Bible Difficulties (93 page)

We close with a fine comment from Elisabeth Elliot:

"Supreme authority in both Church and home has been divinely vested in the male as the representative of Christ, who is the Head of the Church. It is in willing and glad submission rather than grudging capitulation that the woman in the Church (whether married or single) and the wife in the home find their fulfillment" ("Why I Oppose the Ordination of Women,"
Christianity Today
880 [1975]:14).

Earlier in that same essay, she made the following significant observation:

"The modern cult of personality makes submission a degrading thing. We are told we cannot bèwhole persons' if we submit. Obedience is thought of as restrictive and therefore bad. ` Freedom' is defined as the absence of restraint, quite the opposite from the scriptural principle embodied in Jesus' words, Ìf you continue in my words, then are ye my disciples, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' Freedom in God's view always lies on the far side of discipline, which means obedience.... To attempt to apply democratic ideals to the kingdom of God, which is clearly hierarchical, 423

can result only in a loss of power and ultimately in destruction. Christ Himself, the Servant and Son, accepted limitation and restriction. He subjected Himself. He learned obedience" (ibid., p.13).

424

2 Timothy

Does 2 Timothy 3:16 really teach that all Scripture is inerrant?

As usually translated, this verse means, "All Scripture
is
inspired by God and is profitable for doctrine, etc." Thus it is rendered by KJV, RSV, NASB, and virtually every other English version except RV and ASV, which render the adjective
theopneustos
("God-breathed" or "inspired by God") as attributive rather than predicate. Their wording is "Every Scripture inspired of God
is
also profitable for teaching, etc." Yet even they supply as a marginal reading "Every scripture
is
inspired by God, and profitable...."

So far as I am aware, no twentieth-century English translation has followed RV and ASV in rendering
theopneustos
as an attributive adjective, whether their translators were liberal or conservative in their theological outlook. The reason for this is that no other instance can be found in New Testament Greek where an attributive adjective is connected with a predicate adjective by means of a
kai
("and"). The verb "to be" is omitted in this clause; therefore it must be supplied either before or after
theopneustos
.

But since
theopneustos
is followed by
kai
and a second adjective,
ophelimos
, which everyone agrees is predicate, it necessarily follows that
theopneustos
also is predicate.

Hence the only legitimate translation is "All Scripture [or Èvery Scripture']
is
God-breathed and profitable..."

As for the subject of this clause,
pasa graphe
, there is some question as to whether it should be rendered "All Scripture" (as KJV, NASB, Williams, Beck, RSV), or whether, because the definite article is lacking, it should be rendered "Every Scripture." Normally the idea of collective inclusion in Greek is conveyed with the definite article (e.g., "all the world" is
pas ho kosmos, ho
being the masculine form of the definite article). Or again,

"all the city" would be
pasa he polis
; whereas
pasa polis
would mean "every city." In this context "Every Scripture" might fit in very well, for the
graphe
follows after a clear reference to the Hebrew Bible in v.15: "From in fancy you have known the Holy Writings [
ta hiera grammata
], which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith that is in Christ." Then comes our verse: "All/Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable."

The important thing to observe is that nowhere throughout the New Testament is
graphe
(whether with or without the definite article) used of uninspired and nonauthoritative writings of any sort. It is specialized in the New Testament to mean either the Hebrew Bible, with its thirty-nine books as we have them today (for copies of all thirty-nine of them survive from Christ's time and from centuries before, and we can be certain of this), or else the New Testament writings like the Epistles of Paul (2 Peter 3:16--
tas loipas
graphas
). It would never have occurred to the Greek-speaking recipients of 2 Timothy to suppose that Paul could be referring to any other writings but the inspired and authoritative books of the Hebrew canon. Nor is there the slightest suggestion in any of the recorded utterances of Jesus Christ or His apostles--or indeed in any of the writings of the New Testament authors--that there were any portions of the Hebrew Scriptures that 425

were
not
authoritative and inspired. Therefore we must categorically reject the RV-ASV

rendering as inaccurate and misleading, for "Every scripture inspired of God" suggests that there are some portions of the Bible that were not inspired--and that is a view completely foreign to the authors of the New Testament. (For further discussion and evidence on this point, consult the introductory article of this book entitled "The Importance of Biblical Inerrancy" and its subsection "Without Inerrancy the Scriptures Cannot be Infallible.")

One Final comment may be made on
theopneustos
, translated "inspired of God," "given by inspiration of God," or "God-breathed." The last of these is of course the most literal.

Theopneustos
is a very strong word for "inspired," for it implies that God in a very personal way controlled and guided the human authors of Scripture in such a way that they wrote down just exactly what God intended them to write. He "breathed" on them, as it were, and they were impelled in the direction He wanted them to go--just as we read in 2 Peter 1:20, that "every prophecy of Scripture" (
pasa propheteia graphes
) is not a matter of private or personal interpretation, "for not by the will of man was prophecy ever brought, but being carried along [
pheromenoi
suggests a sailboat driven by the breeze] by the Holy Spirit men spoke from God" (lit. rendering of the Nestle Greek text). Such passage make it clear that the authors of Scripture wrote under the influence, guidance, and control of God Himself. There is therefore no possible way by which error could have crept into the original manuscripts of Holy Writ--unless God Himself was guilty of mistake or deceit (as Satan first claimed in Gen. 3:4-5, when he led our first parents to spiritual death and despair). God breathed it forth and guaranteed it all with His own faithfulness and integrity.

426

Hebrews

Could Jesus have yielded to temptation to sin?

Hebrews 2:17-18 reads concerning Jesus: "For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way [
kata panta
], in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted" (NIV). This passage indicates that Jesus really came under temptation in the way that any child of Adam is confronted with temptation, for "he was made like his brothers in every way." He would not have been made like His fellow men if He had not been made capable of yielding to the temptation--any more than a hippopotamus can be said to be tempted to fly through the air.

Apart from ability to yield to the temptation to sin, there is no temptation at all. There has to be a deliberate decision to reject what has attractiveness and appeal of some sort to the person attacked by temptation. When man is tempted, he must be confronted by something that requires him to choose between compliance or refusal. Therefore we must conclude that unless Hebrews 2:18 is in error, Jesus Christ had the ability to give in to the temptations that Satan directed against Him. Otherwise He would not have been tempted

"like his brothers in
every way
."

A little further on we read in Hebrews 4:15: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin" (NIV). The last phrase inserts "was" in order to clarify the obvious intention of the Greek phrase
choris hamartias
("without sin"). KJV omits the "was" and renders the phrase "yet without sin." But even if the

"was" is omitted, the basic meaning remains the same; it is no sin to be tempted, but it is sin if we yield to temptation. The consideration added by this last verse is the element of

"sympathy," i.e., the ability to understand the feelings of the one tempted and feel compassion toward him during his crisis. If Christ had been utterly incapable of sin, even as the Son of Man, then it is hard to see how He could have felt sympathy for sinners.

On the other hand, there is another sense in which we may say that Christ was incapable of sin, and that is in the psychological sense. When the patriot says, "I could never betray my country to its foes," or "I could never be unfaithful to my dear wife," he is speaking not of a physical inability but of a psychological inability. He has no personal desire to commit the evil he is being solicited to do; in fact, he finds it repellant and distasteful, not so much the act in itself, but the evil consequences that would ensure from that act.

Because Jesus was completely in love with His heavenly Father, He could never have brought Himself to grieve Him or go counter to His know will.

Can a born-again believer ever be lost?

427

Two passages in the Epistle to the Hebrews come up for discussion in connection with this challenge to the doctrine of the preservation of the saints taught in John 10:28; these two passages are Hebrews 6:4-6 and Hebrews 10:26-31. Both teach that a professing believer is capable of turning against the Lord Jesus after he has avowedly taken Him as his Savior. But the question at issue is whether either of these paragraphs has in view a truly regenerate believer.

Hebrews 6:4-6 is well rendered by NIV: "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened [
hapax photisthentas
], who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared

[
metochous genethentas
] in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace." Let us examine point by point the description that is given of this apostate.

1. He has been enlightened or illuminated by a clear presentation of the gospel and its invitation to repent and believe. Apparently he has made a profession of faith and has reached out to Christ as his Savior.

2. He has tasted of the heavenly gift (
dorea
, which is not the same as
charisma
,

"spiritual gift"); that is, he has had a part in the activity of the church, the joyous fellowship of other Christians in the worship and service of the Lord, and has even seen a response to his testimony and appeal at public meetings.

3. He has tasted the goodness of the Word of God. That is, he has come to a clear understanding of the message of Scripture and has mentally and intellectually approved it and appreciated the faithful and earnest presentation of it on the part of preachers from the pulpit.

4. He has even tasted of the powers of the coming age--just as Judas Iscariot did, when he came back with the other eleven, exuberantly exulting that in the course of their two-by-two evangelistic campaigns even the demons were subject to them as they preached the Lord Jesus (Luke 10:17). Evidently Judas was so completely involved with them in this effort that even at the eve of Christ's betrayal by him in the Garden of Gethsemane, none of his colleagues suspected the treachery he had in mind during their Passover meal.

(We know this because they had to ask one another around the table, "Lord, is it I?"

[Mark 14:19]. They could not tell even then whom Jesus had in mind as His betrayer.) For that matter, all of the first three qualities were true of Judas as well. He had been enlightened and had tasted of the heavenly gift and the goodness of the Word of God as he had sat for three years under the personal teaching of the Lord Jesus. Insofar as he had participated in gospel preaching and the expulsion of demons, he also had been a sharer in the Holy Spirit. But this falls short of becoming indwelt by the Holy Spirit, so that his body was actually taken over to be a holy temple of God. Far from it! Christ could read his heart, and He saw the hypocrisy and treachery within it--as He indicated clearly enough at the last Passover meal. In the high priestly prayer of John 17, Jesus spoke of 428

Judas as the "son of perdition" (v.12). By no stretch of the imagination could Judas Iscariot have been at any time considered truly born again, no matter how convincing a performance he may have put on before his fellow disciples. Yet all four of the qualities described as marking the apostate were true of Judas.

It is quite clear that all along Judas had been hoping to gain personal advantage from Jesus; perhaps he expected a post of honor in Christ's coming kingdom (which he thought of primarily in a political, earthly dimension). He never seriously took Jesus as Lord of his heart; he never laid his body on the altar of sincere devotion to Christ's will and glory.

Judas may have professed such surrender, but he never really meant it. Otherwise, when Jesus made it clear that He had no intention of using His supernatural powers to seize political power, Judas would not have decided to betray Him to the temple authorities for a sum of money. This made it abundantly evident that he had really meant to use Jesus for his own selfish interest rather than giving himself over to be used by Christ for His service and glory.

Eventually a time of testing will come along in the career of every professing believer, who has tried to take Jesus as Savior without also taking Him as Lord--as the one he intends to live for and is willing to die for--and the spuriousness of his "conversion" will become apparent. A truly born-again believer, of the type that will never be plucked out of the Master's hand, is one who has passed through that inward change of heart that centers him on Christ instead of on himself (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14-17). That type of death to the world and to self, that surrender to Jesus as Lord that opens up to the Holy Spirit and lets Him take over the convert completely, is a kind of regeneration that is both genuine and permanent. Even though he may later backslide for a time and taste once again of his former bondage and shame, he will never be allowed to remain in that state of rebellion and defeat. The Holy Spirit will not leave him alone, but by one means or other He will draw him back to renewed repentance, faith, and surrender.