Inclusive Reckoning

The AD/BC year numbering system wasn't created until the 6th century AD.  In ancient times, years were counted according to the reigns of kings e.g. the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar.  That system was called Regnal Year Reckoning.  There were two methods of recording regnal years:

(a)  accession-year reckoning:  Under that system, the accession year, most often a partial year, wasn’t included in a king’s regnal years.  For example, when a king died, an heir apparent became his successor.  Most often that occurred in the middle of a calendar year.  That partial year was treated as the new king's accession year and the next calendar year was counted as his first regnal year.

(b)  non-accession-year reckoning:  Under that system, the accession year, most often a partial year, was included in a king's regnal years and credited to him as a full year.  It was counted as the new king's first regnal year and the next calendar year as his second regnal year.  That system was loosely called inclusive reckoning.

Inclusive reckoning was the popular method of recording time when the Gospels were written.  Under that system, partial years and partial days were counted as complete years and complete days.  For example, the time between Christ’s death and resurrection was about forty hours.  He died at 3 PM on Good Friday and rose from the dead at dawn on Easter Sunday.  However, it was recorded as three days.  That’s because the part days on Friday and Sunday were counted as full days.

In his Gospel, Luke used inclusive reckoning to record the year of Christ’s baptism.  He was baptized in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar.  Tiberius' predecessor, Augustus, died on August 19, 14 AD.  Tiberius ascended the throne shortly thereafter.  By inclusive reckoning, the period from August 19 to December 31, 14 AD was credited to him as a full year and counted as his first regnal year.  Hence, his fifteenth regnal year was 28 AD, the calendar year when Jesus was baptized.

Christ's Death on Passover Friday

After much consideration, I have determined that Christ died on the Passover Friday which occurred on April 7, 30 AD in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.  It has since been called Good Friday by Christians.

Christ celebrated the Passover, His Last Supper, with His disciples on the Jewish calendar’s 14^th day of Nisan.  The Passover was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which was celebrated between the 14^th and 21^st days of Nisan.  Because the Jewish day runs from sunset to sunset, the Passover in 30 AD began on the Thursday evening before Friday, April 7^th.  Christ’s Passover celebration with His Apostles in the evening before His death was recorded in Mark 14:12-26.  That very next morning He was delivered to Pontius Pilate.  He was hung on a cross at 9 AM.  About noon, darkness cast its pall over the land until 3 PM when He ultimately yielded His spirit.

There is a difference of opinion as to whether the Passover lamb was originally sacrificed at twilight at the beginning of Passover or in the afternoon at the end of Passover.  If at the beginning, then Passover was eaten in the evening on the 14^th day of Nisan.  If at the end, then Passover was eaten in the evening on the 15^th day of Nisan.  The Passover in 30 AD ran from sunset on Thursday to sunset on Friday.  There is no doubt that Christ ate the Passover on Thursday evening because He died at 3 PM on Friday.  About three hours later, when the sun had set, the Jewish day changed from Nisan 14 to Nisan 15.

Therefore, the Passover lamb was originally sacrificed at twilight at the beginning of Passover.  The ritual meal was then prepared and eaten in the evening on the 14^th day of Nisan.

Special Notes:  Matthew 12:40: “for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”  Based on this scripture, some have suggested that Christ died on Wednesday or Thursday.  If on Wednesday then He was entombed for 3 days and 4 nights.  If on Thursday then He was entombed for 2 days and 3 nights.  In support of Friday:  Inclusive reckoning was the popular method of recording time when the Gospels were written.  By it, partial days were reckoned as complete days.  In other words, the part days on Friday and Sunday were counted as full, 24 hour days.

Our modern day runs from midnight to midnight.  Twelve hours are reckoned between 12 AM & 12 PM and twelve hours between 12 PM & 12 AM.  The Jewish day runs from sunset to sunset, 6 PM to 6 PM.  Twelve hours are reckoned between 6 PM & 6 AM and twelve hours between 6 AM & 6 PM.  Hence, in Matthew, Mark & Luke, 9 AM is called the third hour, noon the sixth hour, and 3 PM the ninth hour.  Like our modern day, the Roman day also ran from midnight to midnight.  In his Gospel, John says that it was "about the sixth hour" when Pilate delivered up Jesus to be crucified (John 19:14-16).  Notably, he was speaking in terms of the Roman day, the sixth hour referring to 6 AM.  According to Mark, after being delivered over to the soldiers for crucifixion, Jesus was brutally beaten and mocked before He was led to Golgotha where He was crucified at 9 AM.  Mark 15:15-25

According to the Sadducees, the original Passover ran from sunset to sunset on the 14th day of the first month which was the month of Nisan.  Now Moses and his followers slew the paschal lambs at sunset at the beginning of Passover.  Then they painted their doorposts and lintels with the blood of the slain lambs.  That night, while they ate the Passover meal, the angel of death passed over their homes and struck down all first born Egyptians.  Later, that same night, the Lord brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.  The Talmud teaches that the paschal lambs were slain between 3 and 5 PM at the end of Passover.  If that was the case, then the eating of the Passover meal, the angel’s pass over of Hebrew homes, the smiting of Egyptians, and the night journey out of Egypt would have occurred on the 15th day of Nisan.  Christ celebrated the Passover at the time observed by the Sadducees which was based on the Torah.  He condemned the Pharisees for neglecting the commandment of God in order to keep the tradition of men which referred to the Talmudic traditions.  Mark 7:1-13 

Empty Womb Empty Tomb

Now Sarah, Abraham’s wife, had borne him no children.  And the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him, “Look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them.  So shall your descendants be.  Indeed I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore.  And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” 

Against all earthly odds, Abraham believed God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.  Without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead, and the deadness in Sarah’s womb.  And he said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old?  And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”  Yet with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, gave glory to God, and was fully assured that what God had promised He was able to perform.

Because Abraham believed God, it was reckoned unto him as righteousness.  But not for his sake only was it written that his faith was counted as righteousness, but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

The miracle of the Resurrection was the sign which Christ Himself promised as the proof of His divine mission.  Had He failed to return to life on the third day, He would have been convicted of being an imposter.  His enemies, the priests and Pharisees, understood full well the importance of this sign.  Therefore, they took precautions to seal the tomb and post the guards.  Since these arrangements excluded the possibility of fraud, they thereby increased for posterity the certainty of the miracle.

For if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved. 

The Simple Meaning of Life

"All things are summed up in Christ both in heaven and on earth.

"For there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.

"In that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

"For the wages of sin is death (that is the second death, the lake of fire), but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"That I may be found in Him, not having a righteous of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."

In the twenty-first century, the beginning of the third millennium, it's not in vogue to talk about sin or the consequences of sin.  Hell is an undesirable four letter word tabooed by our generation.  But if there is neither sin nor punishment for sin, then Christ died needlessly.  And in the distance, we can vaguely hear the songwriter's chant, "I swear there ain't no heaven, but I pray there ain't no Hell."

Eternal salvation, being rescued from the consequences of sin, is based on faith, and faith alone.  So simple.  Believing that Christ is who He says He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

I say to the atheists who proclaim, "There is no God," and to the agnostics who declare, "I can't know, for nothing can be known with any certainty about God or the supernatural," what if you are wrong?  

In his Revelation, the Apostle John unveiled "the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.  And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Hall of Faith

The patriarch Abraham was an original member of the Hall of Faith as was Job, a blameless and upright man who lived in patriarchal times.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, being convinced of things not seen.  For by it men of old gained approval.  And without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

God allowed Satan to test Job's faith and despite losing seven sons and three daughters, all his possessions, and being smitten with boils from head to toe, he remained steadfast and kept his faith.  In the end, Job professed, "I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."  And the Lord blessed Job with seven more sons and three more daughters and his daughters were the fairest in all the land.  He also restored Job's health and doubled his possessions; and Job lived another 140 years and died an old man, full of days.

The Apostle Paul explains, "Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgements and unfathomable His ways!  For who has known the mind of the Lord?"

And again, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  But resist him, firm in your faith.  And after you have suffered for a little, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you."

Now God established His everlasting covenant with Abraham and the act of circumcision was a sign of that covenant.  He promised Abraham the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, as an inheritance.  And He swore to make him a great nation with as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, promising that in Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

By faith, when Abraham was called by God, he obeyed by going out to the land which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out with his wife and nephew, not knowing where he was going.

Now Sarah, Abrahams wife, had borne him no children.  But God said to Abraham, "Sarah shall bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish my covenant with him and it will be an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.  Indeed, My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year."

Against all earthly odds, Abraham believed God who is able to raise men from the dead and to call into being that which does not exist.  Without being weak in faith, he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead, and the deadness in Sarah's womb.  And he said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man 100 years old?  And will Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child?"  Yet with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, gave glory to God, and was fully assured that what God had promised He was able to perform.  And because Abraham believed God, it was reckoned unto him as righteousness.

Now the sacrifice of children was not uncommon among pagans and apostate Israelites.  And God said to Abraham, "Go to the land of Moriah and offer up Isaac as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will reveal to you."

By faith, Abraham offered up Isaac; and he was offering up his only begotten son.  Abraham remembered that God had promised His covenant would go through Isaac and he was fully assured that God was able to raise Isaac even from the dead.

God spared Isaac and declared to Abraham, "Because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore.  And in your seed (that is, Christ) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

The Hebrew word for seed can be interpreted in the plural or in the singular depending on context, referring to either descendants or a descendant.  Undoubtedly, the seed mentioned in the passage above is referring to a descendant (that is, Christ) because historically the descendants of Abraham have not been a blessing to all the nations of the earth.  God's Messianic promise was the culmination of His covenant with Abraham.

Abraham, and other men of old, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had foreseen something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.  Therefore, at the fullness of the time, God kept His Messianic promise by sending forth His Son that we might receive adoption as sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  And if we belong to Christ, then we are Abraham's descendants; heirs according to the promise.

So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.  Are you a member of the Hall of Faith?

Will Believers Be Judged?

Will "believers" or, more precisely, "the righteous in Christ" be judged?  The answer is no; not with respect to their salvation.  And what is salvation?  Spiritual rescue from the consequences of sin; to be saved from eternal damnation.

Make no mistake about it.  We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ.  God says it; I believe it; that settles it.

My statement of faith is described in the article entitled "Justification By Faith."  A short synopsis:  "Only the act of justification by faith in Christ can save a man's soul.  That is, the righteousness bestowed by God through faith in Christ by whom a sinner is freed from the penalty due for his sins."

The Apostle Paul says:

"I may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."

According to civil law, if a man is convicted of a crime, he is sentenced by the courts to pay a debt to society.  That could result in a prison term or even capital punishment.  In much the same way, according to God's Law, a sinner owes a debt to God because of his sins.

And again, the Apostle Paul says:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

And once again:

"He has cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

And let's not forget the Apostle John:

"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Now believers will stand before the judgement seat (2 Corinthians 5:10) and some have said that their works will be judged.  However, the word "judge" can be confusing, especially to babes in Christ.  More correctly, their works will be "put to the proof."  The NAS uses the word "test," the KJ the word "try," and the Douay the word "assay" and this is by fire.  The Apostle Paul gives a vivid description in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15:

"The fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.  If any man's work which he has built upon the foundation remains, he shall receive a reward.  If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire."

Translations of the Old Testament Canon

"Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God."  Romans 10:17

The remarkable Holy Scriptures of Judaism: written by the sacred writers who were legends in their own time and for generations beyond; inspired by Almighty God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, in whose hand is our very life's breath; culminating with the unfolding of Jesus the Christ from its sacred pages by which the prophetic mystery was concealed and then revealed at the fulness of time.

The Protestant Old Testament is identical to the Holy Scriptures of Judaism.  It consists of the 39 protocanonical books.  The Catholic Old Testament includes seven additional books as well as additions to Esther and Daniel.  Catholics call them the deuterocanonical books or second canon.  Protestants call them the apocrypha, meaning of doubtful authenticity or authorship.  However, Protestants recognize the historical value of some of the apocryphal books because they fill the 420 year gap between the prophet Malachi and the Gospel of Matthew.

The two most noteworthy translations of the Holy Scriptures of Judaism are the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate.

When Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, he built the city of Alexandria to showcase the superiority of the Greek culture.  The Diaspora was encouraged to settle there and Alexandria became a haven for Hellenists—Jews who adopted the Greek culture.

By the time Ptolemy II took the throne, the Jews in Alexandria spoke Greek rather than Hebrew.  Because there was a need for a Greek translation of the Holy Scriptures of Judaism, Ptolemy II commissioned 70 Palestinian Jews to translate the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek in the third century BC.  In recognition of their work, the translation was dubbed the Septuagint (from the Latin, septuaginta, meaning seventy).

Fast forward to the fourth century AD and the Golden Age of the Church Fathers.  A scholar named Jerome was one of the most able Fathers in the early Christian Church.  A superb translator and commentator, he was fluent in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.  He was a contemporary of Augustine who was an extraordinary theologian, perhaps second only to the Apostle Paul.  Augustine praised Jerome’s talents by remarking, “what Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal man has ever known.”

Jerome's greatest accomplishment was a Latin translation of the Bible known as the Vulgate.  The New Testament was his revision of the Old Latin versions which were translated from the Greek.  About 390 AD, he began his work on the Old Testament.  However, he went beyond the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament and created a new Latin version translated from the Hebrew Scriptures.  It was completed about 405 AD.

The Douay Bible is the English translation of Jerome's Latin Vulgate.  The New Testament was published in 1582; the Old Testament was published in two volumes, the first in 1609 and the second in 1610.  It was the only official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church until well into the Twentieth century.

The King James Bible was published in 1611.  It was authorized by King James I of England.  Twenty-five gifted translators were involved in the creation of its Old Testament.  That translation was based on  the Masoretic Text, abbreviated MT.

The MT is the official Hebrew version of the Holy Scriptures of Judaism.  It was copied, edited, and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 8^th and 11^th centuries AD.  Codex Leningrad is the oldest copy of  the MT.  It is dated to 1000 AD.

The King James Bible is probably the most widely read Bible in the English-speaking Protestant world.  For a few decades, it has been available in modern English as the New King James Bible.

"All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness."  2 Timothy 3:16    

Cherry Picking God's Word

How can the pastor of a prominent Toronto church claim there is no Hell?  Did she not attend a seminary before being ordained as a minister?  Is the cross displayed on her church not a symbol of Christ's crucifixion?  For if there is neither sin nor punishment for sin, then Christ died needlessly.  While believers are freed from the penalty due for their sins through faith in Jesus Christ, unbelievers will be judged according to their deeds.  Because all men are sinners and Christ's crucifixion is the only sacrifice that atones for sinful deeds, how shall unbelievers escape if they ignore so great a salvation?

A fundamentalist believes the Bible is the word of God; a liberal believes the Bible contains the word of God, a dangerous philosophy indeed.

"For a time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths." 

Liberals are tailoring the Bible to their own liking; cherry picking the word of God; rejecting those parts of the Bible that aren’t compatible with their lifestyle.

"Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied it's power; and avoid such men as these.  Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

We must remain "all in" with the Lord.  We can't be deceived by the devil or those who distort the Gospel.  We must fight the good fight, finish the course, keep the faith.

Can We Work Our Way to Heaven?

By the works of the Law shall no mortal man be justified.  The Apostle Paul stated emphatically that if you are seeking to be justified by the Law, you must keep the whole Law.  And of course, it’s humanly impossible to keep the whole Law.

Sin and death through sin entered the world through Adam.  But man was not charged with sin until Moses delivered the Law; for where there is no law, there is no violation.  Why the Law?  We wouldn't have come to know sin except through the Law; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.  I wouldn't have known about coveting if the Law hadn't said, "Thou shalt not covet."  But my sinful passions were aroused and sin taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind.  Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.  Indeed, the righteous man shall live by faith.     

So faith comes first.  That is faith in Christ Jesus whereby we receive forgiveness of sins, life everlasting, and adoption as sons of God.  It was for freedom that Christ set us free.  We are no longer slaves of sin. We were born into spiritual death through Adam but we are "born again" into spiritual life through Christ.

Then comes works.  We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  For the whole Law is fulfilled in the statement, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  We know that we love God and we love our neighbour when we keep His commandments and His commandments are not burdensome.     

However, if anyone sins, our Advocate with God the Father is Jesus Christ the righteous.  For if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.