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Passionate About the Passion?
By Jon W. Quinn


The movie will be called "The Passion". Mel Gibson is an actor that I usually like to watch in movies. He is a devout Catholic with a more traditional perspective. Soon there will be a movie released where he was behind the camera in the director's position. At least, it seems as if there may be, but there are those who hope the movie will never be released. I am intrigued by it, and hope to see it one day. I am not sure that it will get a very wide release. It isn't politically correct. It is about Jesus' death.

My understanding is that Mr. Gibson wanted it to be as realistic as possible. You will only hear Greek, Aramaic and Latin. There are some involved in the project that want English subtitles, and some do not, so I do not know what the end result will be.

Mr. Gibson wants to, as realistically as possible, portray the crucifixion and the events surrounding it as it is described in the Bible. I imagine it will be intensely disturbing. How could it not be? He wants to have Pilate do and say what he did; and Jesus, and the apostles, including Judas. He also wants the chief priests and the Pharisees and their Jewish supporters to do and say what the New Testament says they did and said. That is the part that is causing the problem. Many say it is anti-Semitic to suggest the Bible is true when it describes the events of that day. Those who believe and teach the gospel, of which the death, burial and resurrection are the foundation (1 Corinthians 15:1-3), are full of hate, they charge. They suggest such could cause Jews to be persecuted again.

Just a few things about this:.

1. One cannot believe and practice the Bible and be politically correct, so don't try.

2. If the gospel is not trustworthy about the death, burial and resurrection, then neither is it reliable regarding the salvation it offers in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:12-20).

3. Jesus loved and died for all men, Jew and non Jew, without favoritism (Acts 10:34,35)

4. We should never regard with contempt a person for whom Christ has died (Romans 14:15).

5. If condemning the actions of the Nazis in WW2 is not being "anti-German" then why  is condemning the actions of those who asked Pilate to crucify Jesus "anti-Semitic"?

6. If praising the actions of courageous Germans who tried to hide or protect Jews during  those dark years is in order, then why not the actions of brave Jews who faced persecution in the first century because of their faith in Jesus, their fellow Jew?

7. If anything, it is those who object to the movie because it depicts accurately the account of the gospel who are the intolerant, the hate-filled, and who want to silence the faith of believers.

Finally, as the Jewish apostle Paul said, "Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. " (Romans 10:1-4).

That is love; to desire others who do not yet know the Savior will learn of Him. That scares the enemies of the cross. I can want nothing better for the Jew, the Muslim, the Buddhist, or the atheist than for them to come to the Father, and as Jesus said, there is no other way than by Him. (John 14:6).

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"You Search the Scriptures"
(John 5:39-40)
By Jon W. Quinn


There is a crying need today for people to seek out the wisdom of God as revealed in His Scriptures and make application of it in their lives. But the key phrase is "seek out the wisdom of God" because some have come to excel at misusing the Scriptures. How tiresome it is to hear people quote the Savior completely out of context to condone sinful behavior or to criticize those who would speak out against sin. They will exclaim, "Judge not that you be not judged" or "Let him that is without sin cast the first stone." They surmise that Jesus taught us not to speak out against immorality. He did no such thing and such use of these statements is simply a twisting the Scripture, sometimes in ignorance and sometimes willful distortion, but distortion just the same.

Jesus said it was an error on one's part not to know what the Scriptures teach (Matthew 22:29). Peter pointed out that twisting the Scriptures is also a grievous error which leads to destruction (2 Peter 3:16).

To Jesus, the Scriptures were to be treated with the utmost respect and dignity. One must maintain honesty and integrity of heart as he searches the Scripture.

Jesus' View of the Scriptures
"You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life." (John 5:39,40).

Jesus taught that the Scriptures were nothing less than the word of God. They were not just Moses' opinion or Isaiah's perspective.

At the beginning of John 5 Jesus had miraculously healed a man on the Sabbath day. He was reproached for doing so by His enemies (vs. 16). Jesus answered their charges by expounding on His claim to be working in collaboration with God the Father "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." (vs. 17). He went on to explain that His work was twofold: giving life (vs 21) and judgment (vs. 22). He then declares that those who believe will recieve eternal life and avoid judgment; "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24).

Having made these astounding claims, He then makes them again with even more force. He said that even at that very instant those in spiritual graves were being made alive (again, spiritually) through His word (vs. 25). Further, in the last day, He would stand as judge over everyone (vs. 28,29).

He also pointed out that witnesses were collaborating His claims. God bore witness through John the Baptizer (vs. 33) and the miracles or works Jesus did (vs. 36) and God's own word (vs. 37-38).

That last aspect of God's witness, the word, has reference to the Scripture. Jesus often referred to the Scripture (the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms) as evidence for His Messiahship. He taught that they would all be fulfilled in Him (John 10:35; Matthew 5:18). The Old Testament Scriptures spoke of Jesus, pointing us to him.

Wrongly Using the Scripture
Again, notice Jesus' words in John 5:38,39; "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life."

First, Jesus did not condemn their view of the Scripture. They viewed it as God's word, and they were correct. It was and is. But rather, He condemns their use of it.

Neither did He condemn their searching of the Scriptures. Jesus always commended noble minded searching on the part of seekers everywhere, and promised good results when such was undertaken (Matthew 7:8). To persevere in such is good (Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 2:15).

What was the problem then? They regarded their search as an end in and of itself. Scribes would copy, memorize, count words and count letters. Who could tell them that they did not have eternal life? They knew the Scriptures so well!!

The Correct Use of the Scriptures

Jesus point was, "The Scriptures do not give life, I do! They testify of Me!" In much the same way, people today may have a precious family Bible sitting someplace in the house. Does that Bible sitting there make them holier people? Of course not. Neither does counting words or letters. Neither does memorizing passages or learning Greek and reading it in the original language in which it was written. All of us; the ones to whom Jesus spoke in the first century as well as us today, must come to Him to have life. We must obey Jesus to be saved.

Jesus told them, "And you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent." (John 5:38). They knew what the Scriptures said, but they did not allow it to "abide in them." If they had, they would have received Jesus gladly.

They would counter, "We receive Moses, but we reject you!" Jesus said, "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" (John 5:45-47).

Handling the Scriptures correctly means believing and applying what they say. That is what it meant then, and what it means today.

Summarizing the Point
It is not enough to quote a verse and be satisfied. Satan can quote verses. The Bible must be applied in the way God intended. When it is, one will obey the gospel of Jesus Christ and order his or her life according to His teachings. Knowing the Scriptures is necessary, but of little use unless applied to one's life. Only when one obeys will the Giver of Life by grace bestow the hope of eternal life on the obedient. "And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation," (Hebrews 5:9).



Making The Application
(Acts 10)
By Zeke Flores


Often in an assembly, a brother will pray for us to have the wisdom to apply the lesson we're about to hear. Such prayers are good and should not cease but too often, the prayer is not answered. It's not because God hasn't made available the tools for its implementation, but sometimes the preacher fails to give a concrete example of how to make the application of the spiritual principles that he's tried to impart. Or, perhaps the listener fails to recognize opportunity in his own life wherein he could direct the teaching.

In Acts 10, we have the familiar story of Peter and Cornelius. In this wonderful story of conversion by God's providence is an excellent example to help us learn how to apply spiritual principles.

Understand God teaches in many ways. There are commands and these are easy enough to understand, but God also uses principles and concepts by which we can necessarily infer what He wants us to learn. Peter, praying on a housetop in Joppa, falls into a trance and sees a vision of unclean animals being lowered to earth. After being commanded to kill and eat these animals, he refuses and cites his dedication to the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic law. The vision appeared three times and finally was taken up into the sky. God wanted Peter to understand a deeper thing than merely the fact that some food had been restricted in the Law and Peter is left "perplexed" and wondering what is was that he was to learn from this vision.

Spend time thinking about what you can get out of the teaching. Peter was "perplexed" (Acts 10:17, NASB). He "wondered within himself" (NKJV) what the meaning of the vision could be. Though he didn't immediately get it, that didn't stop him from thinking about it further. Verse 19 tells us he was "reflecting" or "thinking" or "pondering" on the vision. It means he was fixated wholly on trying to determine the meaning of what he had seen. He was turning the vision over and over, through and through, in his mind being deep in thought over what it might mean.

Things work together that might help us apply the teaching. While Peter was seeing and thinking over the vision, Cornelius an "unclean" Gentile some 25 miles away in Caesarea was sending men to bring Peter there and teach them God's way. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Rom 8:28) We should recognize the "all things" in Romans 8 is limited by the context of that passage, but we should also recognize the many "helps" that God allows in life to strengthen our walk in Him. How many times have we prayed for patience and then the next day be confronted with a situation that severely tests it?

Recognize opportunity to apply the teaching. There came a time in our text that Peter "saw the light" and knew what God meant for him to know by the strange vision. Peter, a Jew, entered the home of Cornelius, a Gentile and said, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me (emphasis mine - zf) that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. I most certainly understand NOW (emphasis mine - zf) that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him." (Acts 10:28, 34-35)

All his life Peter had been taught that Gentiles were inferior to Jews and had no access to the God of Israel. The vision that came to him from God showed him differently and Peter was not only quick to recognize and apply that principle, but he did so in spite of years of conditioning and practice. By doing so, Peter was able to preach God's will to a houseful of people who wanted to obey Him. What an awesome example for those of us who believe that old dogs can't learn new tricks! Changing one's mind and ingrained habits are difficult, to be sure, but that in itself doesn't make change impossible.

The results for Peter meant the first of many Gentile converts. In fact, he got the opportunity to relay the story of the conversion of Cornelius' household to the other apostles and brethren in Jerusalem. "When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God saying, 'Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.'" (Acts 11:18) But it may not have happened that way if Peter hadn't kept an open mind, reflected on God's teaching, and recognized the opportunity to implement it.

Just because the preacher doesn't always point out a specific example of how one might apply Biblical concepts doesn't nullify our responsibility to bear fruit from it. Let each one of us think on the things presented, whether by hearing or by reading, and resolve to "apply it to myself." Think about Peter and his success. Who knows what the results might be from you making the application!



The Priority of Behavior Over Blood
(John. 8:37-47)
By Warren E. Berkley


John chapter eight is packed with action. The action documented had a violent conclusion. The last verse in the chapter says, "Then they took up stones to throw at Him..." What happened? What was said that prompted wicked men to such violence?

The Jews who opposed Jesus suffered with a carnal predisposition to justify themselves by claims of their blood connection with Abraham. When, for example, the Pharisees and Sadducees came to John's baptism, John called for them to repent, warning them not to rely on their bloodline (Matt. 3:9). Paul gave instruction directed to this fleshly propensity when he wrote: "...he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God," (Rom. 2:28,29; see also Phil. 3:1-11).

This was a massive stumbling block for many Jews, justifying themselves, excusing themselves and denying the need to be saved, based on claims of kinship with Abraham.

The issue was (as expressed by Jesus), their attitude and behavior was obviously unlike the character of their claimed father, Abraham.

Jesus said to them: "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you." (Jno. 8:37). They were descendants of Abraham by blood, but not by behavior! Jesus spoke divine truth to these fleshly descendants of Abraham, and gave evidence of His deity and integrity. Yet, they believed Him not and their answer was: "Abraham is our father," (Jno. 8:39).

Jesus said, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham," (Jno. 8:39). They were Abraham's children by blood, but not behavior. This tells us a very simple thing: Blood is never an excuse for misbehavior. Unbelief and sin cannot be defended by claims of blood, genealogy or family origin. If a paraphrase be permitted, Jesus is saying: I know who you are; I want to talk about what you are doing, your behavior. You are seeking to kill me, because My Word has no place in you!

"But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this!" These Jews were plotting the downfall and death of mankind's greatest Benefactor. The Messiah who came to save them, was now in sights of their malicious intent. They had the blood of Abraham, but not his heart.

The privilege of good heritage can be repudiated and lost by our ill-advised moral choices. It doesn't matter how good the people were we came from, if we fail to respond to God's Word and pursue godly character! Who we are is known by what we do, not the genealogy we claim! The good work of God's Word, the influence of Abraham and the person and work of Christ was all obstructed and resisted by the carnal, party spirit and sinful willfulness of these men who sought to kill Christ. Their choices predominated over their heritage.

Next, Jesus said to them: You are doing the deeds of your father, but your father (as evidenced by behavior) is not Abraham; he is the devil!

They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."

Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father."

Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father-God."

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." (John 8:39-47)

What an act of courage, for Jesus to speak to his enemies with such boldness. He told them they were corrupt, because though their blood was Abraham's, their character was the devil's!

Our conduct says more about who we are related to than our blood! The genuine test is - what do we think and do. Paternity is shown by practice. And "He who is of God hears God's words!"


"Righteous Judgment"
(Matthew 7:1-5)
By John Hagenbuch


"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."  Matthew 7:1-5

In our society of so called "tolerance," we are often struck with an opposition of people who cry that we have no right to judge them. In fact, I've even heard some go so far as to claim that "Jesus never judged people; He even taught that we are not to judge!" Strangely enough, they will quote Matthew 7:1 in attempts to convince others that Jesus has condemned all judging.

In the first two words of this passage, Jesus does tells us to "Judge not..." But these two words have been perverted and twisted to teach that when one calls the actions of another error and expresses that continuance in such ways will condemn the soul, that individual is judging, which is supposedly "condemned" in the Bible. But from the context of this passage, what judging is forbidden? Is it judging that makes a distinction between right and wrong? Is there never a time and place for seeing and reprimanding a fault?

If we take the view that judging is completely and totally forbidden, then that would make the doctrinal and moral purity of the church impossible to maintain. This would violate other teachings and divine examples that Christ has revealed in His word (see: Matthew 7:15; John 5:30; 7:24). It would commit us to neutrality and that is the very opposite of the stance Christ wants us to take.

What many fail to realize is that Jesus taught, (in the same context of instructing us to "judge not") that we are given the right and responsibility to make judgments in order to help our fellow man with their problem of sin, provided we have first "remove the plank from our own eye." Jesus expects you to be able to see clearly, so that you can "remove the speck from your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:5). So there are judgments to be made, within ourselves, and of others.

But then, what judging is the Lord telling us not to practice? In our text, Jesus is forbidding the judging that is for the purpose of putting down others to exalt one's self. It is the habit of finding fault in others when really there are more faults within yourself. How can you expect to help a person with a few transgressions when you are overwhelmed with sin? Jesus simply teaches that in order to pass righteous judgment on another, we ought to first examine ourselves. Let us remove the plank in our eye. Then, and only then, can we see clearly to remove the speck in our brother's eye.

The teaching of Jesus in this passage is concerned with the attitude of a man, not a complete absence of our judgment. Christ is not permitting us to avoid making hard decisions or taking difficult stands. He is warning us not to have a bitter, hypercritical, faultfinding spirit. That is a haughty attitude God will not tolerate.

However, as God's children, although we must be cautious in our judgments concerning ourselves and others, we cannot ignore our Lord's commands that instruct us to make judgments. In John 7:24, Jesus said "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (emphasis mine: JH) Here we are clearly commanded to judge with righteous judgment.

But what does it mean to judge with righteous judgment? Jesus revealed this earlier in John 5:30: Jesus spoke, saying, "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."

If we seek and follow the true will of God, which can only be found in His word, then when it comes time for us to help people discern between right and wrong, then we will not judge with our opinions or what we think is right, but just like the mind that Christ had, we will only seek to do the will of the Father. Following the limitations for judgment that are taught throughout the scriptures, all we are to do in order to judge righteous judgment is to hear God's word, and judge using His standard.

How can anyone honestly say that Jesus didn't judge? For that matter, when our Lord's true followers make righteous judgments, based on His word, in order to expose sin and help the lost to be saved, why would anyone ever think that Jesus would condemn them for that? Jesus has plainly revealed that those who abide in His ways will judge with righteous judgment.


A Brief History of the Early Church and the Following Apostasy
Special Topic 2003
By Jon W. Quinn


Mankind's religious history has always been one of constant
changes. God has watched people of the world develop various
religions on their own or many times take the one He has
appointed and make all kinds of changes to it. God's earliest
written Law given to His people Israel forbade such changes
(Deuteronomy 4:2). And yet, in the 1400 years that followed, it
seems as if apostasy was never far away. And always, the heroes
of God's word are not the ones who sought to ignore or change the
Law but the ones who tried to adhere to it.

We see much the same pattern in the years following the
cross on down to our own time. Apostasy is never very far away,
and still, the true heroes of faith are not the modernist or the
manipulators of the Scriptures, but rather the ones who have
enough faith, commitment and courage to hold the Lord's teachings
in reverent trust as they walk by faith.

From the Beginning of the Gospel
"Then those that received his word were baptized, and there
were added that day about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41). Ten
days after Jesus' ascension into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit
to guide His apostles. The church thus had its beginning on the
first Pentecost following His resurrection. Soon many of the
hierarchy at Jerusalem began to oppose the new but rapidly
growing church. Persecution grew ever more severe until a
disciple by the name of Stephen was stoned to death. The
floodgates were then opened forcing the Christians who lived at
Jerusalem to flee their homes for their very lives. The record
states that they were scattered everywhere and that they "went
about preaching the word" (Acts 8:1-4).

We find the gospel reaching out further as it spread into
the regions of the Samaritans and across the Jordan. It went
north into Damascus, south into Ethiopia and west to the coast of
the Mediterranean and cities like Caesarea. The cat was out of
the bag, so to speak!

Evangelizing the World and Persecutions
"But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for
concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against
everywhere" (Acts 28:22). Several things came together to have an
influence on the nature of the first century church. Persecution
from the Jews caused the gospel to spread among the gentiles. The
apostles proved that they were of God by the miracles that they
performed. They also showed their sincerity by being willing to
die for the Lord proving to all that they really believed the
gospel they preached. Seeing this, their converts from distant
places were also willing to die for their faith even though they
had never personally been with Jesus. Autonomous churches were
established throughout the Roman empire, and soon the severest
persecutions began to come from the Roman government itself.

Warnings About Apostasy
"I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in
among you not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves
men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples
after them" (Acts 20:29,30). At the same time the church was
facing such persecution from without, perhaps a far greater
threat was growing from within; the old habit of men to tamper
with the covenant God gives them. Now it was the New Covenant of
God's Son that men began to make subtle changes upon. The Lord
had given His instructions to the church through the apostles and
prophets of the first century. By the time of John's death these
instructions were finished and we are warned not to change them
in any way (Galatians 1:6-9). By commands and examples, He
revealed the plan of salvation; the modes of public worship; the
organization of the local church as well as the various doctrines
of faith about Christ. But it was not long until men arose,
"speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them".

Warnings About Apostasy Fulfilled
"But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some
will fall away from the faith...who forbid marriage and advocate
abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully
shared in by those who believe and know the truth" (I Timothy
4:1-3). Changes crept in slowly as small departures occurred;
gradually became accepted over a generation or two; and then were
used to justify even greater departures.