On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
—Deuteronomy 17:6
One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
—Deuteronomy 19:15
At first glance, these verses out of the ancient Jewish Law seem reasonable. Of course, you would not want to listen to just one witness when judging a matter of murder or crime. But did you know Jesus quoted a portion of Deuteronomy 19:15? When Jesus talked about how to handle faults inside the Jewish community he told them to approach the offender privately. But if that didn’t work then take one or two others along (so there would be two or three) and he references the passage in Deuteronomy 19:15:
But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
—Matthew 18:16
Again, a statement like this is very pragmatic. But Jesus makes a reference to two or three persons in a different way here:
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
—Matthew 18:19-20
This is obviously not a reference to a matter of judging crimes or faults. In this reference Jesus seems to be implying that there is significance to have more than just one person present at the same time. Additionally, two things stand out to me: 1) the people are in agreement, and 2) Jesus is with them. The ancient Greek word used here for “agree” is symphoneo. It is a verb that means to voice the same opinion because the people in agreement are like-minded. It is where we get our English word for symphony. All the parts are working together in harmony. It appears that Jesus is assigning significances to more than one believer agreeing together about something on which they are focused. Fascinating!
And even Paul makes a couple references to the same passages out of Deuteronomy. But he uses it to emphasize the importance of what he is preaching by the number of visits to the Corinthians here:
This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
—2 Corinthians 13:1
Paul instructs Timothy about when to listen to accusations about an elder:
Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses.
—1 Timothy 5:19
Lastly, the writer of Hebrews alludes to the passages in Deuteronomy when comparing the Old Covenant with the New Covenant:
28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
—Hebrews 10:28-29
The significance of two or three people agreeing on the same thing runs throughout Jewish history in the Bible. It’s a very important concept. But I am not going to stop here. I have something more to add about the power of agreement.
Let’s look at the passage that so many preachers use for a new believer to be saved:
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
—Romans 10:9-10
I want you to focus on the words “declare” in verse 9 and “profess” in verse 10. (some translations use “confess”) The ancient Greek word used is homologeo in both places. It means to consent or agree that something is true. It literally means “same word” or to “speak the same thing”.
But what is meant here? Isn’t this a case of a new believer putting himself in agreement with God by admitting verbally that Jesus is Lord? And don’t the believer plus God make two that are in agreement? We have already established the importance of the power of the agreement between two or three parties, right? I hope you are understanding this. It is such a powerful concept!
One more thing: Imagine what happens when you read the Scriptures to find out what God says about you and then verbally acknowledge what God says about you. Isn’t this more important than what you say about yourself? Yes. Yes, it is. Because what God says about your is more true than what you say or think about yourself. You and I are humans. We are capable of lies, falsehoods, and misbeliefs. God never lies. In fact, It is impossible for Him to lie.
God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.
—Hebrews 6:18
So if confessing out loud what God says about you seems strange or even seems like it is a lie then check what you believe. Chances are great that you have aligned yourself with a lie about yourself. And when you catch yourself in this situation and you find you are agreeing with a lie then consider what party is on the other side of your agreement.
If you believe something that sounds like it opposes what God says about you, then who are you agreeing with? Is it not the father of lies, the accuser? The voices in your head of self hate, self loathing, self condemnation—are they not all from the deceiver and not from God?
God puts tremendous value on us all. So much so that He sent His only Son to die for us all. God did all this for us because He wanted to restore a right relationship between man and Himself. All the Scriptures should be read with this as the heart of it all. God loves us. Find out what He says about us and about what Jesus did for us on our behalf. That is what is true. Consent to God’s love for you. Agree with God and what the Bible says about you.
I’ll be telling you more about the power that comes from agreeing with God by giving examples of some of His promises to us all in the next few posts.
Duct Tape Rx 