Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2: 0:21

Alright, guys. So this week we are doing a series of episodes called yeah, that's Not what that Means. So I was originally going to be going over the top five most common misapplied and misunderstood scriptures in all the biblical canon, but I'm doubling up today, so it'll end up being six by the time we get to the end of the week. So yesterday I talked about Philippians 4.13 and how we are to rely on Christ in us as opposed to our own strength. Okay, so today we're actually going to hit two separate passages because they have been misapplied and misunderstood in much the same ways. So we're going to be doing Romans 8, 28, an incredibly popular verse, and then Jeremiah 29, 11. So I'll read them both now. So I'm going to read Romans 8, 28 in the CSB. We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Now we've got Jeremiah 29, 11. I'm going to read that in the NASB, for I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. And so these two verses, regardless of whatever translation you read them out of, these, have been used by prosperity gospel preachers and word of faith preachers and fake faith healers and people in churches all over the map. They use these things and they're supposed to be telling you like, oh, this is for you and it doesn't really matter the context, because I'm telling it to you. Also, write me a huge check. But, in a nutshell, the fundamental misunderstanding of these verses is that we, as Christians, are somehow owed success and prosperity and that our lives will just go smoothly. And yeah, that's not what that means. You saw that one coming because in its correct context, neither verse is communicating that. Okay, so let's actually start with Jeremiah 29, 11.

Speaker 2: 1:57

So, guys, anytime it's just a good habit to get into Anytime you read a passage of scripture, you need to ask yourself who is this message to. Because in Jeremiah 29, this is part of a specific promise to a specific group of people at a specific time in history. Okay, this promise was to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. So it was a promise from God that he would not forsake them and that he could and would restore them after 70 years. So let me read this entire section.

Speaker 2: 2:23

So Jeremiah 29, verses 10 through 14 in the New American Standard Bible, For this is what the Lord says when 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place, for I know the plans I have for you. This is the Lord's declaration plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you. This is the Lord's declaration. And I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you. This is the Lord's declaration I will restore you to the place from which I deported you.

Speaker 2: 3:03

Okay, so, guys, ultimately it's silly for us to use this verse, or this group of verses, as some sort of cover, all blessing for our personal success in modernity. But now let's turn to Romans 8, 28. I'll read it again here. We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Okay, so it is shocking how many people can quote Romans 8, 28, but it seems clear that they have never read verses 29 and 30. So let's go ahead and do that. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom he predestined he also called, and these whom he called he also justified. And these whom he justified he also justified, and these whom he justified he also glorified. So from this text we can surmise that Paul accepts that individual human agency is real, but that behind and through it all is God's sovereignty. So there's kind of that, you know, push and pull that a lot of us have struggled with, right, it is God's sovereign purpose to shape us into the image of Christ.

Speaker 2: 4:03

So I actually like this comment from the Holman New Testament commentary. Here the reason is that God and his purpose are the controlling elements of the verse. Paul is clearly subordinating all things to the purpose of God, regardless of how the verse is written. So what the application and context of Jeremiah 29, 11 and Romans 8, 28, and the narrative of the whole Bible shows us is that we are not guaranteed worldly success just because we're Christians. Right, we aren't guaranteed smooth seas, in fact many Christians, as we see again the narrative of scripture, even the words of Jesus we're going to suffer, and we will suffer mightily and unjustly, and it's just going to happen to us. It's basically a guarantee, but the ultimate purpose of our lives is not to have whatever we deem as success. We are to be conformed to the life God has for us, and that it will indeed be good. All right guys, come back here tomorrow and we'll wrap up with one of the most annoyingly misapplied passages in the entire Bible. And if you're a pacifist, please make sure you come back tomorrow.

Speaker 1: 5:10

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