Reference:
1 R. E. Weymouth, The New Testament in Modern Speech (London: 1915), p. 7, see note 5 on "Repent" in Matthew 3:2.
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| The Weymouth NT, definition of "Repent" |
Sunday, February 28, 2021
The Weymouth NT Definition of "Repent" in Matthew 3:2
Saturday, February 27, 2021
Plymouth Brethren NT has "Change Your Mind" for "Repent"
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| JOHN BOWES. |
A strong reason for this Translation exists in several recent translators having given "reformation" instead of either repentance, or change of mind for metanoia. As I have adopted the latter as a decided testimony against either penance or reformation, and as a correct rendering; I advance the following authorities:—
Matthew Henry.—"Bethink yourselves; admit a second thought to correct the errors of the first; an after thought; consider your ways, change your minds."—Com. Matt. iii. 2.
Professor Campbell.—"It marks a change of mind that is durable and productive of consequences."—Dissertation vi.
John Campbell of London.—"What is the general import of repentance in the Scriptures? that entire change of mind which takes place on a sinner's conversion to God."—Theology for Youth, part iii. sec. 6.
Robinson.—"To perceive afterwards, to have an after view, and hence to change one's views, mind, purpose."—Lex.
Greenfield.—"A change of mind and purpose."—Lex.
Adam Clarke.—"As the word metanoia which we translate repentance signifies literally a change of mind, it may here be referred to a change of religious views, &c."—Com. Acts xi. 18.
John Angel James.—"The meaning of the word repent generally used in the Greek Scriptures is a change of mind."—Anxious Inquirer, chap. iv., on Repentance. There is another word very improperly rendered repentance, metamelomai in the A.V., which I have translated 'regret.'
Albert Barnes gives a just view of both words in his Notes on Matt. iii. 2. "There are two words in the New Testament translated repentance, one of which denotes a change of mind, or a reformation of life, and the other sorrow or regret that sin has been committed."
Doddridge expresses the right view of 2 Cor. vii. 9, "Ye sorrowed to repentance;" he paraphrases, "ye grieved to such a happy purpose, and were by that means brought to true repentance—to a change of mind."—Fam. Expos. in loc.
Richard Watson.—"Repentance is sometimes used generally for a change of mind, and an earnest wishing that something were undone that has been done."—Bib. Dict. p. 870.
Here are ten witnesses, and the number could be greatly multiplied, whose testimony warrants the translation given of one or both of these two important words.
Following are some examples from the Bowes' Translation where the Greek word metanoia is translated with the meaning of a change of mind:
"And saying, Change your mind, for the reign of the heavens has drawn nigh." (Matthew 3:2)
"From that time Jesus began to proclaim, and say, Change your minds, for the reign of the heavens has drawn nigh." (Matthew 4:17)
"And that a change of mind and remission of sins should be proclaimed in his name among all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke 24:47)
"And Peter said to them, Change your minds, and be each of you immersed, upon the name of Jesus Christ, into remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit," (Acts 2:38)
"Change your mind therefore, and turn, that your sins may be blotted out, that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." (Acts 3:19)
"That therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, he now commands all men everywhere to change their minds:" (Acts 17:30)
"But to those in Damascus first, and Jerusalem, and in all the country of Judea, and to the nations, I declared that they should change their minds and turn to God, and perform works worthy of their change of mind." (Acts 26:20)
According to his Autobiography (p. 80), Bowes studied NT Greek for 44 years. He writes:
"Those who expound the Scriptures, especially the New Testament, should, if possible, draw their streams from the original fountain, or they must depend upon others for uncertain supplies....Let no one despise the day of small things. I soon became able to give the sense of the original in sermons and lectures, and ultimately commenced, with a few others, a class at Cheltenham, for reading the Scriptures of the New Testament in the original."
This pursuit eventually resulted in his own translation of the New Testament from the purest Greek, which he published in 1870. (Source: www.geni.com/people/John-Bowes)
Sunday, February 21, 2021
Does Lordship Salvation Hinder "Looking Unto Jesus"?
There is a wonderful little pamphlet by Theodore Monod titled LOOKING UNTO JESUS. It’s based on the Bible verse that says, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). One of the things that I found refreshing as I read Monod’s pamphlet is when he writes the following:
LOOKING UNTO JESUS, and not at our doubts. The more we look at them the larger they appear, until they can swallow up all our faith, our strength, and our joy. But if we look away from them to our Lord Jesus, Who is the Truth (John 14:6) the doubts will scatter in the light of His presence like clouds before the sun.
LOOKING UNTO JESUS, and not at our faith. The last device of the adversary, when he cannot make us look elsewhere, is to turn our eyes from our Saviour to our faith, and thus to discourage us if it is weak; to fill us with pride if it is strong: and either way to weaken us. For power does not come from the faith, but from the Saviour by faith. It is not looking at our look, it is “looking unto Jesus.”
These words caught my attention, especially when Monod made the point that it is “LOOKING UNTO JESUS, and not at our faith” ‒ because this is exactly the opposite of what Calvinists do! For example, in his book “Free Grace” Theology: 5 Ways It Diminishes the Gospel [of Lordship Salvation], Wayne Grudem keeps repeating the same question, focusing on his faith (or the lack of it) and doubting if he has truly believed:
- “How do I know that I have truly believed?” (pg. 85)
- “How do I know that I personally have believed?” (pg. 85)
- “How do I know that I have believed and that I have been born again?” (pg. 89)
Sadly, Grudem here is focusing on his doubts and looking at his faith (or the lack of it), not “looking unto Jesus”. Whereas the Bible says we are to be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Let’s keep our focus on Jesus, and then everything else with come into proper focus!
* * *
Lordship Salvation hinders “looking unto Jesus” because it changes the focus from “looking unto Jesus” to instead focus on other things such as one’s faith or lack of faith. But it is not our strong faith that keeps us saved, but the Savior! It is not our grip on him that is always strong, but His grip on us!
Saturday, February 20, 2021
"DEATH ENDS ALL" | by Dr. Walter L. Wilson
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| Dr. Walter L. Wilson (1881-1969) |
“I was talking to an atheist one day, and he said: ‘I do not believe, Wilson, what you are preaching.’ I said: ‘You have told me what you do not believe; perhaps you will tell me what you do believe.’ He said: ‘I believe that death ends all.’ I said: ‘So do I: shake on it.’ ‘What!’ he replied, ‘you believe that death ends all?’ ‘I certainly do,’ I answered, whereupon he said, ‘You are a strange Christian.’ I said: ‘I am sure of that; there is none other like me in the world. As a Christian I assert that death ends all.’ He said he had never heard such a thing, and I added, ‘It is time you heard something new.’
He said I was playing with him, so I went on: ‘Death ends all your chance of doing evil; death ends all your joy, death ends all your projects; all your ambitions; all your friendships, death ends all the Gospel that you will ever hear; death ends it all for you, and you go out into outer darkness. Death ends all my wanderings, all my tears, all my perplexities, all my disappointments, all my aches and pains; death ends it all, and I go to be with my Lord in glory.’ He said: ‘I never thought of that.’ I led that man to Christ just by agreeing with him that death ends all.” —Walter L. Wilson
Courtesy of Pilgrim Tract Society. Used by permission.
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Paul's Gospel in the Old Testament
The apostle Paul says that his gospel was promised beforehand in the Old Testament: "Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures" (Romans 1:1-2).
WHAT IS "THE GOSPEL"
ACCORDING TO PAUL?
"I declare unto you the gospel...that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried; and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: and that he appeared...."
—The Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 15:1 ff.)
Paul's Gospel in the Old Testament:
1.) Christ died for our sins...
"But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).
"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning" (Psalm 22:1).
"I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry" (Psalm 40:1).
"Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary" (Daniel 9:26).
2.) He was buried...
"And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance" (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).
"His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth" (Isaiah 53:9).
"He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm" (Psalm 40:2).
"I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, but Thou hast brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God" (Jonah 2:6).
3.) He was raised...
"For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol; neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay. Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness of joy; in Thy right hand there are pleasures forever" (Psalm 16:10-11).
"He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him" (Hosea 6:2).
"for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40).
4.) He was seen...
"I will tell of Thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise Thee" (Psalm 22:22, cf. John 20:17, Heb. 2:12).
"And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear, and will trust in the LORD" (Psalm 40:3).
"When His soul shall constitute an offering for sin, He shall see His followers, He shall prolong His days, by His hand shall the LORD's will advance" (Isaiah 53:10, Berkeley Version).
"Therefore, wait upon me, saith the Lord, until the day when I rise up for a witness" (Zephaniah 3:8, Brenton Septuagint Translation).[1]
ENDNOTES:
[1] There are different interpretations of this verse. Some church fathers such as Augustine (City of God, Book 18, Chapter 33) and Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechetical Lectures, Lecture 14, 1 Cor. xv. 1-4) understood Zephaniah 3:8 as referring to the resurrection of Christ and His appearing to His disciples after His resurrection. The eminent theologian Dr. John Gill also took this view.
Monday, February 8, 2021
"If You Had Prayed" | by H. A. Ironside
"If You Had Prayed"
By H. A. Ironside
"IF YOU HAD prayed all your life for the salvation of a loved one, and then you got word that the person had died without giving any evidence of repentance after having lived a sinful life, what would you think, both of prayer itself and of the love of God and His promises to answer?"
It was a very striking question, and everyone in the room was electrified. Dr. D. M. Stearns answered it about like this: "I should expect to meet that loved one in heaven, for I believe in a God Who answers prayer, and if He put the exercise upon your heart to pray for a dear one, it was because He doubtless intended to answer it."
Then, he told a story. He said that many years ago there was a dear old lady living in Philadelphia who had a very wayward son. This young man had been brought up in church and Sunday School, but he had drifted away from everything holy. He had gone to sea and become a very rough, careless, godless sailor.
One night, his mother was awakened with a very deep sense of need upon her heart. When she became fully awake, she thought of her son and was impressed that he was in great danger. She got up, threw on a dressing gown, knelt down by her bedside, and prayed earnestly that God would undertake for the boy, whatever his need was.
She did not understand it. But after praying for perhaps two or three hours, there came to her a sense of rest and peace, and she felt sure that God had answered. She got back into bed and slept soundly until the morning.
Day after day, she kept wondering to herself why she was thus awakened and moved to prayer. She could not feel the need to pray for her boy any more; rather, she praised God for something which she felt sure He had done for her son.
Several weeks passed. Then one day, there was a knock at the door, and there stood her boy. As soon as he entered the room, he said, "Mother, I'm saved." Then, he told her a wonderful story.
He told how a few weeks earlier they had been tossed in mid-Atlantic by a terrible storm, and at last, it looked as though there was no hope of their riding it through. One of the masts had snapped and the captain called the men to come out and cut it away. They stepped out, he among them, cursing and reviling God because they had to be out in such an awful night.
They were cutting away this mast when suddenly the ship gave a lurch, and a great wave caught this young man and carried him overboard.
He was a very powerful swimmer. But as he struggled in the sea, he went down deep, and the awful thought came to his mind, "I'm lost forever!" Suddenly, there came to him a hymn that he had often heard in his boyhood days.
There is life for a look at the Crucified One,
There is life at this moment for thee;
Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved:
Unto Him who was nailed to the tree.
He cried out in the agony of his heart, "O God, I look, I look to Jesus!" Then, he was carried up to the top of the waves and lost consciousness.
Hours afterward when the storm had ceased and the men came out to clear the deck, they found him lying unconscious, crowded up against a bulwark. Evidently, while one waved had carried him over, another had brought him aboard the ship again.
They took him into the cabin and gave him restoratives. When he came back to consciousness, the first words that came from his lips were, "Thank God, I'm saved!"
Well, from that time on, he had an assurance of God's salvation that meant everything to him.
Then, his mother told him how she had prayed for him on that particular night. They realized it was just at the time when he was in such desperate circumstances, and God had heard and answered.
Now, suppose the young man's body never had been brought back on the ship. Suppose he had sunk down into the depths. People might have thought he was lost forever in his sin, but he would have been as truly saved as he actually was. God had permitted him to come back in testimony to His wonderful grace.
Dr. Stearns told us that the man joined the church of which he was pastor and became a very active member and for years was an officer in the church.
The grace of God is able to deal with a soul even when we on earth do not know what is going on between that soul and God.
Down in the valley of death
A Cross is standing plain;
Where strange and dark the shadows fall,
And the ground has a deep, red stain.
That Cross uplifted high
Forbids, with voice divine
Our mourning hearts to break for the dead,
Who have died and left no sign.
—Moody Church News
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Courtesy of Pilgrim Tract Society. Reprinted by permission.
Thursday, February 4, 2021
What Did Jesus Mean When He Said, "It Is Finished"?
Many years ago, H. A. Ironside penned the following words that are still true today and that are very applicable in regards to the false teaching of Lordship Salvation: "When anyone comes promising salvation to those ‘who make full surrender’ of all that they have to God, and who ‘pay the price of full salvation,’ he is preaching another gospel, for the price was paid on Calvary’s cross and the work that saves is finished. It was Christ Jesus who made the full surrender when He yielded His life on Calvary. It is His death that saves us, not our surrender in any way to Him."[1]
Just before Jesus died on the cross, He cried out: "It is finished!" (John 19:30). The word used in the original Greek is tetelestai, meaning "PAID IN FULL!" This is why eternal life is a "free gift" (Romans 6:23, cf. John 1:12, 3:16, 4:10; Rom. 3:24, 4:4-5, 6:23; Eph. 2:8-9). There is nothing left for us to pay because Jesus paid it all! Furthermore, the Bible says that Christ has "by Himself purged our sins" (see Hebrews 1:3, KJV). So here again it's clear that Jesus did it all and paid it all "by Himself"! He doesn't need or want our help. He purged our sins "by Himself" (Heb. 1:3). Similarly, Isaiah 59:16 says: "And He saw that there was no one, and was amazed that there was not one to intercede; then His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him."
So if "the ultimate price for salvation"[2] has already been "PAID IN FULL" (Jn. 19:30) by Christ on the cross, what's left for us to pay? Obviously nothing! This is why the Bible says, "Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink — even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk — it’s all free!" (Isaiah 55:1, NLT). The very last invitation to salvation in the Bible echoes this same thought. Revelation 22:17 says: "And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely."
The Free Grace theologian William R. Newell has well said: "It is just here that the legalist flees away. He cries, 'I must be this or that!' 'I must do this or that.' He dares not rest in the word 'finished,' as spoken by Christ on Golgotha's tree. He does not believe it is finished, in his case. He dare not come out into the open before God in his inmost soul as a guilty sinner. He cries out with his mouth that he is guilty, but in his heart he hopes to put away his guilt. He speaks much about his utter unworthiness, but he never dares to smite upon his breast and wait for mercy from God [cf. Luke 18:13]. He flees to church membership, to baptism, to the Lord's Supper, to 'Christian work,' to fastings, prayers, anything — sometimes to the gospel ministry itself, to get relief from his accusing conscience."[3]
ENDNOTES:
[1] H. A. Ironside, from a tract titled “Another Gospel”.
[2] Quoting John MacArthur, from his book The Gospel According to Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), p. 140. In the book, MacArthur admits that "Eternal life is indeed a free gift (Rom. 6:23)." But then he goes on to contradict himself by saying: "But this does not mean there is no cost in terms of salvation's impact on the sinner's life. This paradox may be difficult but it is nevertheless true: salvation is both free and costly. Eternal life brings immediate death to self. 'Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin' (Romans 6:6). Thus in a sense we pay the ultimate price for salvation when our sinful self is nailed to a cross. [Editor's note: But where does Romans 6:6 say that "we pay the ultimate price for salvation"?] It is a total abandonment of self-will....It is an exchange for all that we are for all that Christ is. And it denotes implicit obedience, full surrender to the Lordship of Christ. Nothing less can qualify as saving faith." (Ibid., p. 140.)
[3] William R. Newell, Galatians 1 and 2, or Paul's Defense of His Gospel, p. 11.