Category Archives: Things Paul Wrote On

Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus

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As I read 2 Timothy this morning, I thought it would be good to write what I have learned about these terms – Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus. To be perfectly clear, Jesus is the Christ/Messiah. He was born of the Virgin Mary, was killed on Good Friday for our sins, and rose in victory on Easter morning. He has sent His Spirit to those who chose to believe and would have everyone repent and follow Him.

In a little naivety I thought this would be an uneventfully study. I was almost correct. First, Jesus is His name. There are a few variants of that name in Hebrew and in Greek, like Joshua and Justus. Christ (Greek) or Messiah (Hebrew) is a title that connects to God. So, Jesus Christ could be understood as the Man-God while Christ Jesus should be thought of as God-Man. I looked for my reference on that and could not find it, I thought it was from the Vine’s Dictionary in my Strong’s Concordance.

Then I went to step-two in the study and was going to list Scripture verses. My reading this morning was in the NIV. The references I started to compile were in the KJV. I soon found out that the editors of the KJV seemed to have followed the 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV). The Greek Interlinear in Bible Hub is in agreement with the NIV and NASB and many others. I will offer what may have happened and some other things I noticed.

  • The Gospels and the Letters from Hebrews to Revelation use Christ or Messiah when referring to the One who will redeem mankind.
  • Jesus (by itself) is used in the narratives of the Gospels.
  • Paul in his Letters use Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus. He is specific when he uses them. I have found that reading Man-God where Jesus Christ is written and God-Man where Christ Jesus is written adds to the understanding of the text.
  • If you use BibleGateway you will see different totals in the numbers of times the terms are used between translations. The first thing to remember is that some of them use headings in their writing and this can add up quickly. Even the 1599 Geneva has commentaries, and they use the terms Jesus and Christ in them. I did read that one reason for the King James being written was to get rid of those Commentaries. The English Crown did not like them.
  • I may not be perfect in my observations; I looked through several translations.

Was there anything nefarious going on, no. I believe it was a matter of keeping it simple for the readers (not sure on that point). Society was coming out of the Dark Ages and being able to read God’s Word in your own language and home was a big deal. We take so much for granted.   

In 2 Timothy Paul uses Christ Jesus the most and Jesus Christ only in 2:8. Paul had been in prison for a while and I think it shows in how he wrote to Timothy and where his thoughts were.

Who Has Believed Our Report

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The iconic statement “who has believed our report” or “message” is first made in Isaiah and then repeated in John and Romans. As important as those five words are you should not miss where they are said. Those words in context are what this post is about.

Isaiah 53:1

Isaiah did not put in chapters or verses; a French printer did most of that. Paragraphs came after that and the helpful chapter and section headings are the work of publishing companies. This section of Isaiah is important, so you may need to work a little at grouping thoughts together. I like looking for, “This is what the Lord says.” So, if you start at 52:4 and go to 55:13 that may be a section. A problem with that is there are several times in this body of Scripture you will find the Lord reinforcing things He has said. These are also a nice place to put in chapter or sections breaks. Regardless of how you think the sections might read, I would suggest you read 52:4 through the end of Chapter 53 to get a little better context for this study.

Just before Chapter 53 are several “Repeats and Upgrades” that the Lord uses to get our attention for 52:13 where He talks about “my servant”. This flows into 53:1 and continues the description and work of this servant. Christians, you will see many references to Jesus here and portions of this are repeated in the Gospels, look at the footnotes if your Bible uses them.

We see this “servant” as Jesus and much of this describes His condition after the Romans laid hands on Him before He was “raised and lifted up and highly exulted” (52:13 NIV) at His crucifixion. Yes, both the Jews and Gentiles laid hands on Jesus as part of Him becoming our sin offering. Okay, those looked more like slaps and punches and not the simple touching and confessions of the Mosaic sin offerings.

The message/report, is the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5) and the righteousness that the Father wants with and for His Children, Jew and Gentile. Love God and love your neighbor is the heart of the Ten Commandments, but righteousness also has two parts. Righteousness deals with justice and right standing before God, but it also has a fellowship component and that is with God and with man. Deuteronomy 11 is about loving God and keeping His commands and He would take care of His Children, it would be a good place to read that Chapter.

Part of Isaiah’s message is this righteousness. Look at the “Repeats and Upgrades” that precede 53:1 and you will see this. The Northern Tribes did not believe God and were unfaithful to Him in how they worshipped. So, Isaiah and many of the “minor” prophets were trying to get Judah back to the Father; they would not believe his report about God.

John 12:38

John’s focus is different than the other Gospels, but that last Passover is still majority of his Book. John 12 is about Jesus getting ready to follow the example of David and ride into Jerusalem. I see this time as Jesus going to pay the Bride’s Price for His Church. John reflects on the stubborn attitude that persisted even with His message and the miracles to back up His words.

The people liked the power Jesus displayed with the healing and miracles, but their idea of Kingdom was not wrapped around repentance and righteous fellowship in God. They wanted a military leader. His sermons on the two mounts on Tuesday of Holy Week was not what they wanted. Please note that the wedding parables are given on the Mount of Olives after having answered marriage questions on the Temple Mount. All of this happened after the fig tree died.

The leaders just wanted Him to go away so they could keep the Temple (vineyard). War is messy and they had a nice deal going in Jerusalem and the synagogues. Temple tax, offerings, and sacrifices added up to a lot of money coming into the region. Plus, they could make the people feel good.

Running tally on believing the message.

  • Isaiah – The Ten Commandments and righteousness. They took Baal and the sex-oriented worship that went with him. Plus, the servant in Chapter 52 and 53 did not sound very powerful.
  • Jesus and His message to repent and the miracles to confirm the Good News. They were nice but dead Romans and no Herod would be better. They took Barabbas.

Romans 10:16

I want to say that this section of Romans that deals with several important topics goes from 9:1 to the end of Chapter 11 with the Doxology, that is open for debate. The verse is nestled in with a part of the “Roman Road” and confession because of hearing the Good News. If you have footnotes for Chapter 10, look at them; mine are from Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Psalms, and Joel. Clearly these ideas are found in the Old Testament.

(A note from my reading through Acts. Saul/Paul’s part of the story begins with the testimony of Stephen and ends with Paul’s testimony. Both are to Jewish leaders and those groups were divided on what they heard.)

Paul, several times, is confronted with Jews hearing and not believing. Acts 22:18-19 is where Jesus tells Saul to leave Jerusalem. Saul is convinced that the Jews will listen to him because of who he was, he leaves. Chapter 28:24 talks about the Jewish leaders in Roman, some believe some don’t. There were many cities where Paul started talking to Jews and had to stop, then they mounted physical attacks against him. Just because we speak the Word of Life to people does not mean that they will or can hear the message. Jesus help us and send us into “the field that is ripe for harvest”.   

Bible 911 – 1 Corinthians

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1 Corinthians 9:11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? (KJV)
1 Corinthians 9:11 If we have planted the spiritual seed that has been of benefit to you, is it too much if we receive part of the harvest from your earthly goods? (NOG – Names of God Bible)

Why two translations? 400-year-old English may not give you a large amount of understanding. Actually, take a look at several translations, I found that it helped.

For 1 Corinthians 9:11 I feel the thoughts for Chapter 9 start in Chapter 8. Paul did an amazing job of weaving several problems together. He started with food and idols then ended Chapter 9 with running your race with discipline in order to win the prize. The story of the Corinthian Church starts in Acts 18, it will give you a feel for these two Letters. I know it is hard to believe, but the first century Christian churches had problems; just read the start of the Book of Revelations. Chapter 9 builds on 2:1,6; 3:1; and 4:1,6. It seems that the Corinthians were preferring other ministers and giving Paul a bad time for a number of reasons.

FREE and FOOD These two themes are the root of the sharing in Chapters 8 and 9 with Paul’s teachings stemming from them.

Free – Paul talks about “free” quite a bit in Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians. You may want to want to check more than one translation as the number of verses using that word changes a lot. Remember, this is Paul who has a deep understanding of grace and being bound to the Lord for the purpose of spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom. We get lost in the idea of free and forget to look at the lives of Jesus and those He commissioned to spread His message.

A word for “free” was used twice in Chapter 9: 9:1 and 9:19. Paul inferred he was free several times. He was free:

  • To live for God and Jesus
  • From the fear of the Law
  • To eat what is put in front of him
  • Not to cause weak Christians to stumble
  • To be equal with other Christians
  • Not to use his rights as an apostle
  • To boast about not using his rights
  • To be available to be used by God
  • To discipline himself to be useful

Food – 1 Corinthians 9:11 in “modern times” translates to money. Programs, staff, and buildings are expensive; if you enjoy the church community, bearing those burdens are necessary. Paul starts his discourse on food talking about knowledge. Paul tempers what you think you know versus your responsibility towards weak members of Christ’s Body. Animal sacrifice was part of life in the first century, we have some knowledge and understanding of the practice. The Corinthians, however, were not ignorant and neither were Jews. Part of Jewish sacrifice was to have a family meal before God. I have heard it said that the meat market was next to the neighborhood pagan temple in large Gentile cities. Exodus 34:15 and Numbers 25:1-3 are passages about sacrificing to idols, eating the offering, and being led away from God and frequently into sexual sin. Paul did not sacrifice to idols, but he knew food was just food. It seems he had a good understanding of Jesus’ words about “what goes in the mouth does not defile, it is what comes out”. Now, use the knowledge you have right now from the Lord and switch from food to money. What are you sacrificing, eating, and teaching others about your freedom?

Paul offers several examples for 9:11 starting in verse 7 and ends with a question in 12. Why do you support others and not the ones who brought you the Gospel? I would like to offer two other references/examples for Paul’s boasting and behavior:

  • In Genesis 14 Abram gathers an army and rescues Lot. In verse 21 he refuses to take anything from King Bera of Sodom, except the tenth to Melchizedek and the share for allies who went with him.
  • Jesus in Luke 10:4-8 commissions seventy-two apostles/missionaries and sends them out. He told them to go out and that the people they preach to should take care of their needs. This is a food and funds focus from Jesus.  

ARMOR in Ephesians

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The armor in Ephesians 6 has been the object of at least one other study and probably will get a few more. See Putting On or Spandex Tight | Mark’s Bible Study (ificouldteachthebible.com) for my first post. Today, I will write on some of the reasons why Paul told us to put that armor on (enduo).

The Struggle or palē – This word is also translated wrestle and fight. Strong’s Greek: 3823. πάλη (palé) — wrestling, generally fight (biblehub.com) It is used once in the New Testament. (For a little advanced learning. Translators will use other Greek sources, like Homer and Herodotus, to get the meaning of these words.) The winner of Greek wrestling matches won only when they “stood” on the loser’s neck. This is what we are to do to the rulers, authorities, powers, and spiritual forces of darkness and evil. Unfortunately, we ignore this is not for flesh and blood, and certainly not fellow believers in Christ Jesus.

Stand or histēmi – See Strong’s Greek: 2476. ἵστημι (histémi) — to make to stand, to stand (biblehub.com)  This word is used many times in the New Testament and in a variety of ways.

Stand or anthistēmi – See Strong’s Greek: 436. ἀνθίστημι (anthistémi) — to set against, i.e. withstand (biblehub.com)  The KJV translates this as “withstand”; this seems weak in today’s uses of that word. Some Greek literature uses this as a military term, which fits the context of Paul’s writing. We are to oppose the darkness with force using the armor we are being instructed to wear/use. I think I might say “defend your ground”.

My Observations

  1. Jesus won.
  2. Our Old Testament has spears, bows and arrows, and slings. Did Paul forget these? They are long range weapons.
  3. I tend to think of this in Roman terms, which could be fair, expect armor has been around long before them. See 1 Samuel 18:4, this is Jonathan giving David his armor and weapons.
  4. The armour and weapons usually listed are for personal protection or close-quarter combat.
  5. The enemy uses flaming arrows.
  6. Christians have a Sword! Lol our “S – word”. Our Holy Spirit Word.
  7. Two things that do not make the list very often are the Spiritual weapons – Praying and Watching, verse 18. These may make us “Weap-on”.
  8. Have you ever seen a Sunday School lesson with a woman clothed in her armor and ready to anthistēmi?
  9. Notice the order of putting on the armor and weapons in Ephesians 6:13-18, it is how someone would get dressed by themselves to go into battle.

I like the Book of Ephesians, and the Armor section in Chapter 6. No, it is not an accident that Paul ended Ephesians with the armor in Chapter 6.

Moria

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With ink and leaf, melodies for the ear, art to envision the possibilities, and cinema to connect the pieces of Tolkien’s world we find his creation of Moria. The mine or house or land belonged to the dwarves and was taken over by the orcs and other terrors. This Khazad-dûm, this black pit played its role to perfection in both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship entered it by calling “friend” and left in tears and grief.

J. R. R. Tolkien the scholar and more important a Christian, who influenced C. S. Lewis to believe in Jesus seems to have used a Greek word to name this land under the Misty Mountains. Moria, Strong’s G3472, means foolishness. Paul uses this word five times in 1 Corinthians – 1:18, 21, 23; 2;14; 3:19.

The verses in Chapter 1 deal with Jesus and His Cross being foolish to Jews and Greeks, but to us who have believed it is salvation. 2:14 sees the man without the Spirit of God finding only foolishness in spiritual words and truth. Paul ends his use of these words by stating in 3:19 that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. If only Adam and Eve had eaten from the Tree of Life first the knowledge of good would have been given to them and the moria of evil would have been clear.  

Paul’s time in Corinth is recorded in Acts 18. Please read that before studying the Letters to the Corinthians. It is good to note that the Church that lacked no spiritual gift had troubles and trials and needed additional instruction and encouragement to live righteously (in right relations with God and each other).

Strong’s Greek: 3472. μωρία (mória) — foolishness (biblehub.com)