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November 2008
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book Lesson 61
Greetings
one and all and thanks for choosing to spend some time with us.
Since
there are new people visiting this site regularly, I like to remind the group
from time to time that Home Bible Study exists to promote the Bible
and what it says – rightly divided (2 Timothy 2:15). Another way of saying this is, “It’s not
about me or what I say. It is all about
what God has revealed to us through the written Word.” You’ll soon find my opinions are few and far
between but when I do opine I will preface the statement with a notation; and
as they say that’s free for nothing. You
may do as you will with that. But the
Word of God stands (Psalms 119:89)!
My
objective and my prayer is that you will review the information you read here,
with your Bible open, and examine the Scriptures daily to see
whether these things (are) so.
(Acts
17:10-12)
Those in the construction trade know with the proper
tool they can determine if a line is crooked.
Likewise, a Believer can verify Biblical truth (or what is straight and
true) with God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s leading (John 16:13).
Please
open your Bible to Romans, chapter 8. It’s
always a good idea to review, so with this thought in mind we’ll look at the
Bible passage we ended the last session on.
Romans 8
23: And not only
this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly
for our adoption as sons (and daughters), the redemption of our body.
With
these words, “we ourselves, having the first fruits of the
Spirit,” Paul intends for us know we Believers possess this gift
right now and this is the reason for our groaning.
Furthermore,
he says, it’s the Spirit of God which
causes us to groan; in hope, longing for (something not within our immediate reach
i.e.) our adoption as sons (and daughters) of God, and the redemption of our bodies.
If
you’ll recall, I took you to the book of Proverbs last week and showed you a
verse that highlights
or supports Paul’s teaching here. Here
it is again:
Proverbs 13
12: Hope deferred
makes the heart sick, But desired (longing) fulfilled is a tree of life.
As
we move along to the next verse (24) Paul says, “For in hope we have been saved…” For this reason, the groaning within each
one of us is assurance, of our salvation and of our future redemption.
Let’s
read some Scripture together.
Romans 8
24: For in hope
we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what
he already sees?
25: But if we hope
for what we do not see, (read carefully) with
perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Once
you are saved, by faith, in the gospel of Jesus Christ you receive the Spirit
of God as a pledge or a down payment, if you’ll permit, of your future
inheritance. Now I want to take you to
the place in Scripture where this is written, so please turn to 2 Corinthians, chapter
1.
2 Corinthians 1
21: Now He who
establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us in God,
22: who also (what) sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our
hearts as a pledge.
I
like to use more than one Scripture reference, if possible, so if you’ll please
go to the book of Ephesians, chapter 1. Here we find the identical theme being taught
by Paul.
Ephesians 1
13: In Him (Christ Jesus), you
also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, -
having also believed, you were (what) sealed
in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14: who is given
as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His
glory.
Now,
another word for pledge is assurance.
Every true Believer has been given the gift of the indwelt Holy Spirit (Acts
11:15-18) as a pledge. Thus we all have the “assurance” of God within
us.
If
you’ll remember, our apostle Paul taught this truth to us not so long ago.
Let’s
go there now. Romans 8:16, if you
please.
Romans 8
16: The Spirit
Himself (does
what) testifies with our spirit
that we are children of God,
The
Spirit of God witnessing to those being sanctified (i.e. true Believers) is the
ministry of the Spirit (see 2 Peter 1:4-10).
Therefore, since we have the assurance of God the Father, we can wait
for the Day of Redemption confidently
and patiently.
From
Romans 8:22-27 our apostle Paul speaks of a three-fold groaning:
- First he mentions that the “whole creation” groans and compares this to the pains of childbirth
- Next, Paul mentions that “we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves.”
- And then finally Paul mentions the Holy Spirit Himself who “intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” when we do not know how to pray.
We
looked at the first item on this list last week, so we’re moving on to item #2.
What
did Paul mean when he said, “…but also
we ourselves, having the first
fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves…”
Paul
says, “ourselves” three times in
this passage, so we know Paul is referring to the individual Believer. However, there are multiple opinions as to
what Paul meant by this statement. The
primary notion is taken to mean “the gifts of the Holy Spirit” rather
than the person of the Holy Spirit Himself. But
when one considers that the Spirit of God has been in the forefront this entire
chapter, and as often as He is referred to personally and not His gifts, this
leaves little doubt as to what Paul is expressing with his announcement. Thus, Paul is speaking of the Spirit of God
who was given first to the Believers at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) and this is the connection
to the words, “first fruits” in
Paul’s message to the Believers in Rome.
Always
remember, this congregation in Rome was made up of Jews and Gentiles.
It
was difficult and troubling for these Jews born into and raised under the Law
of Moses to understand and accept these Grace Age Doctrines Paul was
teaching. This
is comparable to someone brought up in a “works” based religion today – likewise
this is what they know, trust, and understand.
When you explain that salvation
is based on believing the gospel plus nothing else (minus works), they too
struggle with this instruction (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
Getting
back on track, please turn to Leviticus, chapter 23. This is where we find the LORD giving Moses the
teaching concerning the Feast of First fruits; aka the Feast of Weeks, the
Feast of Harvests, and Pentecost celebrated on the 50th
day after Passover.
Digging Deeper: Feast of Firstfruits
Leviticus 23
10: “Speak to the
sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to
give to you and reap its (what) harvest,
then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your
harvest to the priest.
11: ‘He shall wave
the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath
the priest shall wave it.
12: ‘Now on the day
when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer (now read carefully) a male lamb one year old without
defect for a burnt offering to the LORD (see also verses 15-16).
According
to Strong’s exhaustive concordance, the word First fruits is an agricultural
expression. To better understand this
Jewish festival in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must recognize its
New Testament applications.
Remember, things concealed in the Old Testament are
revealed
in the New Testament.
Case
in point, Jesus, in Mathew chapter 13, likened the kingdom of God unto a man
who went forth to sow seed for harvest.
Winning souls to faith in Jesus for salvation is likened unto a harvest
in Luke 10:2. Our apostle Paul likened
the resurrection to a harvest (1 Cor 15:42-44).
When
Jesus resurrected from the grave (the first one to do so in His glorified body),
He was the First fruits (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
However, Jesus was not alone in His
resurrection. Like the priest of old, he
too had a sheaf of first
fruits of His harvest to offer the Father. “The tombs
were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and
coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy
city, and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:52-53).
The
Feast of first fruits was a prophetic celebration; a fore shadow of the blessed
hope, and the awesome power of God on display
for the entire world to realize in the resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ,
on the 3rd day, according to the Scriptures.
Digging Deeper Still: All four gospels show that Jesus was
crucified and died on the “preparation day” before the sabbath (Matthew 27:57;
Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:31). The
Passover always fell on the 14th day of Nisan. Nisan is the first month of the Jewish year
(Leviticus 23:5). On the 15th
day of Nisan, the Seven Day Feast of Unleavened Bread began (Leviticus 23:6;
Luke 22:1-7).
Prior
to Jesus’ ascension, in Acts chapter 1, He instructed the eleven apostles (remember
Judas is no longer with them) to remain in Jerusalem and to wait for what the Father had promised - the gift of the Holy Spirit. A few days later, on Pentecost, the disciples were gathered
together in the upper room and were baptized with the Spirit of God (Acts 2:1-4;
John 16:7).
Pentecost is one of the
three pilgrimage feasts when all Jewish males are required to appear
before the LORD in Jerusalem (Acts 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8; James
1:18).
“…but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves…”
So,
Paul is referring to the Spirit of God in this text when he says, first
fruits.
On
the Passover, the first sheaf of the ripening barley harvest was
harvested. Then the nation of Israel
took two loaves of bread from the new harvest and waved them before the
LORD. These loaves were the first fruits
of the new harvest. Jesus rose from
the dead and ascended into heaven and now on the Harvest Feast (Pentecost)
presented Believers with the first fruits of His accomplished work on
earth. The first benefit of His exalted
work is the gift of the indwelt Holy Spirit or the Helper (John 16:7).
If
you’ll flip back to the book of Acts, chapter 2, I’ll show you where the
apostles had a sheaf
of first fruits of this Harvest Day to offer God the Father
too.
Here
we have Peter’s Sermon. I’m not going to
record the full account of his declaration but I suggest you take the time to
read it. For the sake of brevity I’m
going to skip to the end result, which is why we’re here.
Acts 2
41: So then, those
who had received (what) his word
were baptized; and that day (Pentecost – Harvest Day) there were added about three thousand
souls.
These
and other Messianic Believers make up “the faithful remnant” of Israel
(Romans
11:1-5). The flipside to this statement
is obvious. Many unfaithful Jews walked
away from Peter and his "good news" that day – they rejected Jesus’ divinity and
they continue to reject that notion today.
But
that first benefit, as Scripture has already revealed to us, is an earnest
of the full harvest (2 Corinthians 5:5). The Holy Spirit of promise is “the earnest
of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14).
I
used to enjoy helping my mother in the kitchen when I was a boy. I learned to cook thanks to her. When the holidays rolled around, my help in
the kitchen was especially appreciated.
At Thanksgiving, we’d both get up early and start preparing the planned
feast. My mom would work on the major
items such as the bird while I peeled potatoes, made up the cranberries,
prepared the bread stuffing, etc. Any
good cook will tell you, “tasting” the food during the cooking process is
essential and this we did. I
can also tell you, that tasting the food produces an inner craving (longing)
for the meal to come. After a while, “sips
and nips” don’t get it; you want a plate of food! Likewise,
we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, an earnest of the full harvest that is to come on the Day
of Redemption. Until that day, we can only imagine what it will be like and all that it will bring to those who love God (1
Corinthians 2:9).
You see, we Believers have realized that this is not our home, the things we do, are not the things we want to do, our souls long to be with our Father in heaven, and yet our mortal bodies are anchored to this earth (2 Corinthians 5:1-4). We have only “sipped” at the cup of God’s promise and this is why our spirit groans.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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