believing

Faith in Christ

Paul’s letter to the Colossians was intended to refute the false teaching that was influencing the church there. The false teaching in Colosse “differed from the heresy in Galatia in that it integrated an early form of Gnostic philosophy, which consisted of ascetic ideas (Col. 2:20-23) and the worship of angels as intermediaries between God and man (Col. 2:18, 19). Supposedly, one could achieve perfection by progressing through a number of initiations and levels of wisdom in spiritual mysteries” (Introduction to the letter of Paul to the Colossians). Paul’s letter to the Colossians contained a condensed version of everything that he had taught over the course of his ministry and was particularly focused on having faith in Christ, the centerpiece of his gospel message. The first sections of Paul’s letter were dedicated to explaining who Christ is, what he did for mankind, and the result of his work of redemption on the cross.

Paul said of Christ in Colossians 1:15 that “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” “Jesus Christ is declared to be ‘the image of the invisible God’ (v. 15). Elkōn (1504), ‘image,’ always assumes a prototype (the original form from which the image is drawn), not merely a thing it resembles. Paul was stating that Jesus Christ has a ‘prototype’ in God the Father, who is invisible…Jesus is also called the ‘firstborn of all creation’ (v. 15), a reference to the fact that he was the first to rise from the dead with a transformed body (1 Cor. 15:20)” (note on Colossians 1:15-18). The New Living Translation of Colossians 1:15 states, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.” In other words, Jesus is the physical or material manifestation of God. Jesus made it possible for us to know what God looks like in a physical, human form. It says in 2 Corinthians 4:4 that Christ “is the exact likeness of God” (NLT).

Paul told the Colossians that Christ made it possible for all things to be created, “in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). The Greek word that is translated hold together, sunistemi (soon-isˊ-tay-mee) is derived from the words sun (soon) “denoting union” (G4862) and histemi (hisˊ-tay-mee) which means “to stand fast, i.e. to continue, endure, persist” as well as “to stand fast against an enemy…In the sense of to be established, confirmed (Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1)” (G2476). Jesus Christ made it possible for humans to be united with God and to become like him. Jesus asked his Father, “that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:11) and said, “The glory that you have given to me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one” (John 17:22-23).

Paul explained to the Colossians that Christ’s work on the cross was intended to reconcile mankind to God. Paul said, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:19-20). His cross speaks of Christ’s “exposure to death, i.e. self-denial; by implication the atonement of Christ” and “By metonymy, spoken of the total experience of dying on the cross. Spoken only of Christ’s death as the atonement for our sins (1 Corinthians 1:17, 18; Galatians 5:11; 6:12, 14; Ephesians 2:16; Philippians 3:18; Hebrews 12:2)” (G4716). Paul said, “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister” (Colossians 1:21-23). Paul made note of the fact that believers must continue in faith in order to be presented holy and blameless and above reproach before God. Paul said this so that the Colossians would understand that their efforts to become perfect by progressing through levels of wisdom in spiritual mysteries was useless. It is only by faith that we can please God and are able to receive his approval (Hebrews 11:1-6).

Paul told the Colossians that as a result of them putting their faith in Christ they were qualified “to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12). The inheritance refers to “the blessings which God bestows upon His children, implying admission to the kingdom of heaven and its privileges (Romans 4:13, 14; 8:17; Galatians 3:29; 4:7; Titus 3:7; Hebrews 1:2; 6:17; 11:7; James 2:5)” (G2818). Paul went on to say that as a result of placing our faith in Christ, God “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13). The outcome or desired result of faith in Christ is redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Greek word that is translated redemption, apolutrosis (ap-ol-ooˊ-tro-sis) means “Deliverance on account of the ransom paid; spoken of the deliverance from the power and consequences of sin which Christ procured by laying down His life as a ransom (lútron [3083]) for those who believe (Romans 3:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:7, 14; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:15 [cf. Matthew 20:28; Acts 20:28])” (G629).

Paul concluded his discussion of faith in Christ with an explanation of his role as a minister or steward of God’s word. Paul said that his stewardship was like that of a household manager who is responsible for managing the affairs of his master. Paul was referring to his position as an apostle and the dispensation of grace that the gospel he was preaching was being used for (G3622). Paul said that it was his job “to make the word of God fully known” (Colossians 1:25). What Paul meant by this was that there weren’t anymore secrets between God and man that needed to be revealed. Paul indicated that the mysteries that had been hidden for ages and generations were now being revealed to the saints through him (Colossians 1:26) and “to them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). The phrase Christ in you refers to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whose responsibility it is to guide believers into all the truth (John 16:13). Paul referred to this in his second letter to the Corinthians as the veil being removed. Paul said, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:16-18).

Miserable comforters

Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, came to show him sympathy and comfort him (Job 2:11), but they thought Job’s suffering was punishment for sin (note on Job 11:1). The things that Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar said to Job caused him to lash out against his friends (Job 16:11-17) and to declare, “miserable comforters are you all” (Job 16:2). The Hebrew word that is translated comforters, nacham (naw-khamˊ) is properly translated as “to sigh, i.e. breathe strongly; by implication to be sorry, i.e. (in a favorable sense) to pity, console” (H 5162). Nacham is also translated as to repent. “To repent means to make a strong turning to a new course of action. The emphasis is on turning to a positive course of action, not turning from a less desirable course. Comfort is derived from ‘com’ (with) and ‘fort’ (strength). Hence, when one repents, he exerts strength to change, to re-grasp the situation, and exert effort for the situation to take a different course of purpose and action. The stress is not upon new information or new facts which cause the change as it is upon the visible action taken.” The reason why Job said his friends were miserable comforters was because they were telling him things he already knew (Job 12:3; 13:2). Job’s friends weren’t helping him turn to a new course of action but were increasing his emotional grief and the brokenness in his heart (Job 9:28).

David wrote about a similar situation in his life in Psalm 69. David began this psalm by crying out to God for relief from his suffering. David cried, “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink deep into the mire, where there is no foothold; I have come to the deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God” (Psalm 69:1-3). David went on to say:

You know my reproach,
    and my shame and my dishonor;
    my foes are all known to you.
Reproaches have broken my heart,
    so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
    and for comforters, but I found none. (Psalm 69:19-20)

The verse that follows these, “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink” (Psalm 69:21) pertains to Jesus Christ. All four of the gospels state that Jesus was given sour wine to drink while he was hanging on the cross (Matthew 27:48; Luke 23:36; John 19:29), although Mark refers to it as “wine mixed with myrrh” (Mark 15:23). John tells us that this was done to fulfill Scripture and occurred just before Jesus said, “’It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).

It says in Hebrews 4:15 that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus knew that his disciples would struggle at times to make sense of what they were going through in their lives and would need help fulfilling the assignment of spreading his gospel throughout the world (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus told his disciples that they would be given “another Comforter” (John 14:16, KJV) that would dwell within them and would be in them (John 14:17). Jesus said, “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:25-26, KJV).

Jesus implied that he was his disciples’ Comforter when he told them he would give them another Comforter (John 14:16, KJV). Jesus said the Holy Spirit would teach his disciples all things and would bring to their remembrance all that he said to them (John 14:26). Jesus spoke words of comfort to his followers throughout his three-year ministry. Jesus’ words were comfort to the disciples because they helped them to re-grasp the situation, and to exert effort for the situation to take a different course of purpose and action (H5162), which was to turn the world upside down with the message of the gospel (Acts 17:6). The Greek word that is translated gospel in Matthew 4:23, 9:35, 24:14 and 26:13, euaggelion (yoo-ang-ghelˊ-ee-on) means “a good message” (G2098). When the disciples preached the gospel in the book of Acts, it was identified as euaggelizo (yoo-ang-ghel-idˊ-zo) or “to announce good news” (Acts 8:12, 35; 10:36; 13:32; 14:15). It says in Hebrews 4:3 that the works of the gospel “were finished from the foundation of the world, but “those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:6). Disobedience means to disbelieve or “not to allow oneself to be persuaded or believe” (G544).

Job tried to convince his friends that they were wrong about his situation, but they would not be persuaded. These miserable comforters continued to berate Job until the LORD stepped in and “answered Job out of the whirlwind” (Job 38:1). Chapters 38-42 of Job “record more than seventy questions that God asked Job. These questions were not given to answer the mystery of Job’s suffering or to vindicate God himself. They were intended to help Job realize that God’s ways are higher than man’s ways and that he is worthy of complete trust even in the most desperate of circumstances” (note on Job 38:1-42:6). Following the LORD’s discourse, Job concluded, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). The Hebrew word nacham, which was translated comforters in Job 16:2, is translated here as repent, indicating that the LORD was successful in his effort to comfort Job.

Good intentions

God had good intentions when he delivered the Israelites 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 taskmasters. 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 the land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:7-8). God spoke to the people of Israel from heaven and gave them the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), but a short while later, the Israelites made a golden calf and worshipped it. The people “turned aside quickly out of the way” that God had commanded them (Exodus 32:1-7). Psalm 78 conveys God’s good intentions toward his chosen people and the Israelites continual rebellion against him. It says in Psalm 78:9-12:

The Ephraimites, armed with the bow,
    turned back on the day of battle.
They did not keep God’s covenant,
    but refused to walk according to his law.
They forgot his works
    and the wonders that he had shown them.
In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.

The psalmist indicated that the descendants of Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son, who was born to Rachel after many years of not being able to have children, refused to walk according to God’s law and forgot the extraordinary things he did to deliver them from slavery. The psalmist said, “He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers” (Psalm 78:13-16). In spite of this, the psalmist said:

Yet they sinned still more against him,
    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
They tested God in their heart
    by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God, saying,
    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
He struck the rock so that water gushed out
    and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
    or provide meat for his people?” (Psalm 78:17-20)

The people of Israel’s rebellion against God was rooted in their bitterness toward him for taking them away from Egypt. The people complained about their misfortunes (Numbers 11:1) and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at” (Numbers 11:4-6).

God responded to the Israelites’ complaining by giving them what they asked for (Numbers 11:31-32). God continued to have good intentions for the people of Israel and provided for all of their needs, even after they refused to go in and take possession of the land that he had promised to give them (Numbers 14:1-10). Even when God was angry, he still did what was best for his chosen people, whom he loved and thought of as his treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). It says in Psalm 78:21-25 regarding God’s response to the Israelites’ complaining:

Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
    a fire was kindled against Jacob;
    his anger rose against Israel,
because they did not believe in God
    and did not trust his saving power.
Yet he commanded the skies above
    and opened the doors of heaven,
and he rained down on them manna to eat
    and gave them the grain of heaven.
Man ate of the bread of the angels;
    he sent them food in abundance.

God’s wrath against the descendants of Jacob was a result of their unbelief. Hebrews 3:12-19 explains that unbelief is a condition of the heart that comes from an individual’s willful refusal to be persuaded by the gospel of Jesus Christ. It states:

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Falling away from God means that we have withdrawn from his presence, deserted him, rather than the other way around. After God spoke the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel, it says in Exodus 20:18-19, “The people were afraid and trembled, and they stood afar off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’”

God’s good intentions for the people of Israel were mentioned in a letter that the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon. Jeremiah wrote:

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:10-14).

God’s plan of salvation was intended to give the Israelites a future and a hope that included restoration of their relationship with him. God’s goal for the people of Israel was for them to seek him with all their hearts.

Jeremiah 30:3 – 31:26 talks about God’s restoration for Israel and Judah in the context of Israel’s Messiah. “This passage promises not only the Israelites’ return from exile but also their ultimate restoration (Jeremiah 31:12)” during the Messiah’s millennial reign on earth. “Before this blessing, however, will come the great tribulation, described here as ‘a time of distress for Jacob’ (Jeremiah 30:7). This will be brought about because of Israel’s sin (Jeremiah 30:11-15), but ultimately the nation ‘shall be saved out of it’ (Jeremiah 30:7). Following this time of trouble will be the reign of the Messiah (Jeremiah 30:9, 21). The manifestation of God’s ‘everlasting love’ (Jeremiah 31:3) will be seen in his rebuilding of the nation (Jeremiah 30:17-20; 31:4-7, 28, cf. Jeremiah 1:10). Within this declaration of judgment and blessing is the prophecy of Herod’s slaughter of the infants at the time of Christ’s birth (Jeremiah 31:15, cf. Matthew 2:18)” (note on Jeremiah 30:3 – 31:26).

Jeremiah 30:3 – 31:26 is followed by a discussion of the New Covenant that Jesus established with his disciples the night before his death on the cross (Matthew 26:26-29). “This is one of the most important passages in the Old Testament and contains several specific aspects of the new covenant. It is a covenant with the whole, reunited nation of Israel, not the church which is ‘grafted in’ to Israel’s promised covenant (Romans 11:17-27). The realization of the covenant for the nation of Israel is still future (Jeremiah 31:27, 31, 38; 32:42; 33:14; Ezekiel 37:26, cf. Hebrews 8:8). The covenant is based upon the full and eternal atonement secured by Christ’s death (cf. Matthew 26:26, 27; 1 Corinthians 11:24, 25; Hebrews 9:15), which is the only means by which God can forgive sins and remember them no more (v. 34). The Covenant will be based on an individual, personal knowledge of God (vv. 33, 34) and characterized by the indwelling of God’s Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26, 27; 37:14). It will be an everlasting, eternal covenant of peace, administered by the Prince of Peace who is in the line of David (Isaiah 9:6; 55:3; Ezekiel 34:23-25; 37:24-26). Jeremiah prophesied about this covenant:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

God said the new covenant he was making with Israel was not like the old one that had to do with delivering his chosen people from slavery in Egypt. God said he would put his law within them and would “write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). God writing his law on our hearts means that he has placed within us the ability to live as he intended us to, doing what is good instead of evil (Matthew 12:33-37).

Jeremiah 31:33 is cited in Hebrews 10:16 in the midst of a discussion on the topic of sacrifices and offerings for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 10:1-18). Hebrews 10:11-14 states, “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.” The Greek word that is translated perfected, teleioo (tel-i-oˊ-o) 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)” (G5048). God’s good intentions for the Israelites, as well as, for everyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, was for them to be sinless, just as Christ was when he died for the sins of the world. Jesus said, “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” (John 3:16-17).

God’s steadfast love

God’s steadfast love for the people of Israel was based on a relationship that was formed and developed over hundreds of years. Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel (Genesis 32:28), was aware of God’s steadfast love toward him. When he was greatly afraid and distressed because he thought his brother Esau was on his way to kill him, Jacob prayed:

“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

Jacob realized that he was not worthy of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that God had shown him. The Hebrew word that is translated steadfast love, cheçed (khehˊ-sed) is translated mercies in the King James Version of the Bible. Jacob acknowledged that he had been the recipient of God’s acts of mercy throughout his life. The word cheçed “refers primarily to mutual and reciprocal rights and obligations between the parties of a relationship (especially Yahweh and Israel). But cheçed is not only a matter of obligation, it is also of generosity. It is not only a matter of loyalty, but also mercy. The weaker party seeks the protection and blessing of the patron and protector, but he may not lay absolute claim to it. The stronger party remains committed to his promise, but retains his freedom, especially with regard to the manner in which he will implement those promises. Cheçed implies personal involvement and commitment in a relationship beyond the rule of law” (H2617).

God promised Abraham that he would give him a son with whom he would establish an everlasting covenant (Genesis 17:19). After Isaac was born, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering (Genesis 22:2), but when Abraham was about to kill Isaac, God’s angel intervened, and a substitute was provided (Genesis 22:12-13). The substitution that was made was understood by Abraham to represent Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross for the sin of the world, God’s plan of salvation. When Abraham and Isaac were on their way to Mount Moriah, “Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son’” (Genesis 22:7-8). When John the Baptist saw Jesus walking toward him, he announced to the people around him, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

In order to keep his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as his covenant with King David (2 Samuel 7:4-16), God had to establish a kingdom that would last forever. Although it initially provided the tangible, material presence of God’s kingdom in the world, the nation of Israel didn’t fulfill God’s intent of bringing salvation to the world. The kings of Israel and Judah forsook God, worshipping the gods of the nations around them, leading to Israel being taken into captivity and Judah’s eventual decline (2 Kings 17:6-23; 2 Chronicles 36).

The turning point for Judah was when King Manasseh “led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel (2 Chronicles 33:2-9). When King Josiah was killed in battle, it was noted that he had not listened to the words of Neco king of Egypt, which had come to him from the mouth of God (2 Chronicles 35:22). “Babylon was fighting against and defeating Assyria. As a result, in 609 BC, Assyria requested help from its ally, Pharaoh Neco of Egypt. Josiah interfered, probably thinking that any friend of Assyria was his enemy. God chose to speak through a pagan king as he had done previously with Abimelech and Abraham (Genesis 20:3-7).

The prophet Habakkuk questioned God’s steadfast love and complained about his lack of involvement in the affairs of his chosen people. “Habakkuk was deeply troubled with the injustice that prevailed in his land (Hab. 1:3, 4) and was desirous that the Lord would act against it. However, when God informed him that the Chaldeans (i.e. Babylonians, cf. Daniel 3:8) would rise up to destroy Judah (Hab. 1:5-11), Habakkuk was not pleased. He questioned why God’s people should perish at the hands of the heathen Chaldeans (Hab. 1:12-17). God’s reply was ‘wait’ consider who I am, and keep silent (Hab. 2:1-20). Habakkuk accepts this verdict and offers up a prayer that expresses his trust in God (Hab. 3:1-19)” (Introduction to Habakkuk).

God told Habakkuk, “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (Habakkuk 1:5). The Hebrew word that is translated believe, ʾaman (aw-manˊ) is used in Genesis 15:6 to refer to Abraham’s faith in God. “Considering something to be trustworthy is an act of full trusting or believing. This is the emphasis in the first biblical occurrence of aman: ‘And [Abram] believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness’ (Gen 15:6). The meaning here is that Abram was full of trust and confidence in God, and that he did not fear Him (v. 1). It was not primarily in God’s words that he believed, but in God Himself. Nor does the text tell us that Abram believed God so as to accept what he said as ‘true’ and ‘trustworthy’ (cf. Gen 45-26), but simply that he believed in God. In other words, Abram came to experience a personal relationship to God rather than an impersonal relationship with his promises” (H539).

The work that God was doing in Habakkuk’s days involved him getting the people of Judah to put their trust in him instead of the worthless idols they had been worshipping. God told Habakkuk:

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

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but the righteous shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:2-4)

God said that the soul of the unrighteous man is puffed up, meaning that he thinks he knows what is right and does not need any assistance from God. On the contrary, living by faith involves complete conformity to the truth, i.e. God’s Word.

Psalm 118 points to Israel’s Messiah and describes for us what it looks like to have a personal relationship to God. This psalm begins with a tribute to God’s steadfast love. Psalm 118:1-4 states:

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!

Let Israel say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”

God’s steadfast love does not fluctuate or diminish over time because it has the quality of endurance. God’s steadfast love is not affected by what we do or don’t do. Anyone who has a personal relationship to God can expect that God will never stop loving them. Psalm 118 goes on to say, “Out of my distress I called to the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do to me? The LORD is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me” (Psalm 118:5-7).

At the conclusion of 2 Chronicles 36, it didn’t appear that God’s steadfast love toward Judah still existed, but it says in 2 Chronicles 36:15-16, “The LORD, the God of their fathers sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy. The phrase, no remedy meant that the people of Judah’s sin had reached a point where it was like an incurable disease. God’s steadfast love no longer had any effect on them.

Psalm 118:22 was used by Jesus to explain why the Jewish leaders rejected him (Matthew 21:42). This verse states, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” The Apostle Paul “described the Jews as tripping over the ‘stumbling stone’ in not understanding the truth that righteousness is by faith, not works (Romans 9:31-33)” (note on Psalm 118:22). Paul went on to explain that the message of salvation was meant for everyone, not just the Jews. Paul said, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Paul continued his discourse, stating, “I ask then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew” (Romans 11:1-2). Paul confirmed that God’s steadfast love would not allow his people to remain distant from him forever. Paul said, “At the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace” (Romans 11:5).

Paul concluded that God’s plan of salvation had two parts. God’s initial work in establishing the nation of Israel set the stage for his Messiah to be born, and then, God made it possible for everyone to be saved, so that both Jews and Gentiles could be members of his family. Paul asked about the Jews, “Did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to Gentiles” (Romans 11:11). Paul went on to explain, “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in…For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all” (Romans 11:25, 29-32). God’s steadfast love was at first only given to Israel, but Paul made it clear that God intended for everyone to receive his mercy. God’s plan of salvation caused Paul to revel in this amazing accomplishment. Paul exclaimed, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33).

Trusting in God

King Hezekiah’s devotion to God was well-known not only by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, but also by people in the surrounding nations who were enemies of Israel. In order to undermine Hezekiah’s godly influence, and to keep the people of Judah from trusting in God, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem with a message. The message stated:

“‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.’ But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.’” (2 Kings 18:19-25)

Sennacherib reminded the people of Judah of their past mistake of trusting in Egypt to fight on their behalf instead of trusting in God to deliver them from their enemies. Sennacherib implied that Hezekiah had offended God by taking down the high places and altars that people were worshipping at rather than God’s temple, and then, lied about being sent by God to destroy Judah. Sennacherib’s intention was to confuse the issues and to instill fear in the people so that they would stop trusting in God. Hezekiah had warned the people about Sennacherib’s tactics and “spoke encouragingly to them, saying, ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God’” (2 Chronicles 32:7-8).

The Rabshakeh who delivered the king of Assyria’s message spoke in the language of Judah so that everyone listening could understand what he was saying. The people were instructed to remain silent (2 Kings 18:36), so the Rebshakeh continued unabated with his verbal attack, stating:

“Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’” (2 Kings 18:28-35)

Sennacherib painted a pretty picture of captivity, making it seem as if the people of Judah would be better off living under his control. His claim that none of the gods of the nations had been able to deliver his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria was actually true, and was probably taken to heart because the northern tribes of Israel had been captured and the Israelites living there carried away to Assyria (2 Kings 17:6). The mistake that Sennacherib made was comparing the Israelites situation to that of the other nations. Sennacherib asked, “Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?” (2 Chronicles 32:14). Sennacherib likely understood that the Israelites reliance upon God was necessary for them to be delivered from his hand. Therefore, he did everything he could to undermine their faith. Sennacherib argued, “Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand?” (2 Chronicles 32:15).

We are told in 2 Kings 17:7 that God allowed the northern tribes of Israel to be taken into captivity because of their sin against him. Second Kings 17:9 states, “And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right.” It says in 2 Kings 18:37 that the men who had received the message from Sennacherib, “came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabeshakeh.” And after the men arrived, “As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD” (2 Kings 19:1). Tearing ones clothes and covering oneself with sackcloth were signs of mourning and of deep distress. These acts demonstrated Hezekiah’s humility and his willingness and ability to approach God with a reverential attitude. Second Kings 19:14 tells us, “Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.” Spreading it out before the LORD meant that Hezekiah recounted the message, emphasizing the particular points that he thought would be of interest to the LORD. It says in 2 Kings 19:15-19:

 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”

King Hezekiah realized that although Assyria had triumphed over the gods of the nations, they “were not gods, but the work of men’s hands” (2 Kings 19:5). Hezekiah said of the God of Israel, “you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth” (2 Kings 19:15). Hezekiah’s prayer request was based on God’s ability to do what he could not, defeat the Assyrian army. Hezekiah knew he didn’t stand a chance if he went up against Sennacherib using the same tactics that the other nations had, “an arm of flesh” (2 Chronicles 32:8) or physical strength. Hezekiah prayed, “O LORD our God, save us, please” (2 Kings 19:19). The Hebrew word that Hezekiah used that is translated save, yashaʿ (yaw-shahˊ) refers to “compassionate aid in time of need (2 Kings 6:26, 27; Psalm 12:1 [2]); the salvation that only comes from God (Isaiah 33:22; Zephaniah 3:17)” (H3467).

Isaiah the prophet was sent to Hezekiah with a message from the LORD. He said, “Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard” (2 Kings 19:20). As a result of Hezekiah trusting in God, an angel was sent, “who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword” (2 Chronicles 32:21-22). The word of the LORD that was spoken through Isaiah concerning Sennacherib indicated that he had been used by God to destroy the nations, but because Sennacherib had raged against God in his letter to Hezekiah, his power was revoked. Isaiah prophesied:

“Have you not heard
    that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
    what now I bring to pass,
that you should turn fortified cities
    into heaps of ruins,
while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
    are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
    and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
    blighted before it is grown.

“But I know your sitting down
    and your going out and coming in,
    and your raging against me.
Because you have raged against me
    and your complacency has come into my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
    and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back on the way
    by which you came. (2 Kings 19:25-28)

God said that he had determined Sennacherib’s role long ago and that he brought to pass all that Sennacherib claimed he had accomplished. Even though Sennacherib was not trusting in God, God used him to fulfill Israel’s destiny. God told Sennacherib, “I will turn you back on the way by which you came” (2 Kings 19:28). The phrase turn you back means that God made Sennacherib retreat. The basic meaning of the Hebrew word shuwb (shoob) “is movement back to the point of departure” (H7725). Shuwb is also associated with the process of conversion. “The process called conversion or turning to God is in reality a re-turning or turning back again to Him from whom sin has separated us, but whose we are by virtue of creation, preservation and redemption.” In Sennacherib’s case, God demonstrated his superiority and caused Sennacherib’s plan to overthrow Judah to come to nothing. As a result, Sennacherib, ”returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword” (2 Chronicles 32:21).

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).

Choosing life

Throughout the book of Deuteronomy Moses talked to the Israelites about the choices that God had made and would continue to make that affected their lives. Moses said, “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6). You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods…You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way. But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there” (Deuteronomy 12:3-5). And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the LORD your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that the LORD will choose, to make his name dwell there” (Deuteronomy 16:2). When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose” (Deuteronomy 17:14-15). Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the LORD, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled” (Deuteronomy 21:5). But, near the end of Deuteronomy there is a shift, and Moses calls upon the people of Israel to make a choice for themselves. Moses declared:

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

The choice that Moses wanted the people of Israel to make had to do with them making a commitment to follow the LORD and to obey his voice throughout their lives. Moses used the same Hebrew word to describe the choice the Israelites were being asked to make as he did to describe God’s choosing of the people, the place, and the religious practices associated with his kingdom on earth. The Hebrew word bachar (baw-kharˊ) “denotes a choice, which is based on a thorough examination of the situation and not an arbitrary whim” (H977).

The Hebrew word that is translated life in Deuteronomy 30:19 is chay (khahˊee), which means “alive” or “a living thing” (H2416). When God created man, it says in Genesis 2:7, “the LORD God formed the man out of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (chay), and the man became a living creature.” Chay is used in Genesis 3:22 to refer to a tree that Adam and Eve were prevented from eating from after they had sinned against God. Genesis 3:22-24 states:

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life (chay) and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life (chay).

The Hebrew word that is translated live in the phrase live forever, chayay (khaw-yahˊ-ee) “is used in reference to life which is a result of seeing God (Exodus 33:20; Deuteronomy 5:24[21])” (H2425). Chayay is used in Numbers 21:9 to refer to the result of the Israelites looking at the bronze serpent that Moses was instructed by God to lift up on a pole. It says, “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 (chayay). Jesus referred to this event during a conversation he had with a man named Nicodemus about how to be born again. Jesus said, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 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 3:13-15).

Jesus compared the act of being born again to looking at the bronze serpent because choosing life involves an act of faith. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:15), and then, went on to speak the famous words of John 3:16-17. “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 contrasted eternal life with perishing, “which is spoken of eternal death, i.e. future punishment, exclusion from the Messiah’s kingdom. In this sense it has the same meaning as apothnesko (599), to die (Matthew 10:28; Mark 1:24; Luke 4:54; 9:56). This eternal death is called the second death (Revelation 20:14)” (G622). Jesus made it clear to Nicodemus that the only way he could obtain eternal life was by believing in him, so really, choosing life is about choosing to follow Jesus. Jesus told his followers:

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:4-7)

When Jesus said you are of more value than many sparrows, he was talking about the immaterial part of man upon which the word of God is operative, the part of man that is referred to as the soul (G5590). Paul explained in his letter to the Ephesians that the actual spiritual condition of unsaved people is dead. Paul said, “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…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” (Ephesians 2:1-5).

Jesus encouraged his followers to confess their faith in him publicly and said he would defend them before God’s angels if they did so (Luke 12:8-9), but then Jesus warned them about blaspheming against the Holy Spirit (12:10-12). Paul explained in his letter to the Ephesians that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our eternal inheritance. Paul said of Jesus, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:11-14). The Holy Spirit is given to us when we are born again as a pledge of what we will receive when we get to heaven. The idea is that there is more to come, what we experience now as a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit is only a portion of what we will experience when we enter into God’s presence.

Jesus used a series of parables to illustrate his point that choosing life is not a single event, but a daily habit. Jesus told the crowd that was listening him, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). The Greek word that Jesus used that is translated life, zoe (dzo-ayˊ) is comparable to the word psuche (psoo-khayˊ) “which is the rational and immortal soul” (G5590). Zoe represents “physical life and existence as opposed to death and nonexistence…In the sense of existence, life, in an absolute sense and without end…In the Christian sense of eternal life, i.e., that life of bliss and glory in the kingdom of God which awaits the true disciples of Christ after the resurrection” (G2222). In his parable of the rich fool, Jesus emphasized the futility of acquiring an abundance of possessions in order to improve the quality of one’s life or zoe. Jesus said:

“The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21)

The rich man thought he could use his possessions to extend his life, but ultimately his soul (psuche) was under God’s sovereign control and determined whether or not his existence would continue.

Jesus told his disciples that they should not be anxious about their life because their life consisted of more than food and clothing (Luke 12:22-23). Jesus asked, “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?” (Luke 12:25-26). The Greek word that is translated anxious, merimnao (mer-im-nahˊ-o) means to be anxious about through the idea of distraction (G3309). Merimnao is translated take thought in the King James Version of the Bible and has the connotation of being preoccupied, continually thinking about something. Jesus didn’t want his disciples to be thinking about where their next meal was going to come from or how they would be able to keep their clothes from wearing out. Jesus said, “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!” (Luke 12:28). Jesus went on to admonish his disciples, instructing them to, “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:33-34). Jesus reversed the order or what we would normally think is the way that life progresses. Instead of saying that desire leads to fulfillment, Jesus said that fulfillment leads to desire.

Jesus went on to encourage his disciples to have a heavenly mindset. The distractions that keep us focused on acquiring material possessions have to be blocked out in order for us to set our minds on things that are associated with eternal life. With regard to his imminent return, 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. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:35-40)

Jesus used the illustration of a thief breaking into a house to convey the idea of unwanted thoughts preoccupying our minds. Paul said in his letter to the Colossians, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life (zoe) is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life (zoe) appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4). The Greek word that is translated set your mind on, phroneo (fron-ehˊ-o) means “to exercise the mind, i.e. entertain or have a sentiment or opinion; by implication to be (mentally) disposed (more or less earnestly in a certain direction); intensive to interest oneself in (with concern or obedience)” (G5426). According to Paul, choosing life means that we are always thinking about Christ’s return. We are looking forward to the day when we will be with Jesus, rather than continually being preoccupied with the cares and concerns of this world.

Prayer

It might be easy to think that prayer is a quick way for us to get God to do what we want him to. When a fig tree withered at once after Jesus cursed it, Jesus’ disciples wanted to know, “’How did the fig tree wither at once?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea,” it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive if you have faith’” (Matthew 21:21-22). A potential explanation for Jesus cursing the fig tree may be found in the parable of the barren fig tree which is recorded in Luke’s gospel. Jesus said, “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. ‘Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground.’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ It seems that the incident was a parable of judgment, with the fig tree representing Israel (note on Mark 11:14, KJSB). If that is the case, Jesus’ lesson about prayer would appear to be about believers acting in accordance with God’s will rather than us getting God to do what we want him to. The vinedresser in Jesus’ parable didn’t want to give up on the fig tree, but we know from the parable of the tenants (Matthew 21:33-46) that no fruit was ever produced by Israel, and like the wicked tenants, they killed their master’s son so that they could have his inheritance (Matthew 21:38; Matthew 26:3-4).

Jesus said, “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:32-35). Jesus said these words in the middle of his Olivet Discourse, which was primarily focused on his second coming and the final judgment of all the nations. The dire need for prayer during this time period and the challenge of exercising one’s faith could be why Jesus used the remarkable example of causing the fig tree to wither at once in order to get his disciples’ attention before speaking to them about this topic. Jesus went on to warn his disciples about being ready (Matthew 24:36-51) and watching for his second coming (Matthew 25:1-13) and then, told them the parable of the talents to illustrate the system of rewards that will be used to compensate God’s servants for their faithful service (Matthew 25:14-30) before concluding his sermon with a description of the final judgment (Matthew 25:31-46).

Matthew’s gospel associates Jesus’ most notable and comprehensive teaching on prayer with his Sermon on the Mount. According to Matthew, Jesus stated, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly (Matthew 6:5-6). Jesus likened God answering a believer’s prayer to receiving a reward. The Greek word that is translated reward, misthos (mis-thosˊ) means pay for service, in the sense of a reward that will be received in the afterlife (G3408). From that standpoint, prayer can be thought of as a type of work, spiritual work that one is compensated for when you get to heaven. Jesus talked about receiving pay for service in his parable of the laborers in the vineyard. Jesus said:

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.” (Matthew 20:1-16)

The thing to note about Jesus’ illustration is that everyone received the same wage regardless of the amount of work that was accomplished. Jesus described the master of the house as a generous man who was continually looking for people to hire and one who promptly paid his workers at the end of the day. The interesting thing about the dispersing of the wages was that the master instructed his foreman to begin with the last person hired and end with the first. Jesus concluded his illustration with the statement, “So the last will be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16). Jesus seemed to be discouraging his followers from working longer and harder than they might otherwise have, but it seems unlikely that was what he was intending to convey.

The Greek word that is translated last in Matthew 20:16 is eschatos (esˊ-khat-os). Eschatos is a superlative of the Greek word echo (ekhˊ-o). Echo is used “generally and most frequently, to have, to possess externally, to have in one’s possession, power, charge, control: for example property (Matthew 13:12; 19:21, 22; Mark 10:22, 23; Luke 18:24; 21:4). In figurative phrases: to have years means to be so many years old (John 8:57); to have a certain distance means to be a certain distance away (Acts 1:12). Spoken of what is said to have in, on, by, or with himself, i.e. of any condition, circumstances, or state either external or internal in which one is” (G2192). In this context, Jesus’ reference to the last could be interpreted to mean the worst or the farthest away from the kingdom of heaven. The Greek word that is translated first in Matthew 20:16 is protos (proˊtos). Protos is a superlative of the primary preposition pro, which refers to “’fore,’ i.e. in front of, prior (figurative, superior) to” (G4253). In this context, Jesus’ reference to the first could be interpreted to mean the best or the closest to the kingdom of heaven. So, when we think about prayer and the rewards that one will receive for doing it, you could say that those who are the least qualified to do it, will comparatively, receive the best compensation for their work; or that those who pray the most should not expect to get any more than what Jesus has promised them in the Bible.

Jesus’ twelve apostles understood the importance of prayer and according to Luke’s gospel, asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1). Jesus said to them:

“When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
    for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:2-13)

Luke’s abbreviated version of The Lord’s Prayer was likely a paraphrase of what was expressed in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13). The key points were showing reverence for God and seeking to be aligned with his kingdom, God’s daily provision, forgiveness of sins, and our avoidance of temptation. In his follow-on comments, Jesus emphasized God’s willingness to respond to our requests, but closed with the question, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11:12) as if to point out that God is not only willing to respond to our requests, but will give us exactly what we ask for. But then, Jesus concluded, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). Jesus’ statement implied that the Holy Spirit was the good gift that we would be asking God for. Unfortunately, I’ve never heard anyone ask God for the Holy Spirit when they were praying. I think the thing that believers misunderstand about the Holy Spirit is that he has the power to do all the things that we would like God to do for us, but the only way that the Holy Spirit can do them is in and through us.

The secrets of the kingdom of God

Jesus often taught the crowds that followed him using parables. A parable is a similitude, a comparison between two things, “i.e. a short story under which something else is figured or in which the fictitious is used to represent and illustrate the real” (G3850). When his disciples asked him what one of his parables meant, Jesus told them, “To you has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’” (Luke 8:10). Rather than helping his listeners to understand what he was saying, Jesus used parables to obscure the meaning of his lessons. The Greek word that is translated secrets in Luke 8:10, musterion (moos-tayˊ-ree-on) means “A mystery, i.e. something into which one must be initiated or instructed before it can be known; something of itself not obvious and above human insight” (G3466). Jesus told his disciples that it had been given to them “to know the secrets of the kingdom of God” (Luke 8:10). The type of knowing that Jesus was referring to “frequently indicates a relation between the person ‘knowing’ and the object known, in this respect, what is ‘known’ is of value or importance to the one who knows, and hence the establishment of the relationship…such ‘knowledge’ is obtained not by mere intellectual activity, but by operation of the Holy Spirit consequent upon acceptance of Christ” (G1097).

Jesus used the illustration of a lamp lighting a room to describe the effect of the Holy Spirit upon the mind of a believer. Jesus said, “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away” (Luke 8:16-18). Jesus indicated that a person’s beliefs are exposed by the spiritual light that the Holy Spirit provides. Even if we try to keep our beliefs a secret, they will eventually be manifested in the things we say and do. Jesus referred to this as bearing fruit and warned his followers, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-20).

One way of looking at the secrets of the kingdom of God is to see these secrets as spiritual truths that are necessary to comprehend God’s plan of salvation. If you know the secrets, you can fill in the blanks of God’s recorded message to humanity, the Bible. Matthew’s gospel goes farther in explaining this idea than what we find in Luke’s account. Matthew 13:10-17 states:

Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
    and with their ears they can barely hear,
    and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
    and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
    and turn, and I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Jesus attributed people’s inability to discern spiritual truth to a heart that has grown dull. In the context of the Holy Spirit being the light that illumines our minds and reveals spiritual truth, a heart that has grown dull is one that has turned the dimmer switch down so to speak so that the light is no longer sufficient to see things clearly. The Greek word that is translated dull, pachuno (pakh-ooˊ-no) is a derivative of the word pegnumi (paygˊ-noo-mee), which means “to fix (‘peg’), i.e. (special) to set up (a tent)” (G4078). The comparison of a dull heart to setting up a tent could have to do with the way our minds can get fixated or stuck on a single aspect of something that we are trying to understand and we are not be able to see beyond it.

John’s gospel often refers to Jesus using symbolic terms. John began by identifying Jesus as the Word that was with God when everything got started (John 1:1). John continued, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:6-13). John referred to Jesus as the true light, which gives light to everyone (John 1:9). The Greek word John used that is translated gives light, photizo (fo-tidˊ-zo) means “figuratively, to enlighten, shine light upon, to impart moral and spiritual light (John 1:9; Ephesians 1:18; Hebrews 6:4; 10:32); to illuminate, make one see or understand (Ephesians 3:9); to bring to light, make known (1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Timothy 1:10). The reason why John linked together the two concepts of Jesus’ identity, Word and light is because they are essentially the same thing. The Word is the spiritual light that makes it possible for us to see or understand spiritual truths that are otherwise hidden in the scriptures.

Jesus explained that even though the light is available to everyone, some people do not want to understand the spiritual truths of the Bible because it will make them aware of their sin. Jesus said, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:19-21). If you think of the secrets of the kingdom of God as unrevealed spiritual truths, then it makes sense that people could not perceive these truths until the necessary means of doing so was provided. Jesus said that people will be judged because the necessary means has been provided by him coming into the world. The illumination that results from Jesus coming into an individual’s life indicates whether or not that person actually wants to know the truth about himself.

Justification by faith

God’s plan of salvation was formulated before there was a need for anyone to be saved. Ephesians 1:4 tells us that God selected those who would be adopted into his family “before the foundation of the world.” Abraham was the first person that was called into a relationship with God. It says in Genesis 15:6 that Abraham “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” To believe someone or to believe in someone means that you have “belief, in the sense of receiving something as true and sure” (H539). Another word for believing is faith. You might refer to someone who believes as a person who has faith. Abraham had faith in God. As a result of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. That meant that Abraham was considered to be right with God. Romans 3:28 tells us that we are “justified by faith.” Justification means that we are absolved from the consequences of sin and admitted into the enjoyment of God’s divine favor. It is “spoken of character: to declare to be just as one should be, to pronounce right” (G1344). Paul explained Abraham’s justification by faith in his letter to the Romans. Romans 4:1-12 states:

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes inhim who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
    and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Paul indicated that a person who is justified by faith will not have his sin counted against him, his lawless deeds are forgiven (Romans 4:7-8). The topic of justification becomes more complicated when you dive deeper into Paul’s explanation of justification by faith. Paul said that God counts righteousness apart from works (Romans 4:6). Paul was talking about works in the context of keeping God’s commandments. Paul explained in Romans 3:21-26 that our ability to do the right thing (works) is dependent upon God giving us the grace to do it. Paul went on to say, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2). Paul’s description of justification by faith makes it appear to be a three-step process: 1) faith, 2) grace, and 3) works, but in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul made it clear that grace proceeds faith (Ephesians 2:5).

The Greek word dikaioo (dik-ah-yoˊ-o), which is translated justification numerous times in chapters 3 – 5 of the book of Romans, has different meanings depending on which tense of the verb is used. In Romans 3:24, “being ‘justified’ is in the present continuous tense, indicating the constant process of ‘justification’ in the succession of those who believe and are ‘justified.’ In 5:1, ‘being justified’ is in the aorist, or point, tense, indicating the definite time at which each person, upon exercise of faith, was justified” (G1344). It seems that justification by faith is actually an ongoing process, but it can also be viewed as an event that takes place at a definite point in time. We see this demonstrated in Jesus’ ministry through the miracles that he performed; instantaneous changes occurred at a specific point in time; and in the lives of his disciples who were transformed over a period of years as a result of them being in fellowship with the Lord.

A unique example of justification by faith that occurred both at a definite point in time and as a result of an ongoing process is the healing of a centurion’s servant. Luke 7:3-10 states:

When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

The centurion was a Gentile who had no legal right to ask God to do him the favor of healing his servant. When the elders of the Jews came to Jesus to plead the centurion’s case, they boasted about the good things he had done, “he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue” (Luke 7:5). Jesus went with the Jewish elders back to the centurion’s home, but as they were approaching his house, they received a message from the centurion that indicated his actions were aligned with God’s word and therefore, evidence of him having faith in Jesus. Luke tells us that when Jesus heard the centurion’s testimony, “he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith’” (Luke 7:9-10).

The centurion’s understanding of God’s commandments caused him to live a righteous life and also, to treat Jesus appropriately when he wanted him to do him a favor. Jesus validated the centurion’s behavior by associating it with acts of faith. Jesus compared the centurion’s faith to others that he had encountered during his ministry in Israel and said that he had not “found such faith” (Luke 7:10). Jesus’ statement indicated there are varying levels or degrees of faith that a person can have, suggesting that over time, faith can grow or diminish. Faith is not static, a one-time deposit that we receive from God. Although we cannot become more or less saved, we can become weaker or stronger in our faith, and therefore, our faith becomes more or less evident to others.