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Jonah 2:9 – Salvation is from the Lord

The Text of Jonah 2:9

But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.

In this discussion of Jonah 2:9 we look at:

The last verse of Jonah’s prayer
How Jonah continues to praise himself and condemn the sailors
How we continue to see Jonah’s self-righteousness in his prayer
What is meant by the phrase “salvation is from the Lord.”

Resources:

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Those who are part of my online discipleship group may download the MP3 audio file for this podcast and view the podcast transcript below.

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If you want to deepen your relationship with God and better understand Scripture, take one (or all) of these courses. They are great for personal study or for a small group Bible study.

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3 More Reasons Good Works Do Not Prove that You are a Christian

By Jeremy Myers

8 Comments

Last week I wrote that good works are not the necessary result of justification. Many Christians say that if you are truly a Christian, you will have the good works to prove it. I argued in last week’s post that this is not true.

Let me provide three more reasons that good works do not prove that we are a Christian (and that the lack of good works do not prove that we are NOT a Christian).

1. Good Works might not be evident

Some people in the comments of last week’s post noted that Christians “good works” often get defined by those in charge. This is true. If we are looking for “good works” in the life of a person to determine whether or not they are a Christian, what good works should we be looking for?

Usually, the good works we look for include things like attending church, daily Bible reading and prayer, tithing to the church, and not using bad words.

But where did this list come from? It seems to have been cherry-picked from various verses in the Bible. Why are these often the types of good works people look for in others? Because these are the types of good works that pastors and church leaders want in the people who attend their church.

Yet the good works that God wants might be completely different than the good works your pastor wants.

The good works that religious leaders tell us to perform might not be the good works that God Himself thinks are important. In fact, the good works that God wants might not be all that beneficial to the ministry that takes place on Sunday morning in the brick building on the corner. For example, James tells us that God wants us to take care of orphans and widows and keep oneself from being polluted by the world (Jas 1:27). Ministry to orphans and widows is not often the first and most important ministry that a local church decides to take on. The same goes for ministry to the poor and homeless.

But beyond this, it is quite possible that the good works that we do perform might not be all that evident to others (or even to ourselves). We may not even realize we are doing good works.

In Matthew 25:31-46, for example, the people who served the hungry, the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned did not realize that they were doing anything “good” for Jesus at all. Their actions and behavior didn’t “count” on the checklist of approved religious good works. But Jesus said that their “good works” were the most important of all, for in serving these other people, they were serving Him.

When we stand before Jesus in His glory, I believe the things we credit to ourselves as being “good works” will be things that receive almost no praise or glory from Him, whereas the things that He praises us for will be those things we didn’t even know we were doing.

The mother who gets up every day and feeds her family and cleans her house without thanks or praise from anyone will likely be among the most honored people in heaven, even though nobody in this world would give her credit for doing anything notable or newsworthy. She may not even have the energy to read her Bible, pray, evangelize, or get involved in a local ministry, but she faithfully serves “the least of these” her children, and God sees what nobody else does, and will honor and praise her in eternity.

And it not just mothers.

Most who truly serve God in the ways that really matter to God serve in obscurity, doing things that nobody notices (including themselves).

2. Sin becomes more obvious as we mature

Another we must be careful about looking to good works as evidence for faith and regeneration is because the closer to God we get, the more aware of our sin we become.

If we are looking at our life and to our good works for evidence that we truly have eternal life, the natural progression of the Christian life will ultimately lead a person to believe that they do not have eternal life.

The more you mature as a child of God, the more you recognize how far from God you truly are.

If you are looking to your good works as evidence that you have eternal life, you are likely to become less sure about it the closer you get to God, rather than more sure.

I always find it interesting that early in Paul’s ministry, he referred to himself as the least of the apostles (1 Cor 15:9). Later, he referred to himself as the least of all the saints (Eph 3:8). Finally, near the end of his life, he called himself the chief of sinners (1 Tim 1:15).

If Paul were looking to his own good works as evidence of whether or not he had eternal life, as he became more and more aware of his sin he would have become less and less sure that he was truly a Christian. But because Paul knew that he had eternal life through the promises of God alone, Paul was able to increasingly glorify God and praise God with every passing year because he knew that each and every sin was covered and forgiven by God.

If you depend on God’s promises in Scripture, and the faithfulness of Jesus to finish in you what He started, then you will never get tripped up or afraid by the sin in your life, for you will know that God always loves you and always forgives. When you sin, you will be able to shrug it off and keep moving forward with God.

3. Good Works are part of sanctification

When a person first believes in Jesus for eternal life, they are justified. They are declared righteous by God. From that moment on, the process of sanctification begins, which only ends with our death and final glorification in heaven.

It is a very possible that a person can believe in Jesus for eternal life and then not come to understand many of the sanctification truths that are necessary to understand in order to make progress in the Christians life.

So if a person has believed in Jesus for eternal life, but they continue to live like the devil, the proper response is not to challenge the validity of their faith, but rather to come alongside them an disciple them into some of the truths of what it means to follow Jesus.

When a Christian lives like the devil, they do not need their faith challenged; they need their faith grown.

They need someone to teach them the Scriptures, to show them what is true of them now that they are members of the family of God.

They need to come to an understanding of their new identity in Jesus.

Good works come from an understanding of these truths. In this way, we can say that good works are a result of understanding these truths, and therefore also a condition for further sanctification.

If a person hears these truths and says they understand them, but they continue to disobey and rebel, then we can say that they are living in rebellion or have failed to understand the truths they have been taught, but one thing we cannot say is that they didn’t really believe in the first place.

Maybe they need someone to come alongside them and show them how damaging and destructive sin truly is. They might need someone to say, “Yes, you can go sin all you want … but when you understand what sin does to you, why would you want to sin?”

Many Christians have the false idea that God is a cosmic killjoy out to ruin their fun and keep them from enjoying life. Some good teaching corrects this idea, and shows that far from ruining our lives, God wants us to enjoy our life to the fullest extent possible. The reason He tells us not to sin is because He loves us and doesn’t want to see us get hurt by sin.

So when a person doesn’t have good works, they don’t need to be told that maybe they aren’t a Christian after all; maybe they need to be shown the destructive nature of sin and the life-giving power of following God’s instructions.

If a person claims to be a Christian but lives like the devil, my response to them is not to tell them they are not really a Christian, but rather to engage them in conversation about how they became a Christian and what this means for their life now.

If, in the course of this conversation, I discover that the only reason they think they are a Christian is because they grew up in a Christian family and went to church a few times growing up, then I get to introduce them to the central gospel truth about how eternal life is by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

But if, in the course of this conversation, they express the idea that they have eternal life because God gave it to them as a free gift when they believed in Jesus, I will not challenge the validity or reality of such faith, but will instead begin to address sanctification issues with this person.

The person who has been justified but who is not being sanctified doesn’t need to be told they were not justified. They need to be instructed, encouraged, and befriended by someone who can lead them further down the path of sanctification.

Good works, or the lack thereof, do nothing to prove whether or not a person has eternal life. They do, however, help us know where a person might be at in understanding Scripture and how to live as a child of God. They do help us gauge the process of sanctification and how we can partner with others to encourage them in this process.

Want to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

Humor in the Bible is one Key to Understanding the Bible

By Jeremy Myers

1 Comment

I am convinced that you must read the Bible with a half smile on your lips and a glint of humor in your eyes if you are going to properly understand some texts. I have written about this previously, especially in regard to understanding the parables of Jesus.

So I was thrilled to recently read Holy Hilarity: A Funny Story of Genesis by Mark Roncace. I was especially interested in this book due to my Podcast studies on Genesis 1-4.

Mark Roncace provides great insight into some of the humorous elements of the stories in Genesis. People didn’t television in the days these stories were written, and so they told stories. And these stories in Genesis (like most stories in the Bible, those in Judges, Esther, Jonah, etc.) contain drama, romance, and even humor.

If Genesis was a Twitter feed or a series of Facebook posts, it would generate a lot of people commenting with “LOL” and “SMH.”

Roncace shows that we need to stop taking the Bible so seriously, and sometimes just laugh at the hilarity and absurdity of the stories it contains. This is not to mock the Bible, but to read it as it was intended. Life is funny, and life with God is even more funny. Yes, there is much pain and hardship, but humor helps us cope with the hurt. The sooner we learn to see humor in the Bible, the better.

Laughter is not only the best medicine, it also is a good hermeneutical tool.

Holy Hilarity by Roncace is like a commentary on Genesis, but with an emphasis on showing the humor in the stories. Some of the humor is “imported” into the text by Roncace, so that he provides a modern-day humorous retelling of the story (e.g., saying that Noah didn’t have power tools to build the ark, p. 24), but it is still a creative way of telling the stories of Genesis.

One of my Seminary professors (Howard Hendricks) used to say that it is sin to bore people with the Bible. I agree. The Bible is endlessly fascinating, and full of intrigue, insight, and humor. Books like Holy Hilarity help us break out of the box of reading the Bible with straight faces, so that we can see the truth in the text.

If you want to look at Genesis in a new light, get a copy of this book so that you can laugh and learn.

Jonah 2:7-8 – Is your theology idolatry?

By Jeremy Myers

4 Comments

Do you think that theology can be an idol?

That is, do you think that we sometimes allow our study of God, or even what we think we know about God, to get in the way of actually worshiping and obeying God? In other words, do you think we Christians ever make our theology of God more important than God Himself?

Is it possible for our theology to become idolatry?

That is what we will discuss today as we look at Jonah 2:7-8.

The Text of Jonah 2:7-8

When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy.

In this discussion of Jonah 2:7-8 we look at:

Why Jonah 2:7 repeats the central thought from Jonah 2:4
Why Jonah 2:8 is a reference to the sailors from Jonah 1
Why the best translation of Jonah 2:8b is “neglect their shame”
If everything Jonah says about the sailors is wrong, and instead points to himself, what about the first line of Jonah 2:8? Is that also a statement about Jonah? Does Jonah worship vain idols?

Resources:

Redeeming God Discipleship Area
Do Christians Worship a False God? (Facebook post)
Subscribe and Leave a Review on iTunes

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Those who are part of my online discipleship group may download the MP3 audio file for this podcast and view the podcast transcript below.

You must join a discipleship group or login to download the MP3 and view the transcript.

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Do you like learning about the Bible online?

If you want to deepen your relationship with God and better understand Scripture, take one (or all) of these courses. They are great for personal study or for a small group Bible study.

You can see the list of available courses here, and if you join the Discipleship group, you can take all the courses at no additional cost. Go here to learn more and join now.

Are good works necessary for eternal life?

By Jeremy Myers

15 Comments

Lots of people wonder about the role of good works in the life of the believer. While I agree that good works are important, I do not believe that good works are the necessary result of faith, nor do I believe that good works are necessary to gain entrance into heaven.

What Happens if You Don’t Have Good Works?

Some claim that while good works do not help a person gain eternal life, if a person does not have good works, then this proves that they never had eternal life in the first place and will not enter heaven with God in eternity. (To see some quotes from people who believe and teach this, check out the lesson “Good Works Cannot Prove Eternal Life” in my online course on the Gospel.)

But this is the same thing as saying that good works are a necessary condition for entering heaven.

When good works are a necessary result of faith and justification, then good works become a condition for glorification and entrance into the eternal kingdom.

If someone has faith in Jesus, but they do not have the good works that some people think are necessary, then according to some systems of theology, those people will not enter into glorification.

In such a system, human effort and good works have entered into the chain of events so that if a person does not have the necessary good works, that person will not be glorified.

It is obvious that the only real difference between a person who has faith and good works and a person who has faith without good works is the good works.

If Good Works are a Necessary Result of Justification, then they are a Condition for Glorification

If someone teaches that only those who have both faith and good works will end up in heaven, this means that they see good works as a condition for entering into heaven and final glorification. In such theology, the chain of events is this:

Justification → Good Works → Glorification

In such thinking, if a person does not have the necessary good works, the entire chain unravels. The person will not get glorified because they apparently were not justified.

So the logical conclusion is that if good works are a necessary result of justification, then this makes good works a condition for glorification.

The following logical syllogism may help clarify this further.

1. If a, then always b (where b is something a believer is responsible for).
2. If a and b, then g.
3. Not b.
4. Therefore, neither a nor g.

If good works are a necessary result of justification, this syllogism would be read this way:

1. If one is justified (a), then one will perform good works in life (b).
2. If one is justified (a) and it has been proved by works (b), then one can be sure that one will get to heaven (g).
3. One does not have the necessary works (not b).
4. Therefore, one is neither justified (a) nor is going to heaven (g).

According to this logic, if a person does not have good works, he or she will not make it to heaven. And if a person does not make it to heaven, then he or she was not justified. So, a person who does not have good works is not going to heaven.

Logically then, the belief that good works are a necessary result of justification is equivalent to the belief that good works are a condition for entrance into heaven and glorification.

Yes, Good Works are Important!

None of this means that good works have no place in the life of the believer. As I point out in my online course on the Gospel, good works are essential in the life of the believer for many things. But good works are not necessary to gain glorification into heaven, or to prove that we have truly been justified.

If we want to maintain the gospel truth that eternal life is by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, then we must hold to the biblical truth that good works do nothing to help earn, keep, or prove eternal life.

Want to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

How Paul Teaches Eternal Security in Romans 8:29-39

By Jeremy Myers

8 Comments

Paul was an outspoken proponent of God’s grace, and confronted legalism and works-based righteousness everywhere he went and with every letter he wrote. Paul’s magnum opus on the gospel, his letter to the Romans, has numerous clear statements about eternal security. One of these is Romans 8:29-39.

Almost every single verse in Romans 8:29-39 has something to say about our security as believers in Jesus, which can be seen in three parts. The first part, found in Romans 8:29-30, contains the eternal security chain.

1. The Eternal Security Chain (Romans 8:29-30)

In Romans 8:29-30, Paul looks at our future glorification in eternity from the perspective of God in eternity past. Paul shows that all those whom God foreknew from eternity past will ultimately and finally be glorified with God in eternity future.

Justification is in the middle of this chain, which means that those who believe in Jesus for eternal life, that is, those who are justified by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, are also those who have been foreknown by God from all eternity and who will also be glorified by God in the future.

What this means is that there is not one single person who can be justified by faith alone who will then fail to be glorified. All who are justified will arrive at glorification. In other words, once a person is justified, they cannot lose their justification.

While I do not like the phrase “once saved, always saved,” I am perfectly happy to join Paul in proclaiming “once justified, always justified.”

Note as well that the items which Paul mentions in this eternal security chain are all God’s parts in eternal life. Human faith is not mentioned anywhere, nor is the process of sanctification. Paul is very aware of both ideas as he has written extensively about both earlier in this letter (cf. Romans 4–7). So by writing this chain as he has, Paul is teaching that once a person is justified by faith alone in Jesus, there is nothing they can do to stop the rest of the chain from occurring.

Even if a person stops believing or fails to make much progress in sanctification, such failures do not stop God from bringing the person to glorification.

While faith in Jesus is the only “on ramp” to this eternal security chain, there are no “off ramps.”

Since the entire chain is up to God, there is nothing that can break it.

Nevertheless, Paul knows that there are always some who cannot accept or understand such amazing grace. There are always grace critics. Paul goes on in Romans 8:31-34 to silence the critics.

2. Silencing the Critics (Romans 8:31-34)

Critics of grace always like to ask questions like, “But can’t Satan accuse us of sin before God? What about that really bad sin of murder and adultery? God can’t just cover those by grace, can He? Won’t Jesus be offended by certain sins I commit and remove Himself from me, so that God no longer sees Christ when He looks at me?”

These are all good questions, but to answer them, Paul has several questions of his own.

His first question is, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

In other words, is God greater than Satan, or isn’t He? Is God greater than the demons, or isn’t He? Is God greater than all your sin, or isn’t He? Do you really think that God is shocked by some sin you commit? He knew and saw this sin from eternity past and forgave it anyway out of His grace. Do you think now that you have actually committed the sin God has second thoughts about His love and forgiveness toward you? With this kind of God on your side, who can possibly be against you? Who or what do you have to fear?

The next question of Paul is even more pointed. He says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

Paul says that since God freely delivered up His Son to die for us, won’t He also give us everything else freely too? Of course He will! This is the same truth Paul already mentioned back in Romans 5:8-10. Which is harder? To love and forgive a wicked, rebellious, wayward, wretched sinner, or to continue forgiving somebody who has been declared righteous by God and who has been identified with Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection?

Neither is too difficult for God, but the point is that if God justifies us freely by His grace while we were yet sinners, it is no problem whatsoever for God, once we have been justified, to then glorify us and freely give us everything else we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3).

But what about when we sin willfully? What about when we do something really bad? Or what about if we keep sinning over and over and just cannot break a bad sinful habit? Won’t that make God give up on us and hand us back over to Satan?

This is the next question Paul asks and answers: “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.”

In other words, he is saying, “You’ve sinned really bad? You’ve sinned repeatedly? Who is going to charge you? The only person in the entire universe who could possibly bring a charge against you is God Himself, and He’s not going to do that, because He already justified you.”

All sin is ultimately against God, and therefore He is the only one who can bring charges against us. But when we sin, God says, “Yep, I saw that one from before the foundation of the world, and I already forgave it. I will not bring charges against it.” And if God doesn’t charge you for the sin you commit against Him, nobody will.

What about Jesus though? He is God too, and He’s the one who went to the cross for our sin. Won’t He get tired of us sinning, and eventually just throw up His hands in disgust and give up on us?

Paul answers this too in Romans 8:34: “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Many people read this text completely backwards. They read the question, “Who is he who condemns?” and think that the following words, “It is Christ” provide the answer to the question. When read this way, Romans 8:34 is thought to be saying that it is Jesus Christ who condemns us.

But this is not at all what Paul is saying. When the verse is read in context and the rest of Paul’s thought is read as well, we see that Jesus does not condemn us, but intercedes for us, which is the opposite of condemnation. Paul is saying is that the only person who could condemn us, namely Jesus, not only does not condemn us, but actually intercedes for us!

Jesus is not our accuser but our advocate. Jesus is on our side.

So if Jesus, the only person who could condemn us, is actually defending us, then there is no accusation against us which can stand. With Jesus as our intercessor, there is no way we can ever be condemned of anything before God. If Jesus won’t condemn us, nobody can.

In light of all this, we have nothing to worry about. This is how Paul closes out his thoughts on the subject of eternal security.

3. No Separation Anxiety (Romans 8:35-39)

Since God has forgiven us and Jesus intercedes for us, there is nothing which can separate us from the love of Christ. Neither “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword” can separate us from God’s love in Jesus Christ.

Quite the contrary, rather than being defeated and overcome and condemned by such things, “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” These things cannot defeat us, because in Jesus we have defeated them.

The reason Paul mentions this specific list of items is because he knows that when these things happen to us, we believe it is because God has rejected us, is punishing us, or has stopped loving us. When we go through tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword, our natural instinct is to believe that such things are evidence that God has abandoned us.

But Paul wants his readers (and us) to know that nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Bad things happen to us because we live in a sinful world; not because God has withdrawn His love from us.

Romans 89:38-39 is the conclusion of the matter, and are some of the most beautiful verses in the entire Bible. Paul writes “that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul piles phrase upon phrase to include absolutely everything within the entire universe. There is nothing that does not fit within this description. Nothing in death or life can separate us from God. Not even angels, demons, principalities, powers, or Satan himself can separate us from God. Nothing in the height or the depths of creation, or any created thing can separate us from God.

This description also includes ourselves.

Are we not also a created thing? Of course! Yet there are many people who teach that although nothing else in the universe can separate us from God, we can separate ourselves. Paul begs to differ. He says no created thing can separate us from God. If you are a created thing, then not even you can separate yourself from God.

In the end, Paul’s message in the first half of his letter to the Romans points to one single truth: Because God has done everything necessary as far as our eternal life is concerned, there is absolutely nothing we (or anyone or anything else) can do to lose our eternal life once we have it.

Eternal life is eternal.

Those who are justified by faith in Jesus are eternally righteous in God and 100% of them will be glorified.

If you have believed in Jesus for eternal life, there is nothing you can do to lose it, and so there is nothing you need to do to keep it.

Want to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

Jonah 2:5-6 – How (and how not) to Pray

By Jeremy Myers

4 Comments

What is your prayer life like? Do you ever wonder if you are praying properly? As we continue to look at Jonah’s prayer in Jonah 2:5-6, we learn some more lessons today about how to pray, and how not to pray.

The Text of Jonah 2:5-6

The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head.

I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.

In this discussion of Jonah 2:5-6 we look at:

Why Jonah 2:5-6 are a repeat of Jonah 2:2-3
How Jonah 2:5-6 point the reader to Genesis 1
Why Jonah’s prayer is not a model prayer
Some lessons on how (and how not) to pray

Resources:

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Those who are part of my online discipleship group may download the MP3 audio file for this podcast and view the podcast transcript below.

You must join a discipleship group or login to download the MP3 and view the transcript.

Thanks for visiting this page ... but this page is for Discipleship Group members.

If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
Login here.

If you are part of the free "Grace" Discipleship group, you will need to
Upgrade your Membership to one of the paid groups.

If you are not part of any group, you may learn about the various groups and their benefits here:
Join Us Today.

Do you like learning about the Bible online?

If you want to deepen your relationship with God and better understand Scripture, take one (or all) of these courses. They are great for personal study or for a small group Bible study.

You can see the list of available courses here, and if you join the Discipleship group, you can take all the courses at no additional cost. Go here to learn more and join now.

21 Free Books! (Here’s Your Summer Reading)

By Jeremy Myers

5 Comments

I ran a poll on Facebook a few weeks back about how many books people read per year. It seemed that the average was around 20-40, but there were some who read 200 or more!

So if you are looking for some books to read over the summer, here are 21 free books to get you started. Only one of them (mine) is in the “Theology” category … the others are all novels from various genres.

Since most of you reading this are probably Christians, I suppose I need to tell you that it is quite possible that some of these books might contain sex and language. Sort of like life. Ha!

Anyway, if you download one of these books and enjoy reading it, most of these authors also have other books you can read as well. So hopefully you will find a good series to enjoy this coming summer.

My book, The Skeleton Church, has a free online course that goes along with it. You can join the “Discipleship” area of this site to get access to the course.

Here’s a video that explains more:

https://vimeo.com/217014783

Go see which books are available and download them here: 21 Free Books for Summer Reading

10 Reasons You Should NOT Join my Online Discipleship Group

By Jeremy Myers

6 Comments

My online discipleship group is for people who know they don’t have all the answers, who want to seek truth, wherever it is found, and who like to be challenged in their Christian beliefs and practices. If that describes you, join us today!

On the other hand, below are 10 reasons why you might not be a good fit for my online discipleship group.

You should NOT join my discipleship group IF …

1. You are pretty sure that all of your theology is correct.

I teach some challenging ideas in my discipleship group, and question some fairly traditional church teachings. This might ruffle your feathers.

If you do not like to have your theology or your understanding of Scripture challenged because you think that everything you believe is already 100% correct, the RedeemingGod.com discipleship group will not be a good fit for you. We value asking the hard questions and enjoy discussing difficult issues.

2. You think that the only right way to do church is the way you do it in your church

Several of the courses that are offered in the RedeemingGod.com discipleship area will challenge the way you think about church and do church. For many people, the way they “do church” is the only right way to do it, and anybody who does things differently is doing it wrong.

If that is how you think, the discipleship area is not for you. Our discipleship group contains many people who faithfully follow Jesus every single day without ever stepping foot inside a church building. I think that’s fantastic, because “being” the church does not require “going” to church.

3. You think it is a sin for men to have long hair.

Ok, this one is a little light-hearted, but you would be surprised to know how often I get emails and private FB messages from people who challenge me on the length of my hair. “How can you claim to be a Christian and teach the Bible to others if you have long hair?” they say. “Don’t you know what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:14?

The answer, of course, is that I am very well aware, but I understand the verse in its original context, and so believe it is not a sin at all for men to have long hair. (Paul doesn’t even say it is a sin, by the way.)

The point is that if my hair length is a sticking point for you, this is an indication that you will also have difficulty with the rest of what we discuss inside the discipleship group, and therefore, it is probably not for you.

4. You are a die-hard Calvinist, Arminian, Pentecostal, Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, non-denominationalist, or “Fill-in-the-Blank.”

I don’t promote any one specific tradition or belief system inside the discipleship group, and try to encourage others to do the same. Rather, we try to learn from each other, and pull the good ideas and practices from all Christian backgrounds and traditions. So if you are firmly part of one particular tradition and want to push and promote it on others, this discipleship group will not be a good fit for you.

Furthermore, if you are fully invested in one of these traditions, it is quite likely that some of what we teach and discuss in the group will challenge some of your beliefs and practices, and if you find this offensive or scary, you are probably better off joining a group that is from your particular tradition or practice so that everybody agrees with you and affirms what you do.

In other words, to be part of our discipleship group, you have to be able to be gracious toward those who disagree, and be willing to learn from others,

5. You believe that there are some questions that are “off limits.”

We ask some hard questions inside the discipleship group. Some people are uncomfortable with asking hard questions because their faith cannot handle the challenge. We ask, for example, whether or not God actually exists, whether or not Genesis 1 teaches 7-day creationism, and whether or not a person can be a Christian and still go sin all they want. We even ask some questions that make you squirm, such as “Is masturbation wrong?” or “What was Jesus’ view about homosexuality?”

If these sorts of questions make you angry or uncomfortable, the discipleship group is not for you.

I believe, however, that truth can stand up to any and all questions, and that since God made us to be inquisitive, creative, rational people, it is our duty and obligation to ask any and every question that comes up. If we are right in what we believe, then asking the questions only strengthens our faith, but if we are wrong, then hopefully we want to know it, and we only discover the truth by asking questions.

If you like to ask questions, the discipleship group is for you.

6. You don’t like to read, study, learn, or think.

My online discipleship group is information heavy. It is mostly focused on reading, listening, and writing. There are online courses, quizzes, and books. You will be asked to study, think, and inquire.

A good rule of thumb is that unless you like to read (or listen to) at least 30 books a year, you probably won’t like my online discipleship group. The discipleship area is focused on text and audio material, and so if you don’t spend much time reading theology books, studying Scripture, or listening to theology podcasts or books on audio, you probably won’t enjoy the discipleship area of this website.

But if you love theology podcasts, listening to sermons on the radio, and reading books about Scripture and theology, then the discipleship area will be great for you. This is especially true if you love having your mind stretched, if you embrace difficult questions, and if you enjoy being introduced to new ideas and different ways of viewing Scripture.

7. You only want to study and learn if you get an accredited degree out of it.

If that’s the case, you should probably just go to a Bible College or Seminary. While much what I teach is at the Bible College or Seminary level, and while my discipleship area is 99.99% cheaper than Bible College or Seminary, you are not going to get an accredited degree out of it.

You will, however, deepen your knowledge of Scripture, grow in your relationship with Jesus, and learn how to love and serve others in a more meaningful way, but you will not be able to put initials before or after your name.

8. You only want Bible study material that is free.

I sometimes get the objection that it is wrong for me to charge for access to my material. When I get this objection from Christians, I always ask them, “Have you ever bought a Christian book? Have you ever paid to attend an Evangelism training seminar? Have you ever wanted to go to Bible College or seminary? Do you tithe to your church?”

You can think of my discipleship area in the same way, except that you also gain a connection to me and other like-minded people around the world. Think of it like buying a book or attending a conference where the author and other attendees are all hanging around to talk with you. Also, while 95% of what I teach and write is available for free in various formats, the discipleship area is how people are able to get my most in-depth teaching in logical format and order.

And just like some people tithe to their church or to some Christian ministry because they believe in what that ministry is doing, there are some people who join my discipleship group because they like the online ministry that I provide around the world. Of course, I am not currently a non-profit organization, and so gifts and membership costs are not tax-deductible, but that should never be the reason you support a ministry anyway.

I do give a lot of material away for free, and even have a free section in my discipleship group, but I work really hard at preparing the books, teachings, and courses that I provide inside the discipleship area. The reason I charge for them is so that I can keep this website up and running and offer the free stuff that I do. Without your support, this website would disappear and I would no longer be able to offer free Bible and Theology training to millions of Christians around the world.

9. You believe that Bible study and theology is always serious and never fun.

I will freely admit that I don’t have the greatest sense of humor. When I was a pastor, I was a terrible joke-teller, so one Sunday an elder gave me a “Laugh” sign and told me to hold it up whenever I told a joke so that the congregation would be prompted to laugh.

Nevertheless, I believe that Bible study and theology should never be boring, and that it is okay to laugh, have fun, and approach Scripture light-heartedly. Sure, it is the most important area of study in the world, but this doesn’t mean we have to approach it with nothing but frowns and furrowed brows. Let’s laugh, smile, joke, and have fun.

10. You get angry and defensive when someone challenges your beliefs, and you start calling them names like “heretic” or “false teacher.”

If you have a habit of calling people heretics and false teachers on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog, this discipleship group is not for you. We do not allow divisive behavior like name-calling and public shaming to occur. It is completely okay to disagree with me or anyone else in the group, but it is not okay to try to “win the argument” through abusive and bullying behavior like name-calling and shaming.

So if you only want to join the discipleship group to push your theological agenda and force everyone to believe the way you do, you might want to look elsewhere.

11. You believe that most Democrats (or Republicans, or Progressives, or Conservatives, or Liberals, or Sots, or Anarchists, or “Fill in the Blank”) are evil.

We are not about politics here. We do believe that theology does guide our politics, and we agree that political views can be discussed as part of the discipleship process, but just as we do not condone or allow name-calling and shaming of other people because they hold different theological views, so also, we do not allow name-calling or shaming of people who hold different political views.

If you hate all people who voted for Trump, or if you hate all people who voted for Hillary, this group is not for you, because we have people in the group who did both.

12. You get a thrill out of pointing out where people are wrong.

If you saw point #11 above, and said, “Hey, Jeremy’s a liar. He said there was only 10, and this is number 11! And now he’s moved on to #12!” then maybe the discipleship group is not for you.

Look, I appreciate it when people point out my typos (If you find any in anything you read of mine, please let me know!), and I love a good debate about theology and how to understand Scripture. So if you love these things too, then you will be a good fit for the discipleship group.

If, however, your goal in everything you read or hear is to find the one area in which you disagree just so you can point out to someone where they are wrong, well, you might not be a good fit for the discipleship group.

Still Reading? Please Join Us!

We are a diverse group of people from diverse backgrounds with diverse beliefs. We focus on the core essential elements of following Jesus, and leave room for disagreement and friendly debate. If that sounds good to you, please join us!

The information page about the various discipleship levels contains more information, as well as numerous testimonials from people who are already in the group. Visit that page to read what they have to say, learn more about what is available to you, and join us today. See you on the inside!

If you read through this entire list and are thinking, “Wow, this actually sounds like a place I want to be part of! I would love to learn in this sort of setting!” then register today and start learning along with the rest of us! Go here to learn more and choose which Discipleship level is right for you.

Jonah 2:4 – Obedience is Better than Sacrifice

By Jeremy Myers

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In Jonah 2:4, Jonah states that he prayed to worship God in His holy temple. In this way, Jonah seems to take credit for his deliverance from drowning.

And though he has no interest in obeying God by going to Nineveh, Jonah is happy about the prospect of worshiping God in the temple. But which do you think God would prefer?

The Text of Jonah 2:4

Then I said, “I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.

In this discussion of Jonah 2:4 we look at:

Why Jonah blames God for what happened to him
Why Jonah takes credit for being delivered from drowning
What God actually wanted from Jonah

Resources:

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Those who are part of my online discipleship group may download the MP3 audio file for this podcast and view the podcast transcript below.

You must join a discipleship group or login to download the MP3 and view the transcript.

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Do you like learning about the Bible online?

If you want to deepen your relationship with God and better understand Scripture, take one (or all) of these courses. They are great for personal study or for a small group Bible study.

You can see the list of available courses here, and if you join the Discipleship group, you can take all the courses at no additional cost. Go here to learn more and join now.

The Text of Jonah 2:9

In this discussion of Jonah 2:9 we look at:

Resources:

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Do you like learning about the Bible online?

1. Good Works might not be evident

2. Sin becomes more obvious as we mature

3. Good Works are part of sanctification

The Text of Jonah 2:7-8

In this discussion of Jonah 2:7-8 we look at:

Resources:

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Do you like learning about the Bible online?

What Happens if You Don’t Have Good Works?

If Good Works are a Necessary Result of Justification, then they are a Condition for Glorification

Yes, Good Works are Important!

1. The Eternal Security Chain (Romans 8:29-30)

2. Silencing the Critics (Romans 8:31-34)

3. No Separation Anxiety (Romans 8:35-39)

The Text of Jonah 2:5-6

In this discussion of Jonah 2:5-6 we look at:

Resources:

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Do you like learning about the Bible online?

1. You are pretty sure that all of your theology is correct.

2. You think that the only right way to do church is the way you do it in your church

3. You think it is a sin for men to have long hair.

4. You are a die-hard Calvinist, Arminian, Pentecostal, Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, non-denominationalist, or “Fill-in-the-Blank.”

5. You believe that there are some questions that are “off limits.”

6. You don’t like to read, study, learn, or think.

7. You only want to study and learn if you get an accredited degree out of it.

8. You only want Bible study material that is free.

9. You believe that Bible study and theology is always serious and never fun.

10. You get angry and defensive when someone challenges your beliefs, and you start calling them names like “heretic” or “false teacher.”

11. You believe that most Democrats (or Republicans, or Progressives, or Conservatives, or Liberals, or Sots, or Anarchists, or “Fill in the Blank”) are evil.

12. You get a thrill out of pointing out where people are wrong.

Still Reading? Please Join Us!

The Text of Jonah 2:4

In this discussion of Jonah 2:4 we look at:

Resources:

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Do you like learning about the Bible online?

Theological Study Archives

Bible Study Archives

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