Question of the Week: Does 2 Thessalonians 2:11 contradict 1 Timothy 2:4?

Contradiction is a fun word thrown around the internet and is usually used when a difference in ideas is mentioned. People who aren’t familiar with formal logic will take this claim at face value and conclude that something has been discredited as false due to the fact that two conflicting ideas are presented alongside each other. There are three problems with this approach.

1. You’re assuming the ideas have been presented properly.
2. You’re misunderstanding what a contradiction is.
3. You’re taking the critic’s word for it in the conclusion that there’s no way to harmonize both ideas.

In order to reconcile these two ideas, that God will send a strong delusion and that God desires all to come to the knowledge of the truth, we will go through these three errors and establish a format that will equip you to deal with the overwhelming majority of “contradictions” in the Bible.

Have the “Contradictory” ideas been presented properly?

In order to deal effectively with an accusation against Scripture, the first and best thing to do is look the passage up and read it in its entirety. Too many of these “bible contradictions” come as a result of misrepresenting one or both passages in order to prove a point. Both passages cited are not complete sentences, therefore are a part of a discussion that goes beyond them. In order to understand what is actually being said, we should probably read what is said lest we end up believing something about the Bible it doesn’t actually say.

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 (NKJV)

This first passage is speaking of the coming of an individual in the future, whose actions, origins, and motives will all be centered around deception. Already, we’re talking about someone who isn’t God doing the deceiving. Second, the passage being quoted as in conflict with 1 Timothy 2:4 is sandwiched between two verses that clarify the people who will be on the receiving end of this lawless one’s deception have already failed to receive the truth. Before mentioning that God would send a delusion, it is clarified that they already did not receive or want the truth or salvation. After stating that God would send the delusion, it repeats the fact that they didn’t believe the truth. If we were to summarize the point this passage is making in one sentence, it would be, “People didn’t want the truth and refused it, so God allowed them to believe a lie.” A Historical example of this taking place can be found in 1 Kings 22 concerning Ahab and God allowing his false prophets to deceive him, but not before he spent his entire life hearing and ignoring true prophets of God. To say that this passage is characterizing God as a deceiver is ironically deceptive.

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
1 Timothy 2:3-7 (NKJV)

This second passage is fairly straight-forward. However, since it can be established that the kind of people who would put forward passages to prove a point are either uninformed to the point of actually reading the passage, or are deliberately dishonest with the text in order to claim there is a contradiction. This requires us to double check everything that is said rather than assume they are being honest with the text. The passage is spoken by Paul the Apostle, who representing the God who wants all to come to the knowledge of the truth is himself also speaking the truth. That is consistent on his part. If you serve a God who wants people to know the truth, you’re not going to lie in His name. Likewise, the passage doesn’t say that all men will be saved. It says that God desires all men to be saved. There is a difference.

What is a contradiction?

The Law of Non-Contradiction is the first law of logic. In mathematical terms, it states that A does not equal non-A. In plain English, it states that two ideas can’t cancel themselves out and both be true at the same time. If 2 Thessalonians 2:11 stated that God desires all men to not be saved and not to come to a knowledge of the truth, it would contradict 1 Timothy 2:4. However, it actually presupposes the opposite. God wouldn’t send the delusion unless they had already rejected His desire for them, which is established in 1 Timothy 2:4.

Is it wise to take the Bible critic’s word for it when they claim there is a contradiction?

The answer is obviously no. In bringing up this objection, we can conclude they are either unwilling to actually read the passage or would be deliberately dishonest with the text in order to prove a point they have already decided is true before looking at the evidence. Either scenario does not put us in a good situation when hearing information about anything. However, this does not mean that you should take the Bible supporter’s word for it when they claim there isn’t a contradiction either. Whenever someone makes a claim about anything, you should always take the time to look into it for yourself. It may not take long to spot a lie or confirm the truth in someone’s words, but that doesn’t mean the effort isn’t worth taking the time to verify.

A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

Listen: Monday – Friday 5-6pm, on 106.3FM Reach Radio

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Question of the Week: Should Christians avoid eating meat sacrificed to idols because it’s demonic or because it could stumble a fellow Christian?

Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth was addressing a wide spectrum of issues they were dealing with. From sexual misconduct by people who attended the church all the way to using communion as an opportunity to get drunk, Corinth had a lot of issues that Paul only had so much paper to address. Fortunately, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he was able to address practically every issue at once by reminding them of Jesus’ New Commandment.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35 (NKJV)

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:8-10 (NKJV)

If the Corinthian church understood the example Jesus Christ set in how He uniquely modeled love, then the issues of immorality would sort themselves out with this in mind. The controversy surrounding meat offered to idols was merely one example of many he uses in order to make the point emphasized in chapter 13. He also uses the Olympics in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. He uses Israel’s wanderings in the Wilderness in 1 Corinthians 10:1-3. And he uses the example they set for them through a pattern of self-denial in 1 Corinthians 9:3-12. All of Paul’s illustrations were meant to draw their attention to the one thing they were missing in their conduct. They didn’t need an extensive list of do’s and do not’s. They needed to understand the heart of Christ. That is why the statement that introduces this point about meat offered to idols begins all the way back in chapter 8.

Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
1 Corinthians 8:1-3 (NKJV)

Knowledge wasn’t the issue. Love, or the lack thereof, was. Knowing certain facts theologically about whether or not the idols they used to worship were real didn’t matter to those who had a weak conscience. Corinth was a city wholly given over to every possible sin and vice you could imagine in the names of these false gods. In these temples, the meat produced from their sacrifices would only be associated by the Christians with the lives they were now trying to walk away from. An informed Christian would know that these idols weren’t actual gods and had no power over anyone or anything. (1 Corinthians 8:4-6) Yet Paul points out that this knowledge isn’t universal. Food wasn’t the issue. The heart being expressed towards those with or without knowledge was. (1 Corinthians 8:7-8) Therefore, Paul comes to the conclusion that he’d rather avoid eating meat altogether. Not because meat was the issue, but the fact that those with less knowledge would be stumbled by seeing fellow Christians participating in any part of the idolatrous world they had left behind. Knowledge would say that meat is meat and they need to grow up spiritually in order to recognize that these idols aren’t even real. Love would consider how their behavior affects their brethren and adjust themselves accordingly. You could have solid theology and still be no more Christ-like than how a pagan would treat his fellow man. Knowledge is important, but love is what’s most important.

This is what brings us to Paul’s point in chapter 10. Giving example after example of where a Christian’s priorities should be, knowledge and love continue to be what’s being contrasted with one another. He clarified two chapters prior that an idol is nothing (1 Corinthians 8:4) and that what you eat doesn’t make you better or worse off in your relationship with God. (Matthew 15:11) With these two premises in place, we won’t misunderstand what Paul is pointing out when he mentions the role demons play in food offered to idols.

Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
1 Corinthians 10:18-20 (NKJV)

With Israel in mind, they offered sacrifices to God in order to have fellowship with Him. This word fellowship, or literally “sharing of hearts and minds” served as a foreshadowing of the sacrifice God was willing to make in order to restore us back to a love relationship with Him again. You’re modeling yourself after God’s heart when you are willing to sacrifice for another out of love for them. That’s the goal. If your sacrifices or goals in who you want to emulate more in life is anything less than or apart from God, you’re playing right into the hands of the enemy. Some take the logic of this passage and note that to sacrifice to an idol is to sacrifice to demons, therefore the idol is actually a demon. This logic is only sound if the “sacrifice” actually determines what the object of that worship is. Paul has already noted that isn’t true. (1 Corinthians 8:4-6) With the proper knowledge of what an idol is in place, we’d also have to conclude that a demon is nothing, since the very word idol as well as Paul’s definition of it in the same book is “nothing.” This is all in terms of knowledge. The point Paul is making is to emphasize love. You don’t want anything to do with demons. They don’t love you. They will do anything in their power to distract you from God and divide those gathered together for that purpose. Paul isn’t giving some profound insight into the realm of the demonic in explaining the idols of the world are all actual demonic entities. This is unfortunately the conclusion many have come to in order to sell books. The immediate, extended, and overall literary context of the passage is setting up the imperative of love. If my behavior, whether it’s what I eat or not, causes my brother to stumble, it is far more edifying and productive to adjust my behavior for their sake then attempt to walk them through the poor logic behind their spiritual conclusions. There’s a time and place for both, but Paul is simply stating that love should always be our priority in the Christian life.

A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

Listen: Monday – Friday 5-6pm, on 106.3FM Reach Radio

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Question of the Week: What are Progressive, Positional, and Final Sanctification?

Sanctification means to set something aside. Once we have established a proper definition, then the different applications explain themselves. When referring to sanctification in a biblical sense, it can be synonymous with a wide variety of different terms. Baptism, or ceremonial immersion, can be considered a form of sanctification due to the fact that cleansing something with water was a part of dedicating the original priests in their service to God. (Exodus 30:21) This was later demonstrated by Jesus to be the means by which He dedicated Himself to the ministry His Father sent Him to this world to accomplish. (Matthew 3:13-17) Another example of sanctification is the studying of the word of God. (John 17:17-19) Marriage is another. (1 Corinthians 7:14) However, in regards to the question of terms used to describe these various forms of sanctification, the focus is on the form of sanctification known simply as the Christian life.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV)

Progressive Sanctification, Positional Sanctification, and Final Sanctification are all terms used to observe this process by which God has set us aside. This would be synonymous with salvation in the most practical sense. The question is what aspect of salvation each kind of sanctification is focusing on. Progressive Sanctification focuses on the Christian life as a whole, before Heaven but following salvation. Positional Sanctification focuses on God’s perspective of us having received His gift of salvation. And Final Sanctification focuses on the final product salvation through Jesus Christ produces in us. Notice that all of them involve us, our relationship with God, and the fact that we are saved. The only difference between them is the order of attention they all focus on.
Progressive Sanctification: Us – Salvation – God
Positional Sanctification: God – Salvation – Us
Final Sanctification: Salvation – Us – God

Progressive Sanctification is described by the Apostle Peter as the ongoing impact salvation through Jesus Christ has on our lives in a practical sense. It is worth noting that sanctification and salvation aren’t conditions of one another, but the natural result of both lived out in someone’s life. Once that salvation is in place, God’s work in your life will be reflected by these things. In other passages that encourage Christians to test themselves to see if they are in the faith, these are examples of what to look for. It is also key to emphasize that these things aren’t a replacement for salvation, but the impact the Holy Spirit will have on your life once He has been welcomed in. God cleans His fish after He has caught them. It isn’t a self-help manual. It’s an observation of the progress, or heading towards the goal, of an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:3-11 (NKJV)

Positional Sanctification brings the attention away from the Christian living their lives and onto how God views the Christian as a rule. This is the ongoing reality for those who have received and are abiding in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Even though we still struggle and fall into sin, God already sees us in Heaven with Him and righteous on the sole basis of His Son having made us justified before the Father. The Apostle Paul describes that reality in the following way.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:4-10 (NKJV)

Final Sanctification likewise brings the attention away from us in the moment and looks ahead to where we’ll ultimately be. Like Progressive and Positional Sanctification, it focuses on impact salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has on us. Unlike the former two topics, it answers the question what we are progressing towards and how that position will remain the case in Heaven. (Romans 8:29-30) We will be like Jesus. Not in the sense that we will share exclusively divine traits with the Father and Holy Spirit, but like Jesus showed us when He adopted human nature, we will reflect His perfect nature in regards to the reason we were originally created. To enjoy a relationship with Him. (John 8:29)

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
1 John 3:2-3 (NKJV)

All of these different ways of looking at the same topic are completely biblical. Though the words “Progressive, Positional, and Final” aren’t directly associated with Sanctification, they are describing biblical principals that surround this topic. Likewise, in order to have an accurate understanding of sanctification as a whole, all of these things need to be understood.
Without Progressive Sanctification, Positional and Final Sanctification are meaningless to you give the fact that you have no metric to determine whether or not you’re actually benefitting from them. Someone who understands how God sees a saved soul and where they are ultimately headed won’t help them if they have no metric to determine if they are in that position and heading to that final destination.

Without Positional Sanctification, Progressive Sanctification and Final Sanctification are useless to you given the fact that you can be living a Christ-like life and know the end result it will lead to, but it leaves out the fact that God already sees you in that Final state. The consequences of this lack produce exactly what Peter was cautioning people against in his second epistle. The more accurate your perspective of God’s character and ongoing view of you, the more hope you will have as you live out Progressive Sanctification and focus on Final Sanctification.

Without Final Sanctification, you have no reason to pursue Progressive Sanctification or consider Positional Sanctification a benefit if it only applies to this life. If you don’t understand that your positional righteousness is the goal as much as the ongoing reality, then it leads to ideas like believing you could fall back into sin in Heaven and end up the Lucifer of some new world in the future.

In conclusion, Sanctification as a whole is understood biblically through all of these doctrines. Progressive Sanctification describes the Christian life. Positional Sanctification describes God’s view of the Christian. Final Sanctification describes the end result being set apart has on us in an eternal sense. All are needed to have an accurate and complete understanding of your relationship with God.

A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

Listen: Monday – Friday 5-6pm, on 106.3FM Reach Radio

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Question of the Week: Was the Angel in Isaiah 37:36 Jesus?

Theophanies, or appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament, are fairly common. The Angel of the Lord is His most common title. However, the reason we conclude that this Angel of the Lord is Jesus is due to the fact that this Angel, or literally messenger, talks like or is treated in ways that exclusively belong to God alone. The question of whether or not the Angel that wiped out Sennacherib’s army was Jesus entirely depends on whether or not that Angel says or does something that could only be rightly said about the True and Living God. If not, then it is possible that this is merely an agent acting on God’s behalf. In this case, there is merit to either position.

The first possibility is that this is indeed an appearance of Jesus. The biblical support for this view is found in the verses immediately prior to verse 36.

“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He shall not come into this city, Nor shoot an arrow there, Nor come before it with shield, Nor build a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, By the same shall he return; And he shall not come into this city,’ Says the Lord. ‘For I will defend this city, to save it For My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’ ”
Isaiah 37:33-35 (NKJV)

The Lord is speaking and claims that “I will defend this city.” The plain interpretation and application of the passage makes it entirely appropriate to conclude that it was a literal statement. The Lord personally defended Jerusalem from her enemies. He has done so before and promised He would do so again. Examples of God personally coming to Israel’s defense can be found in Exodus 14:14, Deuteronomy 28:7, and Revelation 19:11-21.

The only other issue that needs clarification in order for this position to have merit is if destroying those who threaten Israel is something that only God can do. This is the problem. It isn’t an exclusive trait of God. God has used agents to defend Israel’s borders. Human beings like the Judges and Kings (Exodus 17:13), Angels like Michael (Daniel 10:21), and God Himself (Exodus 12:29-30) are all capable of defending Israel from her enemies. This is where the second possibility comes in. God could have sent an unnamed angel to act as His agent in this matter without contradicting verse 35. Jesus Himself declared this prerogative when clarifying to Peter that He didn’t need physical protection from His enemies. The idea of calling 12 legions of angels to defend Him was a legitimate threat if the capabilities of one is clarified in Isaiah.

But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?”
Matthew 26:52-54 (NKJV)

What then would be the fine line that would prohibit this angel from being anyone other than Jesus? The other examples of the Angel of the Lord being rightly understood as God Himself were determined when the Angel is treated or speaks in ways only God could be. Joshua encounters the Angel of the Lord and worships Him in Joshua 5:13-15. No ordinary angel would accept worship, and we have direct examples of them prohibiting it when it took place in Revelation 19:10 and Revelation 22:9.

The conclusion on the matter is simply this. Could the Angel who defended Israel from Assyria in Isaiah have been Jesus? Absolutely. The immediate context allows that conclusion. Could the Angel have been an unnamed spiritual being sent by God to fulfill His word? There is nothing that prohibits that interpretation either. The key takeaway from this passage is understanding how to identify the difference between the Angel of the Lord as God and merely another created being we refer to as an angel. This is not a passage where the line is finely drawn.

A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson

Listen: Monday – Friday 5-6pm, on 106.3FM Reach Radio

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