Tags
It’s all Greek to me. Or Hebrew. Or perhaps some lovely Shakespearian English. Regardless, things can get lost in translation and communication is hard sometimes. This much is true. Then there is the KJV bible, you know, the only authentic one, the very same version the Apostle Paul himself used?
Just a joke people, no need to send me a sternly worded letter.
Regardless, on another blog I distressed a friend by speaking of “antichrist,” defined as being “against Christ.” In the ancient Greek it seems, in some word translations, “anti” can mean something more akin to “instead of,” and not necessarily “against.”
(I speak of the spirit of antichrist, not the evil guy you often see in Hollywood movies, hell bent on world domination, passing out the mark of the beast.)
I don’t wish to sound unkind, but such things just make me wail in despair. Have we become so post modern, so trapped in virtual reality and moral relativism that we really believe there is some distinct difference here, some safe place between “instead of” and “against?”
To be “against Christ” or “instead of Christ” is the very same thing! There is no middle path, no place where you can go and hover in limbo, to be “not really against Christ” just kind of, “instead of Jesus.” Or as a gal told me not long ago, “I believe in God, just not your God.” She too was like, I’m sure your God is a very nice God, I’m not against Him, I just believe something else instead.
Yeah, that’s simply antichrist. I’m not intending to be unkind at all, it is just that “there is only one path to the Father.” You’re either walking on it or you are not. If you are not, well, He is full of grace and mercy and there are thousands of people ready and willing to lend you a hand so you can climb out of the sticker bushes.
But never mind non believers, antichrist is also a bit like what comes over Peter when he draws his sword and lops off a man’s ear. He objects to God’s plan, He tells Jesus, “Far be it from You, Lord! This shall never happen to You!” And Jesus replies, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
I would imagine Peter was full of all sorts of good intentions, noble reasons, a desire to protect Jesus whom he loves, but just the same his actions and words are “antichrist,” as in being against Christ, as in objecting to the will of God, as in holding dear a plan of his own that is “instead of” what Jesus wants.
There is virtually no difference between being “against” God and having a plan that is “instead” of God. And surely all of us have been there and done that dozens of times ourselves?! Well, I certainly have anyway, sometimes without even being aware of it.
Nature abhors a vacuum. You turn out the lights and the dark just rushes in.
I’m kind of one of those cheerful people who would just as soon comply and forget about it, but I can’t in this case because it’s just too important. I have to double down and insist that being “against the Lord” and having a will that is “instead of the Lord” is the very same thing.
I suppose religiosity may have distorted this message, legalism may have led people to believe they can never be “against God” or that an antichrist spirit belongs only in the realm of false prophets and wolves disguised as sheep, but that isn’t it at all, it is about us.
It is about us, meaning we need to realize the bible is addressing us personally. So many people are still trying to reject the nature of themselves and to try to earn the Father’s love. I’m not really “against Christ,” I’m just sometimes, “instead of Him?” Forget it, it just doesn’t work that way.
In order to embrace the Lord’s grace and to receive His love and wisdom, you have to see the antichrist parts of yourself. You have to see how you have chopped off a man’s ear and denied Christ three times before the rooster crows. We have to stop fearing the Lord’s rejection and stop hiding who we really are.
And in His grace He will simply say, just as He said to Peter, “Peter, do you love me?”
Uh oh. There will be times of disagreement among friends, there will be differences of opinion, but the skeptic should pay attention as to HOW we disagree, and WHY we carry our points. To be fair msb, the post and comments in which you refer included the author’s disappointment in myself as well, at least just a little, so be of good cheer! We can share the load of imperfection. lol
I too had said that God’s word could be understood in the language wherein we were borne, and had a few observations re anti/against, etc, and it was a fine display of how believers can see things in a different light; as I like to say, not all are at the same mile markers in spiritual progress.
Surely there are many antichrists, and I’m guessing all are against. Seems kind of obvious. That said, there should be no ultimate disappointment in each other, heck, even Paul took umbrage with Peter, and there were rifts tween Silas and others. It’s called being human, but none of us are the HEAD of the body, so this truth should settle all matters.
I witnessed first hand the idea of a non Greek preaching from the Gk, and he being humbly corrected by a Gk, who by way of dialect, diction, etc, showed that things are not always as they appear. A good lesson in humility. Still, I have long enjoyed word studies (margaratest/pearl/Margie/Peg/ etc) as being helpful in hue, but never a matter of not being able to understand a doctrine because someone knows a language more than you. This is not God’s intention to be at the mercy of another man’s learning.
Also, the person you cite is a good blogger and usually has good points to make. Anyway, good follow up, and handled adroitly. Christianity at work. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amen,Colorstorm, Christianity at work indeed, and I do believe we need to be leading the way, setting the tone for how we go about disagreeing. The culture obviously needs us desperately, especially internet culture. It’s a wild frontier out there! Chuckling here, but if anyone wishes to disagree with me, quoting from Romeo and Juliet is quite a delightful way to go about it. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha true. I invite our atheist friends to take note how Christianity works. How faith, hope, and love are not mere words on paper; how the idea of non sensical 30k plus denominations is laid bare.
LikeLiked by 1 person