The Jesus Whom Paul Preaches

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Acts 19:13-16

It was clear that these Jewish exorcists were in over their heads by the way they spoke of Jesus. Our knowledge of Him must be personal. Some people only KNOW ABOUT Him. They can recite facts and quote verses, but it’s nothing more than a parrot mimicking its owner. That’s not close enough for salvation. We must KNOW Him! “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (Joh 17:3) These men didn’t know Christ themselves. Rather, He was only “the Jesus whom Paul preaches,” and so they had no power over the enemy. These are those spoken of in 2Ti 2:25-26 “who are in opposition,” caught in Satan’s snare, “having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

We cannot simply know Christ by association. He must be more than our parent’s God, our spouse’s God, or our preacher’s God. He must be our God! Compare for a moment Ruth and Simon the sorcerer. Simon tried to buy the power of the Holy Ghost, but Peter rebuked him saying, “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” The sorcerer’s words revealed he still had a problem in his heart: “Then Simon answered and said, ‘Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.'” (Act 8:22-24) We must approach God personally, not through some saint, if we will know Him. He must be more than just their God. He must be ours!

In contrast, when Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, told her to return to her own people, the Moabites, Ruth wouldn’t hear of it. Naomi’s other daughter-in-law had already returned to her people and their gods, but not Ruth. She replied, “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” (Ruth 1:16) What a joy to know Him as MY God! So is He to all His children. He prophesied it would be so in the new covenant, this covenant of grace in Christ Jesus: “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” (Heb 8:10-11)

Jamie