would have continued until its completion (the Tribulation completes the age of Israel). (However, they did reject Jesus Christ as Savior and Messiah and so the client nation was destroyed, and the Church age was intercalated that is inserted before the age of Israel was complete.) After the completion of the age of Israel at the end of the Tribulation, comes the wrath of God namely the Baptism of Fire when the Lord removes both Jewish and gentile unbelievers from the earth and identifies them with fire forever. After which, the Millennial reign begins.
The Three Ritual Baptisms. None are extant at the present time. They are representative identifications in which water is used as a training aid to represent some principle of doctrine.
1. The Baptism of John is found in Matthew 3:2-6, “Saying, ‘Change your thinking [regarding Christ] for the kingdom of heaven is near.’ [The future king was already on the earth] (3) For this is what was communicated through Isaiah, the prophet saying, ‘The voice of one [John the Baptizer] proclaiming loudly in the desert [of Judea]. Prepare [the aorist tense is a one time-decision] the way of the Lord [an idiomatic expression for salvation]. Keep on making upright [the use of the Recovery Procedure followed by the development of experiential righteousness] His paths!’ (Isaiah 40:3) (4) Now, John himself kept on having a garment of camel’s hair [very uncomfortable] and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. (5) Then [after John went where God wanted him to be] Jerusalem kept on going out to him [face to face] and all Judea and all the districts around the Jordan. (6) and they were being baptized [identified with the kingdom] by him [under John’s authority] in the Jordan River [where Israel crossed when they entered the land], and they kept on confessing their sins [post-salvation confession of sins].”
MAX KLEIN BIBLE MINISTRIES
Romans Chapter Thirteen
A verse-by-verse commentary by Max Klein
Isaiah 53:3. Despised [hated by the religious unbeliever] and forsaken by men [by his loved ones], a man of adversities [sorrows, sadness, pain, pressures: seeing the gospel rejected, the ordeal of being betrayed by friends, being the object of hatred, jealousy, and murder lust] and knowing catastrophe [the grief and mental anguish of knowing that Jerusalem would be destroyed and that all those who would reject Him would go to the Lake of Fire forever]; And like one from whom men hide their face [like a leper: Leviticus 13:45], He was despised and we did not esteem [no value was placed on] Him.
Romans Chapter 13: Christian Responsibility
1 - 7 Christian responsibility to government
8 - 10 Christian responsibility to others
11 - 14 Christian responsibility to self
Romans 13:1
All human beings [literally ‘every soul’], obey governing authorities, for there is no authority except delegated by God, that is, those which do exist have been delegated by God.
Πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις ὑποτασσέσθω. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐξουσία εἰ µὴ ὑπὸ θεοῦ, αἱ δὲ οὖσαι ὑπὸ θεοῦ τεταγµέναι εἰσίν·
Christian recognition of establishment: You cannot have freedom, use freedom, enjoy freedom until you recognize the authority that enforces freedom/provides freedom. All freedom depends upon authority. There is no freedom where there is no duly constituted authority.
The progressive present of hupotasso (obey) indicates a state of persistence. The middle voice is the direct middle which refers the action directly to the agent with reflexive force. It emphasizes self-discipline, cognizance of establishment and the free will-decisions to live under its authority. The imperative mood is a command for the entire human race.
A few points for clarification:
1. Being a Christian does not exclude him from the responsibility to authority under the Laws of Divine Establishment.
2. Neither anarchy nor revolution is ever condoned or sanctioned by the Word of God.
3. In A.D. 51, the Emperor, Claudius banished Jews from Rome because of their apostacy which led to rejection of the fundamental authority in the Roman Empire and their lack of appreciation for what the Roman Empire had provided them. The governmental authority of Rome had provided protection for the Jews so that they were free in their homeland to function under their own laws and customs as long as they paid their taxes and did not violate Roman Law. Furthermore, they were free to travel throughout the Roman Empire and pursue any course of lawful action they desired. However, because many of the Jews were extremely religious and had no capacity to appreciate the umbrella of freedom which the Roman Empire had provided for them, they became trouble makers and so, Claudius forced them to leave the capital city. Prior to A.D. 66, the spirit of revolution was abroad in Judaism, and their rejection of Roman authority placed them on a disaster course.
4. This same distortion of the Laws of Establishment by these religious followers of Judaism would eventuate in the Jewish revolution of 66 A.D. during the reign of Nero. It resulted in the administration of the 5th cycle of discipline to the southern kingdom of Judea. (The Jews resorted to violence and they died by violence.)
5. When Paul wrote the words of Romans 13, a degenerate ruler by the name of Nero sat on the throne. Yet, in Romans 13, Paul does not advocate revolution against Nero who would be the instrument for the administration of his own martyrdom.
6. In other words, revolutionary fanaticism is forbidden by the Word of God. What doctrine cannot solve is not solvable! For example, if there should be a revolution in the United States, it would solve nothing for the Americans generally have no truth in their souls, and consequently no capacity for true freedom namely freedom to succeed and freedom to fail.
7. Even slaves in the Roman empire were commanded not to revolt. As a matter of fact, millions of slaves became believers under slavery and were permitted to learn the Word of God and to live out their lives to the glory of Jesus Christ. God’s plan for Christian slaves in the Roman empire was not hindered by their status of slavery.
8. Another application is obvious namely the assassination of a ruler or the violent overthrow of government is not the prerogative of the believer in Jesus Christ. Christianity should never be involved in such activity.
9. As with individuals, so with nations that is, leave judgment, punitive action, and discipline to the Lord. The CIA, DOJ, and the U.S. State Department have been involved in many coups worldwide which coups cannot justified.
10. Revolution is just as much an intrusion on the prerogative of the justice of God as is gossip, maligning, judging, backbiting, etc.
11. Revolution is collective presumption, collective blasphemy whereas gossip, maligning and judging is personal presumption, personal blasphemy.
12. Today, many believers understanding and discerning the current imbecility of bureaucratic government are tempted to enter into conspiracy against it. Such believers have lost many freedoms in the name of common good, but they have not lost their freedom to worship, to take in doctrine, and to assemble to honor the Lord. Their freedom to express positive volition toward doctrine is still intact. Even if the ruler should be evil as was Adolf Hitler, the Lord foiled the many assassination-attempts against Hitler even though many of these attempts were very well planned. The Lord would use Hitler to punish the German people for their evil in murdering many Jewish people.
13. While many of the tenets of Marxism have been accepted by a nation’s leadership, the believer is still under the authority of God, the Word of God, and specifically under this command as found in Romans 13:1, “All human beings be subordinating yourselves to governing authorities.”
14. Civil government is necessary under the Laws of Divine Establishment, while revolt and anarchy are both anti-God, and Satanic.
15. The principle of respecting authority means to respect the office but not necessarily the person or the personality.
16. Like everything else in life where authority is an issue neither the personality nor the character of that authority is the issue. For example, neither the personality nor the character of the husband is the issue for a wife for his authority resides in his being her husband.
17. The personality and character of the parents are not issues for children for parental authority resides in there being their parents.
18. The personality and character of the boss are not issues for his authority resides in his being the boss.
19. The personality of the coach is not the issue for his authority resides in his being the coach.
20. The personality or speaking ability of the pastor is not the issue for his authority resides in his having the gift of pastor-teacher.
21. The personality of the leader of a country is not the issue for his authority resides in his being the leader.
22. The personality and character of the police officer are not issues for cause to reject his authority for his authority resides in his being a police officer.
All authority is delegated authority from God:
A few points for clarification:
1. Governmental authority does not derive its power from the people; the power is derived from God.
2. Whether hereditary kings or rulers in a republic their authority has one source namely the integrity of God.
3. What God has ordained the believer has no right to contradict.
4. All rulers at all levels are responsible to God for any abuse of their authority.
5. This is why God permitted the Russian revolution of 1917 because the Romanov rulers abused their God-given authority.
6. God does not sponsor revolution, but God permits revolution as the natural historical result where authority is abused without check. Revolution does not occur when it normally would because there is a pivot large enough to offset such a catastrophe.
7. The rise of Adolf Hitler combines an abuse of authority in Germany followed the usurpation of authority by the League of Nations.
8. However, when civil power contradicts the Word of God, it subverts and denies the very source of its own authority.
9. Human arrogance and rejection of authority leads to anarchy. Human power in anarchy leads to despotism and tyranny.
10. The elevation of establishment and morality in compliance with the Laws of Divine Establishment via the intake of truth will accomplish more than revolution ever could, no matter how justifiable the revolution appears to be.
11. While military victory provides freedom for a nation that adheres to truth, establishment authority in obedience to the Laws of Divine Establishment maintains that freedom so that evangelization and spiritual growth can easily function within the national entity.
A few statements regarding authority:
1. The actual existence of civil authority with delegated civil power is an ordinance of divine establishment. It is not a social contract and it is not designed to solve social problems. It is designed to enforce those laws which deal with freedom, privacy, and property.
2. ‘Vox populi, vox dei’ (The voice of the people is the voice of God) is a farce. The voice of the people is not the voice of God. The voice of the people is the sum total of the function of their old sin natures in the field of arrogance, self-centeredness, selfishness and self-righteousness. In fact, vox populi is vox praeterea et nihil (is voice and nothing more).
3. Hence, the ideal form of government is the existence of civil power compatible with human freedom in the divine institutions, free from Satanic good and evil.
4. Power and authority must reside in the divine institutions and not a power seized by an administrator for personal aggrandizement.
5. The royal family honor code includes duty to state or nation, patriotism as opposed to internationalism.
6. Two erroneous extremes of Christianity: a) The state should be subordinated to the church which is erroneous. b) The church should be subordinated to the state which is also wrong. The correct view is separation of church and state.
7. However, the government has the responsibility to protect the church in its civil rights, while the church sustains the state by the formation of a pivot of mature believers. For example, Paul himself was protected by Roman authority from Jewish legalism.
The Separation between Church and State:
Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island argued that there cannot exist a true church unless there exists as he stated, “a wall or hedge of separation” between the “wilderness of the world,” namely government and an authentic church where God’s truths are taught. In 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote that the establishment clause built a “wall of separation between the church and state.” This wall means that the government is on one side of the wall and the church is on the other side, and so both have responsibility toward maintaining this wall. The governmental side of the wall was legalized by the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The responsibility of the church toward the maintenance of this wall must be learned from Scripture.
1. Church and state must be kept separate, and the authorities of church and state must always be separated.
2. The authority of state is found in the Laws of Divine Establishment, while the authority of the church is delegated through spiritual gifts sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit. So, the very source of the authority for each group demands separation.
3. Christian duty toward the church is to learn the spiritual life from one’s own prepared pastor and to obey the mandates of Scripture, while the Christian duty to the state can be summarized by obedience to civil authority, and military authority when the occasion arises.
4. Worldly power is designed for collective temporal peace, while spiritual power is designed for individual eternal prosperity.
5. Separation of church and state is absolutely necessary for personal freedom.
6. Obedience to authority and payment of taxes protects the law-abiding citizen from loss of freedom from enemies within as well as enemies without.
7. Tax money should be used for law enforcement and military establishment but never for socialism and the welfare state.
8. When a leader governs by the country’s constitution and at the same time is governed by the Laws of Divine Establishment, he becomes a double blessing to that nation.
9. When a leader governs according to Marxist and evil, he is a double curse to the nation.
Romans 13:2
Therefore, those who resist the authority have opposed the ordinance of God [divine institutions]; in fact, they who oppose shall receive discipline [personal judgment or punishment] onto themselves.
ὥστε ὁ ἀντιτασσόµενος τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ διαταγῇ ἀνθέστηκεν, οἱ δὲ ἀνθεστηκότες ἑαυτοῖς κρίµα λήµψονται.
The articular present active participle from antitasso meaning to resist is a military term which means to form a battle line against the opposition. It is translated “resist” here, and it connotes opposition to government specifically, but generally opposition to delegated authority in establishment. The present tense is a descriptive present denoting what was going on in the Roman Church which was opposed to the Roman government. In so doing, they were opposing the ordinance of God.
A few points for clarification:
1. Every believer should be a paladin for establishment.
2. This is why every believer with doctrine resident in his soul is politically a conservative.
3. A true conservative understands and champions the Laws of Divine Establishment against all Satanic and apostate attacks of liberalism.
4. Anticipating the last phrase of this verse, all believers who oppose establishment ordinances and institutions of God receive two categories of divine discipline: direct discipline from God for apostasy, and historical discipline from God as those who oppose authority and sponsor revolution, conspiracy and violent overthrow of government.
5. All apostate believers, both reversionistic and liberal, are in opposition to God.
6. In effect, they are the enemies of God and his plan and are destroying the very principle upon which that plan operates—freedom, privacy, and property.
7. In order for freedom, privacy and property to exist, there must be order and authority in the human race.
8. The survival of the human race is the basis for concluding the angelic conflict, and this survival is dependent upon nationalism.
A few points regarding governments:
1. Governmental authorities are seen here not from the standpoint of their individual personalities and character but as officers of divine institution with authority from God. Civil authority and law are designed to protect privacy, human freedom, and property.
2. Human government is a permanent divine institution as a guarantee of individual privacy, property and freedom, and as a safeguard against internationalism which is the tyranny of Satan to control the human race in the angelic conflict.
3. All socialistic and communistic countries have tyrants in control of their governments and have little concern for the rights of their citizens.
4. There is also religious internationalism such as the World Council of Churches which sponsors revolution and advocates violence to solves social problems. This organization is anti-Christian to the core.
5. All forms of internationalism are designed for Satan to centralize his power that he may better control the world. When nationalism is strong among nations, Satan has a hard time moving forward with his agenda.
6. The Bible does not condone the Christian involved in revolutionary movements which attempt to solve problems by violence. It is a Christian duty to support his nation based on establishment. If not, violence is still not the answer. For example, those who tried to assassinate Hitler were not protected by the Lord. Also, remember that Communism came to Russia as a result of their murdering millions of Jews.
7. Therefore, Christian responsibility to the national entity includes obedience to the laws of the land such as paying taxes even though they are confiscatory, participation in the military establishment, and whatever additional duties which may be assigned such as jury duty, voting, and even holding office.
8. Lawful means should always be employed in rescinding unlawful and unjust laws.
“They who oppose shall receive discipline [judgment] onto themselves”
This is describing the apostate believers in anti-establishment function. The dramatic perfect tense is a rhetorical use of the intensive perfect, emphasizing the existing state of apostate individuals, the liberal believer in his theology and in his politics, the revolutionary believer, the anti-establishment believer. The gnomic future of lambano meaning ‘shall receive’ judgment from God for being anti-establishment. The middle voice is a direct middle; it refers the results of the action directly to the agent with reflexive force. The believer will be punished. First, they will receive individual discipline for their reversionism including warning discipline, intensive discipline, and dying discipline. Also, they are a part of the collective discipline which God meets out to a nation through various historical disasters and catastrophes, and results in the fourth and fifth cycles of discipline.
Romans 13:3
For governing authorities [of an establishment type nation] are not a cause of fear for good function [those who follow the Laws of Establishment] but for evil function [criminality]. Really, do you desire not to fear the authority? Keep on doing the good [be lawful and obey the mandates of the Laws of Establishment] and you will have recognition from it [from the authority of an establishment-type of government];
οἱ γὰρ ἄρχοντες οὐκ εἰσὶν φόβος τῷ ἀγαθῷ ἔργῳ ἀλλὰ τῷ κακῷ. θέλεις δὲ µὴ φοβεῖσθαι τὴν ἐξουσίαν; τὸ ἀγαθὸν ποίει, καὶ ἕξεις ἔπαινον ἐξ αὐτῆς·
A few points for clarification:
1. The predicate nominative of phobos refers to fear of punishment. We begin to see why establishment demands capital punishment. The only restraint on the criminal mind is fear of punishment especially capital punishment for crimes demanding the removal of life.
2. The Bible and the Laws of Divine Establishment demand that punishment for anti-establishment violence such as rape, kidnapping and murder etc. should be death.
3. Therefore, this passage teaches that restraint in society demands law enforcement, proper judicial procedure and punishment.
4. In society, there are always those who have to be restrained by fear. Only fear can overcome the vile tendencies of the sin nature in the function of crime, conspiracy, revolution, and the use of violence in anarchy.
5. This is why the bible advocates capital punishment as the means of controlling the criminal, the revolutionist, and the anarchist. Genesis 9:6; Romans 13:4.
6. Capital punishment is the highest power in human government.
7. Only with capital punishment can human government function to guarantee the freedom, the privacy, and the property of its constituents.
8. Legislation and law enforcement are useless without teeth. The bite is capital punishment.
9. Fear of capital punishment is a basic principle in the orderly function of the Laws of Divine Establishment.
10. Capital punishment is administered by the judicial authorities of the government regardless of the form of government whether monarchy, aristocracy, or republic. It is a legitimate government as long as the sword of capital punishment is directed toward evil function and not the function of good.
Romans 13:4
For he [the governmental authority] is a minister of God to you for the purpose of good [use your freedom to advance to maturity under the plan of God]. But if you do evil [the criminal] keep on being afraid for he does not wear the sword for nothing [the sword was used in the ancient world for capital punishment of crime]; for you see he is minister of God for the purpose of divine wrath to him who practices the evil.
θεοῦ γὰρ διάκονός ἐστιν σοὶ εἰς τὸ ἀγαθόν. ἐὰν δὲ τὸ κακὸν ποιῇς, φοβοῦ· οὐ γὰρ εἰκῇ τὴν µάχαιραν φορεῖ· θεοῦ γὰρ διάκονός ἐστιν, ἔκδικος εἰς ὀργὴν τῷ τὸ κακὸν πράσσοντι.
Government rulers, civil authorities, have responsibility to God to enforce establishment.
A few points for clarification:
1. Order in the human race through delegated authority and the function of the Laws of Divine Establishment make it possible for both evangelism and spiritual growth.
2. Civil authority is the servant of God designed for the purpose of protecting freedom, privacy, and property.
3. The issue in the political realm is not whether the authority is saved or unsaved, whether the authority is believer or unbeliever, but whether the individual follows the Laws of Divine Establishment.
4. Many unbelievers understand freedom better than believers do. Hence, many unbelievers are better guardians of freedom than born-again believers.
5. Reversionistic Christians are prone to be brainwashed by Marxist principles, such as ‘the greater good for the greater number’ and other principles of evil which erode and eventually destroy human freedom.
6. It is Christian duty and a part of the royal family honor code to respect civil authority, obey the rules of the nation and to pray for its leaders. 1 Timothy 2:1-2, “First of all, therefore, I request [in the sense of a command] that petitions, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made on behalf of all mankind, on behalf of kings [rulers] and all who are in authority, that we may lead an undisturbed and tranquil life in the entire spiritual life and integrity.”
7. Christians, therefore, are not an exception to the rule of law and are not excluded from this responsibility under the Laws of Divine Establishment.
8. Without civil authority, the believer would find it very difficult to advance to spiritual maturity.
The Criminal, the one who does Evil:
Criminals become criminals via their volitional function. There are two categories of criminals in the world today: unbelievers and believers. All criminality is acquired through arrogance. No one is born with a genetic tendency toward crime. It is all a matter of arrogance; e.g., authority arrogance, mental attitude arrogance, self-righteous arrogance, sexual arrogance, the arrogance of unhappiness, and above all, psychopathic arrogance. All criminals are such because of their own volition, because they have made a decision to be a criminal. Environment is not the issue in criminality. The environment does not mold the criminal, rather the criminal molds the environment. Honor and integrity can belong to all, not just to one social caste. There may be 8 siblings from a very poor home. Seven become wonderful responsible citizens while one becomes a criminal. Criminals are criminals not because of their environment, but because they will to be so.
Criminality actually begins with rejection of authority in the home. Rejection of parental authority eventually results in the rejection of all legitimate authority including God’s Laws of Establishment, and therefore, the criminal becomes totally disoriented to life. He seeks to superimpose his authority on society. In arrogance, he gives lip service to the authority he encounters, but in his soul, he despises any and all authority except his own. A law-abiding citizen may be irresponsible without being a criminal. But all criminals are irresponsible all the time.
The criminal lives inside the cosmic system and justifies his criminality. He is totally preoccupied with himself. He is hypersensitive about himself and insensitive toward others. Strangely enough, he is very self-righteous, and filled with self-justification regarding his criminal deeds. It happens many time in prison riots during which criminals will kill other criminals. When asked why they killed another criminal, they will answer because the other criminal deserved to die. He raped and killed children whereas I merely raped and killed adults for I would never touch a child.
The criminal is a bored person. He wants excitement and proof of his power. In fact, the criminal's desire for excitement is so great that he becomes jaded without constant stimulation from excitement. To the criminal, living without excitement is a put-down. Therefore, the criminal requires constant stimulation related to his crimes, sex, torture, alcohol, or drugs, making others afraid of him. Eventually, only extreme criminal activity related to torture, rape, and murder is satisfactory as an antidote to his boredom.
All liars are not criminals, but all criminals are liars. For the criminal, lying is a way of life. Therefore, the criminal becomes a pathological liar. Habitual deceit and lying is the criminal's total disregard for the truth in any form. Lying is the criminal's standard way of dealing with the world, a part of criminal manipulation.
The criminal is saturated with a lust pattern of arrogance. He has sexual lust, killer lust, power lust, approbation lust, money lust, stimulation lust requiring extensive use of drugs or alcohol, cruelty lust from which comes torture and abuse of others, as well as homicide. From his arrogant preoccupation with self, the criminal is involved in a lust pattern from which it is almost impossible to break away. His only hope is to become a believer followed by intensive study of God’s word. He needs several years of listening to good Bible teaching just to become a normal human being with a normal soul filled with correct norms and standards and priorities etc. Very few are able to make this transformation even after becoming believers. This is one reason why the Word of God demands the use of capital punishment for criminals.
The believer criminal: The arrogance-factor in crime is the major issue. The only way a criminal can break out of criminal arrogance is by making good decisions; no one can help him. After conversion, there must be consistent positive volition toward doctrine. If there is any inconsistency, the criminal factor continues. The real problem for a believer-criminal is not occasionally getting doctrine, but permanently accepting the authority of some teacher and staying with doctrine. Any personality conflict immediately arouses the arrogance in him, and he's right back in the arrogance complex, and right back into crime. The criminal believer being anti-establishment is often, anti-God and anti-doctrine. The believer living in the cosmic system and involved in the various stages of reversionism (spiritual apostasy) is capable of burglary, robbery, kidnapping, shoplifting, mugging, blackmail, larceny, drug activity, prostitution, rape, murder, etc. The criminal often pretends to accept some authority, like that of pastor or evangelist or psychiatrist. Often, he appears to be positive to the Gospel, and even to believe in Christ. But all of this is to advance his own ends in most cases.
If you are interested in further study regarding how a criminal thinks, may I suggest reading “The Criminal Personality: Volumn I, “A Profile for change” by Samuel Yochelson and Stanton Samenow.
Capital punishment:
1. Capital punishment is the maximum use of jurisprudence under the Laws of Divine Establishment. It must be preceded by a trial in which evidence is presented and eye-witnesses which have not collaborated with other witnesses present what they have seen.
2. In the Roman empire there were two forms of capital punishment practiced: for the non-citizen, crucifixion; for the citizen, decapitation.
3. In the Gospel of Matthew, our Lord rebukes Peter for cutting off the ear of the servant of the high priest. “Return your sword to its scabbard, for all who draw the sword [unlawful violence] will die by the sword [capital punishment]” (Matt 26:52).
4. The most fundamental principle of human government in a national entity is the possession of a common law and a common language, but not necessarily a common race. All trials should occur in that common language and should all be related to the laws of that land.
5. In its simplest form, the divine institution of human government demands a police officer on the corner and a judge on the bench, plus capital punishment to put teeth into the law. Genesis 9:6, “Whosoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed. For in the image of God, man was made.”
6. Being created in the image of God means that man has a soul and is a rational creature. It means that man has self-consciousness, i.e., man is able to declare "I am," just as God has declared "I am that I am." It also means man has moral reasoning power, i.e., "I ought;" and self-determination, i.e., "I will." It is this freedom of thought that the criminal abuses when he commits murder.
7. Those who live by violence will die by violence. There are only three exceptions: law enforcement, the function of the military establishment, and the individual's right to defend his life and property. Killing in the line of duty and under the authority of government is not murder, but is the exercise of legitimate violence to maintain freedom for innocent individuals in society.
Regarding evil society and government:
1. Where civil authority is evil, revolution is still not the answer.
2. For the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the answer is found in Romans 12:21, “Stop being conquered by evil [don’ t lower yourself to their level], but conquer evil by means of the good [intrinsic good].” This means that Jesus Christ controls history. We are not here to be upset or to be crusading about the circumstances of life; we are here to advance to maturity and establishment is designed to encapsulate our advance to maturity.
3. The answer to a bad government which does not fulfill the Laws of Divine Establishment is for the believer to keep on taking in doctrine and advance to maturity.
4. Remember that Jesus Christ controls history, but he does so through a pivot. A large pivot of mature believer changes both domestic and foreign policy of the nation.
5. Again note that the apostle Paul did not try to assassinate Nero. Also, Paul neither advocated the overthrow of Nero’s administration, nor a change in the form of government in the Roman Empire. Paul had the ability to distinguish between the principle of authority and the person who exercised the authority. Paul stayed out of politics and away from Christian activism.
6. Paul, the human writer, was not a revolutionist. He was not a conspirator. So, also Christ who did not revolt against government even though He was terribly abused. 1 Peter 2:23-24, “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return [did not react with sins of the tongue]; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; (24). who [antecedent is Christ in verse 21] himself bore [carried the burden of our sins and was judged for them] our sins on His body on the wood [a reference to the cross], so that having died to sins [by renouncing it; a reference to retroactive positional truth], we might live unto the righteousness [dative of advantage to produce experiential righteousness]; by whose wound [the judgment of sins] you were healed [the work of reconciliation; the Hebrew counterpart means to bring together as per Isaiah 53:5b].”
7. Getting rid of an evil administration through violence and revolution only paves the way for something worse.
8. Divinely-ordained civil government comes in several forms: absolute monarchy, limited monarchy, aristocracy, and republic. Not democracy which is the veneer of anarchy, a dangerous form of government because it functions so closely to anarchy that anarchy is just around the corner.
9. Freedom always demands authority. Civil authority is ordained by God, not by the will of the people.
10. Civil power and authority is a divine ordinance of the will, the plan, the purpose of God so that the human race can survive in the angelic conflict and fulfill the purpose of the angelic conflict.
11. There are differences of political forms of government but one principle of establishment for all of these types of government. So, Christianity can function under any many different forms of government.
12. That one principle of establishment demands that the one or ones possessing civil authority under the divine institutions fulfill the divinely ordained purpose of that power namely to establish and guarantee freedom, privacy, and property.
13. In addition, there must be a military establishment to defend the nation from its foreign enemies and encroachments, and to protect the national freedom from international busybodies and trouble-makers.
Romans 13:5
For this reason it is necessary to be subordinate to governing authorities, not only because of punishment [literally wrath, in other words fearful of punishment], but also because of conscience [where your norms and standards are located].
διὸ ἀνάγκη ὑποτάσσεσθαι, οὐ µόνον διὰ τὴν ὀργὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὴν συνείδησιν.
Fear of Punishment Restrains Crime:
1. Fear of punishment from the law is the primary restraint on crime. The old sin nature is restrained by fear of punishment.
2. Fear of punishment is one of the basic restraints in the function of the old sin nature: fear of punishment from God, and fear of punishment from civil government, and fear of retaliation.
3. The criminal mind is so prone to violence that he must be restrained by a greater threat of violence in order to be restrained from evil.
4. This principle also applies to nations. Communist nations, for example, are criminal nations which are only impressed by nations with the potential of using a greater violence against such criminal nations.
5. In this connection, though military is ordained of God to meet violence with a greater violence, it should be executed in a professional manner.
6. Maximum punishment for crime is capital punishment. Without capital punishment, the criminal is unrestrained, and crimes become rampant in society.
7. No society can survive without capital punishment as a maximum penalty for crime.
8. The criminal involved in capital crimes such as homicide, rape, kidnapping, terrorism etc. must forfeit his own life and his right to live in a free society.
9. Failure to punish the guilty, and failure to execute the habitual criminal, results in unrestrained crime which destroys not only the free society but civilization in general. It turns society and civilization into a jungle of anarchy and violence.
“Because of conscience” In other words, the Christian doesn't refrain from criminal activity because he's afraid of going to jail, but because, with a strong conscience, his norms and standards refuse to let him even consider any criminal activity. The conscience in the soul of the advanced believer is far stronger than any fear of punishment from law enforcement.
The Greek word for conscience is suneidesis, which means to know with a norm or standard. To have a norm or standard and to be conscious of that norm or standard in thinking, motivation, decision making and action. The Latin equivalent is conscientia from which we get our English word.
Conscience is that mental faculty by which one distinguishes between right and wrong, and urges the individual to do what he recognizes to be right and to restrain him from doing that which he recognizes to be wrong. The conscience is a sense or consciousness in the right lobe related to either moral or spiritual goodness of one's thoughts, motives, decisions, and actions. Therefore, conscience is a faculty, a power, or a principle conceived in the right lobe to determine the quality of one's thoughts, intentions, decisions, and actions. The conscience must be built on a vocabulary that begins with one word: no, or don't. All consciences are built with negative words which forbid doing something. So, the conscience of man is first established by negatives, although eventually there are explanations in both positive and negative terms.
In the conscience of the believer, the norms, standards, priorities and values in life must be extrapolated from Bible doctrine. Let’s document this by siting some verses that discuss the conscience.
Romans 2:14-15, “For every time that Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively those things from the Law, these [Gentiles] not having the Law, are a law to themselves [they have the norms and standards of the Law in their souls without knowing the Mosaic Law]. (15) The very ones [gentiles] who demonstrate the accomplishment of the Law written in their right lobes, their conscience confirming the testimony, in fact, their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending themselves.”
1 Timothy 3:9, "Holding the mystery of the doctrine with a clear conscience." You acquire a clear conscience by having and adhering to doctrinal norms and standards. The conscience of the believer must be formed from norms and standards obtained through cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine.
1 Peter 2:18-19, "Slaves, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only for the good and gentle masters, but also for the unreasonable ones; for this is grace, if for the sake of conscience toward God [their consciences leave the matter of injustice with the Lord], anyone bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly."
2 Corinthians 1:12, "Now this is our boast [esprit de corps], the testimony of our conscience, that we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially in relationship to you, both in holiness [The Greek word is hagioteti based on manuscript evidence: a reference to the Filling of the Holy Spirit] and honesty [motivation from Bible doctrine], not in fleshly wisdom [human wisdom], but in the grace of God [wisdom learned through God’s grace plan]."
Romans 9:1, “I am telling the truth in Christ [positive affirmation regarding academic integrity], I am not lying [negative affirmation regarding intellectual dishonesty], my conscience bearing me witness [a genitive absolute emphasizing the importance of this joint testimony: everything which Paul says is in agreement with his conscience] by agency of the Holy Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 8:7, “However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.” The point is to never violate your conscience even when it contains false norms and standards.
2 Corinthians 4:2, “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.”
Titus 1:15, “To the pure all things are pure [both their minds and consciences]. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure, but even their mind and their conscience are defiled.”
Hebrews 9:14, “How much more [a fortiori: with greater reason] shall the blood of Christ [His work on the cross], who through the agency of the eternal Spirit [God the Holy Spirit], offered Himself without blemish [no personal sins] to the God [the Father], purify your conscience from dead works [If a Christian should advance spiritually, he will purify himself from legalistic dead works] to serve [as a royal priest] the living God.” The Christians is unable to serve God either through legalism or emotionalism.
Daniel 1:8-10, “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself [his conscience] with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank; so, he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. (9) Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials, (10) and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king.”
A society without standards is no society at all. You were born into an aristocracy of honor as a believer. So, as a member of the Royal Family of God you should develop new standards compatible with your status as royalty. Your first standard should be recognition of all legitimate authorities as instituted by the Laws of Divine Establishment.
Romans 13:6
So, for this reason [an inference from the above verse] also keep on paying taxes, for they are public servants of God who make a career out of this same thing.
διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ φόρους τελεῖτε, λειτουργοὶ γὰρ θεοῦ εἰσιν εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο προσκαρτεροῦντες.
A few points for clarification:
1. By paying taxes the Christian himself is participating in the Laws of Divine Establishment. He is doing the will of God with regard to this matter.
2. He is supporting law and order as over against revolution, violence, anarchy; all of that which is evil.
3. He is supporting a system in which the highest sense of authority is the servant of government and the servant of God at the same time.
4. The believer with the use of national currency supports the authority [via taxes] which provides him privacy, property, profit, prosperity, and protection of government from crime.
5. Furthermore, he is paying for the administration of freedom which is necessary for both evangelism and the believer’s spiritual advance to maturity.
6. In the time of Paul, there were certain Jews who were members of an organization called the Zealots, revolutionary terrorists who refused to pay taxes and were in opposition to the Roman government.
7. The principle was previously enucleated at a transitional point of history: going from the Age of Israel to the Age of the Church. The sponsor was SPQR, the Senate and Roman People. Matthew 22:20-21, “And He said to them, “Whose image [Tiberias] and superscription [Tiberias Caesar] is this?” (21). They said to Him, “Caesar's [Tiberias at this time]. Then, He said to them, “Therefore, render [aorist imperative: pay your taxes at the time when you are taxed] to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's.”
8. If Jesus had answered either yes or no, he would have been trapped into a false position. However, by not simply answering ‘yes or no’ but clearly stating the co-existence and the symbiotic relationship of both the state and Christianity, and the responsibility of the Christian to both, he was able to shut these troublemakers up.
9. Therefore. the payment of taxes is a Christian duty to the national entity. These taxes support and sustain the authority necessary for a specific freedom: the freedom to evangelize, the freedom to advance to maturity, the freedom to send out missionaries, and that freedom which provides a haven for the Jews who are scattered until the second advent under the fifth cycle of discipline.
Where freedom exists, the citizens and others have the right of supporting that national entity. Yes, there were evils in the Roman Empire, but neither Jesus nor Paul ever dealt with those subjects. They concentrated on what was important, the gospel and doctrine.
Summary:
1. Jesus made a clear distinction between religion and the state.
2. Believers are responsible to both the state and to God. So, a spiritual kingdom can co-exist with an earthly political kingdom.
3. Though Judea was under the Roman government, Rome permitted religious freedom. While the Jewish citizens of Judea were expected to pay taxes to Rome and obey the laws of Rome, Rome did not insist that the Jewish citizens follow Roman religion.
4. Until Jesus returns at the 2nd Advent, there can be no bona fide union of the spiritual and the state.
5. In the meantime, the two kingdoms, the spiritual and the state coexist, operating in their own sphere. They are able to do so since the bona fide state provides law and order and religious freedom. In turn, the believers and religious citizens should support and obey the state.
6. The national governments exist to curtail internationalism, to support the Laws of Establishment and to permit religious freedoms. You can have many forms of government such as monarchy, aristocracy, and republic as long as they allow freedom. Under this umbrella of freedom, there should be the opportunity for maximum evangelism and Bible teaching.
7. When the state does not permit evangelism and the teaching of God’s Word, then God’s authority supersedes the authority of the government as per Acts 5:25-29, “Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people. (26) At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them. (27) The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. (28) We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood. (29) Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!”
8. Government is ordained of God to encapsulate human freedom, human privacy, and human property. This means that the human race is protected and perpetuated through the Laws of Divine Establishment. Career public officials are necessary for effective national and governmental administration. This includes from mayor all of the way down to garbage man.
Romans 13:7
Therefore, discharge your obligations to all: to whom taxes, taxes, to whom custom, custom, to whom respect, respect, to whom honor, honor.
ἀπόδοτε πᾶσιν τὰς ὀφειλάς, τῷ τὸν φόρον τὸν φόρον, τῷ τὸ τέλος τὸ τέλος, τῷ τὸν φόβον τὸν φόβον, τῷ τὴν τιµὴν τὴν τιµήν.
Government represents the principle of authority. So, just because there are scoundrels in government, does not change the principle. Sooner or later the Supreme Court of Heaven will catch-up with the scoundrels. The same is true for police organizations. This organization may have a few scoundrels, but this does not mean that we should eliminate the police organization. Furthermore, it does not mean that we should take the law into our own hands.
Romans 13:8
Owe nothing to anyone [from integrity, fulfill all obligations], except [there is only one bona fide spiritual debt which all Christians owe the human race] to love one another; for the one who loves another of a different kind of person [This is the person whom you instantly dislike; a person who antagonizes you, and to whom you easily react] has fulfilled the [Royal] Law [of impersonal love: it is easy to love a wonderful person, but not so easy to love a bastard or a bitch].
Μηδενὶ µηδὲν ὀφείλετε, εἰ µὴ τὸ ἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾶν· ὁ γὰρ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἕτερον νόµον πεπλήρωκεν.
In the time in which this was written Roman believers were incurring debts and not paying back the money they owed. There must always be a sense of responsibility with regard to obligation. The royal family honor code includes human integrity, and human integrity means where obligation exists you fulfill that obligation. However, the greatest debt and obligation of the Christian is impersonal love (unconditional love) and that is the real issue in this verse.
Right in the midst of this dissertation on government, what do we have? The key to keeping the believer in a state of spiritual sanity! Only the believer who advances all the way to spiritual maturity has this well-balanced life of emotional stability, understanding along with wisdom, humility and grace orientation that gives him a love-capacity in his soul, and a capacity to function properly under the Laws of Divine Establishment. At that point in the believer’s spiritual life, he has personal love for God the Father, impersonal love for all humanity, the happiness of God and occupation with Christ. This is the greatness of being an invisible hero, not this insanity of Christian activism motivated by emotionalism and false doctrine.
Love as an Obligation:
1. Impersonal love is the only perpetual debt of the Christian, a debt which he pays as the need for impersonal love arises.
2. The debt of love denotes a duty, a responsibility on the part of all the royal family of God.
3. Remember that impersonal love has two sides; one side is possessing a relaxed mental attitude; the other side is not to harbor any mental sins toward others such as anger, jealousy, bitterness, etc. Hence, love is a freedom from mental attitude sins and if one is free of mental sins, he will be free of verbal sins which destroy the privacy of the priesthood.
4. While the believer is able to close-out his monetary debts through the necessary payments, he is to perpetuate his obligation of impersonal love both toward the unbeliever and believer. Thus, the obligation of love is a debt which the believer is always making instalments, but never retires the instalments until he retires from this life.
Impersonal Love for all Mankind, a part of the Adult Spiritual Life:
1 Corinthians 13:13. Now, there remains [in the Church Age] faith [representing childhood], confidence [which represents reaching spiritual self-esteem] and love [the adult spiritual life], these three, but the greatest of these is love.
Faith represents spiritual childhood and includes the use of the Faith-rest drill, grace and doctrinal orientation. Confidence represents spiritual self-esteem and is the entrance-way into the advance stage of the spiritual life. Love represents the adult believer and includes love for the God the Father, unconditional love for the human race, sharing the happiness of God and occupation with the Lord. “The Greatest of these is Love” is not only true in the Church Age, but also in the Eternal State.
Spiritual Self-Esteem, a prerequisite to Impersonal Love:
Spiritual Self-Esteem takes shape in the soul as the Christian becomes grace and doctrinally oriented. Relating this to the 10 Problem Solving Devices, this development would begin at the 6th Problem Solving Device and increases as the Christian progresses into spiritual adulthood and peaks out at occupation with Christ.
Spiritual Self-Esteem is based on confidence, self-worth and one status as a member of the royal family of God. Self-esteem is confidence in what one knows, and in one’s ability to put that knowledge into operation. What has been a characteristic of a few great leaders in history is now available to each of us as believers. It is confidence in God, confidence in the Word of God metabolized in your soul and circulating in your stream of consciousness, not a confidence based on one’s human intelligence, education, family tree achievement or success. Self-esteem is also ones estimated worth or value. Since spiritual assets have the highest value and worth, the more spiritual assets that the believer is able to acquire and put into operation, the greater becomes his estimation of self. Since this self-estimation is not based on human merit or abilities, but rather grace acquired assets and abilities, it does not produce arrogance.
Reasons why the believer can love himself without becoming arrogant: In the status of spiritual self-esteem at the 6th Problem Solving Device, the Christian loves himself because in his soul exists grace and doctrinal orientation, the faith-rest Drill, understanding and appreciation for the Filling of the Holy Spirit and knowledge regarding the Recovery Procedure and as he advances in the spiritual life, his spiritual self-esteem will be enhanced by his love for God, his unconditional love for all people and his happiness and occupation with Christ. He loves his own person because he is a member of the Royal Family of God, a royal priest and an ambassador for Christ.
Human self-esteem many times is related to arrogance manifested in a superiority complex. On the other hand, spiritual self-esteem is never related to arrogance. The more the Christian functions consistently in fellowship with God, the more his spiritual esteem flourishes. On the other hand, if he starts spending too much time out of fellowship pursuing the lusts of the sin nature, his spiritual esteem that he once possessed will begin to diminish and eventually completely disappear. Once obtained, spiritual self-esteem must be maintained by continuous intake and application of God’s Word.
Other Scriptures:
He who gets wisdom, keeps loving his own soul [spiritual self-esteem]; He who guards understanding shall find the absolute good [spiritual prosperity]. (Proverbs 19:8)
Jesus answered in Mark 12:29-31, ‘The most important one is this, “Listen O’ Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is unique [adverbial form of the Greek word heis: unique since he is both God and Man], and you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart [the mentality of the soul where metabolized doctrine resides], and with all your soul [the entire soul] and with all of your understanding [of doctrine] and with all your strength [virtue]. The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [Old Testament form of spiritual self-esteem].” (a quote from Deuteronomy 6:4, 5; Leviticus 19:18)
Since we are of the day, let us obtain spiritual self-esteem [the Greek word nepho] after we have put on the breastplate of doctrine and love and as a helmet, the confidence in doctrine. (1 Thessalonians 5:8)
The Greek word nepho means to be self-controlled, to be well balanced, freedom from excess compassion, rashness and confusion, the honor of individual worth, a serious regulation of the powers a person has been given (the two power options).
The passage below is not only true of impersonal love, but of true human love as well.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is not swayed by emotion [is forbearing], love is kind [merciful], love is not jealous, it does not brag [is not shamelessly disrespectful in thought, speech and behavior, insulting, presumptuous], is not inflated with arrogance [the advance stages of arrogance]. (5) does not behave dishonorably [indecently, or unmannerly], is not self-seeking [self-promoting; preoccupied with self, self-indulgent, irrationally ambitious] it is not provoked [does not become irritated, bitter, angry, petty, hypersensitive], does not react to evil [is not mindful of wrongs, does not react to the injustices or wrongs that comes into his life, does not think in terms of retaliation, does not react to hatred or antagonisms], (6) does not rejoice over injustices [violation of truth], but joyfully sides with the truth [rejoices in the truth] (7) It covers all things [keeps all things confidential: true love respects the privacy of another; it literally means to throw a cloak of silence over all things namely avoids gossip, maligning, judging, vilification], always believes [advance function of the faith-rest drill] always has confident expectation [regarding one’s personal destiny both in time and in eternity], always perseveres [always maintains his relationship with God in a state of happiness under the testing of the three stages of the adult spiritual life],”
Joseph, the husband of Mary is a good example of the above though he lived before the Church Age.
In the Matthew passage, Mary becomes pregnant apart from Joseph after being legally married to him via the contract signed by his and her parents. This was why Joseph was so concerned when he had discovered that she was pregnant. Since he knew that he did not bring about her pregnancy, he initially assumed that she had committed adultery. After he was informed in a dream by an angel of the Lord regarding the truth of this matter, he went ahead with the ceremonial phase of the marriage (Matthew 1:20).
Matthew 1:19. Joseph, her husband, being virtuous [righteous] did not desire to make a public display of her. He desired secretly to divorce her.
Joseph was not only moral, but also possessed the virtue acquired from the spiritual life. Morality was designed for the security, stability, protection and blessing of a group of people in a national entity and as such requires only human power and determination for execution. Virtue, on the other hand, relates to the inward function of the soul and comprises attributes such as grace-orientation, love for God the Father, unconditional love directed toward members of the human race and occupation with Christ.
Morality without virtue can very easily be corrupted (distorted) by arrogance resulting in a moral, but weak person. Morality combined with arrogance produces great self-righteousness. A self-righteous individual assumes that his morality equals perfection. From his imagined perch of perfection he evaluates, criticizes, judges, and maligns others. However, he is far from perfection. He understands neither God nor God’s plan; he understands neither himself nor the people whom he judges and maligns.
Believers and to some extent unbelievers can avoid this “moral degeneracy” related to the distortion of morality. With authority orientation and humility, moral unbelievers who possess some appreciation of grace can avoid much of the stench of self-righteousness. The believer on the other hand can go much further, for through the execution of the spiritual life he is able to remove self-righteousness and develop great virtue.
Joseph possessed and demonstrated this virtue obtained from the spiritual life. He didn’t get angry at Mary when he first discovered she was pregnant. He didn’t malign her. He didn’t call her “a dirty and faithless adulteress” as other men, facing a similar situation would have. He didn’t feel sorry for himself and say, “How could she do this to me?” He didn’t become bitter and demand that she be stoned to death under the requirements of the Mosaic Law, which stated that adultery was not only a sin, but also a crime:
“If there is a virgin, betrothed [contractually married] to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death. The girl because she did not cry out in the city [she consented], and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. Thus, you shall purge the evil [adultery is more than a sin] from among you.” (Deuteronomy 22:23-24)
Because Joseph was a man of great humility, he did not feel any personal disgrace in this matter. On the contrary, he was only concerned about Mary’s feelings and security. He wanted to protect her from disgrace and personal harm. Therefore, he decided not to bring her before the Jewish court system, but to divorce her secretly. In a state of great humility and objectivity, he was able to apply grace toward his wife and so was able to avoid any subjective reaction.
It is imperative to understand that impersonal love, personal love toward the members of the trinity and true personal love toward other people have the same components, just different manifestations. For example, all require righteousness, justice, knowledge and grace. However, the order is as follows: first, there must be personal love for God; secondly, there must be impersonal love for all people; lastly there is the capacity for true love for friendship and marriage. This is why the Colonel used to say that personal love in marriage is the letter, but the envelope is impersonal love. In other words, there is no capacity for personal love between members of the human race without impersonal love for all.
Human and Divine Love:
What is True Human Love?
True love is not lust, feeling or attraction! From the so-called romance movies coming out of Hollywood these days, one would assume that romance naturally begins with attraction leading to sexual sins as in the movie, “Eye Witness”. Can love begin with an action that is totally devoid of virtue and a sense of responsibility? To the contrary, unrighteousness and sin cannot be components of true love.
Now, let me tell a little story to illustrate how feelings cannot be the basis for true love. A certain young man and woman previously unknown to each other go on a hike through a beautiful forest. Both enjoy the scenery, and their feelings begin to dominate their mentality. There is little discussion! That evening, they dine with candlelight seated aside a window from which they are able to view a beautiful lighted gorge. She overwhelmed by all the feelings of the day states, “This has been the most wonderful day of my life.” Later as the clock strikes midnight and the cuckoo emerges, the man also carried away by his feelings and the animation of the young lady, puts her hand into his and utters those magical words, “I love you” and proposes. She responds ecstatically and shouts, ‘Yes, yes!’ Since feelings and emotions come and go, can this be true love? What do they know about each other? How much humility and virtue do they possess? Is she willing to accept his authority and leadership? Is the man a virtuous, responsible, and wise individual? Though feelings and emotions may be responders to true love, they in themselves do not constitute true love.
Regarding attraction, a young man sees the most beautiful woman his eyes have ever beheld. Her symmetry is stunning, her eyes sparkle with radiance; her facial bone structure is fascinating; her gleaming white teeth are aligned perfectly; her smile inviting; her upper torso pulchritudinous. Everything about her beauty is par excellence. She returns his stare and wonders is this man descended from the Trojan prince, Paris. He is tall and brawny with reddish curly hair; his smile is confident and relaxed. She wonders, “Is not this the most handsome creature I have ever seen?” They meet and instantly fall in love allegedly. Can true love be obtained in an instant? Is true love based on the physical appearance of one’s body! Though physical attraction may be a stage leading to true love, it is not true love.
Rather, I maintain that true human love is in the soul and has four major components namely knowledge, righteousness, justice and grace. These four give the human being capacity for love which capacity is acquired through the person’s willingness to learn and accept truth. For the unbeliever, there must be the understanding and acceptance of the Laws of Establishment, along with his understanding and ability to forgive in grace (The unbeliever’s capacity to forgive is limited whereas the Christian with maximum doctrine has unlimited capacity to forgive in grace.). For the believer, there must be a complete understanding of God’s love since true Christian love is patterned from God’s love; there must be knowledge of the object of one’s personal love; there must be a virtuous righteousness in the soul which is expressed in thinking, motivation, decisions and actions, a righteousness that is never in conflict with grace. (Self-righteousness based on legalism is condemning and critical and has no part in true love. You know the type for example an unbeliever who is vainly proud of his morality or the Christian who is always bragging about all the deeds he is doing allegedly for the Lord.); there must be an understanding of justice and even the proper function of jurisprudence, and how it is applied to circumstances and people. Lastly, there must be the understanding and the application of grace. If not, true love does not and cannot exist.
Regarding the need for grace orientation, let me tell you a little story. When I was living in Korea, a middle-aged Korean lady told me a sad story about her marriage-life. She said that when she was a young woman, she and a handsome young man fell deeply in love, and a short time later fell out of love. This superficial love ended halfway through their honeymoon and never again was she loved by him. Obviously, this man saw some flaw or sin in his wife or alleged failure and so not being able to forgive her in grace, his superficial love ceased, and when his love ceased so did hers.
In summary, true human love must have four primary components and a number of secondary components which come through learning and understanding truth as delineated in the Scripture. If these components exist in a human, he has capacity for love. If not, he doesn’t.
What is divine love? Before we answer this question, let me show you how R. B. Thieme Jr. progressed on this subject as a pioneer on this subject via some diagrams. For most of his ministry, he used what he called the Essence Box. Then toward the end of his ministry, he added other diagrams.
What is the problem with the Essence Box? It doesn’t allow for a substantive definition of Love. Each one of these attributes can be defined from its intrinsic or essential nature except for love. Righteousness is always right; justice is perfect fairness; sovereignty means that God’s will or his decrees cannot be challenged; eternal life is life without a beginning or ending; omniscience is all knowing; omnipotence in all powerful; immutability means that God never changes; veracity means that God is truth, but love cannot be defined substantively without understanding that love has components. Since theologians have never done this, most in Christianity relate God’s love to emotion and esoteric terms.
The Colonel that is R.B. Thieme Jr. began to realize that there was a problem with Orthodox theology in its understanding and defining of God’s love. Therefore, he began to create different diagrams in an attempt to solve this problem. His first attempt is shown below:
What is wrong with this diagram? It still does not define love, but only relates it to integrity and grace.
When the Colonel taught 1 Corinthians 13 in the series called ‘Spiritual Dynamics’, he began defining the Greek word agape as ‘virtue love.’ (S.D. 1615-1640) The expression ‘Virtue love’ means that love has two components namely righteousness and justice. Later, he added more attributes (characteristics, components) to the composition of love such as righteousness, justice, omniscience, and grace. These, he referred to as primary characteristics of love. (Spiritual Dynamic’s series, lessons 1730-1778).
The Composition of Divine Love has components:
Most would say that divine love is one of ten attributes. The remaining nine being righteousness, justice, eternal life, sovereignty, immutability, veracity, omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. Then, there is grace which is another attribute or simply the policy of God. If these are all separate and distinct attributes, then each has its own definition. If that is the case, then righteousness, justice, omniscience and grace cannot be used to define love. Thus, love cannot be defined with any meaning of substance. Love by default can only be defined in terms of feelings and emotion.
In order to properly understand love, it is not one of the 10 attributes of God, but an attribute superior to the other nine. In other words, the other 9 are attributes or characteristics of God’s love. Only in this manner, can love be understood.
The Love of God is a Composition with many Components; four of these components are primary components namely omniscience, righteousness, justice and grace and the others are secondary components.
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Omniscience: To love there must be knowledge
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Righteousness and Justice: love must have virtue
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Sovereignty: love makes decisions
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Eternal life: love has life
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Omnipotence: love must have power
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Omnipresence: love must have presence
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Immutability: God’s love never changes; human love either increases or decreases.
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Veracity: love must be truthful. God is truth; we must learn truth.
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Grace: God’s love is freely given, and undeserved by the recipients.
To properly understand God’s love, we must realize that love is not one of 10 attributes, but an attribute which is more comprehensive than the others. Only in this manner, can God’s love be understood.
The Components of the Love of God as seen in Scripture:
1. John 3:16, “God loved the world so much” His eternal love which includes his omniscience which always (because of eternal life) knew every sin of human history. This information as it were, was relayed to His righteousness which then demanded that all these sins be judged. To carry out this demand, the sovereignty of God made a decision to give his son “so that He gave [from birth to the cross] his uniquely born son.” On the cross, the justice of God the Father then punished the humanity of Christ for every sin in human history. To accomplish this judgment required the power of the Father’s omnipotence. Because of this work on the cross, His love was able to offer salvation in grace, “so that anyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” This gospel message is veracity which is also a characteristic of God’s love.
2. Psalm 33:5: “He loves righteousness and justice, and the earth is full of His love.” If the earth is full of the love of God, one should be able to see this love. If love is one of ten attributes, love cannot be seen. However, if love has characteristics, then one can see the love of God. For example, when the righteousness of God demands blessing for a particular nation based on the information from his omniscience, the sovereignty of God makes a decision regarding his justice to bless that nation in grace. To put this into operation takes the omnipotence of God. This can be seen. When the righteousness of God demands the destruction of a particular nation or nations, the justice of God executes this judgment. Thus, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah can be seen in history. If one should examine a snowflake through a microscope, he can easily see the beautiful design which comes from God’s omniscience. In God’s grace, he provides for the evil as well as the good etc. The characteristics of God’s love are evident on this earth.
3. Hebrews 12:6 states, “For whom the Lord loves [Omniscience, righteousness, justice, sovereignty, omnipotence and grace are all involved], he punishes [warning discipline] and scourges [intensive discipline] every son whom he receives.” The omniscience of the Lord knows just when to administer corrective discipline to the believer. He knows when to administer warning discipline and when to place the believer under intensive discipline. This information is passed on to the righteousness of God which demands punishment for the failing believer, and what the righteousness of God demands via his sovereignty, the justice of God executes via his omnipotence in grace.
4. 1 John 4:19. We [the mature believer with the following components of love: righteousness, justice, knowledge of God and His plan, grace orientation, maximum truth in the soul, power namely operates under the two power options] and only we love [reciprocating God’s personal love] God because He himself first loved us [in eternity past from all the components of His personal love directed toward our imputed righteousness].
We started this subject explaining human love since it is probably easier to understand and accept. Even though we began with human love, God’s love eternally preceded it. Furthermore, God’s love is the pattern for true human love. I hope the Christian will be able to understand the importance of understanding love as a composition with many components (characteristics, attributes). Also, I encourage all to listen to R. B. Thieme Jr.’s series on Spiritual Dynamics, Lessons 1717 to 1800 regarding this subject.
Romans 13:9
For the [list of the pertinent commandments in the Mosaic Law]: "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not lust," and if there is any other commandment [and there is for believers only], it is summed up in this statement: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" [your neighbors are those in your periphery or with those you normally have contact].
τὸ γὰρ Οὐ µοιχεύσεις, Οὐ φονεύσεις, Οὐ κλέψεις, Οὐκ ἐπιθυµήσεις, καὶ εἴ τις ἑτέρα ἐντολή, ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται, [ἐν τῷ] Ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν.
A few points for clarification:
"You shall not commit adultery” In the Old Testament adultery was not only a sin, but a crime as well, a crime punishable by death. Deuteronomy 22:23-24, “If there is a virgin, betrothed [contractually married] to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death. The girl because she did not cry out in the city [she consented], and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. Thus, you shall purge the evil [adultery is more than a sin] from among you.” The Lord Jesus Christ removed it as a crime as per John 8:1-11. Rather than having governmental officials punish adultery as a crime, the Supreme Court of Heaven no longer delegates this responsibility to government, but will administer all the punishment directly from heaven.
“You shall not murder” The sixth commandment of the Decalogue emphasizes the establishment principle of live and let live. Obviously, murder is a violation of that principle. Note that the command is ‘not to murder’. Those who live by violence will die by violence. There are only three exceptions to violence namely lawful violence: law enforcement, the function of the military establishment, and the individual's right to defend his life and property. Killing in the line of duty and under the authority of government is not murder, but is the exercise of legitimate violence to maintain freedom for innocent individuals in society.
“You shall not steal” This is the eighth commandment as found in Exodus 20:15. It is distinguished from the adultery-commandment that there are two different kinds of property. There is property animate—a man’s wife; there is property inanimate. Human freedom includes the right to own and possess inanimate property under the Laws of Divine Establishment. Thus, property is sacred.
“You shall not lust” This is the 10th commandment of Exodus 20:17 which protects human freedom from the lust pattern of the old sin nature. The word for lust here emphasizes sexual and power lust, although other lusts may be involved.
"You shall love [impersonal love] your neighbor as yourself [a reference to spiritual self-esteem]"
This is an Old Testament expression for impersonal love. Loving another means giving them their privacy and their freedom to respond to you, or not. We must tolerate each other.
A few points for clarification:
1. “You shall love the one near you [your neighbour] as yourself” implies that once you possess spiritual self-esteem you will possess both the capacity and standards for this impersonal love.
2. It further means that you do not lower your standards to those who are antagonistic toward you by emulating them in a controversy or in strife or in personality conflict.
3. When you are the victim of gossip, maligning, judging, a grudge, retaliation, revenge, you do not reciprocate if you operate on your high standards. You do, if you operate on the low standards of the antagonist.
4. This means you cannot lower your standards and still be a lover of impersonal love.
5. Every time you hold a grudge or retaliate, seek revenge, express hatred, vindictiveness, implacability, jealousy or arrogance in reprisal you have abandoned your standards of impersonal love for the lower, evil standards of your antagonist.
6. Impersonal love observes establishment principles in recognizing the freedom, privacy, property and non-essential opinions of the believer and unbeliever, and observes the royal family honor code in recognizing the imputed righteousness, and privacy of the priesthood.
Romans 13:10
Love produces no evil toward a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the Law.
ἡ ἀγάπη τῷ πλησίον κακὸν οὐκ ἐργάζεται· πλήρωµα οὖν νόµου ἡ ἀγάπη.
Evil is caused by the practice of sin and the function of human good. Hence, this phrase emphasizes giving privacy to others in order that they might function under establishment principles of freedom or the spiritual principles of the royal family honor code. This is the true function of freedom. This must always be related to two other principles since freedom is not an entity in itself. It must be related to both privacy and property.
Romans 13:11
This do also [means in addition to our responsibility to the government, to the Laws of Divine Establishment, in addition to our responsibility to believers under the royal family honor code] by having known the period of time [the Church Age], that it is already time [literally the hour] for you to wake up from sleep [of apathy, indifference, of disorientation to history even a sleep associated with apostasy], for now our deliverance [a reference to the Rapture of the Church] is nearer than when we believed.
Καὶ τοῦτο εἰδότες τὸν καιρόν, ὅτι ὥρα ἤδη ὑµᾶς ἐξ ὕπνου ἐγερθῆναι, νῦν γὰρ ἐγγύτερον ἡµῶν ἡ σωτηρία ἢ ὅτε ἐπιστεύσαµεν.
“And that, knowing the time.” This begins with the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai, with the independent nominative singular from the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos translated this. When an idea is conceived independent of any particular verbal relationship, it may stand alone in the nominative case. It names an idea rather than an object and is called an independent nominative (or a nominative absolute) in the Greek.
1. Sleep is the status of apathy, indifference, of disorientation to history which status is usually related to apostasy.
2. Waking up from sleep means to use the Recovery Procedure and get with the spiritual life.
3. Waking up or inculcation of doctrine is necessary because the time of the Rapture is imminent.
4. No one knows the time of the Rapture, but no unfulfilled Scripture exists. So that the Rapture is imminent. 1 Corinthians 1:17; Titus 2:13.
5. The more we understand the doctrine of the Rapture the greater the motivation to learn doctrine today, tomorrow, and the next day.
6. Each day is the opportunity to learn Bible doctrine and advance to maturity.
Romans 13:12
The night [the life of the believer on earth] is far gone [ we only have a limited amount of time in this life] and the day [used here to represent either death or the Rapture, whichever occurs first in the life of the Church Age believer] is approaching, therefore let us lay aside the works of darkness [a principle of priority], let us put on the armor of light.
ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν, ἡ δὲ ἡµέρα ἤγγικεν. ἀποθώµεθα οὖν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους, ἐνδυσώµεθα δὲ τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός.
“And the day is approaching” It is obvious that this particular phrase is designed to alert us to the proper use of our time. It means that in our scale of values, in the norms and standards of our conscience, something in our life must receive the most attention every day. The day is long enough for us to have time for sleep, time for work, time for pleasure; all of which eventually become meaningless unless we have doctrine and the norms and standards of doctrine in the soul.
“Let us lay aside the works of darkness” It means to cast off, but here it really means to put away, to lay aside something. It doesn’t mean to reject it but to lay it aside. In other words, this is a priority principle. You are not commanded as a Christian to quit things, to stop having pleasures, to stop whatever you are doing in life, but there must be something more important than what you are doing in life namely Bible doctrine. So, we are commanded to give first place to the most important thing. So, anything which distracts you from executing God’s plan is a work of darkness.
“Let us put on the armor of light” Putting on armor is simply gearing the mentality of your soul to face the exigencies of life as well as the prosperity of life. So, when it says “let us put on”, the constative aorist gathers up into one entirety the perception of doctrine which executes the command. The middle voice is the direct middle in which the believer participates in the results by attaining maturity, by having great capacity for life, great happiness in life, great prosperity in life, occupation with the person of Christ, and historical impact, etc. The hortatory subjunctive, again, is tantamount to a command but differs from the imperative mood in that it takes cognizance of human volition.
Romans 13:13
Let us walk honorably as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuities and licentiousness, not in strife [from mental attitude sins] and jealousy.
ὡς ἐν ἡµέρᾳ εὐσχηµόνως περιπατήσωµεν, µὴ κώµοις καὶ µέθαις, µὴ κοίταις καὶ ἀσελγείαις, µὴ ἔριδι καὶ ζήλῳ·
This is higher than establishment; this is honor. It is a reference to the believer’s function under the royal family honor code. The command is accomplished through the Filling of the Spirit and maximum doctrine resident in the soul. One cannot fulfill the Royal Family Honor code when he is committing the sins mentioned above.
Romans 13:14
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ [use Jesus Christ as your role model], and make no provision for the sin nature in regards to its lusts.
ἀλλὰ ἐνδύσασθε τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν µὴ ποιεῖσθε εἰς ἐπιθυµίας.
Christianity teaches orientation to life through respect for authority ordained by God in either the Laws of divine Establishment or the modus operandi of the local church. A society saturated with turbulence and anarchy should welcome Christianity as the stabilizer of that society. In addition to the pivot of mature believers Christianity introduces honour and integrity into the life blood of the nation. Christianity is the source of divine blessing and prosperity for a nation. Without Christianity there would be no client nation to provide missionaries and evangelists for those areas of heathenism where positive volition exists. Without the free function of the local church in society, life would be a jungle of anarchy and destruction, for the believer is the salt of the land. The royal family honour code is inflexible in its doctrine but flexible in its adaptation and application to life.
