Tilling and Planting

Tag: Jesus

  • Firstfruits of Many

    Firstfruits of Many

    Intro

    I’m on a roll now with Jewish holidays. I’ve talked about Passover and the connection to the Crucifixion and I’ve talked about Pentecost/Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) and the connection to the outpouring of Holy Spirit and the harvest of souls that came immediately after. Now I wish to talk about the Feast of Firstfruits (Yom HaBikkurim) and the connection to the resurrection. Side note: I’m kind of bouncing around with the holidays in terms of when they occur on the calendar, but that’s okay. I’m kind of doing it as I feel.

    The Feast

    In the book of Leviticus, God institutes the Feast of Firstfruits as such.

    The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

    Leviticus 23:9-14 (NIV)

    So what was the point of this one? Similar to the Feast of Weeks, this feast celebrated a harvest and was a time of thanksgiving to God for His provision. The difference between this one and the Feast of Weeks is that the Feast of Weeks celebrated the wheat harvest while the Feast of Firstfruits celebrated the barley harvest. The priest would take a sheaf of barley and wave it before the Lord as an offering. Then all Israelites sacrificed a lamb as a burnt offering to God. No one was allowed to eat of the crop until the first portion had been brought to the priest. This acknowledged that the firstfruits belonged to God and He was the source of it all.

    The timing of this feast was right in line with Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (stay tuned for this one!). In fact the exact time of when it should be celebrated has been in dispute. Leviticus says the waving of the first sheaf must occur the day after the Sabbath. However, the Pharisees and Sadducees disagreed on whether that meant the regular weekly Sabbath (favored by the Sadducees) – which would put the sheaf waving on our Saturday evening/Sunday morning – or if it was the special Sabbath of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread – which could change from year to year and was favored by the Pharisees. And this disagreement continues among scholars today.

    The Fulfilment

    I already mentioned that this feast connects to the resurrection of Jesus. So how does it do that? First, let me back up a bit, I feel like I haven’t explained something rather important very well. God in His wisdom and forethought instituted various festivals for the Israelites to observe – 7 in all. And God designed each one of them to point to Jesus and the New Covenant in some way. I already went through Passover (the Crucifixion) and the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost (outpouring of Holy Spirit) and now I’m onto the Feast of Firstfruits. Make sense? Cool, let’s move on.

    The first thing to note is that despite the disagreement on when the sheaf should be waved, it seems clear from the Bible that this day fell on a Sunday – after the regular Sabbath’s day of rest. This means that Jesus rose from the dead on the day that the priest waved the sheaf as an offering to the Lord. Already this is significant. The wave offering signified that what was waved belonged to the Lord but then He released it to be used by others. Jesus presented Himself as an offering to God and the atonement that Jesus achieved was released by God to be received by us.

    Furthermore, Paul uses the word “firstfruits” to refer to Jesus and His resurrection.

    But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

    1 Corinthians 15:20-23 (NIV)

    Paul refers to Jesus’ resurrection as the firstfruits. Basically saying, “Just as God raised Jesus from the dead, so shall you be.” Similarly in Romans 8:23, Paul writes that the indwelling of the Spirit is a firstfruit of the redemption of all creation (specifically our bodies).

    When God instituted the Feast of Firstfruits, He looked ahead to the day His Son would fulfill it by becoming the firstfruits of the New Covenant and redemption of all creation.

    Wrapping Up

    Praise God for the resurrection! Am I right? As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, without the resurrection our faith is useless (see 1 Corinthians 15:13-17). Don’t gloss over the power of Jesus’ resurrection. We tend to put a lot of emphasis on the Cross and the weight of the sin He carried. But the resurrection demonstrated that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. I love it.

    I also love the amount of care God put into the holidays He gave the Israelites in the Old Testament. Every one of them a picture of Jesus and the New Covenant. Most people missed it when Jesus walked the earth and most people don’t recognize it today. That’s why I’m taking the time to go through them all. The connections amaze me. Some more than others. So stay tuned for the next one: The Feast of Unleavened Bread!

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Jesus The Passover Lamb

    Jesus The Passover Lamb

    Intro

    Easter has just passed us by. During this time we remember His death and resurrection. We remember that, much like the sacrifices of the Old Testament were made to pay for sin, Jesus’ sacrifice was made to pay for our sin. In this, I remember John the Baptist calling Jesus “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29). And this fits with the idea of Jesus being a sacrifice like the sacrifices that the Jews were required to do. But this begs the question: Why a lamb? Why not a bull or any of the other animals? As my title kind of indicates, it all has to do with a particular Jewish holiday. So today I’m going to show the parallels between Passover and the Crucifixion and show how Jesus is the ultimate Passover Lamb.

    Passover Summary

    Before I dive into the parallels, I’m going to give a quick summary of the start of Passover found in Exodus 12. That’ll give a clearer picture of why Jesus is the ultimate Passover lamb. The Egyptians enslaved the Israelites and after a handful of generations of oppression, God raised up Moses to lead them out. But Pharaoh was stubborn and refused. Consequently, God sent a series of plagues. After the first 9, God sent a warning to the Israelites. Unlike the other 9 plagues, the 10th – the death of the firstborn – would sweep through both the Egyptian and Israelite households. However, in His great mercy, God provided a way for His people to avoid the final plague. They were to take a lamb, kill it, and spread its blood on the doorposts of their homes and the angel of death would pass over their house.

    Parallels

    Just by reading my summary, I’m sure you can draw a pretty obvious parallel in that in both scenarios you’ve got guilty people (Israelites who were no saints and then all of humanity who are also terrible sinners) who are under a penalty and yet God provides a means of salvation because of His great love and mercy. So, that snippet alone demonstrates an important aspect to Jesus being the Passover lamb for all of humanity. But there is so much more. Let’s dive in.

    Mature Male

    According to Exodus, the lamb must be a 1 year old male. For a lamb, this is the age of maturity.

    The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.

    Exodus 12:5 (NIV)

    Likewise, Jesus was born as a man and was fully mature when He was crucified – Luke records Jesus was about 30 when He started (Luke 3:23) and had a ministry of about 3.5 years, which made Him about 33.5 years of age when He died.

    No Broken Bones

    As soon as you read this heading, you’re probably thinking of how you know none of Jesus’ bones were broken. That’s a pretty common thing to hear when talking about the crucifixion.

    These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”

    John 19:36 (NIV)

    But did you know that the Passover lamb also could not have any of its bones broken?

    Do not break any of the bones.

    Exodus 12:46b (NIV)

    Admittedly this is one I forgot about. What’s great is the specificity God used and then He ensured that Jesus fulfilled all that specificity.

    Spotless

    If you reference Exodus 12:5 again (I have it above under “Mature Male”), you’ll see that it also states the lamb must be “without defect”. A couple other very common ways to describe this is “without blemish” or “spotless”. God required perfection for the Passover lamb. And not just for this one instance, but every year when the Jews celebrate it. It represented salvation.

    What about Jesus? Based on that paragraph you can say that Jesus’ sacrifice was for salvation. And we’ve also heard all the time that He was a sinless, perfect human being.

    “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

    1 Peter 2:22 (NIV)

    To take this parallel even further, the priests were required to carefully examine every single lamb brought into the temple for the sacrifices. And what happened to Jesus before His crucifixion? Pilate and Herod both examined Jesus and found no cause for Him to be sentenced to death.

    Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

    Luke 23:4 (NIV)

    Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”

    Luke 23:13-16 (NIV)

    For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

    Luke 23:22 (NIV)

    And this is just Luke’s account. Matthew’s account in Matthew 27 records that Pilate washed his hands declaring that he was innocent of Jesus’ blood. Jesus clearly fulfilled the requirement that the Passover lamb be perfect.

    Substitution

    In the story of the first Passover, the Israelites killed the lamb as a substitute for the lives of their firstborn. Jesus died as a substitute for us. We all deserve death and separation from God for eternity. But Jesus took that punishment upon Himself when He died on that Cross.

    The Blood on the Doorposts

    Even the placement of the blood on the doorposts has a parallel.

    Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning.

    Exodus 12:22 (NIV)

    Applying the blood to the top and sides of the door frame forms the sign of the cross. And not only that, but you also get the sign of the cross when the blood is dripping from the top and down the sides.

    An additional thing found in this verse is the hyssop plant. Look at what John says in his gospel.

    A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.

    John 19:29 (NIV)

    Even the plant used to apply the blood to the doorposts had a parallel in the crucifixion!

    Freedom From Slavery

    The death of the firstborn convinced Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. That first Passover led to their freedom from physical enslavement. Likewise, Jesus death leads to our freedom from spiritual enslavement.

    Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

    Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)

    Timing

    As if all this wasn’t enough, do you know when Jesus died? During the time that the lambs were slaughtered for Passover. Talk about divine timing! In addition, he entered Jerusalem on the donkey the same day that the lambs were brought into the city in preparation for the Passover. For Passover, the Jews brought the lamb into their home for a few days before killing it. Likewise, Jesus entered the city a few days before His death. On the same day. Crazy right?

    Wrapping Up

    This is a little bit of a shorter post, but it’s a powerful one. There are so many parallels between the Passover and Jesus’ Crucifixion. It just goes to show how much thought God put into it all and how much He wants His chosen people to see all the parallels and recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah – the conquering King, yes, but more importantly, the ultimate Passover Lamb – the one who saves from sin and sets us free for all eternity.

    So today – though Easter is over – let us remember Jesus’ sacrifice as the ultimate Passover Lamb.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Saved – or not?

    Saved – or not?

    Intro

    I’m hitting on a long debated question with no end in sight. That question being “Can a person lose their salvation?” It’s also known as the “Once saved always saved” question. And I’m going to be up front with you. I don’t think anyone can actually know for sure the answer to this question. In the end, I believe only God knows the whole truth. But that’s okay. So long as we trust in Him and seek Him, we can become sure of our own personal salvation. And God doesn’t call us to ensure the salvation of others, He calls us to bring the gospel to others and let Him work the salvation in them. We are not the judges of another’s salvation, God is.

    With all that, the structure for this post will be to put forth the question in greater detail and then present both sides of the debate. I will be as objective as possible and will wait until the end to present my personal opinion. But I will again be up front and say that I could be wrong. I am not so prideful that I believe I have all the right answers – though that has been a struggle of mine, see my post about that very topic. Now that I’ve got all the fun disclaimers out of the way, let’s get started.

    The Question

    First I’m going to elaborate on the question “Can a person lose their salvation?”. It often starts out something like this. A person has an encounter with God and answers a call to salvation. They pray and are now thought to be saved. However, in time they abandon their faith and walk a road diametrically opposed to God and His Word. By the fruit they are producing people who never knew their story would not assume they are a Christian at all. And as far as the Christians who do know them, they wonder if this person will spend eternity in Heaven or Hell. This is a tricky situation to navigate – especially when talking to any loved ones of such a person.

    Now the question becomes, was this person truly saved at that moment they prayed? And if so, are they still saved and going to Heaven despite their lifestyle and wanting nothing to do with God? Or did they lose their salvation and are now on their way to Hell for eternity?

    Now that I’ve set the stage, I’m going to present the arguments of both sides with their strengths and their weaknesses. The opposing doctrines are called Eternal Security (once saved always saved) and Conditional Security (can lose salvation). When referring to people who hold to these viewpoints, I’m going to use the terms Eternalists and Conditionalists – just for simplicity’s sake. Okay, here we go.

    Eternal Security

    To expand a bit on the doctrine of Eternal Security, it claims that once a person receives salvation through faith in Jesus, they are eternally secure and destined for Heaven. I’m going to go over the key points and related Scripture passages in an objective manner. Everything I write here that’s not Scripture will be paraphrases and summaries of the arguments I found in my research.

    All Scripture is from the NIV.

    Biblical Foundation

    My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

    John 10:27-29

    To the Eternalist, once a person has been saved, they cannot lose that salvation because no one can overcome the Father to remove them from His hand.

    For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Romans 8:38-39

    Bolstering the argument made for previous verse, Paul emphasizes that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

    And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

    Ephesians 1:13-14

    A couple arguments I found about this passage. Only an authorized person can break a seal. So if God places Holy Spirit as a seal, then God alone is the one who can break it, not us. In addition, a deposit in this passage is like the earnest money when buying a house. It’s a guarantee that I will purchase the house at full price. For the believer the guarantee is for the rewards they will receive.

    Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

    Philippians 1:6

    God is the one who initiates and finishes our salvation. This gives believers confidence that He will do what He said He will do.

    To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy

    Jude 24

    It is up to Jesus, not us, to present us before God. Believers are eternally secure because of His ability to keep us, not in our ability to maintain our own salvation.

    Arguments and Explanations

    In this section, I’ll lay out some arguments and explanations from Eternalists as to what they believe.

    “”

    This position points to the promises found in Scripture and testifies that those who are genuinely in Christ have a secure standing before God. This view rests on passages declaring the irrevocable nature of God’s gift of salvation, the sealing work of the Holy Spirit, and the believer’s eternal position in Christ.

    …

    Salvation stands on God’s sovereign initiative, rooted in grace. By grace, believers are forgiven and granted life in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). This gift is not earned; it is received through faith. Because God is the origin of that work, the outcome ultimately rests in His hands rather than on shifting human merit or performance.

    However, humans must respond in faith. True faith produces transformation over time, yet the anchor of one’s security remains in the finished work of Christ on the cross (Romans 5:1-2). Through ongoing trust that aligns with obedience, believers experience assurance-not because they never stumble, but because Christ’s atoning sacrifice is sufficient to cover sin’s penalty.

    “”

    “Does the Bible support eternal security?” BibleHub.com
    https://biblehub.com/q/does_the_bible_support_eternal_security.htm Accessed March 22, 2026

    “”

    Ephesians 4:30 tells us that believers are “sealed for the day of redemption.” If believers did not have eternal security, the sealing could not truly be unto the day of redemption, but only to the day of sinning, apostasy, or disbelief. John 3:15-16 tells us that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will “have eternal life.” If a person were to be promised eternal life, but then have it taken away, it was never “eternal” to begin with. If eternal security is not true, the promises of eternal life in the Bible would be in error.

    “”

    “Eternal security – is it biblical?” GotQuestions.org
    https://www.gotquestions.org/eternal-security.html Accessed March 22, 2026

    “”

    Salvation depends upon God to bring it to pass, not us. Nothing, not even our sin, can frustrate the eternal and sovereign purpose of God who determined to save us by grace through faith in His Son. Since God’s holiness has been satisfied by the death of Christ, He can be just and the justifier of those who receive His Son by faith.

    …

    Sin does not change our relationship to God as His children though it does affect our fellowship, the intimacy of our walk with God, our ability to serve Him, and the rewards we will receive in the future kingdom.

    …

    Regeneration refers to the impartation of spiritual and eternal life which makes us new creatures in Christ. This can never change. First, it is based on the work of the Son, not our works. And second, as physical birth makes one a child of his parents forever, so spiritual birth does the same.

    …

    This argument is simply this. The New Testament plainly states we are saved by grace through faith in the person and work of Christ, and that salvation is not of human works or works of righteousness which we have done. If, however, having put our trust in the person and work of Christ, we can lose our salvation by what we do or do not do, then in the final analysis, we are saved by works.

    “”

    “Assurance of Eternal Security” Bible.org
    https://bible.org/seriespage/14-assurance-eternal-security Accessed March 22, 2026

    Conditional Security

    To expand a bit on the doctrine of Conditional Security, it claims that a person who receives salvation through faith in Jesus, can lose it through unbelief and rebellion against God. I’m going to go over the key points and related Scripture passages in an objective manner. Everything I write here that’s not Scripture will be paraphrases and summaries of the arguments I found in my research.

    All Scripture is from the NIV.

    Biblical Foundation

    There are several passages warning against falling away from the faith.

    See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

    Hebrews 3:12-13

     My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

    James 5:19-20

    Extra argument I found about the James 5 passage, bringing a person back into the fold saves them from death. This is not a physical death, but a death of the spirit/soul implying that a soul made alive by salvation can experience death.

    There are other passages that indicate that salvation remains only by continuing to persevere in faith and obedience (take note of the conditional “if” statements in these passages).

    Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

    Colossians 1:21-23

    But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

    Hebrews 3:6

    We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

    Hebrews 3:14

    Other passages contain exhortations to examine oneself to ensure your own salvation.

    Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

    2 Corinthians 13:5

    Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble

    2 Peter 1:10

    Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

    1 Timothy 4:16

    The Conditionalist points out that such warnings, conditional statements, and exhortations make no sense if it were not possible to fall away and lose salvation.

    Arguments and Explanations

    In this section, I’ll lay out some arguments and explanations from Conditionalists as to what they believe.

    “”

    Perhaps more mis-understood and mis-represented than Calvinism is the theological belief and the Biblical teaching that a Believer is Secure in Christ based on a condition.  What is the condition?  Is it get saved, sin, then lose your salvation everyday?  Certainly not!  This truly would be a miserable condition wouldn’t it?  Some claim that the focus turns from Christ to yourself in examining every last detail of your performance thus making you fall into the trap of some sort of works salvation.  Does this sound like the ‘good news’ to you?  Not me!  I should go ahead and tell you that I too am a Conditional Security Believer and I affirm that I am saved by grace through faith alone.  I have become a recipient of God’s grace through my faith in the work of Christ alone and I remain in God’s grace through this same faith alone.  It is Christ plus nothing.

    …

    Arminians believe that “It is abundantly evident from the Scriptures that the believer is secure.” Furthermore, believers have assurance in knowing there is no external power or circumstance that can separate them from the love of God they enjoy in union with Christ. Nevertheless, Arminians see numerous warnings in Scripture directed to genuine believers about the possibility of falling away in unbelief and thereby becoming severed from their saving union with God through Christ. Arminians hold that if a believer becomes an unbeliever (commits apostasy), they necessarily cease to partake of the promises of salvation and eternal life made to believers who continue in faith and remain united to Christ. Therefore, Arminians recognize the importance of warning believers about the danger of apostasy and exhorting them to persevere in faith as a means of building them up in their faith and encouraging them to mature spiritually, which is a sure and biblical way to avoid apostasy.

    …

    Marshall concludes: “The New Testament contains too many warnings about the danger of sin and apostasy for us to be complacent about these possibilities…. These dangers are real and not ‘hypothetical.’” Methodist scholar Ben Witherington would add: “The New Testament suggests that one is not eternally secure until one is securely in eternity. Short of that, there is the possibility of apostasy or rebellion against God by one who has believed in Christ. Apostasy, however, is not to be confused with the notion of accidentally or unconsciously “falling away.” Apostasy is a conscious, wilful rebellion against God . . . . Unless one commits such an act of apostasy or rebellion, one need not worry about one’s salvation, for God has a firm grip on the believer.”

    “”

    “Conditional Security of the Believer” Drews2CentsForYou
    https://drews2centsforyou.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/conditional-security-of-the-believer/ Accessed March 22, 2026

    “”

    Additionally, believers can “fall away from the faith:”

    But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. (1 Tim 4:1)

    One cannot fall away from something without first having it, just as one cannot leave a place to which they have never been. Only Christians can fall away from faith. This departure from faith (that Hebrews 6 and other passages warn us against) must be man’s choice since God has promised not to change His mind. God will never stop believing. Only we can do so.

    …

    Faith is like a bucket placed under a faucet that freely pours out the living water of grace. The bucket does not conjure up the water; it simply receives. Still, if the bucket departs from its position that benefits from the water’s flow, it will no longer receive. Those who depart from the faith forfeit the salvation that is only received by faith.

    …

    The conclusion of this is that if one in good standing rebels, stubbornly persisting in a disobedient lifestyle, they are no longer part of the faith and no longer Christians. They have “fallen away from the faith” (1 Timothy 4:1). They have departed from Christianity. Please note that this involves much more than occasional falling. Falling away is a much more grievous thing than occasional falling. It is a stubborn, hardened, rebellion against God.

    “”

    “Is Eternal Security Conditional or Unconditional?” Apologetics Index
    https://www.apologeticsindex.org/3046-conditional-security Accessed March 22, 2026

    Criticisms

    Now in this section I bring up a couple popular criticisms of both positions and responses to those criticisms.

    Eternal Security

    1. Some people feel that Eternal Security gives people a license to sin.
      • Response from aforementioned reference to BibleHub article.
      • “Scripture counters that those who truly love Christ demonstrate obedience (John 14:15). Moreover, the Holy Spirit convicts of sin (John 16:8). A believer who deliberately and unrepentantly pursues sin calls into question whether they experienced genuine conversion (1 John 2:19).”
    2. Why else would there be warnings against apostasy if it were not possible to lose salvation?
      • Response from GotQuestions.org https://www.gotquestions.org/apostasy-salvation.html
      • “The passages warning against apostasy serve two primary purposes. First, they exhort everyone to be sure of their salvation. One’s eternal destiny is not a trifling matter…The second purpose for the Bible’s warnings against apostasy is to equip the church to identify apostates. They can be known by their rejection of Christ, acceptance of heresy, and carnal nature (2 Peter 2:1–3).”

    Conditional Security

    1. Risk of works-based salvation
      • In my research, Conditionalists time and again acknowledge that we cannot perform works to achieve salvation and the only reason we can lose salvation is by abandoning faith – they surmise that one needs faith to receive salvation, so by abandoning faith it logically follows that you can lose that salvation.
    2. Undermines assurance
      • I referenced this one earlier.
      • “Arminians believe that “It is abundantly evident from the Scriptures that the believer is secure.” Furthermore, believers have assurance in knowing there is no external power or circumstance that can separate them from the love of God they enjoy in union with Christ.” Drews2Cents

    Additional Information

    There is so much out there I can’t squeeze into this. I’m going to summarize some more stuff I found.

    1. Both believe God orchestrated salvation and that the believer receives it by faith through grace alone.
    2. Conditionalists define those who commit apostasy as those who received in faith and then turned their backs on God and rejected their faith – thus losing their salvation.
    3. Eternalists define those who commit apostasy as those who merely pretended to be believers. They talked the talk, but never received salvation by faith. So when they fall away from the faith, they are merely showing their true colors.
    4. Both acknowledge backsliding as different than apostasy in that it’s occasional sinning and not permanent rejection.
    5. Conditionalists do not believe that occasional backsliding causes one to lose salvation, only rebellion and rejecting their faith (this answers another common criticism of Conditional Security – Which sin will end salvation?).
    6. The people who cry “Lord, Lord, did we not…” are people who never had relationship or faith as indicated by Jesus’ response “I never knew you.” So this cannot be used to support Conditional Security.
    7. Conditionalists say that people receive salvation by faith and through faith they continue to walk with God. So when a person rejects that faith and rejects that relationship with God, how can they still be saved?
    8. Eternalists believe God holds our salvation and perseverance of faith no matter our choices. Conditionalists believe that God holds our salvation no matter our choices, unless our choice is to stop letting God into our lives and reject Him and His salvation.
    9. Both sides claim to have eternal assurance of salvation. For the Conditionalist, willful rejection negates that assurance.
    10. Eternalists focus on God’s ability to hold us. Conditionalists focus on that and our ability to choose/reject God.

    My Opinion

    I promised at the beginning I would give my opinion – with the caveat that I could be wrong. In the end, I lean a bit more towards Conditional Security.

    On the one hand, the idea of Eternal Security sounds really nice. Not having to fear losing salvation or your place in Heaven – no matter what. And the arguments that those who fall away never received salvation through faith to begin with makes sense (see 1 John 1:19 for a passage that supports this position).

    However, the arguments that this can lead to people being morally lax is valid. By the same token, though, the arguments that Conditional Security can lead to a works-based salvation is also valid.

    And Conditional Security answers the question of why so many passages exist regarding the perseverance of faith and warnings against falling away.

    And God shows us time and again that He will not override our free will. He gave us choice and He gave us the ability to choose to have faith. So if we choose to have faith (“without faith it is impossible to please God” Hebrews 11:6) and receive salvation, He comes right into that relationship. But what should happen if we choose to abandon that faith? Will God say, “Sorry you’re stuck with me for eternity”? That doesn’t mesh with my understanding of Scripture.

    My Conclusion

    In conclusion, I lean toward Conditional Security. But regardless of which is true, I know I received my salvation by faith through the grace of God by the work of Jesus on the cross and did nothing to earn it. I am personally secure in Christ and choose to follow Him every day, seeking to draw closer in my relationship with Him. And no external power has the ability to separate me from God.

    I also acknowledge that the church houses people who have a profession of faith and yet no heart change. And many of these people probably believe they are saved when they are not.

    Final Statements

    Both sides agree with the statements I just made in my conclusion. In fact, these two viewpoints agree on more than they disagree. The ultimate question surrounds apostasy and whether that exclusively belongs to people who profess faith without true heart change, or if truly saved people can reject their faith and lose their salvation. And in either case, only God knows their hearts. It’s not my place to say if a person lost their salvation or were never saved to begin with. In either case, God calls me to bring that person back into the fold if possible.

    The other major difference surrounds responsibility. Both sides acknowledge that God holds us securely in His hand when we come to salvation. For the Eternalist, that’s it. Now God holds us for all of eternity and nothing changes that – because if we commit apostasy than that shows we never received salvation in the first place. However, the Conditionalist claims we have a responsibility to continue to have faith and allow God to hold us. By rejecting His hold, we reject the eternal security He offers us. To be sure, if this happens God will pursue us relentlessly – perhaps more than He did before we received salvation. And praise God He pursues us – even those of us still in the faith. He never stops that pursuit.

    Wrapping Up

    Hoo boy. This has been quite the ride. Admittedly I hadn’t known a whole lot beyond the surface-level arguments of either side until I started working on this blog. And I highly encourage you to read the articles I posted. Be forewarned, some are a bit dense. And please remember, do not try and judge another person’s salvation. Only God can do that. Pray for other’s whose salvation you may be uncertain of. If given the opportunity, lovingly correct and point people to Jesus. Even those who commit apostasy can be brought back into the faith – James 5:19-20 makes that clear.

    As I said at the beginning, ultimately only God knows the whole truth about this topic. I don’t think it’s black and white enough to come down hard on one side or the other. And the most godly position any of us can take on anything that isn’t clearly laid out in Scripture is being humble enough to admit we might be wrong on whichever side we agree with. Though if you genuinely don’t know which to believe, that’s okay too. Admit that. Honesty is the best policy. Until next time, God Bless.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Christmas Characters: Part 4

    Christmas Characters: Part 4

    Intro

    It’s taken a while, but I’m finally at the end of my Christmas Characters series. For those of you who prefer to keep Christmas in December, I’m sure you’re quite relieved. For the rest of you who don’t mind Christmas in July, you probably wouldn’t mind a few more Christmas-themed posts. But I’ve got other topics I’d like to cover so I’ll stop here and pick up Christmas again later this year.

    But now on to the main event! Today I’m talking about takeaways from the groups of people that came to visit Jesus unannounced. Yep, that’s right. I’m talking about the lowly Shepherds and the wealthy Magi (or Wise Men).

    The Shepherds

    And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

    Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

    “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

    When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

    So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

    Luke 2:8-20 (NIV)

    We don’t get a whole lot about the shepherds – we don’t even know how many there were. What we do know is that these shepherds lived out in the fields just outside of Bethlehem. And we see that they dutifully watched the sheep – even through the night. Shepherding is a hard job that requires constant attention. It takes a special kind of person to do such a job. Perhaps that’s why – unlike many ancient cultures – the Jewish culture actually respected shepherds to a degree (except for the wealthy, but they tended to look down on everyone). So, the traditional idea of God choosing the lowest-of-the-low to be the first isn’t 100% accurate. Sure, they were still a bit dirty and probably smelled of sheep, but they were fairly respected people.

    Not Ordinary Shepherds

    And that’s especially true if you believe that these were more than just ordinary shepherds. The fact that they lived in the fields is particularly noteworthy since the Mishnah (a group of traditions that governed the Jewish people after the Maccabean revolt) requires that sheep be kept out in the wilderness – not in homes or fields since they’d eat the crops. Of course it’s also noteworthy that the fact they were able to be in fields indicates the time of year had to be during harvest season and the time when there were no crops left (June/July – September/October).

    Back to the requirements found in the Mishnah. The exception to this rule goes to the sheep raised for the Temple sacrifices. Since those sheep needed to be blemish-free, they were raised in the safety of fields and more carefully watched over. In addition, the job of raising these important sheep fell to priests. And lastly, it’s known that the fields around Bethlehem were indeed used for such sheep-raising. So given all this, the first people God chose to announce Jesus’ birth to were actually shepherd-priests. More respected people who would have heard the angel’s message and understood some of the things said more readily than the traditionally imagined uneducated lowly outcast of a shepherd.

    Their Response

    When the angel declared who Jesus was (Savior, Messiah, Lord), these shepherd-priests would have recognized and understood what each of them meant and their significance – far better than any uneducated shepherd. Couple that with the presence of so many angels, and it’s no wonder that the shepherds jumped up and said “we need to see this baby for ourselves!” And when they got there and saw Jesus in a manger as the angel said, they rejoiced and became the first evangelists for Jesus telling everyone they could about it. And even though Luke records that everyone was “amazed” by what the shepherds said, that amazement probably came in the form of amazed that respected priests were running around like this talking about a baby.

    Takeaways

    So what takeaways do I have for you? When God tells you to do something, do it. The angels told the shepherds to go to Bethlehem and they did. No questions asked. Second, when God does something in your life, tell people about it. Your story can encourage others and give them hope. The shepherds told anyone and everyone they could about the infant Jesus and what the angels said. And third, don’t be afraid to do something out of pure joy, even if others say you look foolish. The shepherds probably looked a little foolish running around town like that, but they didn’t care.

    The Magi

    Perhaps the most mysterious of the Christmas characters are the people we call the Magi or Wise Men. We get very little about them from the Bible. Matthew records their story in only a handful of verses. Check them out.

    After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

    When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

    “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
        are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
    for out of you will come a ruler
        who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

    Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

    After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

    Matthew 2:1-12 (NIV)

    We get almost nothing about who these guys are or where they came from. And like the shepherds, we have no clue how many of them there were. We traditionally use three because of the three gifts they brought. But there very likely were more. What we see is that the Magi came from “the East”. Not real descriptive. Probably was east of the Jordan river, but that’s still a large area. Common beliefs include as close as Jordan or northern Saudi Arabia to as far as Persia (modern day Iran).

    A couple of things we can derive from the text is that they were very wealthy. The gifts they brought are a testament to that. After all, not everyone has gold lying around to give as a gift. And same with both frankincense and myrrh – both were very expensive to have around. So we know from their gifts that the Magi were wealthy people. We also see that they paid attention to the heavens and studied the celestial bodies to understand signs and such. Many people in the land of Judea missed the Star of Bethlehem and yet these foreigners come into Jerusalem asking about the king of the Jews.

    A couple of other notes is they travelled a great distance to honor a Jewish king. This might suggest that their people had relations with the Jews already. And lastly, I want to point out that they were religious in some form. After all, God warned them not to return to Herod via a dream and they obeyed.

    Who Were They?

    Persian/Babylonian

    I’m going to discuss a couple of the most prominent theories as to just who the Magi were and where they came from. The more traditional theory is that they were of some order of astrologers or priests that served in the ancient Babylonian and Persian courts. Think back to Nebuchadnezzar and his court. He had a bunch of wise men who couldn’t interpret his dream and then Daniel walked and said, “here it is”. Some have speculated that these Magi studied Daniel’s prophecies and recognized the time as when the king of the Jews (the Messiah) was to be born.

    While this could be true, the evidence isn’t terribly strong. For instance, we don’t know if those ancient orders were still active during the first centuries BC and AD. After all, those lands were under a totally different empire (Parthian) and we’re not sure if they had anything similar in their courts. To be sure, these people would fulfill the parts we do know about them being from the East and being wealthy enough to have and purchase the gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

    Nabatean

    Another theory that’s growing in prominence is that they were Nabataean. The Kingdom of Nabataea encompassed parts of Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Sinai. So they’d fit the Easterly requirement. In addition, they had great relations with the Jews. Herod the Great’s mother was Nabataean and he maintained political ties with them through his reign. So it could easily make sense that the Nabataean’s would want to honor a new Jewish king – especially since they were renowned traders and would desire to maintain strong relations with any nation they did business with.

    Furthermore, Nabataean’s held a virtual monopoly on the trade of Frankincense. In fact, they dealt in Myrrh as well and had gold in abundance. So even if the Magi did not come from here, they probably purchased some of their gifts from the Nabataean traders, who, by the way, would have been very familiar with the stars for navigating the desert at night.

    Takeaways

    In the end, it doesn’t matter a whole lot who they were. I personally grew up believing they were from the Babylonian/Persian area and adopted the belief that they were familiar with Daniel’s prophecies. But honestly, I’m starting to lean toward the Nabataean theory. Regardless of where they came from, the takeaways are the same. First, they recognized God doing something significant. They likely knew the positions and types of stars and other celestial bodies by heart and would have noticed the craziness of everything going on during those couple of years leading up to Jesus’ birth and beyond (check out my post on what the Star of Bethlehem likely was for more detail). For us, the takeaway is to be so immersed in know the Word of God and His Spirit that you recognize when God is moving and can respond and partner with Him.

    Second, is that they showed great honor and worshipped the King of kings – long before He did anything. This is powerful. Today we must do the same and show God honor and give Him worship – even before we see any miracles, any answers to prayer, etc.

    Wrapping Up

    The biggest takeaways with these groups of people probably have to do with worship and telling people about Jesus. And not just at Christmas. It seems that people are more likely to talk about Jesus at Christmas and Easter, but not in June. We should be open to talking about Him all year round.

    By the way, did you notice any major themes that links all the Christmas Characters? Some of the most cross-cutting themes were Obedience, Hope, Devotion to God, and Spreading His messages. And I think if we practice all these things, we’ll find the abundant life that Jesus came to give us (John 10:10).

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Christmas Characters: Part 3

    Christmas Characters: Part 3

    Intro

    Sorry, I’m not done talking about Christmas yet. Given that I skipped a post in December, I kinda feel obligated to continue to talk about Christmas and make up for missing that one. The last two posts have been a part of a series discussing the major characters in the Christmas story and what we can learn from their lives. So far I’ve talked about Zechariah, Elizabeth, Simeon, and Anna. For part three of this series, I’m going to bring out two of the primary players in this story: Mary and Joseph, Jesus’ parents.

    Who Were They?

    So beyond the obvious of being the parents of the savior of the world, who were these two people? Honestly, they’d be considered nobodies. Neither of them were wealthy or prominent. We know that because Luke records that they brought either a pair of doves or a pair of pigeons (Luke 2:24) and according to Leviticus 12:8, either of these are acceptable offerings if the mother cannot afford a lamb.

    But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons

    Leviticus 12:8a (NIV)

    We also know that they lived in Nazareth in Galilee (Luke 1:26). And they were both descendants of King David – Matthew and Luke both record lineages. But what else can we glean – either explicitly or not – from the Bible? Let’s examine each in turn.

    Mary

    Who was Mary? What do we know about her? Here’s the introduction that Luke gives her.

     In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

    Luke 1:26-28 (NIV)

    So from Luke’s introduction, we can see that she lived in Nazareth of Galilee, she was still a virgin, and she was pledged to be married to Joseph, who was a descendant of David. Another thing we can glean from Gabriel’s greeting is that she found favor with God. When the Bible talks about people finding favor with God, that is a strong indicator that they were upright people who held to the law and had a tender heart to God. God saw them as people He could use more effectively because they’d be more willing to listen and were generally more sensitive to hearing His voice speak. We don’t know if Mary ever heard God whisper to her, but she likely had a more sensitive spirit so when He did start speaking to and through her (I’ll get to that later), she listened and obeyed.

    We also know that Mary was a descendant of David based on Luke’s lineage of Mary as well as Gabriel telling her that Jesus would sit on the throne of his father David. Since no man would be involved in Jesus’ conception, it makes sense to conclude that Mary also came from David’s line.

    Something else we know about Mary is that she was very young. In that day, many cultures married off the women as teenagers, as young as 13. So Mary very well could have been only 13 when the angel paid her a visit. Even if she was a bit older, I reckon not any older than 16. That’s still very young.

    Servant of God

    I talked already a bit about her sensitivity to God and willingness to listen and obey. Here’s a statement recorded by Luke straight from Mary’s mouth.

    “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

    Luke 1:38 (NIV)

    We can see from here that Mary was willing to submit herself to God’s plan even though it would cost her greatly. What do I mean by that? In Jewish law, a woman found to be pregnant out of wedlock was to be stoned. And since she was betrothed, all Joseph would have to do was deny that the child was his and Mary’s life was forfeit. Being pregnant and unmarried set Mary up for long period of hardship where people would shun and reject her. And at this time, she had no clue what Joseph would do. Would he believe her story? If not, she knew he could have her stoned or at least reject her and break off their engagement. Mary probably suspected she would live long enough to give birth – since Gabriel promised as much – but beyond that…

    The last little bit I want to touch on with Mary as a servant of God is found in Luke 2. It’s referred to as Mary’s Song. When Mary visited Elizabeth (her relative, I go over their relationship in my post on her and Zechariah), Elizabeth’s unborn baby leaped within her and she greeted Mary with a Spirit-filled greeting. This prompted a Spirit-filled song (like one of the Psalm’s) to burst forth from Mary. This is a great example of Mary being sensitive to God’s Spirit and hearing His voice and responding.

    Mary’s Confusion

    Luke also records a bit of confusion and seeming doubt on Mary’s part.

     “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

    Luke 1:34 (NIV)

    Mary’s question here is valid. As a teenage girl, unmarried and still a virgin, this makes no sense. So she asked for clarification. And the angel explained to her that Holy Spirit would be the agent by which it would happen. Mary accepted this explanation and accepted God’s plan for her. This is distinctly different from when Zechariah questioned Gabriel. When he questioned the angel, he wanted a sign that it would happen. Despite the presence of the angel, he refused to conceive of the idea that now in his and Elizabeth’s old age after decades of praying for a child, God would show up and do it – despite all the times God has done such things in the past.

    That’s why Zechariah was made silent and Mary got a proper answer to her question. She didn’t doubt that God would do what He said – nor demand an additional sign – she just wanted to understand the mechanism by which He would do it since the concept wasn’t computing. In short, Zechariah just refused to believe because he lost hope (and was probably a bit bitter) and Mary just didn’t understand the how.

    Takeaways

    So what are some takeaways from Mary’s life (at least this part)? First and foremost, submission to God. Mary submitted to God’s plan for her life. She chose to be His willing servant and bear the Messiah. She knew it would not be an easy life, but she was willing to go through with it.

    Second, take courage that God is with you. Several things happened that reminded Mary of God’s love for her and that He was with her. The angel indicated as much by telling her about Holy Spirit coming on her, I believe Elizabeth’s Spirit-filled greeting served as an encouragement to her, and not to mention the encounters with Simeon and Anna in the temple also would have served to remind her that God sees her and is with her. No matter the difficult journey (also hinted at by Simeon).

    Third, it’s okay to be confused. God will not be upset if you are confused the first time He tells you something. God says a lot of things that we just can’t comprehend. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. So if God tells you something and you’re confused, seek clarification. If you honestly don’t understand, ask Him. He may not answer immediately, but He will guide you when you need it. When whatever He spoke to you comes to fulfilment, He will let you know. You can also seek out wiser mentors who might be able to bring clarity. They also might affirm that you just need to wait, but at least you can have greater confidence that God will bring the clarity later.

    Joseph

    So, now what about Joseph? Who was he? I already referenced Luke who says he was a descendant of David. And since we know he met Mary and her family and got betrothed to Mary, he also would be living in Nazareth. The other big thing we know about Joseph doesn’t come from his introduction here, but rather when Jesus preached in Nazareth many years later. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” they ask (Matthew 13:55 NIV). Now, the Greek there actually more accurately translated as “craftsman” rather than “carpenter”. So Joseph – and Jesus before starting His ministry – were some sort of builder. They likely worked in multiple materials depending on the job. We traditionally call Joseph a carpenter and while he probably worked in wood, I imagine he also worked with stone – another very common building material.

    Moving on, Matthew’s intro to Joseph has this to say about him.

    Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

    Matthew 1:19 (NIV)

    Some translations say “righteous” instead of “faithful to the law”. And while they essentially mean the same, righteous does have a connotation that extends beyond simply adhering to the letter of the law. And we see that in the next statement that he did not want to expose Mary to public disgrace. That’s a testament to the kind of man Joseph was. He had every right under the law to drag Mary before the religious leaders, reveal her pregnancy, call her adulterous – because the child wasn’t his – and have her stoned to death. But he didn’t. He instead decided he would simply end the relationship quietly. So like Mary, he was a person who was ripe for God to use.

    Spirit-Sensitive

    Joseph also seemed to be sensitive in some way to the voice of God. But like Mary, we don’t know how much experience he had prior to this time, but I like to think that both of them had some history with it. Joseph, at least, I think had dreams or visions in the past that prepared him for an angel appearing to him in a dream – unlike in the middle of the day like Mary – and telling him to take Mary as his wife because the child was from God. And he listened! He didn’t chalk it up to anything else. He immediately recognized it and obeyed.

    And he had several more such dreams after this. An angel directed him to go to Egypt, while in Egypt and angel told him it was safe to return to Judea, and when returning to Judea, an angel told him to settle in Nazareth again. Man, I would love to have those kinds of dreams. Or wide awake visitations from angels.

    Anything Else?

    There’s not a whole lot else we can glean about Joseph from the Christmas story. Or even from Scripture in general. We assume that he passed away at some point since he never appears again. And Jesus likely took over the family business after that until He started His ministry at 30. At which point His brothers probably took over.

    Takeaways

    So what takeaways do we get for Joseph? First, like Mary, submission to God. He too had a choice and when confronted by an angel and commanded to take Mary as his wife, he obeyed. This put him under fire as well. Nobody would believe that a virgin conceived a child and yet Mary – I’m sure – denied committing adultery. Joseph probably denied being the father and also denied Mary’s affair. But most people would believe that somebody’s lying. And because Joseph still took Mary as his wife, many probably assumed he was actually the father of the child and they just got started a bit early.

    Secondly, showing kindness, compassion, and mercy. Even when someone wrongs you – or you perceive that they wronged you. In Joseph’s case, he initially perceived that Mary had betrayed him, but rather than getting full justice, he chose to show compassion and mercy by ending it quietly. That way Mary could be free to raise the child and even marry the man with whom she had the perceived affair.

    Wrapping Up

    The biggest takeaway in common between Mary and Joseph is their submission to God in the face of trials. They both knew the road ahead would be difficult. But they chose to obey in spite of that. I think we all could do better in that. I know I sure could. God help us all to hear your voice and obey more quickly, more readily, and not let the fear of man overcome that. Amen.

    Despite it being January, I’m not done with my Christmas Characters yet! Lol, stay tuned for my next post where I finally tackle the groups of characters that we all know and love. The Shepherds and the Magi. I’m eager to share with you what we can learn from them – as well as learn about them.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!