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I am returning to verse-by-verse studies through books of the Bible. We begin in this podcast episode with Ephesians 1:1. The episode also contains a brief discussion of the humanitarian crisis at our southern border, and also a question from a reader about how to understand the violence of God in various biblical passages. Listen to the podcast for these two sections.

Here are some brief notes on what I explain from Ephesians 1:1

The text says this:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 1:1)

The author of the letter, of course, is Paul.

First, he is an apostle of Christ Jesus. An apostle is one who is sent by God with a message to those who have not yet heard the good news. It should be noted that there are no more apostles today. We have all probably heard of apostolic churches, and men or women claiming to be apostles of Christ. The Catholic Church claims that the authority of the Pope is based on apostolic succession.

But all of these teaching are wrong. Let me show you why. One of the requirements to be an apostle is to have personally seen and heard Christ (1 John 1:1-3), and to have witnessed His resurrection (Matt 28; Luke 24; Acts 1:22; 10:41; 1 Cor 9:1; 15:4) and ascension (Acts 1:9-13). An apostle was one who was hand-picked by Jesus for this office. Paul was an apostle, but as one abnormally born (1 Cor 15:8-9). He was the last apostle chosen by Jesus for this office.

Since all of these events are not repeatable—someone alive today was not present when Jesus was alive, or saw Jesus after He rose from the dead, or watched Him rise into heaven—then there are no apostles today. They are irreplaceable by any subsequent generation.

Scripture bears this out as well. There are almost eighty references to apostles in Scripture, and nearly all of them refer to either the Twelve Apostles, or to Paul. All of the other leaders in Scripture are known as ministers and fellow laborers, but not apostles.

We’re going to see later in the book that there might still be the spiritual gift of apostleship, but this gift is not to be confused with the office of apostle. Those with the gift of apostleship today we most often know as missionaries to unreached people groups. To clear up confusion, we don’t call them apostles. Instead, we call them missionaries. But more on that later.

So Paul’s first source of authority is that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ. He was set apart, chosen by God, to be sent with the message of the gospel to the Gentiles. This is what God called him to do. Secondly, he was an apostle by the will of God. This is not something he took upon himself. This is not something Paul earned. It is something God called him to be and do.

Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus. And here we have two characteristics for the believers in Ephesus.

He first calls them saints. The word “saints” in the Greek is hagios. It literally means “holy ones.” Saints, or holy ones, are those who are set apart for God’s use. When we think of saints, we often picture statues in cathedrals, stained glass, miraculous appearances, and mystical encounters.

We get most of these ideas from the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has a practice of “sainting” dead people who obtained a certain level of holiness during their life and who have at least two verifiable miracles to their credit. So in the Catholic Church, very few become saints.

A while back as they were considering sainting Mother Theresa, I read this about her:

All of India, and much of the Catholic world, has been buzzing about the presentation to the Vatican this week of the case of an Indian woman said to be the recipient of Mother Theresa’s first miracle—a significant step toward Theresa’s canonization. Monica Besra, a mother of five, tells TIME that on September 5, 1998—a year to the day after Theresa died—she was writhing in pain from an abdominal tumor at a home, run by the Missionaries of Charity. ‘There was no way any doctor would have operated on me at that hour,’ she says. ‘So the nuns just started praying and kept a Mother Theresa medallion on my stomach. The pain subsided, and the tumor vanished.’ Episcopal Bishop Salvatore Lobo, head of the team that will deliver 35,000 pages of Theresa’s good deeds to the Vatican, says, ‘This miracle meets the requirements. It is organic, permanent, immediate and intercessory in nature.’ A second miracle is still required for sainthood.

Is this the way it works? To become a saint, do you not only have to have an impressive list of good deeds—35,000 pages worth in this case—but also at least two miracles to your name? No, Scripture everywhere tells us differently. And right here in verse one is one of these places. These saints in Ephesus were alive, not dead, and it is clear that they had never performed any miracles.

Paul shows us here and elsewhere (Col 1:2; Php 4:21; 1 Cor 1:2) that all believers are saints. He is not writing to a few of the spiritual elite within the congregation. To Paul, a saint was anyone who had believed in Jesus.

So he is writing to all Christians—and here he calls them saints. In fact, this will be a favorite theme of his in Ephesians. He refers to “saints” nine times in this letter (NASB: 1:1, 15, 18; 2:19; 3:8, 18; 4:12; 5:3; 6:18). All Christians are saints—even if we don’t act like saints, even if we don’t perform miracles.

So when Paul shows that he writing to the saints in Ephesus, he is right away showing them one of the blessings they have in Jesus. Paul is writing to the saints of God in Ephesus. And I, in turn, am sharing this letter with all the saints that are here today. If you have believed in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life, you are saints!

How do you think of yourself? We should see ourselves as sinners and in need of constant grace and mercy of God, but over and above this, we need to see ourselves as saints. When we all begin to see that in Jesus Christ, we are saints, I believe we will begin to act like it.

Paul was an apostle, set apart, chosen by God for a task. Saints are also set apart, chosen by God for a task. What task? As we study through Ephesians, we will find out. So Paul is first of all writing to the saints in Ephesus.

But also, Paul is writing to the faithful in Christ Jesus. This is the second characteristic of the believers in Ephesus. The church in Ephesus, as we have seen, was one of the strongest and most mature churches that existed at that time. So Paul is praising them here for that. He is saying, not only are you saints because you have believed in Jesus Christ, but even better, you are faithful saints. You have placed faith in Jesus, and you are standing firm in the faith.

So, let me ask a question. Does this mean that there can be unfaithful saints? Can there be saints who do not act like saints? Can there be “sinning saints”? Saints who fail to live in obedience to God—but who are nevertheless still saints?

Of course! The church is full of them, and so is Scripture. To find examples of unfaithful saints in Scripture, one just has to read some of Paul’s other letters. Almost all the believers in Corinth were not living faithfully. In 1 Timothy, Paul mentions two unfaithful saints by name: Hymenaeus and Alexander (1:20). And in 2 Timothy 2:13, Paul tells us to be careful lest we become faithless.

But the saints in Ephesus were not like this. There were faithful saints in Christ Jesus. How did they become this way? Not by accident. Becoming a faithful saint is not something that just happens to you. You will not become a faithful saint simply by attending church on Sunday. No, faithful saints are made by discipline and hard work. Discipline in knowing who you are in Christ and what you are to do. Discipline in reading, studying and applying God’s Word to your live. Through discipline of prayer, of witnessing to others, and in living a holy life.

Becoming a saint is easy—all you have to do is believe in Jesus for eternal life. Becoming a faithful saint, however, is the most challenging but also the most rewarding, enjoyable and exciting thing you will ever do in life. There’s never a dull moment for the man or woman who is trying to become a faithful saint.

Notice also that Paul says they were faithful in Christ Jesus. This is a favorite term of Paul’s. Paul uses this term or one similar (in Christ; in Him) 164 times in the New Testament—and 36 of those (22%) are found in Ephesians. The term is rich with meaning and significance, and is a main theme in this letter.

As we continue to study Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we will continue to learn what blessings and riches you have been given as a saint in Jesus Christ so that you can learn to live as faithful follower of Jesus in this world. You will learn of your riches in Christ so that you can better fulfil your responsibilities in Christ.

Join us as we continue!

See a more detailed explanation of this text in the sermon on Ephesians 1:1-2 here.

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) Does NOT Endorse Capitalism

By Jeremy Myers

Someone was Right: The System is Rigged

If you haven’t heard about what happened in the stock market this week with GameStop, AMC Theaters, Nokia, and a few other stocks, then you probably are listening to fake news.

In this podcast, I briefly explain what happened, and why this reveals that those in charge do NOT have your best interest at heart, and really only care about the rich and powerful, despite what they say with their words.

As “someone” on Twitter repeatedly said over the last four years, “The System is Rigged” against us.

It might be time as ants to rise up against grasshoppers. Not violently, but with our collective voices and actions.

A Question on Pornography and Masturbation

A reader sent in this question:

I have been having problems and struggling with pornography for years, even into my marriage. I would fall into that sin for very short periods of time, stop, repent and in most cases dispose of the laptop. Then somewhere down the road I would fall again, stop, repent, and get rid of the laptop or phone. This cycle would repeat over and over again for years. Just recently I prayed to God to forgive me and forsook pornography forever. And I do not own a laptop anymore. My phone I use has blockers on it so I can’t watch pornography. That is how I am able to send you this message. Because of my sin over the years I thought I was was never saved 20 years ago. So I made a new profession of faith to God and accepted Jesus into my life as Lord and Savior. The problem I have now is I’m confused with where I stand with God. Will He forgive me for my past sins? Was I saved 20 years ago a just backslide or was I lost? Am I saved now or am I still lost? I am really confused and worried about my salvation. Can you help me with my situation I’m suffering for. Thank you so much for reading my story and God bless you. One more thing, I asked my wife to forgive me and she did.

This question would be best answered in a one-on-one private conversation, but I get it a lot, and so in the podcast, I try to give some general guidelines that apply in all situations.

The basic truth when it comes to defeating pornography and masturbation is to remember that God always loves and forgives you, and you are always accepted and welcomed by grace. Also, God is not nearly as upset or disgusted with your behavior and you are…

Here are some of the links I mention in my answer:

The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30

In the last several years, there have been several politicians who have been elected to political office in the United States who call themselves Democratic Socialists, and they claim that this is where the United States needs to go. Many Christians and pastors have bought into this, and some are even going so far as to say that Jesus was a socialist. That the values and goals of socialism reflect the values and goals of Jesus.

This is absolute bunk. Socialism is completely contrary to the values and goals of Jesus. Those who claim Jesus was a socialist do not know the first thing about socialism or Jesus. I want to do some more teaching and writing on this in the future.

But before I do, I want to make sure you know that I also do not think Jesus was a capitalist. I have found some Christians say that Jesus was a capitalist, which is also complete bunk. Jesus was not a capitalist, and those who say so do not know the first thing about Jesus.

One of the passages in Scripture which many use to defend the idea that Jesus was a capitalist is the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 (or the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19:11-27). I have taught and written about this parable several times over the years (see here and here for example). In my recently recorded lesson on Judgment for the Gospel Dictionary Online course, I spent some time teaching on it again. Let me summarize for you some of what I teach in that lesson.

The timing on this is interesting as well because of what is going on in the stock market this week, as I briefly discussed earlier.

In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents. Most people believe that the Parable of the Talents is about how Jesus will reward faithful and unfaithful servants at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The typical explanation of this parable is that just as the first servant and second servant turned their talents into more and were rewarded as a result, we also should do the same with what God has given to us. But we must never be like the lazy, unprofitable third servant, who simply hid his talent in the ground. If we do, we will be punished, just like he was.

This “traditional” understanding of the text is quite popular in materialistic, greedy societies. But it is likely the opposite of what Jesus meant or what His hearers would have understood. We live in a materialistically-driven culture, which is governed by greed and the accumulation of stuff. The Bible was written in an honor culture, where stuff and money didn’t matter. In an honor-shame culture, people want honor. Money is not an end in itself, but was a means to an end. Money and wealth was a tool which allowed a person to gain more honor. Of course, if they used their money unwisely, then they could lose honor. So in an honor-shame culture, someone might be insanely rich, but if they had no honor, they were not well-liked or respected.

Furthermore, honor-shame cultures believe that wealth and possessions are in limited supply. They believe in a zero-sum economy. In other words, if one person gained wealth, it was only at the expense of someone else. The only way someone could accumulate wealth is if they took it from someone else. The rich get richer only at the expense of the poor, which, in an honor-shame culture, was an extremely shameful way to live. This is one reason why honor-shame cultures had so many “Patrons.” As the rich accumulated wealth, they saw it as their duty and responsibility to give this wealth back to society in the form of music, arts, schools, hospitals, and other such humanitarian works. This way, the wealthy gained greater honor, but not necessarily greater wealth.

This is why Zacchaeus was so despised and rejected (cf. Luke 19:1-10, which immediately precedes the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19:11-27). Zacchaeus had not engaged in any criminal behavior, and yet had become extremely rich. People believed that he had robbed his fellow countrymen. Yet Zacchaeus had done nothing but what his earthly master wanted. He had taken the talents given to him, and multiplied them. As a result, Zacchaeus was praised and rewarded by his earthly masters. But he was despised and rejected by everyone else.

However, in our materialistic, economic-driven culture, the heroes are the servants who accumulate more stuff. Zacchaeus would be a hero. He would have books and seminars about how you too can become rich like he did. But in an honor-based culture, the people who accumulate stuff are the villains. Why? Because the only way they were able to get more stuff was by taking it from someone else. In an honor-shame culture, the hero of the story is the third servant who did not become rich, but instead was content with what he was given.

So in this second parable, who is the master? It cannot Jesus. Indeed, the master is nowhere equated with the “Son of Man” as in the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:13) or the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31). The master behaves in ways that are opposite to Jesus. Therefore, the master represents the god of this age, the one who models and encourages the morally reprehensible behavior of stealing from the poor to make himself rich. The master is Mammon. Followers of Jesus should not behave in such ways. If they do, while they may receive the blessings and honor of the master of this world, that is all they will receive.

So the faithful servants of Jesus are represented by the third servant in the parable. The third servant in the Parable of the Talents was content with what he had. He didn’t even put his one talent in the bank to collect “interest” (recall the prohibitions against “usury” in Exod 22:24; Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19; etc.). However, the master becomes angry at the third servant and tries to shame him by taking away (“stealing”) his possessions and giving it to the one who is already rich. He also calls this third servant “wicked and lazy.” However, since the master has already proven that his own behavior is wicked and shameful, his words hold no weight. He condemns the third servant to the darkness outside the earthly party (Matthew 25:30), but the third servant knows that the rulers of this world will not have the last word. Rejection by the evil rulers of this world is worn as a badge of honor by the faithful followers of Jesus.

There are numerous other lines of evidence for this view. For example, while the preceding and following parables clearly describes the kingdom of God (cf. “kingdom of heaven” in Matt 25:1 and “Son of Man comes in His glory” in Matthew 25:31), no such terms are found in this parable. While many English translations do have the words “kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 25:14, these words were added by the translators and are not found in the Greek. Furthermore, this parable begins by saying that the master went into a “far country.” This term was also used in the Parable of the Prodigal Son to indicate someone who is walking away from fellowship with God (Luke 15:13). All of this reveals that the Parable of the Talents is set in contrast to the surrounding two.

The parallel account in Luke 19:11-27, along with its surrounding context, also reveals that this is the proper way to read the parable. Luke’s account changes the details a bit, and also refers to the Talents as Minas, but the same understanding can be applied. This is especially true when it is recognized that the story of Zacchaeus immediately precedes the Parable of the Minas (Luke 19:1-10). Zacchaeus is the perfect example of a man who became rich by robbing and stealing from the poor.

If Jesus truly is the master in the Parables of the Talents and the Minas, then Jesus should have praised Zacchaeus for his wealth. If the traditional interpretation of the Parable of the Talents (and Minas) is accepted, Jesus had no right to tell Zacchaeus to give back the money he had received by doing his job (there was nothing illegal about what Zacchaeus did). But Jesus told Zacchaeus to regain his honor by giving away his wealth.

Furthermore, the final statements of the Parable of the Talents has the master demanding that his enemies be outcast and killed. Again, this does not represented something God will do, but foreshadows what will happen to Jesus Himself and those who follow Him when they stand up to the god of this age because “they do not [him] to rule over them” (Luke 19:27). This master wants his enemies slain before him. Immediately after this, Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem where He knows He will be killed (Luke 19:27-28). When He arrives in Jerusalem, one of the first things Jesus does is clear the temple of those who were using it to enrich themselves by stealing from the poor (Luke 19:45-48). As a result, the wicked “servants” of the temple seek to destroy Jesus (Luke 19:47).

So when the Parable of the Talents is studied in its various contexts, we see that it does not describe life in the kingdom of heaven. Rather, it describes life in the opposite of the kingdom of heaven, which is the kingdom of this world. The Parable of the Talents is about what life is like for faithful and unfaithful servants in the kingdom of the world. The kingdom of the world has the opposite values and standards as the kingdom of heaven. And so while unfaithful servants will not experience the joys and blessings of the kingdom of heaven, they may do quite well for themselves with worldly joys and blessings. Meanwhile, those who choose to faithfully honor Jesus by loving and serving others will likely be shunned and rejected by the power brokers of this world.

If we are the “evil servant” in this parable, the world may praise us and we will be honored by some in this world. But if we truly live honorably (as the third servant did), the world will shame us and take away what we have and give it to those who are already rich.

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30)

By Jeremy Myers

7 Comments

In this podcast episode, we look at what to expect from a Biden/Harris administration, how to know you have not committed the unforgivable sin, and a parable from Jesus that speaks to both issues (The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13:24-30).

Predictions for Biden/Harris Administration

I always find it interesting that when people who hate President Trump hear about his accomplishments, they say things like “Yeah, but he made a lewd comment about women fifteen years ago!” or “Yeah, but he called racists ‘very fine people’!”

These sorts of rebuttals are laughable. Take the “very fine people” comment. If you actually go look at what he said, Trump totally condemned the white supremacists and neo-Nazis in the Charlottesville crowd that day, but said that apart from them, there were other very fine people there. If these sorts of arguments are the best you have in saying that Trump was bad, you may want to check your heart.

Here’s the truth about politics. When it comes to politics, it doesn’t matter what politicians say … it matters what they DO. Many politicians lie. They say what they think the voters want to hear, and then when they get into power, they do the opposite. So I don’t really care if you think Trump was mean on Twitter or wasn’t the most polished speaker. All that matters is what he actually DID. And the facts speak for themselves. Take just two areas. Trump was the most pro-life and pro-peace president we have ever had. He is the only president in modern history to not start a war, but in fact, work to end them. He is the only president who took actual steps to end the slaughter of innocent, unborn babies. And since Jesus Himself is pro-life and pro-peace, these two factors alone mean that Trump was leading the nation in Christlike directions.

And there are many other areas in which Trump did this as well. We have a verifiable and documented list of all the Trump Administration Accomplishments, most of which are the exact opposite of all the doom and gloom predictions that people made about a Trump presidency. They predicted he was going to get us into another war. Instead, he got us out of wars, brought our troops home, and helped bring peace to the Middle East, and eased tensions with N. Korea. I heard some people predict that he would round up and arrest gays and lesbians, which is simply absurd. They predicted the stock market would crash. It saw record gains.

Anyway, since people made predictions about the Trump presidency when it began, let me make a few predictions of my own for what will occur under a Biden/Harris Administration. I will revisit this list prior to the next presidential election to see how I did.

Biden won’t make it through the year. Probably not even 6 months. He is in serious cognitive decline. He will resign for medical reasons, allowing Harris to step in.
When Trump became President, he left many Obama-era appointees in office, and they continually sought to undermine him and his presidency. Biden will not make the same mistake. He will remove from office as many Trump appointees as he can. Sadly, while the media would have blasted Trump for doing such a thing, they will praise Biden for such actions, thereby showing more of their hypocrisy. (1/21/21 update: Biden’s first firing was Jerome Adams, the Surgeon General)
Under Biden and Harris, all of the economic gains achieved by Trump will disappear and be reversed. There will be widespread economic downturn.
1. Tax increases for everyone
2. Higher poverty and homeless rates
3. Higher unemployment rates, especially for Blacks, Hispanics, and women (all made worse by a massive influx of immigrants) (1/21/21 update … job losses have already begun as tens of thousands of union workers have lost their jobs from the end of the Keystone Pipeline and a call to end all fracking, which, by the way, Biden promised during his campaign he would not do)
4. Lower stock market
5. This $15 minimum wage hike will be a disaster. It will lead to higher prices across the board for everything, and a loss of at least one million entry-level jobs.
6. Higher gas, oil, and electricity prices since US will no longer be energy independent (1/21/21 update: has already begun with the end of the Keystone pipeline and the end of fracking)
7. Higher prescription drug prices and healthcare costs as the Democrats seek to increase bureaucracy and decrease competition in the marketplace
8. Lower household income for the middle class
Under Biden and Harris, there will also be greater social problems in the US and around the world
1. As we support terrorist nations with gas and oil purchases, they will fund more terrorist activity in the US and abroad
2. Peace will be endangered in the middle east, and especially with Israel
3. Tensions will rise with N. Korea, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, many of which will seek to develop their nuclear weapon capabilities
4. A declaration of war on at least one other country
5. Less religious freedom in the US and around the world
6. Less free speech for those who don’t agree with people in power (already begun as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, and Instagram are actively censoring Trump supporters, and even Trump himself)
7. Greater violence in our cities
8. Higher incarceration rates for Blacks and Hispanics
9. More drug overdoses
10. Gun control will increase, and along with it, gun crimes. As statistics reveal in the US, where there is more control there is more gun crime.
11. Higher crime rates in nearly every community
12. An increase in abortions (1/21/21 update, A Biden EO has provided taxpayer funding for abortions)
13. Women’s rights and protections will go backward (for example, with a push to legalize prostitution, and to allow transgender men to participate in women’s sports. 1/21/21 update: already occurring through EO on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation)
Trump and conservatives will be blamed by the democrats and by the media for all of the problems listed above
One positive thing that will result from the Biden/Harris presidency is that COVID will disappear. They will do a mask mandate, and maybe a vaccination mandate, and then claim victory over COVID.

The Mail Bag

Numerous questions about the Unforgivable Sin and God’s love and forgiveness:

I bought (#AmazonAdLink) your book about the unforgiveable sin. I don’t find any part talking about jokes that includes the Holy Spirit. I laughed a joke like that and I was terrified I committed the unforgiveable sin. Do you think I committed it? – Hernyak

I sometimes have blasphemous thoughts and in a counseling session told the pastor the blasphemous thought the demons were trying to put in my head. It was against the Holy Spirit and was not from me so just telling the pastor what the thought was will not send me to hell will it? – Anonymous

I fear that I’ve committed the unpardonable sin because I said something really horrible to the Holy Spirit in my mind. Hoping that you can give me some shred of hope. It’s killing me and I constantly doubt my salvation. These doubts have plagued me for years. – Mike

If you fear that you have committed the sin, this proves you haven’t. Why? Because it proves that the Holy Spirit is still at work in you to draw you to Jesus and convict you of sin. Read my sermon on the unforgivable sin.

This is not to say it is healthy to fear this sin. It isn’t. We should be able to rest in the love and and forgiveness of God, knowing that when we come to understand both, we will not fear, for there is no fear in love (1 John 4:18).

How to know you are loved, forgiven, and have eternal life? Believe in Jesus for eternal life (John3 :16; 5;24; 6:47). Once you have eternal life, it is yours forever. You cannot lose it. Eternal life, by definition, is eternal.

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30)

In the Bible study section of this podcast, we are looking at a passage that applies to both of the two previous sections, the politics section and the mail bag section. When there are different perspectives, different viewpoints, or different ideas about theology or politics, how can we know which view is correct, and which view is wrong? This is a big issue, right? We all want to know the truth. We want to do what is correct. We want to follow Jesus properly and do what is best for our families, our country, and this world. But how can we know which is the best and most Christlike way of walking?

Jesus provides the answer in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30). This study is a summary of what I teach in my Gospel Dictionary online course, in the entries on Fire and the Kingdom of God.

In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sows good seed in his field (Matthew 13:24). The kingdom of heaven, of course, is not heaven, but is the way God brings heaven down to earth as Jesus and His disciples spread the rule and reign of God over the earth. It begins with the sower spreading seed. But an enemy comes and sows bad seeds in the field, so that a bunch of weeds, or tares, spring up among the wheat.

The seed that Jesus refers to should be read in light of the first parable of Matthew 13, the Parable of the Four Soils. There, Jesus teaches that the seed is the Word of God. But here in Matthew 13 we see that there are two types of seeds that can be scattered. There are the seeds of kingdom, and the seeds of the devil. These are two contrasting kingdoms, which result in two contrasting types of people. But initially, when the seeds first begin to sprout, there is great difficulty in deciding between the wheat and weeds.

When the servants discover the weeds, they ask how the weeds came to exist and what the owner wants to do about them (Matthew 13:25-27). This is where some humor enters into this parable. As anyone who has ever had a field (or even a flower garden) knows, one does not need an enemy to sow bad seeds for weeds to pop up and grow. So when Jesus describes an enemy sowing bad seeds in the owner’s field, His audience would have likely snickered a little bit. No enemy would work so hard to ruin a crop. If an enemy really wanted to ruin someone’s crop, there were better and easier ways to do it. But the enemy does sow bad seeds in this story, which not only shows his own foolishness, but also provides a humorous backdrop for the rest of the story.

Many commentaries and articles point out that the bad seed in the field is most likely darnel, which looks exactly like wheat until harvest time. It is a mimic weed. This is why the owner of the field tells his servants to just let the two plants grow side by side until harvest (Matthew 13:27-30). Prior to harvest, it would be nearly impossible to tell the two apart, and so any attempt to remove the darnel would likely result in the loss of wheat as well. Once harvest arrives, wheat turns golden and the heavy heads of grain droop down toward the ground, but darnel tends to remain greener for longer and will continue to stand upright.

Since wheat and darnel appear so identical, the presence of the tares in the field goes unnoticed until the grain begins to “go to crop,” or develop a head. This is why the servants only notice the tares once the wheat begins to mature (Matthew 13:26). So they ask the owner if he wants them to pull out the tares, but since wheat and darnel look quite similar to each other prior to full maturity, the owner tells his servants to leave the weeds alone and let them grow along with the wheat. At harvest, the reapers will go through and gather the tares, and then they can harvest the wheat (Matthew 13:30). The tares are thrown into the fire to be burned.

One of the reasons it was necessary to first harvest and then burn the tares is because darnel can be deadly to livestock and humans if consumed in large quantities. Smaller quantities will cause dizziness if baked into bread or brewed with beer. In fact, there are historical records of people actually cultivating darnel for this very reason, treating it like an ancient form of cannabis. But if too much is consumed, darnel can cause great sickness and even death.

When Jesus explains this parable to His disciples, He begins by identifying the various characters in the story. He says that the sower is the Son of Man (Matthew 13:37), which is one of Jesus’s favorite titles for Himself. The field which the sower plants is the world, and so the good seeds which go out into the world are the sons of the kingdom (Matthew 13:38). The tares are therefore the opposite of the sons of the kingdom; Jesus calls them the sons of the wicked one. The enemy is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels (Matthew 13:38).

Now each of these characters need to be more carefully explained, but first, it is critical to notice that there is one set of characters Jesus does not identify. This missing identification is the key to the parable. Who is it that Jesus does not identify? It is the servants. Jesus does not explain who the servants represent. I have heard some say that the servants are the reapers, but when the owner is speaking to the servants, he clearly identifies the reapers as a different group (cf. Matthew 13:30).

The solution to this problem is to return to the image of the field as the world. The Son of Man sowed seeds in the field, and the servants went out and worked in the field. Since the field is the world, and Jesus is the one who sowed the seeds in the world, then the servants are the ones who tend, cultivate, and work in the fields. Who are they? They are the followers of Jesus. They are disciples. The servants in the story are the Christians. Christians, or followers of Jesus, are those who work in the world to grow and expand the kingdom of God which Jesus planted and initiated.

But if the servants are Christians, then who are the “sons of the kingdom”? Jesus says the seed is the sons of the kingdom. But if the servants are Christians, then the sons of the kingdom (the seed) cannot also be Christians. To put it another way, since the servants are the followers of Jesus, then this means that the sons of the kingdom must be someone else. And when we understand the identity of the sons of the kingdom, we will also understand the identity of the sons of the evil one (which might be better translated as “sons of wickedness”; Matthew 13:38).

To understand the identity of both, it is first necessary to understand how the word “son” is used in Scripture. Typically, a “son” is understood to be a child of someone else. But the word “son” can also be used metaphorically. When the word “son” is used in connection to a concept or idea, instead of to a person or family, it refers to the characteristics or inner attributes of someone, rather than to the person themselves. So “sons of this world” are contrasted with “sons of light” in Luke 16:8 (cf. John 12:36; 1 Thess 5:5). A student or disciple of the Pharisees could be called a “son of the Pharisees” (Matt 12:27; Acts 23:6). Scripture can also speak of “sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36), “sons of this age” (Luke 16:8; 20:34), “sons of disobedience” (Eph 2:2; 5:6), “sons of the devil” (Acts 13:10) and numerous other similar terms. Such descriptions are not literal (a son of the devil is not literally the biological offspring of the devil), but are instead figurative and symbolic ways of referring to someone’s character and behavior.

So who are the sons of the kingdom and the sons of wickedness, and how can we tell?

One more contextual key is needed before an answer is discovered. In the context before these seven parables of Matthew 13, the Jewish religious leaders accused Jesus of operating according to the power of Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24). Jesus responds with a teaching full of symbolism and imagery (Matthew 12:25-37) that shows up again in the parables of Matthew 13. He speaks of kingdoms (Matthew 12:25, 28), sons of the Pharisees (Matthew 12:27), gathering and scattering (Matthew 12:30), this age and the age to come (Matthew 12:32), and the fruitfulness (or lack thereof) of various trees (Matthew 12:33-37). All the parables of Matthew 13 must be read in light of this confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees. While they were accusing Him of doing the devil’s work, He responded by saying that it was not Him, but they, who were committing blasphemy and speaking evil from their hearts (Matthew 12:35).

But how could the onlookers, the disciples, tell who was right? They had grown up being taught to love, respect, and listen to the religious Pharisees. But now they loved, respected, and listened to Jesus. Yet the Pharisees were saying that the teachings of Jesus were from the devil, and now Jesus was saying the same thing about the teachings of the Pharisees. So what were the disciples to do? How could they know who was right and who was wrong? If you have ever had two Bible teachers, both of whom you greatly respect, disagree with each other, then you understand the dilemma of the disciples. How were they to choose between Jesus and the Pharisees?

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares is the answer to their question. In this parable, Jesus, the Son of Man, tells His servants, the disciples, that two types of seeds have been sown which result in two types of sons of two types of kingdoms. But which was which and how could they know? Jesus tells His disciples to wait until the harvest “at the end of this age” (Matthew 13:40). But this is not helpful for them if the end of the age is thousands of years in the future when the new heavens and new earth are created.

So what if “this age” was the age in which Jesus and His disciples were living, and the age to come was the age that followed (cf. Matthew 12:32)? Indeed, Scripture indicates in numerous ways and places that a new age did indeed come into existence with the death and resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the church. The death and resurrection of Jesus gave birth to a new age, the age of the kingdom of God, the church age. There were birth pains and many travails as the old age died and the new age began (as Jesus discusses in Matthew 24–25), but the resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the church was the sign that the new age had begun.

Jesus tells His disciples that while it is difficult for them to decide between the wheat and the tares right now, it will become clear to them at the harvest. Though they had trouble deciding between the way of Jesus and the way of the Pharisees, the end of the age would make it clear when the messengers of God arrived and took away the tares. Here we have the religiously subversive nature of the parable. The disciples of Jesus are faced with a choice: they can either follow the way of Jesus or the way of the Pharisees. Jesus tells them that they don’t need to figure it out. In fact, it would be dangerous for them to try to do so, for they will not be able to properly and perfectly tell the difference between the good teaching and bad. Instead, they should just wait for the harvest and let the reaping angels separate the wheat from the chaff.

And this is indeed what happened in 70 AD. The way of the Pharisees was destroyed when Jerusalem and the temple were burned with fire. This does not mean that the Pharisees and all who followed their teachings were unregenerate sinners who will spend eternity burning in hell. Everlasting torture in hell is not anywhere in view with this parable. To the contrary, the “furnace of fire” imagery is drawn from Daniel 3:19-25 where Daniel’s friends are thrown into a furnace of fire, but only their bonds are burned as they walk around in the flame with one shining like the Son of God. (As a side note, the “Son of Man” imagery is drawn from Daniel 7:13-14, and the imagery of the righteous shining like the sun in Matthew 13:43 is drawn from Daniel 12:3). It can be assumed that when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army, many Christians were also consumed by the flames. But Christianity survived, as it was not (and is not) dependent upon a city, a temple, or a priesthood. Yet the Jewish Pharisaical religion was dependent upon such things, and so it died out when Jerusalem fell.

And so we see that the burning of the chaff in the furnace of fire is not about God sending people to hell where they will burn forever and ever. Instead, it is about the disciples of Jesus allowing God to be the one to judge between right and wrong, good and evil, especially when it comes to deciding between the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the Pharisees. As a result of the events in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve tried to gain for themselves what should be left up to God, we humans have always done a poor job of judging between good and evil. So God invites us to leave all such judgment up to Him. And this is what Jesus tells His disciples to do as well.

The same truth applies to us today. Humans make bad judgments, and when we do, we stumble and get burned. But this does not mean we go to hell; it means we face the consequences of our poor decisions. While such consequences are painful, we need not worry too much about them, for they do not say anything about our eternal destinies, and indeed, only serve to purify us so that we shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father (Matthew 13:43).

The principle of this parable still applies to us today. It is sometimes very difficult to tell the difference between good teaching and bad teaching. Or even between good and bad politics. When this occurs, the advice of Jesus is that we withhold judgment and wait for the harvest to come, when the choice will be obvious. The harvest occurs when the natural results or logical outcomes of the various teachings begin to bear fruit. When a teaching results in the fruit of the kingdom of heaven (which Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23), then we can know that such teachings are good and godly. But when a teaching bears fruit that is worldly and of the devil (the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21), such teachings can be safely rejected.

We cannot look to a person’s works to see whether or not they have eternal life, but we can (and should) look to a person’s works to see whether or not their teachings can be followed. As we do this, we can see whether or not the kingdom of heaven is truly taking root in their life, and therefore in ours as well if we follow their teachings and example.

The Parable of the Four Soils Explained (Matthew 13:1-23)

By Jeremy Myers

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What is the meaning of the Parable of the Four Soils in Matthew 13:1-23, and why did speak in Parables? These are the main questions we answer in this podcast study.

But before we address these questions, we first consider the following two topics:

A few words about the impeachment of President Trump (for a second time) and him being censored by social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
A letter from a reader about Calvinism

In the letter from a reader, she writes about a study on Acts and my series on Calvinism. Here they are:

The Parable of the Four Soils Explained

Here are some studies you may want to also consider:

Here is a transcript of what I taught today (This is an excerpt from my Gospel Dictionary lesson on the Kingdom of God):

Matthew 13 begins with the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23; cf. Luke 8:4-15). This is the introductory, longest, and most important parable of the group. Thankfully, this is also one of the few parables that Jesus explains. In the parable, Jesus talks about a sower who went out to sow seed in a field. The seed fell on four different types of soil, which each soil producing a different amount of harvest (Matthew 13:3-9; Luke 8:4-8).

Before Jesus explains the parable, He first provides an explanation for why He speaks in parables (Matthew 13:10-17; Luke 8:9-10). Despite the claim of many pastors, Jesus did not tell stories in parable form to help illustrate or make His teachings more clear. According to Jesus, He told parables so that most of His listening audience would not understand what He was saying (Matthew 13:13-15).

Jesus speaks in Parables Because He does NOT Want People to Understand Him

Why would Jesus do this?

Because some of His teaching was only intended for His disciples, and He only wanted those who were truly His disciples to hear and understand what He was saying. Some teaching can be dangerous if a person is not yet ready or willing to hear it. Only those who have put into practice what they have already learned are ready to receive more revelation from Jesus (cf. Luke 8:16-18).

Furthermore, Jesus was always and only interested in making disciples. He spoke with confusing parables so that He would be given an opportunity to better disciple those who came to Him for an explanation. So if you are ever confused by the parables of Jesus, good! You are on the right track. But stop with being confused. Instead, go to Jesus and ask Him to teach and instruct you about what the parables mean. This discipleship method of Jesus is one of the first ways the kingdom of God takes root in our hearts and minds.

The Meaning of the Parable of the Four Soils

Following this brief explanation of why He speaks in parables, Jesus then explains the meaning of the Parable of the Four Soils (Matthew 13:18-23; Luke 8:11-15). He says that there are four basic responses to the truths of the kingdom.

Some simply do not understand it (Matthew 13:19).

Some hear and understand it, and are initially filled with joy, but troubles and trials of this world cause them to turn away and forget what they learned (Matthew 13:2-21).

A third group also responds with joy, and even begins to make changes and progress in their lives based on what they heard, but the cares and pleasures of this world lure them away from the truths of the kingdom and they leave it behind (Matthew 13:22).

The fourth and final group hear the truths, respond to them, and continue in them, resulting in a great harvest (Matthew 13:23).

When people confuse the fact that the kingdom of heaven is not the same thing as going to heaven, they use this parable to teach some terrible (and false) ideas about the gospel. Many pastors and teachers who have made this mistake, use the Parable of the Four Soils to say that anyone who is not part of the fourth soil does not really have eternal life and will not spend eternity with God. This is a tragic mistake, and has caused great harm to many in the kingdom of God.

Indeed, it could be argued that those who teach such things belong in the first soil, for they have not even understood some of the most basic and introductory truths of the kingdom, which is that eternal life is freely and permanently given to anyone who simply believes in Jesus for it. This is one of the most joyful truths of the gospel!

It is much better, therefore, to recognize that anyone can respond to the truths of the kingdom in any of these four ways. Both Christians and non-Christians alike can hear the truths of the kingdom and respond in one of the four ways Jesus describes here. Jesus saw this occur with the Pharisees and religious leaders who hated him, with the multitudes that followed Him, and even with the close disciples who believed in Him. The four responses outlined in this text are the four possible responses that any person is able to make when they hear truths of the kingdom.

What kind of soil is in your life?

And it is not an all-or-nothing categorization. Since there are nearly innumerable truths of the kingdom, it is entirely possible for a single person to accept some of the truths but not others. A single person might be a fourth soil in regard to some kingdom truths, but a first soil in regard to others. Each of our lives is a field, and some aspects of our thinking and theology are fertile soil, ready to produce a great harvest.

But other aspects of our lives are wayside soil, which have become hardened to the truths of God. Other areas of our life are somewhere in-between these two extremes. The goal of following Jesus is to till and tend the hard, rocky, and thorny soils so that more and more of our life becomes verdant and ready to produce a great harvest for the kingdom of God.

This truth from the Parable of the Four Soils lays the foundation for the other truths of the kingdom that follow.

With each truth that Jesus presents, the question for the listener is this: Which of the four soils will you be in regard to this truth?

God is Not Just

By Jeremy Myers

7 Comments

I’m back! 2020 was a rough year, and 2021 will likely be difficult as well, but I am going to try to get back into blogging and podcasting.

In this first episode of 2021, I explain the new format for my podcast, and discuss three things:

My thoughts on the response of some Christian pastors and authors on the January 6, 2021 election protest in Washington DC
Mailbag: How to know you have eternal life and did not commit the unforgivable sin.
Why God is not just, the Bible does not talk about justice, and how we can respond to injustice.

Is God a God of love AND justice? Nope.

On the topic of justice, here is a brief summary of what I say in the podcast, and also what I will be teaching in my soon-to-be-released Gospel Dictionary lesson on justice:

“Justice” is not in the Bible. Indeed, the English word “justice” is not found anywhere in the New Testament of the King James Version.

The trouble with justice begins in the Bible translation. On the one hand, there are several Greek and Hebrew words that often get translated as “justice” and then then are several other English words that are used as translations for the Greek and Hebrew terms.

Usually, translation troubles come from one direction or the other. For example, we have one English word “love” that is often used to translate four different Greek words for love (agape, philia, eros, and storgē). Other times, there are numerous English words that are often used to translate one Greek word, such as both faith and belief being used as a translation for pistis. With the justice word family, both of these translation troubles exist.

With justice, the two main Greek terms are krisis (2920) and dikaiosunē (1342). However, as seen previously, the best translation for krisis is judgment; not justice (see Judgment). In the passages where krisis is translated as justice, the term judgment (and specially, the concept of properly naming or identifying something) is a better translation (cf. Matt 12:18, 20; 23:23; Luke 11:42; Acts 8:33). Therefore, it seems best to always translate krisis as judgment rather than justice.

That leaves the dikaiosunē word family. The dikaiosunē word family (including dikē, dikaios, dikaioō) is variously translated as justice, justification, justify, just, and righteousness and a few others. You will notice that the term righteousness and justification have no English semantic connection, and yet they are both used to translate the same Greek term, dikaiosunē. As argued elsewhere in The Gospel Dictionary, it is best, when translating a single Greek term and for clarity’s sake, to pick one English term and stick with it. No English reader who has little knowledge of Greek would ever imagine that a single Greek word lies behind the translation of both righteousness and justification. So it is of immense help to the English reader to pick a single English word (and its word family) as a translation for a single Greek word (and its word family).

With dikaiosunē, we have two English choices. We can choose the “just” word family (justice, justification, justify) or the “right” word family (righteous, rectification—or rightification, rectify—or rightify). Since “rightification” is not an English word, the initial inclination is to go with the “just” word family. However, the Greek term dikaiosunē is most literally translated “to make right.” Since, as seen above, the term justice is so misunderstood and misapplied today, it seems that using the right word family is the “right” way to translate the dikaiosunē word family.

The Hebrew words tsedeq (6664) and misphat (4941) have also been translated as justice, but tsedeq is best translated as “righteousness” and misphat as “judgment.” So again, justice is not in the Bible.

But righteousness is. When humans cry out for justice, what we really want is righteousness. We want things to be set right. And God’s way of achieving righteousness is far better and far different than the human, earthly way of seeking justice. In fact, the two are usually at polar opposites of the morality spectrum. The human methods of achieving justice are often seen as unrighteous by God, while the divine methods of righteousness are often viewed by humans as unfair, unjust, and irresponsible. So it is not true, as people claim, that God is a God of love and justice. Rather, God is a God of love and righteousness, and the two are not at odds with each other.

But justice and righteousness are at odds with each other. Human history, including biblical history, reveals that when humans call for justice, what they really want is vengeance. But God has said that vengeance is His and He will repay (Deut 32:35; Rom 12:19). And how does God exact vengeance? How does He repay people for the evil they have done? Jesus shows us how. When God sets out to repay people for the sins they have committed, He dies for them. He freely forgives them. This “justice” of God does not fit any human definition or understanding of justice.

Human justice calls for people to get what they deserve. To be punished in a similar measurement to the pain they have caused others. Divine “justice” extends only love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness, all of which are the exact opposite of what people deserve. This is why we cannot call it justice. It is righteousness, but it is not justice. It is as Gandhi said, “Justice that love gives is a surrender. Justice that law gives is a punishment.”

None of this is to say that injustice does not occur in this world. Quite to the contrary, injustice is everywhere, even (and especially) in the political and religious programs (which often become pogroms) for justice. Our world is awash with injustice. The biblical solution to injustice, however, is not a better form of justice. In the same way that more war is never the answer to war, so also “better justice” is never the answer to injustice. Why not? Because all forms of justice lead to greater injustice. In fact, cries for “justice” often hide the scapegoating mechanism. Scapegoats are never truly seen. If you are able to identify your scapegoat, he or she is not your scapegoat. People think a scapegoat truly is guilty, and therefore, killing or punishing them is not wrong, but is only justice. But scapegoating is always wrong, and scapegoating is always justified. Therefore, both scapegoating and cries for justice must be done away with.

So what can we do about injustice? We can follow the way of God. God’s answer to injustice is righteousness. The righteousness of God is based on forgiveness, restoration, reconciliation, and redemption (see Righteousness), terms that are not usually related to justice. It is usually not considered “justice” to forgive the one who wronged you. But it is righteous. It is usually not considered “justice” to reconcile with the one who hurt you, unless that other person is first forced to make reparations (often unjustly), but reconciliation is righteous. So it incorrect to say that God is a God of love and justice. He is not. God is love (1 John 4:8). God is holy (Isa 6:3). God is righteous but God is not just. And there is a vast difference.

Who is a saint? YOU are! (Ephesians 1:1)

Here are some brief notes on what I explain from Ephesians 1:1

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) Does NOT Endorse Capitalism

Someone was Right: The System is Rigged

A Question on Pornography and Masturbation

The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30)

Predictions for Biden/Harris Administration

The Mail Bag

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30)

The Parable of the Four Soils Explained (Matthew 13:1-23)

The Parable of the Four Soils Explained

Jesus speaks in Parables Because He does NOT Want People to Understand Him

The Meaning of the Parable of the Four Soils

What kind of soil is in your life?

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