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Naked Grace

By Jeremy Myers
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Naked Grace
https://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/775113715-redeeminggod-naked-grace-an-interview-with-lucas-kitchen.mp3

I interviewed Lucas Kitchen today about his book  Naked Grace. In this book, he tells the story of how he discovered the truth about grace, and why it is so important for you and I to learn these truths as well. If you have questions about eternal life, the message of the gospel, what it means to follow Jesus as a disciple, or how grace helps us defeat sin in our lives, listen to this interview.

Also, make sure you get a copy of Lucas’ new book, Naked Grace. And while you’re at it, get his other books on gospel-related issues, such as:

  • Salvation and Discipleship: Is There a Difference?
  • Eternal Rewards: It Will Pay to Obey
  • Eternal Life: Believe to be Alive
  • Thomas: Hero of the Faith

In this interview with Lucas Kitchen, we discuss questions like this:

  • When did you first come to start asking questions of eternal significance?
  • How did you first come to understand the truth about Grace?
  • How does a proper understanding of how to receive eternal life help you in life and ministry?
  • Is free grace a license to sin, or does it actually help us get rid of sin?

As you listen to this podcast, you will discover that there are many similarities between your own story and that of Lucas. Make sure you listen to the end where he tells you how to reach out to him and find more answers to your questions.

Also, go visit his websites to connect with Lucas:

  • SimplyBelief.com
  • LucasAnswers.com

God is Redeeming Books, Redeeming God, Redeeming Theology, z Bible & Theology Topics: Discipleship, eternal life, free grace, gospel, grace

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Does Isaiah 33:10-16 teach about hell?

By Jeremy Myers
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Does Isaiah 33:10-16 teach about hell?
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/611461368-redeeminggod-156-does-isaiah-3310-16-teach-about-hell.mp3

What is hell bookMy book, What is Hell? is now available on Amazon. I am doing a series of podcast studies that focus on some of the content from the book. The studies look at the eight key terms that are often equated with hell, and about a dozen key passages that are thought to teach about hell.

If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In this article, we will be looking at a key passage from the Old Testament about the symbolism of fire in the Bible. By understanding how the Bible refers to fire, we can understand what the Bible means when it talks about burning in hell, or the fires of judgment.

The key text we want to study is Isaiah 33:10-16.

Scores of passages from the Hebrew prophets could be considered which provide insight into what a Jewish person thought when they heard someone teach about everlasting fire.

Isaiah 33:10-16 is representative of many of these prophetic texts, and provides perfect insight into what the Bible means when it refers to fire that comes upon people who disobey God.

Isaiah 33:10-16 and Burning in Fire. Is this hell?

Here is some of what Isaiah 33:10-16 says,

You shall conceive chaff, You shall bring forth stubble; Your breath, as fire, shall devour you. And the people shall be like the burnings of lime; Like thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire. … The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isa 33:11-12, 14).

There are three key insights to note from this text which help guide our understanding of all the others.

1. It is Not People who are Burned, but what People Produce

First, Isaiah writes that the people of Zion will “conceive” chaff and “bring forth” stubble.

Isaiah 33:10-16Isaiah uses terms of conception and childbirth to speak of the works that these sinners produce. It is not their lives that are chaff, stubble, and thorns, but what they produce with their lives.

Of course, when your entire life’s work is destroyed, it may seem as if your life is destroyed as well. Indeed, when other prophetic passages (and later New Testament texts) talk about the destruction that comes upon people for their worthless way of living, it sometimes refers to the people themselves being destroyed, rather than the work of their hands.

This is how it feels when, at the end of your life, you discover that everything you have worked for has amounted to nothing.

This is not to say that many prophetic passages (including those in the New Testament) do not have the death and destruction of actual human lives in view. Many of them do, as we shall see. But in each case, the passages are always referring to physical death and temporal destruction rather than to everlasting death or eternal physical torture in flames of fire.

Some of the physical death and destruction during this life does indeed happen with literal flames when war comes upon a nation or its cities, and in such wars, many human beings do die. But once again, it is physical death that is in view, not eternal death in an everlasting place of torment.

2. The word “Everlasting” can refer to an event of limited duration with everlasting effects

But some point to Isaiah 33:14 as evidence that everlasting burning in the pit of hell is indeed what Isaiah has in view. This is the second important point to note from this text. While the term “everlasting” can indeed refer to a period of time that never ends, it can also refer to an event of limited duration which has effects that never end.

This second explanation provides the proper understanding for Isaiah 33:14.

In this text, people who are alive are saying that the works of their lives have been destroyed, and nobody in the future will know or hear of them.

They are afraid because they have lived hypocritical lives, and see that all they have lived and worked for will be consumed by fire, and will have no lasting value, significance, or remembrance for all eternity.

The fire that consumes these people and the works of their hands did indeed go out. It came upon them in 586 BC (when King Nebuchadnezzar invaded and destroyed Judah, along with Jerusalem and the temple) and has long since burned out.

destruction of Jerusalem 586 BC

But none of their work remains. It burned to ashes long ago and has forever been forgotten.

Note that even though Zion was destroyed with “everlasting fire,” the nation, its capitol city Jerusalem, the temple, and even the people of Zion rose again from the ashes.

In 538 BC, the Persian ruler, King Cyrus, allowed the Hebrew people to return to their land where they eventually rebuilt the city and the temple.

Though the everlasting fire prophesied by Isaiah destroyed many of the people and the works of their hands, this was not the end of the Hebrew people themselves, or their influence upon this world. They rebuilt and regained much of their former glory.

Furthermore, of the people who died in 586 BC, nothing is said by Isaiah or anyone else regarding their eternal state or destiny. It is only the work of their lives which was burned away into nothingness.

In fact, it is possible that many of them are already with God, and will spend eternity with Him.

hypocriteWe see evidence of this in the fact that Isaiah calls them “hypocrites.” A hypocrite is someone who acts in ways that are contrary to their stated identity. As such, anybody can be a hypocrite. Jesus often called some of His followers hypocrites (Matt 15:7; Luke 13:15), and Paul once referred to Peter and Barnabas as hypocrites (Gal 2:11-13).

Obviously, if someone is a hypocrite, this does not automatically mean they are truly part of the family of God, but it also does not necessarily mean that they will spend eternity in hell. It just means that they claim one thing about themselves but behave in ways that are opposite.

This was true of the people in Isaiah’s day, and many of these hypocrites will spend eternity with God.

3. The Fire is not from God, but from the People themselves

The third and final thing to note from Isaiah 33:10-16 is that the fire comes from the people themselves.

Isaiah writes, “Your breath, as fire, shall devour you” (Isaiah 33:11).

While numerous passages in Scripture indicate that the fires of judgment comes from God, a look behind the curtain reveals that the fires of judgment that come upon human beings for their sinful ways are always self-inflicted.

Sin bears its own punishment; rebellion carries within it the flames of ruin.

Actions have consequences, and when we live in ways that are contrary to the will of God, these actions lead to destruction and devastation.

This is why God warns us against sin in the first place. God warns us against sin, not because He is a killjoy and wants to ruin our fun with arbitrary laws, but because He knows how best to live this life and get the most out of it.

He also knows what happens when we do not live this life as He intends and seeks to warn us against such ways of living.

sin hurtsWhen we sin, we hurt others and we hurt ourselves. And since God loves all of us, He does not want to see us get hurt, which is why He warns us about sin. Yet we often sin anyway, and so destruction comes.

This is what Isaiah is teaching.

The people were warned by the prophets, including Isaiah himself, about their sinful and hypocritical ways. But they continued to sin, and so the fire of judgment that comes upon them is a fire they lit themselves.

And while it is not always words that spark the flame, words are often the culprit, as Isaiah indicates. He says it is their “breath” that is the fire, which is a way of referring to the words that they speak.

Indeed, near the end of Isaiah’s life, King Hezekiah said some foolish words to the ambassadors from Babylon. He boasted to them about the treasures of the temple and showed them the riches that were within it.

As a result, Isaiah told Hezekiah that because he had said and done these things, Babylon would come against the city and destroy it (2 Kings 20:12-19), which is exactly what happened (2 Kings 24:1-16).

Eventually, the entire city, with the temple, was burned with fire, and its inhabitants were carted off into captivity (2 Kings 25:1-21).

what is hell

Conclusion

So Isaiah 33:10-16 is a guiding paradigm for helping us understand all the passages in Scripture about fire.

As we will see, just like Isaiah 33:10-16, none of the passages which teach about the destruction of people in fire are referring to the everlasting torment of people in flames where they scream and burn for all eternity.

Instead, such texts refer to the worthless work of human hands that gets burned away by destructive forces in this world. All the work of their hands is turned to ash.

lime ashWhen lime is burned in a fire or thorns are put to flame, nothing is left but a fine, white powder which blows away with the first puff of wind.

So it will be for everything that some people have worked for in this life. As we keep this paradigm in mind, many of the New Testament passages which speak of fire make much more sense.

what is hellDo you have more questions about hell? Are you afraid of going to hell? Do want to know what the Bible teaches about hell? Take my course "What is Hell?" to learn the truth about hell and how to avoid hell. This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

God is Redeeming Books, Redeeming God, Redeeming Scripture, Redeeming Theology, z Bible & Theology Topics: Books I'm Writing, burning, chaff, fire, Isaiah 33:10-16, One Verse Podcast, what is hell

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“The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers” by Abner Chou

By Jeremy Myers
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“The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers” by Abner Chou

Abner ChouWhen I was in Bible College, I was taught that our modern practices of hermeneutics differ from those used by the biblical prophets and apostles themselves. I was told in class that while the biblical authors used allegory and typology (cf. Gal 4:24-25), this is not something we are allowed to practice today as good students of Scripture. The reason, I was told, was because they were inspired and we are not.

But it turns out that not even the biblical authors practiced allegory and typology. Instead, Abner Chou points out in his book, The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers, that the hermeneutical methods practiced by most of the conservative evangelical scholars of today appears to be the same hermeneutical methods practiced by the biblical authors, as well as Jesus Himself.

For them, as for us, contextual issues about authorial intent were paramount, which requires a knowledge of historical, grammatical, cultural, and theological contexts. Chou shows that these sort of “modern” hermeneutical rules are not modern at all, but have been followed and practiced since Moses sat down to write the words of God for the people of Israel to read and understand.

If you want to understand the Bible better, and also all the prophets and apostles, including Jesus Himself, read and understood Scripture, I highly recommend Chou’s book.

I do have a few caveats, of course. For example, I take issue with his criticism of a Christocentric reading of Scripture (p. 133), and also with his take on trajectory hermeneutics (p. 226). But one can disagree with Chou on these sorts of issues and still accept the broader idea that the hermeneutical principles we practice today are not modern inventions, but have been practiced, taught, and followed by all the writers of Scripture since the first words of Scripture were written.

If you want to read the book, you can get it on Amazon.

God is Redeeming Books Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Study, Books I'm Reading, hermeneutics

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Seek Wisdom above all else … and read this book to help

By Jeremy Myers
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Seek Wisdom above all else … and read this book to help

wisdom booksI am always on the lookout for books that help me understand the basic meaning and message of various books of the Bible. So it was with interest that I recently read Interpreting the Wisdom Books, by Edward Curtis.

We all want to be wise … and the wisdom books are God’s divinely inspired wisdom for how to live life in His world. In other words, when it comes to wisdom for life, there is no better source than the wisdom books of the Bible.

And this book by Curtis will help you understand them. Curtis shows how the wisdom books relate to the rest of the Old Testament as an explanation and application of earlier teachings from the Bible, and then also shows how the modern student of Scripture and learn, understand, apply, and teach these important texts to the issues and questions we facet today.

If you are preaching through the Wisdom Books or are planning to teach a Bible study on one or more of these books, I highly recommend this volume by Edward Curtis.

God is Redeeming Books Bible & Theology Topics: Books I'm Reading, wisdom

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Christianity IS Reasonable … So Don’t Be Afraid of the Questions

By Jeremy Myers
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Christianity IS Reasonable … So Don’t Be Afraid of the Questions

questionsI am currently writing a book about faith, and in it, I briefly address the idea of blind faith, or taking a leap of faith. I show that faith doesn’t actually allow for blind leaps, but instead, our beliefs change as we are persuaded and convinced by the evidence presented to us.

And thankfully, there is strong evidence for the truth claims of Christianity.

Thankfully, Christianity is a reasonable faith.

Yes, many aspects of Christendom are not so reasonable, and can be safely discarded, but the core beliefs of Christianity as founded by Jesus and centered upon Him can stand up to any and all challenges.

This is why I always invite people to investigate any and all questions or challenges that come their way. I say that if what we believe is true, then the questions and challenges will only solidify that truth. But if what we believe is not true, then the questions and challenges will expose our beliefs as lies. Either way, questions and challenges are a “win.”

But you might need to do some reading and study to help answer the various questions.

I know I do.

Evidence that Demands a VerdictThat is why I highly recommend you get a book like Evidence that Demands a Verdict. There is a new updated and expanded version available which provides all the information from the classic volumes into one, along with several updates and new chapters that help respond to more recent challenges.

I first read Evidence that Demands a Verdict in the 1980s, and have benefited from the content of that book ever since. It not only provides a good basis for helping us know how we can trust that the Bible we have today is the Bible that was written by the original authors, but also shows how we can trust the historical claims of the Bible.

Using this knowledge, we can show that Jesus really did live, teach, die, and rise from the dead, as Scripture reveals. These events, of course, are central to Christianity.

So if you have questions about Christianity, I first say, “Good job! Keep asking!” and then I say secondly, “Buy and Read Evidence that Demands a Verdict. It will help answer some of the questions you might have.”

God is Redeeming Books Bible & Theology Topics: apologetics, Bible and Theology Questions, Books I'm Reading

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