There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
To help our memory, that the truths of God may be ready to us whenever we have occasion to use them.
Lord, let your Spirit teach me all things and bring to my remembrance all that you have said to me, John 14:26(ESV) that the word of Christ may dwell richly in me in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Colossians 3:16(ESV)
Lord, grant that I may pay much closer attention to what I have heard, lest I drift away from it; Hebrews 2:1(ESV) and may I hold fast to the word that has been preached to me, and not believe in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:2(ESV)
Lord, make me ready and competent in the Scriptures, Acts 18:24(ESV) that I may be competent, equipped for every good work; 2 Timothy 3:17(ESV) and, being well trained for the kingdom of heaven, may I, like a good master of a house, bring out of my treasure what is new and what is old. Matthew 13:52(ESV)
Nehemiah 11:1-12:26 In this week’s study, we look at the importance of what it means to be a Christian in our neighborhoods, particularly in the great urban centers of the world.
Theme
Jerusalem in the Time of Nehemiah
I do not need to prove the accelerating urbanization of the world in this century. At the time of Jesus Christ there were only about 250 million people in the world, about equal to the current population of the United States. It took 1500 years for that to double to one half billion at the time of the Protestant Reformation. It doubled again by the end of the eighteenth century, to one billion in 300 years. By the start of the twentieth century, one hundred years later, it was two billion. Today there are 4.5 billion people. And by the end of this century, that is, in slightly more than one additional decade, the population of the world is expected to reach six billion. The vast majority of these new people will live in cities.
Two hundred years ago only 2.5 percent of the world’s population lived in cities. The figure was 40 percent by 1970. Today it is almost half, and it is projected to reach a startling 90 percent by the year 2000.
Think of the cities. How many of the world’s cities do you suppose have more than a million inhabitants? The answer to that question is 175. Twenty-nine of these are in the United States, but the United States does not have the largest number of these megacities. China and the Soviet Union have more cities with more than a million persons than all other countries. The fastest growing cities in the world are in Latin America. Mexico City, now the largest city in the world, has twenty million residents. By the year 2000, India will have twenty cities with twenty million residents. In America 70 percent of our citizens now live in urban areas.
What does that say about the proper focus for Christian witness today? What does it suggest for our mission priorities?
The situation is different from the one that confronted Nehemiah. We have cities that are overflowing. He had a city that was nearly empty. Nevertheless, there are surprising similarities. Nehemiah wanted to populate Jerusalem. We need to populate our largely secular cities with Christians in order to reach this vast urban majority for Jesus Christ.
And the similarities go beyond that, particularly when we consider the difficulties Nehemiah faced in reoccupying the city. The problem is outlined briefly in Nehemiah 7:4, which says, “Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt.” Why had the city not been occupied? There were a number of reasons. For one thing, it had been without a wall for 142 years.1 This meant that the city had been defenseless for that time, and as a result it was dangerous to live there. In case of an invasion, a family living in the country could run away and hide, perhaps only losing their cattle and crops. But a person in the city was stuck. He was easy to attack, and the city, because it had few people, had few defenders.
Again, in Nehemiah’s day Jerusalem was an example of what we call urban blight. The city had been ravaged by invading armies, stripped of anything valuable more quickly and completely than an abandoned car in a ghetto. The houses as well as the walls were destroyed. Jerusalem was filled with rubble. And then, during the century and a half of its non-occupation, grass and trees would have grown up in the yards, streets and passageways. It was a difficult place to live. It was an even more difficult place to make a living. What did Nehemiah do? The eleventh chapter tells about it. First, no doubt at Nehemiah’s urging, the leaders moved to the newly walled city. Then, the people cast lots to select one out of every ten Israelites to join them.
Just like that! Because it was important that the city be occupied!
I suggest that something exactly like that needs to be done by Christian people today. For too long we have been guilty of what has been called “white flight” from the cities. We have moved away from the action, where we have been needed, to where it is nice! And because of our suburban, rural orientation, we have carried the same pattern over into our approach to world missions. We have focused on the remotest areas, while the people in those areas have been leaving them and streaming into metropolitan environments. The greatest challenge to Christian witness today is to establish an evangelical presence in the world’s cities.
1The city had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. and Nehemiah had returned to Jerusalem in 444 B.C., building the wall immediately.
Study Questions
Why had Jerusalem not been occupied?
What did Nehemiah do to repopulate the city?
Application
Reflection: If you live in a city, what can you do to bear a Christian testimony where so many people need to hear about the gospel? And if you do not live in an urban area, how can you support your fellow believers who do?
For Further Study: Download for free and listen to James Boice’s message, “A Christian World-View.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)
The cumulative case for the existence of God is overwhelming, and one piece of this case is the fine-tuning we see in the mathematical constants we see in the universe. Can this fine-tuning exist without a Fine-Tuner?
To see more training videos with J. Warner Wallace, visit the YouTube playlist.
The mention of Plato brings to mind another possible atheistic response to the first premise of the moral argument that if God does not exist, then objective moral values and duties do not exist. Plato thought that the Good just exists as a sort of self-subsistent idea, as an entity in and of itself. Indeed, it is the most real thing in reality. The Good simply exists. If you find this difficult to grasp, join the company! Nevertheless, that is what Plato believed. Later Christian thinkers, like Augustine, equated Plato’s Good with the nature of God. God’s nature is the Good, and so it was anchored in a concrete object, namely, God. But for Plato, at least, the Good just sort of existed on its own as a kind of self-existent idea.
Some atheists might say that moral values, like Justice, Mercy, Love, and Forbearance, just exist all on their own as sort of abstract moral objects. They have no other foundation; they just exist. We can call this view Atheistic Moral Platonism. According to this view, moral values are not grounded in God. They just exist all on their own.
Unintelligibility of Atheistic Moral Platonism
What might we say by way of response to Atheistic Moral Platonism? Let me make three responses. First, it seems to me that this view is just unintelligible. I simply don’t understand what it means. What does it mean, for example, to say that the moral value Justice just exists? I understand what it means to say that a person is just or that some action is just, but what does it even mean to say that in the absence of any persons or any objects at all, that Justice just exists? It is hard to understand even what this means. Moral values seem to be properties of persons, and so it is hard to understand how Justice can just exist as a sort of abstraction.
Lack of Moral Obligation on Atheistic Moral Platonism
Secondly, a major weakness of this view is that it provides no basis for objective moral duties. Let’s suppose, for the sake of argument, that moral values like Justice, Love, Forbearance, and Tolerance just exist on their own. Why would that lay any sort of moral obligation upon me? Why would the existence of this realm of ideas make it my duty to be, say, merciful or loving? Who or what lays such an obligation upon me? Why would I have the moral duty to be merciful or loving? Notice that on this view moral vices like Greed, Hatred, and Selfishness presumably also exist as abstractions. In the absence of any moral law giver, what obligates me to align my life with one set of these abstract ideas rather than with some other set of abstract ideas? There just doesn’t seem to be any basis at all for moral duty in this view. In the absence of a moral law giver, Atheistic Moral Platonism lacks any basis for moral obligation.
Improbability of Atheistic Moral Platonism
Finally, thirdly, it is fantastically improbable that the blind evolutionary process should spit forth exactly those kinds of creatures that align with the existence of this realm of abstract values.1 Remember that they have no relationship with each other at all. The natural realm and this abstract moral realm are completely separate. And yet, lo and behold, the natural realm has by chance alone evolved exactly those kind of creatures whose lives align with these moral duties and values. This seems to be an incredible coincidence when you think about it. It is almost as if the moral realm knew that we were coming! I think it is a far more plausible view to say that both the natural realm and the moral realm are under the sovereignty of a divine being, who is both the creator of natural laws that govern the physical universe and whose commands constitute the moral laws that govern our ethical duties. This is a more coherent view of reality. Theism is a more coherent view because these two realms of reality don’t fall apart in this disjointed way. They are both under the sovereignty of a single natural and moral law giver.
For those three reasons, Atheistic Moral Platonism is a less plausible view than theistic based ethics such as I have been defending.
And now, I must be mean to the atheists, because I think this me too nonsense is just ridiculous, desperate intellectual dishonesty.
I remember having a conversation with one of my IT project managers who was an atheist, and she asked me what I thought would happen to dogs when they died. I said “well on your view of atheism, they don’t have an afterlife, so they just rot away when we bury them and they get eaten by worms”. She was aghast and said “no they don’t, they go to Heaven”. That was just her wishful thinking, there. And that’s what morality on atheism is: wishful thinking. It’s just an appearance package that gets bolted onto absolute meaninglessness and hedonism. And even if the atheist tries to make traditional decisions in their own lives, they typically push for full-on dismantling of Judeo-Christian values, especially in the sexual realm. And that spills over into abortion, divorce, same-sex marriage and government restraints on free speech, conscience and religious liberty.
Dear atheists: you cannot duct tape morality onto nihilism and have it be rational. We know you’re doing it to feel good about yourselves and to appear normal instead of wearing your nihilism openly. But your faked morality is not even close to the morality of theists, and especially not of Christian theists. Christians go against their self-interest because we imitate the self-sacrificial love of Christ, who gave himself as a ransom to save others. That makes no sense on an atheistic worldview, since this life is all you have, and there is no afterlife where your actions are in the context of a relationship with that self-sacrificial Son of God. In any case, free will doesn’t exist on atheism, so that means no moral choices regardless. These are the common sense implications of atheist first principles, and in fact that’s what you hear expressed from the finest atheist scholars: no free will, no right and wrong, no life after death.
If you want to see what atheists really think about morality, then take a look at this post featuring Matt Dillahunty, where he is asked to condemn the Holocaust as objectively wrong, and he refuses to do it. That’s intellectually consistent atheist morality right there. If the universe is an accident, and human beings evolved by accident, then there is no way things ought to be, and no way we ought to act. And no one is there is no ongoing two-way relationship for our conduct to be part of, anyway. On atheism, human beings will die out individually and collectively in the heat death of the universe. Once the heat death of the universe arrives, there will be no one left to care how we lived after we’re dead – there is no one waiting for us who cares how we act towards him and towards others. Atheists can arbitrarily put any limits they want on their actions, based on what makes them feel good, and what makes people like them, perhaps taking account the arbitrary customs and conventions of the time and place they find themselves in. But it’s delusional and irrational make-believe for atheists to claim that morality is rational on their worldview.
The 1998 movie What Dreams May Come portrays Heaven as beautiful but lonely, because a man’s wife isn’t there. Remarkably, someone else is entirely absent from the movie’s depiction of Heaven: God.
That movie’s viewpoint mirrors numerous contemporary approaches to Heaven which either leave God out or put Him in a secondary role.
The Five People You Meet in Heaven, a best-selling novel by Mitch Albom, portrays a man who feels lonely and unimportant. He dies, goes to Heaven, and meets five people who tell him his life really mattered. He discovers forgiveness and acceptance, all without God and without Christ as the object of saving faith.
Five People portrays a Heaven that isn’t about God and our relationship with Him, but only about human beings and our relationships with each other. A Heaven where humanity is the cosmic center, and God plays a supporting role. The Bible knows nothing of this pseudo-Heaven.
Numerous people claim to have gone to Heaven and seen loved ones and also Jesus, yet almost never do they react as the “beloved disciple,” the apostle John, did: “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead” (Revelation 1:17).
Surely no one who had actually been in Heaven would neglect to mention what Scripture shows is its main focus. If you had spent an evening dining with a king, you wouldn’t just talk about the place settings! When John was shown Heaven and wrote about it, he recorded the details—but first and foremost, from beginning to end, he kept talking about Jesus, the Lion and the Lamb, with infinite gravitas and beauty.
A Honeymoon without a Groom?
Jesus promised His disciples, “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). For Christians, to die is to “be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8, NKJV). The apostle Paul says, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:23). He could have said, “I desire to depart and be in Heaven,” but he didn’t—his mind was on being with Jesus.
Heaven without God would be like a honeymoon without a groom or a palace without a king. Teresa of Avila said, “Wherever God is, there is Heaven.” The corollary: Wherever God is not, there is Hell.
The presence of God is the essence of Heaven. John Milton put it, “Thy presence makes our Paradise, and where Thou art is Heaven.” Heaven will be a physical extension of God’s goodness.
Samuel Rutherford said,“O my Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without thee, it would be a hell; and if I could be in hell, and have thee still, it would be a heaven to me, for thou art all the heaven I want.” To be with God—to know Him, to see Him—is the central, irreducible draw of Heaven.
Heaven’s Greatest Miracle
The best part of Heaven on the New Earth will be enjoying God’s presence. He’ll actually dwell among us (Revelation 21:3-4). Just as the Holy of Holies contained the dazzling presence of God in ancient Israel, so will the New Jerusalem contain His presence. The New Earth’s greatest miracle will be our continual, unimpeded access to the God of everlasting splendor and perpetual delight.
What is the essence of eternal life? “That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). The best part of Heaven will be knowing and enjoying God.
Sam Storms writes, “We will constantly be more amazed with God, more in love with God, and thus ever more relishing his presence and our relationship with him. Our experience of God will never reach its consummation. …It will deepen and develop, intensify and amplify, unfold and increase, broaden and balloon.”
The Reservoir that Will Never Run Dry
Because He is beautiful beyond measure, if we knew nothing more than that Heaven was God’s dwelling place, it would be more than enough to make us long to be there.
Of course we will enjoy all the secondary gifts God gives us, but they will be derivative of God Himself, and our happiness in them will be happiness in Him. Jonathan Edwards said, “The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things…but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them.”
“They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life” (Psalm 36:8-9). This passage portrays the joy that God’s creatures find in feasting on Heaven’s abundance, and drinking deeply of His delights. Notice that this river of delights flows from and is completely dependent on its source: God. He alone is the fountain of life, and without Him there could be neither life nor abundance and delights.
The Ultimate Wonder
We may imagine we want a thousand different things, but God is the one we really long for. “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1). God’s presence brings satisfaction; His absence brings thirst and longing.
Our longing for Heaven is a longing for God—a longing that involves not only our inner beings, but also our bodies. Being with God is the heart and soul of Heaven. Every other heavenly pleasure will derive from and be secondary to His presence.
All our explorations and adventures and projects in the eternal Heaven—and I believe there will be many—will pale in comparison to the wonder of being with God and entering into His happiness. Yet everything else we do will help us to know and worship God better.
God’s greatest gift to us is now, and always will be, nothing less than Himself.
saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (22:42)
The goal of all true prayer is that God’s will be done. Those who genuinely feel the affliction caused by sin and temptation are motivated to submit to Him. In Psalm 40:8 David exclaimed, “I delight to do Your will, O my God,” while in Psalm 143:10 he pleaded, “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Jesus’ model prayer teaches those who address God in prayer to say, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10; cf. Luke 11:2). The apostle John wrote, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14–15). Submission to God’s will is foundational to prayer. Jesus’ request, “Father, if You are willing,” highlights once again the contrast between His temptation and those of believers. He submitted to the Father’s will that He be made sin; believers pray that they might submit to God’s will by forsaking sin and embracing holiness. Mark records that Jesus addressed the Father using the intimate, endearing, affectionate term “Abba” (Mark 14:36), revealing the earnestness and intensity of His plea. No Jew would ever call God Father, let alone Abba. But the Lord uses this affectionate, personal term to refer to God, pleading for His intimate love to rescue Him if He wills. The word “cup” is frequently associated with judgment in the Old Testament (Pss. 11:6; 75:8; Isa. 51:17, 22; Jer. 25:15–17; 49:12; Lam. 4:21; Ezek. 23:31–33; Hab. 2:16; Zech. 12:2). Here it also refers to the agony, guilt, and wrath associated with God’s judgment of Jesus on the cross. Some have imagined that the Lord’s plea, “if You are willing, remove this cup from Me,” was a sign of weakness on His part. But it was not weakness that prompted this request, rather the opposite. His absolute holiness demanded that He recoil at the thought of bearing sin, guilt, judgment, and wrath. No other response was possible for the eternally sinless Son of God. Jesus accepted that the cross was God’s plan. In John 12 He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (v. 24); “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour” (v. 27); “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (v. 32). In Mark 8:31 “He began to teach [the disciples] that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (cf. 9:31; Luke 9:22, 44). On the final journey to Jerusalem Jesus
took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.” (Mark 10:32–34)
In spite of experiencing satanic assaults beyond the capacity of the human mind to experience or conceive and agonizing over the prospect of bearing sin, Jesus fully submitted to the Father’s will for Him to be the sin offering (2 Cor. 5:21) so that redemption of God’s elect would be accomplished. Therefore He prayed, “Yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Jesus soon demonstrated the reality of that submission when He said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11).
MacArthur, J. (2014). Luke 18–24 (pp. 303–305). Moody Publishers.
Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel.Numbers 23:23
How this should cut up root and branch all silly, superstitious fears! Even if there were any truth in witchcraft and omens, they could not affect the people of the Lord. Those whom God blessed, devils cannot curse.
Ungodly men, like Balaam, may cunningly plot the overthrow of the Lord’s Israel; but with all their secrecy and policy they are doomed to fail. Their powder is damp; the edge of their sword is blunted. They gather together; but as the Lord is not with them, they gather together in vain. We may sit still and let them weave their nets, for we shall not be taken in them. Though they call in the aid of Beelzebub and employ all his serpentine craft, it will avail them nothing: the spells will not work, the divination will deceive them. What a blessing this is! How it quiets the heart! God’s Jacobs wrestle with God, but none shall wrestle with them and prevail. God’s Israels have to prevail against them. We need not fear the fiend himself, nor any of those secret enemies whose words are full of deceit and whose plans are deep and unfathomable. They cannot hurt those who trust in the living God. We defy the devil and all his legions.
It has been hectic, so I’m reposting a hymn … one of my favorites.
________________
It Is Well With My Soul
Horatio Spafford
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll –
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Tho’ Satan should buffet, tho’ trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And has shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin – O the bliss of this glorious tho’t –
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll:
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
“Even so” – it is well with my soul.
The hymn has quite a story behind it. Perhaps by understanding some of the events surrounding it, the meaning will be clearer. Horatio Spafford was a lawyer in Chicago in 1871 when the Chicago Fire destroyed his lakeshore real estate and his finances along with it. Having already lost a son to premature death, He decided to take his wife and four daughters on a trip to England to join D.L. Moody on one of their campaigns and to get some much needed rest. Business forced him to delay his departure, so he had his family go on ahead, intending to join them as soon as he could. Soon Spafford received word that the ship had sunk. He waited anxiously for word of survivors and finally received a telegram from his wife that read “Saved alone.” Spafford hastened to join her in England, and as he sailed past the spot where his four daughters had drowned, he wrote, “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll – whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well with my soul.’”
Horatio Spafford knew God. It could only be an abiding relationship with the Almighty that would enable a man enduring such loss to say, “It is well with my soul.” He echoes the words of Paul who says, “I have learned to be content.” (Phil. 4:11-13)
What did Spafford know of God that held him in such peace? His second verse tells us. “Let this blest assurance control, that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and has shed His own blood for my soul.” To him, knowing that God loved him enough to die for him was enough. God had no requirement to do so, and the cost to Him was great – His own blood. What greater love could there be?
I think Mr. Spafford tied greater weight to his sin condition than most of us do today. He saw the forgiven state of the Christian as enough from God. His third verse dwells on the bliss of that thought. He saw forgiveness as glorious, and complete. He regarded God’s pardon as the end of the question, with sin no longer a concern. “Not in part, but the whole.” Paul says the same. We are crucified to sin. “Do not let sin reign.” (Rom. 6:12) Praise the Lord, O my soul!
So many Christians today struggle with sin. They see their shortcomings – which are real – as an obstacle to their relationship with God. There is even a sort of superstition mixed in, as if God will curse us if we sin but bless us if we don’t. They see God as turning away when they fail Him, and in some cases their large numbers of failures amass such a perceived wall between themselves and the Almighty that they give up and walk away hopeless. But sin – “not in part, but the whole” – has been nailed to the cross. We bear it no more. It is forgiven, past, present, and future. God sees us as clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He stands ready to commune with us at all times. We need merely to confess, for our benefit, our failure to obey, and we can continue the relationship. Would that we saw our sin condition and its collapse at the cross in the same light as this hymn does.
Like so many of the hymn writers of the past, Spafford looked forward to the coming of the Lord. He longed to be home. While many today aren’t sure they want Christ to return just yet, he asked that God “haste the day.” When all is said, it is there that peace is finally ours. It is in the knowledge of the transcendent God, the God who is holy and just, who is able to make all things right, the soon and coming King, that we can ultimately rest. His faithfulness is our repose. And His return is our hope. As the hymn alludes, “even so, come quickly.” It is God’s presence that brings final peace.
We, too, can enjoy this response to difficult circumstances. We can learn, with Paul, to be content in all situations. The truth is simple. If we know the God we serve, “who can be against us?” If God is God (and we are not), what more can we require? We can agree with Spafford and say, “Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.”
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (5:21)
It began with one of history’s earliest recorded instances of biological warfare. In 1347 a Mongol army besieging the Genoese trading post of Caffa in the Crimea (modern Ukraine) catapulted the bodies of bubonic plague victims over the town’s walls. The terrified defenders fled to Italy, carrying with them the deadly plague bacteria (and the rats and fleas that spread them). Over the next three years the plague spread throughout Europe in the massive epidemic now known as the Black Death. Before the epidemic ran its course an estimated twenty million people—approximately one-third to one-half of Europe’s population—perished. The coming centuries would see recurring outbreaks of the bubonic plague, which would remain a dangerous, unchecked killer until the development of antibiotics in the twentieth century. Though the Black Death is the most infamous epidemic in history, it was not the only one. The influenza epidemic of 1918–19 killed an estimated thirty to fifty million people, and several million more died at about that same time in an outbreak of typhus in eastern Europe. Other infectious diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, and in more recent times AIDS, have also claimed uncounted millions of victims. But there is one plague that is more widespread and deadly than all others combined; it is, as the Puritan writer Ralph Venning called it, the “plague of plagues.” It affects every person who ever lived—and is 100 percent fatal. Unlike other plagues, which cause only physical death, this plague causes spiritual and eternal death as well. It is the plague of sin. Because Adam’s fall plunged the entire human race into sin (Rom. 5:12–21), all people are sinners from birth. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,” lamented David, “and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5). In Psalm 58:3 he added, “The wicked are estranged from the womb; these who speak lies go astray from birth” (cf. Gen. 8:21; Isa. 48:8). Not only are all people sinners by nature, they are also sinners by action. To the Romans Paul wrote, “There is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10; cf. Pss. 14:1–3; 53:1–3). Later in that chapter he added, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23); consequently, “there is no man who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46), and no one can say, “I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin” (Prov. 20:9). The inevitable outcome for all those infected by the sin plague is death. Ezekiel 18:20 states plainly, “The person who sins will die” (cf. v. 4). Adam’s tragic epitaph, “and he died” (Gen. 5:5) will be written for all his descendants (cf. vv. 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, 31; 9:29). Nor is the prognosis any better in the spiritual realm. Sin produces two disastrous spiritual consequences: alienation from God in this life (Eph. 2:12; 4:18; Col. 1:21), and unrelenting punishment in hell in eternity (Matt. 25:41, 46; 2 Thess. 1:9; Rev. 14:9–11; 20:11–15). But the good news of the gospel is that there is a cure for the sinner infected by the deadly sin epidemic. God, in His mercy and love, provided a remedy for sin—the sacrifice of His Son. The Lord Jesus Christ “released us from our sins by His blood” (Rev. 1:5), “for by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14). Those who experience “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of [their] trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7) are cured from sin’s deadly spiritual effects. As a result, they have “passed out of death into life” (John 5:24; 1 John 3:14), and “are no longer strangers and aliens, but … are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household” (Eph. 2:19). How God made the cure possible is the theme of verses 18–20. In those three verses, Paul described the glorious truth of reconciliation—that the sin-severed relationship between holy God and unregenerate sinners can be restored “through” and “in” Christ. But reconciliation raises some profound questions. How can an absolutely and infinitely holy God be reconciled to sinners? How can His just and holy law, which demands the condemnation and punishment of all who violate it, be satisfied? How can those who deserve no mercy receive it? How can God uphold true righteousness and give grace? How can the demands of both justice and love be met? How can God be both “just and the justifier” (Rom. 3:26) of sinners? As hard as those questions seem, one brief verse answers them all and resolves the seeming paradox of redemption. With a conciseness and brevity reflective of the Holy Spirit, this one brief sentence, only fifteen words in the Greek text, resolves the dilemma of reconciliation. This sentence reveals the essence of the atonement, expresses the heart of the gospel message, and articulates the most glorious truth in Scripture—how fallen man’s sin-sundered relationship to God can be restored. Verse 21 is like a cache of rare jewels, each deserving of a careful, reverential examination under the magnifying glass of Scripture. It yields truths about the benefactor, the substitute, the beneficiaries, and the benefit.
THE BENEFACTOR
He made (5:21a)
The end of verse 20 reveals the antecedent of He to be God the Father, as seen in the previous chapter of this volume. Reconciliation is His plan, and it could not occur unless He initiated and applied it. Sinners cannot devise their own religious approach to God, because they are “dead in [their] trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). The damning lie of false religion is that man can reconcile himself to God by his own efforts, but all attempts to do so are futile. Sinners’ “righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of [them] wither like a leaf, and [their] iniquities, like the wind, take [them] away” (Isa. 64:6). As a result, “There is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10). Not even the “Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:4–5) could devise a way to reconcile themselves to God by their own efforts. Romans 10:1–3, expressing Paul’s deep concern for them, reflects that truth:
Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
Despite their zeal for God, they had not achieved salvation, because they sought it through their own righteousness. The religion of human achievement, whether practiced by Jews or Gentiles, can never bring reconciliation with God. The only way reconciliation can take place is if God reached out to sinners; and He did by the sacrifice of His Son. Jesus therefore did not go to the cross because fickle people turned on Him, though they did. He did not go to the cross because demon-deceived false religious leaders plotted His death, though they did. He did not go to the cross because Judas betrayed Him, though he did. He did not die because an angry, unruly mob intimidated a Roman governor into sentencing Him to crucifixion, though they did. Jesus went to the cross as the outworking of God’s plan to reconcile sinners to Himself. In the first Christian sermon ever preached, Peter declared to the nation of Israel that Jesus was “delivered over [to death] by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23; cf. 3:18; 13:27; Matt. 26:24; Luke 22:22; John 18:11; Heb. 10:5, 7). Only God could design an atonement for sin that would satisfy the demands of His justice, propitiate His wrath, and be consistent with His love, grace, and mercy. Only God could conceive the plan in which the second person of the Trinity would, “being found in appearance as a man, [humble] Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). Only God knew what it would take to rescue sinners “from the domain of darkness, and [transfer them] to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col. 1:13), making them “qualified … to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light” (Col. 1:12). Only God knew how to make sinners deserving of hell acceptable in His sight and fit to spend eternity in His presence. Therefore, only God could author and execute the plan of redemption and reconcile sinners to Himself. That plan is so utterly beyond the comprehension of the unregenerate that it seems foolishness to them (1 Cor. 1:18, 23; 2:14). No religion of human design has anything like it. Reconciliation flows out of God’s love; it was because He “so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “God demonstrates His own love toward us,” wrote Paul, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8); though “we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10). Because “God [is] rich in mercy, [and] because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, [He] made us alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:4–5). It is this emphasis on a loving God reaching out to sinners that sets Christianity apart from the false religions of the world. The gods of those religions are sometimes depicted as cruel, angry, and hostile and hence to be feared and appeased—even by such appalling means as child sacrifice (cf. 2 Kings 16:3; 23:10; Jer. 32:35; Ezek. 16:21; 23:37). Others are viewed as apathetic and indifferent to the worshipers who grovel before them, like Baal, whose followers Elijah mockingly challenged, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened” (1 Kings 18:27). Their devotees are often driven to desperate measures to get their attention (cf. 1 Kings 18:28). But Christianity proclaims the glorious, liberating truth that God is neither hostile nor indifferent but a loving Savior by nature. He does not need to be appeased (and indeed cannot be by any human means). Instead, He Himself has provided His own appeasement for justice and the means for sinners to become His beloved children through the sacrifice of His Son (Rom. 8:32; 1 John 4:10, 14), which fully propitiated His wrath. As a result, those who come to Him through faith are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). Because Christ’s sacrifice perfectly satisified the demands of God’s righteousness and justice, God freely offers forgiveness and reconciliation: “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost” (Isa. 55:1; cf. Rev. 22:17). Reconciliation required the death of God’s Son because “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23) and therefore, “The person who sins will die” (Ezek. 18:20). The slaughter of countless millions of sacrificial animals under the Old Testament economy graphically illustrated that truth. Though unable to atone for sin, since “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:4), those sacrifices forcibly drove home the point that sin results in death, and death is required to satisfy the demands of God’s law when it is violated. They also made the people who incessantly offered them long for the final substitute to whom the sacrifices pointed (cf. Isa. 53). And when in accordance with the Father’s plan the final substitute came, He willingly laid down His life to bring the final satisfaction to God only pictured in the sacrificial ceremonies and ritual killings of animals (John 10:11, 18; Phil. 2:7–8).
THE SUBSTITUTE
Him who knew no sin to be sin (5:21b)
This designation points unmistakably to the only possible sacrifice for sin. It eliminates every human who ever lived, “for there is no man who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46), since “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Only one who knew no sin of his own could qualify to bear the full wrath of God against the sins of others. The perfect sacrifice for sin would have to be a human being, for only a man could die for other men. Yet he would also have to be God, for only God is sinless. That narrows the field to one, the God-man, Jesus Christ. In the design of God, the second person of the Trinity became a man (Gal. 4:4–5). The Bible makes it clear that though He had a human mother, the Lord Jesus Christ did not have a human father. Joseph is never referred to as His father, because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35). As the God-man, He was the perfect One to be the sacrifice for sin (John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:19), fulfilling the Old Testament picture of the unblemished sacrificial lamb (Ex. 12:5; Ezek 46:13). The impeccability (sinlessness) of Jesus Christ is universally affirmed in Scripture, by believers and unbelievers alike. In John 8:46 Jesus challenged His Jewish opponents, “Which one of you convicts Me of sin?” Before sentencing Him to death, Pilate repeatedly affirmed His innocence, declaring, “I find no guilt in this man” (Luke 23:4; cf. vv. 14, 22). The repentant thief on the cross said of Jesus, “This man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41). Even the hardened, callous Roman centurion in charge of the execution detail admitted, “Certainly this man was innocent” (Luke 23:47). The apostles, those who most closely observed Jesus’ life during His earthly ministry, also testified to His sinlessness. Peter publicly proclaimed Him to be the “Holy and Righteous One” (Acts 3:14). In his first epistle he declared Jesus to be “unblemished and spotless” (1 Peter 1:19); one “who committed no sin” (2:22); and “just” (3:18). John also testified to His sinlessness, writing, “in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5). The inspired writer of Hebrews notes that “we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15), because He is “holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (7:26). But the most powerful testimony concerning Christ’s sinlessness comes from God the Father. On two occasions He said of Christ, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matt. 3:17; 17:5). Jesus’ unbroken fellowship with the Father also testifies to His sinlessness; in John 10:30 He said simply, “I and the Father are one” (cf. 14:9). After presenting Jesus as the absolutely holy substitute for sinners, the text makes the remarkable statement that God made Him to be sin. That important phrase requires a careful understanding. It does not mean that Christ became a sinner; the above-mentioned verses establishing His utter sinlessness unequivocally rule out that possibility. As God in human flesh, He could not possibly have committed any sin or in any way violated God’s law. It is equally unthinkable that God, whose “eyes are too pure to approve evil” (Hab. 1:13; cf. James 1:13), would make anyone a sinner, let alone His own Holy Son. He was the unblemished Lamb while on the cross, personally guilty of no evil. Isaiah 53:4–6 describes the only sense in which Jesus could have been made sin:
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
Christ was not made a sinner, nor was He punished for any sin of His own. Instead, the Father treated him as if He were a sinner by charging to His account the sins of everyone who would ever believe. All those sins were charged against Him as if He had personally committed them, and He was punished with the penalty for them on the cross, experiencing the full fury of God’s wrath unleashed against them all. It was at that moment that “Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, … ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?’ ” (Matt. 27:46). It is crucial, therefore, to understand that the only sense in which Jesus was made sin was by imputation. He was personally pure, yet officially culpable; personally holy, yet forensically guilty. But in dying on the cross Christ did not become evil like we are, nor do redeemed sinners become inherently as holy as He is. God credits believers’ sin to Christ’s account, and His righteousness to theirs. In Galatians 3:10, 13 Paul further explained the necessity of believers’ sins being imputed to Christ. In verse 10 he wrote that “as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.’ ” There is no way for sinners to reconcile themselves to God, because no one is able to “abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them.” Violating even one precept of the Law warrants eternal punishment in hell. Thus, the entire human race is cursed and unable to do anything to lift that curse. Therefore, the only reason believers can be reconciled to God is because “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’ ” (v. 13). Were it not for the fact that “while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6), no one could be reconciled to God.
THE BENEFICIARIES
on our behalf, (5:21c)
The antecedent of our is the phrase “ambassadors for Christ” in verse 20; those to whom the “word of reconciliation” was committed (v. 19), who have been reconciled to God (v. 18), and are new creatures in Christ (v. 17). Christ’s substitutionary death was efficacious only for those who would believe (John 1:12; 3:16–18; Rom. 10:9–10); all those whom the Father gives Him and draws to Him (John 6:37, 65). (For further information on this point, see the discussion of verse 14 in chapter 14 of this volume.) That God raised Jesus from the dead is proof that He accepted His sacrifice on behalf of His people (Rom. 4:25).
THE BENEFIT
so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (5:21d)
The phrase so that reflects a purpose clause in the Greek text. The benefit of God’s imputing believers’ sins to Christ and His righteousness to them is that they become righteous before Him. They are “found in Him, not having a righteousness of [their] own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Phil. 3:9). The very righteousness God requires before He can accept the sinner is the very righteousness He provides. Because Jesus paid the full penalty for believers’ sin, God no longer holds it against them. In Psalm 32:1 David wrote, “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!” In Psalm 130:3–4 the psalmist added, “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.” In metaphorical pictures of forgiveness, God is said to have removed believers’ sins as far from them as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12); cast their sins behind His back (Isa. 38:17); promised never to remember them (Isa. 43:25); hidden them from His sight behind a thick cloud (Isa. 44:22); and cast them into the depths of the sea (Mic. 7:19). Believers experience the blessedness of forgiveness solely by faith in the complete redemption provided by Jesus Christ; “the righteousness of God [comes] through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” (Rom. 3:22). They are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24); therefore, God is “the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). In Romans 3:28 Paul stated definitively, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (cf. 4:5; 5:1; Gal. 2:16; 3:24). When repentant sinners acknowledge their sin (Ps. 32:5), affirm Jesus as Lord (Rom. 10:9), and trust solely in His completed work on their behalf (Acts 4:12; 16:31), God credits His righteousness to their account. On the cross God treated Jesus as if He had lived our lives with all our sin, so that God could then treat us as if we lived Christ’s life of pure holiness. Our iniquitous life was legally charged to Him on the cross, as if He had lived it, so that His righteous life could be credited to us, as if we lived it. That is the doctrine of justification by imputation—the high point of the gospel. That truth, expressed so concisely and powerfully in this text, is the only cure for the sin plague.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2003). 2 Corinthians (pp. 209–217). Moody Publishers.
“States, like individuals, who observe their engagements, are respected and trusted: while the reverse is the fate of those who pursue an opposite conduct.” —Alexander Hamilton (1790)
Schumer Shutdown update: The blame for the government shutdown that has lasted for nearly two weeks still rests squarely on the shoulders of Senate Minority “Leader” Chuck Schumer. Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries in the House have repeatedly tried to pin the blame on any Republican for any reason, but the simple fact is that a Biden-era spending bill to keep the government open passed the House almost a month ago. Republicans in the Senate lack the 60 votes required to pass the bill, requiring at least a few Democrat votes. Schumer orchestrated the shutdown in a desperate attempt to cling to his own political position. The shutdown was endangering the financial stability of U.S. service members until Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth acted to redirect unobligated research and development funds, ensuring that military service members will receive their October 15 paychecks on time.
Government layoffs underway: Republicans informed Democrats that if the government shut down, layoffs would follow — and President Trump warned that the jobs affected will be “Democrat-oriented.” In an effort to coax the Democrats into backing down, layoffs were delayed for the first nine days of the shutdown, but on the tenth, OMB Director Russel Vought posted on X, “The RIFs have begun.” Pursuant to the “Reduction in Force” plans, more than 4,000 federal workers received layoff notices on Friday, according to a court filing. The layoffs affected most cabinet departments, with the largest cuts occurring at the Treasury and HHS.
Trump hits China with 100% tariffs: On Friday, President Trump responded to China’s announcement that it would severely clamp down on rare earth exports beginning December 1 by hitting Beijing with 100% tariffs. “This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World,” Trump noted regarding China’s action. “I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at [the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit], in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so.” Trump’s retaliatory tariffs sent the stock market tumbling, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling almost 900 points. Trump also countered Beijing by restricting exports of “critical software” to China. The date Trump set for the new tariffs is November 1.
Nobel winner dedicates prize to Trump: While the Nobel Committee clearly decided to snub Donald Trump by awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, Machado herself sought to rectify the situation by dedicating her award to Trump. “We are on the threshold of victory, and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy,” Machado stated. “I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!” Machado has been in hiding in Venezuela for over a year after her refusal to concede a bogus election result to dictator Nicolas Maduro. She has also praised Trump’s actions against Maduro and his criminal drug trafficking cartels.
Trump targets Blumenthal: President Trump is calling for an investigation into Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s false claims of military service. This followed a heated exchange between the senator and Attorney General Pam Bondi, in which he questioned her about the lobbying activities of her former law firm, prompting her to accuse him of stolen valor. Blumenthal responded to Trump’s claims by admitting that he had misspoken about his military service with the Marine Corps Reserves in the past. “I served in the reserves and I referred to my service ‘in Vietnam’ on a handful, just a couple of occasions, rather than ‘during Vietnam,’” he told CNN. Trump stated on Truth Social, “The soldiers in his so-called ‘platoon’ came forward and said that they had no idea who this guy was. … This guy shouldn’t even be in the U.S. Senate. It should be investigated, and Justice should be sought.”
Qatar gets air force base in Idaho: On Friday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. has agreed to host a Qatari air force base in Idaho. “Today, we’re announcing a letter of acceptance in building a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho,” Hegseth stated. He noted that the base, which will host Qatari F-15 fighter jets and pilots, will “enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability.” Hegseth tied this decision to Qatar’s help with the Gaza peace deal, telling Qatari Minister of Defense Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at a ceremony at the Pentagon, “You have been a core part of what has unfolded in Gaza, a historic moment. We’re grateful for the strong partnership that we have, the way you support our troops at Al Udeid, Your Excellency, the line of communication we’ve had together.”
Benny Johnson death threat leads to arrest: A death threat was mailed to the home of conservative podcaster Benny Johnson days after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Johnson, who spoke at Kirk’s memorial service, alerted AG Pam Bondi about the threat, and she launched an investigation. The alleged writer, George Isbell Jr., has now been arrested, and a federal case has begun. The letter attempts to insult Johnson by calling him “Charlie Kirk Jr.” and expresses contempt for the “shallow bigoted slugs” who support him. The letter continues, “Maybe someone will blow your head off!!!” Johnson explained in a statement that left-wing copycats are the greatest threat to America today since they “target people for simply speaking the truth.”
Bari Weiss begins accountability at CBS: CBS News’s new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, took a page from Elon Musk’s DOGE book by sending an email to all CBS staff requesting they provide information on their job activities. As Weiss’s email phrased it, she is seeking to “understand how you spend your working hours — and, ideally, what you’ve made (or are making) that you’re most proud of. I’m also interested in hearing your views on what’s working; what’s broken or substandard; and how we can be better. Please be blunt — it will help me greatly.” Predictably, a number of CBS employees took offense at Weiss’s request and got their union to issue a warning not to respond. Given that response, it certainly appears that Weiss will need to clean house at CBS.
MIT and other universities balk at White House proposal: The White House issued a proposal in early October offering nine universities the option to sign on to a compact that requires a course correction in exchange for access to federal funding. MIT President Sally Kornbluth says she “cannot support” the compact that requires the elimination of race and sex from admissions decisions and requires universities to embrace the reality of the gender binary. The University of Virginia has expressed doubts, and Democrats in Tucson, home of the University of Arizona, have formally opposed the compact. Only at the University of Texas have leaders embraced the proposal, saying they were honored to be invited to join the compact.
Headlines
Trump’s doctor says he is in “exceptional health” (Not the Bee)
Bounties to assassinate ICE in Chicago came from Mexico, DHS reveals (Washington Examiner)
NJ school board race shaken up by vile text attacking conservative mom and her body (NY Post)
State Dept. demands China release detained underground church pastor, father of U.S. citizens (Christian Post)
18 people in Tennessee bomb factory blast are presumed dead (NY Post)
Humor: Trump retaliates for peace prize snub with picture of the Nobel Committee in sombreros (Babylon Bee)
On Friday, we learned that President Donald Trump did not win the Nobel Peace Prize. It was the least shocking news since the sun rose earlier that day. Today, he’s in Israel, having just spoken to the Knesset after the last 20 living hostages were all released, and the nation celebrates its victory over Hamas in the war begun two years ago. Even some Democrats and Leftmedia pundits admit that Trump’s peace deal is impressive, Nobel or no.
Now, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana pledges to work with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to push Trump’s nomination for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. “There is no one more deserving,” Ohana said.
The fascist Nazi president arrived in Israel on Saturday, and he was met by cheering throngs of Israelis in what has become known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. Rally attendees donned Make America Great Again apparel and chanted “Thank you, Trump!”
This morning, Hitler Trump addressed the Knesset, where he received a lengthy standing ovation.
“After two harrowing years in darkness and captivity, 20 courageous hostages are returning to the glorious embrace of their families,” President Trump told Israeli lawmakers and dignitaries. “Twenty-eight more precious loved ones are coming home at last to rest in this sacred soil for all of time. And after so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace.”
Not all the bodies have been released yet; some may never be because Hamas didn’t exactly work to preserve remains.
Trump added, “This is not only the end of a war. This is the end of an age of terror and death, the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God.”
As if in rebuke to those who mischaracterize Israel as the bad guy, he put the day in context. “As we celebrate today,” he said, “let us remember how this nightmare of depravity and death all began two years ago, on the eve of the Simchat Torah holiday, thousands of innocent Israeli civilians were attacked by terrorists in one of the most evil and heinous desecrations of innocent life the world has ever seen. Please know that America joins you in those two everlasting vows. Never forget and never again.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sang Trump’s praises, too. “Donald Trump is the greatest friend that the state of Israel has ever had in the White House. No American president has ever done more for Israel than this one, and as I said in Washington, it ain’t even close.”
It must almost physically burn rabidly anti-Semitic leftists that Trump is the one who brought an end to the war they decried for Israel’s supposed “genocide” against Gazans. There was no genocide, or even a famine, for that matter.
Now that the war appears to be over, what does the future hold? More details will come in a summit that Trump will attend next in Egypt, as regional leaders meet to discuss plans. One thing seems likely: A coalition of international troops, including those from Egypt and elsewhere, may be on the ground in Gaza to restore stability.
U.S. troops will not be deployed there, assured Vice President JD Vance. “We’re not planning to put boots on the ground. What we already have is a U.S. Central Command, we already have people in that region of the world,” said Vance. “They’re going to monitor the terms of the ceasefire. They’re going to monitor [and] ensure the humanitarian aid is flowing.” He reiterated, “It’s not going to be necessary for American troops to be in Gaza.”
Much of the future depends on what happens with Iran. Tehran has sponsored much of the terrorist violence in the Middle East for decades, including Hamas’s October 7 massacre, seeking to destabilize the region and gain hegemony. Various Trump moves — from the Abraham Accords and exiting the Iran nuclear deal in his first term to a security deal with Qatar and Operation Midnight Hammer in his second — have countered Iran’s influence and strength. Even Iran-friendly Bashar al-Assad is gone from Syria.
Trump specifically praised Israel for its airstrikes in June — Operation Rising Lion. Together, he said, “We stopped the number one state sponsor of terror in obtaining the world’s most dangerous weapons.” He added, “We took a big cloud off the Middle East and off of Israel.” Looking forward, he concluded, “You know it would be great if we could make a peace deal.”
Time will tell.
Democrats have long been afflicted with chronic Trump Derangement Syndrome, but even some of them couldn’t help but admire the president’s work in the Middle East. “I really commend President Trump and his administration as well as Arab leaders in the region for making the commitment to the 20-point plan and seeing a path forward,” said … [checks notes] … Hillary Clinton.
Indeed, Trump was successful in getting Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey to support his push against Hamas. He backed Hamas into a corner through diplomatic channels and by beating Iran into submission. It was a masterstroke of statesmanship that saved many lives.
Does anyone out there think Joe Biden could have staved off a nap long enough to make any of that happen? Does anyone out there still actually think Trump is just like Hitler? If so, it’s probably time to get some help.
Douglas Andrews: Trump to China: FAFO — The lying, thieving, cheating Chinese flexed their rare earth trade muscles late last week, but the American president wasn’t having any of it.
Thomas Gallatin: The FBI’s Gun Data Fail — A new report exposes that the Bureau’s data on instances of armed civilians stopping or preventing mass shootings is inaccurate and vastly undercounted.
Michael Smith: Coerced Collectivism — When attempts at coerced collectivism inevitably collapse, it’s only a matter of time before the next generation rediscovers the ruins and declares, “We’ll get it right this time.”
Roger Helle: Vladimir Putin’s War — In Ukraine, I prayed a long time before delivering the message on the need for radical forgiveness. The response at the altar that night showed me the need is great!
Gary Bauer: The Left’s Deadly War on America — With each passing day it becomes increasingly clear that the neo-Marxist Left is at war with America — both figuratively and literally.
Days of National Recognition: Columbus Day vs. Indigenous Peoples’ Day — Historical revisionists detest much of our American heritage and thus attempt to cancel certain notable figures.
Armed Forces Tribute: Navy Birthday — Our Navy remains the most formidable fleet in the world. Thanks to all our Active Duty and Veteran sailors!
Candace Owens Doubles Down — Owens has been spinning her narrative again. This time, she brought receipts supposedly showing that Charlie Kirk was abandoning the pro-Israel cause.
This One’s Going Down — The Supreme Court heard a case challenging Colorado’s conversion therapy ban for children.
Satire: Satan Teaches Everything on Masterclass — Learn to love yourself, live your truth, and follow your heart. It’s all here in this Masterclass: politics, religion, parenting, and more, from the Master: Satan.
SHORT CUTS
Useful Idiots
“Hamas Takes a Big Risk in Deal to Release Hostages.” —New York Times headline
Theater of the Absurd
“We’ve had truly an amazing summer.” —Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker regarding Chicago’s 123 homicides
The BIG Lies
“There’s no antifa. This is an entirely imaginary organization. There is not an antifa.” —Jimmy Kimmel
“There was no violence at all [in Portland]. There was no destruction at all.” —retired U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin
“[Republicans] decided to shut the government down. … Republicans have voted for a partisan spending bill.” —House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries
Non Compos Mentis
“Letting the very small number of transgender students in Minnesota play on their school sports teams doesn’t harm anyone, but segregating them does.” —Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison
“I agree with the concerns expressed by parents and players that we have to take into account biological factors such as muscle mass and unfair student athletic advantage when we determine who plays on which teams, especially in contact sports. … There was no way I was going to go against my very nature and turn on transgender people.” —Kamala Harris
Re: The Left
“There is no question that the side in greater danger today of becoming the party of political murder is the one whose highly educated followers have long considered themselves uniquely tolerant.” —Michael Barone
“Battles over Columbus Day aren’t really about Christopher Columbus at all — they’re about whether America should exist.” —Daniel McCarthy
Editorial Exegesis
“Republicans are talking like they’re prepared to surrender to Democrats on extending the pandemic-era ObamaCare subsidies once the government reopens. They might want to check out Wednesday’s Congressional Budget Office report that the deficit for the last fiscal year clocked in at $1.8 trillion.” —The Wall Street Journal
The Art of the Deal
“The conventional wisdom said that military action could not guarantee security. That wasn’t just wrong; it was catastrophically wrong: It was military action that took out the supporting pillars beneath Hamas’ feet. The conventional wisdom said that the United States ought to play a peculiar neutral role between Israel and its genocidal enemies. That wasn’t just wrong; it was idiotically wrong: The Trump administration’s open support for Israel’s military victory led to actual victory. The conventional wisdom said that threatening to kill terror leaders abroad would be conflagrationist. That, too, was wrong: It was Israel’s willingness to kill terror masters in Iran and Qatar that led to Qatar and Turkey deciding to press for Hamas’ ouster, with a carrots-and-sticks approach led by Trump. For understanding the Middle East better than all the so-called experts … Trump undoubtedly deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.” —Ben Shapiro
“A lifetime of maneuvering for advantage in the real estate and media worlds in New York City — searching for and using every ounce of leverage — was better preparation for high-level international diplomacy than if Trump had spent a lifetime on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.” —Rich Lowry
Touché
“In an interview that very few people evidently read, James Comey admitted to being a communist in the 1970s. … Maybe the FBI should have been investigating James Comey for Russian collusion.” —Gary Bauer
ON THIS DAY in 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the first American naval force, and thus today is considered the birthday of the U.S. Navy — it’s 250th. Today, our Navy still stands ready for action to defend American Liberty.
Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray for the protection of our uniformed Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Lift up your Patriot Post team and our mission to support and defend our legacy of American Liberty and our Republic’s Founding Principles, in order that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.
Israel rejoices on a historic and emotional day as the remaining living hostages are released following the ceasefire/peace agreement; a look at the scene in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv over the weekend as Israelis awaited the release of the hostages; many look to a Scripture in Jeremiah as a picture of what took place today; President Trump arrives in Israel to speak to the Knesset; Chris Mitchell talks about how the deal is a victory for Israel and a defeat for Hamas, the impact of the release of the hostages in Israel and on Hamas, the connection between Israelis over the hostages and the sense of the gathering in Hostage Square, the geopolitical implications of the peace deal, the question of over whether or not Hamas will disarm, and the reaction of Christian groups in Israel to the deal; before the war ended, the largest delegation of US lawmakers ever visited Israel to strengthen ties between the two countries; and thousands gather in Washington DC for Communion America, to repent and call on God to heal the nation.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a time when the government is shut down due to partisan politics and the bickering that’s taking place on Capitol Hill over the issue, thousands of people gathered on the National Mall to lift up the name of Jesus. They came to Washington to take a seat at the table of brotherhood to celebrate Communion America.
The blowing of the Shofar symbolized the National Mall becoming Holy Ground for planting seeds of spiritual renewal. Thousands of believers came together, representing all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and Israel.
From the main stage of the event, speakers cried out for repentance, declaring, “Jesus, we need your leadership. We repent!”
It has taken a full decade, but the mainstream media is finally catching up to what some folks have been saying since the day the Paris Agreement was signed. It was built on sand, unenforceable, and destined to crumble under the weight of its own political posturing.
(Bill O’Reilly) Let’s talk about presidential power. It can cut both ways, and as a loyal American, you should be thinking about this because it directly affects your well-being.
In his first term, Donald Trump played the usual White House game until he lost reelection. Then all hell broke loose. But during the four years he occupied the Oval Office, Mr. Trump was a fairly standard leader trying to get things done in a traditional way.
He got hosed.
Mexican and South American drug cartels? No let-up.
Weakness in Europe? Accelerated.
Illegal immigration? Congress would not allocate money to build a wall.
Inner-city crime? Exploded, as leftist prosecutors refused to enforce the law.
Food and gas prices? Stable at first, but eventually, COVID wrecked delivery systems.
China and Iran? Pretty much did bad things at will. View article →
Trump Organization executive vice president Eric Trump opens up about years of legal battles targeting his family and their business, on ‘Life, Liberty & Levin.’ #fox #media #us #usa #new #news #foxnews #erictrump #trump #donaldtrump #trumporganization #legal #lawsuit #court #justice #government #politics #political #politicalnews #family #business #newyork #law #america
Meanwhile we’re not hearing a peep from the leftist Democrats in Congress who have been demanding a “ceasefire NOW” for a long time. It’s almost as if that wasn’t their actual goal.
However, as you probably predicted, there are many who are trying to credit the previous administration (at least partly) for what has taken place. On CNN, the former deputy press secretary at the Pentagon under President Autopen, Sabrina Singh, talked about the “framework” for the deal that she says was developed during the Biden-Harris years:
CNN: The Biden administration, on its way out, tried to get to a deal. It did not. What do you think is the difference here in this moment that put the Trump team ahead?
Sabrina Singh: The framework that has been put into place… builds on the framework of the Biden… pic.twitter.com/lN1vSVKWbp
Somebody else who was working in the Biden administration, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, also tried to credit Team Biden for the peace deal while patting Trump on the head. This is pitiful:
Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Gaza peace deal:
“It’s good that President Trump adopted and built on the plan the Biden Administration developed.”
Miranda Devine nuked Blinken’s attempt to credit the previous administration:
How pathetic, from this inept failure as Secretary of State, who only got the job because he sucked up to Joe Biden for years and did favors for his crackhead son.
This is the ineffectual toady who sat mute as Chinese officials yelled at him and disrespected America, who covered… https://t.co/WQAxaRjBVK
This is the ineffectual toady who sat mute as Chinese officials yelled at him and disrespected America, who covered up his boss’s obvious cognitive decline, who simped with Europeans in the hope they would accept him as one of them, who presided over the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, who helped his boss make every conflict in the world worse, who installed his childhood friend from their Parisian school, Robert Malley, as “Iran special envoy” only to see the guy stripped of his security clearance, suspended, and investigated for “mishandling” classified information — a mystery which still has not been explained.
So, sure, try to take credit for what Trump achieved in eight months after your four years of humiliation on the world stage. No one buys it.
Does anybody really believe that we’d be seeing what’s happening right now if Biden or Harris were still in office?
Typical Blinken.
Afghanistan withdrawal goes bad, we used Trump’s plan.
Gaza peace deal goes well, Trump used Biden’s plan.
JERUSALEM, Israel – After two long years, Israelis today celebrated the freedom of all 20 living hostages from Hamas captivity. While the hostages came home, President Donald Trump landed in Israel to address the Knesset and celebrate the end of the war and the release of the hostages.
After 737 days in captivity, the hostages reunited with their families, amid joyous celebrations, mixed with anguish at the pain and abuse they suffered.
While the families received their loved ones, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted President Trump at Ben Gurion Airport. Trump then traveled straight to Jerusalem, where he addressed members of Israel’s parliament.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump effusively for his support for Israel over the years — a “partial list” that included his role in the hostage deal; for recognizing Israeli rights in Judea and Samaria, for the Abraham Accords, and for opposing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and attacking Iran’s nuclear sites. Netanyahu added: “Donald Trump is the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.”
(Joel Pollak – Breitbart) U.S. President Donald Trump told Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Monday that “This is not only the end of a war, but the end of an age of terror and death, and the beginning of an age of faith and hope.”
“Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change… Like the USA right now, it will be the GOLDEN AGE of Israel and the Golden Age of the Middle East.” (Watch the president’s speech on the site.)
Trump spoke as the twenty remaining living Israeli hostages returned to their families in emotional scenes. View article →
•
NEWS: After two long years, all 20 living Israeli hostages have finally been released from Hamas captivity under President Trump’s U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal. Emotional reunions unfolded across Israel as freed captives embraced loved ones for the first time since October 7th, 2023. Trump called it a “great and beautiful day” while addressing the Knesset before heading to a regional summit to discuss Gaza’s future.
•
•
FOCUS STORY: A simple pizza order turns into a divine encounter. A pastor’s wrong delivery leads to prayer, tears, and a powerful reminder that God’s timing is never off.
•
•
MAIN THING: For the first time in decades, men are outpacing women in church attendance. Madison Seals talks with Brad Hill from Gloo about why this shift is happening — and how churches can make the most of this encouraging trend.
•
•
LAST THING: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” — Romans 12:12
Truth2Freedom's Blog 