Category: Discipleship

“Goo Goo G’ Joob” (part 2)

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

(We are continuing our look into New Ageism)

Etta D. Jackson asserts that in the New Age there will be a fusion of man’s differentiated spiritual aspirations into a New World Religion. She also foresees a fusion of intellectual and philosophical thought between people of all stations in life that will result in a spirit of inclusiveness and mutual cooperation.[1] Ultimately though, in New Age theology, while the unified consciousness is constructed in a fashion that allows for a synchronization of differing belief systems; it is man’s belief and awareness of his own godhood that is the key to transforming the world. And, according to New Age adherents, it was Jesus himself who has shown the way as an example of a self-actualized man who had reached his full potential.

The New Age theologian postulates that The Son of God . . . is not Jesus, but our combined Christ consciousness. Jesus is one of a select company, having achieved Christ consciousness. And, every person is encouraged to acquire this same level of consciousness.[2] To the New Ager, Jesus and “Christ” are separate. The “Christ” is the perfect god concept- that awareness of the divinity within. The theology espoused by the New Ager looks at Jesus as one who possessed this “Christ-consciousness” as much as and probably more than any one who has ever lived. Jesus, to the New Ager, is just another one like Buddha or Krishna who comes along to reveal to mankind the divine potential resident within us all. Many within the New Age movement insist that throughout the world today a “Christ-consciousness” is rising at an ever increasing rate, slowly moving mankind towards the “Omega Point” in which the messiah within us all will give birth to a glorious new future.[3] (Perhaps, in today’s culture where the redefinition of terms is standard practice, the Christian should bear in mind that to many New Agers, this emerging “Christ-consciousness” is the eschatological “second-coming” the Bible speaks of.)

As Jesus is no more than an example of a man who ultimately realized his own divinity, and as there is no other being to which man is accountable other than himself, one can see how concepts such as substitutionary atonement, sin and salvation hold little to no relevance within New Age theology. To the New Ager, “evil does not exist but the belief that in its existence produces negative results; we now see that similarly, sin and guilt do not exist but that it is belief in their existence which produces negativity, especially because it legitimates and induces fear. As Shirley MacLaine puts it: ‘we are not victims of the world we see. We are victims of the way we see the world. In truth, there are no victims.’ It is only by our judgmental attitudes, towards others and towards ourselves, and by psychological projection of sin and guilt upon others and ourselves, that we keep           perpetuating the circle of fear. In a way, it is our ingrained belief in original sin that we needlessly increase suffering in the world and create “negative” Karma.”[4]

Indeed, the New Ager would be more apt to define sin as that which keeps one from recognizing his own divinity. In New Age theology, it could be said that it is this “pseudo sin consciousness,” that which stifles the attainment of the “Christ-consciousness,” that is the only sin of which man could be found guilty. And even then, it is ultimately not an issue of sin and guilt, but rather unrealized potential. And it is from this failure to reach his divine potential that man must be saved. “New Age salvation implies the full realization of the principles of self-spirituality and holism; the full realization of one’s inner spiritual potential and progress towards greater and greater wholeness. Whereas in Christian cosmology salvation takes place only after death, salvation in New Age philosophy is thought of in terms of spiritual evolution, a process that may take place in one’s own life but may continue after death…”[5]

It is clear that the divinity of man is the capstone of New Age theology. “Karma takes precedence over the atonement of Jesus Christ. Sins are cultural and relative instead of offenses toward a holy God. Hell is not a place of eternal punishment but a state of mind or negative thought.”[6] By contrast, Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ was not just an example of a self-actualized man who had reached his full potential, but rather God himself clothed in flesh, crucified, dead, and resurrected-literally. The bible makes it clear that sin and hell are more than just unrealized potential or imagined cerebral apparitions. It should be obvious to any sincere student of scripture that the first major tenet of New Age theology is in no way compatible with biblical Christianity.

To be continued…

 1. Etta D. Jackson, The Role of Consciousness in Governance, (Bloomington, IN-Author House, 2009), 41, 42.

  2. “New Age Theology,” All About Worldview. http://www.allaboutworldview.org/new-age-theology.htm, (accessed October 21, 2011).

3. John P. Newport, The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue, (Grand rapids, Michigan- Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 12.

4. Wouter J. Hanegraff, New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought, (U.S.A. – State University of New York Press, 1998), 295.

5. Stef Aupers and Dick Houtman, Religions of Modernity: Relocating the Sacred to the Self and the Digital, (Leiden, Netherlands- Brill Hotei Publishing, 2010), 166.

6. Walter Martin, Jill Martin Rische, and Kevin Rische, The Kingdom of the Occult, (Nashville, Tennessee- Thomas Nelson, 2008), 191.

“Goo Goo G’ Joob” (part one)

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together

~

Lennon/McCartney

Whereas Christianity portrays God as sovereign creator of all that is, holy and entirely separate from all else; New Age theology is founded upon the idea that each individual as well as all of creation is in fact God. Although various elements of New Age thought has integrated itself into modern ecclesia via Postmodernism, a brief exploration of New Age theology will prove to the astute student of the word that such integration is to be avoided in that New Age theology is not compatible with orthodox Christianity.

Whether from Eastern religions, the occult, the new psychologies, the “frontier” theories of science, New Age politics or New Age versions of Christianity, various ideas with a common theme are converging on our culture, pressing their way to the philosophical and ideological center of society. A new world is in the  offing; a revolution in consciousness beckons. All is one-both good and evil. We  are all god-and our first-graders should no it. The mind controls all- if we only use  it. These are ideas-potent ideas-that have consequences for the whole life. They  are shaping the lives of more and more Westerners.[1]

In the quote cited above, Douglas Groothuis provides a look at the zeit geist in the 21st century as well as a succinct summation of New Age religion and theology. Many adherents of the New Age mindset would argue that they have no substantive theology in that they are not a religious movement per se. However, if one concurs with psychologist Erich Fromm’s definition of religion in which religion is defined as “any group shared system of thought and action that offers the individual a frame of orientation and an object of devotion,”[2] New Ageism clearly possesses all the qualifying characteristics of a religious movement. Indeed, New Ageism is an amalgamation of many sources including: Astrology, Channeling, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, Theosophy, and Wicca.[3] In light of Fromm’s aforementioned definition of religion, it is clear that acknowledged or not; New Ageism is a religion in which man’s frame of orientation is his own created reality, and his object of devotion is himself as god.  This idea of man as god is perhaps the capstone of New Age Theology.

“According to the New Age, man must transform himself. He does this by changing his consciousness and actualizing his divine nature. In doing so he becomes aware of his inner divinity.”[4] In the early 1960s, at the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, hallucinogenic drugs were utilized to create this altered state of consciousness, but as the New Age gained momentum (largely due to the influx of Eastern religions); mystical experiences and alternative conscious altering techniques began to emerge as the new portal to divine enlightenment. According to New Age theology, “man’s self is an ideal that surrounds any demands of time and the human physical body. Expressed in another way, we are the extraterrestrial emergent[5] God. We can then conclude that our human spirit is an extraterrestrial God residing within our mortal human body, and when we meditate, our mind (intellect) comes in touch with our spirit-self.[6] Such mystical experiences led the New Agers to believe that they are truly one with the universe and a part of God. They began to believe that they had uncovered the divine potential resident in all men.[7] And, it became their goal to help everybody discover this reality.

According to New Agers, humanity can become attuned to all the powers of its godhood by achieving unity of consciousness; only the unity of all can bring the well-being of all. Unified consciousness is the key by which all men can tap into their inner-divinity.  According to New Age theology, only the unity of all can bring the well-being of all. The godlikeness within us all; perfect love, perfect wisdom, perfect understanding, perfect intelligence; can only be achieved through the unity of consciousness.[8] It is this writer’s belief that the push for global unity prevalent in the world today is a product of New age theology, and eschatological in its relevance. “The new consciousness entails a unified worldview-“we are all one- a belief in a higher power, though this being need not be clearly defined. It is about healing-healing the earth, healing the marketplace, healing the individual psychologically and physically (Heelas, 1996, p.81). Within the New age, no one belief system is better than another and all have something to offer.”[9]

To Be Continued…

  1. Donald R. Groothuis, Unmasking the New Age, (Downers Grove, Illinois-InterVarsity Press, 1986), 15.

 2. Ibid., 16.

3. Lloyd E. Sandelands, Man and Nature in God, (New Brunswick, New Jersey-Transaction Publishers, 2005), 90.

4. John Ankerburg and John Weldon, The Facts on the New Age Movement, (Eugene, Oregon- Harvest House Publishers, 1988), 21.

 5. It is ironic to this author that Mr. Mall used the word “emergent.” One is made to think of the “Emergent Church” in which many aspects of New Age theology have been incorporated.

6. Alex Mall, The New Age Chameleon, (U.S.A. – Xlibris Corporation, 2010), 55.

7. Ibid., 7.

8. “New Age Theology,” All About Worldview. http://www.allaboutworldview.org/new-age-theology.htm, (accessed October 21, 2011

9. Mara Einstein, Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age, (New York, NY- Routledge, 2008), 198.

 

 

Worship: A Life Laid Down (conclusion)

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

In the last few posts, we’ve explored this idea about worship being a life laid down, the place where sacrifice and obedience come together through our trust in the Lord. We looked at King Saul as an example of one who never truly laid down his life before the Lord. We saw from scripture that he never really was intimate with God, and that he never really trusted nor obeyed him. We learned that King Saul offered his sacrifices in an attempt to manipulate events and people. Then, we looked at the life of Abraham, and discovered that although his was not the perfect life, it was one laid down before God in intimate trust and exhibited true worship in the ultimate act of sacrifice and obedience. Actually, what really got me thinking about worship being a life laid down is the story of Jesus and the woman at the well.

One of my favorite passages in all of scripture is John 4, the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. I talk about it frequently and have written about it as well. It’s really no surprise that it was this passage that got me thinking about worship in a way I’ve not previously considered. Usually, when people talk about John 4 and the topic of worship, it’s always the part about worshiping in spirit and truth. And rightly so; Jesus did say the Father is seeking those who will worship him in this way. For me though, I began to see that worshiping in spirit and in truth is synonymous with worship being a life laid down. Walk with me.

If you recall, when Jesus and the woman began their conversation Jesus had asked her for a drink of water, and then commented that if she knew who he was, she’d ask him to give her a drink of the “living-water.” He went on to tell her that this living- water (Holy Spirit) would be to her a spring of water “welling up to eternal life.” As their conversation went on, Jesus told her to go and get her husband. Jesus was revealing to her the truth about the “well” she had been drawing from all of her life- men. She had tried repeatedly to quench the thirst of her heart through various relationships with men. Now, here with Jesus, this was the moment when she had to admit the truth. Then the woman brought up religion and the different way in which the Jews and the Samaritans worshipped. She reminded Jesus that the Samaritans claimed that you were supposed to worship God at one place while the Jews maintained that the temple in Jerusalem was the only place to worship God. Jesus pointed out to her the fact the time had come in which the true worshipers of God would be those who worshiped God in spirit and in truth, with no respect to locale. At this point, the woman said, “I know that Messiah is coming, and he will explain everything to us.” Jesus told her plainly, “You’re talking to him.”

See, here’s the deal. God is spirit and you have to have the Holy Spirit in order to be a true worshiper of God. And, the only way to receive the Holy Spirit is by laying your life down to Jesus. He is the Messiah who has come to “explain everything to us,” to reveal to us the truth about the Father, and the truth about us as well. He is the one who gives us the Spirit. It’s like he told the woman at the well, “If you want the living-water, you ask me.”  The only worship acceptable to the Father is the  true  spiritual worship that proceeds from the hearts of those who, through their trust in Jesus, have been made to drink of God’s Holy Spirit. Worship is more than just keeping a bunch of rules, or offering sacrifices at a specified temple.  The time has come that sacrifice and obedience must come together in a life laid down through trust in Jesus, the one who makes possible true spiritual worship through the giving of the Holy Spirit.

Worship: A Life Laid Down (part 2)

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

Okay, so here’s the scenario: You’re Abraham; you’ve been walking with God for a long time now. Years ago, God had promised you a son and he had finally been born. You’ve watched this child grow into a young boy, and then you hear God say, “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” Abraham is a wonderful example of what I mean when I say that worship is a life laid down, the place where sacrifice and obedience meet through our trust in the Lord.

Long before the birth of Isaac, God had called a man, then named Abram, to follow him. Abram was living in what we know as modern day Iraq, and if he was anything like the rest of his people, he was probably involved in pagan worship of the moon-god. The Bible doesn’t say that there was anything special about Abraham; it only says that God called him. The Lord told Abraham, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you…” That’s not a whole lot of information (“the land that I will show you”), but Abraham obeyed. Here we see one of the characteristic that would mark Abraham’s life- obedience.

Abraham then begins his journey with God, the Lord reveals himself to Abraham, continuously proves his faithfulness, and Abraham trusted him. Through all the events in Abraham’s life, his time in Egypt, his dealings with Lot, the War of the Kings, Sodom and Gomorrah, Hagar and Ishmael, and his dealings with Abimelech; a relationship was built between God and Abraham, and Abraham trusted him. The Bible says that God and Abraham were friends (James 2:23). Keep in mind, Abraham was not always perfect. If you read his story, you will find times in which he missed the mark, but his heart was one of trust and obedience with the Lord.

Now comes the day that God asks him to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. Isaac is the promised child; the one God had told Abraham would be born so many years ago. And now, Abraham is told that he must give him up. What must have gone through Abraham’s mind? I’m glad you asked, because the Bible tells us. In Hebrews 11:19 we find, “Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again.” Do you see it? Abraham didn’t necessarily understand God’s motives, but he figured that God would evidently resurrect Isaac from the dead. No one else had ever come back from the dead. God had never demanded a sacrifice of this kind before. How could Abraham think, “I guess God is just gonna raise him from the dead?” It’s because he knew God and trusted him! Worship is that place where sacrifice and obedience come together through our trust in the Lord. Abraham’s life had been laid down before God long before the sacrifice of Isaac; he knew that he could trust God, so he obeyed him. That’s worship.

You know the rest of the story, how God provided a substitute to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place, and how eventually Jesus was born as one of their descendants. Can you see how this applies to you? You go through all kind of things in your life. Tragedy, sorrow, loss, victory, ups, and downs; God desires to draw you to himself in all of this. Like Abraham, you won’t be perfect, you’ll miss the mark, but God is still working to bring you to that place of intimate trust. Intimacy is the only way in which you will be able to offer up your “Isaac.”  You can’t truly worship someone you don’t trust. Oh, you can be religious, but true worship is a life laid down. Worship is more than just a little compartment in our lives as Christians.  True worship is the whole of one’s life laid down before God, where sacrifice and obedience merge because you trust the Lord.

Worship: A Life Laid Down (part 1)

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

I guess one thing we all have in common is that we tend to “compartmentalize.” I am not a psychologist (a few of my friends probably thing I need to see one though), but it’s my understanding that each of us separate thoughts and actions into “compartments” in order to cope with reality. Psychologists tell us that compartmentalization can be used as a defense mechanism, one that assists people in dealing with tragic occurrences in their lives. I’m one who would rather folks come to Jesus in situations like that, and let him actually heal and restore instead of simply tucking away the hurt, but that’s another conversation altogether. My point is that I think maybe we all do compartmentalize in one way or another, and I don’t think it’s always good. And, I think we as Christians tend to be among the chief “compartmentalizers.”

So many Christians separate their lives into compartments: this is work, this is family time, this is time with my friends, and this over here is my “God-time.” Our “worship services” are put into different compartments as well: this is worship time, this is offering time, this is prayer time, this is preaching time, and so on. Something that I have come to understand is that true worship is a life laid down. It’s the place where sacrifice and obedience meet through our trust in the Lord. There is no need for compartments-Jesus is my life. If you look into the Bible you’ll find many references of people who wanted to be religious, who kept offering up sacrifices, but whose lives were compartmentalized to the point that they did not understand that their disobedience revealed the fact that they were not true worshippers of God, that they did not truly know him.

          King Saul is a good example of someone who didn’t understand that worship is a life laid down. You may recall that Israel had wanted a king.  Saul, who the Bible describes as tall and handsome, was anointed the first King of Israel. You can see from the beginning that it appears that Saul only had a relationship with God when someone else was around (good observation Mike). The only time you see him interacting with the Lord is when he was the prophets of Gibeah, or with Samuel the prophet. In fact, if you read on in the Old Testament you’ll discover that during the reign of Saul, the Ark of the Covenant (representing God’s presence) was not sought at all. Saul never came to know the Lord.

In I Samuel 15, Saul had been commanded by God to utterly wipe out the Amalekites- I mean utterly. However, Saul decided to spare their king along with the choice livestock to “sacrifice to the Lord.” When the prophet Samuel arrived, Saul rushed out to meet him proclaiming, “I have obeyed the commandment of the Lord!” Samuel asks, “Well, what’s up with all the sheep I’m hearing?” Saul replies, “Oh, we only spared the best of the sheep and the oxen for God, but we destroyed everything else.”

Samuel then proceeds to rebuke Saul, reminding him of how God had made him king, and asking him how he could not then obey the Lord’s commands to utterly wipe out the Amalekites. Saul persists, “But I did obey the Lord. I have brought Agag the king, and destroyed everything else. Only the best part of the spoil was saved to sacrifice to the Lord.” Samuel replies,

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams.

 For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.”

Rebellion is an act of usurping an authority, in this case God. Samuel said that rebellion is similar to witchcraft or divination. How’s that? Well the ultimate goal of witchcraft is to manipulate events. The sorcerer seeks to manipulate spiritual forces so that a desired result will be manifested in the physical. When Saul rebelled against God, he was taking matters into his own hands in an attempt to bring about the outcome he thought was best. He wanted to exercise authority. God had spoken, but he rejected his authority and chose his own way.

Samuel went on to say that stubbornness or insubordination is like idolatry. Say what? Well, when we rebel against God, stubbornly pushing against him, or trying to push him to do what we think is best; we are setting ourselves up as God- idolatry. (Oh, I forgot to mention the fact that just before his meeting with Samuel, Saul had set up a monument to himself in Carmel.) In his stubbornness, Saul had declared, “I am god!” His rebellion and stubbornness blinded him to the reality of his disobedience.

Okay, so how does all of this apply to us? The reason Saul, and we as well, are rebellious and insubordinate towards God is because we don’t trust him. God is working in the events of our lives (even the hard ones) to help us get to know him and thereby trust him. He wants us to listen to his voice, lay down our lives and surrender to him, not just offer up what we think he wants. As we learn to trust the Lord, our sacrifices and obedience come together in a life laid down. Saul never learned that. God used him, he won many battles and was the champion of Israel, but; he never came to trust in the Lord. God had a little compartment in Saul’s life to live in, and he only got to come out when Samuel was around. Saul only sought to manipulate God through offering up the sacrifices he thought would push God towards doing what he wanted Him to do. And in the eyes of God, this was akin to witchcraft and idolatry.

We, here in the West, consider ourselves far too civilized and advanced to worship some kind of idol made of wood or stone, instead; we have proclaimed ourselves as god. Even we who name the name of Jesus are guilty of creating a god after our own likeness and worshipping it instead of the true and living God. We have invented a god who is okay with our witchcraft and idolatry, one who winks at our rebellion and insubordination. We have turned his grace into a license to sin. Like Saul, we offer God our disobedience as a sacrifice, and cry foul when he demands our lives instead. True worship is not simply an act that we perform. True worship is born out of our trust in God. True worship is the place where our sacrifice and obedience come together, expressed in a life laid down.

To be continued… (Next, we look at Abraham.)

(By the way, Christians, we need to repent of reading horoscopes and the little magic emails that guarantees a “blessing” if you just forward it to ten people. That’s straight up witchcraft-just saying)

With This Ring (conclusion): The Holy Spirit as our “Arrabon”

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

(In the final installment of this series, we take a closer look at the “engagement ring” the Church has been given in the person of the Holy Spirit.)

It is important to keep in mind that until the time of Christ, the Jews had only known the Holy Spirit as an impersonal, invading force. He was seen as the mysterious power of God who, at times would come upon an individual in order to equip them for a specific purpose during a limited amount of time. The Jews looked upon the Holy Spirit as the mysterious ruach, the breath and wind of God. He was, to Jew, the active power of the Lord God.[1] The Jews knew that there would come a day in which the Lord God would “sprinkle them with clean water, and put his Spirit within them” (Ezekiel 36), but they had no conception as to the intimacy this indwelling Spirit would represent. But now, Messiah had come, the spirit-man had been revealed as the unique dispenser of the very Spirit of God; and, the Holy Spirit would no longer be seen as the raw, naked power of God, he would be forever clothed with the personality and character of Jesus.[2]

Paul had now come, having received the revelation that this Holy Spirit was the “other” Comforter and Teacher that Messiah had promised, and he is given to those who believe, Jew and Gentile alike, as an arrabon, assuring them that God would indeed be faithful to bring about a complete consummation of all he had promised. Because of this arrabon the very love of God had now been “shed abroad” in their hearts; they had received the Spirit of adoption which created within them a desire to cry out, “Abba.” This same Spirit would bear witness within their own hearts that they were indeed children of God. The Spirit, who had been given to them as an arrabon, would comfort them and teach them, his presence within them providing assurance as to the complete redemption “of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.”

The Spirit has been given as a pledge or deposit guaranteeing the full realization of God’s redemptive purposes. One could say, in light of what has been discussed in the writing at hand, that the church has been given a wonderful engagement ring by her Lord. For our purposes let us imagine that this ringis a magnificent four carat arrabon and that each carat represents four different aspects of the arrabon in relation to the believer.

The first carat represents the adoptive aspect of the arrabon. Although it was uncommon for Jews to practice such adoption, it was nevertheless common for the emperors of that period to adopt from outside their immediate family and acquire a successor in this way. Our arrabon accomplishes and provides to the believer sonship and all the advantages that go along with it.

The second carat is complete assurance that the believer does indeed belong to Christ. This carat speaks of belonging and provides evidence to the believer and those on the outside that he is the property of God; and as the arrabon proves the reality of the relationship of the recipient to the giver of the arrabon at the present, it proves that the relationship will be consummated in the future.

The third is an aspect of “first fruits”. Christ has risen from the dead and the believer has promise that he himself will share in this glorious resurrection in which mortality is swallowed up by immortality.

Finally, the arrabon is assurance itself. The Holy Spirit is in the believer and he speaks of Christ with absolute assurance and conviction. This assurance is beyond mere intellectual affirmation; instead, the arrabon is an absolute convincing experience, alive within the believer.[3]

The New Testament refers to the church as the bride of Christ; and, her beloved has provided her with the most glorious arrabon ever to be received. As she waits for her husband to return and receive her unto himself, as the wedding day is delayed and times become dark and discouraging, she has only to look upon the arrabon to be assured of his love and faithfulness; and, the cry of her heart becomes, “The Spirit and the bride say come.”

           

 

 1. Michael Green, I Believe in the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004), 20-36.

2. Ibid., 50.

 3. Ibid.,100-102.

With This Ring (part3): The Holy Spirit as our “Arrabon”

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

(In part three we continue to explore the idea that by giving the Spirit as an arrabon, the eternal Lord and master of all creation has, in effect, said to his beloved, the church, “With this ring, I thee wed.”)

It is clear that the usage of arrabon was prevalent at the time the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians, and if one accepts as fact divine inspiration in regards to the writing of scripture, one can quite logically infer that God himself inspired Paul to use the term arrabon, and that it has been purposefully selected to reveal an aspect of the Holy Spirit which had heretofore been unrealized. Keeping in mind the etymology and colloquialism of arrabon, as well as its pertinence within modern society, the theological impact of the Holy Spirit given as an arrabon becomes readily apparent and the significance of this act within the life of the believer reveals promise both for the present and the future.

Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians, “In Him [Christ], you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1: 13, 14 NASB) So far, we have established the definition of the term arrabon by exploring its etymology and the colloquialism of the period in which Paul used it.  We have learned that it is something given to an individual, “in earnest”, in assurance that full consummation will occur. Now we seek to understand the theological ramifications of this most blessed arrabon. It is perhaps a common practice among writers to bring the reader along a thoughtfully laid out path of evidential citations, making use of the volumes of academic wrote, and gradually build up (saving the best for last) to a point of climactic proportion in which the reader is finally possessed by rapturous comprehension as to the writer’s assertions. However, in the case of arrabon, the magnitude and wonder of all it represents, presents the writer with such a plethora of glorious implications that one scarcely knows where to begin. There is no need to save the best for last; as the term arrabon itself implies, “We may begin here, at this point; but, it only gets better.”

Michael Green has grasped the reality of arrabon and so he tells his readers that the Holy Spirit is a real part of the age to come, that the believer possesses right now! He refers to the Holy Spirit as the engagement ring that assures us that there is so much more to come. The Spirit is God’s “first installment”, a down payment of the future salvation we will inherit. The Holy Spirit is a part of the future, now!  “He [the Arrabon] is the heavenly Lover’s engagement ring given to us. We shall carry that engagement ring with us into God’s future, when we have the full wedding ring of final union with Christ.”[1]  This life we have in the Spirit, this arrabon we have been given, is, in fact, a taste of heaven, a likeness of the life we will have when our union with Christ is consummated.

Imagine the sublimest, most treasured experiences of the Holy Spirit we have ever had and then realize they are only a foretaste, the tip of the tongue on the spoon, of what is to come. Remember the release in coming to Christ and knowing you were forgiven? Remember that time when in worship you were smitten with awe?  Remember that time you followed the Spirit’s leading and were wonderfully used? Remember the satisfaction of finding the fruits of the Spirit with goodness   where you once responded wickedly? Think of all this and then multiply it a  millionfold. Here, on earth, we have experienced the first dollar of a million celestial dollars-the earnest. We have the dawning of knowledge, but then we will have the midday sun.[2]

Paul, in several passages of the NT, speaks of an inheritance which those in Christ have received. The Apostle Peter echoes this fact, assuring believers that there is indeed an inheritance which awaits them, an inheritance which is “imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved for you in heaven.” (I Peter 1:4 NASB)  Indeed, much has been written in regards to the believer and his future in God. Jesus himself said that the glory that God had given him, he gave to the believer. (John 17:22 NASB) The Bible speaks of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27 NASB) The Bible says that when Christ appears, the saints will also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)  The Shekinah glory of God will be seen in every believer, we will indeed “reflect the glory of his grace”. “The believers inheritance is God himself and all that God bestows.”[3]  The arrabon received serves to affirm that the full inheritance will indeed be procured.

It is impossible, in our present context of mortality, to grasp the full implications of our inheritance in Christ. One can recount all of the promises of God and try to conjure images of what it will be like to physically be in his presence, yet our limited perception prohibits us from appreciating or comprehending the reality of such an inheritance. In fact, the magnitude of such an inheritance, compounded with the finite limitations of human apprehension, can reduce one to speculating as to whether or not such a thing can be true- ARRABON! Our wonderful savior did not leave us with a mere promise and an exhortation to “have faith”; he has given an arrabon whereby we may now, at this present time, experience an infinitesimally small portion of the full inheritance that awaits us at the consummation of the eschaton. The Spirit of the new age has indeed broken in upon the old. This arrabon is the first installment of the believer’s inheritance in the kingdom of God.[4]

To be continued…

                18. Michael Green, I Believe in the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004), 101,102.

                19. R. Kent Hughes, Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ (Wheaton, Il.: Good News Publishers, 1990), 46.

                20. Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology: Volumes 3&4 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1976), 261.

21. Veli-Matti Karkkainen, Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, International, and Contextual Perspective (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2002), 33.

With This Ring (part2): The Holy Spirit as our “Arrabon”

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

(What did Paul mean when he referred to the Holy Spirit as our Arrabon ? Does the term arrabon have any special insight to offer as to the Father’s intentions regarding the Church?  In part two we go a little further in our attempts to gain new perspective into the wonderful gift God has give us.)

“The word arrabon has one of the most human and interesting backgrounds of all NT words.”[1]

The word is very common in the papyri in business documents and agreements  Milligan quotes some very interesting usages of it. We take three of them as    examples. A woman selling a cow and she received one thousand drachmae as an arrabon that the remainder of the price would be paid. Certain dancing girls were being hired for a village festival and they are paid so many drachmae in advance  as an arrabon, with proviso that this already paid sum will be taken into account when the final payment is made after the performance has been given. And-a rather amusing instance-a man writes, ‘Regarding Lampon, the mouse catcher, I  paid him for you as arrabon eight drachmae in order that he may catch the mice  while they are with young.’[2]

A tablet was found at Pech-Maho, a fortified trading post occupied from sixth century BC to the third century BC, and is “particularly revealing, because it involves an agreement between people of different origins, as is clear from the names. Witnesses are invoked and an arrabon is given as a pledge. ‘The pledge [arrabon] I handed over where the boats are moored…Basigerros and Bleruas and Golo.biur and Sedegon; these were [witnesses] when I handed over the pledge.’”[3]  Parchments [shopkeeper’s accounts] dug up in the sands of Egypt revealed that arrabon was the word used “for cash on deposit, a pledge for a bill that you would pay at the end.”[4]  The populace of the first century would have been well acquainted with the term arrabon.

  In the first century – an arrabon – αρραβων – bound someone legally to the  complete purchase…  Now the New Testament was written in the common,  ordinary language of the people of that era – in what is known as Koine-Greek.  “Koine” is a term that means “common.” So the term “Koine-Greek” means “Common Greek” indicating it was the commonly used Greek language… Now although arrabon was only used three times in the New Testament, it was a  common word used daily in the lives of everyone living in the New Testament   era.[5]

and again,

In the last seventy-five years through the discovery and examination of countless“ordinary” documents of the time of Christ, we have been able to recapture   something of the language of the day: in bills and receipts, deeds and grocerylists, in letters from traveling fathers, anxious mothers, and prodigal sons. Let us look at just one example. The idea of buying on the installment plan, with a small  initial down payment, is nothing new. Contracts and bills of sale from the first century record such transactions and specify the down-payment which seals andbinds the contract; the word used for this initial payment is “arrabon,” the very  word…[6]

It is worth noting that although one may be tempted to make comparisons between arrabon and terms used in modern society, such as “down payment”, there really is no justification for the comparison. In today’s down payment arrangement, one may decide to forfeit on the desired purchase; on the other hand, an arrabon was/is legally binding. There really is no adequate English terminology that fully captures the significance of arrabon.[7]

    Arrabon, its etymology and employment within the vernacular of the first century has been adequately considered, but it should be noted, at this point, that the term is also still used in today’s modern Grecian culture and this is of particular interest to this writer in that its contemporary usage, while definitely retaining the aspect of something given at the present in assurance of future consummation, possesses a distinctively intimate quality as well. The arrabon of modern Greece has to do with the engagement period prior to an actual wedding.

Among the Greeks, the arravon [arrabon] is the betrothal period, and is itself a formal ceremony. It takes place among the relatives of the contracting parties, and is looked upon almost as binding as the actual wedding itself.[8]  “If we went to Greece today and met an engaged lady and asked to see her arrabon, she would put out her hand with an engagement ring on it.  In modern Greek, that is what the word means.”[9] In the opinion of this writer, it would be redundant to cite the many references available as to the present day usage of arrabon. Scholars such as John MacArthur[10] and Michael Green[11] all attest to the fact that arrabon is the term used today, among modern Greeks, when referring to wedding engagement. It is this aspect of arrabon that prompted this writer to choose the title he selected for the writing at hand. The idea that by giving the Spirit as an arrabon, the eternal Lord and master of all creation has, in effect, said to his beloved, the church, “With this ring, I thee wed.”

To be continued…

7. William Barklay, New Testament Words, (Louisville, Kentucky, John Knox Press, 2000), 58.

8. Ibid., 58, 59.

 9. William Allen Johnson and Holt N. Parker, Ancient Literacies: The Culture of Reading in Greece and Rome, (New York, Oxford University Press, 2009), 26.

 10. Lesslie Newbigin and Paul Weston, Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian: A Reader, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006), 138.

11. Richard Coombes, “Biblical Vocabulary Term: Arrabon,” Alpha Omega Report (2009) http://aoreport.com/ao/biblical-studies-mainmenu-68/1265-biblical-vocabulary-term-arrabon, (accessed March 21, 2011).

  12. Joel Frank, “The Use of Modern Translations and Their Effect in replacing The King James Version,” wlessays.net (1971) www.wlsessays.net/files/FrankModern.rtf, (accessed March 21, 2011).

  13. Richard Coombes, “Biblical Vocabulary Term: Arrabon,” Alpha Omega Report (2009) http://aoreport.com/ao/biblical-studies-mainmenu-68/1265-biblical-vocabulary-term-arrabon, (accessed March 21, 2011).

14. Lucy M. Garnett, “The Christian Women of Turkey,” Womanhood Vol.3 (December, 1899-May 1900): 340.

 15. David Eckman, “Life Solutions Series on God The Trinity: God The Holy Spirit,” BWGI Ministries (2005) http://www.whatgodintended.com/content/god-spirit.asp, (accessed March 23, 2011).

 16. John MacArthur, Galatians: New Testament Commentary (Chicago, Il.: Moody Publishers, 1987), 66.

17. Michael Green, I Believe in the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004), 101.

With This Ring: The Holy Spirit as our “Arrabon”

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

(A while back, I wrote a paper on Paul’s referring to the Holy Spirit as our Arrabon. Arra-what? Well, I’m glad you asked! I believe if you’ll take the time to read the next few “With This Ring: The Holy Spirit as our Arrabon” posts, you will gain new perspective as to the wonderful gift God has given to us in the Holy Spirit.)

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit, to be sure, is one that cannot be made to fit within a nicely packaged theological box. Volumes have been written in efforts to explain and comprehend the workings of the third “person” of the Trinity, and yet we find that even the Bible itself does not present us with a systematized outline concerning the Spirit; but rather teaches us about the Spirit through symbols and stories, concentrating more upon the work of the Spirit than anything else.[1] However, the Apostle Paul does give us a distinctively clear insight into one aspect of the Spirit’s work within the believer when in two of his epistles, he refers to the Holy Spirit as a pledge or arrabon, which God has given to the believer.  It is to this concept of the Spirit as the arrabon that we shall devote the content of this manuscript.

The usage of the word arrabon within the New Testament is distinctively Pauline,“…and it was a favorite of his because he uses it three times, always in the same connection. In II Cor. 1.22 he says that God has given us the arrabon of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. In II Cor. 5.5 he again talks about the arrabon of the Holy Spirit. And in Ephesians 1:14 he speaks about the Holy Spirit being the arrabon of our inheritance.”[2]  Arrabon, within the context of the aforementioned scriptures, seems to contain within it not only an aspect of the Spirit as the believer relates to him presently, but also an eschatological relevance as well. This arrabon is now a present reality, but his presence is indicative of the fact that there is more to come. There is a now, but not yet element in the word arrabon, and the propensity Paul had towards using the term peaks curiosity and incites a desire to further explore its connotations. However, before the theological implications of arrabon are explored, an excursion into its more practical aspects must be made.

Paul taught that he was teaching doctrine that had previously been hidden, and had been given to him by Jesus, through revelation( I Cor.2:7; I Cor. 11:23;Gal. 1:12). So, it behooves the sincere student of the Bible to carefully consider why Paul would use such a word as arrabon to describe the Holy Spirit. To understand the Apostle Paul’s affinity for the word arrabon, the etymology of the word must surely be considered, and the relevance which the term held for those who lived during the time of the apostle must also be comprehended.

According to James Wareing Bardsley ,

…arrabon, is doubtless of Phoenician origin. It originally signified the pledge or pawn which gave security to contract…As the Phoenicians had trading transactions with almost every part of the Mediterranean Sea, the word “arrabon”  became one of universal acceptance, just as the word “tariff,” derived from the Spanish traders, is found in almost every modern language. When the Greeks, however, adopted the term, they gave it a distinct and technical meaning. It was   not merely a pledge or security, it was something more; it signified the deposit  paid by a purchaser on entering into a contract for the purchase of anything.[3]

Raymond F. Collins shares Bardsley’s convictions that arrabon is a term taken “from the economic sphere, the world of financial transactions… [and] most likely of Phoenician origin;”[4]  Geoffrey Bromiley also concurs that “…arrabon is a commercial loanword from the Semitic [Phoenicia is included in this grouping] signifying “pledge” or “deposit”.[5]  In his book, Ephesians, Ernest Best lends his affirmation in attesting to the fact that the word arrabon “is a legal and commercial term of Semitic origin adopted into Greek which commits both giver and recipient to the completion of a deal under penalty. Yet the earnest is not just a pledge or guarantee that something will be given later; it is itself a partial gift…”[6] Among scholars, it seems to be the view of the majority that arrabon is Semitic in origin and its usage always contains some sort of commercial quality. Further citations could indeed be provided as to the origin of the word arrabon; but due to the brevity of this paper it is this writer’s hope that the reader has been given sufficient evidence as to verify arrabon’s etymology. But, is there documentation available that would indicate the colloquialism of arrabon during the time of Paul? Let us now turn our attention towards the manner in which arrabon was used in the vernacular of the first century.

To be continued…

            1.  Veli- Matti Karkkainen, Pneumatology, (Grand Rapids, MI – Baker Academic, 2002), 23.

2. William Barklay, New Testament Words, (Louisville, Kentucky- John Knox Press, 2000), 58.

                3. James Wareing Bardsley, Illustrative Texts and Texts Illustrated, (London, James Nisbet & CO., 1873), 223,224.

4. Raymond F. Collins, The Power of Images in Paul, (Minnesota, Liturgical Press, 2008), 153.

5. Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 1, (Grand rapids, Michigan, William B. Erdmans Publishing Company, 1985), 80.

                6. Ernest Best, Ephesians, (New York, T&T Clark International, 1998), 151.