“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith”

 

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

Chapter 3:15-20:

“ ONE Mightier Than I Is Coming”

John the Baptist was a messenger of God; one sent in the spirit and power of Elijah the prophet. His preaching was designed to turn God's people back to Him before the coming of the promised kingdom of heaven. However, another prominent role was the introduction of the ONE !

In our last lesson we looked into some of the teaching of John; now in this lesson we will look into his preaching concerning the ONE .

Text #1:

Luke 3:15-18 “Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16 John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire." 18 And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.”

Reasoned in their Hearts: John has attracted such wide spread attention that the people began to reason among themselves as to his identity. Now, as they mused and debated among themselves; John will emphatically establish his inferiority and establish the superiority of the ONE who was still to come. This would be the emphasis of the illustration that John was not worthy to loosen the strap of His sandals.

I Baptize with Water: Although the baptism of John was a new command of God in preparation for the coming kingdom, water purification was not a new concept to the children of Israel .

Exodus 30:17-21 ; Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet prior to offerings or they would die.

Leviticus 11:24-47 ; Water was used to wash clothing, cooking utensils, etc… after they had come in contact with any unclean animals (key word: “wash” Vs. 32 – to put in water).

Leviticus 15:7-8 ; Water was used to purify oneself from unclean discharges (“wash” clothing; “Bathe” in water).

Leviticus 17:15; Numbers 19:7-10 ; Numbers 31:22-24 ; II Kings 5:14 ; continues this antecedent representation of water purification for eating things that have died naturally; water purification required of the priests offering sacrifices; cleansing after war; and even a story of cleansing from disease whereby water was the cleansing agent.

John's baptism, although more similar in style to the baptism for the remission of sins into Christ Jesus our Lord, was another antecedent representation of cleansing. It should be no surprise to anyone that the people who were coming out in multitudes to be baptized by John were not cynical at the command (for they understood the symbolic nature of purification). In the same way, Christians of the New Testament were not cynical at the command to be baptized into Christ for the remission of their sins; for they too new that it represented a cleansing. Not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but an answer of a good conscience toward God by the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ ( I Peter 3:21 ).

John goes out of his way to establish that the baptism unto the remission of sins that he commands is far inferior to the teaching, commands, and judgments still to come from the Mighty ONE!

Holy Spirit and Fire: Many over the years have made this statement by John to be something that the context does not support. In order to simply understand the meaning of the statement of John; those it is being spoken to, and the context of the statement must be carefully understood.

First, John is speaking to Jews (the children of Israel ); this is described by the pronoun, “you” in the verse (although the message would have universal meaning to all men when the fulfillment of this baptism of the Mighty ONE began; it is in this passage context specific to the Jews).

Second, the context describes the statement via an illustration in the next verse; “wheat and chaff”. Wheat represents the righteous and those of value to the Lord. The chaff represents the unrighteous and those in need of being cast off or discarded. This was also illustrated in a parable of the Lord ( Matthew 13:24 -30 ), by which He illustrated that the kingdom of heaven would be like a field where both wheat and chaff grew together. When the harvest came the wheat would be gathered together and the chaff was discarded and destroyed.

So, since righteousness is measured by obedience to the revealed instruction of God, and the unrighteous are cast into the fire; the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire was to be a baptism of revelation (for obedience unto righteousness) and of judgment of those who would reject the revealed righteousness (remember who this is being addressed to).

When Jesus spoke to His chosen just prior to His arrest and crucifixion, He gave them explicit instruction as to what the Holy Spirit would do through them when He would send the Spirit back to them after He would ascend. Part of the work of the Spirit through the Apostles would be to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. This would be done by the revelation of “all truth”! See: John 16:8-15 .

The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire became a reality to the children of Israel when the Gospel came to them first, starting on the day of Pentecost after the resurrection and ascension of the Lord. The Apostle Paul would summarize the result of this baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire on the nation of Israel in the book of Romans , chapters 9-11 . However, he gives us a brief synopsis that can help us in this short study, note:

Romans 11:5-7 “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. 7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it , and the rest were blinded .” Wheat and chaff!

Winnowing Fan and Threshing Floor: At the end of a harvest the wheat and chaff were brought to a threshing floor. This was a circular area of about 25 to 40 feet in diameter, elevated to take full advantage of the wind, and surrounded by a border of stones to keep in the grain. The grain was stacked in the center of the floor and then pitched into the air by a winnowing fan (a pitch fork like tool). Since the chaff was lighter than the grain, it would be blown apart and away from the grain. This would allow it to be gathered up and cast into a fire for its disposal.

This illustration was given because of their understanding of the process. It was also noted that that this particular separation of the righteous and unrighteous was not yet upon them. This made the preparatory wok of John extremely important for the children of Israel before the Mighty ONE would come and before this baptism of revelation and judgment was upon them.

Many other Exhortations: John not only preached the truth to the people, he exhorted them, which means to insist on them doing a known duty!

Text #2:

Luke 3:19-20 “But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.”

Herod the tetrarch: He was the tetrarch of Ituraea , the son of an un-named wife of Herod I, and he equaled his father's long reign (also known as Herod Antipas). He was as devious and sly as any Herod before or after and earned the name, “that fox” by the Lord. It was in his later years that he met Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Philip and took her to be his own wife.

Here John rebukes him for this evil relationship and all the other evil deeds he is responsible for. Herod then locks him up in prison and we will not pick up John again until chapter nine.

Keep in mind that although we will look into a window of the work of John in verses 21-22 , the focus is now off of him and on to Jesus!

In our next lesson we will look into the baptism of Jesus and His lineage back to Adam; a lineage of life!