Ephesians 5:22-33; Pastors Have NO Authority in Your Marriage or Home and Christian Fathers Need to Start Doing Their Job
I have news for Christian fathers: Christ will hold you accountable for how you lead your family. He will hold you accountable presently and in the future. As New Calvinism has all but completely led the evangelical church back to authentic Protestantism, the degree of control that Christian fathers have allowed Protestant elders to obtain in their homes is shocking. Fact is, they have no business there at all.
If they do, and that authority has any significance worth discussing, the apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Spirit completely forgot to mention it and the Spirit forgot to remind him while he was writing Ephesians 5:22-33. The message in this text is clear; fathers alone are responsible for leading their families and all others need to get out of the way.
Note how Paul begins this line of thought:
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Note the emphasis on “your own husband.” And note “as [in the same way] to the Lord.” If the elders fit into this pecking order, where are they? Not only that, many more opportunities to include the elders presents itself in the same passage.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
In case the point is missed, in the same way that Christ is head over the church which excludes all others, the husband is the sole leader of his family. And in case that point is missed, it is the same as Christ’s body only having one head which is Christ. Paul is delivering a grammatical triple emphasis.
24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Paul goes on to even exclude the elders as valid authoritarians in the church much less the home. The church submits to Christ alone, the head of His body as all bodies only have one head. In the same way, wives are to submit to their husbands alone.
Then what are elders for? Eldership is a gift, not an office of institutional authority. The Bible expresses the working parts of Christ’s body in terms of different gifts granted by Christ. Primarily, elders are gifted to protect (oversee) the body by teaching sound doctrine and warning Christ’s body about error. They are the doctrinal watchmen on the wall. In this way they “oversee” God’s people. But, they have no authority to “Lord it over the flock.” The only verse used to argue otherwise is Hebrews 13:17. If you do a careful word study on that verse you will find the following to be a good paraphrase:
Be persuaded (peitho) by your leaders and surrender (hupeiko) to the truth that they teach, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Allow them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Also, husbands are solely responsible for teaching their wives the word of God, not the elders. It is the husband who is warranted with sanctifying his wife with the word of God. Beware of any talk regarding “qualification.” Being a husband qualifies you. Let’s face it; most Christian husbands relinquish their responsibility to teach their family to the elders because they have been sold into the idea that only the elders are qualified. That, of course, is a lie.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
“In the same way.” This is one major way the husband loves his wife: by teaching her the word of God. Why would a husband relinquish his responsibility to love his wife to the elders? It is a matter of whether or not you love your wife as Christ loves His own body:
He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body.
This reality also includes the in-laws:
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
Lastly, any verbiage that diminishes a wife’s respect for her husband is an attempt to cause division in a home. Married couples need to be on the lookout for this very dangerous use of words in all venues whether church, friends, or in-laws.
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Routine criticism of husbands in the church is widely accepted, and husbands who accept it are held up as examples of humbleness. What they are actually doing is giving evil unfettered permission and putting their marriage at risk.
Men, you are the pastors of your home and your qualification is marriage. Start doing your job, and start by getting the elders out of your home and refusing to fellowship where marital respect is undermined.
paul
Predestination and the Gnostic Connection
One shouldn’t dismiss information out of hand because of the source alone, but there is no doubt that such information deserves more stringent vetting when the source is dubious. We know that…
Why is the Biblical Counseling Movement Obsessed with Sin Rather than Love?
Emotionally disheveled lives flowing from the present-day biblical counseling movement is now epidemic. If you are going to condemn counselees and beat them to an emotional pulp with their own faults in order to drive them back to the cross, at least tell them that’s the goal. However, as the logic goes, if the counselee is informed about the counseling agenda, any “change” would be their own decision and not the work of the Spirit.
Supposedly, any true work of the Spirit is going to be apart from anything the counselee knows. In order to teach the counselee to live a “lifestyle of repentance, for the most part ” you must help them see their sin and the “sin beneath the sin.” You must also show them the need to “repent of good works” or the belief that they are able to do a work pleasing to God. As the counselee learns to see their total depravity more and more, the works of Jesus are “manifested” in our lives and “experienced” as if we are doing them, but we are really passive instruments in any godly endeavors. In other words, when it gets right down to it, Jesus obeys for us lest we “have a righteousness of our own.” Any true good works done in the life of the “believer” are “experienced subjectively” and flow from the “objective gospel” which are works accomplished by Christ alone.
So, one really only knows when they commit definitive sin, but good works of any kind are either the “believer’s” sinful works of self-righteousness or the works of Jesus and this is the subjective part of the salvation process. If the “believer” testifies that they cannot do a good work of any kind, they may find forgiveness as long as they are “under the authority of godly men” (ie., Reformed pastors), but if they believe they themselves can do a work pleasing to God, that is mortal sin that cannot be forgiven, viz, they believe a false gospel. This is Martin Luther’s venial/mortal sin construct that formed the Reformation gospel.
Hence, the counselee, by design, is driven to a “despair of self-righteousness” but is unaware of what they are supposed to do about the despair. If the counselee is informed of what to do about the despair; that would be “jumping directly from the command to obedience.”
The result? A mass of confused people and broken lives marked by hopelessness and despair. If the Spirit so chooses to move after the biblical counselors have done their job of stripping the counselee of any “self-righteousness,” the counselee will be shown the gospel “treasure chest of joy” apart from any misguided leading from a counselor resulting in “fruit stapling.”
What’s behind this approach to counseling that is wreaking havoc on the lives of so many? To understand the answer one must take a specific look at how the Bible defines the word “sin.”
Genesis 4:3 – In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
Note that sin has a primary desire that drives it—it seeks to rule over people and control them. It’s simply what sin does. This is why world politics have always been dominated by war and conquest after sin entered the world. Further study reveals sin’s ultimate goal: to bring as much death as possible into people’s lives.
But what does sin use to control people? What empowers sin? What is its mojo? Answer: condemnation. Note that sin crouches at the door waiting for people to not do well. It waits for one to violate their conscience or God’s law and then it pounces. Sin uses condemnation to strip the individual of self-worth and confidence. This is why, for the most part, marriage counseling is dealing with two spouses who come to you with condemnation lists. This is each one’s case for why the other spouse is inept and should submit to the other’s control. This is different from love and why love does not keep a record of wrong (1Cor 13:5).
And this is why Christ endured the cross; to end the law (Rom 10:4); to end condemnation; to strip sin of its power.
1Corintians 15:56 – The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Sin remains in the born again believer because he/she still dwells in mortality, but it has been stripped of its power to condemn because Christ put an end to the law. Without a way to condemn, sin can only harass the believer with sinful desires that the believer is no longer enslaved to. Instead, the believer is now enslaved to righteousness (Rom 6:17,18). Hence, Christians fail to fulfill the law through love from time to time because they are “weak” NOT because we are “sinners.” The Bible NEVER refers to believers as “sinners.” It is markedly past tense in the Bible when speaking of the believer…“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). We are not “sinners saved by grace.” If you are still a sinner, you are not saved.
So why then the law? God created the law as a two-fold covenant. Before Christ came, all sin was imputed to the law.
Galatians 3:19 – Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[g] nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Don’t be mistaken, the older covenant is still in effect but passing away:
Hebrews 8:13 – In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
The present sins of unbelievers are still imputed to the law. When and if they believe in Christ, their sins will be ENDED not merely covered. Christ came to end sin, not cover it. Christ is not a covering for sin, He ended sin. Those who do not believe on Christ will be judged by the law at the final judgment. This is because they are still “under law” (Rom 6:14, 15). Believers will not be present at the final judgment or the “second death.” That judgment concerns the law.
So what does it mean to be under grace? It means that when we were born again the old us under law literally died and was resurrected to new creaturehood. We were given a new heart that loves the law and truth. We are no longer indifferent to the same law that once condemned us.
Romans 7:1 – Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
How do we serve the law under the new covenant? By putting our faith to work in obeying God’s word for loving Him and others:
Galatians 5:6 – For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
Romans 13:10 – Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
John 14:15 – If you love me, keep my commands (NIV).
The Christian is free to aggressively love God and others without any fear of condemnation. But, others aside from Christ cannot control you unless they sell you on the idea that you are still under condemnation. And as much as I hate to say it, for the most part, that’s what the institutional church is all about: a desire to control many people through condemnation. That means they must keep you under law and a justification defined by perfect law-keeping which of course requires ongoing forgiveness for “present sin” which of course can only be obtained under the “authority of godly men ordained by God.” Really? Fact is, there is a difference between condemning sin under law and a failure to love as a member of God’s literal family that can bring chastisement. The problem here is a single perspective on law and sin by functioning under the “written code” and calling it “under grace.”
And this is the purpose of the biblical counseling movement; it serves the institutional church in keeping people under law so they can be controlled. Supposedly, they have been given authority by God to grant you forgiveness under their authority because you are still a “sinner.” You are supposedly still under law. You can only obtain ongoing forgiveness by acknowledging that you are a totally depraved saint under the authority of some “man of God.”
It is the epic lie of the ages.
This is why the biblical counseling movement focuses on sin rather than love. This is why when you deny that you are a sinner they ask rhetorically: “Did you sin today?” The question should really be: “Did you love today?” But they ask the wrong question because their basis for justification is the law and not the new birth.
1John 3:9 – Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God (KJV).
And that’s supposedly ok because Jesus supposedly kept/keeps the law for us. But that is still NOT the manifestation of righteousness “APART from the law” (Rom 3:21).
Mark it well: an emphasis on sin in your life that condemns by other “Christians” is a doctrine of devils and this is nothing new.
Zechariah 3:1 – Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here.
Revelation 12:10 – And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
Now, many try to make a case that salvation is only a covering for sin and not an ending because of the biblical “coat” analogy. But such coats represent one’s standing, not a covering for sin that is ended. Even if such a case could be made it would only apply to the old covenant and its imputation of sin to the law.
There is only one mediator between God and man; Christ. In Matthew 28:18 we find that “all” authority has been given to Christ and “all” means just that, All, viz, everything. The body of Christ only has one head; Christ Himself. No man or woman has authority to condemn you…
…flee the biblical counseling movement and pursue love.
paul
Satire: New Calvinists Start 12-Step Program for Righteous Christians
New Calvinists, firmly in control of Christian counseling in our day, have started a 12-step program for Christians addicted to righteousness. According to David Powlison’s research and development…
Source: Satire: New Calvinists Start 12-Step Program for Righteous Christians
Jewish Lives Matter: The Coming Millennial Kingdom; Part 4
Part 4: Abraham and the Family Affair
God put two trees in the midst of Eden, “The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” This series will not speculate on why God presented this choice or in some people’s assessment an actual temptation, but the backdrop was the rebellion of Lucifer.
Something else should also be noted moving forward: the creation account and subsequent deception in the garden raises a host of interpretive questions that remain unanswered by organized religion. For instance, after the deception, God prevented Adam and Eve from eating from the other tree in the midst of the garden that they were previously allowed to eat from, “The tree of life” lest they “take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” The tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought forth death while eating from the other tree would have brought forth eternal life. It seems strange indeed that Adam and Eve could have reversed their mortality by merely eating from the other tree. The only way these challenging questions will be answered is by diligent and free collective study of God’s people apart from agenda-driven orthodoxy.
True Christianity is fundamentally individualist resulting in the collective good, not the other way around. This will be explored in the future parts of this series; ie., the difference between an organized body and institutions. The collective and free actions of individuals lead to the collective good, not the dictation of “good” determined by an elite few. Stated another way: the individual has direct access to God; there is not an epistemological pecking order.
All in all, most religion has always been predicated on philosophy proffering the idea that God has appointed knowers over those who cannot know reality. And by the way, the knowers usually find their credibility in the idea that no one can know; so, the knowers are the knowers because they know that they cannot know. This series will address that construct in detail.
But for now, we will explore what God did in response to the deception, and what the Jews have to do with that. As stated before, the two trees represent a backdrop of epic conflict between God and the rebellion of angels led by Lucifer. This epic conflict is good versus evil, and life versus death. We are safe in regard to that assessment via the very descriptions of the trees and the stated result of eating from them. But God’s initial response, among many other things, marks one of His modes of operation: whatever His detractors do, He responds by upping the ante so-to-speak. God’s enemies cannot strike without God making something better of it. In this way God mocks evil; the evil actions of God’s enemies results in the previous good being made very good.
Adam and Eve were created beings, but after they were deceived, God responded by making them His very family. He created mankind as living beings that would have a family structure for organizing and increasing their state of happiness, but in response to the deception He elected their means of reconciliation (salvation) by making them His very own family. Mankind was elevated from created beings to His literal children.
Religion strongly emphasizes the forgiveness of sin, but in reality forgiveness is a by-product of becoming part of God’s family. Mankind is reconciled to God by becoming family.
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Aside from a myriad of discussions and interpretive questions that could be discussed about this passage and many others in the Bible, it is clear that there would be “enmity” (hatred) between two posterities: The “offspring” (many other translations use “seed”) of the serpent and the offspring of the woman. Much of the Bible’s historical documentation reports this enmity between God’s offspring and the serpent’s offspring. In fact, the enmity begins with the first siblings of human history, Cain and Able:
1John 3:12 – We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.
All are born into the world with indwelling sin and are thereby children or offspring of the one who executed the deception in the garden. People become God’s offspring; ie., “righteous” when they believe God and what he says resulting in a “walk” with Him. Different creatures walk differently—they walk according to their nature. Ducks waddle and kangaroos hop because of how they are created.
From the beginning, starting with Adam and Eve, people were reborn into the family of God resulting in becoming God’s literal children. The Bible refers to this as being “righteous.” Don’t confuse this Old Testament new birth with the New Testament “baptism of the Spirit” which makes Jew and Gentile one body with Christ. This is “the promise” which will be further developed as we move forward.
Religious scholars are fond of constantly referring to Genesis 15:6,
Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness (NIV).
This verse, on its face, seems to indicate a mere declaration that Abram was righteous by noting the word “credited.” The Hebrew word translated “credited” can mean that, but it can also mean “to fabricate” or create. At any rate, Old Testament believers were in fact recreated as righteous beings who were credited as such and acted as such. They were righteous as a matter of their state of being. How do we know this? Christ said their very life blood was righteous:
Matthew 23:34 – Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
These were not only deemed righteous; their very life blood was righteous. That’s because they were, in fact, righteous. This new birth comes via another seed in the Bible; God’s word. Faith comes by hearing the word of God and believing it;
Romans 10:17 – So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (KJV).
Matthew 13:18 – “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.[b] 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Matthew 4:4 – Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Galatians 3:2 – Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
1Peter 1:22 – Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
Abraham believed God and was made righteous. As we will see, he is a key person in God’s elected plan to reconcile mankind to Himself by making those who believe His very family. God the Father, His only Son, and the executor of the righteous offspring—the Holy Spirit. Abraham is a key figure in God’s grand plan involving a righteous royal family and its kingdom that will make all things one as opposed to sin’s major objective to divide.
And a last point before we move on: God’s word is a seed that gives us new birth, but for those born again, it is also the milk by which we grow. According to 1Peter 2:2, that must be “pure” milk. This is a call to the individual born of God to ascertain what is pure truth and not pure truth. We are not to take other people’s word for it and thereby be tossed about like the waves in regard to every wind of doctrine.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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