God is faithful

Knowing you are lost is an important first step in the process of salvation. Without an awareness that you are separated from God, you will not seek a remedy to the situation. “God does not want to have to bring hardships into peoples lives, but he may do so in order to teach, convict, and bring them into a right relationship with him” (note on Lamentations 3:33). It is often through suffering that our need for salvation becomes most evident to us. That is why God uses suffering to bring us to the point where we realize we need to get right with him.

Jeremiah was an eyewitness to the destruction of Jerusalem. In his book of Lamentations, “Jeremiah alternates between accounts of the horrible aftermath of the destruction of the city and the confessions of the people’s deep sins, and then to the appeals to God for mercy” (Introduction to Lamentations). Jeremiah recounted, “My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city. They cry to their mothers, ‘Where is bread and wine?’ as they faint like a wounded man in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mother’s bosom” (Lamentations 2:11-12).

Jeremiah encouraged the Jews to cry out to God for help. Jeremiah urged them, “Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street” (Lamentations 2:19). The phrase pour out your heart refers to a prayer that expresses dependence upon God (H8210). Jeremiah wanted the people to admit that they needed God to rescue them from their circumstances.

Jeremiah suffered along with the rest of the people of Judah. Jeremiah said, “I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long” (Lamentations 3:1-3). Jeremiah knew that God was sovereign over the events that were taking place but still expressed his confusion over the fact that God had allowed the suffering (note on Jeremiah 3:1-20). Jeremiah lamented, “He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, ‘My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD” (Lamentations 3:16-18).

In Jeremiah’s darkest moment, when his endurance was gone and there was nothing good left for him to hope for, Jeremiah turned his attention toward God. Lamentations 3:21-27 states:

But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man that he bear
    the yoke in his youth.

Jeremiah’s statement “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth” refers to a person submitting himself to God. Jeremiah linked this to receiving salvation from the LORD. Jesus was also talking about submission to God in the context of salvation when told his followers, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jeremiah concluded that the LORD would not cast off his chosen people forever (Lamentations 3:31). God told Jeremiah, “I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them” (Jeremiah 32:37-40). The New Covenant was instituted the night before Jesus’s crucifixion during the Passover feast. It says in Matthew 26:27-28 that Jesus took a cup, and after he had given thanks he gave it to his twelve disciples, stating, “Drink of it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

God’s compassion is “a deep kindly sympathy and sorrow felt for another who has been struck with affliction or misfortune accompanied with a desire to relieve the suffering” (H7355). Jeremiah said the LORD would not cast off forever, “but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (Lamentations 3:31-32). The abundance of God’s steadfast love means that his kindness toward us has no bounds, it is a countless amount or something that can be multiplied by the myriad, a historical unit of ten thousand (H7230/7231). Paul said in Romans 5:8 that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Jesus explained to the religious leader Nicodemus that God’s love was so abundant that “he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16), and then, Jesus said to his disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Jeremiah’s account of his own suffering included the solution that all of us need when we become aware of our lost state. Jeremiah said, “I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause; they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me; water closed over my head; I said, ‘I am lost'” (Lamentations 3:52-54). The Hebrew word that is translated lost, gazar (gaw-zarˊ) has to do with separation (H1504), and in this instance refers specifically to Jeremiah’s separation from God in the sense of him not having received salvation. Jeremiah said, “I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’ You came near when I called on you, you said, ‘Do not fear!’ You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life” (Lamentations 3:55-58).

Complaining to God

The book of Job teaches us that trials should be expected to be a part of people’s lives who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. “The purpose of the book is to show the unfathomable wisdom of God’s providence, and the benevolence of God even in the trials brought upon his children. It also explains why God allows righteous people to suffer: to expose their frailty and sinfulness, to strengthen their faith, and to purify them. The spiritual perspective of the account and the fact that God exercised total control over Satan promotes complete trust in God. Throughout the book, Job’s friends relentlessly accused him of committing some great sin. Although he questioned God’s actions in the midst of these onslaughts, it should not be assumed that his queries were motivated by a resentful self-seeking attitude. On the contrary, they confirm his determination to hold on to his faith in God despite the circumstances that providence had brought upon him” (Introduction to Job).

Job reached a point in his suffering when he seemed to have lost all hope (Job 7:6). Job said, “Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul” (Job 7:11). The Hebrew word that is translated complain, siyach (seeˊ-akh) is “a verb meaning to ponder, to converse, to utter, to complain, to meditate, to pray, to speak…In Job, the word denotes the action that Job took against the bitterness in his soul, that is, his complaints (Job 7:11)” (H7878). Job’s complaints were intended to keep him from becoming bitter toward God.

In the midst of his misery, Job asked some honest questions of God (note on Job 7:17-21). Job asked in verses 7:17-21:

“What is man, that you make so much of him,
    and that you set your heart on him,
visit him every morning
    and test him every moment?
How long will you not look away from me,
    nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
    Why have you made me your mark?
    Why have I become a burden to you?
Why do you not pardon my transgression
    and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
    you will seek me, but I shall not be.”

Job wondered why his redemption was not having the same effect as it had before. Job asked, “Why do you not pardon my transgressions and take away my iniquity?” (Job 7:21). The phrase take away my iniquity has to do with Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross (H5374). Job understood this to be the only way a person’s sins could be forgiven (Job 19:25).

Psalm 77 provides a similar glimpse into the heart of a suffering believer. The psalmist said of God, “You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak” (Psalm 77:4) and then, continued, “I consider the days of old, the years long ago. I said, ’Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.’ Then my spirit made a diligent search: ‘Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has his anger shut up his compassion?” (Psalm 77:5-9). Asaph thought about his circumstances in the context of what he knew to be true about God’s character and concluded that he needed to take his complaint to God. Asaph said, “I will appeal to this; to the years of the right hand of the Most High” (Psalm 77:10). Asaph was grieved because God wasn’t treating him the way he had in the past.

Jeremiah’s complaint in Lamentations 2 was that the Lord had destroyed without pity. Jeremiah said:

How the Lord in his anger
    has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud!
He has cast down from heaven to earth
    the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered his footstool
    in the day of his anger.

The Lord has swallowed up without mercy
    all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath he has broken down
    the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought down to the ground in dishonor
    the kingdom and its rulers.

He has cut down in fierce anger
    all the might of Israel;
he has withdrawn from them his right hand
    in the face of the enemy;
he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
    consuming all around. (Lamentations 2:1-3)

Jeremiah was having a hard time seeing the point of God’s wrath being poured out against his people. “God in his providence, permitted foreign invaders to destroy his temple so that the people could no longer offer their vain sacrifices and worship false gods there” (note on Lamentations 2:4, 6).

God’s mercy involves much more than just taking pity on those who are suffering. The Hebrew word cheçed (khehˊ-sed) “is one of the most important in the vocabulary of Old Testament theology and ethics. In general, one may identify three basic meanings of the word, which always interact: ‘strength,’ ‘steadfastness,’ and ‘love.’ Any understanding of the word that fails to suggest all three inevitably loses some of its richness. ‘Love’ by itself easily becomes sentimentalized or universalized apart from the covenant. Yet ‘strength’ or ‘steadfastness’ suggests only the fulfillment of a legal or other obligation. The word refers primarily to the mutual and reciprocal rights and obligations between the parties of a relationship (especially Yahweh and Israel). But checed is not only a matter of obligation; it is also of generosity. It is not only a matter of loyalty, but also of mercy. The weaker party seeks protection and blessing of the patron and protector, but he may not lay absolute claim to it. The stronger party remains committed to his promise, but retains his freedom, especially with respect to the manner in which he will implement those promises” (H2617).

God told the people of Judah that he would bring them back to their land after being in captivity in Babylon for 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10-11) and said their mourning would be turned into joy (Jeremiah 31:8-12). God’s plan was to establish a new covenant in which he would forgive the people’s sin and remember it no more (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The new covenant would result in God’s chosen people not being plucked up from their land or overthrown anymore forever (Jeremiah 31:38-40), but that did not prevent God from judging the Jews for their idolatry (Jeremiah 44:1-6). “It took seventy years in exile to finally cure Israel of idolatry. The Jews had problems with legalism and Pharisaism after the exile, but never again did idolatry become prevalent” (note on Jeremiah 44:8). After Jeremiah recounted the fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 52:1-11); complaining to God, he stated, “The LORD has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago; he has thrown down without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes” (Lamentations 2:17).

Exile

The exile of the Jews was the result of their disobedience to the voice of the LORD their God. Moses told the people of Israel, “The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away…You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity” (Deuteronomy 28:36-37, 41). The Hebrew word that is translated captivity, shᵉbîy (sheb-eeˊ) means “exiled, captured…and was normally used to describe those captured in war and taken back to the conquering country (Numbers 21:1; Ezra 3:8; Nehemiah 1:2)” (H7628). The prophet Jeremiah talked about the Jews being exiled to Babylon throughout his 50-year ministry. It says in Jeremiah 11:6-13:

And the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

Again the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.”

Jeremiah complained to the LORD asking, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” (Jeremiah 12:1), and the LORD answered him, “I have forsaken my house; I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies…Say to the king and the queen mother: ‘Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.’ The cities of the Negeb are shut up, with none to open them; all Judah is taken into exile, wholly taken into exile” (Jeremiah 12:1, 7, 18-19).

Jeremiah recounted the fall of Jerusalem in the final chapter of his book. Jeremiah stated, “For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence” (Jeremiah 52:3). The Hebrew words that are translated came to the point, hâyâh (haw-yawˊ), which means “to exist” (H1961) and ʻad, which means “eternity” (H5703), suggest that the timing of the Jews’ exile was a part of God’s eternal plan of redemption and was being carried out according to the appointed time for Christ’s arrival on earth.

Nebuchadnezzar’s army attacked the city of Jerusalem for 539 days, but was unable to penetrate the walls surrounding it. It says in Jeremiah 52:5-8 that due to a famine, “a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled and went out from the city by night by the way of a gate between the two walls, by the king’s garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.” Jeremiah had warned Zedekiah not to try to escape from the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 38:17), but Zedekiah refused to surrender. Zedekiah was captured and taken to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, in the land of Hamath (Jeremiah 39:5). “The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered the nobles of Judah. He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon” (Jeremiah 39:6-7).

In his book of Lamentations, Jeremiah painted a sad picture of Jerusalem after the city was devastated by the Chaldeans. Jeremiah stated, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave (Lamentations 1:1). Jeremiah lamented, “Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress” (Lamentations 1:3). The people of Judah going into exile was comparable to the experience of a woman being raped. Jeremiah said, “Jerusalem sinned grievously, therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away” (Lamentations 1:8). The phrase seen her nakedness was a common euphemism for sexual relations (H6172). Jeremiah wanted his readers to understand that going into exile was an extremely devasting experience. The people of Judah would never completely recover from it.

The vengeance of the LORD

God explained to the prophet Habakkuk that he was not letting injustice prevail when he delayed the punishment of the people of Judah. God was working out his plan of salvation according to a timetable that went beyond their present circumstances to an eternal outcome that was dependent upon the birth of Christ. God told Habakkuk, “Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (Habakkuk 1:5). The statement, “I am doing a work in your days” refers to the people of Judah’s captivity in Babylon. God allowed his chosen people “to be taken into exile to purge their sin of idolatry from them” (note on Habakkuk 1:5). After his purpose was accomplished, God intended to seek vengeance on the Babylonians for their mistreatment of the Jews, but he wanted Habakkuk to see the bigger picture and pointed the prophet to Christ’s ultimate defeat of sin and death. Habakkuk 2:2-4 states:

“Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
    it will surely come; it will not delay.

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

Paul used Habakkuk 2:4 in two of his letters to explain “that justification is by faith alone, not by works (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11)” (note on Habakkuk 2:4). A just person is “one who acts alike to all, who practices even-handed justice” one who is “equitable, impartial” (G1342). Therefore, justification is “doing alike to all, justice, equity, impartiality; spoken of a judge “Acts 17:31; Hebrews 11:33; Revelation 19:11)” (G1343). Revelation 19:11 depicts Christ as sitting on a white horse and says that he is “called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.” Revelation 19:19-21 goes on to say, “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds gorged on their flesh.”

Christ’s defeat of the beast and the false prophet indicated that the vengeance of the LORD had been carried out. This event marked the end of Antichrist’s reign on earth and the beginning of Jesus’ millennial kingdom. Babylon, the place where the Jews were taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar, is identified in Revelation 14:8 as the city that made “all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.” Babylon is also mentioned in Revelation 16:19 where it says, “God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.”

Jeremiah’s prophecy about the judgment of Babylon refers to the Jews return from captivity. Jeremiah said:

“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’”

“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’” (Jeremiah 50:4-7)

The use of the name Zion for Jerusalem suggests that this passage is relevant to Christ’s millennial kingdom, a precursor to the new heaven and the new earth, when there will be no sin or death and an eternal kingdom will be established.

Psalm 137 reveals that the Jews’ hope for an eternal kingdom was not only on their minds, but also on those of their captors long before Christ was born. The Jews’ expectation of the LORD taking vengeance on their enemies was likely a driving factor in their return to Jerusalem. Psalm 137:1-3 states, “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’” Psalm 137 concludes with a reference to the Jews future retribution. The psalmist said, “Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, ‘Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to the foundation! O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” (Psalm 137:7-9).

The Hebrew word that is translated repays in Psalm 137:8, shalam (shaw-lamˊ) is where the word shalowm comes from. Shalowm means “peace or tranquility” (H7965). Shalam is “a verb meaning to be safe, to be completed. The primary meaning is to be safe or uninjured in mind or body (Job 8:6; 9:4). This word is normally used when God is keeping His people safe. In its simple form, this verb also means to be completed or to be finished. This could refer to something concrete such as a building (1 Kings 7:51); or to things more abstract, such as plans (Job 23:14). Other meanings of this verb include to be at peace with another person (Psalm 7:4[5]); to make a treaty of peace (Joshua 11:19; Job 5:23); to pay, to give a reward (Psalm 62:12[13]); to restore, repay, or make retribution (Exodus 21:36; Psalm 37:21)” (H7999). Because God is just, he always repays us according to what we have done. It says in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

Jeremiah said regarding the judgment of Babylon, “For this is the vengeance of the LORD; take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done” (Jeremiah 50:15), and then, went on to say, “Repay her according to all that she has done. For she has proudly defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel” (Jeremiah 50:29). Babylon’s defiance of the LORD caused him to turn against her and to utterly destroy the city. Jeremiah prophesied, “We would have healed Babylon, but she was not healed. Forsake her, and let us go each to his own country, for her judgment has reached up to heaven, and has been lifted up even to the skies. The LORD has brought about vindication; come, let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God” (Jeremiah 51:9-10). Vindication describes “justice, right actions, and right attitudes, as expected from both God and people when they judge…The noun describes the justice of God or His will” (H6666). Habakkuk couldn’t understand how it could be God’s will to use such an unholy and ruthless nation to punish men who were more righteous than they were (Habakkuk 1:12-17) because he didn’t realize that the end result would be God pardoning the remnant of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 50:20) and the land of Babylon becoming a desolation (Jeremiah 51;29).  

God’s mercy

Psalm 123 is described as “A Song of Ascents.” It is one of 15 Psalms (120-134) that are thought to have been brought together as a collection by the Jews upon their return to Jerusalem after being exiled in Babylon. Ascents refers to the physical climb to Jerusalem, a high-altitude city. The songs of ascent have both a physical and spiritual significance in that the journey to Jerusalem is representative of the life of a believer who wants to live life in a way that is pleasing to God. Psalm 123 begins with a statement of commitment to serve the Lord through humble submission. The psalmist states:

To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
    look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
    to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
    till he has mercy upon us. (Psalm 123:1-2)

Servant was “a humble way of referring to one’s self when speaking with another of equal or superior rank (Genesis 33:5). The term is also applied to those who worship God (Nehemiah 1:10), and to those who minister to serve Him (Isaiah 49:5, 6). The phrase, the servant of the Lord, is the most outstanding reference to the Messiah in the Old Testament, and its teachings are concentrated at the end of Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1, 19; 43:10; 49:3, 5-7; 52:13; 53:11), which contains four servant songs that are prophecies of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12). In that sense, a servant of God is one who wants to do God’s will above all else and seeks to please God regardless of the personal sacrifice.

The goal of the psalmist in Psalm 123 fits with that of a Jew returning from exile in Babylon. The psalmist pleads for mercy, referring to the harsh treatment he has received from “those who are at ease” (Psalm 123:4). The psalmist prays, “Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud” (Psalm 123:3-4). Contempt means that you are showing disrespect to someone (H937). The psalmist says that he has had more than enough of contempt, suggesting that disrespect has been a regular part of his daily life.

God’s mercy is characteristic of someone who feels compassion and wants to help those who are less fortunate. In the wisdom literature, including Psalms, mercy “is used primarily with human relations to denote gracious acts toward someone in need (Job 19:21; Proverbs 19:17)” (H2603). Those who were seeking Jesus’ help often asked him to have mercy on them (Matthew 15:22; 17:15; 20:30, 31). The Greek word that is translated mercy, eleeo (el-eh-ehˊ-o) means “to have compassion” and is “spoken of the mercy of God through Christ or salvation in Christ; to bestow salvation on, in the passive: to obtain salvation (Romans 11:30-32; 1 Corinthians 7:25; 2 Corinthians 4:1; 1 Peter 2:10)” (G1653).

God sent the Jews into captivity because they were unwilling to obey him. The people of Israel worshipped the gods of the nations around them and spurned the warnings of God’s prophets. God told Isaiah, “For they are a rebellious people, lying children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD, who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’ and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophecy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel…For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’ But you were unwilling, and you said ‘No! We will flee upon horses’; therefore you shall flee away; and, ‘We will ride upon swift steeds’; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill” (Isaiah, 30:9-11, 15-17).

In spite of their rebellion against him, God promised to be gracious to the Jews. After they had forsaken the idols they once worshipped and returned to the land that God had given them, the Jews would weep no more. Isaiah prophesied:

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
    and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.

For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”

God’s mercy is available to those who cry out to him because he is just and is a compassionate person by nature. Jesus told the crowds who were following him, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give your rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-29).

A Lament

There are times in life when nothing makes sense, you expect certain things to happen, and the opposite takes place. At those times, a lament is the appropriate response. This past week I was processing the death of my 43-year-old niece who was killed in a head on collision with a driver who was trying to pass another vehicle. I wonder about the driver of the car who caused the accident. Was the 15 seconds you were going to save by passing the other car worth the life of another person? Why were you able to survive the crash and my niece left dead on the side of the road? These ponderings are natural for a human being with limited cognition, who is shocked by the unexpected tragedy and who is mourning the loss of her dearly beloved niece. Taking my grief to the Lord and asking him to explain the unexplainable is the only way for me to move beyond my emotions to a place of peace and eventual acceptance. David’s lament in Psalm 13 provides a pattern for me to follow and a way for me to express myself that is consistent with God’s word.

Below is my lament based on Psalm 13:

How long, O LORD? Why do I have to deal with another family tragedy? Have you forgotten the long string of disappointments that has been the pattern of my life. I don’t think I can take anymore of this. Heaven seems like a distant dream that will never become a reality. How long do you intend to withhold relief and keep me from experiencing the blessing that I was expecting from you.

How long are these troubling thoughts going to be my constant companions. I can’t think straight anymore. I’m confused and the sorrow of my heart is continually weighing me down. I’m struggling to figure out why bad things keep happening and you are letting this world get farther and farther out of control. How long will my enemy keep getting the better of me? I don’t feel like fighting anymore.

Lord, I need you to pay attention and give me an answer to the dilemma that I’m facing. If you don’t help me, I’m ready to give up. My enemy thinks he is going to break me this time. The death of an innocent person is too much for me to comprehend. This should not have happened. It seems like evil is triumphing over good instead of the other way around. I’m in a tight place and my mind is overwhelmed with the thought that you are not really sovereign and in control of every aspect of my life.

But I have decided to trust in your loving kindness. Your mercy, goodness, and faithfulness have never let me down. They are a sure foundation, and my life has been resting on them for a very long time. I am grateful to know that my beloved niece is with you and that we will be reunited when I join her in your presence. I will rejoice and be very glad when that day comes. I will sing to you because you have made this possible through your death on the cross and resurrection which united me with you forever.

Being led astray

A key analogy that God used to describe Israel’s need for a Savior was sheep without a shepherd. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). The Hebrew word that is translated gone astray, ta’ah (taw-awˊ) means “to vacillate” (H8582). Ta’ah is used to refer to deceiving or being misled as well as to err or wandering in both a physical and spiritual sense. In his parable of the lost sheep, Jesus asked, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of his one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray” (Matthew 18:12-13).

Israel had a history of going astray, but God didn’t blame them for it. God said through the prophet Jeremiah, “My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten the fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their habitation of righteousness, the LORD, the hope of their fathers” (Jeremiah 50:6-7). The shepherds God was referring to were Israel’s kings and priests who were unfaithful to him. Isaiah said of Israel’s irresponsible leaders, “His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all” (Isaiah 50:9-11). Ezekiel condemned Israel’s idolatrous elders stating, “these men have taken their idols into their hearts and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces” (Ezekiel 14:3).

Jeremiah delivered a stern warning to the remnant of Judah who remained in the city after the fall of Jerusalem who were thinking about escaping to Egypt. Jeremiah said:

 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more. The Lord has said to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. For you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and whatever the Lord our God says, declare to us and we will do it.’ And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything that he sent me to tell you. Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.” (Jeremiah 42:18-22)

The people’s unwillingness to do what God told them to was the reason no one was left in Jerusalem after Nebuchadnezzar’s army destroyed the capital of Judah.

Jesus warned his disciples that one of the signs of his second coming would be the deception of believers. Jesus said, “See to it that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray” (Matthew 24:4-5). Peter compared the false teachers of the last days to the false prophets who led the people of Judah astray before they were taken into captivity. Peter said, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as  there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even destroying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle and their destruction is not asleep” (2 Peter 2:1-3).

Revelation 12:9 indicates that Satan is behind the deception of the world. Revelation 13:14 tells us that an individual identified as the second beast will cause the inhabitants of the earth to worship the first beast and to make an image for him. Revelation 13:15 -17 states, “And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” Revelation 19:20-21 tells us that after Jesus’ return, the beast was captured, “and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image.”

Jesus’ defeat of Satan will put an end to his deception and will rid the world of the evil one whose influence has caused everyone to go astray (Revelation 20:7-10). In his final letter, Paul wrote about godlessness in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-9) and encouraged believers to remain faithful. Paul said if we endure we have the assurance of future blessing and will reign with Christ when his kingdom is established on earth (2 Timothy 2:10-13). Paul indicated the key to remaining faithful was to continue in what you have learned from the Scriptures. Paul said, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:12-17).

God’s discipline

God sending the Israelites into captivity was an act of discipline that was intended to correct their problem of idolatry. The prophet Zechariah said, “’And on the day,’ says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, ‘I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten’” (Zechariah 13:2). The prophet Jeremiah recorded the details of the fall of Jerusalem, indicating that the city was completely destroyed (Jeremiah 39:8) and “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city” (Jeremiah 39:9).

Hebrews 12:6 tells us that God “disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. The writer went on to say, “It is for discipline that you have to endure” (Hebrews 12:7) and then, explained that God uses discipline to bring his children into submission so that he can bless them (Hebrews 12:9-10). Hebrews 12:11 states, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

God’s discipline is about learning to do things his way, understanding the difference between what we want and what God wants to accomplish in our lives. God’s ultimate objective for mankind is holiness, which is a byproduct of having a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Greek word that is translated holiness in Hebrews 12:10, hagiotes (hag-ee-otˊ-ace) means “sanctity” and is used in Hebrews 12:10 to refer to “sanctity of living” (G41). Hagiotes is derived from the word hagios (hagˊ-ee-os) which is “spoken of those who are purified and sanctified by the influences of the Spirit, a saint” (G40).

Hagios is used throughout the New Testament of the Bible to refer to Christians (Acts 9:13, 14, 32, 41; 26:10; Romans 1:7; 8:27; 1 Thessalonians 3:13) and is “spoken of those who are to be in any way included in the Christian community (1 Corinthians 7:14)” (G40). The way that Christians become holy is through a process called sanctification. The term sanctification means “to make holy” (G38) and is first used in the Bible in the book of Exodus, where God told Moses to “sanctify to me all the firstborn…both of man and of beast, it is mine” (Exodus 13:2), so we see that something that is sanctified belongs to God. With regard to Christians, this is true, because they have been redeemed or purchased for God by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7). The Greek word that is translated redeemed, exagorazo (ex-ag-or-adˊ-zo) means “to purchase out, to buy up from the possession or power of someone. In the New Testament, to redeem, to set free from service or bondage (Galatians 3:13; 4:5)” (G1805).

It says in Hebrews 12:8 that all have participated in God’s discipline, otherwise “you are illegitimate children and not sons.” Both Christians and the Israelites are considered to be God’s children (Romans 8:14, 19; 9:26; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Galatians 3:26: 4:6, 7; Hebrews 12:6; Revelation 21:7). The common bond between these two groups is having faith or believing in God. It says of the Old Testament saints in Hebrews 11:39-40, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” Sanctification results in believers being made perfect in the sense that they have completed the process (G5048). The last step in the process of sanctification is glorification, which happens when we receive our resurrection body (1 Corinthains 15:50-57).

God’s discipline produces submission in us in that it causes us to trust in and rely on him more and more as we mature in our faith. The Greek word hupotasso (hoop-ot-asˊ-so) in the passive voice means “to be brought under the control of someone” and can also refer to “voluntary submission…we are encouraged in Hebrews 12:9 to submit ourselves to God’s control” (G5293). In this sense, yielding ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit is a form of voluntary submission. It says in Romans 6:12-14 that believers are not to let sin reign in their bodies, but to present themselves “to God as instruments for righteousness.”

God’s discipline can be painful because it sometimes involves physical suffering. Jesus endured a tortuous death and was abandoned by those whom he had trusted the most. It says because of Jesus’ suffering, in Hebrews 12:3-4, that we should, “consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” Resisting sin is a struggle for humans because our sin nature causes us to naturally rebel against God (Isaiah 53:6). It says in Romans 5:1-5, when we are justified by faith, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Jesus’ example of enduring the suffering of the cross should encourage believers because of the result that it produced. There is always a purpose behind God’s discipline. It is meant to train us, not to cause us to give up (Hebrews 12:11-17). It says in Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus endured the cross because he knew there was something afterward that would bring him great joy. He explained to his disciples shortly before his death that the reward for their obedience would be abundant joy. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:9-11).

Believing in God

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Regarding reliance upon Christ for salvation, faith gives us a firm foundation to rest our lives upon and the proof we need to consider the matter of eternal life settled once and for all. The faith of the patriarchs and pious men from the Old Testament is recorded in Hebrews 11 as a testimony to those who believed in God even before Christ was born. What we know from this record is that very few of the people who descended from Abraham believed in God. In fact, the nation of Israel as a whole was considered to be living in unbelief throughout most of the Old Testament (Romans 11:23).

God did many miracles when he brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to bolster their faith (Exodus 4:1-9), and yet, when they arrived at the Promised Land, they didn’t have enough faith to go into the land and take possession of it (Numbers 14:11). Even Moses and Aaron’s faith faltered and caused them to die in the wilderness (Numbers 20:10-12). Forty years later, as they prepared to enter the land of Canaan, Moses told the people, “At Taberah also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath. And when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God and did not believe him or obey his voice. You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you” (Deuteronomy 9:22-24).

Rebellion against God causes unbelief (Numbers 20:24). The Greek word apistia (ap-is-teeˊ-ah) in a negative sense means disbelief or “unfaithfulness (disobedience)” (G570). A similar word, apistos (apˊ-is-tos) is “spoken of persons: withholding belief, incredulous, distrustful (Matthew 17:17; Mark 9:19; Luke 9:41; John 20:27; 2 Corinthians 4:4). By implication, heathen, pagan, i.e. those who have not believed on Christ (1 Corinthians 6:6; 7:12, 13, 14; 14:22)” (G571). Jesus referred to his disciples as faithless or unbelieving when they were unable to heal a boy possessed by a demon. Jesus asked them, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” (Matthew 17:17).

It says in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God, “for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” The Greek words that are translated rewards, misthapodotes (mis-thap—od-otˊ-ace) which means “a recompenser” (G3406) and ginomai (ghinˊ-om-ahee) which is spoken of persons being born or coming into existence (G1096) suggest that the reward for believing in God is being born again, regeneration. This is consistent with John’s statement in his first letter, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Jesus explained recompense to a ruler of the Pharisees who invited him to dine at his house. Jesus said, “When you give a dinner or banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:12-14). The resurrection of the just is when believers will be raised to life again (G386). Jesus said of this resurrection, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him” (Luke 20:34-38). Jesus was speaking of living, “in the sense of to exist, in an absolute sense and without end, now and hereafter: to live forever” (G2198).

It says of the Old Testament believers in Hebrews 11:13-16, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” The purpose of believing in God is to achieve a better outcome from life than is possible from a material perspective. On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples about the heavenly city that God is preparing for his human sons and daughters. Jesus encouraged them to, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms, if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

Believing in God is not something that comes natural to humans. It says in Ephesians 2:1-3 that we are dead in our trespasses and sins, “following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now are work in the sons of disobedience…and were by nature children of wrath” before coming to know Christ. Paul explained in his letter to the Ephesians that, “God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:4-9).

Although believing in God is not something we can do through our own efforts, it is something that God wants us to do. Therefore, it is an achievable task. Paul indicated in his letter to the Romans that the message of salvation is meant for everyone and “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). What is necessary for one’s faith to be ignited is hearing the gospel. Paul asked, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord who has believed what he has heard from us? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:14-17). The key to believing in God is obedience. You must obey the gospel, do what it tells you to, if you want to receive God’s free gift of salvation.

Living  by faith

The prophet Habakkuk began his divinely inspired message with a complaint about the way God was dealing with the Jews’ sin. Habakkuk asked, “Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong?” (Habakkuk 1:3). Habakkuk thought God was indifferent to his situation, but discovered he had a plan in motion that was going to result in a much more severe punishment than Habakkuk expected. God explained, “For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not there own” (Habakkuk 1:5-6).

Habakkuk thought it was wrong for God to punish the Jews using a nation that was more wicked than they were. The thing that Habakkuk wasn’t considering was that God had a plan that went beyond the Jews immediate situation. God was preparing his chosen people for the role they were expected to play in the birth of his Son, Jesus Christ.

A critical piece of God’s plan of salvation was its dependence on faith. God’s plan was initiated based on Abraham’s demonstration of faith and required all who followed in his footsteps to demonstrate that same belief in God. It says in Genesis 15:6 that Abraham “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

Righteousness is the result of being justified by God. It says in Romans 3:24 that believers are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Paul explained justification by faith in his letter to the Romans. Referring to Abraham believing God and it being counted to him as righteousness, Paul said, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the LORD will not count his sin'” (Romans 4:4-8).

Living by faith means that we don’t try to get to heaven on our own merit. The only way a person can avoid the penalty that must be paid to God for his sin is to accept the free gift of salvation that Jesus made available to everyone by dying in our place on the cross. Justification is the acquittal of a guilty person. Paul said, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:1-5).

Paul linked faith to the gospel and indicated it was the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16-17). Paul said in the gospel, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). Paul’s citation of Habakkuk 2:4 made it clear to everyone that the gospel existed prior to Jesus’ birth. God used Habakkuk’s message to ignite the faith of the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem after being exiled in Babylon.

Jesus set the example for living by faith through his perfect obedience to his Father’s will. It says in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Jesus told his disciples shortly before his death, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me” (John 16:16). Jesus wanted his disciples to know that his resurrection was certain because of his obedience to his Father’s will.

Paul explained in his letter to the Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Paul’s statement connected living by faith to a believer’s union with Christ. Living by faith is not something that believers can do on their own. It is through the filling of the Holy Spirit that we are able to obey God just as Jesus did.