Truth Be Told: A Blog by Pastor Bill Alderson

  When the Lord introduced the Law to Moses, He instituted a covenant centered on the Tabernacle/Temple and the Torah. Religious life would be centered on these two elements. This covenant, also known as the old covenant, would be superseded by the new covenant through Jesus, the Messiah, who would become the Temple (John 2:21) and the fulfillment of the Torah (Matthew 5:17), the Logos, the Word of God (John 1:1). What Jesus accomplished on Calvary when He said, It is finished , was much more than the completion of His work on earth. He was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8), the one spoken of to Adam as the seed of the woman who would defeat the works of the enemy (Genesis 3:15). The Judaism of Jesus' day, as it is today, holds that God gave Jewish leaders the authority to interpret the specifics of the Torah (the Oral Torah) and apply them to the people as they saw fit. Jesus addressed this matter with the Pharisees in Matthew 15, referring to t...

  But if it is by grace [ charis - a favor done without expectation of return; the absolutely free expression of the lovingkindness of God to men finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor], it is no longer on the basis of works [ ergon - work, performance, the result or object of employment]; otherwise, grace is no longer grace .                        Romans 11:6 Grace stands in direct antithesis to works; the two are mutually exclusive. God's grace affects man's sinfulness, forgiving the repentant sinner and bringing joy and thankfulness to Him. It changes the individual into a new creature without destroying his individuality. Grace, God’s free gift, is the environment where man can experience eternal life simply based on faith in who Jesus is and what He did. Works are not part of the equation, as Ephesians 2:8-9 r...

The night before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed to His Father, “ I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do ” (John 17:4). Throughout His public ministry, Jesus was preoccupied with this work as He said that His food was to do the will of His Father and “ to accomplish His work ” (John 4:34). This divine work, planned before the foundation of the world by “ the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God ” (Acts 2:23), is the central part of God’s plan of redemption for all mankind. It requires a victorious Messiah to be the Pascal Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). When Jesus said on the cross, “ It is finished! " in John 19:30, He spoke about more than His work on earth.   The Passover Fulfilled So much of Jesus's last week of human life was the fulfillment of many Scriptures. The Last Supper was a Passover Seder, and at the center of the service was an unblemished lamb that needed to be slain so that blood would be shed. When Paul ide...

  There seems to be no real consensus about the year each of the gospels was written, but it is fairly clear that the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written before A.D. 65, while John’s Gospel was not written until somewhere between A.D. 90 – 100. At the end of the first century, the Christian world was made up mainly of Gentiles, while the early gospels appeared during a time dominated by Jewish Christians. In addition, the 30+ year time difference represented a maturing of the Christian community regarding its understanding of doctrine since the lion’s share of New Testament works had been circulating among the churches for many years. It also meant that doctrinal deviations and heresies were appearing. John's Gospel and his letters addressed some of these heresies, including Gnosticism and Docetism, which challenged the humanity of Christ and the value of the material realm. Ultimately, John accepted and acknowledged to others his agreement with the facts prese...