Josh Benner

Category: Bible

  • The importance of constant gospel focus

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    Originally published October 31, 2016

    As someone who doesn’t have kids, over the last few years, more and more of my friends have began to have children.

    When you have your first kid, you’re a member of a new club. You are a parent. Being a parent is something that becomes part of who you are. Your whole life, you haven’t had kids….but then you leave the hospital, and you have this baby.

    I’ve always thought, “Wow. That must be so…weird!”

    Your whole life, you haven’t had kids, and then suddenly you have one, and forever. (more…)

  • The danger of bad Biblical teaching

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    Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
    -James 3:1

    Words matter.

    We can use words to bless, words to harm, words to boast, words to give instruction, and words to deceive. Through words we can tell a person that we love them, or that we hate them. Through words we can compliment or tear a person down.

    When the Prophet Isaiah had a heavenly vision of the throne room of God, and beheld the holiness of God, he said in Isaiah 6:5: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

    Words were part of the original sin. In the garden, the serpent, twisting God’s words: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

    God had never said that. He said they could eat of any tree except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

    “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die” (Genesis 3:2-3).

    Eve also gets it wrong. God had never said they couldn’t touch the tree. Twisting God’s words. Further provoked into sin by the devil In Genesis 3:4-5, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

    When Adam and Eve are confronted with their sin, they use words to blame in Genesis 3:12, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

    Words matter.

    In the first part of James 3, James zeroes in on teachers. He gives a warning to teachers that they will be judged with greater strictness. The reason why carries into verse 2 that we all sin in many ways, but one of the ways common to us all is that we stumble and sin in what we say.

    There is danger in bad Biblical teaching. It can lead people astray. It can teach people falsities, because the God who is revealed in scripture is the eternal, immortal, wise God. He’s the King of the universe, the creator of all things, he spoke the universe into being.

    There’s not a canvas where we are painting and where we can make something look however we want it to look.

    God is God. He has revealed himself in his scripture, his nature, his holiness. And so sound teaching about God matters. Teaching truth about God matters. Understanding God -in terms of how he has revealed himself in the Bible – matters.

    And not all churches do that. And not all teachers do that.

    Not many should be teachers because teaching necessarily involves words. Teaching about God’s word, teaching about God’s gospel necessarily involves words and language, and in talking, it makes it easy to say things that are untrue.

    We can’t be fast and loose with God’s gospel. We can’t make God who we want God to be if that’s not true about how God reveals himself in scripture.

    Unbiblical teachings that resort more to our feelings than to truth.

    Doesn’t God just want me to be happy? Not at the expense of sin!

    Words matter. How we approach the word of God matters. Like the serpent in the garden, twisting the very words of God.

    So it is true that there is a warning given to those who teach. And anyone who does teach from the word of God should question his motives, should be humble before God, and prayerful about the text. It should be taken seriously.

    We should be careful in our approach to God’s word.

    But regardless of if someone is a teacher or not, all of us should still use discernment in listening to what our teachers say. In listening to that which is in accordance with scripture. Of being fed by sound Biblical preaching. And that’s true here, and thats’ true if you ever move to a new community. And that’s true of any teacher who you might watch on tv or who you might podcast. We should be discerning with the Bible teachers we listen to.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • Meaning of the bronze serpent: the gospel in Numbers

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    In Numbers 21, the Israelites experience victory over the Canaanites but soon fall back into grumbling and complaining.
    God brings a plague of snakes upon the people. It’s a divine judgment.
    Their grumbling against God was to their downfall. But the people beg for mercy.
    8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
    -Numbers 21:8-9
    Moses prays. God tells Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. So God doesn’t simply take the snakes away. He also doesn’t prevent people from continuing to get bitten by the snakes.
    But once bitten, a person could respond by faith in the Lord by looking to the serpent on the pole.
    It’s an odd story. A number of questions might come to mind.
    Isn’t that idolatry? Making this bronze serpent?
    In the Golden Calf episode of Exodus 32, Moses is on the mountain receiving instruction from the Lord. He’s there for 40 days and the Israelites get restless. They take their gold and melt it into the image of a cow.
    Why is it ok with the bronze serpent?
    It’s a totally different situation. Most importantly, because God told them to do it this time.
    Secondly, this wasn’t idol worship because they weren’t worshiping the serpent.
    The serpent didn’t represent God to the people.
    There are many wonderful gospel themes in this scene.
    The Israelites sin against the Lord.
    And so God brings a plague of snakes upon the people as divine judgment.
    And yet, once the people repent and the bronze snake is made, it is in looking to that by which people are healed.
    A symbol of death becomes a symbol of life 
    Snakes were bringing death, but looking to this particular snake brought the promise of healing.
    A symbol of judgment the Lord then uses as a symbol of victory.
    The cross was the greatest symbol of judgment and condemnation in the Roman world.
    A brutal punishment. And yet, it is to the cross that we see Christ’s victory over sin.
    Perhaps you look at the story and think “but why a snake? Aren’t snakes bad in the Bible?”
    Yeah, so are people, but it is through a man that we are saved. The Lord Jesus, both God and man.
    The gospel 
    In a person being healed because of looking to the snake, it took what they were doing out of their hands. It was entirely the work of God.
    So too we see this in the gospel. It is not based on us, or how good we are. We are totally helpless to heal ourselves from the disease of sin. It is looking to the cross, to looking at what Jesus has done, to trusting Jesus by faith that we can have salvation.
    It’s foolishness 
    The serpent doesn’t make sense.
    The world is confounded by the gospel and the message of grace, the idea that we can be freely forgiven based on what someone else has done.
    The world is offended by the message of salvation by grace.
    Paul says in 1 Corinthians that the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).
    We want to save ourselves. We want to see how we measure up and to feel good about how good we are.
    The gospel is that you cannot earn it. You look to what Jesus has done.
    Salvation for the undeserving 
    The Israelites were grumbling and complaining and blaspheming against God, and yet God saves them.
    Jesus came into a world where people condemned him, polluted against him, betrayed him, and killed him.
    While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
    In both looking to the serpent and the death and resurrection of Jesus, what people needed was faith.
    In the Gospel of John, Jesus will make specific reference to this event in Numbers. John chapter 3, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, the Pharisee.
    Jesus says “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” (John 3:14)
    Moses literally lifted up the bronze serpent on a pole.
    And Jesus was literally lifted up on the cross.
    There, Jesus compares himself being lifted up to the bronze serpent.
    For the Israelites who were afflicted by the serpent’s bite, life was found by looking to the bronze serpent. For us today, eternal life is found by looking to Jesus.
    The main idea of our passage this evening is that: Opposing God brings death but true life is fond by faith.
    Are you trusting in Jesus?
    We’re infected with the venom of sin. And it’s a killer. There is nothing we can do on our own to take out that poison. The only antidote is found in looking to Jesus.
    Look to him. Love him. Live for him.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • Would it be better if parents raised their kids without religion?

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    A friend recently asked me this question. As a Christian, there are several reasons why I believe the answer is no.

    This reminded me of an article I read a couple years ago by former NFL running back Arian Foster. In an article he wrote for Yahoo, Foster was talking about his parenting philosophy. When it came to faith, he said:

    The flying spaghetti monster. There are billions of people on Earth with hundreds of religions and sects that trickle off each other. I will never tell her what to believe in. I know parents are very influential on kids’ spiritual beliefs and that can be a positive or negative thing. I can give her a basic understanding of religions when she starts showing interest and asking questions. But I will remain silent otherwise. How can I make a young mind believe this is the truth for them when they don’t yet have the capacity nor the cognitive desire to delve into something like this? If she shows interest I would advise her to fully investigate a religion and see if it fits her. And if she chooses none of the above, I’ll be fine with that as well. The values I instill in her should guide her to her decision. What’s most important, I believe, is to support her decision no matter what.

    Foster argues that he doesn’t want to push religious beliefs saying “I will never tell her what to believe in” and “I can give her a basic understanding of religions…but I will remain silent otherwise.”

    To raise a child without faith can be framed as “not telling them what to believe in.” However that’s clearly affirming and privileging a secular worldview. It’s raising someone with a default setting of irreligion.

    Foster says that he’s fine if she eventually chooses faith (I don’t doubt his sincerity in that). But he argues that what matters more than raising someone according to a faith tradition is raising them with a certain set of values. That was similar to my friends question. Instead of raising someone according to religion, why not just raise them to be good/benevolent?

    The gospel is predicated on the idea that a person can’t be good on their own. And faith in Jesus Christ is essential to the salvation of a person’s soul. For a Christian, that is part of why a hands off approach to faith does not harmonize with parenting. Any loving, Christian parent should raise their children in the knowledge and fear of the Lord. This isn’t unique to Christianity. It’s true of the major faith systems. There is no faith tradition (that I’m aware of) that says “Hey, raise your kids outside of this faith and see what they believe.”

    I understand why someone who’s not religious would have such a view that undermines the role of faith in a person’s life. Christian faith is meant to be a parent’s source of meaning, morality. It’s meant to shape your life, your family, and your parenting. The idea of not passing that tradition onto one’s kids is fundamentally inconsistent.

    Furthermore, the Bible constantly commands parents to raise their children to know the Lord. In the Old Testament, the Israelites failed to do this which was the source of a lot of their struggles.

    The Book of Deuteronomy commands:

    6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

    -Deuteronomy 6:6-7

    For Christian parents, it’s not meant to be an option. Ultimately no one can control what someone believes. But a kid needs to be given every chance to hear the gospel. It is faith in the gospel by which souls are saved. Also the flavor of the month in our society today is about letting kids dictate everything (faith, gender, etc). But they have to be raised with a foundation.

    There’s also covenantal theology but I’ll save that for another post.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • Why we need to pursue God everyday

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    Do you have an area in your life today where you’re tempted to doubt God’s goodness?
    Life is hard. There are challenges we face.
    For some of us, it’s health. For some of us, it’s in the relationships we have. Maybe there’s a lot of conflict either with a friend or a neighbor or a family member. But things are just really tough. And maybe you’re in a situation that you just don’t like.
    In the Exodus, the Israelites constantly complain about not having enough, things not being good enough, life not being easy enough.
    For the Israelites, God works all of these signs and wonders. Miraculously redeems them.
    Brings them to the edge of the Red Sea.
    They complain. “Why are we going to die out here?”
    Miraculously God parts the waters. Brings them across. Wipes out the greatest army the world had ever known.
    They get into the wilderness and they don’t have food.
    “Why were brought out here to die?”
    God provides food.
    They don’t have water.
    “Why were we brought here to die?”
    God gives them water.
    Blessing after blessing after blessing. And continually losing sight of all of that.
    They send out scouts who SEE the land and they’re like “Woah, this place is even better than advertised. This place is amazing!” But the people hear about the people in the land, “we can’t beat them. We can’t do it. It’s too much, it’s too hard.”
    It’s easy to judge them. To think, “Wow, the Israelites just didn’t get it.”
    But we often have more in common with the Israelites than we like to admit to ourselves. Their responses are so…human.
    What is your view of the Lord’s blessing? Is it gratitude and thankfulness?
    Or are you never happy because it’s never enough, never close enough to what you want? Never what you think you need?
    Eye on the prize.
    It’s what the Israelites never figured out during their wanderings. They didn’t learn how to enjoy God.
    God can be enjoyed in all circumstances and situations.
    We don’t have to wait until we get through a certain challenge. We don’t need to wait until we get to a certain level of Chrristian maturity. We don’t need to wait to enjoy God. We can rejoice in his goodness and majesty and dominion and holiness today.
    We can and we must.
    Or else, we’ll be like the Israelites. Continually seeing the blessings of God and never enjoying any of it because we always have something else to look at to worry about.
    They were walking in the wilderness but were so often not really walking with God.
    Let me ask you: how’s your Spiritual life today?
    For the Israelites on their wanderings, they had such little joy in God, trust in God, and love for God.
    That’s not the life God wants us to live.
    In time where you’re struggling and not finding joy and delight in God, and when God seems distant to you, how are you doing, Spiritually?
    How’s your devotional life?
    I’ll go out on a limb that it’s struggling, that you’re probably not taking it as seriously.
    Am I wrong?
    If you look back on times where you Spiritually snuggled, were those also the times when you were most serious about pursuing God daily?
    It takes a daily pursuit.
    You can’t take your foot off the gas.
    But it can be hard sometimes. It’s hard for me sometimes.
    It needs to be part of our daily life. Spending time in God’s word, spending time in prayer, having a worshipful heart towards God. And it needs to be part of our life to have a mind that is set on the things above, a mind that is devoted to God, the things of God, meditating on God, rejoicing in God and in his goodness.
    Clearly the Israelites struggled with that on their wanderings. Always finding reasons to complain about what they had been given. Never happy.
    That’s not saying it’ll all become easy.
    But we can experience all of that with God or without God. Rejoicing in God or complaining about God.
    How are you doing today?
    God needs to be the focal point of your day.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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