Holy Spirit

Spiritual Communication

Paul’s in-depth discussion of love in his first letter to the Corinthians was followed by a topic that may have seemed irrelevant, but was extremely important for the Corinthian believers’ understanding of how the body of Christ achieves spiritual maturity and maintains its spiritual health over time. Paul began by encouraging the Corinthians to, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:1). The primary focus of the Old Testament prophet Joel’s warning to the people of Israel was the day of the LORD, a time that is associated with God’s judgment, but in his message, Joel identified a period of time when God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh and prophesying would be a common practice among believers. Joel stated:

“And it shall come to pass afterward,
    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    your old men shall dream dreams,
    and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”

There is a controversy over the time when this prophecy was (or will be) fulfilled. Some people believe that the ‘first stage’ of this prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:17-21), when Peter cited these verses from Joel in response to the question from the multitude, ‘What does this mean?’ (Acts 2:12). They claim Peter connected the events of that day with Joel’s prophecy about the coming ‘day of the LORD’ (v. 31). However, many of the parts of the prophecy were not fulfilled in Acts: sons and daughters did not predict; young men, as a group, did not see visions; and old men did not dream dreams (cf. Joel 2:28). Those who believe that Pentecost was the ‘first stage’ claim that Peter was saying that only the first part of Joel’s prophecy was being fulfilled. Others claim that none of this prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost. Instead it was merely used by Peter, in response to those who said the disciples were drunk (v. 13) as an example of how the work of the Holy Spirit may be marked by extraordinary phenomena. The ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy will take place at the second coming of Christ at the end of the great tribulation. The day of darkness and gloom, along with the wonders of the heavens, will follow the opening of the sixth seal (Joel 2:2, 30, 31, cf. Revelation 6:12)” (note on Joel 2:28-32).

Jesus substantiated the content of Joel’s prophecy about the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh when he said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Jesus went on to say, “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:22-23). The day that Jesus was referring to was the “Day of the Lord when Christ will return to judge the world and fully establish His kingdom” (G2250). Jesus talked about the final judgment in his Olivet Discourse. Jesus told his disciples, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:31-32). The fact that people will have to be separated one from another indicates that the two groups, identified as the sheep and the goats, have similar characteristics, but do not belong together. Jesus said, “And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left” (Matthew 25:33). Jesus explained the reason for this separation in the conclusion of his message. Jesus said:

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46)

The goats thought that they had done what was expected of them, but Jesus pointed out that they had not actually ministered to him in the way that they thought they had. The Greek word that is translated minister, diakonos (dee-akˊ-on-os) refers specifically to “a Christian teacher or pastor (technically a deacon or deaconess)” and means “an attendant, i.e. (genitive) a waiter (at table or in other menial duties)” (G1249). A word that is comparable to diakonos is dioko, a word that Paul used in 1 Corinthians 14:1, to introduced the topic of prophecy and tongues. Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers to, “Pursue (dioko) love.” Another way of saying it might be, minister love or follow Jesus’ example of love. With that in mind, the reason why the shepherd determined that the goats had not ministered to him may have been because their actions were not motivated by love, the standard that God established when he gave us his only Son so that we would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Paul contrasted prophesying with speaking in tongues in order to show the Corinthians that spiritual communication serves multiple purposes. Paul said:

For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. (1 Corinthians 14:2-3)

Paul identified three things that result from a believer prophesying: upbuilding, encouragement, and consolation. When believers prophesy, they are speaking under the divine influence of the Holy Spirit and are acting as interpreters of God’s mind and will (G4395).

Paul indicated that upbuilding could result from both prophesying and speaking in tongues, but one had an internal effect whereas the other produced an external result. Paul said, “The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but he one who prophesies builds up the church” (1 Corinthians 14:4). The Greek word that is translated builds up, oikodomeo (oy-kod-om-ehˊ-o) is used figuratively, “to build up, establish, confirm. Spoken of the Christian Church and its members who are thus compared to a building, a temple of God, erected upon the one and only foundation, Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9, 10) and ever built up progressively and unceasingly more and more from the foundation” (G3618). Paul called the process of building up the church, edification and said of Jesus in his letter to the Ephesians, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 411-16).

Paul used the word comfort to link together the concepts of encouragement and consolation in his second letter to the Corinthians. Paul wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). Paul said that God comforts (encourages) us in our affliction, “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:4). The way that we comfort others is by sharing scriptures with them that God has brought to our minds in times of trouble or distress so that it encourages them as they go through the same kind of situation.

Paul made his case against speaking in tongues as opposed to prophesying by emphasizing the importance of knowing the meaning of what is being said. Paul told the Corinthians:

So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will speak into the air. There are doubtless many different languages in the world and none without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. (1 Corinthians 14:9-11)

The Greek word that is translated meaning in this passage is dunamis (dooˊ-nam-is), which means “force (literal or figurative); specially miraculous power (usually by implication, a miracle itself” and is “Spoken of the essential power, true nature or reality of something (Philippians 3:10; 2 Timothy 3:5). As opposed to logos (G3056), speech merely (1 Corinthians 4:19, 20; 1 Thessalonians 1:5). Metaphorically of language: the power of a word, i.e. meaning, significance (1 Corinthians 14:11).

Paul went on to explain that the mind plays an important role in the fruitfulness of our spiritual communication. Paul said, “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:14). The Greek word that Paul used that is translated unfruitful, akarpos (akˊ-ar-pos) appears in Jesus’ explanation of the parable of the sower. Jesus told his disciples, “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22). It seems that the effectiveness of spiritual communication is linked to the believer’s mind being able to keep God’s word from being crowded out by thoughts that contradict it. Paul used the example of an unbeliever being convicted of his sins to convey his point that the clarity and simplicity of God’s word are powerful enough to bring a sinner to repentance. Paul said, “If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you” (1 Corinthians 14:23-25).

Love

The Apostle John wrote in his first letter, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:15-16). John stated that God is love, meaning that God is “the author and source of love, who Himself is love” (G26). There are multiple words in the Bible that are translated into the English word love. The kind of love that John was talking about when he said that God is love is “spoken especially of goodwill toward others, the love of our neighbor, brotherly affection, which the Lord Jesus commands and inspires (John 15:13, 17:26; Romans 13:10; 1 Corinthians 13:1; 2 Corinthians 2:4, 8: 2 Thessalonians 1:3; Hebrews 6:10; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 4:7). Paul indicated that agape (ag-ahˊ-pay) love was a more excellent way (1 Corinthians 12:31). The Greek word that is translated way, hodos (hod-osˊ) means “a road.” Paul used the word hodos to express the idea of getting somewhere, reaching a destination. Paul had been talking about spiritual gifts and being a member of the body of Christ, and wanted his readers to understand that love was the ultimate goal with regard to achieving spiritual success as a member of the body of Christ.

Paul started his discussion of love by making it clear that none of the spiritual gifts that a person might receive from God would be beneficial to him or the body of Christ without love being present in is life. Paul said:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Paul emphasized the point that nothing could be gained by making extreme sacrifices unless love was the motivation behind it. John tells us in his gospel account, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Paul identified love as a fruit of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians (Galatians 5:22-23). Jesus often used the concept of fruit in his teaching (Matthew 13:8, 26; 21:34, 43; Mark 4:29; 11:14; Luke 13:6; John 4:36). John the Baptist told the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to him to be baptized, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the foot of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:7-10). John associated bearing fruit with repentance. The Greek word metanoia (met-anˊ-oy-ah) means “A change of mind” and in a religious sense, implies “pious sorrow for unbelief and sin and a turning from them unto God and the gospel of Christ” (G3341). John indicated that bearing good fruit was a requirement for spiritual survival, stating that, “Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10).

Jesus said of a tree and its fruit, “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 thorn bushes, or figs from 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). Jesus said that a healthy tree bears good fruit and a diseased tree bears bad fruit. The terms healthy and diseased have to do with the spiritual condition of a person’s heart. Jesus said “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person” (Matthew 15:19-20). Jesus clarified this point even further when he told the Pharisees, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37).

Jesus indicated that the evidence, or fruit if you will, of the spiritual condition of a person’s heart is the words that come out of his mouth. The Greek word logos (logˊ-os) appears two times in Matthew 12:33-37. Logos is translated as both words and give account. Logos means “something said (including the thought); (by implication) a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty or motive; by extension a computation; specifically (with the article in John) the Divine Expression” (G3056). John used the word logos three times in the opening statement of his gospel. John said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). It could be that the words that will justify or condemn us are directly related to the Word, Jesus Christ. Paul interjected into his discussion about spiritual gifts the statement, “You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus is accursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:2-3). According to Paul, the Holy Spirit controls the believer’s speech and will align it with his faith in the Lord. Thus, confirming or denying that a relationship with the Lord exists.

The Greek word hodos, which is translated way in 1 Corinthians 12:31, was used by Jesus in his discussion about the golden rule. Jesus said:

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:12-14)

These statements were followed by Jesus’ comment about a tree and its fruit, so it seems safe to assume that the way had something to do with the result that was produced by spiritual activity. When hodos is used metaphorically, it refers to “a course of conduct” or “a way of thinking” (G3598).

Paul told the Corinthians that he was going to show them “a still more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31) and then, started talking about love (1 Corinthians 13). Paul was most likely referring to the Corinthian believers’ lifestyle and may have been concerned about their behavior not being consistent with a follower of Christ. Paul described love for them so that the Corinthian believers would know exactly what he was talking about. Paul said:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Paul’s description of love made it obvious that love was not the norm for human behavior. In fact, it seems likely that love was the opposite of what Paul was seeing in the Corinthians’ behavior. Paul set the bar high when he said that love was “a still more excellent way,” but his description made it seem like love was an impossible thing for anyone to achieve.

Paul went on to explain that love is an eternal quality that is evidence that believers have been born again and are in the process of becoming like Christ. Love is an indicator of spiritual maturity and cannot be attained apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s heart. Paul stated:

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:8-13)

Paul indicated that faith, hope, and love will abide, meaning that these qualities are permanent and will still be evident in us after we are resurrected. Paul’s statement, “Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:13) seems to suggest that faith, hope, and love have to do with us being able to know God and others that we have eternal relationships with. The Greek word that Paul used to indicate knowing someone fully and being fully known was epiginosko (ep-ig-in-oceˊ-ko). Epiginosko means that you know someone well enough to recognize them, you are fully acquainted with the person (G1921). This type of recognition is not based on physical characteristics, but an internal understanding of the person that gives you the confidence to boldly approach him, as believers are instructed to do with Jesus, our great high priest in Hebrews 4:16.

Paul’s statement, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13) makes it seem as if Paul wanted believers to realize the extreme importance or value of love being evident in their lives. It’s possible that the list: faith, hope, and love; was meant to show the progressive ordering of how the Holy Spirit develops these three qualities in believers. The Holy Spirit starts by developing our faith, then he develops a hope for something more in our relationship with God. Finally, the Holy Spirit produces love, the actualization of our intimacy with God. Another way of looking at faith, hope, and love is that each of these qualities has a varying ability to help us know God and others. If love is the greatest of the three, then that would mean love is the best way we have of knowing God and others intimately. This makes sense from the standpoint that love usually involves personal contact with another person. Paul said, “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face” (1 Corinthian 13:12), indicating that there was a change in the quality of the contact. Paul talked about this in his letter to the Romans. Paul wrote:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

Paul said that we gain access to God by faith, but hope is what draws us closer to him as we go through the process of spiritual maturation. When our hope reaches a point of coming to fruition, Paul indicated, God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The phrase poured into suggests that love is an all or nothing type of quality (G1632). It doesn’t increase over time, as seems to be the case with hope. It’s possible that Paul viewed love as the greatest of the three qualities, faith, hope, and love because its production capability is limitless, since we receive the full measure of its potential all at once. The presence of love is an indicator that we have reached spiritual maturity, we are adults in God’s eyes (1 Corinthians 13:11).

The body of Christ

Jesus first hinted at the special qualities of his body when the Jews asked him to show them a sign as evidence of his divine power. Jesus responded to the Jews’ request by stating, “’Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty six years to build this temple, and will you raise it in three days?’ But he was speaking about the temple of his body” (John 2:19-21). Paul elaborated on the connection between the temple and Jesus’ body in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul talked about the difference between people of the flesh and spiritual people (1 Corinthians 3:1-4) and then, referred to believers as “God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9). Paul asked the Corinthian believers, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16) and went on to say, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ‘The two shall become one flesh.’ But he who is joined in the Lord becomes one spirit with him” (1 Corinthians 6:15-17). Paul used the Greek word kollao (kol-lahˊ-o), which is translated joined, to describe the spiritual union that takes place when a believer is born again. Paul compared this union to sexual intercourse between a man and woman, but indicated that rather than becoming one flesh, the believer becomes one spirit with Christ.

The Greek word kollao means “to join fast together” and refers to a personal attachment that is similar to glue or cement (G2853). In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul compared the relationship between a husband and wife to that of Christ and the church. Paul said:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

…In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:22-32)

The Greek word that is translated hold fast, proskollao (pros-kol-layˊ-o) is a combination of the words pros and kollao. Pros indicates movement toward something or someone “with the dative by the side of, i.e. near to” (G4314), whereas kollao on its own suggests that a physical connection already exists.

Paul indicated that the church, all who are born again, are members of the body of Christ and referred to this doctrinal truth as a profound mystery. What Paul meant by a profound mystery was that being a member of the body of Christ or being able to comprehend what it means to be a member of the body of Christ is too big of an idea for us to comprehend, it is above human insight. Jesus first introduced this idea through his institution of the Lord’s Supper. Matthew’s gospel tells us:

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:26-29)

The Greek word that is translated body in Matthew 26:26 is soma (soˊ-mah), “A noun meaning body, an organized whole made up of parts and members.” It is “spoken of a human body, different from sarx (G4561), flesh, which word denotes the material of the body” (G4983). One way of interpreting Jesus’ statement, “Take, eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26) might be let my parts and members become a part of you.

Paul prefaced his discussion of the body of Christ in his letter to the Corinthians with an overview of spiritual gifts. Paul likely connected these two topics because of the dependency of one upon the other. Paul began by stating, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed” (1 Corinthians 12:1). Paul didn’t want the Corinthian believers to ignore the fact that spiritual gifts were linked to the activities of the body of Christ. Paul said:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

Paul indicated that gifts were a manifestation or expression of the Holy Spirit and were intended for the common good of the body of Christ. The Greek word sumphero (soom-ferˊ-o), which is translated common good, literally means “to bring together” (G4851); the idea being that the common good is an incentive for membership in the body of Christ. Paul told the Corinthians:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

Paul said that we are baptized into one body and made to drink of one Spirit, suggesting that a connection exists between participation in the Lord’s Supper and membership in the body of Christ.

The Greek word that is translated baptized in 1 Corinthians 12:13, baptizo (bap-tidˊ-zo) means “to wash, to cleanse by washing” (G907). John recorded in his gospel that during the Lord’s Supper, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him” (John 13:3-5). Jesus told Simon Peter, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand” (John 13:7). Jesus used two different Greek words that are both translated understand. In reference to not understanding now, Jesus used the word eido (iˊ-do) which has to do with perception (G1492). Whereas, the Greek word ginosko (ghin-oceˊ-ko) has to do with knowing “in a completed sense, that is, to have the knowledge of” (G1097). When Peter responded to Jesus, “’You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’” (John 13:8). “By this statement, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me,’ it seems that the Lord was referring to the necessity of regular spiritual cleansing to remain in fellowship with him. Jesus did not say, ‘you have no share in me (en [1722] emoi), which would indicate Peter lacked salvation, but ‘you have no share with me’ (met’ [3326] emou), meaning Peter would have no communion and fellowship with him. Christians need constant cleansing and renewal if they are to remain in fellowship with God” (note on John 13:8).

Paul elaborated on Jesus’ comment about Peter not having a share with him in his explanation of how the body of Christ functions in a way that is similar to the human body. Paul said:

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:18-27, NLT)

Paul’s statement, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it,” was intended to emphasize the fact that both unity and individuality are necessary for the body of Christ to function properly. One of the keys to understanding how this works can be found in 1 Corinthians 12:24, which contains the statement, “God has so composed the body.” The Greek word that is translated composed, sugkerannumi (soong-ker-anˊ-noo-mee) means “to commingle, i.e. (figurative) to combine or assimilate” (G4786). Assimilation has to do with taking in information, ideas, or culture and understanding them fully. In reference to the body or any biological system, assimilation means to “absorb and digest (food or nutrients)” (Oxford Languages). Therefore, Jesus’ instruction during the Lords’ Supper to, “Take, eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26), had the connotation of becoming assimilated into the body of Christ.

Paul talked about unity in the body of Christ in the context of spiritual gifts and maturing as a believer in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul said of Christ:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16)

Paul noted that the goal of Jesus’ ongoing ministry was building up the body of Christ, and also indicated that when each part was working properly, it made the body grow so that it built itself up in love. Working properly means that each part is active and is doing what it’s designed to do; the body of Christ is efficiently using its resources. In order for that to happen, there can’t be any division or gap in the body’s members. Paul admonished the Corinthians about this early in his letter. Paul stated, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). The Greek word that Paul used that is translated united is translated perfectly joined together in the King James Version of the Bible. Katartizo (kat-ar-tidˊ-zo) means “to be suitable, such as one should be, deficient in no part” and implies that an adjustment has to be made in order to fit everything together so that it is finished, complete (G2675).

Paul indicated that the parts of the body are joined and held together by Christ, who is the head of the body (Ephesians 4:16). The head describes Christ as being the one to whom others are subordinate. In the context of a building, Jesus was described as being the cornerstone. In relation to architecture, a cornerstone is traditionally the first stone laid for a structure, with all other stones laid in reference. A cornerstone marks the geographical location by orienting a building in a specific direction. It is the rock upon which the weight of the entire structure rests. Jesus referred to himself as the cornerstone after telling his followers The Parable of the Tenants (Matthew 21:33-40). Jesus stated:

But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

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

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

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

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. (Matthew 21:38-45)

Jesus spoke of the cornerstone in a way that was counter intuitive to its intended purpose. Jesus indicated that a person could fall on the cornerstone and said, “When it falls on anyone, it will crush him” (Matthew 21:44). What I believe Jesus meant by this statement with regard to his method of joining and holding together the body of Christ was that those who interfere with or perhaps imitate the building up of the body will be destroyed in the process, as opposed to those who are working properly being strengthened by his support.

Sexual immorality

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Paul told the Corinthian believers:

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

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

Spiritual Work

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spiritual Communication

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Being saved

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
    and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Romans 4:4-8)

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

A refuge for the soul

The Bible tells us that “God created man in his own image” (Genesis 1:27). The exact similarities and differences between God and man are not known, except for what has been revealed to us through the life of Jesus Christ who possessed the divine nature of God (2 Peter 1:4) and yet, was like man in every respect (Hebrews 2:17). One of the characteristics of God that is shown to us in the Bible is that he is a trinity. God exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus indicated that he and his Father are one (John 17:11) and also referred to the Holy Spirit as “the Helper…who proceeds from the Father” (John 15:26). Unity or oneness is discussed in the book of Ephesians in the context of the body of Christ. Paul said that the body of Christ is being built up “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). In this verse, the fullness of Christ is referring to “God, in the completeness of His Being” (G4138). Genesis 2:7 tells us that “God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature.” The material part of man that God formed from the dust of the ground is referred to in Hebrew as chay (khahˊ-ee). The immaterial part of man is known as nephesh (nehˊ-fesh). “Nephesh means soul; self, life, person, heart. The basic meaning comes from its verbal form, naphash (5314), which refers to the essence of life, the act of breathing, taking breath (Genesis 2:7)…The Hebrew system of thought does not include the opposition of the terms ‘body’ and ‘soul,’ which are really Greek and Latin in origin. The Hebrew compares/contrasts ‘the inner self’ and ‘the outer appearance’ or, as viewed in a different context, ‘what one is to oneself’ as opposed to ‘what one appears to be to one’s observers.’ The goal of the Scriptures is to make the inner and the outer consistent…The soul of man, that immaterial part, which moves into the after life [the body is buried and decomposes] needs atonement to enter into God’s presence upon death” (H5315).

Man is referred to as a living (chay) creature (nephesh) in Genesis 2:7. After the fall, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, death entered into the world. The Hebrew word that is translated die in Genesis 2:17, muwth (mooth) means “to lose one’s life” (H4191). “When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, both spiritual and physical death came upon Adam and Eve and their descendants (cf. Romans 5:12). They experienced spiritual death immediately, resulting in their shame and their attempt to cover their nakedness (Genesis 3:7).” The spiritual death that Adam and Eve experienced had to do with the breath of life or divine inspiration (H5397), what is referred to in the New Testament as zoe (dzo-ayˊ). “Zoe means life in the absolute sense, life as God has it, which the Father has in Himself, and which He gave to the Incarnate Son to have in Himself (John 5:26), and which the Son manifested in the world (1 John 1:2). From this life man has become alienated in consequence of the Fall (Ephesians 4:18), and of this life men become partakers through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:15), who becomes its Author to all such as trust in Him (Acts 3:15), and who is therefore said to be ‘the life’ of the believer (Colossians 3:4), because the life that He gives He maintains (John 6:35, 63). Eternal life is the present actual possession of the believer because of his relationship with Christ (John 5:24; 1 John 3:14), and that it will one day extend its domain to the sphere of the body is assured by the resurrection of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:4; 2 Timothy 1:10)” (G2222).

Romans 5:18-19 says of Christ’s death on the cross, “Therefore, as one trespass led to the condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life (zoe) for all men. For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Justification means “to declare to be just as one should be” (G1344) and is associated with the restoration of man’s divine image. In his letter to Titus, the Apostle Paul described justification as a two-part process. Paul said, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (zoe)” (Titus 3:4-7). Regeneration and renewal result in eternal life or zoe, life in the absolute sense (G2222). Paul indicated that renewal is dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul referred to this renewal as being “renewed in the spirit of your minds” and said that we must “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:23-24). The spirit is distinct from the body and soul (G4151) and is the part of man that gives him the ability to communicate with God (G5590). The unity that exists between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is extended to mankind through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers. Jesus prayed, “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 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 17:21-23).

Psalm 22 is an example of the oneness that Jesus prayed he would have with believers. “This is one of the psalms referred to as Messianic (other examples of Messianic portions would include Psalm 34:20; 40:6-8; 41:9; 45:6, 7; 69:21; 72:8; and 118:22). Psalms are classified as Messianic based on one or more of the three following criteria. First, consider the testimony of the writers of the Old Testament. When other books, in the context of discussing the Messiah, contain quotes or wording very similar to the lines from the psalms (e.g., Psalm 72:8, cf. Zechariah 9:10), it is a clear indication that a psalm is Messianic. Secondly, there are the citations from psalms that Christ applied to himself (e.g., Psalm 41:9, cf. John 13:18) or that New Testament writers identified as depicting Christ (e.g., Psalm 118:22, cf. Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7). Finally, there are statements in the psalms that, while never specifically identified as such in the Scriptures, clearly pertain to Jesus Christ (e.g., Psalm 22:1, cf. Matthew 27:46). It should be noted that within the ‘Messianic’ portions of individual psalms, some passages refer exclusively to Christ while others seem to also address a situation faced by the human writer” (note on Psalm 22:1-31). Psalm 22 begins with the question, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1). Jesus spoke these words while he was dying on the cross (Matthew 27:46). Following this statement, David went on to say, “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame” (Psalm 22:3-5). The comparison between David’s personal experience and that of Jesus Christ on the cross highlights the identification that David had with his Savior. The mind of Christ was operating within David, enabling him to see his situation from Jesus’ perspective. Likewise, Jesus understood David’s suffering and associated himself with it in his atonement for the sins of the world.

David continued his side by side comparison of his and his Savior’s suffering in the following verses of Psalm 22. David wrote:

For dogs encompass me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
    O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dog!
    Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! (Psalm 22:16-21)

The detail of David’s account of Christ’s crucifixion makes it seem as if he was there when it happened. David wrote Psalm 22 hundreds of years before Jesus was born, but the accuracy of his description is verified by the writers of all four gospels (Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:33; 24:40; John 19:23, 37; 20:25).

Psalm 7 provides some insight into the anguish that David was experiencing during the time when he was being hunted by Saul’s army. The title of this psalm is “A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.” The source of David’s pain was the words that were being used to undermine his confidence; the insults and threats that were intended to break him down spiritually. David began his song with these verses:

O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
    save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
    rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

O Lord my God, if I have done this,
    if there is wrong in my hands,
if I have repaid my friend with evil
    or plundered my enemy without cause,
let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
    and let him trample my life to the ground
    and lay my glory in the dust. Selah (Psalm 7:1-5)

The visual image that David created with his statement, “save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver” (Psalm 7:1-2), was that of a violent attack, a life threatening situation that he was helpless to escape. We know that David wasn’t concerned about a physical attack because his enemy’s target was his soul, the immaterial part of David, the inner man or from a Hebrew perspective, what David was to himself (H5315), his identity.

After he spared Saul’s life in the wilderness of Engedi, David called out to his pursuer and asked, “After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do your pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea! May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand” (1 Samuel 24:14-15). The Hebrew phrase that is translated plead my cause has to do with conducting a lawsuit, a legal contest between two adversaries (H7378/7379). David wanted the LORD to be the judge between him and Saul and to give the appropriate sentence, but he also said that the LORD would “see to it and plead my cause” (1 Samuel 24:15). In other words, David expected the LORD to come to his defense and to argue his case for him. John wrote in his first letter, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). The Greek word that is translated advocate, parakletos (par-akˊ-lay-tos) means “an intercessor…one who pleads the cause of anyone before a judge (1 John 2:1)” (G3875). John identified our advocate as Jesus Christ the righteous, but in his gospel, John used the word parakletos four times to refer to the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). Jesus told his disciples, “These things I have spoken to you while I am with you. But the Helper (parakletos), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would teach his disciples and bring to their remembrance the things that he had said to them. Teaching and remembrance have to do with putting thoughts in our minds (G5279). The Holy Spirit’s purpose is to develop the mind of Christ in us so that we are clear about our right standing with God. John said that Jesus “is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the world” (1 John 2:2). “Provision is made for the whole world, so that no one is, by divine predetermination, excluded from the scope of God’s mercy, the efficacy of the ‘propitiation,’ however, is made actual for those who believe” (G2434). The thing that David wanted the LORD to judge between him and Saul was which one of them had believed and received Jesus’ propitiation for his sins.

David had another encounter with Saul in the wilderness of Ziph and refused to harm him even though God had delivered him into his hand a second time. While David was heckling Abner for not protecting the king, 1 Samuel 26:17-24 tells us:

Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” And he said, “Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord, for the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.”

David said that “the LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness” (1 Samuel 26:23). The righteousness that David was referring to was the righteousness that was counted to Abraham when he believed in the LORD (Genesis 15:6). The Hebrew word ʾemunah (em-oo-nawˊ), which is translated faithfulness, refers to “a fixed position” (H530) and therefore, could be thought of as enduring faith or a permanent trust in the Lord, implying that David had made a commitment to his relationship with the LORD. David said at the beginning of Psalm 7, “O LORD God, in you do I take refuge” (Psalm 7:1). The King James Version of the Bible states it this way, “Oh LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust.” David thought of the LORD as his God, a person that he could flee to for protection (H2620).

The thing that David was concerned about in his conflict with Saul was the safety and security of his soul. David asked the LORD to save him from all his pursuers and to deliver him, “lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces with none to deliver” (Psalm 7:1-2). David used similar language in Psalm 22:13 when he said, “they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.” It seems that the point that David was trying to make was that his soul was vulnerable to verbal attacks in the same way that a lion might be able to overpower him physically. On multiple occasions, a harmful spirit came upon Saul and in 1 Samuel 18:10 it states that Saul “raved within his house while David was playing the lyre.” While under the influence of a demonic spirit, it appears that Saul verbally abused David and others. 1 Samuel 20:30 states, “Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathon, and he said to him, ‘You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness.’” David ran away from Saul to avoid these verbal attacks and may have felt like he was a coward because he didn’t stand up to Saul as he had the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17:45-47), but it is clear from the psalms that David wrote during this time that he was relying on God to save his life (Psalm 7:10; 54:4; 63:9-11).

Psalm 34, which is titled, “Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away,” concludes with the statement, “The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned” (Psalm 34:22). In this instance, nephesh is translated as life instead of soul. The Hebrew word that is translated condemned, ʾashem (aw-shameˊ) “is most often used to describe the product of sin—that is, guilt before God” (H816). Redemption is a refuge for the soul in that it provides a way for the soul to be released from the debt it owes God as a result of its guilt before him (H6299). After Peter asked Jesus the question, “how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (Matthew 18:21), Jesus used the parable of the unforgiving servant to show Peter that our souls need redemption because the debt of sin is too much for us to be able to pay it ourselves. Matthew 18:22-35 states:

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

The point that Jesus made at the end of the parable of the unforgiving servant was that God releasing our debt of sin is expected to produce godlike behavior in those of us who have received it because justification is supposed to make us act right (Romans 5:19). The ability to forgive others is evidence that our souls have been redeemed by God and that we have become one with Christ as was demonstrated by David letting Saul go free when he had the opportunity to kill him (1 Samuel 24:16-20; 26:21-23)

A man of valor

David’s unbroken fellowship with the Lord began on the day that he was anointed King of Israel. 1 Samuel 16:13 tells us, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward.” “The Jews recognized that the Messiah would come from David’s descendants (cf. John 7:42). One of the titles applied to Jesus during his earthly ministry was ‘Son of David’ (Matthew 9:27; 12:23; 15:22), emphasizing his heirship of all David’s royal prerogatives as well as his fulfillment of the messianic promises to David (2 Samuel 7:8-16, cf. Matthew 22:41-45; Luke 1:32, 33, 69)” (note on 1 Samuel 16:13). One of the things that linked David to Jesus, the Messiah, was his role as the shepherd of God’s people. When Samuel came to Jesse’s home looking for Israel’s future king, he didn’t find him among David’s six older brothers. 1 Samuel 16:11 states, “Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all of your sons here?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, but behold, his is keeping the sheep.’” David’s background as a shepherd gave him a unique insight into the Messiah’s viewpoint of salvation. In Psalm 23, David wrote:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
    He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

“The Lord is depicted as the Shepherd who takes care of all the needs of his sheep. David’s own care of his father’s sheep may have led him to consider how fully he could trust in the Lord, his faithful heavenly shepherd” (note on Psalm 23:1-6). David’s statement, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” may have been based on his experience of fighting the giant, Goliath. It says in 1 Samuel 17:2-3 that “Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.”

David’s entrance into Saul’s life and the kingdom of Israel, over which he was reigning at the time, began with a spiritual need that David was chosen to fulfill. 1 Samuel 16:14-18 states:

Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.”

“It is interesting that David is called ‘a man of valor, a man of war’ when he had not yet had a chance to prove himself in battle (1 Samuel 17:33). David had likely exhibited these qualities in his experiences as a shepherd, and they were equated with valor in war situations” (note on 1 Samuel 16:18). When David offered to fight the giant, Goliath, 1 Samuel 17:33-37 tells us:

And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

David’s claim that he had struck down both lions and bears and that he intended to defeat Goliath with the help of the LORD was a daring leap of faith considering that Goliath was described as being 9 feet tall and was wearing a protective coat of mail that weighed 125 lbs. (1 Samuel 17:4-5).

David referred to Goliath as an “uncircumcised Philistine” who had “defied the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:36). David viewed Goliath as a personal enemy of God that needed to be dealt with under the terms of God’s covenant with Israel. When the conquest of Canaan was promised to the people of Israel, God told Moses that an angel would go before the people to guard them from their enemies. God said, “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him” (Exodus 23:20-21). “Exodus 23:21 states that the angel of the Lord has the power to forgive sins, a characteristic belonging to God alone (cf. Mark 2:7; Luke 7:49) and that he has the name of God in him…There is the distinct possibility that various Old Testament references to the ‘angel of the LORD’ involved preincarnate appearances of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Things are said of the angel of the LORD that seem to go beyond the category of angels and are applicable to Christ” (note on Exodus 23:20-23). It is likely that David viewed the situation with Goliath as a challenge to Christ’s authority. The preincarnate Jesus Christ is identified in Joshua 5:15 as “the commander of the LORD’s army” (note on Joshua 5:13-15). David’s statement that Goliath had “defied the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:36) was the equivalent of saying that he had defied the armies of Jesus Christ.

The Hebrew words that are translated man of valor in 1 Samuel 16:18 are gibbowr (gib-boreˊ), which means powerful (H1368), and chayil (khahˊ-yil), which “has the basic idea of strength and influence” (H2428). Gibbowr is an intensive form of the word geber (gehˊ-ber), “A masculine noun meaning man, mighty (virile) man, warrior. It is used of man but often contains more than just a reference to gender by referring to the nature of man, usually with overtones of spiritual strength or masculinity, based on the verb gabar (1396), meaning to be mighty” (H1397). Power is a characteristic usually associated with the Holy Spirit, but it was also used to describe Jesus’s ability to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6) and to lay down his life for the benefit of others (John 10:18). Jesus told his disciples after his resurrection, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The Greek word that is translated power in this verse is dunamis (dooˊ-nam-is), which means “force (literal or figurative); specially miraculous power (usually by implication, a miracle itself)” (G1411). Dunamis is derived from the word dunamai (dooˊ-nam-ahee), which means “to be able or possible” (G1410). David’s valor can be attributed to the fact that the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him and was with him from the day that he was anointed King of Israel until his death (1 Samuel 16:13). David displayed this power when he testified to those who were listening, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:36).

David’s confrontation of the Philistine giant, Goliath, was primarily a war of words. 1 Samuel 17:40 tells us that David approached Goliath with no other weapons, but his shepherd’s pouch filled with five smooth stones, a staff, and a sling that he carried in his hands. 1 Samuel 17:38-47 states:

Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

David told Goliath that he came to him in “the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45). Essentially, what David was saying was that he was coming to Goliath in the name of Jesus. David accessed the power of God by the authority given to him through Jesus’ death on the cross, even though that event had not yet taken place. When we pray in Jesus name, we are using the same power that David did to confront the giant, Goliath.

Paul talked in his letter to the Ephesians about believers being sealed with the Holy Spirit, “who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it” (Ephesians 1:13-14). Paul went on to explain that it is by grace through faith that we receive salvation in Christ Jesus and all the spiritual blessings that go along with it. Paul said:

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:15-23)

Paul prayed that God the Father would give the Ephesians the Spirit of wisdom and of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:16). The Spirit of wisdom is another name for the Holy Spirit, the only source of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ for those who have not met him face to face. Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the Helper and said, “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:25-26).

David’s understanding of Israel’s Messiah was based on the Mosaic Law, but in the same way that the Holy Spirit brought to the disciples remembrance all the things that Jesus taught them, so the Holy Spirit brought to David’s mind the things that referred to Jesus in the law. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told his followers that he had come to fulfill the Mosaic Law and that it was the foundational teaching of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-20). It seems likely that David’s concept of the kingdom that God wanted him to establish and to rule over was the kingdom of heaven. The LORD made a covenant with David that promised to establish and maintain his dynasty on the throne of Israel and to provide Israel “forever with a godly king like David and through that dynasty to do for her what He had done through David—bring her into rest in the promised land (1 Kings 4:20-21; 5:3-4)” (Major Covenants of the Old Testament, KJSB, p. 16). 2 Samuel 7:1-16 tells us:

Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”

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

“David’s desire to build a house for the Lord sets the stage for one of the key passages in the Old Testament concerning the coming Messiah. Verses 8-16 are referred to as the Davidic covenant. The passage is both an expansion and a clarification of God’s promises to Abraham. It represents an unconditional promise to David that he would be the father of an everlasting kingdom (v. 16)” (note on 2 Samuel 7:4-16). In 2 Samuel 7:13, God referred specifically to establishing the throne of David’s son forever. “This refers initially to Solomon but was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the ‘Son of David’ (Luke 1:31-33; Acts 2:25-35) who reigns at God’s right hand (Psalm 2:7; Acts 13:33)” (note on 2 Samuel 7:13). When the angel Gabriel told Mary that she was going to give birth to Israel’s Messiah, he said, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31-33).

Jesus’ valor is displayed prominently in the book of Revelation where his future conquest of and reign over the earth is depicted. Beginning in chapter four with his throne in heaven being revealed, John shows us that Jesus’ power is linked to his creation of the world and that his crucifixion was the impetus for him being given the right to reign on the earth. John said:

And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
    and they shall reign on the earth.”

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:9-12)

John indicated that it was the Lamb who was slain that received power and might, the key components of valor. John tells us that Jesus will take possession of this power when the seventh trumpet of God’s judgment is blown (Revelation 11:15-17) and afterward, there will be war in heaven, “Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon” (Revelation 12:7). John continued, “And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of his testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:7-11).

Justified by grace

Paul tackled one of the most difficult topics for Christians to understand in the final section of his short letter to Titus: justification by grace. Paul wrote:

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)

Looking at his statement from a mathematical perspective, Paul was saying that: regeneration + renewal = justification. Regeneration or (spiritual) rebirth “is that free act of God’s mercy and power by which He removes the sinner from the kingdom of darkness and places him in the kingdom of light. In the act itself (rather than the preparation for it), the recipient is passive, just as a child has nothing to do with his own birth” (G3824). Renewal, “by contrast, is the gradual conforming of the person to the new spiritual world in which he now lives, the restoration of the divine image. In this process the person is not passive but is a fellow worker with God.” Paul indicated that the outcome of this life-long process was “being justified by his grace” (Titus 3:7). The Greek word that is translated justified, dikaioo (dik-ah-yoˊ-o) means “to render (i.e. show or regard as) just or innocent” (G1344).

Paul talked at length about justification in his letter to the Romans. He stated in Romans 2:6-13:

Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Paul’s declaration that “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance” (Romans 2:4) was intended to focus his readers attention on the mercy of God which made salvation possible for all who have sinned. Repentance “involves both a turning from sin and a turning to God” (G3341). Therefore, God’s kindness was an important factor in what causes a person to want to repent. Paul went on to explain that we are justified by grace, but the redemption that is in Christ Jesus has to be received by faith in order for God to be able to render a verdict of innocent in each individual’s case. Paul said:

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

Paul noted that there is no distinction between Jews and Greeks because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and then, stated that we are “justified by his grace as a gift” (Romans 3:24). What Paul meant by a gift was that God’s grace was given to believers without a cause (G1432). The Greek word doron (doˊ-ron) means “a present; specifically a sacrifice” (G1435).

Paul’s discussion of justification included the motive behind it: God’s love. Paul said, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:6-9). Paul reasoned that because Christ died for us while we were still sinners, his propitiation for our sins would be sufficient to save us from the wrath of God. The wrath of God is a reference to the judgment that awaits those who have not put their trust in Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation gives us a preview of God’s judgment and reveals when it will take place. The beginning of God’s judgment is recorded in Revelation 6:1-17. Verses 12-17 state, “When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars in the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by the gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and powerful, and everyone slave and free, hid themselves in the caves among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Paul made it clear that God did not save us “because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy” (Titus 3:5). Mercy “is the free gift for the forgiveness of sins and is related to the misery that sin brings. God’s tender sense of our misery displays itself in His efforts to lessen and entirely remove it—efforts that are hindered and defeated only by man’s continued perverseness. Grace removes guilt, mercy removes misery” (G1656). Paul’s statement that we are “justified by his grace” (Titus 3:7) tells us that grace is necessary for justification to occur. The Greek word that is translated grace in Titus 3:7, charis (kharˊ-ece) refers specifically to “the divine influence upon the heart” (G5485). In the Hebrew language, “The heart includes not only the motives, feelings, affections, and desires, but also the will, the aims, the principles, the thoughts, and the intellect of man. In fact, it embraces the whole inner man, the head never being regarded as the seat of intelligence. While it is the source of all action and the center of all thought and feeling the heart is also described as receptive to the influences both from the outer world and from God Himself” (H3820).

When Saul was anointed King of Israel, 1 Samuel 10:9 tells us that “God gave him another heart.” God didn’t physically replace the organ in Saul’s chest. The Hebrew word haphak (haw-fakˊ), which is translated gave, was being used to convey “transformation” or “change” (H2015). As a result of him receiving a new heart, Saul was “turned into another man” (1 Samuel 10:6). Saul was not the same person on the inside as he was before, but we aren’t told exactly how he was different. The only thing we know for sure is that afterward, the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul, “and he prophesied” (1 Samuel 10:10). Prophecy is speaking or singing by inspiration. The function of the true prophet in the Old Testament was to speak God’s message to the people “under the influence of the divine spirit (1 Kings 22:8; Jeremiah 29:27; Ezekiel 37:10)” (H5012). In Saul’s case, the gift of prophecy was intended to be an outward sign of his anointing and only lasted a short while. After Saul returned home, it says in 1 Samuel 10:14-16, “Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, ‘Where did you go?’ And he said, ‘To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.’ And Saul’s uncle said, ‘Please tell me what Samuel said to you.’ And Saul said to his uncle, ‘He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.’ But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.” When it was time for him to be proclaimed king before the people, Saul could not be found. 1 Samuel 10:22 states, “So they inquired again of the LORD, ‘Is there a man still to come?’ and the LORD said, ‘Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.’”

Saul’s unusual behavior after he was anointed King of Israel suggests that he was reluctant to become Israel’s king. “Saul showed himself to be a man who had no regard for God’s will. Though Samuel had already affirmed that the kingdom would pass from him to another (1 Samuel 13:13, 14), Saul did not repent. He continued to disobey according to his own whims, especially in regard to the battle with the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:1-3, 9). When Samuel discovered that Saul had kept the sheep alive following the Amalekites victory, claiming that he wanted to sacrifice them to the Lord (1 Samuel 15:21), the prophet declared, ‘To obey is better than sacrifice’ (note on 1 Samuel 15:1-9). Saul admitted to Samuel that he “feared the people and obeyed their voice” rather than doing what God told him to (1 Samuel 15:24). The Hebrew concept of obedience was closely linked to hearing the voice of God. In his final message to the people of Israel, Moses focused heavily on hearing and obeying the voice of the LORD. Moses asked the Israelites, “Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire” (Deuteronomy 4:33-36).

The Hebrew word that is translated heard in Deuteronomy 4:36, shama (shaw-mahˊ) means “to hear intelligently…Hearing can be both intellectual and spiritual…In the case of hearing and hearkening to a higher authority, shama can mean to obey (Genesis 22:18)” (H8085). Shama is translated obeyed in 1 Samuel 15:24. When Saul said that he feared the people and obeyed their voice, he meant that he regarded their will to be more important than God’s. Saul said to Samuel, “’Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the LORD.’ And Samuel said to Saul, ‘I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.’ As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. And Samuel said to him, ‘The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you” (1 Samuel 15:25-28). The neighbor that Samuel was referring to was David, the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite. Earlier, Samuel referred to David as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). The primary difference between David and Saul was that David wanted to do God’s will.

1 Samuel 16:1-7 indicates that God was looking for a man with a certain kind of disposition to rule over Israel. It says in 1 Samuel 16:1, “The LORD said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” God said that he had rejected Saul and provided for himself a king. “God will not force man to do His will, so He sometimes must ‘reject’ him…Although God had chosen Saul to be king, Saul’s response caused a change in God’s plan for Saul…As a creature of free choice, man may ‘reject’ God…Purity of heart and attitude are more important to God than perfection and beauty of ritual” (H3988). When Samuel saw Jesse’s son Eliab, he thought he was the one that God intended to make king, “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart’” (1 Samuel 16:7). God is able to see the motives, feelings, affections, and desires of our hearts. As well as, “the will, the aims, the principles, the thoughts, and the intellect of every man” (H3820), not only of those that God accepts, but also of those that he rejects. God knew that Eliab, who was likely Jesse’s oldest son and the one who would naturally have been assigned a position of leadership, was not the kind of person that could take Saul’s place. Instead, God selected David, Jesse’s youngest son who was responsible for “keeping the sheep” (1 Samuel 16:11).

David and Saul began their reigns as King of Israel with the same advantage, they were both anointed by Samuel. “The Old Testament most commonly uses mashach to indicate ‘anointing’ in the sense of a special setting apart for an office or function” (H4886). “If the verb is used in association with a religious ceremony, it connotes the sanctification of things or people for divine service…The most common usage of this verb is the ritual of divine installation of individuals into positions of leadership by pouring oil on their heads. Most frequently, people were anointed for kingship: Saul (1 Samuel 10:1); David (1 Samuel 16:13; and Solomon (1 Kings 1:34).” In both instances, after they were anointed, it is also noted that “the Spirit of God rushed upon” Saul and David, but in David’s case it says in 1 Samuel 16:13, “the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward” (emphasis mine). The Hebrew word that is translated rushed, tsaleach (tsaw-layˊ-akh) means “to push forward…This word generally expresses the idea of a successful venture, as contrasted with failure. The source of such success is God: ‘…as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper’ (2 Chronicles 26:5)” (H6743). This might seem to suggest that David never sinned or did anything to displease the LORD after he was anointed King of Israel, but we know that David didn’t live a perfect life. The Spirit of the LORD was there to keep David on track with his responsibilities as the King of Israel and to make him successful in accomplishing God’s will for the nation of Israel.

David’s personal relationship with the LORD was what set him apart from Saul, as well as, all the other Kings of Israel that followed him. The Apostle Paul’s formula for successful Christian living: regeneration + renewal = justified by grace: shows us that regeneration in and of itself does not produce the effect of justification. Renewal, the gradual conforming of the person to the new spiritual world in which he lives and the restoration of the divine image, requires the person to be a fellow worker with God in the process of sanctification (G3824/G342). Jesus told his followers that a tree is known by its fruit in order to express to them the importance of the Holy Spirit’s work in their heart. Jesus said:

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:33-37)

In this instance, the word justified refers to acquittal from guilt (G1344). When Jesus said that we will be justified by our words or condemned by them, he meant that our own words will be used as evidence for or against us in the final judgment of mankind. Jesus went on to explain that repentance is necessary for the heart of a person to be changed (Matthew 12:39-42). In his parable of the sower, Jesus indicated that fruit is produced by the cultivation or development of God’s word and then, explained to his disciples, “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty and in another thirty” (Matthew 13:23).

Jesus’ discussion with a lawyer who wanted to test his understanding of the scriptures resulted in the Lord using the Parable of the Good Samaritan to teach the lawyer that it is impossible for us to be justified without God’s divine influence upon our heart. After the lawyer cited the law that stated we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, Luke tells us:

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:29-37)

Jesus said that the Samaritan had compassion on the man who was robbed and left half dead. Jesus continually showed compassion to the people that came to him for help. It is likely that Jesus used this characteristic to describe the Samaritan’s actions so that the lawyer would realize that the Samaritan was not acting of his own accord, but was responding to the divine influence upon his heart.