Author: Calleen Hough

An imperishable prize

Paul spent a lot of time in his first letter to the Corinthians rebuking them for their bad behavior, but about halfway through his message Paul shifted his attention to the reason why it was important for believers to keep themselves pure. Paul explained that his responsibility of preaching the gospel made it necessary for him to live his life in a way that would attract others to Jesus. Paul began by stating:

Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:16-18)

Paul described his responsibility as a stewardship. The Greek word that is translated stewardship, oikonomia (oy-kon-om-ee-ah) means “administration (of a household or estate); specially a (religious) ‘economy’ (G3622). Oikonomia is used in Ephesians 1:10 in reference to God’s plan of salvation. Paul said of Jesus, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan (oikonomia) for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:7-10). Paul believed it was his responsibility to administer or dispense the riches of God’s grace and he did it “free of charge” (1 Corinthians 9:18) so that he might receive a reward that was more important to him than monetary compensation.

Paul indicated that God’s spiritual economy operates based on the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7, 10). Paul’s concept of God’s spiritual economy may have come from Jesus’ parable of the dishonest manager. Jesus taught his disciples:

“There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Luke 16:1-13)

Jesus differentiated between sons of this world and the sons of light. The two categories that he was referring to were the unsaved and believers. The dishonest manager represented the unsaved person who works for God. The dishonest manager was shrewd because he realized that the goal was to cancel people’s debt (forgiveness of sins). That is what God’s grace does for believers, but the dishonest manager took credit for cancelling the people’s debts so that his master’s debtors would show their gratitude to him.

Paul associated preaching the gospel free of change with his reward for being a faithful servant. Paul explained in his second letter to the Corinthians that the reason he did not take any money from them was because there were false apostles who were disguising themselves as apostles of Christ so that they could make money from preaching the gospel. Paul told the Corinthians, “I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way…And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds” (2 Corinthians 11-8-15).

Paul concluded his discussion about his motive for preaching the gospel free of charge with a brief illustration of the spiritual contest that all mature Christians must participate in. Paul asked:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

Paul likened preaching the gospel to a race and said “all runners run, but only one receives the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24). The race that Paul was referring to was one that took place in a stadium. Paul most likely wanted to convey the idea of living in a public arena where one’s actions were on display and were being scrutinized or perhaps, judged by others. Paul said, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things” (1 Corinthians 9:25). The Greek word that is translated athlete, agonizomai (ag-o-nidˊ-zom-ahee) is used figuratively to mean “(to contend with an adversary) or genitive (to endeavor to accomplish something)” (G75).

Paul’s illustration of a runner in a race suggests that he was referring to public life in general. Paul said, “All runners run, but only one receives the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24). This seems to suggest that in spiritual conflict it is typically for a single Christian to be competing against a mass of unbelievers for the victory. This viewpoint makes sense from the perspective that in the 1st Century, Christians were very few in number compared to the masses of the Roman Empire and were scattered throughout the regions that Paul visited on his missionary journeys. In reference to the runners, Paul said, “They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Corinthians 9:25). Paul contrasted the physical aspect of the runner’s race to the spiritual in his reference to the perishable and imperishable wreaths that could be obtained. Paul’s use of the pronoun we indicated that he was talking about all believers when he said we do it to receive an imperishable prize. I believe the point that Paul was trying to make was that a believer’s public life always involves spiritual conflict due to the presence of unbelievers in the world. Therefore, a believer’s life needs to be lived in such a way that it is viewed as a public contest that can only be won from a spiritual perspective if the believer remains faithful to his commitment to Christ.

Paul stated, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things” (1 Corinthians 9:25) and said of himself, “I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27). Paul reference to being disqualified was probably meant to convey the same idea as what happened to the dishonest manager in Jesus’ parable. Jesus said the rich man called the manager in and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager” (Luke 16:2). The rich man removed the manager from his position. Paul indicated that in order to receive the prize, he had to exercise self-control, discipline his body and keep it under control. The King James Version of the Bible states it this way, “But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27). The Greek word that is translated keep under, hupopiazo (hoop-o-pee-adˊ-zo) means “to hit under the eye (buffet or disable an antagonist as a pugilist), i.e. (figurative) to tease or annoy (into compliance), subdue (one’s passions)” (G5299). What Paul was talking about was beating himself up rather than letting his opponent do it. In other words, Paul needed to be tough on himself so that he didn’t get overpowered by his spiritual enemy. Paul said, by doing this, he could win the contest and he would receive an imperishable prize.

Paul elaborated on the concept of an imperishable prize later on in his message to the Corinthians. Paul said:

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)

Paul said he was revealing to the Corinthians a mystery, something into which they must be initiated or instructed before it could be known (G3466). Paul said, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Paul was referring back to something that Jesus said to the Jews who wanted to kill him because he made himself equal with God. Jesus told them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25). Jesus went on to say, “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29). According to Jesus, the imperishable prize is the resurrection of life. In other words, believers will not only have imperishable bodies after the resurrection, but they will also have imperishable lives, “i.e. blessed life, life that satisfies” (G2222).

A wounded conscience

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was intended to correct the gross immorality that was evident in the church that Paul had established there. “Corinth was an important cosmopolitan city located in the Roman province of Achaia (the southern part of modern-day Greece) on a large isthmus about fifty miles west of Athens. It was situated along a major trade route and had a thriving economy. For this reason, large numbers of sailors and merchants from every nation flocked to the city of Corinth. During the first century, it was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire, and by the end of the second century, it had become one of the richest cities in the world. Corinth was a strategic center of influence for the gospel since those travelers who heard the gospel there could carry it to all parts of the world. The city of Corinth, however, was one of the most wicked cities of ancient times. Immorality, unscrupulous business dealings, and pagan practices abounded. Of the scores of heathen religions that were practiced in the city, the most well-known was the worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. The temple of Aphrodite stood on the most prominent point in the city, a hill called Acrocorinth, and housed one thousand ‘temple prostitutes’…Paul received a report from the members of the household of Chloe concerning the bad conduct of some in the church (1 Corinthians 1:11). Many of the members had recently been converted from paganism and were having difficulty breaking habits of their former lifestyles. There were such deep divisions among them that some of the believers were bringing lawsuits against one another and allowing unbelieving judges to settle the disputes (chap. 6)” (Introduction to The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians).

Idol worship was a problem for the Jews that was rooted in their bondage in Egypt. Not long after God delivered the Israelites from slavery, they made a golden calf, “And they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt’” (Exodus 32:4). Early in his reign over Israel, King Solomon, “made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David” (1 Kings 3:1). First Kings 11:1-4 tells us, “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, ‘You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after other gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” God warned Solomon of the consequences of idolatry. He said, “If you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshipped them and served them. Therefore the LORD has brought all this disaster on them’” (1 Kings 9:6-9).

Paul began his discussion of food offered to idols with the statement, “’Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that all of us possess knowledge.’ This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). The Greek word that is translated builds up in this verse is oikodomeo (oy-kod-om-ehˊ-o). Oikodomeo means “to be a house-builder” and is “spoken of the Christian Church and its members who are thus compared to a building, a temple of God, erected upon the one and only foundation, Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9, 10)” (G3618). Paul’s conclusion that love builds up was intended to emphasize the point that love was supposed to be directed toward God, and was in essence, an act of worship when it was used to increase a believer’s faith in Christ. Paul contrasted love with knowledge in order to make it clear to the Corinthians that worship needed to be based on a personal relationship with God, not just an awareness or understanding of what pleases him.

Paul said, “If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God” (1 Corinthians 8:2-3). Paul referred to two different kinds of knowing in this passage. The Greek word eido (iˊ-do) comes from the Hebrew, “with the idea of volition: to know and approve or love; hence spoken of men; to care for, take an interest in (1 Thessalonians 5:12; Septuagint; Genesis 39:6)” (G1492) Paul used eido in the phrase “if anyone imagine he knows something.” The Greek word ginosko (ghin-oceˊ-ko), on the other hand, refers to knowing something in an absolute sense (G1097). Paul was referring to the kind of knowledge that Jesus had, a type of spiritual perception that enable him to “see” what was in the hearts of the people around him. Matthew 16:8 states, “But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread.” And in Matthew 22:18, it says, “But Jesus, aware of their malice, said ‘Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?’” Paul said that we do not know (ginosko) as we ought to know (ginosko), “but if anyone loves God, he is known (ginosko) by God” (1 Corinthians 8:2-3). Being known by God means that there is a relation between the person knowing (God) and the object known (us). “In this respect, what is ‘known’ is of value or importance to the one who knows, and hence the establishment of the relationship” (G1097).

Paul went on to explain:

Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. (1 Corinthians 8:4-12)

Paul indicated that a wounded conscience is the result of a believer who lacks spiritual truth doing something that he is unaware of is a sin. In other words, a sin has been committed, but there is no confession of it because the believer’s conscience isn’t making him aware of it. Paul used the example of eating food offered to idols because it was a common cultural practice in Corinth. Today, it might be looking at pornography or driving under the influence of alcohol.

Paul admonished believers who knew that an idol had no real existence because they were becoming a stumbling block to the weak. Their example gave the impression that eating food offered to idols was an acceptable practice as far as God was concerned, when in actuality, it was not (Acts 15:29). Paul argued that an idol could be real to a person with a weak conscience because his conscience was defiled by eating food offered to it. In other words, the person would feel the effect of having done something that offended God. Paul blamed believers who knew that idols had no real existence because, he said, “by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed” (1 Corinthians 8:11). Paul believed that a wounded conscience was just as bad as a person not being saved. When a person’s conscience condemns him, rather than justifies him before God, his salvation is essentially worthless. Therefore, Paul concluded, “if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble” (1 Corinthians 8:13).

A permanent structure

King David wanted to build a temple for God that would be a permanent structure for him to live in. After David shared his plan with Nathan the prophet, 2 Samuel 7:4-16 tells us:

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”

Nathan told David that the LORD was going to build him a house rather than the other way around. Nathan said, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13). David’s desire to build a house for the Lord set the stage for one of the key passages in the Old Testament concerning the coming Messiah. Verses 8-16 of 2 Samuel 7 are referred to as the Davidic covenant. Verse 13 of this passage referred initially to Solomon “but was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the ‘Son of David’ (Luke 1:31-33; Acts 2:25-35) who reigns at God’s right hand (Psalm 2:7; Acts 13:33)” (note on 2 Samuel 7:4-16).

The temple that David wanted to build for the Lord was eventually constructed by his son Solomon (1 Kings 6). It says in 1 Kings 6:21, “Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold.” One of the qualities of gold is that it is “durable to the point of virtual indestructibility” (britannica.com). Solomon’s intention in building a house for the Lord was that it would be a place for him to dwell in forever (1 Kings 8:13). The temple that Solomon built was destroyed when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Jerusalem and took the Jews into captivity (2 Kings 25:8-12). Another temple existed during the time that Jesus’ lived on earth. During one of Jesus’ visits to the temple, he was confronted by the Jews. The incident is recorded in John’s gospel. John stated, “So the Jews said to him, ‘What sign do you show us for doing these things?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in in three days?’ But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture, and the word that Jesus had spoken” (John 2:18-22).

God’s promise to King David that his offspring would “build a house for my name” (2 Samuel 7:13) was about him building a permanent structure for God to dwell in, but it wasn’t the kind of structure that David was imagining. In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul talked about his ministry being comparable to a building project that started with the foundation of Jesus Christ. Paul said:

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:5-17)

Paul’s illustration of building a temple on the foundation of Jesus Christ concluded with the important spiritual truth that God’s Spirit dwells inside believers. Paul said, “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him” (1 Corinthian 3:17). In the King James Version of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 3:17 reads, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.” The Greek word that is translated defile and destroy, phtheiro (fthiˊ-ro) is properly translated “to shrivel or wither, i.e. to spoil (by any process) or (genitive) to ruin (especially figurative by moral influences, to deprave)” (G5351). Paul was talking about a person being brought to a worse state than he was presently in from a moral perspective. Paul said that God’s temple is holy (1 Corinthians 3:17). The Greek word that is translated holy, hagios (hagˊ-ee-os) is “spoken of those who are purified and sanctified by the influences of the Spirit, a saint” (G40). Instead of saying “God’s temple is holy” (1 Corinthians 3:17), Paul could have said, more specifically, God’s temple is purified ones. Paul used hagios throughout his first letter to the Corinthians to refer to both saints and the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:2; 2:13; 6:1, 2, 19; 12:3; 14:33; 16:1, 15), as well as, to refer to God’s temple being holy (1 Corinthians 3:17).

Paul went on in his letter to talk about the church being defiled by sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1-13) and about the need for believers to flee sexual immorality because “the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Corinthians 6:13). Paul explained, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ‘The two will become one flesh.’ But who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:15-20). Paul indicated that a person who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her (1 Corinthians 6:16). Paul wasn’t referring to sexual intercourse, but to a type of relationship that usually involves two people living under the same roof. The Greek word kollao (kol-lahˊ-o), which is translated joined, means “to glue, i.e. (passive or reflexive) to stick” (G2853). In other words, there is no separation of the two people. There is a permanent connection between them.

Jesus’ teaching about divorce made it clear that there is a permanent bond between a husband and wife. Jesus said, “’Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:5-6). The separation that Jesus was referring to was chorizo (kho-ridˊ-zo), which means “to place room between that is part; reflexively to go away” (G5583). The fact that God joins two people together when they are married has to do with their placement in space. Paul was building on Jesus’ teaching when he said in his letter to the Corinthians, “To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:10-11). Paul used the word chorizo when he said the wife should not separate from her husband. The point that I believe Paul was trying to make was that the wife continuing to live under the same roof with her husband was necessary for God’s spiritual work in her and her husband’s lives to continue. Paul went on to say, “If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?” (1 Corinthians 7:12-16).

It seems that the building up of the body of Christ does not involve the random placement of individual believers into a permanent structure, but the growth or extension of a believer’s faith into the lives of those she is permanently connected to. Paul told the Ephesians, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22). Paul went on to say, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). Paul indicated that the building grows when each part is working properly and that the body of Christ is joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped. Paul used body movement to make his point that believers need to not only function as a single unit, but also to function as a strong and healthy unit in order for the body of Christ to grow. Jesus said the only way we can do this is by abiding in him. He explained to his disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The Greek word that is translated apart, psallo (psalˊ-lo) is derived from the word chora (khoˊ-rah) which properly denotes “the space lying between two limits or places” (G5561). If you think of Jesus as a power outlet, in order for the body of Christ to live, and move, and have its being, (Acts 17:28) it must remain plugged into Jesus at all times. Through this connection, we become a part of a permanent structure that will one day be the dwelling place of God (Revelation 21).

The wisdom of God

According to the Bible, wisdom “is the knowledge and the ability to make right choices at the opportune time. The consistency of making the right choice is an indication of maturity and development” (H2451). It says of Jesus in Luke 2:40, “the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.” Before Jesus, the only person in the Bible described as being filled with wisdom was King Solomon, the son of King David. It says in 1 Kings 3:5 that the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and said, “Ask what I shall give you.” Solomon’s request to be given an understanding mind (1 Kings 3:9) resulted in him becoming the wisest man on earth (1 Kings 4:31). First Kings 3:10-12 tells us:

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.

Solomon’s subsequent decision in a case where two prostitutes were contending for the custody of a child (1 Kings 3:16-27) was thought to be brilliant. It says in 1 Kings 3:28, “And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.”

First Kings 4:29-34 tells us that “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser that all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations…And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.” One of the people who came to hear the wisdom of Solomon was the queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1-13). At the conclusion of her visit, she told Solomon, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!” (1 Kings 10:6-8). Jesus mentioned the queen of Sheba’s visit to King Solomon when he rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for their unbelief. Jesus said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of Sheba will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:39-42).

Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees that something greater than Jonah and something greater than Solomon was there (Matthew 12:42). Jesus wasn’t referring to himself, but the wisdom of God that was within him. Jesus explained to one of the lawyers, who was insulted by his condemnation of the Pharisees legalism, that the Wisdom of God had been manifested in God’s messages to unbelievers throughout history. Jesus said:

“Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” (Luke 11:46-52)

Jesus said that the lawyers had taken away the key of knowledge. Jesus was talking about the “knowledge of the revealed will of God, by which men entered into the life that pleases God” (G2807). Jesus may have been referring to the misguided efforts of the people of Israel to be witnesses to the nations around them of God’s love and faithfulness. The Jews thought that they were supposed to distinguish themselves by rigorously following the Mosaic Law, but God’s intention was for them to reflect his grace and his forgiveness of sinners.

Paul touched on the topic of believers using God’s wisdom verses legal disputes to resolve their differences with each other in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul argued:

When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers! (1 Corinthians 6:1-8).

The Greek word that is translated wise in 1 Corinthians 6:5, sophos (sof-osˊ) is “spoken of God as surpassing all others in wisdom, being infinite in skill, insight, knowledge, purity (Romans 16:27; 1 Timothy 1:17; Jude 1:25)” (G4680). Paul’s reference to believers being wise enough to settle a dispute had to do with their reliance upon the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to discern God’s will in specific matters. Paul said that “to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you” and he asked, “Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?”

The point that Paul wanted to make with his statement about lawsuits being a defeat for believers was that it was evidence that they didn’t have spiritual discernment. The Greek word sophia (sof-eeˊ-ah), which is derived from sophos, “stands for divine wisdom, the ability to regulate one’s relationship with God (Luke 2:40; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:6, 7; 12:8; Ephesians 1:17; Colossians 1:9; James 1:5; 3:13, 15, 17; 2 Peter 3:15). The wisdom of God means the divine wisdom, including the ideas of infinite skill, insight, knowledge, purity” (G4678). Sophia is used in Luke 2:40 in reference to Jesus being filled with wisdom and in 1 Corinthians 1:30 where Paul said, “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God.”

Paul went on to talk about wisdom from the Spirit in the context of God’s thoughts being revealed to us. Paul said:

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:6-13)

Paul said that no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God in order to make it clear that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was the only means a believer had of discerning the will of God.

Paul shared in his letter to the Ephesians that he had been praying for believers, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened” (Ephesians 1:17-18). Paul’s use of the phrase having the eyes of your hearts enlightened was meant to convey the fact that spiritual darkness was not immediately dispelled when a person accepted Christ as his or her Savior. James indicated that believes should ask God for wisdom, but said that faith was necessary for it to be received. James said, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). James compared a person who doubts the wisdom of God to a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. This illustration suggests that the doubter is being led by the Holy Spirit, but he has decided to do things his own way. James indicated that this will result in the person being tempted by sin. James said, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14-15).

Sexual immorality

Christianity as a religion was meant to replace Judaism, which was the expression of the covenant that God established with the Israelites, the ancestors of the Jews. There was a lot of confusion in the early years of Christianity about what was expected of Christians; how people became Christians, and how they were supposed to live. Many of the Jews that converted to Christianity wanted to hold on to the traditions that they had followed for many centuries, in particular, the requirement for males to be circumcised. During the time of the Apostle Paul’s ministry, there was a heated debate about this matter. Acts 15:1-2 tells us:

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.

Paul and Barnabas were considered to be key leaders in the Christian movement and were both filled with the Holy Spirit. “When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them” (Acts 15:4). It was important that Paul and Barnabas had not only been set apart for the work of preaching the gospel (Acts 13:2-3), but also had been designated by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 13:4-12). The stories they shared about the work God was doing among the Gentiles was taken as factual evidence of God’s will in the matter. Acts 15:6-12 states:

The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

The discussion between Paul and Barnabas and the Jerusalem Council resulted in a letter being written to the Gentile believers in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia (Acts 15:22-23). The letter stated:

“Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” (Acts 15:24-29)

The requirement that believers “abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled” had to do with the Gentile culture of that day which involved pagan worship practices that were offensive to God, but the stipulation that believers abstain from sexual immorality had to do with them being a member of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians focused on sexual immorality in the context of the Church being defiled. Paul stated in his letter, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:1-2). Paul’s harsh judgment of the sexual immorality that was going on was based on his comparison of it with pagan practices. Paul said it was “of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans” (1 Corinthians 5:1). Paul went on to say, “You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:5). The destruction of the flesh was “spoken of a temporal destruction of the flesh, leading to restoration and salvation of the soul” (G3639). Paul indicated that the destruction of the flesh was the result of the believer being delivered to Satan. What Paul meant by being delivered to Satan was that the sexually immoral believer should be allowed to continue in his sinful behavior so that the ruin and destruction in his life that resulted from it would drive him back to the Lord. Jesus gave an example of this in his parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). The prodigal son squandered his property in reckless living, but when he came to himself, he arose and came to his father and said, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:21). In response, the son’s father called for a celebration, stating, “’For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate” (Luke 15:24).

Paul made it very clear that the person that was involved in sexual immorality in Corinth was in fact a believer. Paul said:

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)

Paul indicated that in order to not associate with unbelievers who were sexually immoral, believers would have to go out of the world. Paul also noted that it was not his place to judge outsiders, but then, he urged the Corinthians to purge the evil person from among them.

Paul’s explanation for why believers should flee sexual immorality was that they should not be dominated by anything (1 Corinthians 16:12). The Greek word that is translated dominated, exousiazo (ex-oo-see-adˊ-zo) means “to control” (G1850). Exousiazo is derived from the word exousia (ex-oo-seeˊ-ah), which designates, “Power over persons and things, dominion, authority, rule” (G1849). Exousia is sometimes translated power and sometimes authority. During Jesus’ ministry, the Jewish leaders often challenged his authority to do the things he did. On one occasion, Matthew’s gospel tells us:

And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. (Matthew 21:23-27)

Following this exchange with the chief priests and the elders, Jesus told the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32) and the parable of the tenants (Matthew 21:33-40) to communicate his point that obedience is evidence of submission to someone’s authority. When Paul said that believers should not be dominated by anything, he meant that they should not submit themselves to Satan’s authority by doing the things that he wants them to.

Paul told the Corinthian believers:

The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:13-20)

Paul said that every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body (1 Corinthians 6:18) and then, argued that believers are not their own, but were bought with a price. The point that I believe Paul was trying to make was that Jesus’ death on the cross gives him the right to control everyone’s behavior who has claimed his death as payment for the penalty of their sin. Paul wanted believers to understand that sexual immorality was an indicator that a person was not under the control of Jesus Christ, and therefore, even if he was saved, it proved that he had not submitted himself to God’s authority.

Purposes of the heart

The transition from living according to the Mosaic Law to accepting salvation as a free gift based on God’s grace was difficult for the Jews because they didn’t understand that the goal was for them to have a personal relationship with the Lord. When Jesus was asked the question, “Which is the great commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36), he quoted Deuteronomy 6:5, which states, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Jesus changed the last word in this sentence, the Hebrew word meod (meh-odeˊ), which is translated might, into the Greek word dianoia (dee-anˊ-oy-ah), which means “deep thought” (G1271). Jesus associated the internal functions of the heart, the soul, and the mind with loving God. The Greek word that Jesus used for love, agapao (ag-ap-ahˊ-o) referred to love that was shown to superiors and included “the idea of duty, respect, veneration, meaning to love and serve with fidelity” (G25). A word that is derived from agapao is agape (ag-ahˊ-pay). Agape refers specifically to “the love of God” or “of Christ” (G26). The Apostle Paul used the word agape (love) in his rebuke of the Corinthians. Paul said, “Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness” (1 Corinthians 4:18-21). Paul’s comment about coming to the Corinthians with a rod or with love in a spirit of gentleness was directed at their misunderstanding of salvation by grace. Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand that his gentleness toward them was a manifestation of God’s love.

Jesus taught his disciples that their hearts would produce either good or bad behavior depending on its condition. Jesus said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” (Matthew 12:34-35). The problem that the Jesus often pointed out was that the Jews’ hearts had been corrupted by bad teaching from their religious leaders. In one of his confrontations with the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus pointed out that their teaching contradicted the commandments of God. Matthew 15:1-9 states:

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

“‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Jesus said that the Pharisees and the scribes had made void the word of God by their traditions (Matthew 15:6). What Jesus meant was that the scribes and Pharisees were making God’s word appear to be ineffective. People thought they were doing what God wanted them to, but their circumstances were not getting any better.

Paul told the Corinthians that the Lord “will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart” (1 Corinthians 4:5). The purposes of the heart have to do with the inner workings of each person’s mind and the resulting actions people take based on the decisions they have made. The Greek word boule (boo-layˊ) means “volition” (G1012). Volition is the faculty or power of using one’s will (Oxford online dictionary). Jesus indicated that the driving factor behind our volition or will is the thoughts that we have in our hearts and minds. Jesus explained to his disciples, “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles the person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone” (Matthew 15:17-20).

When the baby Jesus was presented at the temple according to the custom of the Law, a man named Simeon blessed him and told his mother Mary, “This child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35). Luke’s gospel indicates that Jesus was able to perceive the thoughts of others. Luke 5:22 states, “When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, ‘Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say “Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, “Rise and walk?”’” Later Luke noted, “But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Come and stand here’” (Luke 6:8). On another occasion, Luke stated, “But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls’” (Luke 11:17). Paul’s statement that the Lord will disclose the purposes of the heart (1 Corinthians 4:5) seems to revolve around the fact that Jesus knows our thoughts and can determine the motives behind them. Paul talked about God’s judgment and the law in his letter to the Romans and explained that it is not those who know the word of God who are righteous, but the ones who put it into practice who will be absolved from the consequences of sin. Paul said:

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:12-16)

Paul mentioned conflicting thoughts that would accuse or excuse us on the day of God’s judgment. The Greek word logismos (log-is-mosˊ), which is translated conflicting thoughts, means “to count, reckon, take an inventory” (G3053). Logismos is a synonym of boule and is derived from the word logizomai (log-idˊ-zom-ahee), which is used in Romans 4:3 to refer to Abraham’s faith being counted (logizomai) as righteousness. Therefore, it can be concluded that conflicting thoughts are those thoughts that do not agree with the word of God or more specifically, the things that Jesus said about people being saved and going to heaven.

It says in Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.” The Greek word that is translated intentions, ennoia (enˊ-noy-ah) simply means “what is in the mind” (G1771), the things we are thinking about. It says that the word of God is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The word of God acts as a judge or standard by which the contents of our minds are determined to be either for or against God. After Jesus’ resurrection, he didn’t confront Peter about having denied knowing him three times (John 18:15-18, 25-27). Instead, Jesus asked Peter the question, “Do you love me” (John 21:15). John tells us:

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. (John 21:15-17)

Peter realized that Jesus knew the purposes of his heart. Saying that he loved Jesus didn’t count for anything unless it was an accurate reflection of Peter’s internal thought processes. During their conversation, Jesus changed his question to reflect Peter’s thoughts. The first time he was asked, do you love (agapao) me more than these? Peter responded, “You know that I love (phileo) you.” (John 21:15). Peter used a word for love that means to have affection for someone, while agapao “is wider, embracing especially the judgment and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety” (G5368). The third time Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love (phileo) me?” he used the same word Peter had used in his previous responses, indicating that his expectation of Peter had been modified. John recorded, “Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love (phileo) me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know (eido) everything; you know (ginosko) that I love (phileo) you” (John 21:17). Peter understood that there was nothing to be gained from lying to Jesus about his love for him. Peter acknowledged that Jesus had judged him correctly when he said you know (ginosko) that I love (phileo) you. In spite of, or maybe, because of Peter’s inferior love for him, Jesus told Peter to “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17); a command that would eventually result in Peter being executed in a similar manner to Jesus.

Spiritual Work

Many of the parables that Jesus used to teach his disciples were focused on work or labor of some sort. Jesus used the example of wise and foolish builders to teach his disciples the importance of using their minds in a skillful manner (Matthew 7:24-27). In the parable of the sower, Jesus emphasized the importance of being open to the influence of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 13:3-8, 18-23). Jesus used the example of the unmerciful servant to teach his disciples about forgiveness (Matthew 18:23-34) and laborers in a vineyard about the goodness of God (Matthew 20:1-16). The emphasis that Jesus placed on work and productivity indicate that the spiritual realm has some of the same characteristics as the material world that we live in. Jesus told his followers:

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (John 4:34-38)

The Greek word that is translated work, ergon (erˊ-gon) means to “toil (as an effort or occupation)” (G2041). The Greek word kopiao (kop-ee-ahˊ-o), which is translated labor, means “to feel fatigue; by implication to work hard” (G2872). Jesus told his disciples, “I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor” (John 4:38). The others that Jesus was referring to in this statement is not clear, but he may have been talking about the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ final instruction to his disciples had to do with their dependence upon the Holy Spirit to accomplish the mission that he gave them before he ascended to heaven (Matthew 28:16-20). Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The Apostle Paul elaborated on Jesus teaching about spiritual work in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul said:

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)

Paul referred to the Corinthian believers as both God’s field and God’s building, linking Jesus’ parables to his work of preaching the gospel. Paul said that “each will receive his wages according to his labor” (1 Corinthians 3:8). Jesus talked about wages in his parable about laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:8). In this parable, Jesus said the laborers were hired at different times of the day, but they all received the same wages. When the ones who were hired first grumbled about it, Jesus said, “Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal with us who have borne the burden of the day, and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go, I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:10-16).

The idea that God treats all of his spiritual workers the same and rewards them equally was acknowledged by Paul (1 Corinthians 3:7), but Paul also indicated that the result or output of our work is what really matters. Paul said, “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:12-17). Paul clarified which Day he was referring to when he said, “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God” (1 Corinthians 4:5). The purposes of the heart are the decisions believers make that identify them as being either for or against Christ (G1012). Paul pointed out that the purposes of the heart would be disclosed and implied that it had something to do with the evidence of one’s spiritual intake. The Greek word phaneroo (fan-er-oˊ-o) means “to render apparent” (G5319). The English Standard Version of the Bible uses the word phagos (fagˊ-os), which means “a glutton” (G5314), instead of phaneroo in 1 Corinthians 4:5, and translates it as discloses. This seems to suggest that Paul was talking about a believer’s spiritual weight being the output or perhaps the gauge of how successful his spiritual work was.

The Old Testament of the Bible links weight with God’s glory. The Hebrew word kabowd (kaw-bodeˊ) is properly translated as weight, but as a masculine singular noun, its meaning is “honour, glory, majesty, wealth” (H3519). Kabowd is derived from the word kabad (kaw-bad), which means “to be heavy…The hands of both humans and God were described metaphorically as heavy, that is, powerful” (H3513). The effectiveness of one’s spiritual work may be gauged in terms of weight in the Bible because of the fact that wealth was associated with gold and silver which is measured in weight. A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms. When the Temple of God was constructed, many of the temple furnishings were made from gold and silver. It says in Exodus 25:39 that the golden lampstand was made “out of a talent of pure gold.” In today’s prices, the golden lampstand itself would be worth about 2.3 million dollars. Paul said of his work in the ministry, “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest” (1 Corinthians 3:12). The Greek word that is translated builds on, epoikodomeo (ep-oy-kod-om-ehˊ) is only used figuratively. To build upon is “spoken of the Christian faith and Christian life, both the whole church and its individual members as built upon the only foundation, Christ, and implying the constant internal development of the kingdom of God and the visible church, like a holy temple progressively and increasingly built up from the foundation (1 Corinthians 3:10, 12, 14; Ephesians 2:20; Colossians 2:7).

Peter’s first letter looked at spiritual work from the standpoint of intense persecution. Peter said, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:6-9). Peter indicated that faith is more precious than gold and said that it is what will be tested when Jesus judges the world (1 Corinthians 3:13). Peter’s viewpoint was that believing in Jesus was the outcome or product of faith and said that it would result in the salvation of your souls. When Jesus was asked, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent’” (John 6:28-29). The reason why Jesus identified believing as work was probably because it took a great deal of effort from a human standpoint. Jesus told his disciples, “if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20-21). The fact that faith can move a mountain makes it a very effective instrument for spiritual work. Jesus said that nothing is impossible, if you use faith to accomplish it.

Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow was intended to convey the point that it was not God’s unwillingness to answer prayers that was the problem with regard to accomplishing spiritual work. Luke opened the story with the comment, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1). And then stated:

He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 2:2-8)

Jesus’ question, “will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 2:8) was a rebuke to those who prayed constantly, but got no results.

Hebrews 11, which highlights the accomplishments of Old Testaments believers, begins with the statement, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation” (Hebrews 11:1). The Greek word that is translated conviction, elegchos (elˊ-eng-khos) means to have a certain persuasion, “in the sense of refutation of adversaries” (G1650). In other words, faith presupposes that there is a contradicting opinion about the things that we believe. Paul went on to say, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Paul identified two requirements for drawing near or worshipping God. First, a person must believe that God exists. There needs to be an awareness of his presence in the world. In addition to that, a person must believe that God rewards those who worship him. The Greek word misthapodotes (mis-thap-od-otˊ-ace), which is translated reward, is derived from the words misthoo (mis-thoˊ-o) which means “to let out for wages, i.e. (middle) to hire” (G3409) and apodidomi (ap-od-eedˊ-o-mee), which means “to give away” or pay (-ment) (591). In that sense, a worshipper of God has to believe that not only does he exist; but also, that seeking God is a form of work, and God pays those who do it.

Spiritual Communication

Jesus told a Samaritan woman he met at Jacob’s well, “God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). The term spirit, or in the Greek pneuma (pnyooˊ-mah), refers to God as an immaterial being. Jesus also used the word pneuma to refer to the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). John later explained that those who believed in Jesus received the Holy Spirit, but not until after Jesus was resurrected. John 7:37-39 states:

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Jesus associated being filled with the Spirit with quenching your thirst and indicated that the Holy Spirit provided an abundant source of spiritual nourishment and capability. “The Holy Spirit prompts one to do or restrain from doing particular actions (Acts 8:29, 39; 13:2, 4; 15:28; 16:6, 7)” and “serves the medium of divine communications and revelations (Acts 7:55; 11:28;21:4; Ephesians 3:5)” (G4151). The Spirit and God the Father are used interchangeably in some passages of Scripture to refer to God as a spirit being (Acts 5:3, 9 [cf. 5:4]; Ephesians 6:17).

Paul talked about receiving wisdom from the Holy Spirit in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul said:

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:6-11)

Paul referred to God’s wisdom as a secret and hidden wisdom that is revealed through the Spirit. Paul was talking about the spiritual communication that takes places between a believer and God after a person has been born again. Jesus told the Jewish ruler Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit; he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit’” (John 3:3-6).

Paul indicated that God reveals things to believers through the Spirit. Therefore, it is not only necessary for believers to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but also to remain under his constant influence. God’s grace, or what is called in the Greek charis (kharˊ-ece), refers in a figurative or spiritual sense to “the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life” (G5485). King David is an example in the Old Testament of how God communicated with believers before they were indwelt by the Holy Spirit. After David committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband, Uriah in order to conceal his sin, the LORD sent Nathan to David. “Nathan used his parable (2 Samuel 1-4) to skillfully bring David to condemn himself, and David painfully realized the consequences of his sin” (note on 2 Samuel 12:1-14). At the end of Nathan’s parable, 2 Samuel 12:5-9 states, “Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, ‘As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.’ Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?”’” David seemed to be unaware of what he had done until Nathan’s parable stirred up his righteous indignation. At the point when David felt contempt for the man who had stolen his neighbor’s sheep (2 Samuel 12:4), Nathan gave David’s conscience a spiritual jab by stating, “You are the man” (2 Samuel 12:7).

Spiritual communication is a two-way exchange of information between God and believers. Not only does God reveal things to believers through his Spirit, but he also listens and responds to us when we pray. David spoke to the LORD the words of a song that is recorded in 2 Samuel 22. David said:

“In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry came to his ears.

“Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations of the heavens trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
Smoke went up from his nostrils,
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he was seen on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness around him his canopy,
    thick clouds, a gathering of water.
Out of the brightness before him
    coals of fire flamed forth.
The Lord thundered from heaven,
    and the Most High uttered his voice.” (2 Samuel 22:7-14)

David called to the LORD. The Hebrew word that is translated called, qara (kaw-rawˊ) can mean to summon or call aloud, addressing a person by name (H71721). David said of the LORD, “he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears…He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew; he was seen on the wings of the wind” (2 Samuel 22:7, 10-11). David’s depiction of the LORD coming to his rescue was intended to convey spiritual activity that was undetectable to the natural senses. David imagined the LORD riding on a cherub and flying on the wings of the wind, but in actuality, the LORD was engaging with David in his mind through the Holy Spirit.

Paul explained in his letter to the Corinthians that God’s thoughts are transmitted to believers through the Holy Spirit who speaks to us in our hearts or minds. Paul said, “For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him. So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:10-13). The Greek word that is translated interpreting, sugkrino (soong-kreeˊ-no) means “to judge of one thing in connection with another, i.e. combine (spiritual ideas with appropriate expressions) or collate (one person with another by way of contrast or resemblance)” (G4793). The Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to see God in a way that makes sense to us as human beings. David’s description of the LORD riding on a cherub and flying on the wings of the wind made sense to him from the perspective of God being able to transcend the distance between heaven and earth and to be with David in a brief moment of time.

The Greek word sugkrino is derived from the words sun (soon), which denotes “union; with or together,” and krino (kreeˊ-no), which means “to judge in one’s own mind as to what is right, proper, expedient” (G2919). Krino also refers to discriminating between good and evil. When the Holy Spirit is at work in believers, he is helping them to discriminate between good and evil. The Holy Spirit communicates to believers what is the right, proper, expedient thing for them to do based on God’s will for their lives. Paul talked about this in the context of the renewal of the Holy Spirit, which is the adjustment of the moral and spiritual thinking to the mind of God. “In Titus 3:5, ‘the renewing of the Holy Spirit’ is not a fresh bestowment of the Spirit, but a revival of His power, developing the Christian life, stressing the continual operation of the indwelling Spirit of God” (G342). Paul concluded his discussion of wisdom from the Spirit with the statement, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Spiritual discernment is the result of the Holy Spirit interpreting spiritual truths. Therefore, unbelievers to not have that capability. Paul said the things of the Spirit of God are folly or absurdity to the person that has not been born again, as was demonstrated by Nicodemus when he asked Jesus the question, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4). With regard to spiritual communication, Jesus likened the influence of the Holy Spirit on a person’s heart to the wind that causes things to move without any physical evidence of its presence. Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

Being saved

The Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians began with a detailed description of the people he was writing to. Paul said, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those in every place who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Paul addressed his audience as the church of God and indicated that they were sanctified in Christ Jesus. Paul was clearly referring to people who had already accepted Jesus as their Savior. The Greek word that is translated sanctified, hagiazo (hag-ee-ad’-zo) means “to make holy” (G37). Hagiazo is spoken of persons who are consecrated “as being set apart of God and sent by Him for the performance of His will (John 10:36).” The resultant state of Hagiazo is hagiasmos (hag-ee-as-mos’). Hagiasmos refers not only to the activity of the Holy Spirit in setting man apart unto salvation and transferring him into the ranks of the redeemed, but also to enabling him to be holy even as God is holy (2 Thessalonians 2:13)” (G38).

Paul went on to say that his audience was not lacking in any gift as they waited for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who would sustain them to the end, “guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7-8). The term guiltless has to do with being accountable for a debt. Jesus told a parable about an unforgiving servant in order to explain each person’s accountability to God for the sins they commit (Matthew 18:21-35). Jesus began by stating that the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. At first, a servant was forgiven a debt of ten thousand talents. A talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years’ wages for a laborer, so there was no way the servant could pay the debt he owed. After the servant was forgiven, he demanded payment from someone who owed him a hundred denarii. A denarius was a day’s wages for a laborer, a very small amount compared to the ten thousand talents that the servant had been forgiven. When it was reported to the master what had taken place, Jesus said, “Then the master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailors, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:32-35).

Paul wanted his readers to understand that their moral debt was cleared from God’s accounting system when they accepted Christ as their Savior, but that didn’t absolve them of their responsibility to deal with their fellow believers in a manner similar to the way God had dealt with them. Paul said, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind, and the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). The divisions in the church were hindering the believers’ spiritual growth and what Paul later referred to as their edification (1 Corinthians 14:3). Paul used the Greek word katartizo (kar-ar-tid’-zo), which is translated united, to describe the purpose of edification, that the members of Christ’s body would be “perfectly joined” together. Katartizo indicates the close relationship between character and destiny in that the right ordering and arrangement of the members of Christ’s body results in every member being “fitly framed together” into a holy temple in the Lord (Ephesians 2:21, KJV).

Paul went on to explain that the power of God was linked to the cross of Christ and that it had to be working in the believers’ lives until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ in order for them to be guiltless in the end. Paul said, “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:17-18). Paul indicated that the cross could be emptied of its power. In other words, Christ’s sacrifice for our sins could be neutralized or made ineffective in what it was intended to do in a person’s life. Paul brought up this problem in the context of a person being saved. “The participle is used substantively to refer to those being saved, those who have obtained salvation through Christ and are kept by him” (G4982). Paul clarified his statement about being saved in 1 Corinthians 15:2, when he said, “Now I remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.” According to Paul, being saved meant that you continued to believe what you did when you first received salvation through the gospel. Paul likely contrasted being saved with perishing in order to make it clear that  a person’s state does not change. A saved person can not become unsaved, but he can lose the reward God intended for him (Matthew 25:26-30).

Paul indicated that Jesus is the one who sustains believers as they go through the process of being saved. He said, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:4-8). Jesus’ ability to sustain believers to the end is based on a personal relationship with the Lord that involves walking together by faith (G950). Paul indicated that Christ sustaining believers results in them being guiltless or being freed from their eternal moral debt to God. The way that it happens is by miraculous power being activated through the preaching of the gospel. Paul said, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:21-24).

Paul went on to say that the effect of being saved is that the mind of Christ is formed in the believer. Paul said, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:14-16). Paul also talked about the renewing of the mind in his letter to the Romans. Paul admonished them, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). The Greek word that is translated transformed, metamorphoo (met-am-or-fo’-o), is where the English word metamorphosis comes from. Metamorphosis refers to the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct phases. Paul indicated that transformation takes place as a result of the renewal of the mind. Renewal is intended to make a person different than in the past. The Greek word that Paul used, anakainosis (an-ak-ah’-ee-no-sis), stresses the process of sanctification (G342). Anakainosis “is the gradual conforming of the person to the new spiritual world in which he now lives, the restoration of the divine image. In this process the person is not passive but is a fellow worker with God” (G3824).

Paul linked together different aspects of being saved in his letter to Titus. Paul referred to these two aspects of salvation as the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. Paul said, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7). Justification by grace means that God’s divine influence upon our hearts and its reflection in our lives will cause us to be declared innocent in the end, when God actively intervenes to punish sin. God’s day of judgment is referred to as the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord holds an important place in prophecy (note on 1 Thessalonians 5:2). Paul wrote about the day of the Lord in his first letter to the Thessalonians. Paul said, “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).

Jesus emphasized the importance of remaining under the influence of the Holy Spirit in his message about the signs of the end of the age. After his disciples asked him when the end would occur, and the sign of his second coming, Jesus said, “Many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:10-13). The Greek word that is translated endures, hupomeno (hoop-om-en’-o), means “to remain under the approach or presence of any person or thing, in the sense of to await” (G5278). What Jesus meant by the one who endures to the end will be saved was that endurance will be a distinguishing characteristic of believers that are in the process of being saved at the end of the age. Constant communion with the Holy Spirit will be more and more important for believers as Christ’s return draws near. Jesus concluded his Olivet Discourse with several parables about faithful and wicked servants and then, talked about the final judgment. Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all his angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:31-32). The sheep and the goats represent two spiritual categories that all people fall into, saved and unsaved. Jesus said of the sheep, who represented the group of saved people, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). Jesus commended the sheep because they had taken care of him when he was in need of help (Matthew 25:35-37), but they were unaware that they had done anything to merit his favor (Matthew 25:37-39). When Jesus confronted the unsaved, the opposite happened. They argued that they had done everything that was expected of them. Matthew 25:41-46 states:

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The key differentiation that Jesus made between the sheep and the goats was that one group ministered to his needs and the other did not. The sheep had done what Jesus expected of them, but were most likely unaware of it because it had not been an intentional effort on their part, but rather the divine influence of the Holy Spirit on their hearts that caused them to act the way they did.

Paul summarized all of his doctrine related to salvation in his letter to the Romans. In this letter, Paul emphasized the importance of faith (Romans 4:1-5:11), but he also made it clear that it takes an act of the will to overcome the effects of sin in our lives (Romans 6:13). In order to clarify the difference between works of the flesh, the things we choose to do based on our own desires and preferences, and acts of faith, 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)

The main point that Paul made in this passage was that God counts righteousness apart from works. Therefore, it isn’t necessary for us to do anything to be saved. But, Paul went on to explain that life in the Spirit involves being mentally disposed toward doing the things that God wants us to (Romans 8:5-6). In his conclusion, Paul identified the uniting principle associated with being saved and the final judgment that Jesus described in Matthew 25:31-46. Paul said, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8-10).

Friend or foe

The conspiracy that was instigated by David’s son Absalom undermined David’s confidence in the loyalty of his closest advisors. Second Samuel 17:25 tells us, “Absalom had set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite, who had married Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.” Because Joab killed Absalom after David gave him strict orders not to, David decided to make Amasa commander of his army instead of Joab after he returned to Jerusalem and was restored to his position of King of Israel. It says in 2 Samuel 19:8-15:

Now Israel had fled every man to his own home. And all the people were arguing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies and saved us from the hand of the Philistines, and now he has fled out of the land from Absalom. But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?”

And King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar the priests: “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house, when the word of all Israel has come to the king?You are my brothers; you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’ And say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me and more also, if you are not commander of my army from now on in place of Joab.’” And he swayed the heart of all the men of Judah as one man, so that they sent word to the king, “Return, both you and all your servants.” So the king came back to the Jordan, and Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and to bring the king over the Jordan.

David’s strategy of winning back the loyalty of his tribesmen was successful, but a division among the tribes of Israel had already begun to erode the unity that had been a mark of David’s reign as king. After David had crossed the Jordan, 2 Samuel 20:1-2 states, “Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew the trumpet and said, ‘We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!’ So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.”

Sheba’s statement had particular significance with regard to Israel’s Messiah. Sheba said, “We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse” (2 Samuel 20:1). The words portion and inheritance were likely intended to refer to the blessing that Jacob’s son Judah received at the time of Jacob’s death. Jacob said, “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s cub: from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples” (Genesis 49:8-10). “This verse does not mean that there will be a continuous reign by the descendants of Judah but merely that their line will retain a permanent right to rule. It is generally regarded as messianic prophecy” (note on Genesis 49:10). Isaiah’s prophecy of the “righteous reign of the branch” (Isaiah 11) refers to Israel’s Messiah as both a stump and root of Jesse (verses. 1 and 10), the name of David’s father. In one of his sermons, the Apostle Paul identified David, the son of Jesse, as the progenitor of Israel’s Messiah. Paul said, “Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised” (Acts 13:21-23).

Israel’s rejection of David was the first step in a progression of events that resulted in Jesus’ crucifixion. Likewise, the generosity of Barzillai the Gileadite in taking care of David’s needs while he was in exile (2 Samuel 19:32), established the basis of Jesus’ judgment of the world. Jesus told his disciples, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:31-35). The Apostle John talked about support and opposition in his final letter which he addressed to “the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth” (3 John 1:1). “Originally from Macedonia, Gaius was one of Paul’s companions who was seized during the riot perpetuated by opponents of the gospel in Ephesus (Acts 19:29). He was also among those who accompanied Paul to Jerusalem, perhaps as an official delegate of his church in Derbe, and was a member of the party that awaited the apostle at Troas (Acts 20:4, 5). He was baptized by Paul in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:14). His house was used as a regular meeting place for the congregation and Paul stayed with him during one of his visits from Corinth (Romans 16:23). John commended Gaius for his gracious hospitality (v. 5) and expressed his desire to see him soon (v. 14)” (note on 3 John 1:1).

John went on in his letter to single out a man that was causing trouble in the church. John said, “I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church” (3 John 1:9-10). “Diotrephes was an ambitious person who resisted the authority of the elders in the church. He attacked them publicly and forbade the reception of John and his followers. He excluded those who received them, perhaps by formal excommunication or by physical violence” (note on 3 John 1:9). John said that Diotrephes was “talking wicked nonsense” (3 John 1:10). The Greek words that John used, logos (logˊ-os) poneros (pon-ay-rosˊ) phluareo (floo-ar-ehˊ-o) indicate that Diotrephes was using the word of God in a hurtful or evil manner. Diotrephes’ position in the church enabled him to control the other members’ behavior. Diotrephes stopped those who wanted to welcome John into their congregation by excommunicating them (3 John 1:10).

Joab undermined David’s effort to reunite his kingdom by killing Amasa, the man David appointed to take his place as commander of Israel’s army (2 Samuel 19:13). It says in 2 Samuel 20:4-10:

Then the king said to Amasa, “Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself.” So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him. And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us. ”And there went out after him Joab’s men and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. When they were at the great stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing a soldier’s garment, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened on his thigh, and as he went forward it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So Joab struck him with it in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died.

Joab’s act of treachery gave him the ability to reestablish himself as the commander of Israel’s army without David’s approval. After the head of Sheba the son of Bichri was thrown to Joab over the wall where he sought refuge, 2 Samuel 20:23 tells us, “Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites.”

David’s final instructions to his son Solomon reveal that even though David didn’t trust or respect Joab, he allowed Joab to remain in command of his army until Solomon succeeded him as king. David told Solomon, “Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet. Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his grey head go down to Sheol in peace. But deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother” (1 Kings 2:5-7). David distinguished Joab, who had led Israel’s army during his entire reign, from Barzillai the Gileadite who had shown him kindness when he fled from Absalom, by the loyalty or disloyalty that each man demonstrated toward him. The Hebrew word that David used which is translated loyalty in 1 Kings 2:7 is chesed (khehˊ-sed). “The classic text for understanding the significance of this word is Psalm 136 where it is used twenty-six times to proclaim that God’s kindness and love are eternal. The psalmist made it clear that God’s kindness and faithfulness serves as the foundation for His actions and His character…The entire span of creation to God’s redemption, preservation, and permanent establishment is touched upon in this psalm. It all happened, is happening, and will continue to happen because of the Lord’s covenant faithfulness and kindness” (H2617). David’s distinction between his friend and his foe was similar to the Son of Man’s distinction between the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:33), David based his judgment of the two men on their resemblance to God’s character.