Many New Covenant scriptures call on believers to fight. To resist and overcome the enemy. To do the works Jesus did (and even greater ones!) To put on spiritual armor and do battle—not against flesh and blood—but with wicked, unseen powers. We’re called to push back darkness with light wherever we go. And to receive, by grace through faith, everything Jesus died to purchase for us. And receive, by grace through faith, freedom from everything He died to redeem us from.
On the other hand, don’t many scriptures call on us to suffer willingly and nobly? To accept whatever comes our way as being God’s will and for the best?
A recent assignment has me exploring the book of First Peter . . . and his exhortations about dealing with persecution and trouble, tribulation, trials, and testing (the 4 “T”s!). Peter wrote his first letter in a season in which Christians were enduring a double persecution—one from the Jewish establishment in Jerusalem and a new, emerging one from the Roman government under Nero in Rome.
The believers of the fledgling Jesus movement were caught in a terrible squeeze between the two. Literally pressed in from all sides.
When you examine the book of 1 Peter, thirteen different Greek words appear repeatedly and are translated into the English words, trouble, tribulation, trials, testing, suffering, sorrows, etc. Knowing which Greek word is beneath those English words is pretty helpful. Let’s take a look at them:
lupeo – “distressed”
pirosmos – “trials”
dokimazo – “testing” (NOT the kind of test that qualifies you to graduate to the next grade, but rather the kind that reveals the true nature of something.)
pathema – sufferings (of Christ)(Jesus’ redemptive, substitutionary suffering on the cross; which includes the suffering rejection by fallen people and this fallen, broken world’s system.)
lupe – “sorrows”
pascho – “suffer” or “suffering” (unjustly or justly or Christ’s)
molops – “wounds” (of Christ)
kako’o – “harm” (the result of violence)
tarasso – “troubled” (in soul)
epereazo – “to be reviled or insulted”
blashempeo – “to be maligned or smeared”
oneidizo – “to be reviled”
purosis – “a fiery ordeal”
{Note: in the Gospels we see Jesus using the Greek word thlipsis instead of many of the words in the list above. It, too means “persecution or oppression from others.” I’ll write more about that word another time.}
A deeper linguistic dive could be taken into each of these words and the way they’re used in 1 Peter and elsewhere in the New Testament, but . . .
The picture that emerges is that believers should expect persecution and trouble from the world’s system and the people in it. (This aligns perfectly with what Jesus told His disciples. “Expect persecution (thlipsis). Expect resistance. Those enmeshed in this fallen world’s systems hated me, they’re going to hate you once you’re IN me.”) So, First Peter exhorts us that when that persecution comes, we should bear up under it with calm, restful, assurance in faith that we have become sharers in Christ’s sufferings. For example . . .
. . . but to the degree that you share the sufferings (pathema) of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that at the revelation of His glory you may also rejoice and be overjoyed. (1 Peter 4:13)
A significant element of Jesus “sufferings” was rejection. Isaiah saw it: “He was despised and forsaken/rejected by men . . .” (Isaiah 53). We too, will suffer rejection by people in the world and the systems of this world.
Here’s the thing.
Because most Christians don’t see the nuances and differences between these very different Greek words, And because Peter beautifully and powerfully exhorts his readers to bear up, persevere, endure, and remain in the faith under the “fiery ordeal” of persecution—they assume, wrongly in my view, that we are to passively accept anything and everything the unseen enemies of Christ, and the Curse unleashed by “the Fall,” throw our way.
In other words, they lump the presence, activity, and attacks of Christ’s “enemies” as well as the effects of the Curse . . . in with Jesus’ and Peter’s exhortations to accept persecution gracefully and suffer it with quiet dignity.
As a result, many believers think they’re getting mixed messages from the New Testament. “Which is it?” some wonder. “Am I supposed to fight or just suffer nobly?”
Which brings me to . . .
Dixit Dominus!
That’s Latin for “The King says…” or “The Ruler says…” Why did I just tell you that?
Well, I sometimes listen to classical music while I’m writing. I’m particularly fond of Handel and Haydn and Vivaldi. This week I was listening to a few Handel works in my headphones while working when I noticed that the piece currently playing seemed to have a special anointing on it. So, I glanced at my phone to see what it was.
If you’re unsure whether or not it’s possible for a work by Handel can have anointing on it, I suggest you listen to a skillful performance of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. Handel had some insight, and there’s some “oil” on his sacred music.
Turned out I was hearing a work by Handel titled “Dixit Dominus.” Unfamiliar with that Latin term, I looked it up; found that it’s Latin for “The Lord says”; and that there are a number of classical works that carry the same name. All of them are “church music” and are based on the first three words of the 110th Psalm. You long-time Cup and Table Co. folks will instantly recognize it and know why I found that interesting. Just to remind you, Psalms 110:1 reads:
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies
a footstool for Your feet.”
“The Lord says . . .” (or in Latin: dixit dominus)
You C&T veterans will also know (because I’ve prattled on about it hundreds of times) that the above verse is the most-quoted Old Testament verse in the entire New Testament. And that there is a reason for that. Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of His Father.
That ascension is recorded (from earth’s perspective) in Acts 1:9-11 and from heaven’s perspective in Daniel 7:13-14. That day is not a future event. It happened nearly 2000 years ago. The 110th psalm is both messianic and about the coronation ceremony of a King. Which is why the very next verse talks about a “scepter” and “ruling.”
The Lord will stretch out Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
So what does this have to do with the 4 “Ts”—trouble, tribulation, trials, and testing. Because it helps give us a guide as to whether or not some attack or adversity or trouble should be FOUGHT by faith, or ENDURED in faith.
Here’s where I’ve landed “as for me and my house.”
If it’s persecution from lost people or systems created by lost people . . . I’ll receive grace, in faith, to endure it and come through the other side. BUT . . .
If it is an enemy of my enthroned King; or an effect of the Curse He came to roll back, I’m fighting it. And I’ll expect to overcome it. It’s that simple.
By the way, we can identify those things by simply observing what Jesus DID, specifically what He attacked and reversed; AND what He announced His mission to be when he read from the Isaiah 61 scroll (see: Luke 4:17-21).
It’s vital to remember that, from the Bible’s perspective, Jesus’ “enemies” are not people. No, people are the the object of His love and the objective of His redemptive work on the cross. No, a large but subtle theme of the Bible is that, in the Unseed Realm of the spirit, a heavenly rebellion took place and both earth and humanity got caught up in it.
The begninning of the end for Jesus’ enemies was the season in which He emerged from that tomb and, 40 days later ascended to heaven and took a seat at the right hand of the Father. There “the Lord says” (dixit dominus) He will “rule in the midst of His enemies) until the implications and the outworking of that victory are fully realized.
Paul had this incremental conquest in mind when He wrote:
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. (1 Corinthians 15:25-26)
To sum up: Don’t mistake the Scriptures’ exhortation to expect and endure persecution with our mission and calling and empowerment to extend Jesus’ rule, push back darkness, and receive all He died to obtain for us.
If it’s in the Atonement, fight for it. Fight by remaining in rest. Fight by remaining in gratitude. Fight through worship and praise. Fight by putting the sword of truth in your mouth.
As I said on social media earlier this week:
I hope that helps somebody today.