This episode mostly focuses on the early stages of sanctification, in which new Christians are faced with the arduous task of reversing bad sowing. Many despair in the process as they discover that modifying their behavior is difficult, if not impossible. But that's the whole point of the yoke. The episode highlights the fact that all spiritual progress in sanctification is predicated on the yoke, our connection with Christ. The yoke softens our heart to the will of God, making sin distasteful. The imperative "break up the fallow ground" presumes already being yoked to Christ, which is the essential component in addressing a hard heart and the strongholds that come from it.
Are You Cooperating with the Yoke?
Coming from Hosea 10:11-14, this episode narrowly deals with the yoke, the means by which Christians yoked to Christ reverse both the effects of bad sewing and bad sewing itself. Christians are connected to Christ with a yoke which acts as the means of sanctification. Both the Son and the Holy Spirit enable believers to "sew with a view to righteousness and reap according to kindness." This sewing involves uprooting bad crops and underlying evil seeds and replanting Life-giving seeds, leading to a harvest of righteousness characterized by God's mercy. CRITICALLY, Christians can choose whether to cooperate with the yoke or not. The episode highlights the consequences of bucking against the yoke and the natural corruption that ensues (Gal 6:8). On the flip side, cooperation with the yoke leads to life and peace.
Not Growing in Jesus? Maybe Eisegesis is the Problem
Expanding on the previous 2 programs from Hosea 10:11-14, this episode highlights a balanced approach to sanctification in which sewing is just as important as reaping. Christianity in America is comparable to the Israelites in Hosea 10, in which the prophet noted that they loved to thresh (the final stage of reaping) but didn't sew with a view to righteousness or break up the fallow ground. This overemphasis on reaping/threshing over sewing has produced a "get-spiritual-quick" landscape that is shallow, superficial and Biblically illiterate over themes and issues not immediately relevant to many Christians. The episode hammers home the problem of eisegesis where both preachers and Christians consistently read into the text based on their threshing mentality, instead of letting the text of Scripture set the agenda. This pervasive tendency in American Christianity highlights an imbalanced approach to sanctification, where believers are anxious to reap without patiently sewing with a view to righteousness.
“The Fruit of Lies Hides a Harvest from Hell”
"This episode mostly focuses on the destructive effects of ""the fruit of lies"" which is the product of ""plowing wickedness"" and ""reaping injustice."" (Hosea 10:13) Spiritual growth is challenging because uprooting the fruit of lies (repeated sinful behavior and thinking) requires addressing both the original lie and the self-reinforcing baggage of the lusts of deceit. This baggage corresponds with the fruit of lies. Once we persistently act on lies, going outside of the will of God, we regularly eat of the apparent benefits, the veritable fruit of lies. Lusts of deceit naturally magnify benefits and minimize negative consequences, and the natural cycle of sewing and reaping means that the harvest of corruption is not immediately realized. Because of the self-reinforcing dynamic undergirding the fruit of lies, magnifying benefits and minimizing costs, sin is not easily abandoned. In the case of full-blown strongholds (2 Cor. 10:5), ""thoughts"" have matured into ""imaginations,"" and finally ""strongholds."" Tunnel-vision has set in, and satisfaction of a lust of deceit consumes the thought-life. The episode concludes with the way of deliverance: patient sewing of new seeds of righteousness which eventually yield the ""peaceful fruit of righteousness"" characterized by ""the fruit of the Spirit."" Christian sanctification therefore requires persistent uprooting of the fruit of lies till genuine godly fruit manifests through patient ""sewing with a view to righteousness.""
Do You Have the Mentality to Grow Spiritually?
This episode is an overview of Biblical spiritual growth based on Hosea 10:11-14. Substantive spiritual growth that endures temptation and the natural ups and downs of life is a thorough work that mirrors the agricultural process of sewing, reaping, and threshing. Many Christians unfortunately adopt a "get-spiritual-quick" mentality towards spiritual growth and emphasize the final stage of threshing without doing the hard work of "sewing with a view to righteousness." "Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh." (Hosea 10:11) The answer to superficial spirituality, according to the rest of the passage, is seeking the Lord by receiving the yoke. (see Matthew 11:28-30. Taking the yoke makes "sewing with a view to righteousness" a priority, understanding that reaping takes time as real transformation is God-directed. The episode highlights that subsequent reaping (looking more like Christ) is a mercy from God, based on his covenant loyalty. Significantly, genuine spiritual growth is a lengthy process in which believers take thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ and plant new seeds based on God's Word. Spiritual growth consequently takes time and is God-directed, as the Holy Spirit conforms us into the image of Christ.
“Don’t Let Sin Issues Go to Waste!”mourn
This final episode centers on the process of sanctification, the ongoing experience of the Holy Spirit conforming believers into the image of Christ. Once a believer becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit, the Indwelling Spirit has much to say about our living conditions. And while the Paraclete comforts us, reminding us of our secure position in Christ as heirs of Christ, He also makes us miserable and anxious over unconfessed sin, driving us back to Christ as the source of grace. He works "godly sorrow that leads to repentance." (2 Corinthians 7:10) The episode highlights the Holy Spirit's confrontation with David over his sin in Psalm 32, leading to his restoration where he is "surrounded by songs of deliverance." The episode closes with the admonition to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our struggles with sin, as this is paradoxically the means by which we draw closer to God and receive His comforting grace.
“Mourn the Residing Power of Sin, not the Penalty”
Building off of the last episode, this program contends that "mourning" should be a common occurrence in the life of believers. The same Holy Spirit that convicts us of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:7-11), leading to repentance and faith in Christ--well that same Spirit continues his convicting work in the life of believer. Though eternal destiny is settled for believers (position), seemingly endless adjustments are in order as the Holy Spirit conforms the saint into the image of Christ, as He addresses our condition. James 4:8-9 insists that believers mourn their remaining affinity with worldliness: "Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep.."
“Godly Sorrow Leads to Repentance”
This initial episode emphasizes that coming to Christ necessarily requires mourning. The gospel of grace is predicated on judgment, the acknowledgement that justice must be satisfied. "The wages of sin is death," so either Christ's pays the debt or the sinner renders the payment. The conditions to receive Christ are repentance and faith. 2 Corinthians 7:10 declares that "godly sorrow leads to repentance." So even though subsequent joy over receiving the grace of God is the experience of the Christian, mourning that leads to repentance opens the door to that joy. The surrounding verses of Matthew 5:4 also highlight the psychological state of anyone who comes into the kingdom. Being "poor in spirit" and hungry and thirsty for righteousness describe those who mourn over sin. Those who receive Christ are subsequently comforted by the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.
Testing the Majority Approach of King James Onlyism
This episode analyzes the claim by KJV only advocates that God providentially chose to preserve His word through the Textus Receptus. The Textus Receptus is based on the majority approach: God providentially preserved His Word by ensuring that the majority of manuscripts conveyed the divine autographa. An easy way to test this claim is evaluating all the manuscripts from each century to determine the majority text of each century. If God is providentially preserving His Word, the majority of manuscripts of every century would always convey the same text. Yet the majority text upon which the Textus Receptus is based only became the majority text around the 9th century. Additionally, manuscripts prior to the 4th century never cite from the Byzantine text type, the type commonly appearing in the majority text of the Textus Receptus. They instead cite from Alexandrian or Western text types. Finally, Gordon Fee has noted that citations of the Bible from church Fathers favor the modern critical text over the Textus Receptus. The preservation of the divine autographa THROUGH the majority approach is consequently invalid.
The Origin of “KJV Onlyism”
This episode reiterates the significance of Westcott and Hort's revised Greek Text in 1881, the text upon which most modern translations rest. They wanted to incorporate newly discovered Greek manuscripts into the manuscript tradition, tweaking the Textus Receptus as needed. Importantly, the vast majority of the Greek text remained unchanged. Defenders of the Textus Receptus rejected any "tweaking," insisting that God had perfectly preserved His Word in the Textus Receptus, the underlying Greek text upon which the translators of the KJV relied. The English divine John Burgon linked the doctrine of inspiration with preservation, arguing from some prooftexts that God's providential preservation of the Scriptures followed from divine inspiration, and this miracle is evident in the KJV.