being saved

Dependence on God

God’s covenantal relationship with Abraham, and later the nation of Israel, was based on a promise that created a dependency upon God that was intended to ensure the promise would be carried out. God told Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). God’s active, personal involvement in creating the nation of Israel began with his deliverance of Abraham’s descendants from slavery in Egypt. The LORD told Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmaster. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:7-8). God said that he had come down to deliver his people out of the hand of the Egyptians. The Hebrew word that is translated come down, yârad (yaw-radˊ) basically connotes movement from a higher to a lower location, but “yârad” is used frequently of ‘dying’” (H2381). God’s plan of deliverance began with him removing his chosen people from the land of Egypt, but ultimately it was carried out through his Son Jesus’s death on the cross. When Moses asked God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God told Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:13-14). “The expression ‘I AM’ is the translation of the Hebrew word Yhwh (H3068), vocalized ‘Yahweh’ and translated ‘LORD’ (See Exodus 6:3)…The meaning of Yhwh is not completely clear to biblical scholars, though it seems to suggest the timelessness of God, who is the very foundation of all existence. Jesus alluded to this name of God in John 8:58 when he declared, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you before Abraham was, I am” (note on Exodus 3:14).

The Hebrew word that is translated deliver in Exodus 3:8, nâtsal (naw-tsalˊ) means “to snatch away” (H5337). A word in the New Testament with a similar meaning is harpazō (har-padˊ-zo). Harpazo is used in Revelation 12:5 in reference to Jesus’ ascension into heaven and in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 in reference to believers being caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. “Deliverance often indicated the power of one entity overcoming the power of another.” The Apostle Paul talked about Jesus’ power over death in his second letter to the Corinthians. Speaking of the resurrection body, Paul said:

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies…So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power…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. (1 Corinthians 15:35-57)

Paul’s statement that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50) was intended to jolt his fellow Israelites into the realization that the promise God made to Abraham was not about establishing a nation that consisted of mortal beings, but one in which the power of sin and death had been overcome.

Initially, the Israelites were completely aware of their dependence on God. After they had left Egypt and were about to cross the Red Sea, it says in Exodus 14:9-10, “The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. When Pharoah drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.” Moses told the people of Israel, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14:13-14). Later, after they had entered the Promised Land, the Israelites experienced numerous victories over the people of Canaan because they were depending on the LORD. But as time went on, the people of Israel stopped inquiring of the LORD and eventually, asked the prophet Samuel to appoint a king to rule over them, “that we may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles” (1 Samuel 8:20).

The various kings that led Israel and Judah were inconsistent in their commitment to follow God’s commandments. Near the end of Israel’s existence as an independent nation, Jehoshaphat the king of Judah walked in the ways of King David, “He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments…His heart was courageous in the ways of the LORD. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah…In the third year of his reign he sent his officials…And they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the LORD with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people” (2 Chronicles 17:3-4, 6-9). When the Moabites and Ammonites and some of the Meunites came against him in battle, Jehoshaphat prayed for God to intervene. Jehoshaphat said:

“O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy—behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

Jehoshaphat acknowledged that the people of Israel were powerless against the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites and said that he didn’t know what to do. The Hebrew word that is translated know, yada (yaw-dahˊ) refers to experiential knowledge and is used to describe the way that God knew Abraham, “He cared for him in the sense that He chose him from among other men and saw to it that certain things happened to him. The emphasis is on the fact that God ‘knew’ him intimately and personally” (H3045).

God responded to Jehoshaphat’s prayer immediately. It says in 2 Chronicles 20:14-17, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, ‘Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.’” Because Jehoshaphat acknowledged his dependence on God, the LORD said the people of Israel would not need to fight in the battle, he would fight for them. All they had to do was stand firm and hold their position (2 Chronicles 20:17). This is similar to the advice that Paul gave believers in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul said that we are to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-11).

It says in Proverbs 3:5-6 that we should trust in the Lord will all our heart, and not depend on our own understanding. “Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (NLT). When it was time for them to stand firm and hold their position, Jehoshaphat told the people of Judah and Jerusalem to “Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established” (2 Chronicles 20:20). And, Second Chronicles 20:21-23 states:

And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

“Give thanks to the Lord,
for his steadfast love endures forever.”

And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another.

Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine” (Isaiah 55:8, NLT). The people of Judah didn’t know what to expect when they started marching toward the great multitude coming at them from Edom, but “when Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, the looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped” (2 Chronicles 20:24).

Our dependence on God is something that needs to be acknowledged in each and every situation. When we put our trust in the Lord, he promises to take care of all our needs. When Jesus was asked the question, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?,” He answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:28-28). Jesus went on to describe himself as the good shepherd. It says in John 10:6, “This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.” Jesus went on to explain, “All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door, If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:8-11). Jesus later described himself as the true vine and said his Father was the vinedresser. “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit…As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 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 15:1-5).

The Greek word that is translated abide in John 15:4, meno (menˊo) means “to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy) and is spoken “of the relation in which one person or thing stands with another, chiefly in John’s writings; thus to remain in or with someone, i.e. to be and remain united with him, one with him in heart, mind, and will (John 6:56; 14:10; 15:4-7; 1 John 2:6; 3:24; 4:15, 16)” (G3306). Shortly before his death, Jesus prayed that his disciples would be one even as he and his Father were one (John 17:11). Jesus prayed, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through your word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them as you loved me” (John 1716-23).

Jesus invited everyone to come to him and be a part of the oneness that he had with his Father, but he focused his attention particularly on those who recognized their dependence on God. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). In another conversation, Jesus warned his disciples to not be anxious about their lives, but to put their faith in God. Jesus said to his disciples, ““Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you” (Luke 12:22-31).

No one is righteous

The Apostle Paul argued in his letter to the Romans that no one is righteous except God. Citing from Psalms 14:1-3 and 53:1-3, Paul said, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). The Greek word that is translated turned aside, ekklino (ek-kleeˊ-no) means “to deviate” or “to decline (from piety)” (G1578). The Hebrew word that was used in Psalms 14 and 53, suwr (soor) “is used metaphorically to describe turning away from the Lord because of a rebellious heart (Jeremiah 5:23)…Its meaning extends further to indicate falling away, as when one is enticed to fall away from following the Lord to pursue other gods (Deuteronomy 11:16; 1 Samuel 12:20; Psalm 14:3)” (H5493). The author of Psalms 14 and 53, King David, understood the concept of turning aside because he had committed adultery and murder (2 Samuel 12:9) after God made an unconditional promise to him that he would make David the father of an everlasting kingdom (2 Samuel 7:16). After he had utterly scorned the LORD, the prophet Nathan confronted David and told him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ’”I anointed you king over Israel, and 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? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.” Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.”’ David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die’” (2 Samuel 12:7-13). In spite of his willful rebellion, the LORD put away David’s sin, meaning that David’s sin was forgiven, it did not have a negative impact on his relationship with the LORD.

David’s personal realization that he could not live up to God’s standard caused a great deal of pain and anguish in his soul and resulted in him writing several psalms that are referred to as laments. According to Mark Vroegop, author of the book, Dark Clouds Deep Mercy, a lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust. Mark states, “You might think lament is the opposite of praise. It isn’t. Instead, lament is a path to praise as we are led through our brokenness and disappointment. The space between brokenness and God’s mercy is where the song is sung. Think of lament as the transition between pain and promise. It is a path from heartbreak to hope.” Psalm 53 is a perfect example of David’s journey from a painful realization of his failure to the hope that God’s unconditional promise to him was still in effect. David began this psalm by stating:

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good. (Psalm 53:1)

David used the term fool to describe people who don’t believe in God. The Hebrew word that is translated fool, nabal (naw-bawlˊ) means “stupid; wicked (especially impious)” (H5036). David met someone named Nabal early in his life, when King Saul was trying to kill him. It says in 1 Samuel 25:2 that Nabal was very rich, “he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats.” Nabal was a harsh man who behaved badly (1 Samuel 25:3) by refusing to reward David and his men for protecting his sheep (1 Samuel 25:10-11). David intended to kill Nabal (1 Samuel 25:13, 22), but Nabal’s wife Abigail intervened (1 Samuel 25:18, 23-31) and prevented David from responding inappropriately. Afterward, we are told in 1 Samuel 25:36-38, “And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And about ten days later the LORD struck Nabal and he died.”

David’s memory of what had happened with Nabal likely prompted him to associate the behavior of those who do not acknowledge God with this man. David said, “They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity” (Psalm 53:1). But, David didn’t stop there. David went on to say that all have fallen away, and “together they have become corrupt” (Psalm 53:3). David stated:

God looks down from heaven
    on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
    who seek after God.

They have all fallen away;
    together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
    not even one. (Psalm 53:2-3)

David’s conclusion that “there is none who does good, not even one” (Psalm 53:3) was based on his awareness of his own depravity. David loved God and was identified as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), and yet, David broke two of God’s Ten Commandments without even giving any thought to the consequences for himself, his family, or the nation of Israel of which he was the appointed king.

David’s hopeful response to his realization that no one is righteous apart from God is reflected in the final verse of Psalm 53. David exclaimed:

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. (Psalm 53:6)

The Hebrew word that is translated salvation in this verse, yᵉshuʿwah (yesh-ooˊ-aw) means “something saved” (H3444). Many personal names contain a form of the root including Jesus, a Greek form of jeshuʿah. Salvation or “’deliverance’ is generally used with God as the subject. He is known as the salvation of His people.” David was likely thinking of Israel’s Messiah when he said, “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion” (Psalm 53:6). David’s second statement, “When God restores the fortunes of his people…” is a reference to Israel returning from exile, a period of time when the people of Israel were anticipating the arrival of their Messiah and eventually, the birth of Christ (Luke 2:26-32).

Paul explained the significance of Christ’s righteousness being transferred to us in his letter to the Romans. Paul said:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

Paul indicated that the reason why Christ’s righteousness was imputed to all believers through his death on the cross was to show God’s righteousness, “because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins” (Romans 3:25). In other words, God leveled the playing field so that both Old and New Testament believers could receive forgiveness of their sins. Paul said, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

If

Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the house of God revealed his “great familiarity with and reverence for the warnings of God, which were given to all Israel through Moses (see Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28)” (note on 2 Chronicles 6:14-42). Solomon’s primary petition in this prayer was that God would listen and forgive them when his people cried out to him for help. Solomon mentioned specific circumstances that would require God’s forgiveness: if a man sins against his neighbor (2 Chronicles 6:22); if the people were defeated by their enemy (2 Chronicles 6:24); if there was famine in the land (2 Chronicles 6:26); if they sinned against God (2 Chronicles 6:36). Each time, Solomon asked that God would hear from heaven and forgive his people who had sinned against him (2 Chronicles 6:39). Afterward, “the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven so that there is no rain, or command locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:12-14). “This is a key Old Testament passage that presents the conditions of true repentance: humbling oneself, praying, seeking God’s face, and turning from evil” (note on 2 Chronicles 7:12-14). God said if his people truly repented, then he would hear from heaven and forgive their sin.

Humbling ourselves means that we are bringing ourselves into subjection to God. This has to do with being submitted to God’s will, allowing God to have control of our situation and circumstances. An example of humbling oneself is shown in 1 Kings 21:27 where the wicked king Ahab repented of his sin after being confronted by Elijah the prophet. It says in 1 Kings 21:17-29:

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”’”

Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel the Lord also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.’ Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.”

(There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.)

And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”

It says that “there was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab” (1 Kings 21:25), and yet, because he had humbled himself, God said he would not bring disaster in Ahab’s days (1 Kings 21:29). The Hebrew words that are translated dejectedly in 1 Kings 21:27 are translated went softly in the King James Version of the Bible. Another way of describing Ahab’s response to God’s condemnation of his behavior might be that Ahab treaded lightly or exhibited a gentle spirit toward God as a result of God holding him accountable for his sin.

Even though Ahab humbled himself before God, he did not truly repent of his sin. Ahab stopped short of asking God for forgiveness. The second condition of true repentance is praying, or more specifically, asking God to intervene in your situation so that your sin can be forgiven. Psalm 51 is a prayer that King David prayed when Nathan the prophet confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba. David began by asking God to have mercy on him. David prayed, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” (Psalm 51:1-2). David asked that God would blot out his transgressions and wash him thoroughly from his iniquity. The Hebrew word that is translated wash, kabas (kaw-basˊ) “refers to God’s internal cleansing of the heart, making it white as snow. Jeremiah 4:14, however, showed that God’s people must work to cleanse their hearts and avoid temporal destruction” (H3526). David’s genuine sorrow wasn’t all that was needed for true repentance, David needed his relationship with the LORD to be restored.

Another condition of true repentance is seeking God’s face. This aspect of true repentance has to do with restoring intimacy with God. Moses’ relationship with God is one of the best examples of what it means to have intimacy with God in the Bible. It says in Exodus 33:11, “Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” The place where Moses went to speak to the LORD was called the tent of meeting. “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door” (Exodus 33:7-10). It says in Exodus 33:7 that everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Seeking the LORD requires us to get away from other people and to focus our attention only on God. All the people watched Moses go into the tent of meeting and worshipped God from afar, but only Moses experienced intimacy with God.

The final condition for true repentance may be why so few people actually do it. God told Solomon that he would hear from heaven and forgive the people’s sin if they humbled themselves and prayed, and sought his face, and turned from their wicked ways (2 Chronicles 7:14). The Hebrew word that is translated turned, shuwb (shoob) “is used to describe divine and human reactions, attitudes, and feelings” (H7725). Jeremiah described this kind of turning as washing your heart from evil. Jeremiah stated, “O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?” (Jeremiah 4:14). Jeremiah indicated that wicked thoughts can lodge within us, but we are able to dislodge them through an intentional effort of washing our hearts from evil. The Apostle Paul described this process as putting off your old self and putting on the new self. Paul told the Ephesians:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self,which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:17-24)

Paul said our old self belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires (Ephesians 4:22). In order to get rid of the old self, we must put on the new self, which Paul indicated was “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). The key to being able to do this is what Paul referred to as being “renewed in the spirit of your minds” (Ephesians 4:23). This means that we are under the controlling power of the indwelling Holy Spirit who is directing our energies toward the enjoyment of fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. Spiritual regeneration involves more than the free act of God’s mercy and power by which he removes the sinner from the kingdom of darkness and places him in the kingdom of light, it 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).

God told Solomon that he would hear from heaven and would forgive their sin, if his people would humble themselves, and pray and seek his face and turn from their wicked ways. God contrasted this promise with an alternative that actually did take place. God said, “’But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, “Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?” Then they will say, “Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshipped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.”’” The prophet Jeremiah foretold that Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Jerusalem would result in God fighting against his own people (Jeremiah 21:5) and in his message to the house of David, Jeremiah gave the people a final opportunity to repent of their sin against God. Jeremiah concluded his message to the house of David by stating, “’”And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?” And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshipped other gods and served them.”’” Weep not for him who is dead, nor grieve for him, but weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall return no more to see his native land’” (Jeremiah 22:8-10).

Restoration of life

Psalm 30 was written by King David near the end of his life. “David may have penned the psalm in dedicating the building materials he collected for the temple (cf. 1 Chronicles 22:1-6), or he may have intended that the psalm be used at the dedication of the completed temple” (note on Psalm 30:1-12). The title of Psalm 30 is “Joy Comes with the Morning, but the word joy only appears once, and the tone of the psalm is rather somber. David may have been thinking about his death when he wrote Psalm 30 and wanted to convey his thoughts on this topic. David expressed a hopeful attitude about his final departure, but also seemed to be concerned about the outcome of this final event in his life. David began by stating:

I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
    and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
    and you have healed me.
O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
    you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit. (Psalm 30:1-3)

David said the LORD had brought up his soul from Sheol, the world of the dead (H7585), and restored him to life, even though he hadn’t yet died. The Hebrew word David used to refer to the restoration of life was chayah (khaw-yawˊ), a verb meaning to be alive or to keep alive. “’To live’ is more than physical existence. According to Deuteronomy 8:3, ‘man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD’ (H2421). David said that he had been restored to life “from among those who go down to the pit” Psalm 30:3). The pit represented death, but to David, the Hebrew word bowr (bore) must have had a different connotation because it wouldn’t make sense for God to restore David’s life before he had actually died. David used the phrase “go down to the pit” in two of his other psalms (Psalm 28:1; 143:7). In Psalm 28:1, David said, “To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit,” suggesting that going down to the pit meant that David was separated from God or cut off from communicating with him.

David went on to say that God’s anger only lasts for a moment, compared to a lifetime of blessing, and that joy comes with the morning. David stated:

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
    and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment,
    and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
    but joy comes with the morning.

David identified those who should sing praises to the LORD as saints. The Hebrew word that is translated saints, chasiyd (khaw-seedˊ) is derived from the word chasad (khaw-sadˊ), which means to bow the neck “in courtesy to an equal, i.e. to be kind” (H2616). Another word that is derived from chasad is chesed (khehˊ-sed), “A masculine noun indicating kindness, lovingkindness, mercy, goodness, faithfulness, love, acts of kindness. This aspect of God is one of several important features of His character: truth; faithfulness; mercy; steadfastness; justice; righteousness; goodness. 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: it underlies His goodness (Psalm 136:1); it supports His unchallenged position as God and Lord (Psalm 136:2, 3); it is the basis for His great and wondrous acts in creation (Psalm 136:4-9) and delivering and redeeming His people from Pharaoh and the Red Sea (Psalm 136:10-15); the reason for His guidance in the desert (Psalm 136:16); His gift of the land to Israel and defeat of their enemies (Psalm 136:17-22); His ancient as well as His continuing deliverance of His people (Psalm 136:23-25); His rulership in heaven (Psalm 136:26). The entire span of creation to God’s redemption, preservation, and permanent establishment is touched upon in this psalm. It all happened because of the Lord’s covenant faithfulness and kindness” (H2617).

The term saints is used in the New Testament to refer to both Old and New Testament believers in Christ. It says in Matthew 27:52-53 that after Jesus’ death, “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” The Greek word that is translated saints here is hagios (hagˊ-ee-os). Hagios is “Spoken of those who are purified and sanctified by the influences of the Spirit, a saint. This is assumed of all who profess the Christian name, hence hagios, saint, hagioi, saints, Christians (Acts 9:13, 14, 32, 42; Romans 1:7; 8:27; 1 Thessalonians 3:13). Spoken of those who are to be in any way included in the Christian community (1 Corinthians 7:14). David is not the only author who referred to the saints in their psalms. Saints were also mentioned in the interpretation of Daniel’s visions of the end times (Daniel 7:18, 21, 22, 25, 27). David encouraged the saints to give thanks to the LORD because “his anger is but for a moment, and his favor if for a lifetime” (Psalm 30:5). David said, ‘Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” David’s statement correlates with one that the Apostle Paul made in his second letter to the Corinthians, which is addressed to “The church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia” (2 Corinthians 1:1). Paul said:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Paul identified human beings as consisting of two parts, the outer self and the inner self; one that is seen and one that is unseen. Paul said “the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). The two parts that Paul was referring to were the body, which is transient (G4561), and the soul, which is eternal (G4151). The body represents the physical aspect of man and the soul the spiritual entity within man that enables him to have intimate union with God. In Psalm 30, David was referring to the inner self, when he said, “O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit” (Psalm 30:3).

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul described a transition from death to life that occurs when individuals are saved, or what Jesus identified as being born again (John 3:3). Paul told the Ephesians:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:1-7)

Paul indicated that everyone starts out dead from a spiritual perspective, and that we must first be made alive by God in order to be raised up with Christ. The phrase made alive together with is derived from the Greek word suzoopoieo (sood-zo-op-oy-ehˊ-o), which means “to reanimate conjointly with” (G4608). This is spoken of those who have received eternal life and who will be resurrected on an appointed day sometime in the future. Jesus told Martha after her brother Lazarus had died, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

David said to the LORD, “You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit” (Psalm 30:3). David was likely talking about his spiritual life being restored or more specifically, being made alive together with Christ at a specific point in his life. Although we don’t know for sure when David first believed in and trusted Christ for salvation, we know that after he committed adultery with Bathsheba, David confessed, “I have sinned against the LORD,” and Nathan told him, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13). The Hebrew word that is translated put away, ʿabar (aw-barˊ) means “to cross over” and is used very widely of any “transition” (H5674). “The verb refers primarily to spatial movement, to ‘moving over, through, or away from.’ This basic meaning can be used of ‘going over or through’ a particular location to get to the other side, as when Jacob ‘crossed over’ the Euphrates to escape Laban (Genesis 31:21).” David’s sin of adultery may have been why he thought of himself as having been restored to life “from among those who go down to the pit” (Psalm 30:3). It seems likely that this was a turning point in David’s life and one that he would likely attribute to God’s mercy and faithfulness. David said in Psalm 30:8-10, “To you, O LORD, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: ‘What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!”

David concluded Psalm 30 with a statement that appears to be a reference to a future restoration of life that he would experience in heaven. David declared:

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
    you have loosed my sackcloth
    and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! (Psalm 30:11-12)

Typically, glory is associated with God, but David said, “That my glory may sing your praise” (Psalm 30:12). Paul discussed the glory that David was speaking of in his letter to the Romans. Paul said, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16-17). Paul went on to talk about the saints’ future glory, and said, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed” (Romans 8:18). Paul made it clear that the glory that is to be revealed in the children of God is linked to the restoration of life that will occur after God judges the world. John tells us in the book of Revelation that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and said, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

David said that he would give thanks to God forever for restoring him to life (Psalm 30:3, 12). The Hebrew word that is translated forever, ʿowlam (o-lawmˊ) is derived from the word ʿalam (aw-lamˊ) which means, “to veil from sight, i.e. conceal” (H5956). Eternity is currently hidden from us in the sense that we can’t see things that are in the spiritual realm, even though we know they exist. My soul is just as much a part of me as my body, but I don’t know what it looks like or how it appears to others. Paul described our lack of ability to perceive things in the spiritual realm as seeing “in a mirror dimly” (1 Corinthians 13:12), and said that when eternity is no longer veiled from our sight, it will be like we are face to face with reality, and we will know fully as we have been fully known. Paul concluded his first letter to the Corinthians with a discussion of the resurrection of the dead. Paul said, “For if the dead are not raised…we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:17-22). Paul said that we will all be changed in a moment, “in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52), and then, stated:

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?” (1 Corinthians 15:53-55)

The Christ of God

Jesus’ birth and crucifixion was the culmination of thousands of years of God’s involvement in securing mankind’s redemption and was the climax of his Abrahamic Covenant. Beginning in the Garden of Eden, God communicated his plan of salvation by referring to a man that would come into the world and would eventually become known as the Christ of God (Luke 23:35). The LORD told the serpent that had deceived Adam and Eve, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:14-15). The offspring of the woman that God was referring to is identified in Isaiah 7:14 as the son of a virgin who would be named “Immanuel,” or “God is with us” (Isaiah 8:10). This Christ of God is linked to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, where God’s covenant with Abraham was initially communicated to him. It states:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This promise to Abraham is one of the most significant passages in the entire Bible. It points ultimately to the redemption of the whole world. Abraham’s family became a divinely appointed channel through which blessing would come to all men. This promise was formalized in a covenant (Genesis 15:17-21) and was repeated four additional times: twice to Abraham (Genesis 17:6-8; 22:16-18), once to Isaac (Genesis 26:3, 4), and once to Jacob (Genesis 28:13, 14). This promise is emphasized in the New Testament in Acts 3:25, Romans 4:13, Galatians 3:8, 29 (where it is called “the gospel’), and Ephesians 2:12. Its importance to the Gentiles is evident, for it is clearly stated that Gentiles who were ‘separated from’ and ‘strangers to the covenant of promise’ have been brought to it by the blood of Christ (Galatians 3:8; Ephesians 2:12, 13)” (note on Genesis 12:1-3).

The connection between Jesus and the Christ of God was not evident to most people, including Jesus’ twelve disciples. When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ His disciples responded, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:13-14). After Jesus asked them directly, “who do you say that I am?,” Peter was the only one who spoke up, and answered Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). It appears that Jesus didn’t want anyone to know that he was the Christ of God. After commending Peter for having this divine revelation (Matthew 16:17), Matthew tells us, “Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ” (Matthew 16:20).

One of the connections that Jesus made between himself and the Christ of God was in a conversation he had with a ruler of the Jews who was named Nicodemus. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night so that he could ask him some questions about what he had been teaching everyone. After Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again, Nicodemus asked, “How can a man be born when he is old?” (John 3:4). Jesus went on to explain about the spiritual birth that takes place when a person accepts Christ as his Savior (John 3:5-8). Jesus concluded his conversation with Nicodemus by stating, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). The Israelites experience with the bronze serpent in the wilderness is recorded in Numbers 21:4-9. It states:

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

The Israelites looking at the fiery serpent that was set on the pole was an act of faith. There was nothing about the fiery serpent in and of itself that was able to offset the effects of the people having been bitten. The key point was people believing that looking at the bronze serpent would keep them from dying. The Hebrew word that is translated live in Numbers 21:9, chayay (khaw-yahˊ-ee) is used in Genesis 3:22 to describe eternal life. “It is used in reference to life which is the result of seeing God (Exodus 33:20; Deuteronomy 5:24[21]) or looking at the bronze serpent (Numbers 21:8, 9)” (H2425) and is identical in form and meaning to the verb châyâh (H2421), which is used in Psalm 119 to say that God’s word preserves life (Psalm 119:25, 37, 40, 88).

A false prophet by the name of Balaam made reference to the Christ of God in one of his oracles. Balaam began by stating, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the wisdom of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth” (Numbers 24:15-17).

After Philip was called to follow Jesus, he found Nathanael and told him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). Nathanael wasn’t convinced that Jesus was the Christ of God. He asked Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). From a human standpoint, nothing about Jesus seemed remarkable. It wasn’t obvious to everyone that Jesus was the Savior of the World. He looked like an ordinary person, and yet, Philip said to Nathanael, “Come and see” (John 1:46). John tells us, “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said to him, ‘Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is not deceit!’ Nathanael said to him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered him, ‘Because I said to you, “I saw you under the fig tree,” do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man’” (John 1:47-51). It wasn’t how Jesus appeared to Nathanael that made it clear to him Jesus was the Christ of God, but how and what Jesus said to Nathanael that convinced him who he was.

Luke tells us, when Jesus was crucified, “the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God’” (Luke 23:35). The people standing by and watching Jesus die is foretold of the Christ of God in Psalm 22:7, 17. These verses state, “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads…I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me.” The rulers accusation, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God” was addressed by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” (Matthew 26:53, 54).

Jesus knew that in order for him to save the world, he had to die. Just before he was arrested Jesus had prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus’ prayer request was not about changing God’s decision to save the world through the death of his only Son. After Abraham’s son Isaac was born, God instructed him, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2). As Abraham and Isaac were walking toward Mount Moriah, Isaac asked his father, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7). Abraham responded to Isaac’s question by stating, “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8). The angel of the LORD intervened in Abraham’s situation just as he was about to slaughter Isaac (Genesis 22:12). Abraham proved that his faith in God was genuine, for he believed that God could bring Isaac back to life if need be (Hebrews 11:17-19). God’s provision of a ram as a substitute showed that he did not want human sacrifices. The only human sacrifice approved by God was that of his Son, the sinless Lamb of God (John 1:29).

Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39) was about the human aspect of what he was going to do as the Christ of God. Jesus willingly gave up his life, although he did reveal that it was obedience to his Father rather than his own human nature that caused him to do it. When he and disciples were discussing the difficulty of a rich person being saved (Matthew 19:23-24), Jesus was asked the question, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25). Jesus’ response was, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). As a man, it was impossible for Jesus to die for the sins of the world, it wasn’t in his human nature to willingly give up his life so that others could be saved. It was only because he had his Father’s divine nature, that Jesus was able to execute God’s plan of salvation and fulfill all the Scriptures about the Christ of God (Matthew 26:54). After his resurrection, Jesus spoke with two men who were traveling on the road to Emmaus. These two men told Jesus about all the things that had just happened in Jerusalem and yet, they weren’t able to figure out what it all meant. Jesus said to them, “’O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning him” (Luke 24:25-27).

Jesus told the two men who were traveling on the road to Emmaus the story of the Christ of God, speaking to them in the first person. It was like one person telling another his life story. Luke tells us after they drew near to their destination, Jesus acted as if he were going farther (Luke 24:28), but the men convinced Jesus to stay with them. While they were eating dinner, Jesus “took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’” (Luke 24:29-32). Later, Jesus appeared to his disciples, and said to them:

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:44-49)

Jesus opened the minds of his disciples so that they could understand the Scriptures. The disciples weren’t able to understand the things that Jesus was saying about the Christ of God through their normal human cognition. The Greek word that is translated opened their minds, nous (nooce), refers to the intellect or mind in the sense of divine or human thought, feeling, or will (G3563). The Greek word that is translated understand, suniemi (soon-eeˊ-ay-mee) means “to put together, i.e. (mentally) to comprehend” (G4920), which means that our ability to comprehend Scripture is divinely controlled. When Peter identified Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus told him, “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). Basically, what Jesus was saying was that it is impossible for us wrap our minds around the fact that he is the Christ of God. The only way we can comprehend this spiritual truth is through divine revelation.

Lost and Found

Jesus used the concepts of being lost and found to describe the spiritual regeneration that takes place when a person is born again. Jesus said in his parable of the lost sheep:

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:4-7)

Jesus made it clear in this parable that a person who is lost cannot be expected to find himself. Someone had to go after the sheep that was lost (Luke 15:4). Jesus identified the owner of the sheep as the person responsible for the sheep’s well-being, and indicated that the owner had to leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the open country in order to go after the one that was lost.

Matthew’s rendition of the parable of the lost sheep focused on the owner’s motive for leaving his other ninety-nine sheep in order to save the one that was lost. Matthew concluded with Jesus’ statement, “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:14). The fact that God is not willing for even one person to perish and was willing to send his Son into the world to save the lost is evident in John 3:16-17 where it says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Jesus indicated that God’s plan of salvation was directed at the entire world. The Greek word that is translated world, kosmos (kosˊ-mos) refers to “The earth, this lower world as the abode of man: The then-known world and particularly the people who lived in it” (G2889). Peter clarified God’s intention of saving everyone and explained why the process of salvation seems to be taking so long to us compared to God’s perspective of things when he said, “But do not overlook this one fact beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:8-9).

Jesus continued his discussion of those who are lost and found in his parable of the lost coin. Jesus asked:

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:8-10)

Jesus’ emphasis of the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents was meant to encourage his listeners who thought that admitting their guilt would result in God punishing them. Jesus made it clear that God’s goal for people was to experience spiritual regeneration so that they could celebrate their triumph over sin.

Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son brought the concepts of being lost and found down to a level that everyone could relate to. The idea of being lost is not about extinction, “but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being” (G622). Jesus said:

“There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.”

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:11-24)

In the parable of the prodigal son, the father did not search for his lost son, and yet he concluded, “Your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:32). We are told in Luke 15:17 that the lost son, “came to himself.” The Greek word erchomai (erˊ-khom-ahee), which is translated came, implies motion to or toward any person or place” (G2064). Since there was no external movement, it seems that the coming to himself that took place was internal, perhaps having to do with an inward turning of the lost son’s heart.

Luke 15:17-19 records the internal dialog that took place in the prodigal son’s heart when he decided to go back and ask his father for help. It says of the lost son, “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’” The lost son acknowledged his sin and guilt before God, the initial step of repentance that is required for a person to be saved. Rather than rejecting his son or punishing him for his irreverent behavior, the father of the lost son called for a celebration. He told his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:22-24). The lost son’s father said that he was alive again. The Greek word anazao (an-ad-zahˊ-o) means “to live again, to revive” (G326). When the prodigal son came to himself and made his decision to return to his father, he said, “I will arise and go to my father…And he arose” (Luke 15:18, 20). The Greek word that is translated arise and arose, anistemi (an-isˊ-tay-mee) was used by Jesus when he spoke of his resurrection, saying, “that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise” (Luke 24:7). Jesus intended the lost son’s action of rising to his feet, or perhaps standing up again after having wallowed in the mud with the pigs, to represent a type of resurrection in which he was regenerated and given eternal life. Jesus wanted his listeners to understand that when a person goes from lost to found, he is experiencing a life transforming event.

Matthew’s account of the parable of the lost sheep includes an introductory statement by Jesus that identifies his purpose for coming into this world. Matthew 18:10-14 states:

“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Jesus used the phrase go astray to describe how someone becomes lost. The Greek word planao (plan-ahˊ-o) is derived from the feminine form of the word planos (planˊ-os), which means “roving (as a tramp), i.e. (by implication) an imposter or misleader” (G4108).

Jesus specified which sheep he was looking for when he said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the household of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). Jesus’ disciples initially thought that this meant only the household of Israel could be saved, but in the book of Acts we read about Peter’s discovery that salvation was intended for everyone (Acts 10:9-33). It says in Acts 10:34-35, “So Peter opened his mouth and said, ‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Peter went on to say, “And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:42-43). Peter said that Jesus was appointed to be judge of the living and the dead, those who are in a state of being lost or have been found and received salvation. This is a reference to the final judgment that Paul talked about in his second letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:6-8). Paul said of himself that he had kept the faith, meaning that Paul was no longer lost at the end of his life. Revelation 20:12 tells us that the lost, those who have died without receiving salvation, will be judged according to what they have done. Afterward, “if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” where the lost will experience weeping and gnashing of teeth throughout eternity (Revelation 20:15; Matthew 13:42).

An Invitation

The religious leaders that often confronted Jesus made note of the fact that he didn’t associate with the kind of people they thought he should. After Jesus called Matthew, a tax collector, to be one of his twelve disciples, Matthew tells us, “And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples” (Matthew 9:10). Tax collectors were hated by the Jews because they were perceived to be traitors that helped the Roman government gain a financial advantage over the people of Israel, who were under their control at the time. Sinners were the outcasts of society, a group of people that were looked down on and avoided by religious hypocrites. When the Pharisees asked why Jesus ate with the tax collectors and sinners, Jesus responded, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13). The Greek word that is translated call, kaleo (kal-eh’-o) means to call “in the sense of to invite, particularly to a banquet” and is used metaphorically, “To call or invite to anything, e.g. of Jesus, to call to repentance” (G2564).

Jesus illustrated God calling people into his kingdom with parables that used the banquet metaphor. In his parable of the wedding feast, Jesus said:

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:8-11)

Jesus’ reference to the wedding feast was intended to convey “the happiness of the Messiah’s kingdom” (G1062). The book of Revelation contains a section that refers to rejoicing in heaven (Revelation 19:1-5). This section is followed by the marriage supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:6-9 states:

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and the Bride has made herself ready; it was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”–for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

The connection between the Lord our God the Almighty reigning on earth and the marriage supper of the Lamb seems to be the inclusion of saints in God’s kingdom. John was told that the fine linen worn by the Bride was “the righteous deeds of the saints” (Revelation 19:8). The Greek word that is translated saints, hagios (hag’-ee-os) means “sacred” or “consecrated” and is “Spoken of those who are purified and sanctified by the influences of the Spirit, a saint. This is assumed of all who profess the Christian name” (G40).

Jesus continued his discussion of people receiving an invitation into God’s kingdom with the parable of the great banquet. In this parable, Jesus indicated that the Jews did not value the privilege of being God’s chosen people. Jesus explained that God’s motive for allowing others to take the place of the Jews in his kingdom was because the Jews didn’t think they needed to be saved. Luke tells us:

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” (Luke 14:12-24)

The master told his servant to go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in (Luke 14:23). The Greek word that is translated compel, anagkazo (an-ang-kad’-zo) means “to compel by force, threats, circumstances, etc. (Acts 26:11; 28:19; 2 Corinthians 12:11; Galatians 2:3, 14). To constrain by entreaty , invitations, etc.; to persuade” (G315). It doesn’t make sense that people would have to be forced to attend a banquet unless you understand that in the Jewish culture, if an invitation was accepted, it was expected that you would return the gesture (Luke 14:12). The poor and crippled and blind and lame were more than willing to accept the invitation to the master’s banquet, even though they were unable to return the gesture, because they knew it wasn’t expected of them.

Jesus explained that there was a cost to accepting the invitation to enter God’s kingdom, but it wasn’t a matter of giving something back to God, it was a matter of self-denial. Jesus told his followers, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27). Jesus used a vivid hyperbole to convey the point that one must love Jesus even more than his immediate family in order to be a true disciple or to be considered a genuine believer in Christ. The phrase bear his cross was used with the figurative “meaning to undergo suffering, trial, punishment; to expose oneself to reproach and death” (G4716). “Jesus did not want a blind, naïve commitment that expected only blessings.” Jesus compared counting the cost of discipleship to building a tower and a king going out to war. “As a builder estimates costs or a king evaluates military strength (Luke 14:31), so a person must consider what Jesus expects of His followers” (note on Luke 14:28, KJSB).

Jesus concluded his illustration and discussion of God inviting people into his kingdom with the example of salt losing its taste. Jesus said, “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 14:34-35). The Greek word that is translated salt, moraino (mo-rah’-ee-no) is derived from the word moros (mo-ros’) which means “dull or stupid” and is used to describe someone that is a “(moral) blockhead” (G3474). Jesus described believers as “the salt of the earth” in his Sermon on the Mount and asked his followers the same question, “if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?” (Matthew 5:13). The idea that believers can become moral blockheads after they are saved doesn’t necessarily fit with the concept of regeneration, but the point that I believe Jesus was trying to make was that salvation does not guarantee that a believer will reach spiritual maturity, only that you have received the invitation to spiritual growth and will have to surrender to Him in order to enter the kingdom of heaven where the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place. Jesus illustrated this point in the parable of the ten virgins. Matthew 25:1-10 states:

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.

All ten of the virgins were invited to the wedding feast and given lamps to watch for the bridegroom’s arrival, but only five of the virgins attended the banquet. Jesus referred to the five virgins who had taken flasks of oil with their lamps as wise and the five who did not as foolish or moros in the Greek. Although we’re not told what the flasks of oil represented, it seems likely that the oil had something to do with spiritual discernment.

Jesus told his disciples that they must be ready for his return because he would be coming at an hour they did not expect, Jesus said, “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks” (Luke 12:35-36). Then, addressing the crowds, Jesus said, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, and say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be a scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” (Luke 12:54-56). The Greek word dokimazo (dok-im-ad’-zo), which is translated interpret, means “to test” (G1381). Dokimazo is used in 1 Thessalonians 2:4 where is says God tests our hearts and in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 where is says that believers should not quench the Spirit, “but test everything.” Dokimazo is also used in 1 Corinthians 11:28 where it says that a person should examine himself before participating in The Lord’s Supper.

One of the ways that we become more like Christ as we mature as Christians is the development of spiritual insight or discernment. Based on Jesus’ parables, spiritual discernment seems to be something that has to be used regularly in order for it to be effective. In his parable of the great banquet, Jesus said those who were invited made excuses so that they wouldn’t have to attend. In the parable of the ten virgins, the five foolish virgins were going to buy oil for their lamps when the bridegroom arrived, “and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut” (Matthew 25:9-10). In both of these situations, the invitation was given, but not acted on appropriately. Jesus’ instruction to his disciples indicates that prioritization is an important factor in gaining entrance into the marriage supper of the Lamb (Luke 14:25-33). Jesus stated, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” “The phrase ‘who does not renounce’ (v. 33) refers not to the total abandonment of one’s belongings but to the proper prioritization of them. The Greek word is apotassetai–the middle voice of apotasso (657), from apo (575), ‘from,’ and tasso (5021), ‘to properly arrange.’ It signifies that believers who are worthy of Christ know how to properly arrange their lives so that Christ is given preeminence” (note on Luke 14:25-33).

Hebrews chapter twelve provides encouragement to believers who are waiting for Christ’s return and tells us that we should not grow weary or fainthearted in our struggle against sin, the inevitable result of receiving an invitation to participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb. Hebrews 12 concludes with a warning to not refuse or make an excuse when you receive Christ’s invitation (Hebrews 12:25) and then, talks about the transposition of the material world into the spiritual realm. This section of Hebrews 12 includes a quote from the prophet Haggai and an interpretation of Haggai’s message. It states, “‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken–that is, things that have been made–in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain” (Hebrews 12:26-27). The point of this passage of scripture is that believers need to look at life from an eternal perspective. Whatever things may seem more important to us now than fellowship with Christ will eventually disappear, so we need to keep expecting Christ to return and know how to interpret the present time (Luke 12:56). The writer of Hebrews concluded, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29).

Finishing the course

Jesus didn’t keep it a secret that he knew at the end of his ministry he was going to be crucified. On one occasion, Jesus told his disciples, “the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death” (Matthew 20:18). Jesus followed this comment with a declaration of his purpose for coming into the world. Jesus said, “But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28).

Jesus referred to his mission to save the world as a course that he would finish on the day of his resurrection. Jesus told the Pharisees who were harassing him, “Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow and the third day I finish my course” (Luke 13:32). The Greek word that is translated course, teleioo (tel-i-o’-o) means “to complete, make perfect by reaching the intended goal. Particularly with the meaning to bring to a full end, completion, reaching the intended goal, to finish a work or duty” (G5048). The Apostle Paul used the same word when he spoke to the Ephesian elders stating, “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and affliction await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:22-24).

The course that both Jesus and Paul intended to finish is actually a process that is common to everyone that is a member of God’s family. The writer of Hebrews talked about this process in the context of Jesus being the founder of our salvation. Speaking of God putting everything in subjection to Jesus, Hebrews 2:8-15 states:

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

According to the writer of Hebrews, the fear of death makes us subject to lifelong slavery (Hebrews 2:14). It was because of this slavery that Jesus died, so the one who has the power of death would no longer be able to terrify us. Fear of death was considered to the primary problem that needed to be addressed by the salvation that Jesus provided. One of the innate characteristics of humans is self-preservation. Just the thought of death is enough to trigger a fearful response.

Paul’s statement, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself” (Acts 20:24), was counterintuitive to his human nature. Paul had become so wrapped up in his effort to finish his course that he had lost sight of everything that we would normally think to be important in life. When Paul said he did not account his life of any value, he was referring to his soul “as the vital principle, the animating element in men and animals” (G5590). The soul and the spirit are immaterial parts of humans that are both sometimes referred to as life in the Bible because they are necessary for existence. Generally, the spirit is thought of as distinct from the body and soul. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, pneuma the spirit, psuche the soul, and soma the body are listed together in describing the whole man (G4151). So, when Paul said he did not account his life (psuche) of any value, he meant that his soul was not important to him or the most important part of his being. Paul realized that what really mattered was his spiritual development, which he identified as the course that he needed to finish.

The Greek word teleioo, which is translated course in Luke 13:32 and Acts 20:24, is “used in the epistle to the Hebrews in a moral sense meaning to make perfect, to fully cleanse from sin, in contrast to ceremonial cleansing. Moral expiation is the completion or realization of the ceremonial one (Hebrews 7:19; 9:9; 10:1, 14). Also used of Christ as exalted to be head over all things (Hebrews 2:10; 5:9; 7:28); of saints advanced to glory (Hebrews 11:40; 12:23)” (G5048). Chapter 10 of Hebrews speaks of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as being once for all. It begins with the statement, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near” (Hebrews 10:1); and then, concludes, “And every priest stands daily at his service offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:11-14). The writer of Hebrews refers to being perfected, teleioo in the past tense, indicating that the course was finished when Christ died on the cross and was resurrected three days later, but then applies this to “those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). The Greek word that is translated sanctified, hagiazo (hag-ee-ad’-zo) means “to make holy” and is “spoken of persons: to consecrate as being set apart of God and sent by Him for the performance of his will” (G37). In this context, both Jesus and Paul’s intention of finishing the course had to do with God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

Jesus told his followers, “You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). In this instance, Jesus used the word teleios (tel’-i-os) to describe the state of perfection that his followers were expected to reach. Teleioo is derived from the word teleios, which is used “specifically of persons meaning full age, adulthood, full-grown” and figuratively, “the will of God” (G5046). From this standpoint, being perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect, would mean that you are performing God’s will just as he would perform it himself, an indicator that you are an adult or a full-grown child of God.

When Jesus was asked the question, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” He responded:

“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil.’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last” (Luke 13:24-30).

We know from Matthew’s gospel that Jesus’ reference to people coming from east and west, and from north and south, had to do with Gentiles entering the kingdom of God rather than the Israelites who were considered to be the rightful heirs of God’s kingdom (Matthew 8:10-12). The descendants of Jacob, whom God renamed Israel (Genesis 32:28), were tasked with overthrowing the nations that were occupying the land God promised to Abraham, and establishing a kingdom for him on earth, but they failed to do everything God wanted them to. Eventually, the Israelites were taken into captivity, and at the time of Jesus’ birth, the kingdom of Israel no longer existed.

One of the misunderstandings that Jesus’ disciples had was they thought that he was going to establish God’s kingdom on earth immediately. They were shocked and filled with dismay when they witnessed Jesus being crucified by the Roman government. The disciples didn’t think it was God’s will for Jesus to die (Matthew 16:22). Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God revealed his plan of salvation to the people of Israel hundreds of years before Jesus was born, but it still wasn’t clear to them what God wanted them to do when their Messiah arrived. God explained, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the righteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:6-9).

Finishing the course is counterintuitive for us as humans because we have to act the way that God acts in order for us to perform his will. Jesus told his disciples, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39). In this instance, find means, “To find for oneself, i.e. to acquire, obtain, get for oneself or another” (G2147). I believe what Jesus meant when he said we must lose our life in order to find it has to do with the affect that being saved has on our soul. Our souls exist in darkness before we are saved. When we are born again, it’s like a light switch has been flipped and we are able to see things that we never saw before. As our souls are exposed to the light of God’s word, we begin to see ourselves more clearly and can understand what sin has been and is still doing to us as a person. If we try to fix ourselves with self-help techniques or rely on diets or other methods of improvement to change the things that we think are wrong with us, we miss the point of God saving us in the first place. Jesus wanted his followers to understand that being saved is not about us becoming a better person, although that is the result of us acting more like God. Losing our life means that we don’t focus on what will make our lives better, but rather getting to know God and understanding more what he is really like by studying the Bible. Paul said in his letter to the Romans, “I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 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 12:1-2). Renewal of the mind is what makes a person different than in the past (G342) and as this renewal process continues, we become more and more able to discern God’s will and to finish our course.

Paul’s second letter to Timothy is the last writing of Paul’s that is included in the Bible. Paul wrote this letter “from a prison in Rome toward the close of his life (2 Timothy 2:8)” (Introduction to the Second Letter of Paul to Timothy). Paul wrote to Timothy, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge will award me on that Day, and not only me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8). In the King James Version of the Bible, verse 7 of Chapter 4 is translated, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” In this translation, the race is referred to as “my course.” As Paul looked back at the end of his career, his course may have seemed more like a race to him because of the speed at which it passed or because of the intensity of his activity. It seems likely that Paul felt worn out and perhaps tired at this point because of all that God had given him to do. Paul’s significant contribution to the content of the New Testament of the Bible shows that he had covered a lot of ground in his spiritual growth and his discernment of God’s plan of salvation. Just as Jesus, when he was hanging from the cross, said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), Paul concluded from his prison cell in Rome, that he had finished his course and would receive the crown of righteousness in recognition of his accomplishment.

Breaking the law

The majority of the conflicts that Jesus was involved in during his ministry on earth had to do with the misinterpretation and/or misapplication of the Mosaic Law. When he initiated his covenant with Abraham and his descendants, God told Abraham he would bless him and said, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3). The Hebrew word barak (baw-rakˊ) refers to an act of adoration and can be used “when blessing God (Genesis 9:26) or people (Numbers 24:9). God used this verb when He blessed Abraham in the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:3). The word is used intensively when God blesses people or people bless each other (Joshua 17:14)” (H1288). In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught the crowds of people who were following him that God’s blessing was the result of a person entering the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:3-12)

The phrase poor in spirit refers to people who are aware of their spiritual helplessness, their dependence upon God for spiritual sustenance. Jesus pointed out that persecution is an indicator that one has entered the kingdom of heaven and encouraged his followers by telling them “your reward is great in heaven,” if you achieve this status.

The Pharisees, who were the religious experts in the first century, continually confronted Jesus with matters that they thought were violations of the Mosaic Law. Luke tells us, “On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?’” (Luke 6:1-2). Luke went on to say, “On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Come and stand here.’ And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?’ And after looking around at them all he said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he did so and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus” (Luke 6:6-11). The Pharisees thought that Jesus was breaking the law by healing the man’s withered hand on the Sabbath, but Jesus refuted their accusation by revealing the motive behind his action, to do good, to save his life (Luke 6:9).

The Jews understood that the goal of keeping the Mosaic Law was to have eternal life, but their misapplication of God’s commandments caused them to believe that salvation was a status that they could achieve, rather than a gift that God intended for them to receive. Jesus explained that in order for salvation to be an achievable status, you would have to have the ability to be perfect, not just do something really good, but to be good in every aspect of your character and life. Matthew 19:16-22 states:

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Jesus’ clarification of what it meant to be saved focused on the difference between doing good and being good. Jesus indicated that eternal life is not something that you can earn or possess, but something that you experience as a result of having a relationship with God.

The Pharisees tested Jesus’ knowledge of the Mosaic Law because they were trying to prove that he didn’t actually understand God’s plan of salvation. Matthew tells us, “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets’” (Matthew 22:34-40). When Jesus said that all the Law and the Prophets depended on the two commandments that he identified, he meant that these two commandments adequately explained why the world needs a Savior, a substitutionary means of salvation. These two commandments are all God needs to judge and condemn the world, because they clearly demonstrate that humans are not perfect. According to God’s divine standard, we are all guilty of breaking the law.

God’s messenger

The link between the Old and New Testaments of the Bible is sometimes difficult to grasp because of the differences between the Old and New Covenants that govern their content. The Old Covenant was “made with Israel as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and as the people the Lord has redeemed from bondage to an earthly power.” It was “a conditional divine pledge to be Israel’s God (as her Protector and the Guarantor of her blessed destiny); the condition: Israel’s total consecration to the Lord as his people (His kingdom) who live by his rule and serve his purposes in history” (Major Covenants in the Old Testament, p. 16, KJSB). The Mosaic Law was given to the Israelites so that they would be aware of and follow the standard by which God would measure their devotion and obedience to him. At the end of his life, Moses told the people of Israel, “For the commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the seas that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart so that you can do it” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14). The Old Testament ends with God rebuking Israel’s priests for turning aside from the way that he had established for them to worship him (Malachi 2:8), and a declaration that Judah had profaned God’s covenant by marrying the daughter of a foreign god (Malachi 2:11). God announced his intention of establishing a new covenant through the prophet Malachi. God said, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold he is coming says the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 3:1)

The New Covenant was “an unconditional divine promise to unfaithful Israel to forgive her sins and establish a relationship with her on a new basis by writing His law ‘in their hearts’—a covenant of pure grace” (Major Covenants in the Old Testament, p. 16, KJSB). Grace was not a new concept to the people of Israel, but they didn’t seem to understand how it worked. Jesus talked about grace in terms of a “benefit” or “credit” that one might receive for doing a good deed (Luke 6:32-34), and then said, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36). The Apostle Paul told the believers in Ephesus that it is “by grace that you have been saved…For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:5, 8-9). The Greek word that is translated works in Ephesians 2:9, er-gon (erˊ-gon) is speaking “of works of the law, meaning works required or conformable to the Mosaic moral law and required by the law” (G2041). Paul indicated that a person might be inclined to boast if he was able to live according to the Mosaic Law. Therefore, God chose to give salvation to us based on our faith in Jesus Christ.

God said of his messenger in Malachi 3:1, “he will prepare the way before me.” The Hebrew word derek (dehˊ-rek) is used figuratively to refer to “a course of life or mode of (action)” (H1870). When God said that his messenger would prepare the way, he meant that his messenger would focus people’s attention on the way they were living. Zechariah’s prophecy about his son John touched on this very point (Luke 1:76), and indicated that John would, “give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of sins because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:77-79). The idea that God’s grace can guide our feet into the way of peace is based on the fact that the Holy Spirit is able to convict us of our sin and cause us to repent (John 16:8). It says in Matthew 3:1-3:

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Preparethe way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”

The Greek word that is translated repent in Matthew 3:1, metanoeo (met-an-o-ehˊ-o) means “to think differently or afterwards, i.e. reconsider” (G3340) and has to do with changing your mind. Paul describes repentance as a time-limited, opportunity in Hebrews 12:17 where he says of Jacob’s brother Esau, “For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” John the Baptist’s preparation of the way for those who wanted to receive Christ as their Savior was also a time-limited opportunity. Not long after Jesus launched his ministry, John was arrested (Matthew 4:12), and a short while later, he was beheaded by Herod the tetrarch (Matthew 14:10). Jesus said of John, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11).

Jesus’ declaration that the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11) was based on the fact that John was not a born again believer. Jesus prefaced his statement about John with the stipulation “among those born of women.” Jesus explained to a man named Nicodemus that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5-6). Jesus distinguished between the two types of birth that a person could experience and stated that a spiritual birth was required for entrance into God’s kingdom. Throughout the New Testament, the Greek word that was used to refer to John as God’s messenger, aggelos (angˊ-el-os) is translated as angel or angels. Aggelos is derived from the word ago (agˊ-o), which is used metaphorically in Romans 2:4 to refer to leading (ago) someone to repentance. Paul asked, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” It seems likely that God’s messenger, John the Baptist was perceived by most people to be an angel of kindness. John brought hope to those who were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death through his message about God’s forgiveness of sins. It was the religious hypocrites who hated John and wanted to stop him from leading people to the light of Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ parable about tenants who killed their master’s son so that they could have his inheritance explains the reason why God replaced the Old Covenant that he made with Abraham’s descendants with a new one. Jesus stated:

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servantsto the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” (Matthew 21:33-44)

The issue that caused a conflict between the master of the house and his tenants was possession of the fruit from his vineyard. When the master’s servants came to get his fruit, the tenants “beat one, killed another, and stoned another” (Matthew 21:35). What we’re not told is whether or not there was any fruit, and if there was, what the tenants did with it. Jesus’ solution seems to indicate that the tenants hadn’t produced any fruit. Jesus said the kingdom of God would be taken away and given to a people producing or bringing forth its fruits (Matthew 21:43).

Jesus talked about bringing forth fruit in many of his lessons and parables and explained in his parable of the sower that it’s not just hearing the word of God, but understanding it that causes fruit to be produced in the heart of a believer (Matthew 13:23). Jesus said understanding with the heart causes a person to be converted (Matthew 13:15). To be converted means that you reverse your direction in life and “become another kind of person e.g., to become like children” (G4762). Jesus told his disciples, “Unless you turn (strepho, G4762) and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). The first step in the process of being converted is to repent. John the Baptist told the people who came to him when he was preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:1-2) and later, Jesus told the religious hypocrites who wanted to see a sign from him, “The men of Ninevah 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” (Matthew 12:41).