Luke 23:39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
Luke 23:40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
Luke 23:42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

It was a Friday morning, just as I was pulling in to get a tank of gas for my little Prius. Waiting in the left turn lane to cross over into the convenience store down the road, I heard the narrator speak the words above.

A thief speaking theological truth at a time when the Master’s own followers were full of doubt, and the religious leaders of Israel were “cleansing the land” of a heretic!

Everything was upside down!

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

Now I realize there are many factors that may play into the scenario with the thief on the cross, such as his imminent death, his utter lack of options, his shameful position on the cross and a realization of what his life had become.

None of these conditions had been pressed upon the religious leaders of the nation, and for the disciples, they were experiencing such a drop in expectation, such a freefall of their previous hope, that their distraction from the kingdom can be somewhat understood.

But given all those factors that differed between these three groups, it is amazing that those who had been schooled in the ancient Scriptures had missed the mark so badly, yet a thief, a man assumed to have consumed his life with disregard and deciding to rebuff the law, running with outlaws, recognized a King, even though on a cross.

Catch his words again.

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

He wasn’t asking if there would be a kingdom, or it’s timing, or the extent of it, or it’s composition, who would sit beside Him or for how long it would last. In his question, he confessed to the truth of the Kingdom, that it would be Jesus’ Kingdom, and that Jesus would own the Kingdom.

This man confessed to a truth no-one was accepting. The religious leaders had rejected the possibility, and the disciples had their expectations dashed. This lone man, in full display of all present, not only confessed to the Kingship of Jesus, but requested to be remembered when Jesus entered it.

This one man, repentant of his life choices, was willing to confess to Jesus of His righteousness, even as Jesus (from all appearances) was a guilty heretic the religious leaders sought to defame and destroy.

What a paradox! The religious elite destroying the Witness, while a humbled thief received His message.

Is it not the way of the Kingdom though, that the very things that seem upside down are the very things we should pay attention to? This very condition exists even in our day for the believer, for the seeming success of the world will be defeated, even as the Lord’s resurrection defeated the efforts of the religious elite. That which appears to be dominant over the church will be overthrown by that which appears defeated and discouraged.

The key in all of this paradox in life is who Jesus is.

Who is Jesus for you? Are you a religiously trained person, and yet deny His Kingship? Or are you humbled by life, willing to admit of uour sin and wasted life, and desire to look to Him as the King, though reviled even in our day?

Do you see yourself as the powerful leader or the helpless thief?

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Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Matthew 10:34 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

As I have read the Word over the years certain verses seem to provide a paradox in my mind. Such are the topic verses this morning. Centuries prior to the arrival of the Lord on this old earth, Isaiah prophesied of the Prince of Peace. Surely the Lord knew this passage, for He is the fulfillment of it, and yet He has the audacity to speak of bringing a sword. That peaks my interest.

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

Let’s consider Isaiah, and his prophecy. Even within this prophecy, there is the paradox of God becoming a man, of the All-powerful being totally helpless, of the Creator being created.

But that will have to wait for the time being. I need to consider how Isaiah and Matthew relate to one another, and find an understanding (if possible) of the message each author provides.

As I said earlier, let’s start with Isaiah, as he provides one of the clearest prophecies of the Savior to come, of His birth (child and son) and of His office (head of government). Isaiah speaks of the responsibility of this Messiah for the oversight and guidance of the nation He rules over, as He will carry the burden of government leadership.

Now we must remember that to have a name ascribed to you is to identify your character in the Old Testament. It is much more than we in the western world consider when we name our children.

Names represent a person’s character, reputation and very existence. Consider Abraham (Father of many nations) or Nabal (fool). Names meant something in the Biblical world. Given that understanding, this Savior would be characterized by the following names

• Wonderful Counsellor
• Mighty God
• Everlasting Father
• Prince of Peace

Might these names relate to the type of government / Kingdom the Savior would provide. Would the King of this government not be characterized by wisdom (wonderful counsellor), power (Mighty God), non-decay (Everlasting Father) and of peace (Prince of Peace).

In His kingdom, being described by Isaiah, a governing principle is peace. To enter His kingdom is to accept the teachings of forgiveness, love, patience and specifically for this passage, a peace that is provided for the citizen. Of course as we are on the other side of the cross, we know of the peace He provides, an internal calm and settled rest that is available to any who follow this Prince, no matter the circumstances.

In summary, may I suggest that Isaiah is referring to a Kingdom / government the Savior would rule over that is characterized by peace, both internal and external.

But even as I type that, it seems those who refuse to enter this Kingdom are not under this gracious provision, and are not able to exercise, or even know of this peace, without knowing the Prince of Peace. These adherents of another king, that refuse the peace available, that are in an alternate kingdom during the Prince’s reign, know not of peace, and will fight against anything that threatens their worldview, unless of course they join the winning side!

As Jesus brought the greatest truths to the people, it seems obvious that those rejecting his teaching would become fully motivated to fight the message. To bring peace in a fallen world forces a reaction from those who know not peace, a reaction that is not peaceful.

Even in this situation, those under the Prince of Peace are not to respond in the similar manner as those outside of the Kingdom, hating those outside of the Kingdom, seeking their harm and causing distress. This bringing a sword is a result of peace being the character of the new Kingdom, as it has throughout history.

It has been exhibited since the day’s of Cain and Abel, for the very first family experienced this division!

Jesus brought the Kingdom, for the time was at hand. His Kingdom called all to enter in, but it became obvious some would reject, and by their rejection, would remain in the kingdom ruled by the absence of peace. They had no resources to understand or conquer over the peace within the new Kingdom, and as such would have to join or fight against it.

He brought a sword through the individual acceptance or rejection of His kingdom, even within the closest of relationships, for His kingdom demanded that those entering would be His citizens first and foremost, place their allegiance to the King of Kings and follow His ways.

Two kingdoms in conflict. yet one ruled by the Prince of Peace. The outfall would be the setting of a sword, even within a family.

I think I get it.

Thankfully, the Prince of Peace is still ruling, for He is the Everlasting Father, and the offer to enter this Kingdom governed by the Prince of Peace is still open for all.

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1 Corinthians 7:22 ESV — For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ.

Ok – this passage is confusing at first glance. What is Paul trying to communicate here. Each person described has a freedom associated with him and a slavery associated with him. What is going on?

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

I suppose the best thing to start with is to understand the terms we are dealing with.

Freedom

What is freedom?  When we say we are free,  the question needs to be asked – free from what?  There is no freedom in a vacuum, for if we claim to be free from all restrictions, laws and common sense, we become more and more the slaves to our base nature.

Bob Dylan was right when he said “we gotta serve somebody”.

Paul is making the previous statement with this understanding, that freedom and bondage are two sides of the same coin. There is no third side, as it is an either or situation.

Physical Freedom

If we are free from the bondage of physical slavery, we can find freedom in the Lord. This freedom is found in our release from the bondage of sin, not man. Though we may be physically free, we are all slaves of sin. To become a believer and a slave to God, we are released from the condition of being slaves to sin. At this point we can experience freedom in the Lord.

Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

Being set free from sin is the result of becoming a slave to God. 

Generally, for Paul to describe the believer as free yet a bondman to God, describes the non-slave in Roman times as a slave in his spirit to God.  As a slave to God, we have been set free from sin, that taskmaster that leads us to the grave.

Paul is speaking of the freedom of the slave of God! Tremendous paradox, in and of itself, speaking to the grace and goodness of God in His desires for His people!

Spiritual Freedom

On the other hand, if we are not free from the bondage of physical slavery, which is still a very tragic reality in our world even today, we, like the man discussed above, can experience the freedom of release from sin.

He may still be a physical slave slave, (a very common condition in Roman times), but he is free in Christ, free to obey the Messiah, free in the inner man.  He is  still owned by a human, and is responsible to the human master for his orders, yet he knows the Lord is over all, and the physical slave can find an inner freedom making his deplorable condition not only bearable, but full of purpose, direction and receive inner joy that comes from the Spirit. The physical slave, in becoming a slave to God also, actually finds freedom while owned by a man.

Incredible

But this pair of seeming paradoxes got me to thinking of an additional topic. A bit dangerous when my mind wanders, so I would appreciate a comment or correction in the following thoughts.

Freedom of God

Consider the freedom of God. He always and without exception performs all his works according to His nature, according to His attributes.  In a very heretical manner of speaking, He does not have the “freedom” to act outside of His nature.  Why would He?

Is God free? 

In the  most absolute sense, He is the freest of all, since He is not even tempted to follow after alternate (sinful) acts.  He is the most free, since He has never been in bondage to anything, other than His over the top love for a sinful people.

What think ye of this concept?

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John 17:12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

John 18:9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”

Was Judas lost or did Jesus keep all his disciples?

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

In John 17:12, Jesus speaks of the loss of Judas, the son of destruction. One chapter later, Jesus states that He has not lost one that the Father gave Him.

Is this confusing? Is this a difficulty in my initial understanding? I think so, and as such, I would like to try to explain how this paradox, this seeming contradiction, is resolved in my thoughts.

Some of the fog lifted when I considered the verse in chapter 17, when Jesus speaks of Judas being lost. This is the same word we have seen when we looked at the word “perish” in John 3:16. For a refresher, check an earlier post called Perishing in Eternal Torment.

The term “lost” used by Jesus when referring to Judas, may be translated in many ways, but does not have to mean perishing in eternal torment. A good example of the broadness of this term’s meaning may be found in Luke 21:18, Jesus speaks of one hair being lost.

Luke 21:18 But not a hair of your head will perish.

This is the same term Jesus used when speaking of Judas. It can mean anything from simple loss, death, suffering or destruction. But it does not always imply suffering unending eternal torment, which is what I typically understand when I read John 17:12. I always read it that Judas must be perishing, lost to hell, and forever without any hope.

I do not know what happened to Judas after the tossing of the coins back at the priests, other than his self destruction in the potters field. His physical death could very well be considered his act of being lost in and of itself.

I suppose what I am trying to explain is that in John 17:12, Jesus said Judas was the son of destruction, and that he had been lost. Judas was the son of destruction in that he followed through with this characteristic of destruction upon his own life.

Yet in John 18:9, Jesus states that He lost not one. Is there a different level Jesus is speaking of, in that the physical life Judas sacrificed was not the keeping Jesus spoke of.

One very interesting side note, is that both of these verses speak of Judas and the situation he existed in, as being part of the fulfillment of God’s Word.

It was the fulfillment of Scripture that Judas had been lost, (John 17:12), and the fulfillment of the Word of Jesus when He spoke “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one” (John 18:9). Judas was a key in the fulfillment of God’s Word.

In summary, Judas’ lostness may be referring to his early demise, his self inflicted destruction, and the statement of the Lord which He spoke as Judas was in the crowd in the garden, that not one of his followers were lost may include the thought of Judas’ eventual restoration.

Nevertheless, these two verses are worthy of considering, and if you have a different take on this paradox, please do not hesitate to reach out and let me know.

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Matthew 7:14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Is it hard or easy? In Matthew 7:14, Jesus speaks of the way as being hard, and yet in Matthew 11:30, He encourages us by stating the yoke is easy.

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

Is it hard or easy?

First off, lets take a moment to consider what a “way” is, and after we understand this, we can compare Matthew 11:30 with our understanding of His yoke.

A “way” is a road, a path, a track, a route or a course upon which one travels from point A to point B. Each and every day, we are experiencing opportunities to choose different “ways”, or paths to an end result or place. Each and every person has these opportunities.

What I have come to realize is that without an end goal clearly identified in my mind, I will always choose the easy way, the way of no difficulty, the way of no confrontation, the way of no conflict, the way of no problems. The easy way. So you see, if I have no goal, no problems! The way is easy, not hard!

Jesus, in this passage of Matthew 7, is speaking of a principled life, of the difficulty of living a life that has a goal. Not just any goal, but one that is focused on the narrow gate, the path that leads to life.

In Matthew 11:30, I believe He is now focusing His disciples (and us) on the specific goal of a believers life. Matthew 7 speaks of a general goal and the hardness of the path to get to life. It doesn’t speak of the motivation, the strength, the guidance of the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus that is with us in travelling the hard path.

We must admit that if we have come to understand the proper goal, that is to love God with all our heart, mind and soul, the path will be difficult. The path, to be blunt, will be impossible! We are weak, crippled people that have the pension to wander, to be distracted, to fall off the path.

In Matthew 11:30, Jesus is providing Himself. It is no longer a teaching of the path, but of the One who carries us along the path, and of the character of the Savior.

As we come to know Him as the gentle and lowly Servant, we recognize many of the hardships along the hard path are taken up by Him. He is good, and we desperately need to consider His invitation

Matthew 11:28-30

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The path is hard, but the burdens of the path are lightened by our Servant Savior!

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Matthew 7:1 – Judge not, that you be not judged.

1 Corinthians 2:15 – The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.

1 Corinthians 6:2 – …do you not know that the saints will judge the world?

Are we to judge or not? (I tend to lean toward one side of this seeming contradiction)

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

Matthew 7:1 is one of the most quoted verses of the Bible in our culture, and is used to disarm Christians in virtually every situation, saying Jesus commanded us to “Judge NOT”. And we should take this, along with every word of Jesus very seriously, but we need to try to understand what he meant and not necessarily what some may have wanted Him to say.

You see, in Matthew 7:1, when Jesus commanded followers to “judge not”, He was using a word for judge that is associated with condemnation. It is the same word found in the famous verses of John 3 – which is next to the most quoted verse in the Bible – John 3:16.

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Jesus mission was not to condemn, and so it should be with believers.

Ok Carl, then what about the other verses that tell believers they are to judge, like the two verses above found in 1 Corinthians?

It helps me to differentiate the two general commands by remembering that we are not to condemn, yet we are discern.

A good example would be if my neighbor was telling me he never drinks alcohol, and yet I see him in the bars on Friday and Saturday night, I can rightly discern (judge) that he is a liar, and possibly a drunk!

What I cannot do is to condemn him, judge him as unworthy of the gospel, either by ignoring what I see (not hear) or by rejecting him, assuming I am better than him.

The difference is critical, for we are to discern the environment we live in, the people we associate with and the lives we ourselves live, and yet we are to always seek the good of others, not condemning any one, for that is the Lord’s prerogative only!

Be wise as serpents (discerning!)

Be innocent as doves. (non judgy!)

As I mentioned at the start, I imagine you understand where I tend to end up in this paradox, for I have often taken to using the gavel on those around me, building walls, making myself feel good, and ending up lonely. Not the choice of the wise!

What side do you prefer?

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Titus 1:12 ESV – One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

Ok Paul. If Cretans are always liars, why should we trust the saying of a Cretan?

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

Paul refers to this Cretan prophet twice in the New Testament, with this passage being the second occurence.

The first occurrence was when Paul preached to the men of Athens in Acts 17:28, when Paul stated

In him we live and move and have our being.

The Cretan prophet that Paul quotes in both of these passages is a greek philosopher by the name of Epimenides of Crete.

It is instructive to note that Paul’s method of connecting with the men of Athens was to bring a part of their experience into his preaching, finding a point where the men could identify somewhat with Paul’s message. Of course that is slim pickings, since the greek philosopher had little in common with Christian thought, but the effort was there!

In the Titus passage, we see Paul again quoting Epimenides, but in this verse he makes what seems to be a absolute claim – that is that all Cretans – every single last Cretan that has ever sucked breath, every one of them is a liar.

Now of course this verse includes what is famously referred to a the liars paradox. If Epimenides is telling the truth, then the statement is a lie, for he is a Cretan. If Epimenides is lying, then the statement is true, which debunks the statement. This is an unwinnable unsolvable paradox IF we are woodenly literal and apply it without any common sense.

When Epimenides makes this statement, it is assumed that his claim is based on truth. We cannot take the “always” with a literal constant and permanent application to the statement for it becomes incoherent.

Let us read the Word with a sense of wonder and not apply a constriction that only serves to frustrate the message. Let us be reasonable in our understanding of the Word, and seek out the intentions of the message, the application of the message and the motivations of the message that has been provided and safe guarded for His people for millennium.

He is True, and not a liar!

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Proverbs 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.
Proverbs 26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Two verses, back to back, just waiting for some unbeliever to find and mock the truthfulness of the Word. Yes, it appears Solomon brought contradictory (paradoxical?) truths to the reader by starting the first verse with the negative – Answer not a fool … and the second with an affirmative – Answer a fool…

Surely this is proof that the Word has defects, errors and is illogical, for Solomon made such a contradiction in the very next verse!

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

I suppose it is important to remember that the Proverbs were written to provide wisdom to the reader, and that Solomon is providing wisdom in how to respond to a fool.

What does the reader want to accomplish?

When a fool is pratting on about something that is obviously in error, Solomon gives counsel to refrain from responding in order to protect your own reputation, to refrain from joining the fool in his foolishness.

In the next verse, Solomon provides the option to respond to the fool in order to publicly reveal the foolishness of the fool.

Wisdom is needed when we deal with fools, and the proper approach to each situation is dependent on the circumstances, the audience, the topic and the possible reception of the rebuke by the fool.

Some fools are committed fools. No response will provide a good result. It may only provide an opportunity for your reputation to be tarnished.

Some fools are somewhat flexible, somewhat receptive. This is the type of fool that, to the point of his being teachable, is to be answered back to, revealing the foolishness of the fool.

As I mentioned earlier, Proverbs is a book providing wisdom for the one who seeks it, and to discern the different situations for each application of these “seeming” contradictions requires wisdom from on high.

And if for some reason, I am the fool, I pray that I am the one that can be rebuked. For we all are at one time or another foolish in our ways, and a great benefit of the family of God is that others may come to correct us. We need to be open though to this correction, walking humbly amongst our brothers and sisters, even pulling a trusted friend aside, seeking honest feedback on our lives.

But before you ask for feedback, seek God and his humility, for the sting of a rebuke may be healing only if we do not reject it. If we fight and argue, even reject the feedback, we may eventually become the first fool.

Trust me – You don’t want to be the first fool and be wise in your own eyes!

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Proverbs 11:24 ESV – One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

Y’all know I’m an engineer by trade and that I deal with “mathy” things all the time. 2+2=4 type of stuff.

So when my eyes crawl over this verse, the little red lights start to go off in my head.

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

As mentioned in an earlier post on Paradoxical Passages (Paradoxical Passages – 2 Corinthians 8:9) this verse is an example of mixing two topics in the same thought.

My initial problem was that I was equating the giving and the wealth (or the hoarding and the poverty) with the same medium. How could I not gain riches by hoarding cash or securities or real estate or things things things!

You see, that is the problem. Solomon, as Paul describes centuries later, speaks of giving away that which is merely physical to gain that with is non physical.

A good real life example is that of a friend of mine when I first stated going to church. His name was Tommy Devine, a small elderly man with one old suit to wear to church, who lived in a tiny apartment on a tiny government allowance. He constantly shared what little he had with others, usually with teenagers that made fun of him. He loved sharing the love of Christ with those in his neighborhood and looked for opportunities to help anyone he could.

I do not recall one time when he wasn’t the happiest man I had ever come across. When I would sit with him, and ask him how he was, he would always respond – “Fine as frogs hair!”

He was a wealthy man in my eyes, with nary a care and always expressing a thankful heart.

He gave freely, yet grew all the richer. He truly is a great example to look back on. He loved the Lord and reflected the grace of his Savior.

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2 Corinthians 8:9

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Through His poverty to our wealth? Dat don’t make no sense!

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

When I think of riches, automatically I resort to the number of greenbacks I possess or to the value of my estate. Such a poverty driven way of thinking of riches!

When Paul is teaching the Corinthians, he is speaking to a congregation that surely had the same problem. Paul uses this settled mindset and twists it back to correct thinking. He is the excellent teacher, taking his students from where they currently think to a better place, a better focus, a better understanding of reality.

This is the intent of many of the paradoxes we see in the Word, for as the Lord or His apostle provides a paradox, it first off, at least for me, arrests my thinking and causes me to consider what the message is really intended to be.

We must remember that our thoughts are not necessarily correct in our current condition, even if we have been walking with the Lord for decades. 

For this paradox, Paul is comparing the original state of Jesus prior to the incarnation, in that He was rich. To say that simply is somewhat of an understatement. Yes – He was rich for He was of the Godhead, creator and owner of everything. Yes – He was rich, but as my first reaction to assign things to this “richness”, this may have been the very intent Paul had to grab the Corinthians attention.

Paul uses this to return to the gospel, to explain that the riches were not merely physical things, but spiritual things. 

Many in the modern church use this verse to adulterate the blessings God has provided through the Savior, denigrating them to merely gold and houses. The richness Jesus willingly gave up was far greater.

He accepted a sinner’s death, so we might have the Savior’s life. He accepted a criminals fate so we might have a righteous standing. He suffered through complete isolation from the Father so we might have Him with us always.

His richness that He gave up has nothing to do with physical wealth. As believers, we are rich, but not in the worldly sense. No our richness is in knowing the True God and His Son Jesus Christ. 

Does knowing the Lord satisfy you? Is this verse still a paradox? Reconsider what true richness is!

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Matthew 23:11

The greatest among you shall be your servant.

As many who read this blog are believers, to see this verse is to simply accept it at face value. We have accepted it since it is in the Word and not been shocked as the disciples must have been when they first heard it.

Considering the original audience, it is a paradox, and in trying to understand the message as the original hearers, – well – it is a difficult saying!

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

I suppose the easiest way to understand this paradox is the throw myself under the bus. It isn’t the saying that is the problem but my false concept that to be great means to accept the world’s definition of greatness. My nature is such that I to want to have power over others, and that power over others somehow is evidence of greatness in my life. To be over someone, to have someone serve me, can be heady, it feeds the pride, makes my self estimation blow up, and allows the self deception of my own importance grow.

So why is it that power over someone makes me think I am of more worth, have greater value, or simply am a “better” person. If we consider some of the most powerful men in history, they have been despots, dictators that have taken their power over others and abused it, causing suffering and death. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

Jesus’ truth in this verse, if considered in the opposite, shows the truth of His statement. Those who have had the more “servants” have actually become lesser people, loosing moral guidance and ethical anchors, their very souls to the drive for more power.

Yes, this verse is a paradox, but only due to my upside down thinking of what it takes to be great. As we watch those who have incredible power over others in this age, we must remind ourselves that they have lost everything in order to gain this temporal condition. They are truly to be pitied, for they have fallen for a lie, and will suffer due to their success!

If we seek greatness (an imitation of Christ in us), the only path is through service to others. 

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Ephesians 6:19-20

and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Introduction to the paradox and my difficulty with the verse or set of verses

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

Ambassador in chains? 

Maybe the cultural soup I live in is making me struggle with this phrase, but if I listen to the famous preachers on the one eyed bandit, I come away from their message thinking we are only blessed in the physical realm, that as believers in the crucified One, we are kings and queens, ruling over all else, exercising dominion and taking all material wealth simply by claiming it as a right for the child of God.

When Paul describes himself as an ambassador, I relate it to the modern equivalent, one who is protected by the government he or she represents. No harm is to be effected on an ambassador for fear of retaliation from the sending government. There is nothing the ambassador can be charged with in the land he or she was sent to, having diplomatic immunity provided by the host country.

This may be the source of my paradox, for with the modern rights afforded the ambassador, and the influence of the modern preacher telling me I have rights as a child of God to earthly wealth health and prosperity, I come away from this verse with a big ol’ bowl of confusion.

But wait – maybe the confusion lies more in me than the text. If I reject the modern preacher’s cloak of maliciousness, and understand that my view of an ambassador is relatively modern, we may dispense with this paradox swiftly.

Paul uses the term πρεσβεύω presbeúō,, and its base meaning is to be a senior. With a little imagination, my reader may guess this word is related to presbýteros, and speaks of elders within a church body, (or even lends its term to a denomination – Presbyterian).

Paul is referring primarily to his age in this verse and as the aged Paul, he has represented Christ through his journey, which is what an ambassador does. To think of Paul the aged as being chained up in a cold dungeon like jail, as he represents the King of all Creation still hearkens to a paradox, for if those who locked him up understood who he represented, they would realize they are actually locking up the King. 

To chain an ambassador, the King’s representative, is to do do harm to the King. In such instances, the host county would be in danger of retaliation from the King. 

Jesus had his retaliation upon the Roman government, for He eventually conquered that nation, converting vast swaths of Romans to submission to God. 

Maybe the paradox is in our modern understanding of how a believer relates to this old world we travel in!

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Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.
Matthew 24:13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

As I was growing up in the church, as many of you may know, I fell in with a teaching that caused me to read this as a paradox, a set of verses that introduced confusion in my mind. I understood Matthew 24 to be describing the end of days for the Body of Christ on the earth, just before the pretribulation rapture. 

As the passage progresses into verse thirteen, the end is spoken of and if the believer endures to the end, he will be saved. But back in verse 9, believers are being put to death. 

If they didn’t make it to the end, will they not be saved?

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

I suppose some of my confusion was self inflicted, in that I associated the end with the rapture, which thought I have come to abandon. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am not abandoning the teaching of a rapture, but simply understand it differently than before. 

The one who endures to the end will be saved. Two discussion points are needed when we hear that phrase.

What is the end? And what did the Lord mean when he spoke of being saved? 

Since He was talking to His disciples the message they heard was one which was directly applicable to them in their future ministry.

• They would be delivered up to tribulation (trials)
• They were put to death
• They would be hated by all nations for His name sake
• Many would fall away from the faith
• Many would betray and hate one another
• Many false prophets would raise up as these disciples preached the gospel and planted churches.

In the midst of all this turmoil and persecution, all the lawlessness, betrayal, hatred, disappointment, all the struggle, pain and opposition, these preachers are being challenged to stay the course, to endure. To “endure” does not allow for a specific time period to be inserted into our thinking. To endure simply means to continually be faithful, to be faithful in every circumstance until there is no more opportunity to be faithful. 

When will there be no more opportunity to endure? 

The end. 

That last day when endurance in this life for Him has been completed and we see Him face to face. 

The message was general to these men for there was much to be learned for these preachers. Many of them at this time were still anticipating a time when Jesus would overthrow the Romans physically in battle, not in the manner they would learn of later, through the conversion of individual hearts into a new and living way, into the Kingdom of God.

The message was hard, but it is a general gospel truth that must be applied to each of our lives. It is not to be pigeon holed into a tiny part of history that may happen in the next few hours or days or weeks or months or years or decades or even centuries. 

We know not when He will appear to take us home, but we have opportunity to be faithful today. Let us not forget that, and that the “end” for both you and I will be in His time, and at His pleasure, and may be much earlier than the future day of the rapture.

Be faithful today, endure to the end, and love the Lord. He is good!

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1 Corinthians 3:18

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.

Become a fool? To become wise? Something just didn’t add up at first glance,

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

Early in my faith, when I came across a passage such as we are considering today, I would read it, “believe it” and move on. After all, as believers we are to trust the Lord and the message He has provided. It was my desire to believe it, for the Word has the message of eternal life, the story of the Christ who died and rose again. 

How could I not believe the Word? 

Yet, as I tried to understand faith, I always was a bit nebulous about my approach of to the message reading and “believing”. Years passed and I accumulated head knowledge, and the Lord was kind to his child. And then I heard a fellow speak of what faith was. And it blew me away – which speaks volumes of my ignorance, but so be it!

Faith is reading the Word, understanding the Word and then finding application of the message for my situation. For this verse, when it came to the added step of understanding the Word, this is where this verses paradox came to fruition.

Become a fool to be wise? What is Paul saying there? Remember I am one of those analytical goofs, always seeking to use a logical framework for my understanding. Things have to add up for me to feel like I understand something.

The Lord was also teaching me at the time about the kingdom spoken of by the Messiah, and of His apostles. So much relearning of what the gospel was communicating, but for this verse, the critical piece of information was that we exist in the middle of two kingdoms. The kingdom of the world, which is fading, and about to be rolled up, and the eternal kingdom, which has secure foundations, never to decay. 

And we, as believers are in a transition, from the decaying world order into the glorious kingdom of His dear Son! In this transition, we are required to give up (or per Paul’s language – put off) the old worlds thoughts, attitudes, and actions that we lived in. No longer lie. No longer cheat, or steal or covet, or hate. In positive terms, to live in the Spirit as He transforms us to the people we are to be.

This is the framework Paul is speaking from when he speaks of becoming a fool. A fool to the ways we lived in prior to knowing the Messiah. We are to become ignorant of the old ways, abandon the conventional wisdom, consider old thoughts suspect, even dangerous to our soul. 

To become a fool to the old ways is to replace that wisdom with the wisdom that is available from God, the wisdom found in the Messiah, in His ways, in His humility, grace, servanthood and sacrificial life style.

As you read of the life we are called to, a life of forgiveness and love, and if you consider it outdated or not applicable, please realize this may indicate which kingdom you consider worth pursuing. For where your treasure is, there will be your heart!

In what kingdom are you wise?

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Matthew 18:7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!

Is Jesus telling us that it is necessary that temptations come, but then the responsibility for the temptation, and associated judgement (woe), is assigned to the one who brought the temptation? Is Jesus telling us that there are some who will be required to provide temptations and then will be responsible for the damage the temptation causes?

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

You know that this type of paradox had tripped me up for years, and though I can not claim to have resolved it entirely, I do approach this type of statement with a different perspective than some of my Calvinist brothers. 

As we read this verse, Jesus doesn’t seem to designate any particular person with the temptations being provided. He is simply stating an obvious fact, something everyone has experienced while walking amongst our own kind. We are those who, at best, unintentionally bring temptations to sin into others lives, and dare I say, in our worst moments, actually lay traps of temptation for those we know, and even care about. 

As believers we know this is sin. We are to walk in the Spirit, depending on His guiding love to keep us from exercising that which shames us, and hurts others. 

Yet, if we provide temptations, will woe be pronounced upon us, even as we confess Christ as our Savior? We need to keep short accounts with the Lord, and confess our sin before Him to keep our relationship healthy with Him. There are those who may bring temptation simply because they have yet to know the Lord, or do not understand the importance of avoiding the act of bringing temptations to others. They, like us, are in a period of maturity and with that, confession before Him will cover the sin, and avoid some, if not all of the repercussions of this act of sin.

Those who know not the Lord, they only pile woe upon woe in their lives, as they offend and reject the Savior, the only One who can deliver them from the sin they live in and the consequences of their acts. 

I don’t see Jesus telling His disciples that specific people are required by God to cause temptations to others, and suffer for that. In other words, that specific people are destined to bring temptations into the world and for that they will incur (without exception) the wrath of God for those actions they are destined to perform. 

We are all guilty of this act of offense and it is our calling to mature into adult believers, to understand the importance of relationship with others, to avoid providing even the appearance of temptation for others and to gently guide those who may not understand the Lord’s desire for His people in this regard.

Let us not be those who trip others up, but that we would help each other walk properly.

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Matthew 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

What does it mean to loose or find your life? How come those who find it loose it, and those that loose it find it?

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

I understand the focus of this quote of Jesus is that He is the purpose of life, and yet the paradox remains. I sometimes try to hard to understand this paradox, and even as I write, my mind is somewhat whirling in the way to approach this verse. 

To lose your life? Is it ultimately speaking of physical death? No – that can’t be, for to physically die would not produce life, at least not in the disciples understanding such as it was. 

To lose your life? To be restricted from your personal desires, wants and aspirations? To give up on dreams and hopes, to abandon my wishes and goals? We often hear of the modern preacher speaking of how God loves us and wants to fulfill all our personal desires, so that can’t be what Jesus meant. 

But wait a minute – let us consider the first phrase that Jesus starts the paradox with. He who finds his life will lose it. If the life Jesus speaks of equates to the personal desires, hopes and aspirations of a soul, then to exercise those selfsame desires would result in loss of life. And yet this again is what the modern preacher preaches.

Someone has it all wrong. I would suggest the modern preacher, suggesting we can have it all! That God wants us to have it all!

After this paradox has been whirling about in my head, I am starting to think that the message Jesus provided isn’t too hard to understand, but that I don’t want to understand it. Let’s be honest about this – I simply don’t want to drop my dreams to pursue His will, I don’t want to give up on my hopes in order to live a life of sacrifice, of dying to myself. 

Of course, to die to one’s dreams and aspirations is not something that Jesus calls us to in the future. I often think of this action as something required in the future, that I will perform some type of large singular sacrifice for Him, all the while not even considering His will during the day to day grind.

The day to day grind, when the constant calls for your attention wear on you, dragging you down and pulling you to a selfish decision, a decision that serves self as opposed to serving others.

Isn’t that a large part of this call of Jesus on our lives? To serve others, and by serving others, serve Jesus?

May I suggest a 2 minute re-read of a post (Dying to Self) I published back in February 2020, just as the Covid crisis was bearing down on us. To lose your life is a moment by moment decision we are called to, in order to serve others by laying down our wishes for other’s needs. 

To choose other’s, because we worship Him, is the intent of this paradox. And it is a difficult “paradox” because of the application for our lives, not the message itself.

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2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Through poverty to wealth? Dat don’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

When I think of riches, I automatically resort to the number of greenbacks I possess or to the value of my estate. Such a poverty driven way of thinking!

When Paul is teaching the Corinthians, he is speaking to a congregation that surely had the same problem. Paul uses this settled mindset and twists it back to correct thinking. He is the excellent teacher, taking his students from where how they think to a better, correct way of thinking, a better focus, a better understanding of reality.

This is the intent of many of the paradoxes we see in the Word, for as the Lord or His apostle provides a paradox, it first off, at least for me, arrests my thinking and causes me to consider what the message is really intended to be.

We must remember that our thoughts (previous to the renewing of our mind) are not necessarily in the proper context or have the correct view. To say that riches equates with greenbacks and estate values is the primary method we earth dwellers have to quantify any riches we feel we have attained, and sadly how many of us see our worth!

Paul is bringing a paradox of wealth and poverty to our mind to realign us into a correct understanding of worth.

What is it that brings value and worth in your life? Who is the One that provides true riches, value that cannot be bought with “filthy lucre”. You can kinda tell I am an ol’ coot, using that ol’ KJV phrase from 1 Timothy 3:3. No matter, this paradox, after I been thinking and ruminating on it for a few moments, flips our concept of wealth and worth on it’s head, and elevates those who sacrifice for others as the ones who are truly rich.

As Scripture always does, this truth is modelled perfectly in the Lord Jesus Christ, who became poor so that He could make others rich.

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Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

The Word often uses physical realities to describe spiritual truths, and this evident in phrases such as “Lamb of God” or “Bread of Life” when describing the Messiah. Any one versesd in the Old Testament will understand the association of the Messiah with the Lamb of God designation, not only from Genesis 22, but the millions of lambs sacrificed in the Temple service to God for the covering of sin. Another example is the Bread of Life, again hearkening back to the journey through the wilderness for the children of Israel, and the manna that came down to give them sustenance for the day. The Messiah is the sustenance believers need and using the metaphor of “Bread of Life is a fantastic way to communicate this truth.

But when I come to Colossians 1:15, I am not following the same thinking. It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

OK – So the issue is the phrase “image of the invisible God” How can we as earthbound believers understand this? The truth of God’s invisibility is not the issue for the Word constantly speaks of His invisibility. A couple of verses will suffice to support this thinking.

John 3:18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen

So what is your problem Carl? Paul refers to an image! What is an image if it isn’t visible? What makes this an even greater challenge for my little literal head is that the Greek word translated as image is εἰκών eikṓn, sometimes may be describing a physical person, such as a man, in 1 Corinthians 11:7

1 Corinthians 11:7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.

Why is that an issue Carl, for Paul is describing a physical man in Colossians 1:15, when He is writing of the Lord Jesus.

I suppose my issue, my confusion, is that I want to be literal in my understanding of “image”, that what I see is what is there! I admit that at times in my thinking, I was literally wooden in my understanding of this verse, thinking that the physicality of Jesus, His body, the way it appeared to the human eye during His time on earth, communicated the image of the invisible God. The term “image” was one I took literally and I did not allow for any other way to look at it.

Story Time

When my family and I were visiting with my brother a few years ago, after being apart for over two decades, something occurred that makes this verse a bit less paradoxical! We were all enjoying getting together, and many of my family took interest in my oldest son Josh, for he was in a rock band, had made some cross country tours and put out a couple albums by then. He was in his twenties, slim as a rail with dreadlocks and the whole look! Meanwhile, overweight Carl is sitting in a chair, with his super short hair and super conservative look.

And the funniest thing happened. My brother came up to me and said that Joshua is just like me!

Now as I have described, it is obvious that we do not appear to be alike, and he is the more handsome of the two of us. Yet in that moment, I think a little light went on, and this verse became a bit clearer. Joshua, as an image bearer of myself, since he is my son, expresses that image in his personality, his manner of expression, his character, his emotional reaction to items, etc….

He doesn’t look like me (and for that I think we are both thankful!), but he looks just like me!

So in all my wrestling over this paradox, these concepts and ideas, I am starting to see I should not consider “image” to be a literal physical object, but that it may simply represent non tangible items that can be seen. This has been a difficult subject to try to explain, (if I explained it at all) and if any of my readers have a discussion point to bring up, it would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading!

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Hebrews 4:11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

Striving to enter rest? What is the writer trying to say? Is it his way of exhorting the brethren to labor for the Lord while we are on this blue marble in the universe, and after all our striving and labor, we will enter into the rest of death, as we often see on gravestones. You know – RIP – rest in peace!

Though that is a truth that is provided for us in other passages of the Word, I am not convinced the author is describing rest as our death, at least our physical death.

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking

Let’s take a look at the context of the verse.

Hebrews 4:6-11

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,
again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,
for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

Notice that the author speaks of “the rest” as something the people of God are to enter into, and former believers did not enter into it because of disobedience. Now if the disobedience spoken of is that which the first generation in the wilderness commited, (and it was) they certainly entered the state of death, some quite speedily. So the disobedient entered death, without experiencing rest, and therefore we cannot equate this death with the rest we think of in some of the other passages we know in the Word.

So what in tarnation is going on?

The rest is restricted from those who have a hardened heart, as the author appeals to Psalm 95, speaking of those who were disobedient, and encouraging those in the present generation to “not harden thier hearts” as those in the past had. The heart is beating blood, producing an existence on this earth, yet it is the very spiritual hardeneing of the heart that restricts the people of God from the rest that they are called to.

Ps 95 speaks of the rebellious generation, with a scathing description of thier heart condition and God’s response.

Psalm 95:7c-11

… Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”

Notice the heart condition as it relates to the rest provided. They had seen God’s deliverance and continued to test Him. God will not provide the rest to those who constantly test Him, rebel against him, and harden thier hearts against Him. And why should He? He is the One who is experiencing the Sabbath rest of a complete salvation provided to His people. It is open to the people of God to also partake of this rest, but it is contingent on a soft heart, a teachable heart, a pliable heart.

The catch is that a soft heart requires diligent guarding and instruction. Diligent care and feeding. Diligent reception of the Word of God, for the author immediately enters into the importance of the Word in the next few verses in Hebrews.

Hebrews 4:12-13

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Notice the power of the Word of God available to those who diligently interact with it. The Word will reveal the thoughts and intentions of the heart, and will remind us of our exposure in His sight. We are all exposed to His eyes, and we must all give account.

Would it not be the wisest of all instruction for the author to exhort us to strive to enter into the rest that is avaialable for the believer, the Sabbath “rest” of the salvation they already possess? To understand His grace requires our minds, hearts and wills to be transformed by the Spirit and the Word. But this does not happen passively, as if we are simply sponges that water is poured upon. No, it is more like a miner digging for truth, seeking to know the One True God who is truly mysterious and glorious.

There really isnt any paradox with this verse any more. The truth is obvious. Seek the rest that is available in this earthly pilgrimage by diligently seeking out the heavenly One who provides this rest. A rest that supplies a confidence in the Living God, that His provision for us through His Son is more than sufficient for not only our eternal salvation, but for the day to day experience of knowing our God.

Could we admit that the greater our efforts, our striving, the deeper the rest we may experience? Has any of my readers experienced this blessing? Let me know in the comments. I would love to hear from you.

In conclusion, as believers, we are simply reacting to His tremendous grace by keeping, guarding and opening our heart for Him, as an expression of a thankful and revived life.

He is good, and He is good all the time.

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Hebrews 13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

It was a Friday, early in the morning when the Lord reminded me of a phrase in the Word. Even as I rehearsed it out loud, having my walk about, it seemed to be as if I had never considered it before, almost as if I had never read it. (I can assure my readers that I have read it many times in the past.)

Nevertheless, I couldn’t reconcile the idea of sacrifice with praise, for in my mind, my primary association with sacrifice is that of giving something up that has personal value, yet not from any internal desire, but from an external influence. For example, I don’t sacrifice a meal unless I have to (Doctors orders) , or at the very least, believe some resultant benefit will come from it (a personal fast for concentrating on God’s will, or a period of prayer).

Another tripping thought for me was the idea that sacrifice involves a death, as in the Old Testament Levitical system with the slaughter of bulls, goats and sheep. In our modern world, this does not literally occur in the Christian life, and I had another disconnect in my thinking regarding this verse.

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

So for the remainder of the day and into the weekend, this nagging disconnect kept floating around in my mind. Until I mixed in the human experience, (and not just a logical analysis of the verse) did it become apparent as to what the author was describing.

Consider the background of the epistle. Groups of Hebrew’s were being ostracized, persecuted and rejected by their religious culture, and the apostle was addressing their condition. They seemed to be at the edge of apostacy, willing to jump for it was simply too hard for some.

So what does the apostle challenge this group with. Sacrifice. A very familiar concept for these believers, for they grew up in a culture of sacrifice, or giving up something to the God of their fathers. Only, sly apostle as he was. this sacrifice was something that would not only honor the Lord Jesus, but also give them strength to endure.

For you see, as the believer decides to praise the Father and Son, specifically in the midst of trials and tribulations, when the situation is difficult, disappointing and even discouraging, an active decision to praise when he or she doesn’t feel like it, that is the sacrifice the apostle is admonishing these believers to enter into.

Many believers who may be reading this may consider this to be Christianity 101. This is true, for we are to praise Him for His glorious working in our lives when we see it and don’t see it, when we feel it and when we don’t feel it. So true, but this verse and the message it had for me that weekend produced a memory that I can tuck away in a corner of my mind for future times of difficulty.

The Lord is faithful, and I trust that He will remind me of this “paradox” the next time a period of difficulty arrives at my doorstep.

For that I praise Him!

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What is a paradox and why would we find paradox in the Word? Let’s answer the first question first. I found a great explanation of the history of the word “paradox” on the Merriam Webster website.

The ancient Greeks were well aware that a paradox can take us outside our usual way of thinking. They combined the prefix para- (“beyond” or “outside of”) with the verb dokein (“to think”), forming paradoxos, an adjective meaning “contrary to expectation.” Latin speakers used that word as the basis for a noun paradoxum, which English speakers borrowed during the 1500s to create paradox.

So, based on this description of a paradox, when we venture into understanding the Word, we sometimes come up against concepts or ideas the Biblical authors challenge us with that are “contrary to expectation”. They may seem to be contradictory, or even include an incongruity, yet if we are careful in our reading, I believe the Word provides resolutions, or at the very least dimensions of reality that is beyond our natural understanding.

A recent occurrence began my thinking of this series of posts on paradoxes.

I was enjoying a Bible study with a new group of friends when I challenged a sweet Christian lady to study a difficult topic in the Word, and claimed that the results of the study may “twist her mind” a bit. (Granted the phraseology of “twisting her mind” may have been a poor choice!) She questioned me why she should study something that would cause her problems in her thinking. I replied with silence and the study continued, but I would challenge my readers to accept difficult passages, for my readers to wrestle with the Scripture.

If, as believers claim that the Word is true, we ought to seek to come into conformance with the Authors intent and message and not to conform the Word into our doctrinal corner of theology. Granted this is difficult to enter into and it shall upset the proverbial applecart in many believers minds and faith, yet is this not what we are called into, a life of repentance (changing of the mind) in order to grow into a mature believer?

As I read the gospels, I see twelve men that were constantly challenged in their worldview. If we could chat with Peter or James, I am sure they would admit to much confusion as they were listening to the Lord. Through their desire to “get it”, they continued with Him, in the midst of many misunderstandings and questions.

As I am reading through the word, or as the Lord brings passages to mind, I will offer some paradoxes for your consideration. Hope this series is of interest, and that out of this series, believers would be dig deeper into the Word He has provided us.

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