Orthodoxy and Gregory of Nyssa's Universalism

I: INTRODUCTION
Gregory of Nyssa famously defended the doctrine of the Trinity in the Second Ecumenical Council in AD 381, and Gregory of Nyssa also defended the doctrine of universalism with the restoration of all things. Ironically, the Fifth Ecumenical Council in 553 condemned Origen's universalism according to the wishes of Emperor Flavius Justinian, who wanted to condemn all universalist teachings, but the Fifth Ecumenical Council also commended Gregory of Nyssa, calling him a holy Father who wrote about the true faith. And universalism has been heterodox in most of Western Christianity since then.1

On the other hand, universalism was an orthodox option during the Early Church and the first four Ecumenical Councils. For example, four of the six known theological schools during the Church's first five centuries taught universalism.2

Gregory of Nyssa had exemplary trinitarian credentials and taught that the unsaved dead suffer punishment in hell while he also taught that hell is purgatorial and temporary. He taught that hell is purgatorial in that the punishments in hell purge the sinful dispositions of the unsaved dead. And he taught that hell is temporary in that the unsaved dead suffer punishment in degree and duration according to their sinfulness. And this implies that the unsaved dead will eventually repent in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and get liberated from hell.3

Modern evangelical denominations typically forbid doctrines of purgatorial hell. For example, the Assemblies of God credentialed me a few years ago, but I had to resign my credentials or waive my right to teach my recently modified interpretations of future prophecies in Scripture.

This paper contends that Christian Scriptures teach that the unsaved dead can eventually repent in the name of Jesus to get saved out of hell and accepted into heaven. And this paper contends that such formerly orthodox teachings should be orthodox within evangelical churches. And here is a review of some relevant Scriptures and various opposition.
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1Pierre Batiffel, "Apocatastasis", The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I, (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907), http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01599a.htm.
2George T. Night, "Universalists", New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. XII: Trench – Zwingli, ed. S. M. Jackson, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1950), 96.
3Batiffel.

II: I PETER 3:18-20, 4:6 AND PATRISTICS

18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. (1 Peter 3:18-20 NRSV)

For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does. (1 Peter 4:6 NRSV)

Many Early Church fathers taught that Christ descended to hell with the gospel according to 1 Peter 3:18-20, 4:6. Second and Third Century Church fathers teaching the descent to hell with the gospel included Polycarp of Smyrna, Ignatius of Antioch, Hermas, Justin, Melito of Sardis, Hyppolytus of Rome, Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen. Fourth Century Eastern Church Fathers teaching the descent to hell with the gospel included Athanasius, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Nazianzen, John Chrysostom, Jacob Aphrahat, and Ephrem the Syrian. Later Eastern Church Fathers teaching the descent to hell included Cyril of Alexandria, Maximus the confessor, and John Damascene. These patristic authors agreed that Christ delivered the gospel to hell between his death and resurrection. The only dispute among them was if Christ preached the gospel to all the dead or only a particular category of the dead such as those imprisoned from the days of Noah or the Old Testament believers.4

Augustine wrote extensively on the topic. For example, in Letter 164, he opposed a common Christian doctrine of his time by saying that it is absurd to think that anybody who rejected Christ in life would get a chance at salvation in hell. And he proposed that 1 Peter 3:18-20 teaches that the preexistent Christ preached through Noah.
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4Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, "Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent of Christ into Hades in Eastern and Western Theological Traditions", (A lecture delivered at St Mary’s Cathedral, Minneapolis, USA, 2002), http://orthodoxeurope.org/page/11/1/5.aspx.

III: EXEGESIS AND I PETER 3:18-20, 4:6
Utley's exegetical Bible study of 1 Peter represents common modern evangelical views of 1 Peter 3:18-20, 4:6.5 Utley notes that three items should be linked together: 1) Jesus was "in the spirit" per verse 18; 2) Jesus preached to the spirits in prison per verse 19; 3) these spirits did not obey in the days of Noah per verse 20.

Utley also notes six theories about the preaching to the imprisoned spirits according to 1 Peter 3:18-20:
1) the preexistent Christ preached through Noah
2) Christ ascended through the heavens and announced his victory over the angelic realms, which relates to Rabbinic tradition from the apocryphal II Enoch that says fallen angels are imprisoned in the second of seven heavens
The next five theories are in the context of Christ preaching between his death and resurrection.
3) Christ preached "condemnation" to the imprisoned humans of Noah's day
4) Christ preached good things to Noah and his family in Paradise in the view of the imprisoned humans of Noah's day in Tartarus
5) Christ preached "condemnation" to the fallen angels of Genesis 6:1-4
6) Christ preached "condemnation" to the "half-angel, half-human" creatures of Genesis 6:4
7) Christ preached "salvation" to the imprisoned humans of Noah's day

The context of 1 Peter 3:18 indicates that the preaching takes place after the physical death of Christ. So we can eliminate the interpretation of the first theory.

Utley contends that "was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit" implies that the preaching took place after the resurrection, and he chooses the second theory. Utley says that both phrases "was put to death in the flesh" and "made alive in the spirit" are a parallelism while both phrases are aorist passive participles, and the tense implies that this is a historical event performed by an outside agency. And in this case, "made alive in the spirit" implies the resurrection.

We agree that this is an example of parallelism that is common in the Bible, and we agree that the phrases are aorist passive participles. But "made alive in the spirit" does not have to imply the resurrection. For example, the death by crucifixion forced the spirit of Christ to temporarily leave his physical body, so Christ was made alive in the spirit.

And in regards to the theory of fallen angels imprisoned in the second of seven heavens, we see no essential difference between angels in "chains of deepest darkness"6 in the second heaven or some region in hell. Likewise, we see little difference between the second and fifth theories apart from whether Christ preached between his death and resurrection or after his ascension.

Concerning the third theory, we see no reason for Christ to preach unconditional condemnation to the unsaved humans that lived in Noah's days. This is inconsistent with Hebrew prophecies of judgment. For example, the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel teach that prophecies of judgment to both nations and individual people are always conditional, which we will see in Section V. And the fourth theory is similar to the third theory in that the unsaved hear preaching with evidently no conditions for repentance.

Christ preaching unconditional judgment to the fallen angels in the fifth theory has the same problem as the third and fourth theories because prophecies of unconditional judgment are inconsistent with the teachings in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The sixth theory has all of the problems of the fifth theory, plus the sixth theory contains the apocryphal I Enoch teaching of half-angel, half-human creatures, which needs correction. For example, if incarnate angelophanies had sex with women, then it would be incorrect to say that the offspring are half-angel, half-human. The argument for this correction will examine scriptural teachings of human-like angelophanies, teachings about the incarnation of God the Son from the Fourth Ecumenical Council in 451, and mammalian hybrids.

The account in Genesis 18:1-19:25 teaches important details about human-like angelophanies. The account begins with three human-like angelophanies visiting Abraham. The angelophanies conversed, ate, and drank with Abraham. And later, the men from Sodom wanted to sexually rape two of the angelophanies. These details suggest that the angelophanies had a digestive tract and sex appeal. We assume that these angelophanies manifested in a human body. And we propose that each of the angelophanies were a hypostatic union of an angel and a newly created human adult body without mother or father or genealogy, which we call a "fiat angelic incarnation". We also consider that some angelophanies were a hypostatic union beginning with an angel fusing to a human zygote or new embryo, which we call a "progressive angelic incarnation". We favor the former scenario because good angelophanies tend to suddenly appear in scriptural accounts and the former scenario avoids Adam’s curse on holy incarnate angels.

We propose that the wicked sons on God that produced children with human women according to Genesis 6:1-4 were angelic incarnations. And other interpretations have contextual problems according to Utley.7

Now we will look at the biology of the purported descendants of angelic incarnations and human women, which from the scriptural context includes the "Nephilim" per Genesis 6:4 and the "Anakites" who descended from the Nephilim per Numbers 13:33. The example of the Anakites indicate that at least some of the Nephilim had no trouble producing fertile children. And the biological definition of "hybrid" in regards to mammals implies that hybrids such as mules rarely if ever produce offspring. And the "biological species concept" implies that interbreeding between different mammalian species rarely if ever produces fertile offspring. This implies that the Anakites did not descend from a hybrid. And this implies that the angelic incarnations had Homo sapiens chromosomes. Many of the angelic incarnations and their children may have been physically taller or stronger than the average human, but their biological bodies were completely human as the body of the Lord Jesus was completely human.

Rejecting the apocryphal theory of hybrids also fits the rest of the New Testament. For example, 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6 use apocryphal descriptions for the punishment of fallen angels, but do not suggest that the angels are hybrids.

The seventh theory that Christ preached salvation to the imprisoned humans of Noah's day has trouble because the phrase "spirits in prison" in 1 Peter 3:19 alludes to the fallen angels from Genesis 6:1-4. And Utley associates the seventh theory with Clement of Alexandria. But Clement of Alexandria noted in Stromata, Book 6 that Christ also preached to those who were chained after perishing in the flood, which implies the fallen incarnate angels of Genesis 6:1-4. And Clement of Alexander supported universalism that included the restoration of fallen angels. Likewise, the seven theory options are insufficient.

We propose that 1 Peter 3:18-20 teaches that Christ preached the gospel to the imprisoned incarnate angels from Noah's days. This has advantages: 1) the interpretation represents sound exegesis; 2) it works with the teachings in Jeremiah and Ezekiel in regards to the conditions of prophetic judgments; 3) it rejects the erroneous apocryphal teaching about half-angel, half-human creatures.

Clement of Alexandria and other Early Church fathers such as Gregory of Nyssa also believed that Christ preached salvation to all dead humans. And we assume that this is an implication of combining 1 Peter 3:18-20 and 4:6. And this suggests that the preaching to the wicked angelic humans from Genesis 6:1-4 represents the universality of the preaching during the descent to hell. For example, these wicked angelic humans lived before the origin of Hebrew messianic prophecies, the Mosaic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, and the Noahic Covenant. Likewise, we propose that 1 Peter 3:18-20 and 4:6 imply that Christ preached salvation to all dead humans, including fallen incarnate angels.
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5Bob Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, (Lubbock, Texas: Bible Lessons International, 2001).
6See "chains of deepest darkness" in 2 Peter 2:4 and "eternal chains in deepest darkness" in Jude 1:6. NRSV
7Bob Utley, How It All Began - Genesis 1-11, (Lubbock, Texas: Bible Lessons International, 2001).

IV: COLOSSIANS 1:15-20

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20 NRSV)

Colossians refuted a heresy in the church of Colossae that evidently was related to various gnostic beliefs. Part of the heresy involved a belief in a hierarchy of angels that included the belief that physical matter such as the human body is evil. For example, it taught that matter and spirit are antithetical.8

Colossians 1:15-20 teaches about the superiority of Christ over everything "visible" that represents matter and everything "invisible" that represents spirit. It also teaches that Christ shed blood on his cross to reconcile everything to God, which includes everything on "earth" that represents matter and everything in "heaven" that represents spirit. And this refutes the heresy that matter and spirit are antithetical.

We also propose that Christ shedding his blood to reconcile everything in heaven to God according Colossians 1:20 suggests that Christ shed his blood for fallen angels in heavenly places. For example, the context of 1:16 and 2:15 implies fallen angels. And a related passage in Ephesians 6:12 teaches that evil angels are in heavenly places. Likewise, Christ shed his blood for fallen angels and preached the gospel along with the consequences of rejecting the gospel to the fallen angels. And presumably many of the fallen angels chose to hold onto their worldly powers as long a possible instead of surrendering to Christ.
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8Bob Utley, Paul’s Prison Letters: Colossians, Ephesians, Philemon and Later, Philippians, (Lubbock, Texas: Bible Lessons International, 1998).

V: PROPHETIC JUDGMENTS
If we believe that all of the original books in the Old Testament and the New Testament are the Word of God while contending that 1 Peter 3:18-20, 4:6 teaches that Christ preached salvation with liberation from hell to the unsaved dead, then we need to apply the Analogy of Faith and offer suggestions that explain the consistency of Scripture. We propose that a careful examination of Old Testament prophetic judgements helps to reconcile Scriptures that describe everlasting punishment with Scriptures that imply possible liberation from hell. For example, Jeremiah 18:5-10 and Ezekiel 33:12-16 teach that prophecies of blessing or judgment to nations or individual people are conditional.9 And most Scriptures related to hell are apocalyptic, and apocalyptic Scriptures by definition are mostly symbolic instead of literal.

Here is Jeremiah 18:5-10:

5Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. 9And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. (Jeremiah 18:5-10 NRSV)

Jeremiah 18:7-8 teaches that prophetic condemnations to nations are conditional. For example, according to the Book of Jonah, Jonah prophesied the overthrow of Nineveh to the people of Nineveh. And Jonah tried to avoid delivering the prophecy of doom because he knew that the Lord would relent of his plans for Nineveh's doom if the people would repent after Jonah prophesied. And the Book of Jonah never explains this conditional element of the prophecy. But we see that the Lord delayed his punishment of Nineveh after the people of Nineveh repented. And the Jeremiah also contains various prophecies of doom to several nations while all of the prophecies were conditional with no conditions directly stated within the respective prophecies.

And here is Ezekiel 33:12-16:

12And you, mortal, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not save them when they transgress; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, it shall not make them stumble when they turn from their wickedness; and the righteous shall not be able to live by their righteousness when they sin. 13Though I say to the righteous that they shall surely live, yet if they trust in their righteousness and commit iniquity, none of their righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. 14Again, though I say to the wicked, “You shall surely die,” yet if they turn from their sin and do what is lawful and right— 15if the wicked restore the pledge, give back what they have taken by robbery, and walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity—they shall surely live, they shall not die. 16None of the sins that they have committed shall be remembered against them; they have done what is lawful and right, they shall surely live. (Ezekiel 33:12-16 NRSV)

Ezekiel 33:14-16 teaches that prophecies of doom to individual people are conditional. And the Book of Ezekiel contains several prophecies to individual people and nations while all of the prophecies were conditional with no conditions directly stated within the respective prophecies.

Kearley compiles several other examples of conditional prophecies in the Old Testament, and he concludes that all predictive prophecies are conditional. For example, prophecies with unfulfilled conditions can be repealed, altered or delayed according to God's eternal purposes. And Kearley applies this to end-time prophecies when he says: "If the conditional element were accepted, this would constitute a giant step toward the unity of classical premillennialists, dispensationalists, amillennialists, and postmillennialists."10

Such conditional eschatology also applies to Christ offering salvation to the unsaved dead. The prophecies of everlasting punishment depend upon the condition that the unsaved continue to reject Christ forever.

We also consider that many prophecies describing everlasting punishment are apocalyptic, which by definition is mostly symbolic instead of literal. For example, many classify the Book of Daniel as an Apocalypse. And during the Olivet discourse, Jesus says that Daniel is a prophet. And Daniel 12:2 predicts that many people will be resurrected to disgrace and everlasting contempt. But given the conditional nature of prophecy and the symbolic nature of Apocalypses, we should not insist that these verses teach about everlasting punishment with no chance of liberation.
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9F. Furman Kearley, "The Conditional Nature of Prophecy: A Vital Exegetical and Hermeneutical Principle", (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press, not dated), http://www.apologeticspress.org/rr/reprints/Conditional-Nature-of-Prophecy.pdf.
10Kearley.

VI: OPPOSITION FROM HODGE
In 1871, Charles Hodge represented many in the Reformed tradition by appealing to the Analogy of Faith to assert that 1 Peter 3:18-20, 4:6 cannot teach that Christ preached the gospel to spirits in prison because such an interpretation is contrary to the rest of Scripture and "the faith of the whole Church, Latin, Lutheran, and Reformed". Hodge also says the whole Church teaches that preaching the gospel for salvation is confined to this present life. And he says, "It is certainly a strong objection to an interpretation of any one passage that it makes it teach a doctrine nowhere else taught in the Word of God, and which is contrary to the teachings of that Word, as understood by the universal Church."11

We respect Hodge's enormous contribution to systematic theology, but Hodge is mistaken about the Early Church and Eastern Church Father's in regards to the limits of the gospel. And Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev says that contemporary Eastern Orthodox churches believe Christ preached the gospel to the dead.12

Rejecting that Christ preached the gospel to unsaved dead requires more than Hodge appealing to the Analogy of Faith while denying the truth about the first five centuries of Church doctrine. And it requires more than Augustine saying that Christ offering salvation to those who rejected him in earthly life is absurd. Both Church history and Scriptures referenced in this paper indicate that the possibility and hope of universalism is orthodox.
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11Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology II, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1940), 615-21.
12Alfeyev.

VII: THE POSSIBILITY OF UNIVERSALISM
Hebrews 9:27 says that humans are destined to die once and then face judgment. And this is consistent with Gregory of Nyssa's view of hell. Those who die lost suffer in hell according to their sins, but they still have the possibility of salvation.

Many modern universalists claim that everybody's salvation is guaranteed. For example, various preachers claim that Acts 3:21 teaches that all people including the final Antichrist will be restored before Christ returns. But that is not the context according to 3:22-23.

Here is Acts 3:19-23:

19Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, 20so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, 21who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets. 22Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you. 23And it will be that everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted out of the people.' (Acts 3:19-23 NRSV)

Acts 3:21 implies that the restoration of all things will occur before the return of Christ while 3:23 implies that all who do not heed Christ will be utterly destroyed. Likewise, the context of 3:21-23 does not necessitate that this restoration of all things must include everybody's salvation. On the other hand, if 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 and various passages in Revelation teach about a final personal Antichrist who is a progressive or fiat incarnation of a fallen archangel, then that Antichrist could get saved according to conditional eschatology in Section V.

There are several scriptural passages about God's love and desire for the salvation of all people, for examples, John 3:16 and 1 Timothy 2:1-4. These passages along with 1 Peter 3:18-20 & 4:6, Colossians 1:20, Jeremiah 18:5-10, Ezekiel 33:12-16 and an understanding of scriptural Apocalypses can encourage us with the possibility and hope of universalism. Humans and angels have the free will to continually reject Christ forever, but literal foreverness is a long time.

VIII: VARIOUS PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
We conclude by addressing various philosophical considerations that are all part of the big picture. For example, many devout Christians struggle with the Augustinian doctrine which implies that billions of people including everybody's loved ones that died lost have no chance of liberation from the torments of literal everlasting punishment. We contend that Scriptures do not ask us to carry the burden of this interpretation. And we are free to approach theodicy and console mourners including ourselves with the possibility and hope of universalism. And many people think that Gregory of Nyssa's representation of God is more just and more loving and more powerful than Augustine's representation of God.

Some evangelicals complain that if Christ evangelizes the dead, postmortem evangelization, then there is no need for Christians to sacrificially dedicate themselves to the Great Commission. But this as an immature attitude that has nothing to do with the universalism and evangelistic zeal of the Early Church. That immature attitude essentially says, "Let the world go to hell because Christ evangelizes hell." Regardless of our interpretation of hell, Christ told us to preach the gospel to all ethnic groups. And we obey Christ.

Some evangelicals are concerned with the problem that immature Christians and the lost will take hell lightly if we admit that Scriptures indicate the possibility of liberation from hell. And some people may think like that. This is analogous to some people deciding to murder only in states that do not have a death penalty. However, we can decrease the problem by emphasizing teaching that God gives extra punishment to those who purposefully abuse God's grace. Likewise, the unsaved dead suffer punishment in degree and duration according to their sinfulness. And nobody gets out of hell without genuinely repenting of their sins.

Gregory of Nyssa went as far as saying that the punishments in hell are purgatorial instead of judicial. We propose a middle ground where the punishments for the lost in the afterlife are both purgatorial and judicial. And we clarify that all cases of salvation are initiated by the Holy Spirit and require the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, many people say that all theological systems that include universalism teach that all paths lead to God. This is not the case with scriptural Early Church approaches to universalism. For example, there are many wrong paths that lead away from God. And this paper strictly holds to the belief according to John 14:6 that nobody comes to the Father apart from Jesus Christ while nobody comes to Christ without repenting from wrong paths.

Copyright © 2007, 2008 James Edward Goetz

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Updated 1/28/8

Messianic Prophecy and the Words of Jesus

I: INTRODUCTION
During the third decade of the first century AD, Jesus claimed that he was the Messiah1 of the Hebrew Bible.2 And his Messianic claims were the reason why the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem accused Jesus of blasphemy and devised plans to kill him.3

When Jesus began his teaching and miracle ministry, the Jewish people were subject to the Roman Empire and many Jews had great expectations for a kingly political Messiah to overthrow the oppressive Roman government. And prophetic predictions from the Hebrew Bible gave the Jews good reason for their belief that they would see a kingly Messiah.4 But the Hebrew Bible also contained predictions of a prophetic Messiah5 and a suffering priestly Messiah.6 The Jews at this time, however, primarily focused on the prophetic predictions of a political Messiah while Jesus was a master of multitasking and claimed that he was the prophetic Messiah, the priestly Messiah, and the kingly Messiah.
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1The Hebrew word "Messiah" was translated to the Greek word "Christ". And the words "Messiah" and "Christ" derive from the word "anointed one", which means that a person is divinely empowered for a special task.
2The Hebrew Bible (The Jewish Bible) is also the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.
3See Matthew 26:62-66, Mark 14:60-64, Luke 22:66-71.
4The predictions of a kingly Messiah include Psalm 110:1, Isaiah 9:6-7 in the Christian Bible/Isaiah 9:5-6 in the Hebrew Bible, Isaiah 11:1-12:6, Daniel 7:13-14, Micah 5:2-4, Zechariah 14:1-21. Also see Isaiah 2:1-4, Micah 4:1-5.
5The predictions of a prophetic Messiah include Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (with references in John 6:14, 7:40; Acts 3:22-26, 7:37) and Isaiah 61:1-4 (with a reference in Luke 4:14-21).
6The predictions of a suffering priestly Messiah include Isaiah 52:13-53:12.

II: THE PROPHET
Jesus identified himself with the prophetic Messianic ministry described in Isaiah 61. He stood up amongst a group of Jewish worshippers, and he read out loud from Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then Jesus claimed that he just fulfilled those prophetic verses in the presence of the respective audience.7 And during the next three years, Jesus powerfully preached the good news of God’s kingdom while he miraculously ministered to the poor, to prisoners, to the blind, to the oppressed, and to many other needy people.
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7See Luke 4:14-21 NRSV.

III: THE PRIEST
A primary job description for the priests in the Hebrew Bible was the management of animal sacrifices that were used in worship.8 Some of the sacrifices were part of a thanksgiving and fellowship celebration, but most of the sacrifices were related to requirements for the forgiveness of sins. This sacrificial system foreshadowed9 the sacrificial death of the Messiah. And the sacrificial death of the Messiah was predicted centuries earlier in Isaiah 53, which describes a suffering servant who dies for the sake of others and then eventually succeeds to greatness.10 11

Jesus frequently predicted his eventual suffering and violent death. For examples, Matthew, Mark, and Luke show that Jesus used straightforward language to predict his death and resurrection to his disciples on at least three occasions.12 And all four Gospels record a few cryptic teachings of Jesus that predicted his eventually death and resurrection.13
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8See Leviticus 1:1-9:24, 16:2-34.
9In Biblical studies, a person or event or institution that foreshadows is called a "prefigurement" or a "typology". For example, 1 Peter 3:18-22 teaches that the flood in the days of Noah prefigured new covenant water baptism.
10The original date and the authorship for many chapters of Isaiah is a common subject of academic debate. Many scholars say that some chapters of Isaiah were written in the eighth century BC while other chapters were written in the sixth or fifth century BC, and some claim that parts of Isaiah were written as late as the second century BC. However, regardless of when Isaiah 53 was written according to these debates, the predictive prophecies in Isaiah 53 were written centuries before the life and death of Jesus.
11Various sources of Jewish tradition say that the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 is a symbol that represents the nation of Jewish people, but a literal interpretation of Isaiah 53 describes an individual person who dies for the sake of others and then eventually succeeds to greatness. And various translations of the Targum Jonathon (an ancient source of Jewish Bible tradition) say that Isaiah 53 describes the Messiah.
12See Matthew 16:21-23, 17:22-23, 20:17-19; Mark 8:31-33, 9:31-32, 10:32-34; Luke 9:21-22, 9:44-45, 18:31-33.
13See Matthew 12:39-40, 16:1-4, 21:33-40; Mark 12:1-11; Luke 11:29-30, 20:9-16; John 2:18-22, 3:14-15, 8:28-29, 10:11-18, 11:25-26, 12:23-33, 16:17-28.

IV: THE KING
Jesus identified himself as a kingly Messiah. For example, Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1 while saying that the Messiah is Lord of King David.14 And seventy-seven verses quote Jesus refering to himself as the "Son of Man". The term "Son of Man" refers to Daniel 7:13-14, which describes "one like a human being" or traditionally "one like a son of man" who comes from God through the clouds in the sky to rule all of the nations on earth. For example, Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man while citing from Daniel 7:13 that describes the Son of Man as "coming with the clouds of heaven".15 Likewise, Jesus identifies himself as the kingly Messiah destined to rule all of the nations on earth.

We will now refer to the predicted Messiah of Daniel 7:13-14 as the "Danielic Messiah", and the Danielic Messiah has interesting implications. First, the title "Son of Man" possibly suggests that the Messiah has a human birth. Second, the divine description of "coming with the clouds of heaven" suggests that the Messiah comes to the earth from the sky. At first glance, these two implications may appear as a puzzling combination. But Jesus clarified the issue when he frequently taught two concepts about the Son of Man: 1) Jesus taught that he was the "Son of Man" during his three years of ministry;16 2) Jesus taught that he would gloriously appear in the future.17 And the glorious appearance in the future is commonly called the "second coming".
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14Matthew 22.41-46, Mark 12:35-37, Luke 20.41-44.
15See Matthew 24:30, 26:64; Mark 13:26, 14:62.
16For examples, see Matthew 8:19-20, 9:1-8, 11:16-19, 12:39-40, 17:22, 20:17-19, 26:1-2, 26:45-46; Mark 2:1-11, 8:31-33, 9:30-31, 10:32-34, 10:42-45, 14:21, 14:41; Luke 5:17-26, 6:22, 7:31-35, 9:57-58, 11:29-30, 17:24-25, 18:31-32, 19:9-10, 22:47-48.
17For examples, see Matthew 19:29, 24:27-31, 24:36-51, 25:31-32, 26:63-64; Mark 8:38, 13:26, 14:61-62; Luke 21:25-26, 22:66-70.

V: THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM TODAY AND TOMORROW
Jesus claimed that he initiated the Messianic Kingdom,18 but Jesus also taught that the fulfillment of the Messianic Kingdom would occur in the future. This means that the Kingdom of God is both now and also will be completed in the future.19 This helps to explain why the New Testament claims that we are living in the new covenant of the Messianic Age while we still do not see the fulfillment of all Hebrew Bible prophecy related to the new covenant/Messianic Age. For example, Jeremiah prophesized about the "new covenant" and said that the Lord would put His laws in the hearts and minds of His people so that no one would need a teacher to learn about the Lord.20 In the present age, believers have the Holy Spirit as a teacher,21 so that prophecy from Jeremiah is partially fulfilled. But we still need the New Testament ministry of teachers until the Lord returns.22 Furthermore, Jesus was the complete Messiah from when he was in Mary's womb to his death by Roman crucifixion, but the fulfillment of all Messianic prophecy will occur when Jesus returns.
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18See Matthew 4:17, 11:12, 12:28, 13:31-32, 19:13-15; Mark 1:14-15, 4:30-32, 10:13-16, 10:29-30; Luke 13:18-19, 18:15-17, 18:29-30.
19For a detailed explanation about the Kingdom of God being both now and in the future, see George E. Ladd (1959) Gospel of the Kingdom.
20See Jeremiah 31:31-34.
21See John 16:5-15, Romans 8:16.
22See 1 Corinthians 13:8-12.

VI: MESSIANIC PROPHECY WITH MULTIPLE FULFILLMENTS
Some Messianic prophecies have multiple fulfillments, and sometimes the original fulfillment did not involve the Messiah. For examples, Psalms 22 and 41 and 69 describe suffering in the first person while they are traditionally associated with David, and Jesus also quoted verses from those Psalms in relation to his own suffering.23 We may refer to these Psalm verses as "secondary Messianic prophesies" because the Messianic fulfillment came after the original fulfillment while the other Messianic prophesies may be called "primary Messianic prophesies".
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23Jesus (Matthew 27:46/Mark 15:34)quoted Psalm 22:1; Jesus (John 13:18) quoted Psalm 41:9; Jesus (John 15:25) quoted Psalm 69:4.

VII: MESSIANIC TYPOLOGY
Jesus told his opponents that he would show them the "sign of Jonah" while referring to Jonah’s three days and nights in the stomach of a large fish that was followed by Jonah preaching to the wicked city of Nineveh.24 Jesus alluded to his eventual death and resurrection when he compared himself to Jonah, and Jonah is an example of a typology or prefigurement, which as described in note number nine is a person, event or institution that foreshadows.
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24See Jonah with references in Matthew 12:38-41, 16:4; Luke 11:29-32.

VIII: CONCLUSION
This brief introduction helps us to understand the structure and content of Messianic prophecy and typology in relationship to the words of Jesus. In sum, Jesus referred to primary and secondary Messianic prophecies and typologies when he taught about the events in his first and second coming. Furthermore, we pray that this introduction will help us to gain a better understanding of all Biblical prophecy and typology.

APPENDIX OF KEY BIBLE QUOTATIONS

The Lord says to my lord, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool." (Psalm 110:1 NRSV)

In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:2-4 NRSV)

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:6-7 NRSV, Isaiah 9:6-7 in the Christian Bible is Isaiah 9:5-6 in the Hebrew Bible.)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6, George Frideric Handel, 1741)

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:1-9 NRSV)

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6 NRSV)

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:10-12 NRSV)

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; (Isaiah 61:1-2 NRSV)

As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being* coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14 NRSV)
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*Aramaic one like a son of man (Note from NRSV Anglicized Edition, 1989, 1995.)

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. (Jesus quoted in Matthew 12:35-45.)

Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. (Jesus speaking in Mark 8:38 NRSV.)

While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, "How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet."' David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?" And the large crowd was listening to him with delight. (Mark 12:35-37 NRSV)

Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. (Jesus speaking in Mark 13:26 NRSV.)

Then Jesus said to them, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled." (Mark 14:48-49 NRSV)

... Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" Jesus said, "I am; and 'you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,' and 'coming with the clouds of heaven.'" (Mark 14:61-62 NRSV)

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:14-21 NRSV)

Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again." (Jesus quoted in Luke 18:31-33 NRSV.)

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Jesus quoted in Luke 24:44-47 NRSV.)

Copyright © 2007, 2008 James Edward Goetz

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Updated 1/30/8

Divine Purpose

If we are searching for our purpose in life, we can look to the teachings in the Christian Scriptures. For example, Jesus taught that the most important commandment is, "... you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."1 And the most important commandment according to Jesus is a key to understanding our purpose in life. In other words, our most important purpose is to love God with all of our life.
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1Mark 12:30. See Jesus quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5 in Mark 12:28-30 and Matthew 22:36-38.

This all-encompassing love of God is not necessarily a perpetual fuzzy feeling about God, but a devotion that focuses on trust and faithfulness. This love of God includes all of our relationships and activities. For example, Jesus taught that the second most important commandment is, "... you shall love your neighbor as your self."2 And loving our neighbor involves forgiveness,3 ethical living,4 helping needy people,5 and bringing Jesus to every human in the world.6
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2See Jesus quoting Leviticus 19:18 in Mark 12:31 and Matthew 22:39.
3See Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 6:12-15.
4See Mark 12:32, Matthew 22:40.
5See Luke 10:25-37.
6See Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 24:46-48, Acts 1:6-8.

When considering our divine purpose in life, we should also understand the first commandments that God spoke to the first humans as written in Genesis 1:28, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." Here we see that God’s first commandment to humanity was to have children. This does not mean that everybody should rush to impregnation, which is impossible for many people. But everybody should value the importance of parents7 and the divine institution of marriage.8
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7Deuteronomy 5:16, Ephesians 6:3.
8See Genesis 2:23-24, Matthew 19:3-9.

For the second commandment to humanity, God told us to fill the earth and subdue it. In other words, God commanded humanity to migrate throughout the earth and to develop technology from nature for our advantage. The commandment for us to subdue the earth does not mean that we are to trash our planet, but we are suppose to use nature for human advantage.

When we look to find our purpose in life, we should also consider God’s design of humanity. For example, Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." This means that the created spirit and mind of humans are a finite representation of the infinite God. And this divine image in humans helps to explain why humans have priority over the rest of creation, as described in Genesis 1:28. And this divine image in humans is part of what allows us to have a parent-child relationship with God, which brings us back to our most important purpose of loving God.

However, there is a problem. The first humans disobeyed and rebelled against God, which caused corruption in the original design of the human spirit. And since then, all humans have inherited a corrupted spirit and have continued to rebel against God.9 But God provided an answer for that problem by sending Jesus to restore us from our corruption and disobedience.10
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9See Genesis 3:3:1-24, Roman 5:12.
10See John 3:16.

Believing in Jesus is the first step in restoring the original plan for our parent-child relationship with God. And all true believers have a portion of the Holy Spirit of God living inside of them.11 And it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit within us that we can fully love God with all of heart and soul and mind and strength.
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11See John 14:16-17, Acts 1:8, Romans 8:14-16, Ephesians 1:13-14.

The Holy Spirit of God within us gives us greater character. For example, Galatians 5:22-23 says, "... the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control...." Here we see that the Holy Spirit within us helps to develop important character qualities that we need for a successful life. And this spiritual development will progress for our entire life while we continue to trust and devote ourselves to God.

We must remember that the same Spirit who gives us joy also gives us patience, and patience is synonymous with long-suffering. And we need patience because we sometimes suffer, some people more than others. We may hope for a life without suffering and a wise person will try to avoid unnecessary suffering, but our Lord Jesus suffered and all of us will suffer in our learning experiences.12
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12See Romans 5:1-4; Hebrews 5:7-10, 12:2-8.

The Holy Spirit of God within us also helps us to fulfill our divine purposes by giving us spiritual gifts. For example, 1 Corinthians 12 says that the Holy Spirit gives some believers a message of wisdom, and others a message of knowledge, and others special faith, and others gifts of healing, and others miraculous powers. Here we see that the Holy Spirit gives gifting such as special wisdom and faith that can help us to succeed in every situation.

We also learn from the teaching about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 that God does not give all of the spiritual gifts to lone rangers, but the Spirit of God will disperse all of the spiritual gifts to a group of believers. God did not design us to fulfill all of our purposes by ourselves, and many important accomplishments in life require teamwork.

In sum, we see that our most important purpose is to love God and our second most important purpose is to love humans. And God designed humans to rule the earth while loving God and each other. And God gives His Spirit to live inside believers so we can develop character and gifting that help us to succeed in all that we do.

Many of us have great dreams and goals. This is good because God gives goals and dreams to all of His children.13 We must make sure that we are humble before God and that we allow God to adjust or change our goals.14 We also must be willing to do anything that God asks us to do. We need to be faithful in all of our circumstances if we want God to give us greater responsibilities.15
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13See Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2:17-18.
14See James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6.
15See Matthew 25:14-30.

I pray that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit will bless all who hear and all who study these teachings.

For additional reading and meditation, see Romans 12:1-21.



Copyright © 2007, 2008 James Edward Goetz

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Updated 1/27/8

Sexual Purity and Scripture

What Does Scripture Say about Second and Third Base?

I appreciate that many teens and adults have taken a pledge to abstain from sex apart from marriage. Some make this choice primarily for health reasons while others make the choice because they honor God by obeying Scripture.

I wish that I did not have to write this embarrassing article, but everybody does not have the same definition for "sex". For example, there are a growing number of teens who pledge to abstain from coitus (genital-to-genital sexual penetration) before marriage while they compensate for their sexual desires by giving and receiving second or third base sexual favors with their sweethearts, which we will call partner masturbation or alternative sexual favors. And many married people avoid coitus apart from marriage while they compensate for their sexual desires by practicing alternative sexual favors with people other than their spouse.

Partner masturbation is the erotic manipulation of genitals apart from coitus. This erotic manipulation may involve manual fondling or oral contact or lap dancing or clothed dry humps. And the participation in these alternative sexual favors may be either heterosexual or homosexual. And in some cases, people participate in group alternative sexual favors.

Former United States President Clinton made the definition of "sex" a world headline when he claimed that the oral sexual favors performed on him by Monica Lewinsky were not part of a sexual relationship. Clinton swore under oath that he had no sexual relations with Lewinsky. Evidently, Clinton believed that his avoidance of coitus apart from marriage meant that he never had sexual relations with Lewinsky while she performed oral sexual favors on him.

I am not sure of the statistics, but I conjecture that the majority of adults in the world associate alternative sexual favors with sexual relations. And a careful study of Scripture implies that sex includes all types of sexual favors. This means that single men and women can avoid coitus without lusting for coitus and still live a sexually immoral life. Likewise, a single woman may claim that she is a virgin who kept her hymen intact, but she is unchaste herself if she participated in alternative sexual favors. And married people can avoid coitus apart from marriage and still live a sexually immoral life.

I felt challenged by people who claimed to keep their virginity while they would participate in sexual favors with their friends. Scripture is crystal clear in its commandments against sex apart from marriage. And Scripture is clear in its commandments against lusting for sex apart from marriage. But Scripture never clearly describes partner masturbation. This can lead to challenging questions. For example, someone might say, "I am a single virgin, what could be wrong when I masturbate my sweetheart?"

The lack of details in Scripture about some alternative sexual relations does not condone any alternative sexual relations. And Scripture never teaches to compensate for sexual tension by practicing masturbation. And Scripture teaches to flee any potential sexual compromise.

Romans 1:24-27 teaches about sexual immorality. Here is Romans 1:24-27:

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:24-27 NRSV)

These verses teach that sexually immoral relations degrade the body. And these verses also include the only passage in Scripture that specifically mentions lesbian sex, which is women having sex with each other. For example, Romans 1:26-27 says that some women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, and then these relations are compared to men who committed shameful acts with other men. We mention this because lesbian sex can never possibly involve coitus, but it typically involves partner masturbation. This is a clear example of sex apart from coitus. In fact there are many who practice lesbian sex but are virgins in the sense that they never participated in coitus. These are clear examples of virgins who live sexually immoral lives. And by no means does God wink his eye at heterosexual immorality and only condemn homosexual immorality. Everybody who participates in sexual relations apart from marriage lives an immoral life.

Apart from the reference in Romans 1:24-27, the original context of Scripture implies that sexual immorality includes all sexually orgasmic relations apart from marriage. Keeping premarital virginity and marital fidelity are priceless treasures, but we are tricking ourselves and possible others if we believe that alternative forms of sexual relations apart from marriage are moral. Incidentally, this leads to an oxymoron, sexually degraded virgins or unchaste virgins.

The pledge to abstain from sex before marriage is not enough. Single people must follow through with a life of sexual abstinence except for marriage. And all people who marry must remain faithful to their spouse. And if people are widowed or divorced, they must resume abstinence. Scripture gives all humans two options to fulfill their sexuality: abstinence while single or heterosexual marriage. And if we have fallen from sexual purity, God can cleanse and restore us through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Since we are discussing partner masturbation, we also want to briefly mention self masturbation, which typically includes sexually immoral fantasies. Many Christian leaders acknowledge that most pubescent males cannot initially control themselves from practicing self masturbation. And many people who convert to Christianity from a sexually promiscuous lifestyle cannot initially control themselves from practicing self masturbation. But through devotion to God and Scripture, any devout Christian can prevail over sexually immoral fantasies that may lead to self masturbation.

We also want to briefly discuss homosexual orientations. Studies of mammals indicate that a small percent of mammals are abnormal in that they have a homosexual orientation. Various criminal and cultural and religious influences may also cause homosexual orientations. And some people have both a homosexual and a heterosexual orientation, which is a bisexual orientation. Whatever orientation we have, we need to abstain from sexual immorality. We have heard reports that some homosexuals who converted to Christianity had eventually lost their homosexual orientation. And other homosexuals who converted to Christianity did not lose their orientation but live happily in a life of sexual abstinence.

We also want to briefly discuss marital sexual relations. For those of us who marry, in private we may kiss and caress our spouse however we mutually agree. And apart from our other responsibilities in life, we have no limits in how we healthfully express our love to our spouse.

Jesus lived his earthly life to the fullest, and Jesus lived all of his life in sexual abstinence. And whether we are single part of our life or single all of our life, while we are single we may live life to the fullest in all purity. And for those of us who marry, we may live life to the fullest in all purity. And for all of us who have sinned sexually, God can cleanse and restore us to our full potential.

Additionally, to live our life to the fullest in all sexual purity, we need to prepare ourselves to say "No" to sexual advances from the dreamiest partner that could tempt us. And we must never let the dreamiest partner intentionally or unintentionally deceive us into thinking that alternative forms of sexual stimulation apart from marriage are moral. Offers and accepting offers of going to third base but not going past third base are not acceptable to God. Without this knowledge, someone may trick us into immorality.

On the other hand, offers and acceptance of offers of discreet platonic hugs are often appropriate. And platonic hugs are absolutely necessary for most people.

For many of us, the only possible way to live a life of sexual purity is to live our life close to God. The all powerful and all wise Spirit of God who created the universe and resurrected Jesus from the dead indwells the lives of all believers. And we need to live our life with the strength and guidance of the indwelling Spirit of God to conquer every temptation.

The temptation from someone offering us a sexual favor is not sin. We sin only if we accept the offer or if we let our thoughts dwell on the offer.

We also want to make sure that we are not carelessly or purposely provoking others to sexually lust for us, which is also immoral. But if we live a pure life while dressing appropriately, we are not sinning if others are lusting for us. We cannot control other people. We can only control ourselves.

If anybody struggles with sexual purity, reading relevant articles and books from a scriptural perspective may help. In some cases, counseling may help. And Scripture meditations are critical. We will end this article with quoting Titus 2:11-12 in two translations. And meditating on this passage will help any Christian to live a pure life. Here is Titus 2:11-12:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly.... (Titus 2:11-12 NRSV)

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.... (Titus 2:11-12 TNIV)

Copyright © 2007, 2008 by James Edward Goetz

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY'S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

Updated 1/27/8