Who is God's God?

Anyone who knows me well knows that my extended family consists of Jews and Muslims. My mother grew up Jewish and was saved as a teenager, but the rest of her family (my aunts, uncle and cousins) remain Jewish. My wife grew up Muslim and was saved in her early 20s, but the rest of her family (my in-laws) remain Muslim.

We don't talk about our faiths often, mainly because these people are not dedicated to their faiths, but when we do our conversations often come down to the primacy of Christ. Both Jews and Muslims believe Jesus was a great man, you see, but they do not believe He is God. They also accept the Old Testament, but they reject the New Testament as scripture. We know this and are somewhat prepared for this, but you'd be surprised just how difficult it can be to make the case for Christ with just the Old Testament, particularly when you are trying to defend the trinity

In my Bible reading for today, I came across a powerful chapter I will use next time I am talking to a Jew or Muslim about the trinity: Psalm 45. I think I will start off with the question atop this post: "Who is God's God?" For context, here is how I envision the conversation:

Me: We believe Christ is more than a man. We believe He is God.

Jew/Muslim: There is only one God.

Me: That's true. We believe that, too. But we also believe that He is three in one: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

J/M: How can that be? It makes no sense.

[At this point I usually cite Genesis 1:26: "Let US make man in our image ..."]

J/M: That doesn't prove anything.

Me: OK, let me ask you a question then: "Who is God's God?"

J/M: What?

Me: Who is God's God?

J/M: That's a ridiculous question. God has no God. He is God!

Me: OK, then why does David write the following in Psalm 45 (6-7): "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy." He calls the person he is addressing God, but then says "your God has set you above your companions."

I think that's pretty powerful, and I can't think of a different way to interpret this. Can you? Of course, it's exactly the same type of reasoning Jesus used with the Pharisees in Matthew 22:41-46, except He cited Psalm 110.

On a side note, a skeptical friend used to ask me why I spend so much time studying the Bible. He wantd to know: Haven't I learned it by now? I explained that the Bible reveals something different every time you read it. This is a case in point. I never noticed this passage before. At least, it didn't jump off the page at me like it did today.

I also used to tell him that there is so much in the details. Each word must be carefully looked at, sometimes in the original language. Well, here is an extreme example, and a challenge for anyone who reads this: Is the punctuation in Psalm 45:7 correct? Should that second comma be there? Here's the verse again:

"You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."

Seems silly and minor, right? But consider: The second comma makes the phrase "your God" paranthetical. Something added for emphasis. He's saying God is His God. It's personalizing, and something he could say to any of us who believe. But take away that second comma and David can only be addressing Jesus Christ because he is calling Him God and saying He has a God (aka the Father).

That comma is why I had to back up and include verse 6 to make my point today. Otherwise, verse 7 would have been sufficient. And based on the context of verse, that comma may very well be in error. What do you think?

Post a comment

Written by Jordan

Pastor Whipple is online!

Slowly but surely, we are putting Pastor Whipple's messages online. If you visit the site today, you'll find three messages:

1. A classic Christmas message from 1994
2. A three-part series called "Rightly Dividing the Word"
3. A four-part series called "Who Is A Wise Man?"

Eventually these messages will also be available for purchase.

Check back often for more. The main page is here.

Comment? Click here.

 

Praying to dead Christians

My father's Catholic friend recently wrote the following:

"Catholics do not worship [statues and icons of saints]—they remind us, just as a photo of a man's wife or kid does. We know the photo isn't them. Also, any prayers to saints are prayers of intercession not of worship. We only worship the One True God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The intercessory prayers are just like me asking, 'Hey, Tom, I know you are a good Christian, would you mind praying for my son who….' The saints are not dead, they are alive with Christ, and are the cloud of witnesses that Paul writes about, and if they are alive with Christ, how much more effective would their prayers be!"

I can see several problems with this belief:

1. The Bible clearly says there is only one person in heaven who can intercede for us (1 Timothy 2:5), so the idea of an “intercessory prayer” to a saint is scripturally incorrect. Asking someone to pray for you is different than asking him or her to intercede, since that implies getting “in between” you and God.

2. There is nothing in the Bible to indicate dead believers – even those making up “the cloud of witnesses” – can pray for us the way a living person can. Or that they can hear our thoughts, which would be required for them to respond to our silent prayers (unless Catholics pray to saints aloud). This line of reasoning imparts to the dead attributes only God is known to have.

3. We must also not forget history. Praying to the revered dead was not a common practice among Christians until the Roman Church decided to integrate paganism with Christianity. To make that more palatable, they came up with a “Christian version” of many old pagan concepts, including praying to idols of lesser deities and/or female deities. This is where the practice of praying to saints in front of statues of saints came from; the rationale came second.

Lastly, I think Christians should fear engaging in this practice because our Father has some very strong words about idolatry, and there is a real risk of falling into the habit of treating a saint and his/her statue the same way pagans treated their minor deities and idols -- with superstition and the belief that they have special powers. Look at how some Christians idolize (pun intended) the Virgin Mary, putting her on the same level as our Savior by suggesting she, too, was born without sin and that she can appear to people in a theophany (e.g. the Marian apparition).

In other words, this idea of praying to saints seems like an obvious trick of Satan to me. What do you think? Also, what do you know about "the cloud of witnesses" passage (Hebrews 12:1)? I know Pastor Whipple taught on this topic many times, so I'd like to read your recollections and understanding of what he taught. Please leave a comment.

A Tough Verse

I often read John MacArthur's daily devotionals as a way to keep myself in the Word. (Someday, I hope to create a daily devotional feature on our site.) Although Pastor MacArthur doesn't fully see the kingdom, he is a brilliant Bible scholar (glory to God) and I always find his writing to be edifying.

Sometimes, however, I come across an explanation that gives me pause. And so it was with this passage from today. Pastor MacArthur writes:

Many who profess to love Christ seem intolerant of His Word. Often they fall into spiritual complacency and surround themselves with teachers who tell them exactly what they want to hear. If they can't find a comfortable message, they drift from church to church or simply abandon it altogether.

Such people have exchanged conviction for comfort, and need to examine themselves to see if they are genuine believers (2 Cor. 13:5).

The emphasis is mine. Pastor MacArthur seems to be inviting people to doubt their salvation. Pastor Whipple always taught the opposite, so I checked the reference to see what Paul actually wrote. Here it is, from the NASB:

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?

I remember Pastor Whipple teaching that the epistles are always addressed to believers. That makes sense because the apostles were writing to the members of churches they had founded, aka their fellow believers in Christ. So this verse would seem to support Pastor MacArthur's interpretation.

I don't recall if Pastor Whipple ever taught on this specific verse. If he did and you remember what he said, or if you have an interpretation based on scripture and the kingdom truths, I invite you to join the conversation by posting a comment. Let's reason together.

Written by Jordan

Pastor Whipple Went Home

Pastor Gary T. Whipple, our beloved pastor and the founder of the Lamp & Light Church, died yesterday afternoon at 12:22. He had just celebrated his 80th birthday this summer surrounded by all of his family and friends, a true blessing. Andy, the co-editor of the Website and this blog, writes the following: "My heart is broken. May the Good Lord give us His annointing to finish the race as well as our Pastor Gary Whipple." Amen.

Introducing our new blog

First, we launched a new Lamp & Light Church Web site. Now, we have launched a Lamp & Light Church blog. Praise God, we are making progress!