David J. Stewart #fundie

David J. Stewart #fundie jesus-is-savior.com

"...Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea." -John 21:7

I was reading the Bible the other day and a thought occurred to me as I read this Scripture. Peter didn't have a problem being naked around the other disciples; but he immediately went to put his clothes on when he saw Jesus. So much can be said about this situation. This is what happens when Christians wander away from the Lord--the clothes start coming off! This is why country singer, Faith Hill, who testifies of having grown up in a good Christian home, has already posed twice in Playboy magazine! Despite her claim of being spiritual, Faith Hill needs to see Jesus. Do you think Jesus would look at a Playboy magazine? Do you think Jesus, who condemned lust in Matthew 5:28, would approve of Faith Hill posing sensually in a dirty pornographic magazine? Of course NOT! It's just a fact, nudity and heathendom go together. When a lost sinner believes upon the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive his sins, a change takes place in that man's heart. As a believer grows in the Lord, and draws nearer to God, the clothes go back on! Peter didn't even have to think twice ... when he heard that the Lord was present, he put his clothes back on! What a needful lesson for Christians today.

I recall a related Scripture back in Genesis 3:7 ... "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." Adam and Eve were convicted about their nakedness. Biblically, nudity is a SIN.

[I don't think I want to be around when he finds out about Christian naturists...]

73 comments

old comment by Skyknight

Actually, the way Stewart is understanding this (or at least, one of his favored theologians is) is that Adam and Eve were trying to use the fig leaves to cover up a thing they "knew" was sinful:

"Here is a wonderful and interesting explanation of Genesis 3:7 by the great man of God, Dr. J. Vernon McGee:

"And the eyes of them both were opened"this refers to their conscience. Before the fall, man did not have a conscience; he was innocent. Innocence is ignorance of evil. Man did not make conscience. It is an accuser that each one of us has living on the inside of us. A leading psychologist in a university in Southern California, who is a Christian, said to me that the guilt complex is as much a part of man as his right arm is. Man cannot get rid of that guilt complex in a psychological way.

"And they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." Have you ever noticed that the fig tree is the only tree that is specifically mentioned? (The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not an apple tree. I do not know what it was, but I am almost sure it was not an apple tree.) These fig leaves concealed but did not really cover. Adam and Eve did not confess; they just attempted to cover up their sin. They were not ready to admit their lost condition.

This is the same condition of man today in religion. He goes through exercises and rituals, he joins churches, and he becomes very religious. Have you ever noticed that Christ cursed the fig tree? That is quite interesting. And He denounced religion right after that, by the way; He denounced it with all His being because religion merely covers over sin. -SOURCE: Thru The Bible With J. Vernon McGee

Peter's nakedness was sinful, and he knew it, which is why he put his clothes back on when he saw the Lord. "

...Meaning what, exactly? That we weren't SUPPOSED to know the substance of good and evil? Then how, exactly, were we supposed to be righteous, just as God is alleged to be righteous? Even if you define righteousness as "blind obedience to God", then how does God classify as righteous, since he can't blindly obey himself?

And this bit on that page explains a good deal of Stewart detesting female pants:

"Women who love and respect the Lord won't wear bikinis at the beach, or wear miniskirts, or wear pants, or pose in Playboy. There's not an honest normal man alive who doesn't know what's wrong with women wearing pants--they are extremely revealing of a woman's flesh."

Unless those pants are translucent (and they probably aren't), this only makes sense if you consider a rough outline of the flesh to be the same as the flesh. And in any case, Jesus was criticizing the one who lusted after the woman in his heart, not the woman in question! (Last I heard, considering a woman to be beautiful/sexy/etc. isn't exactly the same as lust...) I'm starting to wonder if Hyles's followers even consider self-restraint to be possible...

(And yes, I'm the one who put this one up.)

old comment by tracer

At the time the New Testament was written, being naked wasn't a sign that you were ready to mate, it was a sign that you were IMPOVERISHED.

Clothing was EXPENSIVE. Wearing clothes was a sign of AFFLUENCE. When you were visiting royalty, you wore clothing because you wanted to make a GOOD IMPRESSION.

Jesus was supposedly the "king of kings", and Peter was trying to "look his best" for the "visiting royalty" of the king of kings.

Incidentally, this Jesus = royalty thing was also why he was ANNOINTED. It was tradition to annoint the head of the King with oil, as an intication of his station. Messiah and Christ, in fact, MEAN "annointed." He was being annointed as the new "king" of kings.

old comment by Lauren D.

God imputes the righteousness of Jesus Christ to the believing sinner while he is still in his sinning state. This was true of Abraham (Gen. 15:6). It is true of every believer in Christ (Ps. 32:2; Rom. 3:22; 4:3, 8, 21-25; 2 Cor. 5:21). All of our sins were charged (imputed) to the account of Christ, and His righteous standing with the Father has been imputed (charged) to our account. There is a judicial transfer of the righteousness of God to the believer because there could be no other grounds of acceptance with a righteous God.

The righteousness of God is imputed to all who believe on Christ so that they may stand before Him in all the perfection of Christ.

Every saved sinner has been “made” the righteousness of God (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 5:21-23). This imputed righteousness is not something man does or earns.

It is all of God’s grace.

“God sees the believer as a living part of His own Son” by our identification with Him by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We are members of His body (1 Cor. 12:13; Jn. 15:1, 5). God sees us “in Christ” and justifies us forever. He sees us clothed in the righteous garments of Christ.

Therefore, God loves you and me as much as He loves His own Son (Jn. 17:23). He accepts us as He accepts Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:6; 1 Pet. 2:5). He sees us the same way He sees His own Son (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 3:22; 1 Cor. 1:30). Christ is the righteousness of God, and those who believe on Him are made the righteousness of God by being “in Christ.” We are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10); therefore, God the Father sees us perfected forever (Heb. 10:10, 14).

old comment by Lauren D.

The self-satisfied are attacked, those who fancy themselves as earthly saviors find themselves capable of great evil, intellectuals discover their ideas to be useless human constructs, and those bent on “freedom” find themselves left open to be controlled by evil. Many believers take pride and comfort in the fact that they do "good deeds" and regularly attend church, only to find that at the point of a serious illness or some other catastrophe that they really don't know the One they think they have been serving. The New Testament Scribes and Pharisees took pride in the fact that they were careful to observe The Law, which included the Old Testament laws of Moses and hundreds of rules the religious leaders kept adding over the years. They thought that keeping these rules made them righteous, or in right relationship with God. Yet, Jesus confronts them in Matthew 23:3-33 by telling them that their religious observances do nothing for their spiritual condition if their hearts are not continually right with God. Again, being a good person and following a set of rules cannot possibly take the place of a close, meaningful relationship with God.