Daily Writing

Saturday, 4 January 2025

And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors. Matthew 6:12

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“And You forgive us our debts as also we, we forgive our debtors” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus included the thought of receiving one’s necessary bread as a part of the Lord’s Prayer. He now continues with, “And You forgive us our debts.”

The word translated as debt is opheiléma. It is found only here and in Romans 4:4, where Paul notes that the wages of those who work are like a debt that is owed. Here, the idea being presented is that sinning (a transgression against God) brings about a debt that must be satisfied. Under the law, this satisfaction was through the Levitical sacrificial system, each aspect of which anticipated the coming of the Messiah.

God’s holiness demands such a satisfaction to cover over wrongdoing, removing it from His presence. This is because nothing impure or defiled can enter into His presence. Understanding this, Jesus next says, “as also we, we forgive our debtors.”

Of this, Vincent’s Word Studies is probably missing the mark by saying, “The Rev. rightly gives the force of the past tense, we have forgiven; since Christ assumes that he who prays for the remission of his own debts has already forgiven those indebted to him.”

Jesus is not necessarily instructing the people in what has been. Rather, it appears He is instructing them in a state of life that may exist at the time of the prayer but also a state that will be. Thus, it covers all times –

Forgive me for this. I have also forgiven others.
Forgive me for what I may do, just as I will also forgive others.

The prayer shows that forgiveness of others is to be a condition for God’s forgiveness at any given time, but it also appears more appropriate as a prayer to cover life in general, not each specific occasion that arises.

Life application: Sin is considered a debt that must be paid. As noted, the Levitical sacrificial system was set up for that purpose. However, each aspect of it was given as a type of Christ to come. It was actually ineffective in taking away sin –

“For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. ² For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. ³ But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴ For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” Hebrews 10:1-4

This is one of the many points of error found in the doctrine of Judaizers, such as the Hebrew Roots Movement. They mandate that people must observe the law. Quite often their doctrine is selective in that they mandate dietary restrictions, Sabbath observance, etc. But then they ignore the sacrificial system.

However, the law is a codified whole. There is no observing it in part. It must be observed in its entirety. If Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of the sacrificial system (and He must be because they do not observe that system now), then He is the fulfillment of the entire law that demands a sacrificial system.

To say one must observe the dietary laws, Sabbath laws, etc., but that Jesus is the sacrifice for not observing these laws, is convoluted thinking. It is a false presentation of who Jesus is and what He did. A debt for sin is owed. Jesus is the payment for all sin debt. Nothing else can satisfy the debt of sin.

And so to mandate law observance makes no sense at all. This is obviously true with Gentiles who neither received the law nor were ever expected to observe it. But it is true with Jews as well. If Jesus fulfilled the law for Israel, which He did, then when they accept Jesus, they enter the New Covenant. The mandates of the Mosaic Law are ended.

Put on your thinking cap! Stay away from those who mandate law observance. To attempt to merit God’s favor through the law will only lead to condemnation. All of that work… for nothing. What a sad and wasted existence.

Come to Jesus and be saved. Then, live in the grace of God that flows from His completion of the law on your behalf.

Lord God, help us to understand that salvation stems from You alone. You have sent Jesus to do what we cannot do. May we learn this lesson and rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Friday, 3 January 2025

Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“Our necessary bread, You give us today” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus referred to the coming of the kingdom and doing God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. With such petitions set forth for the glory of God, He now turns to one’s earthly need, saying, “Our necessary bread.”

This Greek word is found only in the Lord’s Prayer, epiousios. It is cited in both examples of the prayer in Matthew and Luke. It is a word found nowhere else in Greek literature, and so it is believed Matthew formed a word that would have given the sense of the Aramaic word Jesus would have spoken.

It is derived from either epi (upon), and the feminine form of eimi (existence), and thus, “needful,” or it is a form of the word epiousa, meaning next, following, etc., as in “the next day,” thus, “daily.”

Without anything else to go on from other Greek sources, it is hard to know which is correct. It could be that Jesus is referring to the words of Proverbs 30:8, “…supply me bread – my allotment” (CG). Thus, it would be an allotted portion to meet one’s needs.

Either way, saying “daily” would not be incorrect, but it then leads to forming a tautology when combined with the next words, “You give us today.”

In other words, asking for the next day’s bread to be given today seems a bit forced, but when Jesus spoke in Aramaic, it may not have been understood that way. So, whether it is “next day” or “needful,” the sense is understood as what is appropriate to the day’s need.

With this evaluation of the word, it is to be understood that “bread” is not necessarily limited to loaves for eating. The word can signify food of any kind, bread being a metaphor for one’s food (see 2 Thessalonians 3:12). Jesus also uses the word to signify Himself as the Manna from heaven, the Bread of life, in John 6.

The bread of this prayer then is probably being used as in Proverbs 30 to signify what is needed for a person to have his daily sufficiency for life, without want but also without extravagance.

Life application: By reviewing this difficult word, and then comparing it with the words of Proverbs, we may get a fuller sense of why Jesus included this in His model prayer –

“Two things I request of You
(Deprive me not before I die):
⁸ Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
Give me neither poverty nor riches—
Feed me with the food allotted to me;
⁹ Lest I be full and deny You,
And say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or lest I be poor and steal,
And profane the name of my God.” Proverbs 30:7-9

The Lord’s Prayer so far has focused on glorifying God. In calling to memory the words of the Proverbs, Jesus would then be continuing that thought. He is telling His disciples to ask for what they need so that they can continue to glorify God, as stated in Proverbs 30:9.

And this is what we should do in our lives as well. Some people can handle great wealth and continue to glorify God. Some people can handle fame and do so as well. However, for others, such things may become a snare that causes them to fall (see 1 Timothy 3:6). Therefore, to ask God to deliver to us what we can handle without being ensnared by greed, pride, etc., is the right thing to do.

Let us endeavor to never allow any such thing to cause us to diminish the glory of God in the eyes of others.

Lord God, we are so easily pulled away from focusing our eyes, hearts, thoughts, and affections on You. Help us to be kept free from temptation or misdirection. May we walk on the straight path as we pursue You all our days. Help us in this, O God. Amen.

Thursday, 2 January 2025

Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“Your kingdom – it come. Your will – it be done as in heaven, even upon the earth” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus began His words concerning the manner of prayer that is appropriate. He continues that example with “Your kingdom – it come.”

There are various views on what Jesus is referring to here. Several are 1) The spiritual kingdom of God ruling over all people, 2) the literal millennial reign of God in Christ that the Jews expected would come immediately, 3) the Lord ruling over all the nations of the world with them subject to His laws (which is similar in thought to the millennial reign but generally held by those who dismiss a millennial reign with Israel as chief of the nations).

A kingdom implies one is reigning as a king. When Paul speaks of the kingdom, it means that Christ is ruling as King. That is to be taken as an axiom. For example –

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13, 14

Therefore, it cannot be dismissed that Christ is the King of the church. However, the church is a spiritual entity. This probably does not encompass what Jesus is referring to. He is speaking about the rule of the Father (Your kingdom – it come).

Paul speaks elsewhere of the “appearing of His kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1) and being preserved for “His heavenly kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:18). Likewise, because of Old Testament prophecies, the Jews anticipated a literal kingdom on the earth from which the Messiah would reign.

In fact, that was the last question His disciples asked Him about in Acts 1:6. Jesus didn’t tell them that wasn’t coming. Instead, He implied that it was coming, but that they had something else to do in the meantime. The book of Acts then describes that “something else” as the church began to develop. In this process of developing the church, it says –

“And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, ²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.’” Acts 14:21,22

And so there is a kingdom now with Christ ruling which we have been conveyed into. There is the literal fulfillment of that kingdom yet ahead for us as well at the rapture. There is a millennial kingdom that also lies ahead. Finally, there is the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom idea as explained by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 –

“Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. ²⁷ For ‘He has put all things under His feet.’” But when He says ‘all things are put under Him,’ it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. ²⁸ Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.” 1 Corinthians 15:24-28

This ultimately is the future kingdom Paul speaks of elsewhere. We are a part of it now spiritually, but it is realized in stages. At the same time, other kingdom concepts are being worked out, such as the millennium. As this is true, Jesus’ words about the Father’s kingdom, “it come,” must encompass all of these.

In other words, it is a general statement concerning the ruling authority of God at all times. It is a petition that in whatever dispensation man finds himself, and in whatever aspect of His kingdom we currently exist, we should pray that it be a part of our existence at that moment and into the future. That then actually parallels the next thought, “Your will – it be done.”

It would be unheard of to expect this to be speaking of some unspecified time in the future, such as the coming millennial reign. Rather, it is a right now and forever statement. The church is in the kingdom right now, even if it is a spiritual entity. Those in the church will be a part of a literal kingdom in the future. Israel will be at the head of the nations in an established kingdom in the millennium. And so forth.

In each of these outcroppings of God’s redemptive plan, those who are a part of what is going on are to desire God’s will to be done “as in heaven, even upon the earth.” Until the final heavenly kingdom spoken of by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 is fully realized, it should be the prayer of God’s people to desire that what is occurring on earth should be as it is in God’s heavenly kingdom at all times.

Life application: Jesus’ words are to Israel while under the law. It was during the time of the law that the millennial kingdom was promised. Therefore, it cannot be that Jesus’ words are speaking only of the church. In fact, the disciples at that time had no idea a church age was coming, as noted in Acts 1:6. They were anticipating a literal kingdom to come right away.

Therefore, Jesus’ words must be inclusive of that. But their lack of understanding of the other things God was doing does not negate that those things exist or would come to pass. Therefore, the prayers of God’s people are that what God has planned is what should come about, even if we do not have a full understanding of it.

Now that the Bible is complete, we have the fuller picture they lacked, but the truths remain the same. We should pray for the millennial kingdom’s coming. We should pray for the literal kingdom for the church to come (rapture ahead… whoo hoo!). We should pray for the ultimate kingdom of God to be realized when “God may be all in all.” As this is so, let us pray about it…

Lord God, we pray that Your kingdom comes. We also pray that Your will be done, on earth just as it is in heaven. We pray that You, as our King, will lead us into Your heavenly kingdom where we can experience what we now can only anticipate. We pray for Israel to open her eyes to Your Messiah, Jesus, so that He can exercise His rightful rule over them as a nation as they lead the nations during the millennium. Lord God, we pray for these things that You may be glorified in Your people. Amen.

Wednesday, 1 January 2025

In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Matthew 6:9

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“Therefore, thus you – you pray: ‘Our Father, the ‘in the heavens,’ it be hallowed – Your name” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus said that the Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Therefore, rather than focusing on the needs, focusing on other things is appropriate. When these are the main words of one’s prayer, it demonstrates proper priorities exist. And so, Jesus begins with, “Therefore, thus you – you pray.”

The meaning of the word thus is that this is a model prayer, meaning, “in this manner.” However, Luke more precisely says, “When you pray, say…” This would then indicate a repetition of Jesus’ words. Either way, the substance is what should be focused on. Understanding that, He begins the prayer, saying, “Our Father.”

The idea of God as the Father is one that takes on several connotations in Scripture. He is the Father of creation and, thus, humanity. He is the Father of Israel (Exodus 4:22). He is the Father in the sense of love, discipline, sanctuary, and so much more. In this case, Jesus is speaking to His disciples within the context of the community of faith.

This appears more certain based on what it says in John 8 –

“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.’” John 8:42-47

It is doubtful Jesus would extend His word here to those of Israel who were not truly a part of the community of faith. With that noted, He next says, “the ‘in the heavens.’”

In other words, it is an affirmation that this is not an earthly father. Nor is it a symbolic father, such as a priest (as in Judges 17:10). The words are a prayer to the One in heaven with whom a filial bond exists because of faith. Because of this bond, which rightly calls out for a son to humble himself before his Father, Jesus next says, “it be hallowed – Your name.”

Here, Jesus introduces the verb hagiazó, to hallow, into Scripture. Strong’s Lexicon says the word “means to sanctify or make holy. It involves the act of setting something or someone apart for a sacred purpose or dedicating them to God. In the New Testament, it is used to describe the process by which believers are made holy through the work of the Holy Spirit, aligning them with God’s will and character. It also refers to the consecration of objects or places for divine use.”

In this case, it is a hallowing of the name of the Father, treating it with absolute holiness as well as expecting it to be treated in this manner by others. Of this hallowing of His name, some scholars try to insert the idea of the Trinity into Jesus’ words. This does not seem like a sound approach to what Jesus is saying.

The concept of the Trinity, though a valid doctrine in Scripture, was not yet developed at this time. Rather, the term Father is being used as an appellation or designation of God in general. This would be in accord with Paul’s words of 1 Corinthians 8:6, which say, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”

It is true that there is God the Father within the Trinity, but the words here refer to God, the Father of the community of faith. As such, Paul’s words there and elsewhere are not to be taken as a separation between God and Jesus, as if Jesus is not God, but a distinction within the Godhead.

As a way of grasping this, a human government might be considered a fatherly entity. Of it, someone might say, “We have one father (the various branches of authority) ruling over us and one office of propaganda to establish us.” A distinction is made within the government even though the office of propaganda expresses the entirety of the government’s decisions conveyed to the people.

Life application: When discussing the nature of God, or when evaluating statements about God that are recorded in Scripture, care needs to be taken to ensure that we do not stray from what is explicitly expressed elsewhere.

For example, in the Bible, it is explicitly stated that there is a Father who is God. However, it is also explicitly stated that the Son is God and that the Spirit is God. And more, it is clearly seen that the Father is not the Son and the Father is not the Spirit, nor is the Son the Spirit. As these things are explicit, we cannot deny the concept of the Trinity without falling into heresy.

As this is so, then when verses seem to separate Jesus from God (as may be wrongly implied from 1 Corinthians 8 above), we must strive to understand what Paul is saying. Jesus is clearly expressed elsewhere as God and yet He is referred to in addition to God in that verse. Therefore, Paul is teaching us something about the functioning within the Godhead.

It is our duty to accept what the Bible explicitly teaches and then to work within that framework to understand the nuances of words that are affected by those explicit references. When we do this, we will keep from error or outright heresy.

Lord God, we can get easily confused or even led astray by evaluations of Your word that are not in accord with what is clearly revealed. Because of this, we pray that You lead us to sound instruction through teachers and commentaries that are in accord with what is correct. Please keep us from error as we consider who You are and what You have revealed to us in Scripture. Amen.

Tuesday, 31 December 2024

“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. Matthew 6:8

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“Therefore not you resemble them, for your Father, He has known, what you have need before you ask of Him” (CG).

The previous verse gave Jesus’ words concerning using stammer-speak in one’s prayers. Now, to continue that thought, he says, “Therefore not you resemble them.”

The words are a logical continuation of what Jesus just said. The ethnicities called out words simply for the sake of calling them out. They repeated themselves, figuring their multiplication of words would somehow have an additional effect. An example of this is noted in 1 Kings –

“So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, ‘O Baal, hear us!’ But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.
²⁷ And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, ‘Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.’ ²⁸ So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. ²⁹ And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.” 1 Kings 18:26-29

The priests of Baal called out again and again and acted like modern charismatics as they jumped around the altar. They also cut themselves. This is not unlike what many in the RCC do in places around the world (such as the Philippines), flagellating themselves until they bleed during Easter time. Rather than such nonsense, Jesus next tells them, “for your Father, He has known, what you have need before you ask of Him.”

This begs the question, if God has known (the verb is in the perfect tense) what you need before you ask of Him, then why do we need to ask of Him? The answer is the same as any other such thing. God knows that we need to be saved, but He doesn’t just save us because the need exists. Rather, we must believe and receive His salvation through faith, calling on the name of the Lord.

Likewise, it would be unreasonable for believers to walk around getting everything they need simply because the need exists. Such a notion is presumptuous, arrogant, and dismissive of what a relationship between parties entails.

Rather, God expects us to make our prayers known without any fanfare or hoopla and to then wait upon His response in His own good timing. As an example of this respectful attitude, the account in 1 Kings 18 continues –

“And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.’
³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!’” 1 Kings 18:36-39

Elijah merely spoke out his prayer (he “said”) and waited on the Lord. There was no stammer-speak. Rather, he acknowledged the Lord as God, that his prayer was in accord with the word of the Lord, and that the Lord had the power and ability to do what he asked. With that uttered, the Lord responded.

Our prayers should likewise be prayers of faith, knowing that if He responds, it is according to His will and His timing. We are to simply wait upon Him.

Life application: How often do people’s prayers border on blasphemy, right in services that come on TV? People misquote the Bible in their prayers, they snap their fingers and make claims of God, such as, “I claim healing in Jesus’ name.” They call out for prosperity that is not spiritual but carnal. They use the name of Jesus as a talisman for benefit and not as a source of glorifying God.

We must strive to not get caught up in such things. It is true that we are physical beings with physical needs, but God may have a purpose for our afflictions. To claim healing for something when it is not God’s will is then an implicit attempt to thwart God’s will.

We may not understand the reason for financial trials, physical afflictions, loss through death, or other such things that profoundly affect our lives, but we should never question God’s goodness through these trials. The universe, after all, does not revolve around us. Let God be God. Trust that His plan is perfect and that what He does is perfectly in accord with that perfect plan.

Lord God Almighty, it is not always easy for us to accept the difficult events that come about in our lives. But we do trust that You knew they were coming, that they are a part of Your unfolding plan, and that You will see us through to a good end because of our faith in Jesus. Comfort us in our afflictions and give us the ability to praise You through every storm. Amen.