One God & One Lord

The following is a guest article written by Jason Styba.

In my quest to understand who God is and who God’s only begotten Son is, I’ve realized that there are numerous differences between God and his Son.  This is not to say that his Son Jesus Christ did anything contrary to the will of God, but rather to highlight the inherent differences concerning who they are, what they have done and their relationship to us.  There are many more points than what I’ve listed here. Hopefully one can begin to see that they are not the same being if these hold true.  I believe the first and the last points listed are the most important.  It’s also of utmost importance for one to understand that God is my Father, and that Jesus is the Christ and he is my Lord.  I love God with my whole being and am ever thankful that he provided THE way for salvation by sending his only begotten Son into the world to sacrifice his perfect self on the cross, making atonement for our sins.  I thank God for raising my Lord Jesus Christ from the dead after three days and three nights and making him both Lord and Christ.  What a great God we have and what a wonderful Savior!  That being said, please let us consider the following, looking up each scripture reference to see for yourself:

• God’s Son actually died and was raised from the dead, while God is eternal and immortal and, therefore, cannot die.  (Romans 5:10, 1 Tim 1:17)

• God’s Son learned obedience to God, while God need not obey anyone for he is almighty.  (Hebrews 5:8, Acts 5:29, Daniel 7:27)

• God’s Son grew in favor with God, while God cannot grow in favor with his own self.  (Luke 2:52, common sense)

• God’s Son was given all things by his Father, while God already has all things.  (Luke 10:22)

• God’s Son did not seek to do his own will, while God is the one who’s will he sought and did. (Luke 22:42)
• God’s Son is a man, while God is spirit with no flesh and bones.  (Mark 15:39, John 4:24, Luke 24:39)

• God’s Son has a God, while God is the MOST HIGH GOD, having no God himself.  (John 20:17, Genesis 14:22)

• God’s Son has a Father, while God has no Father for He is the creator.  (Matthew 11:27, Isaiah 40:28)

• God’s Son was made of a woman, while God has always been.  (Galatians 4:4,  Romans 16:26)

• God’s Son prayed to his God, while God doesn’t pray to anyone - for He’s God and receives prayer.  (John 17:1-3, common sense, and Acts 10:31)

God’s Son is our Lord Jesus Christ, while God is our Heavenly Father!  (1 Corinthians 8:6, Luke 11:13, 2 John 1:3)

Jason Styba

The following is quoted from The Unitarian Advocate and Religious Miscellany, Vol. 1—No. 1, January 1830. The text itself is quoted from “the late Bishop Watson.”

“What!” he exclaims, “shall the church of Christ never be freed from the narrow-minded contentions of bigots; from the insults of men who know not what spirit they are of, when they would stint the Omnipotent in the exercise of his mercy, and bar the doors of heaven against every sect but their own? Shall we never learn to think more humbly of ourselves, and less despicably of others? to believe that the Father of the universe accommodates not his judgements to the wretched wranglings of pedantic Theologues; but that every one, who, with an honest intention, and to the best of his ability seeketh the truth, whether he findeth it or not, and worketh righteousness, will be accepted of him? …

“If different men,” he afterwards adds, “in carefully and conscientiously examining the scriptures, should arrive at different conclusions, even on points of the last importance, we trust that God, who alone knows what every man is capable of, will be merciful to his that is in error. We trust that he will pardon the Unitarian, if he be in error, because he has fallen into it from the dread of becoming an Idolater, of giving that glory to another which he conceives to be due to God alone. If the worshipper of Jesus Christ be in an error, we trust that God will pardon his mistake, because he has fallen into it from a dread of disobeying what he conceives to be revealed concerning the nature of the Son, or commanded concerning the honor to be given him. Both are actuated by the same principle—THE FEAR OF GOD; and, though that principle impels them into different roads, it is our hope and belief, that, if they add to their faith charity, they will meet in heaven.”

This one ties in with my earlier article, “Ecumenical Thoughts,” so I’ll end it with the same words in which I ended that one:

Faith working through love, serving Jesus Christ, living in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit: this is the kingdom of God. Instead of bickering, biting, and devouring one another, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).

Is there not another class who may properly be named speculative Christians? Christians who profess to have attained a correct religious faith, but who do not exhibit a truly christian practice; whose evidence of discipleship proceeds from their lips, and not from their lives? If so, they do not comply with the injunctions of Christ Jesus. He has no where required a belief in any enumerated set of opinions as a condition of divine acceptance. Sincere obedience is his only test of a christian profession. “Ye are my disciples if ye do whatsoever I command you.” A good life is the only scriptural evidence of a saving faith. The only scriptural heresy is immoral conduct. Continual reference is made by him to the actions of men, and not to their speculative opinions. We are directed to judge of persons by their characters, and not by their creeds. And we are assured that God will render unto every man according to his deeds, and not according to his religious sentiments. A correct faith is indeed valuable. It is of great value, because it is more likely to produce correct conduct; and for this reason we should search for truth as for hidden treasures. But a correct practice is infinitely more valuable; because this is the sum and substance of the gospel requisitions; and this can be secured where the faith is erroneous. For every candid person will allow that there are obedient Christians in every sect; and no man can allow that all religious opinions of every denomination are true. Unreserved obedience is therefore the test of discipleship required by Christ; and without this, a belief in all the creeds in creation will not entitle us to his approbation and acceptance.

Quoted from The Unitarian Advocate and Religious Miscellany, Vol. 1—No. 1, January 1830.

Notice the difference in the directness of the answers Jesus gives to these questions and assumptions about him.

KING

• John 18:37
  37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

MESSIAH (CHRIST)

• John 4:25-26
  25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”
  26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

• Mark 14:61-62
  61 But He kept silent and did not answer Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”
  62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

TEACHER and LORD

• John 13:13
  13 “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.

GOD

• John 10:33-36
  33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
  34 Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’?
  35 “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
  36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

Notice here, also, that Jesus did not acknowledge their accusation that he made himself out “to be God,” but rather corrected them, saying he said that he was the “Son of God.” First he points out from Scripture that men were called gods, even by God Himself; then he goes further to clarify that he never called himself “God,” but “the Son of God.” This is a far cry from his usual direct responses –

“So You are a king?” — “You say correctly that I am a king.”
“I know that Messiah is coming.” — “I who speak to you am He.”
“Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” — “I am.”
“You call Me Teacher and Lord” — “You are right, for so I am.”

• John 20:25-29
  25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
  26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
  27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
  28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
  29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

In this one, Thomas’ exclamation of astonishment is not even addressed by Jesus. It is usually argued that because Jesus did not rebuke him, then Thomas’ statement must be true; but that is an argument from silence. Perhaps Jesus simply recognized that it was a statement made in a moment of stunned recognition… Not recognition that Jesus was God, but recognition that Jesus had risen from the dead, which is what the whole passage is about.

Thomas didn’t see Jesus the first time with the other disciples. When the disciples tell him, “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas states in verse 25 that unless he can physically touch Jesus, he will not believe. Believe what? That they saw him, that he was really there, back from the dead. On finally seeming him eight days later, Thomas, in his excitement and joy, exclaims “My Lord and my God!” But Jesus ignores the form of address (if indeed that is what it was; there are alternative explanations) and confirms the important thing, that Thomas believes: “Because you have seen me, have you believed?” Some would want you to believe that Jesus meant that Thomas now believes that Jesus is God, but that is totally out of context to the passage. Rather, it is the belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son whom God has raised from the dead. The very next verses confirm this:

• John 20:30-31
  30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
  31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

When Jesus was addressed as or questioned about who he was, he directly and without many words affirmed the truth. As we can read, this was not the case when the Jews accused him of being God.

This is actually the body of an email I sent to a friend back in October 2006. The subject of contemplative, or “centering,” prayer was recently brought to my attention again after hearing some young people talk about what they had learned at a Christian youth retreat from which they had just returned. They did not mention the words “contemplative” or “centering,” but were instead taught that they should be still and listen for God. The general idea seemed the same to me, so I searched through my email for items I may have saved on the subject. Instead I found one I wrote myself to a dear friend. Here it is.

Quiet is good. I often, when I’m in prayer, stop speaking and listen for a few moments. The difference is that in eastern meditation you are intentionally trying to clear your mind of thought (or sometimes concentrating your thought on one single thing or word) for the purpose of allowing the greater “whatever” to communicate with you. However, in the spiritual world that we know exists, such an emptying of our minds is only an invitation for evil (satan, demons) to enter into it and let us think that our “revelations” are from God. There is a reason God tells us to dwell on his word day and night.

The two Bible verses that are primarily used to support contemplative prayer are the following, and they are both used out of context! The first is —

• 1 Kings 19:11-12 NASB
  (11) So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
  (12) After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.

Where NASB translates “gentle blowing” in verse 12, the KJV translates it as “still, small voice,” which is the translation that contemplatives latch on to. But nowhere does the passage indicate that Elijah was meditating or being intentionally quiet for God to speak to him that way. In fact, he had just experienced an earthquake and fire! Those things certainly got his attention. Maybe his alertness to what was going on around him following those things, NOT a turning inward, is what allowed him to know that God was there in the gentle breeze. But let’s also not forget that God also appeared to and spoke to Moses in fire (the burning bush), not a gentle breeze.

God knows how to get your attention when He wants it. We can’t force Him to come to us on our grounds, our terms, how WE think is best (e.g., quiet meditation). Our awesome God is not a “force” that we can tap into by practicing certain techniques. He is in control, not us. Jesus taught us how to pray, and “quiet your mind” was not one of his instructions! He did often go off alone to pray and that is something we all should do, even if the place we go off alone to is our bedroom.

OK, and the other verse is this one —

• Psalms 46:10 NASB
  (10) “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The KJV says “Be still, and know that I am God.” This is also used heavily by contemplatives. The NASB translation is more accurate with the meaning in context. It has to do with not striving for things in our own power, in our flesh, without depending on God’s help and guidance. It has nothing to do with emptying or quieting the mind for meditation. It’s about not forging ahead with our own plans, forgetting about God in the process, forgetting to pray and asking for His guidance. About not trusting Him. Settle down, chill out, the Lord is with us, He is our stronghold (which is basically the very next verse) —

• Psalms 46:11 NASB
  (11) The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

I hope this has helped you, dear brother. Pray daily for God to give you spiritual discernment, to know good from evil, truth from falsehood. That is a gift we all need.

In chapter 1 of Revelation, John uses many descriptive terms to describe his vision of Christ. Those same terms, using almost identical terminology, are used by Christ himself in the letters dictated to the seven churches. These terms are compared side-by-side in the following table. Credit goes to the late William Hendriksen, who used the same chart (but different Bible translation) in his book, More Than Conquerors.

The very last comparison, Revelation 1:5 and Revelation 3:14, is the one I want to concentrate on in this article. William Hendriksen recognized that “the firstborn of the dead” and “the beginning of the creation of God” were synonymous attributes applied to Jesus Christ. Further confirmation of this can be found in Colossians 1:18.

• Colossians 1:18 NASB
  (18) He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

As the firstborn of the dead, Jesus is the beginning of God’s new creation.

In the beginning of God’s first creation, the creation of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), God created light by His spoken word, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). Then a bit later, in Genesis 1:14-18, God created lights in the heavens to give light upon the earth and to separate the light from the darkness.

In the second, or new, creation, God’s word is also instrumental. Let’s jump over to John chapter 1 to see how this works. John 1:3 says that all things came into being through God’s word, just as in the Genesis creation. In His word is life, and the life was the Light of men (John 1:4). The Light shines in the darkness, just as it did in the first creation (John 1:5). But this time, the Light that God creates to give light to the world, to enlighten every man (John 1:9) is a man, the man Christ Jesus, who brings God’s Word of Life to the world. God’s word becomes flesh, the True Light (John 1:9). Not the physical light of the Genesis creation, but the true light of the new creation. A spiritual light of life. “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63).

The larger concept here is expressed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:46 when he is talking about resurrection:

• 1 Corinthians 15:46 NASB
  (46) However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

The natural is first. The natural was the first creation, the Genesis creation of the physical heavens and earth. Then comes the spiritual. The second creation is the spiritual creation. This is the creation of which Jesus is the beginning, the firstborn of all creation.

This is not a complex concept, but it is a big and important one to understand. There are two creations of God described in the Bible and many people confuse verses in the New Testament that speak strictly of the new creation, as speaking of the original Genesis creation. Those with Arian and Trinitarian beliefs interpret Jesus being “the beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14) as meaning he pre-existed his earthly birth to Mary (though they give different meaning to the Greek word arche). However, this “beginning” refers to the new creation, which began with the firstborn from the dead, Jesus the Christ.

I never thought I’d be having them, but I am. Ecumenical thoughts. I’m not talking about a universal ecumenism among religions of the world, to include Hindus, Buddhists, Wiccans, and Muslims. No, I’m talking about only within the realm of Christianity: those groups who believe in God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Those who proclaim Christ as Lord and the only way of eternal salvation.

I participate in online Christian discussion forums and it is truly sad to experience groups of people, all who call on the name of the Lord, accuse one another of the most vile blasphemies, declaring them not to be Christians or not to be saved, or that they belong to a “cult,” with disgust oozing from every letter of the word, even though both sides serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Each group, whether they be Catholic, Protestant, Reformed, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, Seventh Day Adventist, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, Christadelphian, Lutheran, Baptist, Biblical Unitarian, or even your generic “nondenominational Christian fellowship,” they all believe that they are the true church, the group that has the majority of the truth, the remnant church, the group most certainly headed for heaven. All the others are viewed as apostate or lost or pagan, but with the right teaching can be brought into the fold. And they all think the same thing about each other. It’s a jungle out there, folks.

Why all this diversity of belief? Part of it can be blamed on the accepting as scripture the writings of men and women who came well after the apostles and disciples of Christ, sometimes claiming to be prophets themselves, sometimes not. Even those who never made a claim to being a prophet or inspired of God, their writings have been elevated to that status by those who came after. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have their Watchtower Society, the Mormons have their Joseph Smith, the Seventh Day Adventists have their Ellen G. White, the Presbyterians and other Reformed groups have their John Calvin, the Catholics have their Pope. All of those groups also accept the canon of Scripture, the 66 books of the Bible, as the inspired Word of God. An amazing giant leap toward unity would be seen simply by forsaking ALL non-biblical sources of guidance. Phrases like “but according to Calvin’s Institutes…..” or “it says in the Desire of Ages that…” or “the Vatican council declared…” or “the prophet Lehi said…” or “according to the Nicene Creed….” Away with all extra-biblical pronouncements! If it is not in the Bible, you have no business enforcing it as a necessary doctrine for all believers or quoting these people as spiritual authorities.

Get back to the Bible and stay there. Yes, there will still be differences of interpretation, but at least everyone will have an agreed upon source of truth for productive discussion. And if we don’t see eye-to-eye on some things, we can still love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, because when everything else is put aside, we recognize that we are all desiring to please God by serving His Son Jesus Christ.

But some will say, “but their conception of Christ is different than ours!” That may be so, and all cannot be right. If their conception is derived from the Scriptures alone, their intent is noble even if their conclusion is faulty.

• Mark 9:38-41
  38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.”
  39 But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.
  40 “For he who is not against us is for us.
  41 “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.
• Romans 14:17-19
  17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
  18 For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
  19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

Let’s look here not at what the kingdom of God is NOT, but at what it IS: Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. He who serves Christ in that way is acceptable to God.

Is Christ formed in you? (Galatians 4:19) Or do you bite and devour one another?

• Galatians 5:13-16
  13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
  14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
  15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
  16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

The brethren who constantly bicker and make accusations back and forth because they don’t believe the same things about baptism or communion or hell or spiritual gifts or end time prophecy, I think they have turned their freedom into an opportunity for the flesh. It is the desire of your flesh that wants to war and bite and devour. You are using the Word of God as bait for your flesh. However, in the Spirit, love should be manifest always. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24).

With the variety of beliefs out there, just those based solely on the Bible, I believe we are all pretty much on our own about searching the scriptures and coming to a knowledge of the truth. We can share what we’ve learned with one another. Some may be persuaded, some may not. But why do we judge one another over such matters? I’m not talking about sin, because we are to correct one another regarding sin. But regarding our understanding, to our own Master we will stand or fall. As my friend Paul Kelly says,

At the end of the day God knows who’s right and who’s wrong. We don’t. All we know is that we act and believe on what we read and what we’re told….and we try to make sense of that to the best of our abilities. Whether we’re right or wrong, apart from God, who can say? We just try to do what’s right in the best way we can.

Faith working through love, serving Jesus Christ, living in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit: this is the kingdom of God. Instead of bickering, biting, and devouring one another, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).

The following is a guest article written by Sam Coulter.

It is a personal observation, and one that is amazing in reality, that I have yet to see even one passage of scripture where the doctrine of the Trinity is the subject and focus of either the speaker or the writer in God’s word. There is no passage that articulates the idea that God is three persons or that Jesus is one of those three persons who is “incarnate” as the man Jesus of Nazareth. There is not one passage that says anything explicitly about the Trinity.

While this is not a ground-breaking revelation, it is to me an amazing fact when one looks at the landscape of mainstream orthodox Christianity past and present. Can we really be such slaves to tradition that literally millions and millions have lived fully convinced that the Bible explicitly tells us God is “three persons”? The more I study, the more amazed I am by this apparent phenomenon.

There would not even be any discussion, nor rational disagreement, if we had even ONE passage of scripture where we would find the writer or speaker actually speaking of God as three persons. For instance, where is the passage in which we find such thoughts as “Well here is how God is three persons..” or “Now the Trinity is comprised of…” or “The Godhead includes the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…” or any such clear and explicit verbiage actually addressing this orthodox doctrine?

Instead, we have Trinitarian apologists who skillfully argue for their extremely detailed construct by reading into the text what is clearly not the subject of the passage. And so they must, for it is simply not found anywhere in God’s word. They must resort to obfuscation, equivocation, and outright intellectual dishonesty to even attempt to hold their view.

So I say where is this teaching? Where and what passage may I turn to that will instruct me, without sophistry, of this God who is three co-equal and eternal “persons” yet one being and one God alone? What sermon may I find in the Bible? What doctrinal teaching can I plainly read that will tell me of the dual-natured “Godman” who is both God and “not God” at the same time? Where is the voice of scripture, without manipulation, that speaks of this God? I have yet to find such a voice, except from the Trinitarian apologist.

No doubt you are all wondering “what is the point, Sam?” Well I will tell you. The point is there is not one passage of God’s word, his perfect word, that tells us he is three in one. Not one. That fact is simply not in dispute. The Trinitarian apologist knows this and is reduced to arguing that the “concept” is found in scripture. By this he means that he can skillfully read into the text his doctrine and declare then that it exists “in concept.” I am simply amazed at this and when I am having a discussion with a Trinitarian they will argue as if I am the complete fool for not “clearly” seeing their doctrine (as they do) and they behave just as if we could open the Bible and go right to literally hundreds of passages that read…”God is three persons who are all co-equal…….etc. etc.”.

Well, enough! No more will I accept the force of argument that this is the clear and explicit teaching in God’s word when it is clearly man’s tradition that keeps the doctrine of the Trinity alive. It has been fun playing your word games and sleight of hand half-truths, but no longer will I accept this falsehood. You had better start owning up to the fact that your doctrine is derived, developed, assembled, made up and completely foreign to any voice in God’s word. Forget “proof-texts” taken out of context. Show me a passage where the context and subject is the Trinity. I challenge you to find ONE, just ONE. And when you fail to produce such a passage, and you will fail, then I call on you by the grace of the living God to think about the implications of this fact. If there is no voice or passage of scripture telling you God is a Trinity of persons, then why dear brother or sister, do you believe it?

Peace.

Sam Coulter

I just noticed that the Greek word Ioudaios (translated as Jew, Jews, Jewish) appears numerous times throughout the gospel of John, but extremely few times in the synoptics.

Here are the statistics:

• Matthew - Appears 5 times (Matthew 2:2, 27:11, 27:29, 27:37, and 28:15). Four of the five times, the word is in the context of “King of the Jews.”

• Mark - Appears 6 times (Mark 7:3, 15:2, 15:9, 15:12, 15:18, 15:26). Five of the six times, the word is in the context of “King of the Jews.”

• Luke - Appears 5 times (Luke 7:3, 23:3, 23:37, 23:38, 23:51). Three of the five times, the word is in the context of “King of the Jews.”

• John - Appears 70 times (verses too numerous to list; 66 of them). Appears in every chapter except chapters 14, 15, 16, 17, and 21.

Could it be that at the time John was written, the term was in more common use? Or could the intended audience have something to do with it?

The word is also abundant throughout the book of Acts, appearing more than 80 times. Why so frequent in Acts and not Luke, when the two writings are supposed to be by the same author?

From Wikipedia, regarding Luke and Acts:

“The traditional view is that both books were written c. 60, though most scholars, believing the Gospel to be dependent (at least) on Mark’s gospel, view the book(s) as having been written at a later date, sometime between 70 and 100.” (From entry on Acts of the Apostles)

“Most scholars accept the two-source hypothesis, that the text is based in part on the Gospel of Mark and a now lost document, and place the composition of Luke between 80 and 90. A few scholars postulate an earlier date.” (From entry on Gospel of Luke)

From Wikipedia, regarding the gospel of John:

“Most scholars agree on a range of c. 90–100 for when the gospel was written, though dates as early as the 60s or as late as the 140s have been advanced by a small number of scholars.” (From entry on Gospel of John)

Matthew, Mark, and Luke tend to use the words “scribes” and/or”Pharisees” more frequently, instead of “Jews.” Both words provide a more specific identify than does “Jews.” “Scribes and Pharisees” are often seen written together in the gospels. In New Testament times, the scribes were generally part of the Pharisees. Both were extremely knowledgeable of the ancient written law. The scribes would make written copies of the law and also teach it to others. Scribes are sometimes called “lawyers.” Pharisees were noted for self-righteousness and pride, and would supplement the ancient law with their own traditions.

The word “Jew” originally designated someone from the tribe of Judah, but later came to be used more widely of anyone of the whole Hebrew nation.

Many Old Testament (OT) prophets wrote of a future “last days.” New Testament (NT) writers confirmed that they were in the generation of the “last days” that the OT prophets wrote about. The most direct identification being in Acts 2 and Hebrews 1. In Acts 2:16-17, Peter describes what was happening, saying “this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel.” He then quotes the prophet Joel, saying “And it shall be in the last days that I will pour forth of my spirit on all mankind… .” In Hebrews 1:2, the writer states that “in these last days [God] has spoken to us in His Son… .”

So the “last days” cannot be the last days of the church or the “church age,” regardless of how long one may believe the “last days” last, because the church was just starting in NT times, not ending or entering a “last days” period! Therefore, the “last days” had to refer to the ending of something that was already begun and had been around before NT times.

The “last days” prophecies refer to the ending of the old covenant and its temple and worship system. The last days of the physical shadows which pointed to the spiritual reality inaugurated by the Messiah Jesus: the new covenant of God’s law being “written on our heart” (Jeremiah 31:31-33, Hebrews 10:15-20) and our worship of God being “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).

The NT tells us that the Law was taken out of the way by the death of Christ (Colossians 2:14, Ephesians 2:15), that the old covenant was obsolete and ready to disappear (Hebrews 8:13). Eventually, the whole physical system of old covenant worship would finally be destroyed with the destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.