BBI II-B #1 The “SECRET” missed by Biblical Unitarians
In the Bereans Bible Institute Module 2-A we used the Genesis creation account as the springboard to discuss John’s Gospel because John introduced Jesus as God’s Agent in creation “in the Beginning.” Now in Module 2-B we will use Solomon’s creation account (Proverbs 8:22-31 & Proverbs 30:1-4) as the springboard to discuss Paul’s letters, and how he portrayed “Wisdom” as both God’s agent in creation and the one who was crucified.
The first lesson deals with what Paul called the “Secret of Christ,” and the “hidden Wisdom,” who was concealed in the Old Testament Scriptures, not understood either by Jews or Greeks, but was revealed through the Breath of Truth exclusively to the Apostles – the “INSPIRED” interpretation.
Biblical Unitarians (Socinians) who deny the pre-human origin of God’s Son turn the “secret” backwards, so that Proverbs 8 is no longer a riddle, and the Apostles’ literal explanations become a “riddle” that must be deciphered through their elaborate explanations of ancient Jewish traditions which are NOT INSPIRED but contain “the wisdom of men.”
3 thoughts on “BBI II-B #1 The “SECRET” missed by Biblical Unitarians”
Hello Tim!
I have a question concerning how this mystery relates to Jesus’ question to Nicodemas in John 3:10 – “Are you a teacher of Israel and yet do not understand these things?” Was Jesus being rhetorical? Since God hid this information from them, how would they know?
Thank you!
Ezekiel chapters 36 and 37
David,
The specific thing that Jesus was talking about to Nicodemus is not something easily understood from the OT. It had to do with being “born again” (or “born from above”), without which one cannot have an inheritance in the Kingdom. Nicodemus, like virtually all Jews, understood the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant to apply to physical Israelites, because they physically descended from Abraham. Jesus’ point was that physical descent from Abraham as his “seed” is not enough. His statement, “Are you a teacher of Israel and yet do not understand these things?” was not a rebuke for his lack of study of the Scriptures. It was intended to show that human reasoning alone from the Scriptures is not adequate. You must have “light” from God in order to understand what is concealed in the Scriptures. Jesus used the “wind” to illustrate God’s personal interaction with people, something beyond what can be seen and heard. That is, the intellect alone can never bring one into the kind of relationship with God required for eternal life. IMO, Jesus was getting Nicodemus to see that his Torah studies needed something else, something Jesus could provide. Jesus alone had the words of eternal life.
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