Matthew 7 and Salvation

Dr. Couch, I have heard some say that Matthew 7:13-27 is about the church; they make a case for belief not being enough to enter the kingdom—only those who do the will of the Father will enter. It seems this section is dealing with false prophets. Aren't these the predominant ones during the time of Christ who claimed to prophesy, etc. And, who were the ones doing this stuff in Israel at the time of Christ? ANSWER:  I won't be able to deal with this entire section in this short answer. It is important to say here that there are many spiritual principles in this section (Matthew 5-7: The Sermon on the Mount). So I will simply point out some observations that would tell us this is not first for the church; it has to do with what was happening with the nation of Israel as Christ began His ministry. And the passage is more than simply about false teachers.    Note the following: (1) The entire section has to do with the presentation of the millennial kingdom, here called "The kingdom of heaven" (5:3; 10, 19, 20; 6:10, 33; 7:21). (2) The church is made up of Jews and Gentiles but in this section, Christ compares the Jews with the Gentiles (5:47; 6:7, 32). (3) The Lord speaks of the synagogue in this section (6:2, 5), and (4) The giving of alms, which was a distinct Jewish practice (6:2, 3). Note 6:2: the church is not even around! "When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues ..." 5:20 is a distinct Jewish passage that cannot be understood unless one sees that the verse is aimed at the thinking of the Jews. "I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes (Jewish) and Pharisees (very Jewish), you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven."    Those who try to make a direct application of the Sermon on the Mount to the church have no understanding of history. There is no question but that the "kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God" is a description of the messianic kingdom! In no way is this used to describe the church age! If this is settled in one's mind, this section of verses makes definite sense. Again, while there are many principles that we can embrace in the Sermon on the Mount, it is not directed to the church age. We can have secondary application in some things the Lord says, but not direct application!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (Oct.2009)

Conflict with Genesis 22 and Galatians 3

Dr. Couch, what is going on in Genesis 22:17 in connection with Galatians 3:16? There seems to be a conflict. Can you explain. ANSWER:  Here is a case that shows why I spent three years studying graduate Hebrew and took about thirty hours in graduate Greek courses. If one does not know the original languages one cannot be an engineer of the Scriptures, and that is the calling of those of us who wish to be exegetes. In the KJV and in the Hebrew-English version of the OT, Genesis 22:17 is translated correctly. The pronoun "his" is correct. It is masculine possessive singular. "Your seed shall posses the gate of HIS enemies. But in the NAS, and some other translations, the pronoun is incorrectly translated "THEIR enemies." In actuality, the word is a masculine possessive singular, but some translators wrongly thought that the force of the context should call for it to be translated as a plural and not a singular. They must have translated the verse in the Hebrew at 3 am and were too sleepy to notice that when Paul refers to Genesis 22:17 in Galatians 3:16 he rightly translates it as a singular.    Here is what is happening in the passage: It should read "Your seed (singular) shall possess the gate of HIS enemies." This is a way of saying that the SEED here is the Messiah and should be translated as a singular possessive. The expression about possessing the gate of His enemies is a way of saying that He would be victorious!    Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Paul saw what was going on. In Galatians 3:16 he points out that Seed should be singular, thus God did not say "And to seeds" as referring to many seeds (plural), but rather to one (with the singular possessive pronoun). "And to your seed" that is, to Christ. Christ is the One who secures the promises made to Abraham by His obedience unto death. So to speak, He is the victorious General who takes possession of the gate of His enemies! He conquers death and evil!    If we do not have men who know the original languages we will have more and more translation problems that will finally destroy doctrinal sharpness! For example, I cannot prove the doctrine of the Trinity without knowing the original biblical languages! In more and more schools the languages are being set aside. Men are learning less and less in seminaries. I have a friend who is a graduate of one of the big schools who has admitted "I really can't do quality language exegesis! I did not get enough biblical language in my masters and doctoral program!" This was not the case with me. I was blessed with a bunch of language courses. I took extra exegetical classes in order to be able to translate properly!    I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch