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The Amish Voice 10
The following letter was sent in response
to an article I wrote in the fall of 2011.
——————————————
Kentucky:
Greetings in Jesus name. Hope
this finds you well. I have been reading the
Amish Voice for some time. And at times I
have questions. For example: In the Septem-
ber issue on “
Salvation: Event or Process
?
”
I understand you to say that Jesus’ death on
the cross paid for all of our sins. My question
is, were our sins paid for or are/were they
forgiven?
Joe:
The term “
paid for
” is not used in
scripture, however, I don’t think we are
wrong in using the term when considering
the following scriptures passages:
1 Cor 6:20—For ye are
bought with a
price
: therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit,
which are God's.
1 Cor 7:23—Ye are
bought with a price
;
be not ye the servants of men.
2 Peter 2:1—…even
denying the Lord that
bought them
, and bring upon themselves
swift destruction.
Bought
means “to purchase,” or “to re-
deem out of the marketplace.
The phrase
who bought them
fits Peter's
reasoning perfectly. He is referring to the
master of a house who would purchase
slaves and put them in charge of various
household tasks. Because they were now
regarded as the master's personal property,
they owed their complete allegiance (duty)
to him.
As far as forgiven goes, the Bible says:
Blessed
are
they whose
iniquities are
forgiven
, and
whose sins are covered
.—
Romans 4:7
Kentucky:
You wrote Jesus took God’s
wrath upon himself. Are you saying that God
was mad at mankind, so He beat up on His
Son instead of us? Wasn’t it more like God
was pleased with His Son that was able to
endure all that was brought against Him? My
understanding is that this Satisfaction Theory
of God’s wrath on Jesus wasn’t taught until
the tenth century by the Roman Catholic
Archbishop, Anselm.
Joe:
Most of us prefer to view God as a
loving, patient, kind and forgiving God,
however, as much as He is loving and pa-
tient and kind and forgiving, the Bible also
says,
“For the
wrath of God
is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth
in unrighteousness”—
Romans 1:18
God’s anger at sinners is so severe that the
Bible says He hates them (Ps. 5:5; Hos.
9:15; Amos 5:21; Mal. 1:3; Rom. 9:13;
Rev. 2:6). Additionally, God’s wrath is
mentioned nearly 600 times in the Old
Testament by some 20 different words,
and these concepts are also found in the
New Testament, though less frequently
(e.g., John 3:36; Rom. 1:18; 5:9; Eph. 5:6;
Col. 3:6; 1 Thess. 1:10).
According to (Rom 3:10-12, 23; 5:12) eve-
ry human being since Adam has taken on
the sinful nature and, therefore, stands
before a Holy and Righteous God as con-
demned and headed for the Lake of fire.
But the Bible goes on to say in Rom 5:8-9,
“
But God commendeth his love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. Much more then, being now
justified by His blood, we shall be
saved
from wrath
through Him.”
Going back to my article, It may have been
better if I said, “Jesus delivered us from
God’s wrath”, rather then, “Jesus took
God’s wrath upon Himself”
Kentucky:
I don’t mean to be critical be-
cause I can agree with most of what’s in the
Amish Voice. But here I go again, because
the way Isaiah 64:6 is used now a days trou-
bles me very much. It should be quite clear
that the prophet is talking about a backslid-
den people. It certainly wasn’t Jesus talking
to His disciples. Or the angel saying this to
Cornelius (who wasn’t even a Christian at
the time) Or God saying such to the Jews
who had reached their limitations in the Old
Covenant. I’ve had different people quote
64:6 to me and when we get in a discussion
about it, I find they don’t truly believe what
they said. I think we should be very, very
careful when, where, and how we use that
passage. Or perhaps like Jesus and the Apos-
tles, not use it at all.
Joe: I do not feel a critical spirit coming
from your letter at all. In fact, I am thank-
ful that you took the time to share your
heart and are willing to discuss the Scrip-
tures with others. I am sorry it took me so
long to respond.
I appreciate the fact that you brought out
Isaiah 64:6 and how some have misinter-
preted its meaning. Let’s bring it out for
others to see; it reads…
For since the be-
ginning of the world men have not heard,
nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the
eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath
prepared for him that waiteth for him.
Now let’s go to the New Testament and
read 1 Cor 2:9, and as you will see, the
Apostle Paul borrowed Isaiah’s thoughts
when he wrote:
“as it is written, Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have en-
tered into the heart of man,
the things
which God hath prepared for them
that
love him. —1 Cor 2:9
For years, I was taught and believed that
both prophet and apostle were talking
about a time when Christians would open
their eyes in eternity, and for the first time
see and experience what God had been
preparing for them. But then one day, I
realized, my interpretation was wrong—1
Cor 2:9 is not a stand alone verse; we have
to include verse 10 also. It says,
“
But God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit
:
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the
deep things of God. —1 Cor 2:10
John MacAurthur writes:
To illustrate
the Holy Spirit's unique qualification for
revealing the Word, Paul compares the
Spirit's knowledge of God's mind to a hu-
man being's knowledge of his own mind.
No person can know another person as
well as he knows himself. Even husbands
and wives who have lived together for doz-
ens of years, and have freely shared their
thoughts and dreams and problems and
joys, never come to know their mates as
intimately as they know themselves. Our
innermost
thoughts
, the deep recesses of
our hearts and minds, are known only to
ourselves.
In a similar way, only God's own Spirit
can know Him intimately. And, wonder of
wonders, it is
the Spirit of God
, the One
who intimately knows
the depths of God
and
the thoughts of God
, whom God has
sent to reveal His own wisdom to those
who believe—
to us
.
For those who have been born again in the
Spirit, the truth which 1 Cor 2:9-10 de-
scribes, is happening right now. God
through His Spirit is revealing great and
mighty truths that were never revealed
before the new birth took affect.
Kentucky:
I’m not asking you to answer my
questions if you’re busy and don’t have time.
I can imagine you don’t have time to contend
with just anybody. Although I would appre-
ciate a reply.
Joe:
I hope you found this response en-
couraging. There is no greater fellowship
than this. Journey on, dear brother!
Questions and Answers
—Joe Keim vs. Kentucky