A Journal Journey with Brad Jersak’s “Different” Jesus – Day 84

 

Examining "A More Christlike Word" by Brad Jersak

Day 84

“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)

The False Filter	The Biblical Filter
The word OR the Word	The Word THROUGH the word

  

The purpose of the BJs’ writings is to demoralize people’s faith in the authority of Scripture as the breathed-out words of God. They continue the serpent’s question in the garden, “Did God actually say…?” to replace what God said with what the “evil people and imposters” are peddling for unjust gain.

   As I begin our journey through some Scriptures BJ alluded to, I want to introduce today’s journal journey with something that should be a huge warning to people following his teaching: BJ cannot present his case from Scripture without quoting only parts of Scriptures, taking phrases and words out of context, and even giving words meanings that are not consistent with what is written. Even in what we are looking at today, he presents three partial statements that are not described in their context. He writes, 

“James’s epistle, as mentioned earlier, summarizes this principle as ‘Mercy triumphs over judgment’ (Jas 2:13, various translations). In Paul, the ‘kindness of God’ trumps the ‘judgment of God’” (p. 226).

   The three partial sentences are:

1.     “Mercy triumphs over judgment”

2.    “kindness of God”

3.    “judgment of God”

   We know the first expression is found in James chapter 2. The other two he only states they are from Paul, so we will need to look for them in Paul’s letters.

   Part of my lament going through BJ’s book is how a false teacher can get away with twisting falsehood together in one sentence at a time, but it takes paragraphs of explanation to show the bogusness of the claims! 

   However, so much of what is written in the New Testament epistles to instruct us are based on the problems and false teachings that were already part of early church kingdom living back in the day, so it is not really surprising that we need to communicate so much teaching that “accords with sound doctrine” in our day as well.

   Here again, BJ quotes only part of a Scripture (James 2:13) so that it appears to say something different from what James had written, and then he does so again by claiming Paul’s reference to the “kindness of God” trumps whatever he said about the “judgment of God”. And now we need to look up those statements in context and see if BJ is finally giving us an accurate representation of God’s word.

   One thing I want to put on the table before we proceed is the simple summary that all through the Scriptures God’s justice and his mercy are friends. They are always together. They are equals. I’m saying this because the pillar of cloud and fire that was mercy to the Israelites was also justice to the Egyptians. In relation to Israel’s victory over Jericho, Rahab as a Canaanite prostitute was shown mercy because her faith that Yahweh was God led her to show mercy to the spies, while Achan as an Israelite from the tribe of Judah was shown justice in his rebellion against God. God’s justice fell upon King Saul because of his pride and rebellion, but God’s mercy fell upon King David because of his repentance and faith.

   And, as I shared in closing last time from Micah 6:8,

He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

   There again we see BOTH “justice” and “kindness” are necessary to “walk humbly with your God”. They are not in conflict. One does not trump the other. Both are to be expressed based on the actions of others. Unrepentant enemies get justice; repentant and humble children get mercy.

Justice: justice n. — judgment involved in the determination of rights and the assignment of rewards and punishments (BSL)

Kindness: kindness (act) n. — a kind act (BSL)

   We could add I Corinthians 5 where Paul calls for the expulsion of the sinful brother, and II Corinthians 2 where he calls the church to forgive the man and welcome him back because he has come to feel godly sorrow over his sin.

   The same is with Jesus teaching us what to do if a brother sins against us and we go show him his fault (Matthew 18). If he listens, we show mercy and kindness because we have gained our brother. If he refuses to listen, we show justice, we take witnesses, we bring it to the church, we treat him like an outsider.

   When Jesus follows this with the parable of the unmerciful servant, he tells of a Master who was expressing justice in collecting on a man’s debt, but when the servant pleaded with him (repentance) he showed him mercy and cancelled the debt (forgave him). However, when that same man would not show mercy to another servant who also pleaded for mercy (repentance), the master responded with justice, demanding the debt be paid.

   Now, pay careful attention because this is the true Lord Jesus, not the “another Jesus” of the BJs. When the first servant who had received mercy refused to show mercy to an equally repentant fellow servant, what did Jesus do? What did the Master do? What did Jesus teach here?

“And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:34-36).

   First, the master was angry.

   Second, because the servant showed no mercy to a fellow servant who was pleading for mercy, the master cancelled his mercy (cancelled the cancelling of his debt), and executed justice instead.

   Third, Jesus went from the figurative illustration to the real-life application by telling us what his FATHER will do to “every one of you” who does in real life what that wicked servant did. Whatever the Father does in justice in real life will fulfill the imagery of the master cancelling the mercy and forgiveness and executing justice instead.

   Now, with all the things people have accepted from BJ with no evidence, no careful reading of the text, no considering the context, so they believe Jesus corrected his Father, will you accept that this very clear teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that the Father will carry out justice against anyone who claims to have received mercy from God when they repented and trusted in Jesus but won't show mercy and forgiveness when people repent of their sins toward them?

   The reason I am emphasizing this is because the three partial Scriptures BJ shared ALL fit the unanimous picture of Scripture that justice and mercy are friends, they are always ready to respond to anyone based on what they do, and that partnership where neither justice nor mercy “trump” the other is how to interpret the Scriptures BJ shared.

   So, let’s look at each of these Scriptures in context and see if I am right that they show justice and mercy (kindness, forgiveness, etc) working together, equally glorious attributes of God, or if BJ is right and they show mercy trumping justice (vengeance, condemnation, punishment).

   “Mercy triumphs over judgment”

   This expression is part of this sentence:

“For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13).

   We should be able to stop here because that is EXACTLY what we just looked at in Matthew 18 about the unmerciful servant. The first servant who “has shown no mercy” experienced “judgment is without mercy”. Can you see that I’m not even interpreting anything, but simply showing what is written? James wrote that judgment without mercy to the unrepentant is just as glorious as mercy granted to the repentant.

   However, because BJ put the spotlight on “mercy triumphs over judgment”, and that clearly does NOT mean that mercy trumps judgment (since judgment is still given where it belongs), let’s take a closer look at the scene before us and see if it even means what BJ thinks it means.

Judgment: judgment (act) n. — the act of judging or assessing a person, situation, or event; especially one that results in a moral or legal determination.

Without mercy: merciless adj. — having or showing no mercy.

Shown: to do (act) v. — to carry out or perform an action or course of action.

Mercy: mercy n. — leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency of authority; often penal-related.

Triumphs: to boast over v. — to boast of one’s achievements over and against someone or something else.

Bible Sense Lexicon.

   The sense of mercy “triumphs” over judgment is in relation to the opposite, that the one who does not show mercy will be shown “judgment”, while the one who does show mercy has no fear of judgment since he knows that he is showing mercy because of the mercy he has received, therefore there is no judgment coming to that person.

   Note that this does NOT say that judgment and mercy are enemies. It does not say that we should show mercy without judgment. It just said that there is only judgment for the one who does not show mercy, but to the one who does show mercy, there is no fear of judgment. Their mercy towards others proves God’s mercy towards them. God’s judgment is reserved for the unmerciful, so the merciful (in Christ, of course) have no fear of judgment coming to them.

   Conclusion: the expression, “Mercy triumphs over judgment” does NOT mean that mercy trumps judgment. James said that both judgment and mercy are given, but to each according to their deeds. No, this does not mean that we are saved by our deeds. It means that it is still in effect that God responds to us based on what we do. We act unmercifully to others after receiving so much mercy from God, and God reverts back to judgment. We show mercy to others as God has shown mercy to us (“blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy”), and we have no fear of judgment. Our mercy towards others triumphs over any claim of God’s judgment against us. Our mercy testifies on our behalf, so to speak, that there is no grounds for God’s judgment on our lives.

   The next two partial verses are BJ’s claim that the “kindness of God” is trump over “the judgment of God”, at least in Paul’s writings. We can see right away that James has already disagreed with that. God does both judgment and mercy/kindness. But let’s see what Paul says about these things anyway.

   Paul on the kindness of God

   The passage that came up in reference to “the kindness of God” is in Romans 2.  Paul says, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (vs 4).

   This says that God’s purpose in expressing kindness to us is to lead us to repentance. However, Paul’s concern was whether people were “presuming” on God’s kindness, likely by imagining that if God wasn’t judging them, he must not think there was anything wrong in their lives. Paul turns that around so that he wants people to look at the kindness of God in not judging them was to bring them to repentance because there was sin that needed to be repented of.

   My first thought is that even in this verse, Paul presents two sides. One side is that people see God’s kindness as a call to repentance, and they repent and continue in his kindness. The other side is people presuming on that kindness by not repenting. What then?

   Well, let’s look for clues in the context:

1.     “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things” (vs 1). Paul says that the person who judges others while practicing the same things condemns themselves.

2.    “We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things” (vs 2). Paul is saying that it is “right” that God’s judgment falls on people who judge with such hypocrisy. Clearly, that does not fit the mercy-trumps-judgment claim.

3.    “Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?” (vs 3). Again, Paul shows that someone continuing in sinful hypocrisy will NOT “triumph over judgment”!

4.    “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (vs 4). Now we see that Paul is confronting those who “presume” on God’s kindness but are not repenting of the sin in their lives.

5.    “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed” (vs 5). This is a direct rebuke to BJ’s claim that mercy trumps judgment. If people are hard-hearted and impenitent (unrepentant), they are storing up God’s wrath for the day of wrath when God’s judgment against their sin will be revealed (since they presumed on his kindness instead of repenting).

6.    “He will render to each one according to his works:” (vs 6). This is what I mean that God relates to us with judgment or mercy based on what we have done. The context makes this clear it is in reference to whether we have repented or presumed.

7.    “to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;” (vs 7). Still not “works salvation”, but a tree known by its fruit, sheep known by their actions, not just their words.

8.    “but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury” (vs 8). A direct denial of BJ’s claim. The issue is NEVER that God shows indiscriminate kindness and mercy to people no matter what they do. He shows mercy to the repentant, he shows judgment to the unrepentant, which is EXACTLY what Jesus said in John 3, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (vs 18), and, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (vs 36). The mercy of God towards those who believe is always friends with the wrath of God towards those who rebel.

9.    “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek” (vss 9-10). Here Paul simply clarifies that God’s justice and mercy are shown to people by what they do, with no “trump” card of national identity as the Jews.

10. “For God shows no partiality” (vs 11). This is the grounds of what he just said. God shows judgment to the unrepentant whether Jew or Gentile, and he shows mercy to the repentant whether Jew or Gentile.

11.  “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off” (Romans 11:22). This is further along in his epistle to the Romans, but it testifies again that God’s “kindness” and “severity” are friends. It is the people who decide, so to speak, which they get. But we cannot agree with the BJs that God’s kindness/mercy and judgment/vengeance are ever in conflict or ever trump the other. Severity towards the “fallen” is just as righteous as “kindness” to those who show kindness as evidence of their new birth.

   Conclusion: Nothing in this whole section of Romans 2, or the later statement in 11:22, agrees with BJ’s notion of kindness trumping judgment. There is no “trumping” in the attributes of God.

   There were other references to these things in other parts of the New Testament, but because BJ referred to James and Paul, I will limit my response to what those apostles really did say, which totally disagrees with BJ’s claim.

   I would also say that, when BJ wrote just prior to his claims from James and Paul, “For example, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay’… bows to ‘Father, forgive them, bless them, don’t hold their sin to their account’” (p. 226) we can now say that this is also totally bogus. When we are taught to love our enemies, pray for our persecutors, bless our bullies, and pray for forgiveness of our abusers (not “forgive them”), it is in context that if God’s kindness does not lead them to repentance, our prayer for their forgiveness cannot be answered. The only way God can answer our prayer for forgiveness of sinners is if they yield to the gospel and repent of their sin. No repentance means yes to judgment.

   So, when Paul writes, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves,” it is because we must “leave it to the wrath of God” (Romans 12:19). It isn’t that our mercy trumps God’s judgment. It is that we do not avenge anything because God will.

   And so, Paul refers again to what “is written,” which is “‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’”, assuring us that this is God’s promise. Why do we not carry out vengeance? Because God will. And this means he will either execute judgment on those who never respond to his kindness with repentance, or express kindness, mercy, and forgiveness because they repent and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord.

   Well, that doesn’t even take us through one paragraph of twisted and distorted statements, but I hope it shows that when we see someone using only partial Scriptures, and making claims without supporting Scriptures, we reject what they say because we want to obey Jesus and live by every word that comes from the mouth of God, what we now have collected in such a convenient and helpful way in the Bible, the word of God.

 

© 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