First, we need to explain why we have suspended the three-week topicwise Bible study. Without distorting the Bible, we are based on “what God tells us through the Bible is consistent” and “not discounting the words of the Bible.” When someone tells me that a scripture does not conform to these, I have to think it through before continuing. We will discuss this scripture in detail here. Second, we look at Jesus’ authority to cast out demons and we must look at things from God’s perspective. We quote previous articles that discussed Jesus’ authority. His blessings are far beyond what we can imagine. We really should not look at things from a human perspective. Third, we talked about Simon’s mother-in-law’s fever and the healing in Capernaum, and we also quoted the previous article. Fourth, we discussed Jesus’ morning prayer in the wilderness and his preaching in Galilee, and we also quoted the previous article. Finally, we talked about Jesus healing the leper out of compassion, which led to His inability to enter the city openly. This is also a reference to the previous article. So we see that except for the first one, all of them have been discussed in detail before.
1. Explain why the topicwise Bible study was suspended for three weeks
Someone brought up this concept and told me, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; …”(2 Corinthians 5:17) The “if” here also means “only if”, that is, if someone is in Christ, he is a new creature. If this is right, it will shake the foundation of the topicwise Bible study. How can it continue?
Some people else think this is right, and the reasons are as follows. We know that “He who believes in Him is not judged; …”(John 3:18) The Bible clearly says, “Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.”(Galatians 3:7) “…a man is justified by faith…”(Romans 3:28) Therefore, Christians are sons of Abraham who are justified by faith, and “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; …”(2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore, Abraham must also be a new creature. Therefore, according to this view, Abraham must be in Christ, because only in Christ can one be a new creature.
From another perspective, because there is this scripture, “with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. …”(Ephesians 1:10) And “…it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.”(1 Corinthians 15:45-47) So in God’s eyes there are only two people, the first man and the second man. As long as a person is born, he must be in the first man. Only the new creature will be in Christ, so Abraham must be in Christ.
This seems to be a very reasonable inference, but we need to see what the Bible says, so let us ponder this verse further, “with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. …”(Ephesians 1:10) Because when the times are fulfilled, it means in time domain, so when is it? When the times are fulfilled, then they will be united in Jesus Christ. Abraham did not have Christ in time domain at that time, so how could he be in Christ? To say that Abraham was in Christ belongs to spiritual interpretation of the Bible and does not fit in time domain. Therefore, in time domain, only those who are in the New Testament era can be in Christ, and those who are in the Old Testament era cannot be. Please note that this is also consistent with what the person who proposed this concept said, so we see that when the verses are changed, contradictions will arise. In fact, it is written very clearly in this verse, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”(2 Corinthians 5:17) In the time domain of the New Testament, it is indeed a new creature in Christ. At the time when we become one in Christ, both the New and Old Testaments will no longer exist. Therefore, when the Bible says “if”, it cannot be changed to “if and only if”.
2. Jesus has the authority to cast out demons and to see things from God’s perspective
“They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.”(Mark 1:21-28)
In this case, the man wasn’t harmed by an unclean spirit, but this is not always the case. For example, “When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.”(Matthew 17:14-18) The boy was definitely hurt by the demon. Please note that from these verses, we can see that the demon can know more spiritual things than humans, because he knew at that time that Jesus was the Holy One of God, while humans did not know at that time.
The Book of Mark belongs to the Synoptic Gospels. The same thing is also recorded in Luke 4:31-37. We should point out that Matthew also says this: “for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”(Matthew 7:29) Although He did not hold a position, His authority was palpable. We discussed this passage and His spiritual authority in “1. The power of Jesus in the spiritual world” of “1048 Power of Jesus and things beyond all that we ask or think – The image of Jesus (3)”. If you are interested, please go to the website “https://a-christian-voice.com/” and click on “Understanding Spiritual Life” to find this article.
Finally, we should note that during the period of His incarnation, He had the authority to order demons to obey, but in worldly matters, He still had to obey worldly laws, so He was ultimately crucified by human laws. This is among the events happened to Him on the cross: “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”(John 19:30) This means that the plan of salvation was completed, because He had foreseen that His death and resurrection would be accomplished in one go. This is very clear from the Scripture, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.”(Matthew 16:21) So Paul would say, “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”(Romans 4:25)
When Jesus said, “…In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”(John 16:33) He was not only talking about spiritual blessings, but also worldly blessings, because “And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.””(Luke 18:29-30) So blessings can be fulfilled in this world. Mark 10:29-30 talks about the same thing, but adds “along with persecutions”, which is natural, because “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”(John 15:19) The same thing is mentioned in Matthew 19:29, but there is no word in this world, but we know it refers to the blessings of this world because it mentions the blessings of eternal life.
The Triune God has absolute sovereignty. Nothing will happen without His permission. This can be seen from the beginning of the Book of Job (see Job 1:1-2:7), especially “Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.” (Psalm 116:15) But ““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”(Isaiah 55:8-9) His blessings are far beyond what we can imagine. We really should not look at it from a human perspective.
For example, He predicted Peter’s death, “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!””(John 21:18-19) Didn’t the Lord have the power to protect Peter in this life? The point is that even though Peter knew it in advance, he still obeyed until death. Isn’t this just like Jesus obeying God and praying, “…yet not as I will, but as You will.”(Matthew 26:39) The blessing Peter received because of this was great. Not only “…Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”(Matthew 19:28) But also in the Book of Revelation, “And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”(Revelation 21:14). Isn’t Peter’s name on them? It is clear that we must look at things from the perspective of the Bible, because the Bible is inspired by God, so this is to look at things from God’s perspective. The opposite is not true, because God is infinite, and the words of the Bible are finite.
3. Simon’s mother-in-law’s fever and the healing in Capernaum
“And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her. And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them. When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.”(Mark 1:29-34)
The fact that Peter’s mother-in-law was immediately healed of her fever and immediately served them is also recorded in Matthew 8:14-15 and Luke 4:38-39, but the record here is the most detailed. We have previously discussed these passages in detail in
” under “2. Healing of a high fever of Simon’s mother-in-law and some in Capernaum”. Please use the same method as above to find this article.
4. Jesus’ Morning Prayer in the Desert and Preaching in Galilee
“In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.”(Mark 1:35-39)
This should refer to the same event as Luke 4:42-44, because it happened at the same time. In “3. The mission of Word coming to flesh, and miracles and wonders” under “1048”, we discussed Luke 4:42-44 in detail. Please see the article “1048”. Thank you.
5. Healing the leper and being unable to enter the city openly
“And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.”(Mark 1:40-45)
We have previously discussed these and related scriptures in detail in “1049 Fishers of men, healings of the leper and the paralyzed man, and one way of Bible writing style – The image of Jesus (4)” under “2. Healing the leper”. Please find this article for details. Thank you.
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)
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