I have heard the words from preachers; I have seen them used online; and I heard them again recently in a Bible study. They make up a wonderful statement that in recent years has been used to bring comfort, encouragement and affirmation to fellow believers. The words are often quoted when the teacher or individual is trying to raise someone's self esteem. They are used sometimes to address a Christian who is struggling with guilt and failure.
They are indeed wonderful words of affirmation, but they are addressed directly to the Lord Jesus, not to you or to me! Can you guess? Here are the words "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Luke 3:22 Yes, these are words from God the Father to the perfect God-man Jesus Christ, who is the second person of the Trinity.
If I take the Bible seriously and not just as a magic book of quotes and promises, I cannot simply quote these words to a Christian brother (when this is used for a woman the quote is paraphrase to "daughter"). To do this is to twist and misuse Scripture. Words to Jesus cannot be simply applied to us, can they?
Now I know the motives of these people are sincere. As are the motives of Jehovah's Witnesses, or other cults, when they take individual verses out of context and misuse them. But when they do it we call "foul". So why should we think it is acceptable?
Fortunately, other passages of Scripture tell us that it is true that we are God's children, so it is right to refer to another believer as a son or daughter of God. We do know as His children, we are greatly loved by God. And we might add that sometimes God is "well pleased" with us.
However He is definitely not pleased with us all the time and that is why these verses need to be understood in context - and not quoted directly to another believer. There have been many times during my life, had God spoken out loud to me, He might have said "You are my beloved Son and right now I am not pleased with your sinful action, jealous thoughts, critical words, angry attitude, etc.
Thankfully at other times, I believe God would say to me "I am well pleased with how you served me today (loved the unlovely, gave generously, prayed for that hurting person, etc.)
But the distinction is definite and real between the perfect life that Jesus lived on earth, and my error prone life. I don't want anyone taking God's words to Jesus at His baptism and applying them to me. No, there are plenty of other promises and encouraging sentences that, in context, apply to me as they apply to you. Let's use those and not be careless in our use of God's holy words.
As we read, understand and apply Scripture, context really matters. Failing to interpret in context runs the risk of twisting Scripture and claiming that God said what in fact He did not say.
Note - I recently quoted from I Corinthians 2:9 in the "Imagine" blog and might be guilty of ignoring the context. I wrote about how there is much in our future life that is beyond our knowledge and imagination. Yet in the context, Paul is also (perhaps even primarily) talking about the Good News that was revealed in Jesus and then explained further by the apostles as the Holy Spirit gave them further revelation. Of course I might use the excuse that in a short blog I can't take the time to paint a whole context picture. But I confess that sometimes (and probably that time) I can be guilty of not paying enough attention to context.
They are indeed wonderful words of affirmation, but they are addressed directly to the Lord Jesus, not to you or to me! Can you guess? Here are the words "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Luke 3:22 Yes, these are words from God the Father to the perfect God-man Jesus Christ, who is the second person of the Trinity.
If I take the Bible seriously and not just as a magic book of quotes and promises, I cannot simply quote these words to a Christian brother (when this is used for a woman the quote is paraphrase to "daughter"). To do this is to twist and misuse Scripture. Words to Jesus cannot be simply applied to us, can they?
Now I know the motives of these people are sincere. As are the motives of Jehovah's Witnesses, or other cults, when they take individual verses out of context and misuse them. But when they do it we call "foul". So why should we think it is acceptable?
Fortunately, other passages of Scripture tell us that it is true that we are God's children, so it is right to refer to another believer as a son or daughter of God. We do know as His children, we are greatly loved by God. And we might add that sometimes God is "well pleased" with us.
However He is definitely not pleased with us all the time and that is why these verses need to be understood in context - and not quoted directly to another believer. There have been many times during my life, had God spoken out loud to me, He might have said "You are my beloved Son and right now I am not pleased with your sinful action, jealous thoughts, critical words, angry attitude, etc.
Thankfully at other times, I believe God would say to me "I am well pleased with how you served me today (loved the unlovely, gave generously, prayed for that hurting person, etc.)
But the distinction is definite and real between the perfect life that Jesus lived on earth, and my error prone life. I don't want anyone taking God's words to Jesus at His baptism and applying them to me. No, there are plenty of other promises and encouraging sentences that, in context, apply to me as they apply to you. Let's use those and not be careless in our use of God's holy words.
As we read, understand and apply Scripture, context really matters. Failing to interpret in context runs the risk of twisting Scripture and claiming that God said what in fact He did not say.
Note - I recently quoted from I Corinthians 2:9 in the "Imagine" blog and might be guilty of ignoring the context. I wrote about how there is much in our future life that is beyond our knowledge and imagination. Yet in the context, Paul is also (perhaps even primarily) talking about the Good News that was revealed in Jesus and then explained further by the apostles as the Holy Spirit gave them further revelation. Of course I might use the excuse that in a short blog I can't take the time to paint a whole context picture. But I confess that sometimes (and probably that time) I can be guilty of not paying enough attention to context.
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