Examining "A More Christlike Word"
by Brad Jersak
“For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (Paul’s concern from 2 Corinthians 11:4)
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The False Filter |
The Biblical Filter |
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The word OR the Word |
The Word THROUGH the word |
BJ’s attempt to twist Paul’s teaching in II
Corinthians 3 from how “the veil” over our hearts is removed through the new
birth (entering into the new covenant by grace through faith) to how the veil
is removed through “progressive illumination” is serious enough that I will
devote this day’s journal journey to clarifying what Paul wrote down as the
breathed out words of God and pointing out where BJ is twisting it to say
something different.
It should be noted that, what Paul says just
before addressing the content BJ refers to (which starts in verse 1, not verse 5)
is, “For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of
sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ” (II
Corinthians 2:17). Notice this truth-packed sentence:
1. Paul and his companions were not
“peddlers of God’s word”. The Bible Sense Lexicon defines “peddle” as, “to
peddle v. — to sell or offer (second-hand goods) for sale from place to place;
characterized by false and deceptive practice.” Paul would never stoop to such
a thing.
2. However, his “like so many” meant
that even in those early decades of the church, many men were already trying to
make money off the gospel using “false and deceptive” practices. I believe BJ
would qualify as a peddler (I couldn’t believe how much I had to pay for a
kindle version of this book just to critique it!).
3. Paul referred to his message as
“God’s word”. It is easy to look at everything Paul taught, and everything he
affirmed of the gospels, to know that he viewed what the apostles were
preaching and teaching as “God’s word” (which should help us understand how
early on it was that the “canon” of Scripture was being recognized by the
church). I already showed how phrases like “the word of God”, “the word of the
Lord”, and “the word of Christ”, were all in use in the book of Acts in
reference to the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom which included both the
quoting of the Scriptures we now call the Old Testament, and the preaching of
the good news regarding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.
The church recognized the authority of this preaching as the word of God, and
Paul claimed the same for himself as an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Instead of peddling God’s word, Paul
and his companions were “men of sincerity”. Sincerity means, “the quality of
being honest and straightforward in attitude and speech (the absence of
affectation or pretense)” (BSL). Clearly this is not the case with BJ’s book!
5. Paul did his ministry as someone “commissioned
by God”. The NIV translates this as “we speak before God”. The NKJV and NASB
put it, “but as from God”. I share the various translations simply to
demonstrate the sense of what Paul is saying, that he was speaking as someone
who had words from God. (Note: these are the kinds of things I was referring to
about the first sense of authority, that the writings we have in the New
Testament were from sources that communicated like they had the authority of
God in them. Paul clearly was doing that!)
6. And so Paul emphasizes this in
rhyming thoughts, “in the sight of God we speak in Christ.” Paul’s speaking was
from God; what he did in his ministry was in the sight of God, and his whole
ministry was in Christ.
7. Conclusion: It is so important to
see how strongly Paul is appealing to his apostleship in this letter. Things
have happened that require him to address the “many” dangerous false teachers
who were infiltrating the churches. Paul states his fear later in this letter
so we know how serious this is to him, “But I am afraid that as the serpent
deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere
and pure devotion to Christ” (II Corinthians 11:3). And, since BJ is twisting
Paul’s words as Peter warned, and proclaiming “another Jesus”, “a different
spirit”, and “a different gospel”, we must beware that BJ is not leading people
BACK to “a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” as he wants us to imagine, but
he is one of those Paul warned about leading us AWAY from our sincere and pure
devotion to Christ.
As we now look at the text BJ is addressing, we are looking to see if Paul truly spoke of “progressive illumination”, or if he was speaking of the glory of conversion, where people come under the new covenant in Jesus’ blood. And a huge part of answering this question is in the verses BJ left out! In verses 1-4 of II Corinthians 3, Paul began addressing these things in a way that already made it exceptionally clear what he was talking about. We will begin at the beginning, as they say. For each section, I will compare the NKJV the author was using with the ESV that is my preferred version at this time. Following the Scriptures, I will show anything BJ says about this along with my thoughts on the matter as I relate to what Paul wrote. So, let’s begin with the missing verses:
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II Corinthians 3:1-18 (NKJV) |
II Corinthians 3:1-18 (ESV) |
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1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or
do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of
commendation from you? 2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and
read by all men; |
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves
again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from
you? 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our
hearts, to be known and read by all. |
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BJ’s “Twist” |
Monte’s Observations |
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Not included. |
Beginning with 2:17 as mentioned above, Paul
is clearly contrasting himself as an apostle with the men he would refer to
facetiously as “super apostles” later in this letter (11:5; 12:11). These men
are turning hearts away from the pure gospel by offering a
poison-in-the-pudding gospel that mixed the Law back into the picture. Paul
is appealing to what the Corinthians already knew about him (kinda like what
I feel having to commend the Bible as the authoritative word of God to people
when it feels like the church has already been clear on this). He speaks of
them as the letter written on their hearts, something that is hugely
significant as he begins contrasting the letter of the Law to the grace of
the gospel. |
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II Corinthians 3:1-18 (NKJV) |
II Corinthians 3:1-18 (ESV) |
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3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ,
ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God,
not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. |
3 And you show that you are a letter from
Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the
living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. |
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BJ’s “Twist” |
Monte’s Observations |
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Not included. |
This turns the letter illustration back to
the Corinthians as Paul sees them as a letter that came from Christ but was
delivered by the apostles. Now, here is the foundation of everything
Paul says next: he is contrasting everything they know of “the Spirit of the
living God” with what everyone knows is the “tablets of stone” the Scriptures
called “the two tablets of the testimony” (Exodus 31:18; 32:15; 34:29). I say this to make abundantly clear that Paul
is not even remotely talking about “progressive illumination” when he refers
to the veil that lies over the hearts of the Jews. He is talking about the
Jews living under that first covenant who are still blind to the good news of
the gospel. That is in contrast to believers who are now made alive in the
Spirit and have an eyes-wide-open relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord,
always honoring “the word of God”, “the word of the Lord”, “the word of
Christ”. |
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II Corinthians 3:1-18 (NKJV) |
II Corinthians 3:1-18 (ESV) |
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4 And we have such trust through Christ
toward God. |
4 Such is the confidence that we have through
Christ toward God. |
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BJ’s “Twist” |
Monte’s Observations |
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Not included. |
The “trust” or “confidence” is in relation to
what God has already done for the Corinthians to make them “a letter from
Christ” by their experience of the new covenant in Jesus’ blood. Paul could
testify that he had this confidence “through Christ” and “toward God”,
meaning that he had nothing to hide even from the Triune. |
Now we come to how BJ takes over after neglecting to show how clearly this is a contrast between the New Covenant and the Old, the real point of all the references to the veils over hearts.
However, before we continue, let me give a few illustrations of what it looks like to view Paul’s writing as Scriptures breathed out by God in contrast to BJ’s twisting of words to make it appear that “inspiration” is what happens between the Scriptures and the reader. This is important because it changes everything about how we understand the veil being over people’s hearts. Paul made the veil about dead hearts under the Law that could not see Christ. BJ is making the veil about “literalistic” hearts that can’t see Christ until they start viewing illumination as a progressive experience.
Let’s begin by considering the parts of the picture. We have God as the source of everything, the biblical writers who wrote what they were given by God, the Scriptures that are those breathed-out words, and the readers who seek to understand what is written.
Secondly, the Bible teaches that “Inspiration” (meaning, “all Scripture is breathed out by God”) is what God does through the biblical writers. It looks something like this where the inspiration, or breathing out of God’s words, happens between God and the writer.
Thirdly, when God breathes out his words through the writer and they are written down, we have the Scriptures as the word of God.
Fourthly, BJ rejects this clear teaching of God’s word and introduces his own idea that inspiration does not happen when God breathes out his words through the writer, but what happens when the reader interacts with the Scriptures.
Fifthly, this concept of inspiration leaves us with Scriptures that are nothing more than a God/Man hybrid that only finds its “inspiration” in the way the reader interprets it.
And, sixthly, that leaves us with a problem:
I want us to keep these differences in mind because they are the things BJ is pushing for by twisting Paul’s Scriptures. If he wins people over to his authority, then Scripture has no authority. If Paul keeps us trusting in God’s authority, we defeat the devil’s scheme of stealing hearts away from their sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
HOWEVER!!!
All that introductory talk has used up our
day’s journal journey once again, so the actual exploration of what BJ presents
as proof of progressive illumination against Paul’s presentation of the glory
of the new covenant will just have to wait for the morning.
For anyone who isn’t ready to end your day,
here are a couple more videos I listened to today that address how we got our
Bibles in the form we call the “Canon” of Scripture, and how we can be
confident about such things no matter how “many” false teachers go around
twisting Paul’s Scriptures for their own profits.[1]
And, if you want to hear what I sound like
in my critique, here is my latest vlog update on how I am doing in going
through this book. It might help “hear” my tone as you continue following
along.[2]
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
A More Christlike Word © 2021 by Bradley Jersak Whitaker House 1030 Hunt
Valley Circle • New Kensington, PA 15068 www.whitakerhouse.com
Jersak, Bradley. A More Christlike Word: Reading Scripture the
Emmaus Way. Whitaker House. Kindle Edition.
Definitions from the Bible Sense Lexicon (BSL) in Logos Bible
Systems
[1]
Who Decided the Books of the Bible? (Biblical Canon Explained) (Bible
Animations)
https://youtu.be/nGqsyKO9EwU?si=d1QFh54ED2XuMlma
How
we got the OT Canon: Evidence for the Bible pt11 (Mike Winger)
https://youtu.be/T8vd2QXHc2I?si=kNXFVPCxcjnQRkCb
[2] A 28% of the Way Through "A More Christlike Word" Report
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