John 13:18 ¶ I speak not of you all: I know whom I have
chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heel against me. 19
Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may
believe that I am he. 20 Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that
receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. 21
When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and
said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 22 Then the disciples looked one on another,
doubting of whom he spake. 23 Now there
was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that
he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. 25 He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto
him, Lord, who is it? 26 Jesus answered,
He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had
dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him.
Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. 28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent
he spake this unto him. 29 For some of
them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy
those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give
something to the poor. 30 He then having
received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.
Now, here is a curious thing. Christ said He was speaking
only to those He had chosen. So, what would make us think that an unbeliever,
particularly anyone who God knows will not receive Christ, would be able to
receive the Bible? In the following passage it is so that only those whom God
foreknew would be His did He predestinate to be like Christ at some point.
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren.
It is by that seeing ahead of who will trust Christ that God
chooses.
1Peter 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God
the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
He saw those people in Christ before the world of men and
women was even formed.
Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love:
And we are predestinated to something after we are saved as
per Romans 8:29 and context. Here is a statement and then an explanation of the
statement showing that we were called after we were predestinated after God
knew we would love Him;
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 ¶
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to
the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he
also called: and whom he called,
them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Jesus quotes the following passage in the Old Testament,
telling us how to apply it;
Psalm 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I
trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
Obviously, Jesus is talking about Judas, who will betray
Him. He then clearly states that He is foretelling what will happen to Him as
evidence of who He is. Jesus says that to receive the person whom He has sent
is the same as receiving Him and receiving Him is to receive God the Father.
The ‘sent ones’ are the apostles of the first century, the missionaries of
every century, the evangelists, the itinerant preachers, and the common
Christian who is sent by the Holy Ghost into the world to preach the gospel of
Jesus Christ. But, in this context, He is talking about these Apostles and
separating them from the one who will betray Him.
Who was Jesus talking about they wondered? John, who was
probably very young, had a special attachment to Christ. He is known as the
disciple Jesus loved or the beloved, a type of the church. Christ is the
Father’s beloved Son.
Mark 9:7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them:
and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
John is the disciple whom Jesus loved as shown in the
passage being studied. The church is Christ’s beloved.
Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
At that time they would have not been sitting in chairs to
eat as we would. They would recline to eat. John was close to Jesus and Peter
asked him to ask Jesus who it was that would betray Him.
Some people will accuse Jesus of sin here, which is in
contradiction of who Jesus was and of what the Law given to Moses said about
the sin of homosexual behavior…
Leviticus 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth
with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be
put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
…and also denying the deep love of friendship that was
possible between two men in the ancient Jewish world within the constraints of
the Law. See David speaking to Jonathan;
2Samuel 1:26 I am distressed for thee, my brother
Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful,
passing the love of women.
Or the tenderness that does not lead to sin of a grown man
for a youth and the concern and care this represented.
Daniel 1:6 Now among these were of the children of
Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:… 9 Now God had brought Daniel
into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.
An American heterosexual male can no more understand this
morally correct affection any more than he can stand the idea of men in other
cultures kissing each other on the cheek as a greeting or young girls walking
down the street holding hands. He also cannot wrap his mind around General
George Washington writing to the Chevalier de Chastellux, solder and
philosopher, when he knew Chastellux would arrive at camp, “I love you…I shall
embrace you when it happens with the warmth of perfect friendship.” (20) Nor can
we understand the idea of the holy kiss
between Christians in Romans 16:16; 1Corinthians 16:20; 2Corinthians 13:12; and
1Thessalonians 5:26.
This is very important in understanding the Bible. Your
discernment must be able to separate what is given to you as a commandment that
you are to follow as a Christian and a cultural practice that is alien to our
time and place or specifically referenced to specific people at a specific
place and time. It is not sin not to follow every line in the Bible as much of
it isn’t written to you and you would be foolish to insist that if we don’t
kiss each other we aren’t in obedience and submission to Christ.
More relevant to us is in the conservative Baptist
tradition, for the sake of modesty, women typically wear long dresses to cover
the legs as opposed to short, revealing dresses or form-fitting trousers, or
even shorts. Modesty is a principle that God lays on the Christian’s heart. It
is good. But, if you are looking back at the 1800’s or early 1900’s as a time
when women in the church were more righteous in their dress then I would say to
you that at that time you letting your hair hang down around your shoulders and
wearing shoes that revealed the naked foot would have been scandalous and
considered highly immoral as those things were for the marital bedroom or not
to be exposed to public view. I’m not criticizing any conviction. I’m just
saying be careful how you impose your convictions on other people. Your culture
is not by necessity, Godly, simply because you are different, anymore than the
cultures of the Bible require you to kiss each other or wear your hair down to
your waist. Follow your convictions but be careful how you impose them on
others.
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