“CALL NO MAN YOUR FATHER”
BALANCED WITH
“SPIRITUAL FATHER”

As is true throughout the Scripture, God’s Word is perfectly balanced.  For every teaching there is a balanced teaching, i.e. faith and works, heaven and hell, etc.  In this study of Matthew 23:9 “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven…”  Unless we examine the whole counsel   of God for the balanced interpretation, no one would be allowed to call their own fathers, whether biological or spiritual, as “father”.  We will discover the balanced understanding found in the following passages of Scripture:

FATHER

Matthew 3:9 “And think to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”

Matthew 4:22 “And they (Peter and Andrew) immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him (Jesus).”

Matthew 10:35 “For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Matthew 10:37 “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

Matthew 15:4-6 “For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.  But ye say, Whosoever shalt say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightiest be profited by me; And honor nor his father or his mother, he shall be free.  Thus have ye made the commanded of God of none effect by your tradition.”

Matthew 19:5 “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh.”

Matthew 19:19Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Matthew 21:31 “Whether of them twain did the will of his father?  They say unto him, The first.  Jesus saith unto them.  Verily I say unto you, That the publican and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.”

Matthew 23:1-12 “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.  And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.  Neither be ye called masters: for one is you Master, even Christ.  But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”

Mark 5:40 “And they laughed him (Jesus) to scorn.  But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. ”

Mark 7:9-13 “And he (Jesus) said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.  For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:  But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightiest be profited by me, he shall be free.  And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered and many such things do ye.”

Mark 9:21, 24 “And he (Jesus) asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him?  And he said, of a child.  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

Mark 11:10 “Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.”

Mark 13:12 “Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.”

Mark 15:21 “And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.”

Luke 1:32 “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David;””

Luke 1:72-73 “To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham.”

Luke 2:48 “And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?  Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.”

Luke 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”

Luke 8:51 “And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.”

Luke 11:11 “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone?  Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?”

Luke 12:53 “And the father shall be divided against the son, and son against the father; the other against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Luke 14:26 “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

Luke 15:11-32 “And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.  And he divided unto them his living…And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my fathers have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, have sinned against heaven, and before thee.  And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.  And he arose, and came to his father.  But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.  And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.  But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.  And they began to be merry. 

Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.  And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.  And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.  And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:  But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.  And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.  It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”

Luke 18:20 “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother.”

John 4:12, 14 “Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?  Jesus answered and said unto her…Whosoever drinketh of this water that I shall give him shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

John 4:53 “So the father (certain nobleman) knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.”

John 6:42 “And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?”

John 8:39 “And they answered unto him, Abraham is our father.  Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abrahams’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.”

John 8: 53 “Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead?  And thy prophets are dead: whom making thou thyself?””

John 8: 56Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.”

Acts 7:2 “And he (Stephen) said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran.””

Acts 7:14 “Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.”

Acts 7:20 “In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months:”

Acts 16:3 “Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.”

Acts 28:8 “And it came to pass, that the father of Publious lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.”

Romans 4:1 “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh hath found?”

Romans 4:11-12 “And he (Abraham) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.”

Romans 4:16-18 “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.  As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him, whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.  Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.”

I Corinthians 5:1 “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife”

Galatians 4:2 “But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.”

Ephesians 5:31 “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.”

Philippians 2:22 “But ye know the proof of him (Timothy), that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.”

I Thessalonians 2:11 “As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children.”

I Timothy 5:1 “Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren.”

Hebrews 7:3 “(Melchisadec) Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.”

Hebrews 7:10 “For he (Levi) was yet in the loins of his father (Abraham), when Melchisedec met him.”

Hebrews 12:7 “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?”

James 2:21-23 “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.”

 

SON

Matthew 9:2 “And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.”

Matthew 23:1-12Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.  For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do for to be seen of man: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments.  And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, RabbiBut be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.  And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.  Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.  But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”

I Corinthians 4:14-17 “I write not these things to shame you but as my beloved sons I warn you.  For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.  Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.  For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.”

Galatians 4:3-7 “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fullness of the time was come, God set forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sonsAnd because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son, into your hearts, crying Abba Father.  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

Philippians 2:22 “But ye know the proof of him (Timothy), that, as a son with the father (Paul), he hath served with me in the gospel.”

I Timothy 1:2 “Unto Timothy, my (Paul) own son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.”

I Timothy 1:18 “This charge I (Paul) commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;”

II Timothy 1:2 “To Timothy, my (Paul) dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”

II Timothy 2:1 “Thou therefore, my (Paul) son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

Titus 1:4 “To Titus, mine (Paul) own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.”

Philemon 1:10 “I beseech thee for my (Paul) son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds:”

I Peter 5:13 “The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you, and so doth Marcus my (Peter) son.”

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