Yeah....there was a group of Sadducees, one of the religious sects of that day, who were often trying to undermine Jesus with their ‘theological traps”. In this particular exchange, they wanted to present a possible scenario having to do with a married man who died having no children, and so his brother married the wife and then he died...and so on...with seven brothers in all going through this. Seems to me that after the third death...the other brothers would have been a tad hesitant to marry this woman.
Isn’t it interesting...that tendency to want to dream up these ‘what if’ cases when we hear scripture that doesn’t fit with our particular brand of theology. It’s as if we feel a need to ‘shoot it down’ or discredit it. This is nothing new by the way. Satan started that ploy back in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve when he pops up wanting to question if what God said was really true. He first cast doubt with: “Has God really said?”...then turns and twist it around before flat out saying just the opposite...”You shall surely not die.” (Gen. 3:1-5; Gen. 2:17)
The silly hypocrisy of this ploy by the Sadducees in that story, found in Matt. 22:23-33, was pointed at wanting to know what would happen ‘in the resurrection’ and who would be the real husband to this woman. The reason I say hypocrisy is because this particular sect did not even believe in a resurrection or ‘life after death’.
But back to the statement Jesus made about 1) Being mistaken, 2) not knowing the Scriptures, and 3) not knowing the power of God. (vs. 29)
I know it can be a tough pill to swallow to discover one has been ‘mistaken’ about things; especially when it comes to matters that are important. You know, like your soul, and the word of God and the kingdom of heaven. There is a fine line there of being confident in truth that is real to you, and then ‘thinking you are standing firm at the risk of falling’. (1 Cor. 10:12).
I’ve publicly stated here that my personal experience has been something akin to thinking I was almost done with a college degree, metaphorically speaking here, in what I thought I knew to be truth...then to find myself back in “first grade” learning the basics all over again. Sure...pride and ego can take a hit...but...pride is supposed to be put to death anyway so whatever it takes...I just want to know Jesus, who IS the truth and allow Him to reveal His word that empowers me to become more like Him. That was the plan, you know? (Rom. 8:29)
So yes, I was mistaken on a number of issues. But what I find intriguing in Jesus’s statement here is the link between the scriptures themselves and...the ‘power’ of God. If you recall from last week, that word ‘power’ can have two meanings from the original language, one having to do with ‘power’ as in ‘authority’ like elected officials or public servants have. The other word means ‘power’ in the same sense of being supernatural and/or miraculous. And that is the meaning implied with this use here talking of the ‘power of God’.
I really believe we have failed to grasp just how ‘powerful’ this word is and what potential it can have in our lives if we’d just believe it AND ACT upon it. Listen to what Paul told the Romans in his letter to them stating: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the ‘power of God’ to salvation for everyone ...who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek”. (1:16)
As I pointed out the other day...why do you think it can be so challenging to spend quality time in God’s word? Do we fail to recognize a ploy of the enemy to keep us out of it and for good reasons? He knows its potential. That’s why he ‘comes immediately to snatch that word from our hearts lest we believe and are saved’. (Luke 8:12). If you are spending more time reading commentaries and devotionals and books that ‘talk about the bible’ in comparison to the bible itself, that should be a red flag to you.
As learned as Paul was, he wanted it to be known after his conversion that he was not there to impress anyone with the ‘enticing words of human wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power so that our faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Cor. 2:4-5)
He would later commend those at Thessalonica for hearing, welcoming, and receiving God’s word ‘not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God which also effectively works in those who believe”. (1 Thess. 2:13)
This Word is supposed to work actively and powerfully in us. And do you know what it’s effectively doing in us? Conforming us to the nature and likeness of Jesus so that we can walk just like He walked. (1 John 2:6; Rom. 8:29). And would you like to take a guess as to why that is important and necessary? So that He can save us from the wrath of God that is being (not will be, but IS) poured out against ALL ungodliness and unrighteousness of men...” (Rom. 1:18)
When we talk about being ‘saved’, do you realize what it is we are being ‘saved from’. It is...the wrath of God. (Rom. 5:9). When we are truly ‘born again’ as Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3, it is a new birth we undergo but not with ‘corruptible seed’ but ‘incorruptible’ as Peter explained there in his first letter. (1:22-23)
Again, listen to the words of Jesus...He did not come to condemn us, but that through Him, we might be saved. (John 3:17). He came to save us from our sins. (Matt. 1:21). He came that we might know the truth and be set free so we would no longer be slaves to sin. (John 8:32-36). Paul writes extensively regarding this in Romans 6 repeating how we were ‘set free from sin’ , we ‘died to sin’, and then asks...’how shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” This idea of thinking because of God’s grace that this was some free pass to continue to sin was absurd. Yet this is the mindset so many have succumbed to in modern church world thinking.
Why would Jesus have told those He encountered to ‘go and sin no more’ if He was not going to make this possible for them to do? (John 5:14; 8:11). And in that first reference there, Jesus was explaining to a man whom He had healed that now that he had better not sin or something worse might happen to him.
Please...Please...Please...don’t fly through this to get to the end. Go back and read that last paragraph again and let it settle with in you and ask God how this might apply to you.
Paul warned us to let ‘no one deceive you with empty words’...for because of ‘such things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience’. (Eph. 5:6). And what ‘things’ was he referring to? Well you can go read for yourself there in chapter 5 but he lists several examples...including fornication (sexual immorality), filthy or foolish talking, coveting, or any form of idolatry.
Sin...continues to this day...to be a ‘magnet’ for the ‘wrath of God’. And if it helps your understanding, let me again point you to the word that tells us exactly what...the ‘wrath of God’ is- destroying , demonic angels. (Ps. 78:49). They inhabit and rule this world today and they operate through the sinful flesh nature of man. You might go read Eph. 2:1-3 again as it clearly tells us this. I should also add here that the ‘natural man/mind’ struggles to understand the things of the Spirit’ ( 1 Cor. 2:14)
So when Paul says to ‘give no place to the devil’, (Eph. 4:27) that would imply we can do that very thing...’give place to the devil.’ What did Jesus explain happens when those ‘unclean spirits go out of man” and will attempt to do again? (Matt. 12:43-45). And how do you think they might do that? They tempt us to ‘sin’ which gives them access to come back in; and if we don’t stay vigilant and alert and resist him, as Peter advises us in 1 Pet. 5:8-9, then we will end up in a worse condition than we ever were at the start, according to Jesus there.
This shallow idea of saying a prayer and joining a church somehow ‘saves us’ from the wrath of God is quite misleading and honestly, deceptive. IF we are truly ‘born of God’, and abiding in Jesus, John tells us we will no longer continue to sin. (1 John 3:6,9). His words, not mine.
And if we are walking like Jesus walked (1 John 2:6) it is only by His grace we are empowered to do so and that is how we are ‘saved’ as we obey and follow Him. (Heb. 5:9). There are tremendous benefits that come with walking with Him. One of them is...the ‘evil one cannot touch you’. Do you know why? Because ‘whoever is born of God does not sin.’ (1 John 5:18)
If I may use a very over-simplified illustration....think of this world being a ‘spiritual mine field’. And our enemy, the devil (1 Pet. 5:8) has planted these mines of temptation hoping to lure us in and when we ‘sin’, which means break God’s law, that hedge of protection comes down and we have now given him place or access to come in. The sooner we see the error of our sin and repent of it, the sooner we can get back in good standing with God. And hopefully, we learn from that ‘chastisement, which is never pleasant’. (Heb. 12: 5-14)
Jesus knows where all the ‘mines’ are. That...is why we would do well to abide with and in Him and pay attention and do what He asks us to do. It’s easy to ‘profess we know Him’, yet He wants to know why we call Him ‘Lord’ and not do the things He says? (Luke 6:46; Tit. 1:16)
Look...here’s the bottom line and...the good news I’ve been trying to convey. Jesus told us that unless we repent, turn, and follow Him, we would all perish. (Luke 13:1-5). He came to offer us life while warning us what the enemy, or the ‘thief’ was there to do- ‘steal, kill, and destroy’. (John 10:10).
You want to avoid that path of being destroyed? Then follow Jesus with all your heart. (John 10:27). And you will find yourself walking in a peace you never knew possible. The reason being...He will lead you and empower you as His child...to ‘sin no more’. (Rom. 8:14). You will no longer be fulfilling the lust of the fleshly deeds, which is sin and gives place to the devil. (Gal. 5:16)
But if you remain entrenched with old man-made doctrines that tell you that you can never be set free from sin ...then I will merely point you back to the words of Jesus and tell you...in love...”You are mistaken, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matt. 22:29)
There’s just a little bit more to this walk of faith than showing up at a building once a week and participating in some religious activity. The sooner we awaken to this, the better off we will be.
Merry Christmas. :- )
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