Grace’s first and foremost enemy - religion; John 16:2-3; 12:1-8.

Title: Grace’s first and foremost enemy - religion; John 16:2-3; 12:1-8.

 

 

As we examine each scripture in the NT for stumbling blocks we surmise the scripture’s emphasis on the following ones:

 

False gospel, false doctrine, false saviors, fear of danger [violence, wars, famine, natural disaster], undeserved suffering, hatred from world, unreceptive neighbors/relatives, doctrines that go against the norm, cultural or legalistic taboos, earthly goals, flip-flopping believers, religious arrogance, being judged, the area of weakness, failure to apply agape love.

 

John 16:1 "These things I have spoken to you [chapter 13-15], that you may be kept from stumbling.

 

The believer must be prepared through doctrine for the intensification of the angelic conflict. Since he is the target God has made special provision - God the HS.

 

John 16:2 "They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.

 

The first to oppose the teaching of doctrine will not be the Roman Empire but the religious Jews. One of the greatest killers would be a man called Saul of Tarsus.

 

Through the Church grace becomes known to the world and religion is the first and most diabolical antagonist of it.

 

Religion is like a weed. It grows when it has something to prey on and what it preys on are the minds of the ignorant and emotional who sincerely think they are doing God a favor by stomping out truth and grace.

 

Satan’s initial reaction was to kill all the Christians; to just wipe them out en toto and he assumed he could do it since there weren’t too many, but members increased at a rate never before seen. As satan motivated persecution, first by the religious Jews and then by the Roman Empire they only grew more rapidly. So satan took a page out of Balak’s playbook and embraced Christianity in the fourth century as part of the state and then slowly brought in idolatry, false doctrine, lust for wealth and power, and a great attack on the true gospel.

 

GEN 3:15

And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed [cosmos/religion] and her seed;

He shall bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel."

 

When the high-priestly party tried to have the Nazarenes officially banned, a protest was voiced by no less a personality than the leader of the Pharisaic party, the illustrious Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder and the instructor of Saul of Tarsus.

 

Gamaliel’s argument, in true Pharisaic style, was that every movement which was of divine origin would in the end be established, and opposition to it would be opposition to God.

 

If’, on the other band, as the chief priests held, the movement was subversive, it would peter out as other popular messianic movements had done in recent years.

 

Most of the religious Jews did not have this enlightened kind of thinking.

 

This makes me wonder if Gamaliel, if he lived long enough to see the establishment of the Way as well as the conversion of his student Saul, became a believer in Jesus Christ.

 

So verse two is prophecy by Christ that the disciples will be first attacked by the religious Jews and a price would be on their head and there would be no reasoning with those who wanted to kill them, for they would be convinced that they were doing the work of God.

 

Verse 3 - they will persecute and seek to kill because they have no love of God or truth or grace.

 

John 16:3 "And these things they will do [future], because they have not known the Father, or Me.

 

If you do not know God you cannot love God. Religion is blinded towards God and therefore cannot love God.

 

Religion actually believes that pleasing God is the elimination of grace since they believe that human works, denial, and asceticism please God.

 

Since those who stand in grace do not work to please God the religious believe that it is their duty to stamp out the grace oriented believers. 

 

The future that Christ speaks of will be the CA where the HS will be given to everyone who believes. The HS is the revealer of the Son who is the revealer of the Father. So it is obvious that the religious in the CA do not know either the Father or the Son because they do not have the HS as unbelievers and if they are religious believers, though they have the indwelling of the Spirit forever, they do not know how to be filled with the HS.

 

Because the religious are not filled with the Spirit they do not know the Planner [Father] or the executor [Son], so they do not know love, truth, or grace.

 

Grace seems foolish to them and it angers them since they are working so hard to please God while the grace oriented believer faith rests the finished work of God through Jesus Christ.

 

Luke 10:38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

 

Luke 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord's word, seated at His feet.

 

Luke 10:40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me."

 

Luke 10:41 But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;

 

Luke 10:42 but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. "

 

Here Martha is trying to serve the Lord out of her flesh. It is obvious that she is in her flesh since she is aggravated, frustrated, and detail oriented.

 

Mary is not serving the Lord at this time, but allowing the Lord to serve her first with doctrine so that she may legitimately serve Him after she has learned grace and love.

 

 One would assume that once the Lord was done serving her the doctrine that she would then graciously serve Him with joy.

 

And she did in the most magnificent way, which makes me wonder if after this day she started saving for a very costly vial of perfume to buy before His death.

 

This is a party at Simon the leper’s house, who is no longer a leper, but he kept the moniker as a testimony to the miracle. What are going to make this party great are the resuscitated Lazarus and the love of Christ from Mary, Lazarus’ sister. Notice how Martha hasn’t really changed her MO, even after witnessing Lazarus raised.

 

John 12:1 Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

 

John 12:2 So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.

 

Lazarus has already been dead and risen. He will go into the CA. So then, he has a relaxed posture to match his relaxed mental attitude.

Every believer has died and been raised and entered into the CA in union with Christ. Where is thy relaxed mental attitude concerning the details of life?

 

Lazarus has conquered death, visibly. We have conquered death spiritually, but the spiritual is meaningless unless it becomes a reality to you through faith.

 

Christ spent three days in the grave, and Lazarus four; meaning that Christ was raised first to resurrection life, and then us to be seated with Him.

 

Again, where is thy reclining posture? Where is thy relaxed mental attitude concerning the details of life?

 

Moreover, the religious Jews are seeking to kill Jesus and Lazarus [verse 10] and yet Jesus, his close group, as well as many others [verse 9] attend a dinner party about two miles from the center seat of their enemies.

 

It’s not where you are that is dangerous, but rather where your soul is, in the plan of God or in the cosmic system.

 

How constantly refreshing is the word of God as you now look at a familiar verse in a new context:

 

 

Ps 23:5

Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies [cast out of the synagogue and seek to kill you];

Thou hast anointed my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

 

John 12:3 Mary therefore took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard [one year’s salary], and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

 

The imagery is amazing here and it may be the greatest visual in the word of God concerning the difference between grace and religion. Matthew and Mark’s account says that she also anointed His head. This was customary to honor your most important guest.

 

The broken vial represents Him as servant [Mark] in that He would be broken [humanity separated and forsaken by deity] and the veil torn, the anointed head as King [Matthew], and the anointed feet as God in the flesh [John].

 

The vial cost Mary 300 day’s wages and so just like David she would not give to the Lord that which cost her nothing.

 

2 Sam 24:24

However, the king [David] said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing."

 

The fragrance filled the house, which fragrance represented the work of Christ which would ascend to heaven to please the Father filling the whole world with redemption. This is the doctrine of propitiation.

 

The fragrance filled the house as propitiation would fill the world.

 

John 16:8, 10

And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment … concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me

 

LEV 1:9 [burnt offering]

And the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

 

2 Cor 2:14

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

 

Whose triumph is it? That is grace. Religion is man’s triumph or attempt at it. In their struggle to produce their own sweet aroma they seek to destroy the grace oriented believer who relaxes in the faith rest that results from the sweet aroma that is the cross of Christ.

 

2 Cor 2:15

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;

 

This verse reveals that those who are perishing in unbelief do hear the gospel, unfortunately they don’t like the smell. It’s too good, to wonderful, too free, for they must work, and the sweat of work stinks therefore a sweet fragrance is false.

 

GEN 3:19

 By the sweat of your face [stinky aroma]

You shall eat bread,

Till you return to the ground,

Because from it you were taken;

For you are dust,

And to dust you shall return."

 

Through religion and legalism man is only working under his curse, which cannot please God. How could a curse please God?