Calling on the Name of the Lord in NT - 5

Subject:  Call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

1 Cor 1:2  To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place  call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.


The saints in the 1st Century are identified as people who "call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Today, we will look at the words "Lord Jesus Christ".

In the NT, "Lord" can refer to Yahweh God, Jesus Christ or in rare occasions, a human master.  "Lord" carries the meaning of authority and ownership. 

In 1 Cor 1:2, "Lord" appears 2X and both refers to Jesus Christ.  

"Lord" actually is the most frequently title used on Jesus.

Let's look at these titles "Lord" and "Christ" so that we can understand this verse better. This will help us understand why in Acts 9:14 and Acts 9:21, the disciples were identified as those who 'call upon this name'.

We need to remember that Jesus was not born with the titles "Lord" and "Christ".  After Jesus had fulfilled his Messianic mission on earth, God appointed the titles "Lord" and "Christ" to Jesus. (Acts 2:36)  After Jesus' crucifixion and burial, God raised Jesus and ascended him to a high position sitting right next to God. 

In the Bible, we see  these combinations of words "Christ", "Christ Jesus", "Jesus Christ", "Lord Jesus Christ" and "Lord Christ Jesus" surrounding the name Jesus.  

When you look at the statistics in the Bible, you see a clear demarcation when Jesus is called "Lord" or "Christ". 

Take a look at these statistics graphs and they will speak for themselves:

Christ - 532X

   61X in Gospels              (Before Ascension)

 471X in Acts and Epistles (After Ascension)

The main occurence of "Christ" is in Acts and the Epistles, after Jesus' ascension.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christ Jesus -  83X

  0X in Gospels              (Before Ascension)

83X in Acts and Epistles (After Ascension)

The combination "Christ Jesus" appears in Acts and the Epistles, after Jesus' ascension.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jesus Christ - 140X

    5X in Gospels              (Before Ascension)

          135X in Acts and Epistles (After Ascension)

"Jesus Christ" appears mainly in Acts and the Epistles, after Jesus' ascension.

Whether the combination is "Christ Jesus" or "Jesus Christ" it means the same thing. 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lord Christ Jesus - 11X

  0X in Gospels (Before Ascension)

11X in Epistles (After Ascension)

Lord Jesus Christ - 73X

  0X in Gospels (Before Ascension)

73X in Acts & Epistles (After Ascension)

"Lord Christ Jesus"  or "Lord Jesus Christ" mean the same thing. Together they come to 84X.  

This shows the importance of the title "Lord" given to Jesus Christ after ascension.

Summary of above statistics graphs:

• The titles "Christ" & "Lord" are heavily stressed in Acts and Epistles for the obvious reason that Jesus in his obedience to God had fulfilled the redemptive work on earth for our salvation as Messiah and he has ascended into heaven.

• In the 4 Gospels, sometimes people would address Jesus as "Lord" or "Rabbi".  The "Lord" in this sense is a polite title of respect.  But after ascension, "Lord" and "Christ" bring on a new meaning.

• The new meaning is that Yahweh God grants these titles "Christ" and "Lord" to Jesus and ascended him to heaven, exalted him to a high place of honor & authority, sitting right next to Yahweh.  

• These events happened at the beginning of Acts.  After Jesus' ascension, the apostles went around preaching openly that Jesus is the Christ.

With this background and understanding, we can try to understand 1 Cor 1:2 in a better light.

The early church disciples or saints were identified as those who called upon the name of our "Lord Jesus Christ" (Jesus with the 2 titles).  The early disciples responded to God's call of salvation and so they called on Jesus to be their Lord and Christ. They became 'new' people.  God caused them to be 'born anew' with the new life at baptism.  This was the distinguishing mark of early church Christians - those who called on this name (Acts 9:14, 21). 

Furthermore, calling Jesus "Lord" is to live under his lordship as the Church is the Body of Christ with Christ as the head. "Christ is the head of the church, he himself being the savior of the body." (Eph 5:23)  

God is the head of Christ. "I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman and God is the Head of Christ." (1 Cor 11:3)

To call on Lord Jesus is to submit and live in obedience to the lordship of Christ, the head of the Church, just as Christ lives in obedience to Yahweh, the Head of Christ.  Christ always lived and still lives under the Lordship of Yahweh.

We are to lead the church to live in obedience to the Lordship of Yahweh and Christ.  Even as Christ sits at the right hand of God, Christ is also submitting himself under the Lordship of Yahweh now.  

And God has bestowed on Jesus the name that is above every name.  And there comes a day that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:11)

That day has not come yet and the church looks forward to that day.

Tomorrow we will look more specficially on the name of "Jesus".  We will then discover how this name helps us to call on Yahweh. 

:)

Calling on the Name of the Lord in NT - 4

Subject:  "Yahweh" or "Lord"? 

When we read the NT, we notice  a discrepancy between the NT and OT: 

• "Call on the Name of Yahweh" in OT 

Joel 2:32 "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of  Yahweh shall be delivered …"

• "Call on the Name of the Lord" in NT

"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved."  Acts 2:21

“Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13

Acts 2:21 & Romans 10:13 are quoting from Joel 2:32:

• Why doesn't the NT say to "call on the Name of Yahweh?"

• Why does NT replace "Yahweh" with "Lord"?

----------------------

We need to realize that the OT is written in Hebrew while the NT is written in Greek. 

• In the  original Hebrew text, "Yahweh" is there. 

• But in the NT,  the word "Yahweh" is taken out.  "Yahweh"  is replaced with "Lord".   

In the NT times, very few people used the Hebrew Old Testament as Greek became the common language. Around 250 BC, the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek by Jewish scholars.  This translation is called the Septuagint translation known as the LXX (70).  The LXX was used widely among the apostles in the Gentile Grecian world.  In the process of translations, the Jews were afraid to say God's Name, so whenever they saw "Yahweh", they replaced God's Name with "Adonai".   In Greek, "Adonai" was translated as "kurios".   "kurios" is "Lord" in English. 

The Greek translation in the LXX for Joel 2:32 is, "hos an epikalesastai to onoma kuriou" which when translated to English is "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord."

So whenever we see OT quotations in the NT, they are usually quoting from the LXX rather than from the Hebrew text.

This is why in Acts 2:21 and Rom 10:13, it reads "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

• These are quotes taken from the LXX.  
• You see 'Lord' there because it is a translation from the Greek word 'kurios'.

Peter & Paul are quoting from the LXX version of Joel 2:32.

---------------------------------

But when we look at the original Hebrew text of Joel 2:32, this is what we read:

"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of  Yahweh shall be delivered …"  

It says specifically to call on the Name of Yahweh.

This is an unfortunate thing that happened in the process of translation.  "Yahweh" is replaced by the word "kurios" in Greek.  "Yahweh" is replaced by a title "Lord". 


Let not the unfortunate "weakness" of translation hinder us from calling on the Name of Yahweh!

"Yahweh" is not written in most of our modern day Bible translations. "Yahweh" is replaced by the word "LORD".  This is one of the reason why God's Name is hardly mentioned in the churches.  

This is so sad because "Yahweh" appears nearly 7000X, the most frequent noun in the Bible, the most important Name in the Bible, yet the distinctive personal Name of God is totally wiped out in our Bibles translations. The most important revelation of "I am Yahweh" from God is gone.

God's Name had turned silent down through the centuries.  

Today, let's arise and focus on calling on the Name of Yahweh that the outpouring of the Spirit will fill His people in these end times for the final deliverance.

:)

Calling on the Name of the Lord in NT - 3

Subject:  Calling & Final Salvation 

The apostle Peter also exhorts the early churches to call on the Name of the Lord.

Acts 2:21, And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.

"Call on the Name of the Lord" is linked with our final salvation.

The Bible tells us that there is a progression in our salvation - past, present and future.   Our final salvation is in the future.  

Our final salvation is summed up in these words: 

Calling on the Name of the Lord.  

Who is going to be saved?  
Those who call on the name of the Lord.  

Wow, this matter of calling on the Lord is so important that it concerns our eternal salvation - whether we will finally be saved in the end.

Can you see how important this matter of calling on the Lord is?  Our eternal salvation depends on our calling on the Name of the Lord.

Do you want to learn to call on the Name of the Lord?

Acts 2:21 is part of the message of  Peter's Pentecostal sermon to the early church.  We are so blessed to have this first sermon recorded for us in detail.  Peter mentions about "calling on the Name of the Lord" as Peter is actually quoting a prophecy from the prophet Joel regarding the last days:  

Acts 2:21 is quoting specifically from Joel 2:32. 

 Joel 2:32  "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of  Yahweh shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as Yahweh has said, and in the remnant whom Yahweh shall call." 

Exegetically, we can see that "Call on the Name of the Lord" means specifically "Call on the Name of Yahweh" here.  (Tomorrow, I will go into the detail of the technical aspect of this part of the exegesis.)

Joel 2:32 is a prophecy to be fulfilled in the last days which had already begun at Pentecost.  We are now living in the end times where we, too, experience the outpouring of the Spirit of God on all people as we wait for the day of Yahweh, and both Joel & Peter exhort everyone to call on the Name of Yahweh for our final salvation. 

Whether we will finally have salvation depends on our calling on Yahweh.

Thus, it is urgent for us to learn together to call on Yahweh in these last days.  This calling on the Name of Yahweh is not a mere verbal calling mouthing God's Name.  It is not a magic formula.  It is not even a verbal recognition of God's Name.  It is focusing on Yahweh, to call and live in the presence of Yahweh, delighting to do His will until we finally see Him face to face. 

To understand what this means will take many more hundreds of articles to share, which I will try to attempt in the coming topics.

Let's make a start to call on Yahweh in our prayers.

:)

Calling on the Name of the Lord in NT - 2

Subject:  A Continual Calling by Faith

At the end of Paul's life,  he exhorted young Timothy with these words,  "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."  2 Timothy 2:22

Here we have a glimpse of what the community of believers are like in the early church.  How are the early church Christians identified here?  Those who 'call on the Lord'. 

The verb 'Call' is in the simple present tense meaning that this is an action that is repeated on a regular basis.  This is not a one time action at baptism.  It is a continual calling in the life of a believer.  This factual statement tells us that the early believers are in the habit of calling on the Lord all the time.  And out of a pure heart too! It's a continual expression of faith to God!

Calling on the Lord has to do with prayer.  Calling on the Lord is the mark of the early Christians. 

If you are a Christian, do you pray and call on the Lord?  If you don't call on the Lord, you are not even a Christian in Biblical terms.

I have a word of encouragement to our young people:  It is truly possible for us to live a life of purity.  We cannot live in purity in our own strength.  Many young people have difficulty controlling their youthful lusts.  This can become a lonely defeating battle.

So Paul gives a very concrete spiritual direction to help young Timothy to fight against sinful lust.  How?  To be together with Christians who call on the Lord to pursue after purity, righteousness, faith, love and peace.

What kind of Christians call on the Lord?  Surely it is not just the 'mere act of calling', as the emphasis here is on the "kind" of life they live.  These Christians who earnestly call on the Lord are people actively pursuing holiness, living a life of purity before God in prayer. They spend time in prayer calling on the Lord.

Do you take time to pray? Are you willing to spend time to pray and call on the Lord? We have prayer partners and we pray together in our church, as we are a community of  brothers and sisters keepers to call on the Lord together to pursue God with a pure heart.

Indeed, this is a beautiful picture of a church! 
"Those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."


This 'calling on the Lord" is more than an individual matter but a community praying together earnestly focusing on the Lord.

A church that calls on the Lord is a church of faith!

When there is no earnest desire calling on the Lord in our churches, it only shows that there is very little faith.  When there is no concern to call on the Lord, it only shows that we have no faith in our churches.

:)

Calling on the Name of the Lord in NT - 1

Subject: Calling on the Name of the Lord at Baptism

When we come to the NT, in the 1st Century Church, Christians were taught to call on the Name of the Lord when they got baptized, right at the beginning of their spiritual life. This was Paul's experience when he began his Christian life.

Ananias played a significant role in mentoring Paul at Paul's conversion. His instruction to Paul was: "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, CALLING on the Name of the Lord." Acts 22:16

I've read this passage so many times but somehow these words "Calling on the Name of the Lord" escaped my eyes.  I always knew that Ananias instructed Paul to get up and be baptized to have his sins washed away.  But what about "Calling on the Name of the Lord?"  I never took too much notice of these words.

Obviously 'Calling on the Name of the Lord' was something Ananias and the early disciples did often, thus Ananias exhorted Paul to do likewise.  Notice Paul was exhorted to call on the Name of the Lord at the beginning of his spiritual life, not at a later stage.  The First Century Christian leaders indeed laid a very firm foundation in the prayer life of the newly baptized believers.  We also need to do the same.

Here at baptism, Paul called on the Name of the Lord to have his sins washed away. Clearly calling on the Name of the Lord has to do with salvation, for the remission of our sins. 

The calling is not a mere verbal calling but it is a new beginning to express our faith in obedience to the Gospel. 

The word "Calling" in the participle form describes an action that is ongoing.  This means that "calling" is a progressive continuous action. You keep on calling His Name.  So Paul did not just call on the Name of the Lord at baptism and stopped there, but that he continued calling on the Name of the Lord throughout his Christian life. It doesn't mean that everytime Paul called on the Name of the Lord, he had to get rebaptized again and again. Obviously there is much deeper content involved in this action of calling that threads through Paul's prayer life. This calling on the Lord results in continual rich blessings from God (Rom 10:12-13).  Imagine this!  This is going to be something we will learn together as we move on in these articles.

The application for us today is that we too, must first call on the Name of the Lord to have our sins forgiven at baptism.  

There must be a beginning to call on the Name of the Lord.  

Did you call on Name of the Lord when you were baptized?

We need to get back to this "forgotten basics".   This teaching of calling on the Name of the Lord is not just for the mystics or the mature Christians as we might think.   

Let us exhort newly baptized Christians to call on the Name of the Lord.


In the coming articles, I will go into more detail to explain on this phrase "Calling on the Name of the Lord". This term contains very deep meanings in both OT and NT. 

:)

Calling On Yahweh's EVERLASTING Name - 7

Subject:  David Calls on Yahweh's Everlasting Name

Today we are going to learn from another servant of God who calls on Yahweh's Everlasting Name.  It is not to say that only these servants of God call on Yahweh's Name.  I specifically chose these men of God because they put a specific FOCUS on the EVERLASTING nature of God's Name when they call on Yahweh's Name.


2 Samuel 7:26

"And let Your Name be magnified FOREVER, saying, Yahweh of hosts is the God over Israel …” 

This is David’s prayer after Nathan the prophet told him that God will make David’s name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth (2 Sam 7:9). 

What would your response be if God desires to make your name great like all the great men on this earth?  Isn't this the kind of success many people are looking for in this world?  

What is David’s response? His response shows that he is truly a man of God.  David doesn't want to hear about having his name being great.  All David cares about is God’s Name much more than his own, "And let Your Name be magnified FOREVER...."

Seriously, ask yourself now:  what is more important to you?  Your Name or God's Name? Most of the time, we care for our name 100 times more than God's Name. When someone says something bad about us, what is our response? We become defensive. When someone slanders us and blackens our names, we want to fight back. 

We are always protecting ourselves and guarding a good name for ourselves. We want to build a good image to our name.  What happens when your boss 'chooses' you above all the other colleagues and 'promotes' you to a higher position?  We feel good.  We say we deserve the recognition.  Slowly and slowly, we become ambitious enough to build a name for ourselves even without our boss.  Sad to say, even Christians leaders are climbing up the Tower of Babel to build a name for themselves and do not care about God's Name at all.

Who cares for God's Name?  Do you?

To my shame also, I find that I am only slowly learning to care for God's Name a little bit more as I spend time and energy to write out these blogs for God.


For today's lesson, we can take away the following points for meditation:

1.  David loves God’s Name.

2.  David cares for God's Name 100 times more than His own.

3.  David wants to MAGNIFY God's Name.

4.  David desires God's Name be mangified FOREVER.  

5.  For sure, David has faith in the EVERLASTING nature of Yahweh's Name.

6.  Here, David calls God “Yahweh of hosts. “Hosts” means armies.  Yahweh is the King of Israel’s armies, on earth and in heaven.  Yahweh's Name lead his armies forward into victory.

Do you care for Yahweh's Everlasting Name to be great?

If you do not have faith, you will continue on to live for your own name and build up your own name in your family, in your career, among your friends, in your church etc.  All these belong to the things of this present age and pass away.  

The only thing that lasts forever is for Yahweh's Name be magnified in our lives. This testimony, like David's testimony, can be passed on from generation to generation.

Let us have faith and call on Yahweh’s Everlasting Name be magnified in our lives.  Our lives will pass away. Only Yahweh's Name continues forever.

This will be the last article on this topic #6 - calling on Yahweh's Everlasting Name.  First and foremost, we must have FAITH in God's Name and recognize God is Everlasting and His Name is Everlasting. Without 'faith', you can call on God's Name but nothing will happen.  With this firm foundation, in our next topic #7, we will move on to "CALLING".

In the meantime, drop me a feedback and share with me your thoughts and insights.
:)

Calling On Yahweh's EVERLASTING Name - 6

Subject: Habakkuk calls on Yahweh’s Everlasting Name

Today we are going to learn from another prophet who calls on Yahweh's Everlasting Name.

Habakkuk 1:12 " Are you not from everlasting, O Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Yahweh, You have ordained them as a judgment, and You, O Rock, have established them for reproof.

Habakkuk is a prophet in the Bible.  There are only 3 chapters in Habakkuk and the entire book records the dialogue between Habbkuk and Yahweh God. Habbakuk wrestles with difficult issues, such as why do evil men prosper and go unpunished?

In Habakkuk 1:12, he began his second complaint by asking Yahweh God, "Are you not from everlasting, O Yahweh my God, my Holy One?"

Here, the prophet is not asking God for information expecting an answer. He is using a rhetorical question to affirm his conviction that Yahweh God is everlasting, indeed confirming his conviction to the everlasting nature of God.

In wrestling with difficult issues understanding God and His doings, Habbakuk calls upon Yahweh God in faith. You see this right at the beginning of his prayer "O Yahweh, how long shall I cry for help and you will no hear?" (Hab 1:2)  Can you feel the depth of Habakkuk's cries and his longing for God's answer? Is God indifferent?  Is God inactive?  God then gives Habakkuk a reply.

Habakkuk trusts Yahweh God but it doesn't mean that he fully understands the answer God gives him. Aren't we also like this all the time?  Habakkuk knows God hates evil and therefore does not understand why God would use a nation even more wicked than Judah to punish Judah.  After all, Judah has her problems, but she is still better than the Babylonians.

And then when we get to Hab 1:12, you can tell that Habakkuk has tremendous faith in God. He hangs on to the everlasting nature of Yahweh God that what He says He will do, He will bring it to pass.  Israelites shall not die.  Habakkuk knows that God will not totally destroy Israel because of His covenantal promises to Israel. Even though the Israelites are exiled as captives to Babylon, God will bring them back to the land.

When you have time today, read Habakkuk.  In 3 short chapters, you hear him calling out to God's everlasting name 'Yahweh" 10 times.

Throughout the entire book, Habakkuk calls on Yahweh's Everlasting Name by faith and expectantly waits for God's answer.  God replies him every time. The prophet searches and searches for a deeper understanding from God as he calls out to His Name. We need to do the same too.

The prophets of old do have a very deep relationship with God. When they call out to Yahweh God, they truly have faith in the eternal God who acts and responds to them.

When justice seems to be tarrying, we have the feeling that it will never come, and so faith diminishes.
Let us learn from Habakkuk.  Let us also have faith in our everlasting God who acted in history and continue to act now and forever.  Thus Habakkuk says in 2:4, "the righteous will live by faith."

Let us go forth in faith.

:)

Calling On Yahweh's EVERLASTING Name - 1

Subject:  6 Bible Statistics Graph - Importance of Yahweh's EVERLASTING Name

In this coming week, we are going to start a new topic on Yahweh's Everlasting Name.  

• In Topic 4, we looked at "This is My Name FOREVER"
• In Topic 5, we looked at "Blessed be the Name of God FOREVER"
• For Topic 6, we will look at "Calling on Yahweh's EVERLASTING Name"

Hopefully in these 3 sequential series of Topics, you can see the importance of the 'eternal' nature of God's Name.  

Yahweh's Name is not like any name.  
Yahweh's Name is an Everlasting Name.  

When we call on God, we are calling on God's Everlasting Name.  

In the following days, we will see examples of prophets and men of God consciously calling on God's Name, paying special attention to the 'everlasting' nature of Yahweh.

For today, I will post 6 Bible statistics Graphs for you to have a general overview again on the significance of God's Name - Yahweh.

The following 6 sets of words are very important to our present study. From now on, whenever you come across these words in your Bible, highlight them.  You will find that you will see these words appearing on every page in your Bible.

After serving Yahweh God for 25 years, I have now come to realize the significance of the Name of God, Yahweh in the Bible.

Just looking at the following 6 statistics graph will give you a lot of insights about God's mind as He reveals His Name to you in the different books of the Old Testament.

1.  Yahweh - the most frequent noun in the Bible - 6828X

So far in our studies, we have seen that the word "Yahweh" is the most frequent noun in the Bible.  The main focus of the Bible is "Yahweh". 

We have seen that the most occurrence is in the Book of Psalms.  Then it is followed by the Book of Jeremiah.  Do you know why Jeremiah emphasizes on "Yahweh"?   Meditate on this. :)  

2.  I am Yahweh - 207X

Whenever God says something of great significance and requiring special attention, He reveals Himself as "I am Yahweh".  Can you feel the heart beat of God as to how much He wants us to know Him as Yahweh? 

Last year, when I discovered these words spoken by Yahweh God, "I am Yahweh", this revelation drew me to love Him and His Name more and more.  There are so many riches in this simple phrase.  We will need to spend a few weeks to study on this topic this year if God willing.

The most occurrence of this phrase is in Ezekiel.  Do you know why?  The rebellious Israelites in exiles were forgetting God's Name.  Ezekiel's message kept drawing them to remember "they will know that I am Yahweh."

Do you also notice that "I am Yahweh" occurs frequently in the Book of Leviticus. This should draw you all the more to study the book of Leviticus with new insights.  What we often thought was a boring book will turn out to be a very exciting book of God's revelation of His Name.

3.  Name of Yahweh - 87X

While "Yahweh" appears the most in the book of Psalm, the phrase "Name of Yahweh" occurs also the most in the book of Psalm.  Can you guess the reason why?

4.  My Name - 52X

Yahweh God sometimes puts emphasis on 'My Name' because He wants us to call on "His Name" and not just call on Lord or God in prayer. 

If you take time to look at all the references to "My Name", you will be able to see where God puts the significance regarding His own Name.  Again, if God willing, we will do an in-depth study on this in the future.

5.  My Holy Name - 10X

To emphasize the importance of the holiness of His Name, God specifically says "My Holy Name".

The most occurrence is found in the Book of Ezekiel as Ezekiel is dealing with the rebellious Israelites who had polluted themselves in grievous sins, so God is reminding of His holiness to draw them back to Yahweh God.

6.  Your Name - 94X

It is not surprising that "Your Name" has the most occurrence  in the book of Psalms.  While the psalmists often call on Yahweh in prayer, they are also concerned to pray to God concerning Yahweh's Name, thus "Your Name" is usually a focal point of their prayers.  

Do you ever pray to God about "Your Name . . ."?  In the Lord's prayer, Jesus instructs us to pray "Hallowed be Your Name."  



These statistics reveal to us the important emphasis God places on His Name.  When we enter into prayer, all the more, we must call on God's Name, Yahweh. This week we will call on God's Everlasting Name ever more deeply from our hearts.

:)

BLESSED be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER – 24

Subject: To God be the Glory FOREVER! Amen

In the last 2 articles in Romans, we have looked at 2 doxology passages where "God is blessed forever, Amen."

There are 4 doxology passages in Romans where praise and glory is given to Yahweh God.



The 3rd doxology is found in Romans 11:36."For from him and through him and for him are all things. 
To him be the glory forever! Amen."


Who is the "him" referring to here?

We need to look at the context of the passage. 

3 verses earlier Paul speaks about God in Romans 11:33, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!"

Yahweh God is the subject matter. 

• In fact, right at the beginning of the chapter, Paul mentions Elijah and how he appeals to God against Israel. 
• In reply, it was Yahweh God who said to Elijah, "“I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 

Throughout the entire chapter of Romans 11 where God is mentioned, Paul is referring to Yahweh God. 

• Paul is so filled with praises to Yahweh God because of His kindness of grafting in the Gentiles to salvation. 
• In the end, all Israel will be saved leading Paul to end the passage with a doxology glorifying Yahweh God, for from Him, and through Him and to Him are all things. To Yahweh God be glory for ever, Amen! 

In the next article, we will look at the 4th doxology passage in Romans. Can you guess where it is?

See you again tomorrow! 

BLESSED be the Shem of Yahweh FOREVER – 23

Subject: God who is over all be "Blessed Forever" Amen.

This article is going to be a bit long. I put this into 12 sequential points for easier reading. So take your time to slowly read this one through. 

In our last article, we looked at the first occurrence where Paul uses "Blessed Forever" in Romans. 

Today, we will look at the second occurrence – Romans 9:4-5.

"They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed forever. Amen."


1. This doxology in Romans 9:5 is found in the middle of Paul's lament and anguish for his kinsmen. 

He is expressing his heart's desire for his people to come to saving faith in Christ, yet they refused to do so inspite of all that God has blessed them with. As Paul lists out the privileges in Rom 9:4-5, out came his outburst of praise to God who is blessed forever for making all these promises possible.

2. The above text (Rom 9:4-5) is taken from the Revised Standard Version.  

   
    I chose this version because this translation is more clear and accurate. 


3. I am also including a picture of the Greek manuscript Codex Sinaiticus from AD 350 on Rom 9:5 so that you can see why there is a lot of confusion regarding the understanding of this text.





4. As you can see from the ancient manuscript, there is no punctuation marks in Romans 9:5. 

So the phrase that is in question is towards the end of Romans 9:5 – ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων θεὸς εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.

5. If you put a comma between "κατὰ σάρκα" and "ὁ ὢν", the translation will be: 

"Christ according to the flesh who is over all, God blessed forever. 

Christ and God here are in the same sentence.

6. If you put a period between "κατὰ σάρκα" and "ὁ ὢν", the translation will be: 

Christ according to the flesh. God who is over all be blessed forever.

Christ and God here are separated to two different sentences.

7. Many people are confused about Romans 9:5, because a superficial reading of using the comma version gives the impression that Christ who is God be blessed forever.


8. Paul never equates Χριστὸς (Christ) with θεὸς (God).


9. In this series of 22 articles on "Blessing God's Name Forever", we have already seen the explicit truth that "blessed be" is always used with reference to Yahweh God in OT and NT. Yahweh God is always our sole object of praise and blessed forever, not Jesus.


10. We have also seen that Paul emphasizes that it is God who is 'blessed forever' in 2 other places in his writings: Rom 1:25 and 2 Cor 11:31.


11. In Romans 9:5, Yahweh God is again the object of praise. Jesus Christ is the cause of the praise but not the object. We must not mix the two together.


12. In the context of Romans 9, Paul is expressing his anguish that his fellow kinsmen do not even realize the great privileges the Israelites have from God. They have the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, the promises, the fathers and even Christ coming from among them — Wow… all these cause Paul to praise Yahweh God forevermore for the privileges given to the covenant people. It is Yahweh God who makes all this possible in Christ. 

Yahweh God, who is over all, be blessed forever. Amen!