God’s word

A Lament

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

Below is my lament based on Psalm 13:

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

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

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

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

A spiritual attack

The Apostle Paul talked about spiritual warfare in the context of the armor that Christians need to wear in order to overcome their enemy, the devil. Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:10-12). The spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places that Paul was referring to were angels that rebelled against God, who will one day be cast into a lake of fire where they will spend eternity (Revelation 20:10). Until that time, God has allowed these fallen angels to remain a part of the world we live in, and sometimes he gives them permission to attack believers.

The story of Job is an example of Satan being permitted to test the faith of one of God’s servants. Satan is not free to act in the affairs of mankind; he has to ask God to remove the protection he provides and submit himself to whatever God chooses to do (note on Job 1:6-12). We are told in Job 1:6-7, “there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘From where have you come?’ Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’” Satan’s interest in mankind has to do with his objective of disrupting God’s plan of salvation. The Apostle Peter warned Christians about their enemy, the devil. Peter told believers they need to, “Be soberminded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him firm in your faith, know that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Peter described the devil as an adversary. The Greek word that is translated adversary, antidikos (an-tidˊ-ee-kos) means “an opponent (in a lawsuit); specially Satan (as an arch-enemy)” (G476). Satan is the accuser of men before God. In Job’s case, Satan “challenged the motive behind Job’s reverence for God. Satan claimed that Job lived as he did because God had blessed him” (note on Job 1:9-12). Peter said the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). What I believe Peter meant by this is that Satan feeds on the negative emotions that get stirred up when people are suffering. The Hebrew word ʿatstsebeth (ats-tsehˊ-beth), which is translated suffering in Job 9:28, refers to “the grief that comes from being brokenhearted (Psalm 147:3)…or grief that causes the spirit to be broken (Proverbs 15:13)…this term clearly refers to emotional suffering and not physical pain or injury” (H 6094).

Job’s suffering was linked to the hopelessness of his situation. Job explained to his friends:

“Has not man a hard service on earth,
    and are not his days like the days of a hired hand?
Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
    and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,
so I am allotted months of emptiness,
    and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’
    But the night is long,
    and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
    my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle
    and come to their end without hope.” (Job 7:1-6)

Job compared his circumstances to hard service because of the struggle he was having making it from day to day. Job said he had been through months of emptiness and nights of misery. The Hebrew word that is translated emptiness, shavʾ (shawv) refers to “desolating evil…The primary meaning of the word is deceit, lie, or falsehood” (H7723).

Jesus told the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32). One of the key characteristics of God’s word is that it is inerrant, which means “without error.” Paul said in his letter to Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16). Peter also said, “No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21). When Jesus told the Jews that they would know the truth, he meant that they would be able to recognize that which is derived from God and that which is based on false religion or more specifically, the lies of the devil. Jesus told the Jews, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Job described his extreme distress in his response to his friend Eliphaz. Job said:

“Oh that my vexation were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.
For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.” (Job 6:2-4)

Job continued his complaint by stating:

“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
    I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
    I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
    that you set a guard over me?
When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
    my couch will ease my complaint,’
then you scare me with dreams
    and terrify me with visions,
so that I would choose strangling
    and death rather than my bones.
I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
    Leave me alone, for my days are a breath. (Job 7:11-16)

Job spoke out of the anguish of his spirit and the bitterness of his soul. Job’s trouble was the result of a spiritual attack by an invisible enemy that wanted to destroy his faith in God. Satan had boasted to the LORD, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse you to your face” (Job 2:4-5), but Job didn’t respond as Satan expected. Job said, “I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones. I loathe my life; I would not live forever” (Job 7:15-16).

“In the midst of his misery (Job 7:13-16), Job asked some honest questions of God” (note on Job 7:17-21). Job said:

What is man, that you make so much of him,
    and that you set your heart on him,
visit him every morning
    and test him every moment?
How long will you not look away from me,
    nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
    Why have you made me your mark?
    Why have I become a burden to you?
Why do you not pardon my transgression
    and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
    you will seek me, but I shall not be. (Job 7:17-21)

Job’s question, “Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity?” (Job 7:21) was based on his understanding of God’s plan of salvation. The Hebrew word that is translated pardon, nasa (naw-sawˊ) means “to bear or to carry and is used especially in reference to the bearing of guilt or punishment of sin (Genesis 4:13; Leviticus 5:1). This flows easily into the concept of representative or substitutionary bearing of one person’s guilt by another (Leviticus 10:17; 16:22). Job wanted God to pardon his transgression and take away his iniquity, which is exactly what Jesus did hundreds of years later when he died on the cross for the sins of the world (Matthew 20:28).

The spiritual attack against Job was possible in part because Christ had not yet redeemed mankind. Job was aware that his redemption had not yet taken place, but he still claimed it as the basis for his right standing before God. Job said, “Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser” (Job 9:20-21). Job understood that he could not be in the right before God without someone to advocate on his behalf. Job said of God, “For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together” (Job 9:32). Job, then concluded, “There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both” (Job 9:33). Job wanted an arbiter, one who could stand between him and God and decide the outcome of his case, but there was no one at that time who could do it.

Paul encouraged his spiritual son Timothy to pray for all people. Paul said, “This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Timothy 2:3-5). The term mediator means “a go-between” (G3316). Today, when Satan brings an accusation against someone, if the person has placed his trust in Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross, Jesus testifies on his behalf and is able to forestall a spiritual attack; but this does not happen automatically, we must ask for Jesus’ help. Paul said believers must, “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10), and then, he instructed believers who find themselves in the midst of a spiritual attack to rely on “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Ephesians 6:17-18). The word of God is a powerful weapon because it contains irrefutable truth. The spiritual attack against Job eventually reached a turning point when he openly declared the truth about Jesus Christ. Job said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another” (Job 19:25-27; Revelation 22:4).

Justification by faith

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Preaching the gospel

Mark’s gospel opens with a statement that sets the context for the rest of his message. Mark informs his readers that his message is about, “The beginning of the gospel Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). In other words, Mark was saying, this is how it all got started, we were told that the Son of God is here. Mark went on to talk about John the Baptist’s preparation for Jesus’ arrival (Mark 1:2-8), and then, recounted how John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. Mark said:

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:9-11)

Mark indicated that it wasn’t Jesus who informed the people of Israel about his identity, but God himself who said, “You are my beloved Son” (Mark 1:11). Mark also clarified that it wasn’t Jesus’ story that was being told, but “the gospel of God” (Mark 1:14). Mark stated, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15).

Mark used the Greek word kerusso (kay-roosˊ-so) to describe what Jesus was doing. Kerusso means “to herald (as a public crier), especially divine truth (the gospel)…Especially to preach, publish, or announce religious truth, the gospel with its attendant privileges and obligations, the gospel of dispensation…’To preach Christ’ means to announce him as the Messiah and urge the reception of His gospel” (G2784). Kerusso is translated as both preached and proclaiming in Mark chapter one. Jesus’ brief message, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15), suggests that there was a simple formula for accepting Christ as one’s Savior, “repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark’s gospel is the most simple and direct of the four gospels. Mark seems to cut to the chase and doesn’t waste any time trying to convince people of the truth. Mark just states the facts and then, lets people draw their own conclusions.

Mark briefly described what a typical day for Jesus and his disciples probably looked like in Mark 1:35-39. Mark stated:

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus indicated that he came out in order to preach the gospel. The Greek word that is translated came out, exerchomai (ex-erˊ-khom-ahee) is derived from the words ex “denoting origin (the point whence motion or action proceeds)…primarily meaning out of, from, of, as spoken of such objects which before were in another, but are not separated from it, either in respect of place, time, source, or origin” (G1537), and erchomai “in the sense of to come forth before the public” (G2064). This seems to suggest that it was necessary for people to see Jesus, who was described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:4 as “the image of God,” in order for the gospel to be preached.

Paul explained in his second letter to the Corinthians that the gospel is veiled or hidden from those who are perishing. Paul stated:

We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:2-6)

Paul referred to the devil as the god of this world and said that he has blinded the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4). The mind is where perception comes from and is what makes it possible for us to think and plan our activities. Without our minds, we wouldn’t have the ability to understand the world or people around us. When Paul said that the devil has blinded the minds of unbelievers, he meant that the devil could skew their perception by making them conceited, proud, arrogant; unaware of their need for a Savior.

Matthew’s gospel tells us:

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:25-30)

Jesus said no one knows the Father except the Son, “and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27). The Greek word that is translated chooses is boulomai (booˊ-lom-ahee). Boulomai has to do with exercising the will, being willing to do something (G1014). The Apostle Peter indicated that the Lord is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, KJV). Therefore, it can be assumed that the rest of Jesus’ statement is an explanation of how people get to the point of repentance. Jesus said that we must 1) come to him, and that we must 2) take his yoke upon us, and 3) learn from him; and then, Jesus added as a word of encouragement, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).

A spiritual perspective

The Bible identifies two distinct perspectives that typically contradict each other with regards to interpretation of the events and circumstances of our lives. A materialistic perspective is concerned with the physical processes that produce things that we can see and touch; whereas, a spiritual perspective is concerned with invisible processes that produce things that cannot be seen or touched. One of the ways that the Bible distinguishes these two perspectives is by what they focus our attention on. A materialistic perspective focuses our attention on the world around us, the things that we come in contact with on a daily basis. Therefore, a materialistic perspective might also be thought of as a worldly perspective. A spiritual perspective focuses our attention on God and therefore, can be thought of as a godly perspective. Jesus told a Samaritan woman that 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 Greek word that is translated spirit, pheuma (pnyooˊ-mah) means “a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze, by analogy or figuratively a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc.” (G4151). The analogy of a spirit being similar to a current of air has to do with the characteristics that we associate with the wind. Its strength, vigor, and force are evident even though the wind is invisible to us. Jesus told a man named Nicodemus, “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).

Jesus implied that being born again or born of the Spirit would result in a person being influenced by spiritual things (John 3:8). Even though we are not always aware of it, God is actively involved in every person’s life that has committed themselves to Christ. Jesus talked about this in his parable of the seed growing. He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29). Jesus also used the analogy of seed in his parable of the sower and illustrated the effect that God’s word has on the human heart. Jesus said:

“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:3-9)

Jesus explained to his disciples privately that the seed represented the word of God and he used the four scenarios in his parable to show them that the outcome was dependent on the condition of the human heart. Jesus said:

“Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 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. 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 13:18-23)

The unseen activity of the human heart is an example of how a spiritual versus a materialistic perspective can alter the effect of God’s word and can change the outcome of our relationship with the Lord. Jesus pointed out that when we hear the word and do not understand it, the evil one is able to snatch away what has been sown in our hearts (Matthew 13:19). It is only when we understand what we are hearing that spiritual fruit can be produced (Matthew 13:23).

The Greek word that is translated understands in Matthew 13:23, suniemi (soon-eeˊ-ay-mee) means “(to send); to put together, i.e. (mentally) to comprehend” (G4920). Suniemi is derived from the word sun (soon) which denotes “union” (G4862) and has to do with fellowship with God and other believers. When Jesus told his disciples the night before his crucifixion that they would all fall away, Peter replied, “’Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even if I must die with (G4862) you, I will not deny you!’ And all the disciples said the same” (Matthew 26:33-35). Peter’s emphatic declaration that he would not deny Jesus, even if he had to die with him, was an indication that he was looking at things from a spiritual perspective, but Peter’s actions proved otherwise. Proverbs 2:2 suggests that understanding requires an intentional effort on our part to see things from a godly perspective. Proverbs 2:1-5 states:

My son, if you receive my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding;
yes, if you call out for insight
    and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.

According to King Solomon, the author of this proverb, the process of obtaining understanding involves more than just an intentional effort on our part. Solomon identified a series of steps and used the conditional language of if/then to indicate that obtaining a spiritual perspective is dependent upon us having a relationship with God. Solomon went on to say, “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints” (Proverbs 2:6-8).

The Hebrew word that is translated saints in Proverbs 2:8, chasiyd (khaw-seedˊ) denotes “those who share a personal relationship with the Lord” and signifies “the state of one who fully trusts in God” (H2623). Solomon said that God watches over “the way of his saints” (Provervs 2:8). By that, Solomon meant that God charts the course of believers’ lives and makes it possible for them to be spiritually successful.

The Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the land of Canaan is an example of God’s direct intervention in the lives of believers. Although the Israelites were resistant to following God’s commandments and rebelled against him on numerous occasions, they eventually ended up where God had planned in advance for them to fulfill their destiny. Numbers 33 recounts the Israelites’ journey from a spiritual perspective. Even though it took them 40 years to accomplish what could have taken place in short eleven-day span of time, the Israelites were successful in achieving God’s ultimate goal, their occupation of the Promised Land. Moses explained to the people of Israel that their success was not a result of their own efforts, but a matter of being chosen by God. Moses said, “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6). The Hebrew word that Moses used that is translated chosen, bachar (baw-kharˊ) “denotes a choice which is based on a thorough examination of the situation and not an arbitrary whim…Being ‘chosen’ by God brings people into an intimate relationship with Him” (H977).

Moses went on to say that from a materialistic perspective, God’s choice of the Israelites didn’t make any sense. It was only because God was keeping the oath that he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that the Israelites received his blessing (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). Moses indicated that God’s motivation for choosing the Israelites and keeping the oath that he swore to their fathers was love. Moses said:

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today. (Deuteronomy 7:9-11)

The contrast between those who love God and those who hate him makes it seem as if our perspective is shaped by our emotions, but the Hebrew word that is translated hate, sane (saw-nayˊ) makes it clear that it is a matter of our will or more specifically, our preference to not be associated with God. “In a weaker sense, saneʾ can signify being set against something” and it is sometimes translated as enemies, enemy or foe (H8130).

Moses’ final discourses were intended to focus the Israelites’ attention on the way they were expected to live their lives after they entered the Promised Land. Within that context was Moses’ consolidation of the Ten Commandments into a single great commandment (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) that would help them to keep a spiritual perspective of things at all times. Moses added to this commandment a guiding principle that made it crystal clear to the people of Israel that a materialistic perspective could not sustain their physical existence beyond this present world. Moses said:

“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:1-3)

Moses admonished the people to remember the whole way that the LORD had led them and said that man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God. The idea that Moses was trying to convey was that of completeness, the primary characteristic of a healthy spiritual life.

Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, “You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). The Greek word that is translated perfect, teleios (telˊ-i-os) means complete or “brought to its end, finished; wanting nothing necessary to completeness” (G5046). The Apostle Paul talked about this in his letter to the Romans. Paul said, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2). The phrase that Paul used conformed to this world, has to do with the effect that living in this world has on people in general. Paul said that rather than being conformed to the world, we need to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. The contrast between the verbs conformed and transformed is particularly evident in their opposing emphasis on the external (conformed) and internal (transformed) influences on our minds. The present continuous tenses of both verbs indicate a process (G3339). This suggests that a spiritual perspective is gained over time as God’s word continually becomes more and more the focus our attention and the primary source of our knowledge.

John’s gospel contains a lot of information about Jesus’ mission to save the world. John said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17). In this instance, the world stands for the human race, mankind (G2889). In a collective sense, everyone and everything in the world needs to be redeemed from the curse of sin. Quoting Psalm 14, Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). In his high priestly prayer, shortly before he was crucified (John 17:1-26), the primary focus of Jesus’ attention was his mission to save the world. In this prayer, Jesus asked his Father to keep the ones that had been entrusted to his care. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). Jesus didn’t seem to be concerned about the world’s influence on his followers, but instead, he identified the problem as the evil one. The Greek word that Jesus used, poneros (pon-ay-rosˊ) “is connected with ponos (G4192) and means labor and expresses especially the active form of evil” (G4190). Proverbs 2 indicates that understanding is a byproduct of wisdom, which is given to us from God (Proverbs 2:6), and will guard us from the way of evil. Solomon wrote:

For wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
discretion will watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,
delivering you from the way of evil,
    from men of perverted speech,
who forsake the paths of uprightness
    to walk in the ways of darkness. (Proverbs 2:10-13)

Walking in the ways of darkness would mean that you are practicing evil and it has become a way of life for you. Solomon used the word darkness in a figurative sense to represent misery, destruction, death and may have even meant it to express ignorance of God’s word.

Moses’ assertion that “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3) was based on his personal experience of leading the Israelites through the desert for forty years. One of the ways that we know Moses had developed a keen spiritual perspective by the end of his life was his understanding of the preincarnate presence of Christ in the midst of the Israelites’ camp. Moses said:

“Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you. (Deuteronomy 9:1-3)

Moses’ communicated his awareness of God’s presence by stating that he would go over before the Israelites and said that he would destroy the cities. Moses continued to emphasize his spiritual perspective of things when he said:

“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.” (Deuteronomy 9:4-6)

Moses repeated three times that it was not because of the Israelites righteousness that they were going to possess the land, but because of the wickedness of the nations that the people were being driven out and then Moses stated emphatically, “for you are a stubborn people” (Deuteronomy 9:6). The people of Israel had turned aside quickly out of the way that God had commanded them (Deuteronomy 9:12) and therefore, did not deserve his blessing; but from a spiritual perspective, they were God’s chosen people and he would not abandon them. Proverbs 2:21-22 states:

For the upright will inhabit the land,
    and those with integrity will remain in it,
but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
    and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

The Hebrew word that is translated upright, yashar (yaw-shawrˊ) means “straight” (H3477) and is derived from the word yashar (yaw-sharˊ) which “can be used to refer to a path” and with regard to straightness “the commands of God” (H3474). “The Old Testament often talks of two paths in life and warns people to stay on the straight path and not to stray onto the crooked path (Proverbs 2:13)” (H3476). From that standpoint, staying on the straight path would mean that we look at things from a spiritual perspective and make an intentional effort to understand God’s word.

God’s supernatural ability

It’s not unusual for everything that God does to be considered a miracle because he is a supernatural being. On the other hand, humans have a limited amount of strength and ability that they can rely on and therefore do not typically do extraordinary things on a regular basis. The 40 years that the Israelites spent in the desert after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt demonstrated that it is possible for people to live miraculous lives by relying on God’s power to accomplish things that they cannot do themselves. Most of the miracles that happened in the desert were a result of God working through Moses to perform supernaturally feats (Exodus 15:25; 17:6, 11), but the construction of the tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant was kept was a collective effort that showed God’s supernatural ability could be distributed among the people in such a way that everyone could play a part in getting the job done. Moses started by asking everyone to “take from among you a contribution to the LORD. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze; blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twisted linen; goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, and goatskins; acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece” (Exodus 35 5-9). Basically, everything that was needed to construct the tabernacle and its contents had to come from the Israelite’s personal belongings. Moses asked everyone who had a generous heart to give up their possessions so that their material wealth could be used to benefit the LORD’s work.

A generous heart is not something that comes naturally to human beings. For the most part, the Israelites were selfish with their possession just like most people are today, but Exodus 35:20-29 tells us:

Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord. And every one who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or goatskins brought them. Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s contribution. And every one who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it. And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.

The freewill offering to the Lord was characterized by spontaneity. “This term can denote that state of being which allows a person to offer a gift or a favour to someone else without any thought of return or payback. The favour is not given out of any obligation owed by the giver; rather, it is the result of an overflow from an abundance within the heart” (H5071).

In addition to the materials that were needed for the tabernacle to be constructed, there was a need for laborers as well. Moses asked the people to give up their time and talent too. He said, “Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the LORD has commanded” (Exodus 35:10). Exodus 36:2-7 states:

And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the LORD had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.

Moses indicated that the Lord had put skill into the minds of every craftsman, “everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work” (Exodus 36:2). The Hebrew word that is translated stirred up, nacah (naw-saw’) “is used of the undertaking of the responsibilities for sins of others by substitution or representation” (H5375). This seems to suggest that the people whose hearts were being stirred up were believers that wanted to participate in the process of salvation that God was enacting.

Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians was focused on his ministry of spreading the gospel which God had entrusted to him by way of supernatural revelation (Ephesians 3:3). Paul said, “Therefore having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose hart. But we have renounced disgraceful underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:1-4). Paul emphasized the fact that God’s word was able to affect the minds of believers because it was the truth. The Biblical definition of truth is something that is real, it conforms to the nature and reality of things, therefore it is credible and not to be rejected (G227). An open statement is an expression of truth that makes something visible or observable to you that might otherwise go unnoticed (G5321). Paul’s mission of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles was necessary because it was a mystery that they were “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:6). Paul said that he had “commended himself to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2), meaning that he was leaving it up to God to convict and convince the people that he was preaching to that his gospel message was indeed the truth.

The conscience enables people to see things from God’s perspective. It is a “faculty of the soul which distinguishes between right and wrong and prompts one to choose the former and avoid the latter” (G4893). Paul said that his gospel message was veiled to those who were perishing because “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Paul referred to Satan as the god of this world because everyone that has not accepted Jesus as their Savior is under his dominion. Paul told the Ephesians that “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1-3). Paul encouraged the Ephesian believers to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might…that you might be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 5:10-11) and identified the word of God as a sword that can be used offensively to defeat Satan’s army (Ephesians 5:17). The Greek word that is translated strong, endunamoo (en-doo-nam-o’) means “to empower” and is used metaphorically of the mind being strengthened by God (G1743). Endunamoo is derived from the Greek words en and dunamoo. Dunamoo comes from the Greek word dunamis (doo’-nam-is) which refers specifically to God’s ability to do miracles (G1411).

God’s supernatural ability is transferred to believers, at least in part, through our minds and in particular through our understanding of his word. Paul told the believers in Corinth that he had not tampered with God’s word (2 Corinthians 4:2), meaning that he hadn’t mingled the truths of God’s word with false doctrines (G1389). Paul had kept his opinions to himself and only conveyed to the Corinthians what God’s Spirit had prompted him to. Paul said, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:5-6). Paul used the metaphor of light shining out of darkness to show that God’s word is not constrained by the limitations of our human comprehension. Paul went on to say, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us’ (2 Corinthians 4:7). The surpassing power that Paul was referring to was dunamis. “Dunamis almost always points to new and higher forces that have entered and are working in this lower world of ours. It is ‘power, ability,’ physical or moral, as residing in a person or thing” (G1411). Paul thought of his gospel message as a treasure that had been placed in jars of clay in order to show that its effectiveness was linked to God’s supernatural ability rather than Paul’s preaching.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul talked a lot about the foolishness of preaching the gospel. He said, “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 1:18). Paul used the word dunamis to describe the power that God uses to save people. The word of the cross is basically the gospel message which states that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Paul indicated that this message was considered to be folly or an absurdity (G3472) to those that were destined for destruction (G622). Paul explained that “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 2:14-16). Spiritual discernment is the ability to understand that which is non-physical by nature (G4153). Paul went on to say, “But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Paul’s statement corresponds to Jesus’ teaching about the vine and the branches. Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2). Then Jesus stated:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” (John 15:12-17)

Jesus bracketed his teaching about the power that is available to believers through God’s word with a commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). This seems to suggest that we are expected to refrain from using God’s word as a tool to hurt others, but rather as an instrument of encouragement and support. Paul eluded to this in his explanation of why he was suffering even though he was doing God’s will. Paul said:

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Corinthians 4:8-12)

Paul hinted at that fact that God’s supernatural ability was at work in his life when he said that even though he was afflicted in every way, he was not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). The contrasting language that Paul used made it clear that his ability to preach the gospel had not been diminished by the trouble he had gone through. Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that he was still strong in his faith and was determined to accomplish the mission that was entrusted to him. Paul’s statement that death was at work in him (2 Corinthians 4:12) was meant to convey the idea that there was a cost associated with undertaking the responsibilities for the sins of others. Paul encouraged the Corinthians by stating:

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

The outer self and the inner self that Paul was referring to were the physical and spiritual aspects of mankind. The Greek word that is translated self, anthropos (anth’-ro-pos) is generally used to designate a human being without reference to sex or nationality and in distinction from God and animals. In this phrase, “the inner man means the regenerate person’s spiritual nature personified, the inner self of the believer…as the sphere of the renewing power of the Holy Spirit” (G444). Paul’s prayer for spiritual strength included a petition for power through the Holy Spirit. He said:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)

Being filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19) has to do with the process of sanctification which leads to our oneness with Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Paul indicated that this process is driven by the power of the Holy Spirit who strengthens us in our inner being (Ephesians 3:16). 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). Thus, the role of the Holy Spirit is to help us remember God’s word and to teach us spiritual lessons.

Paul’s prayer concluded with an acknowledgement of God’s supernatural ability. Paul stated, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21). Paul used the superlative “far more abundantly” to express the infinite degree to which God is able to do what we ask of him. The point Paul was trying to make was that we can’t deplete God’s resources. His supernatural ability is beyond what humans can even think or imagine him doing. Paul made it clear that believers can access God’s supernatural ability through the power of the Holy Spirit who is at work within us. What Paul likely meant by the statement “according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20) was that dunamis, miraculous power and/or ability, is not available to believers on an as needed basis, but it can be stored up or put to use at any time. An example of this is the parable of the talents which Jesus told his disciples not long before he was crucified. In this parable, the servant that received five talents was commended for using them to gain five more talents by putting them to work (Matthew 25:21). The servant that received one talent was rebuked because he didn’t even bother to invest his talent so that his master could gain something from the resources that had been entrusted to him (Matthew 25:26-27). Afterward, the talent was taken away from him and given to the servant that had ten talents (Matthew 25:28). Jesus concluded his parable by stating, “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29)

Spiritual sacrifices

The Apostle Peter used the metaphor of a spiritual house to describe the structure that the whole body of believers forms as a collective unit (1 Peter 2:5). Peter stated, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5). The terms Peter used, living stones, spiritual house, and spiritual sacrifices all pointed to the temple that was the focal point of the Jewish religion. Paul touched on this in his letter to the Corinthians when he addressed the topic of divisions in the church. Paul stated:

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you, are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:1-17)

Paul indicated that building up the body of Christ was a joint effort that no one person could take credit for and said that each person’s work will be tested to see if it was done through human or spiritual effort. Peter may have described believers as living stones because of the effect of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the active nature of God’s word in the human heart. The Greek word that is translated spiritual in 1 Peter 2:5, pneumatikos (phyoo-mat-ik-os’) is used to describe things “pertaining to or proceeding from the Holy Spirit. Of persons who are spiritual, i.e. enlightened by the Holy Spirit, enjoying the influences, graces, and gifts of the Holy Spirit” (G4152).

Peter stated:

For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
    a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

and

“A stone of stumbling,
    and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. (1 Peter 2:6-8)

The word that Peter was referring to was most likely the Ten Commandments that were communicated directly to the Israelites from God on Mount Sinai shortly after they were delivered from bondage in Egypt (Exodus 19-20). The Greek term that is translated word in 1 Peter 2:8, logos (log’-os) was used by the Apostle John to identify Jesus as an eternal being that was present at the beginning of creation. John stated, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). Peter indicated that those who disobey the word of God were destined to do so and Paul’s letter to the Ephesians revealed that the destiny of every person was established before the foundation of the world. Paul stated, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:3-4).

Peter indicated that the spiritual house that was being built up by believers was “to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). By definition, spiritual sacrifices have to do with God’s divine influence upon the heart. The Greek word “pneumatikos always connotes the ideas of invisibility and of power. It does not occur in the Old Testament or in the Gospels; it is in fact an after-Pentecost word” (G4152). Peter most likely used the term spiritual sacrifices to differentiate between the kind of sacrifices that are made according to our own will and those that are made according to God’s will. When believers offer spiritual sacrifices they are supposed to be doing things that please God. When Jesus was baptized by John, “the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased'” (Matthew 3:16). Likewise, when Jesus was transfigured, “a voice from the cloud said, ‘this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased'” (Matthew 17:5). The Greek word that is translated well pleased, eudokeo (yoo-dok-eh’-o) means to approve of an act and stresses “the willingness and freedom of an intention or resolve regarding what is good” (G2106).

Peter linked the spiritual sacrifices of believers to God’s original plan to deliver the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. Peter said, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). After the Israelites entered the wilderness and camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, Moses went up to God and “The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:3-6). God’s stipulation that the people obey his voice and keep his covenant was what led to the downfall of the nation of Israel. Peter was letting believers know that they were taking the place of the Israelites that were originally called to serve God. The key to our success being obedience to God’s word.

God described the nation of Israel as his “treasured possession” (Exodus 19:5). The Hebrew word cegullah “signifies ‘property’ in the special sense of a private possession one personally acquired and carefully preserves” (H5459). The descriptors “a kingdom of priests” and “a holy nation” suggest that the kingdom of heaven centers around the spiritual sacrifices of God’s people which are dependent on faith in Jesus Christ. Peter said, “So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (1 Peter 2:7). Jesus also quoted Psalm 118:22-23 after he told the parable of the tenants to the chief priests who wanted to know where his authority came from. Matthew 21:38-44 states:

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.”

The Greek word Jesus used that is translated people in Matthew 21:43 is ethnos (eth’-nos). Ethnos is derived from the word etho (eth’-o) which means “to be accustomed”, signifying a custom or a particular way of doing things (G1486). Ethnos has to do with human nature and in the sense of people producing fruits it refers to born again Christians who are walking by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). Paul contrasted the works of the flesh with the works of the Spirit and said, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).

The Ten Commandments were meant to restrain the Israelites from what Paul described as the works of the flesh. Paul said, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, disensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (Galatians 5:19-21). The goal was to make the Israelites a holy nation, but without the help of the Holy Spirit. When the LORD came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with the people directly (Exodus 19:11, 20:1), the people were afraid of him and couldn’t process the information he was communicating to them because they were spiritually dead (Exodus 20:18-19). One of the primary issues that prevented the Israelites from connecting with God was that they couldn’t approach him unless they were consecrated, which meant that they had to be cleansed from all of their sins (H6942). In other words, they needed to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, something that was impossible on a large scale until after Jesus died and was resurrected.

Exodus 20:1-17 records the discourse that took place between God and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments were in essence a brief synopsis of the rules that God expected his chosen people to follow. They were as follows:

  1. You shall have no other gods before me.
  2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image.
  3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
  4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 
  5. Honor your father and your mother.
  6. You shall not murder.
  7. You shall not commit adultery.
  8. You shall not steal.
  9. You shall not bear false witness.
  10. You shall not covet. 

After hearing these commandments, the people told Moses they didn’t want God to speak to them directly (Exodus 20:19). It says in Exodus 20:22, “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.” The point the LORD was making was that he had already communicated all that was necessary for him to establish his covenant with the people of Israel. He didn’t need to say anything else to them.

The people of Israel understood that the essence of spiritual sacrifice was contained within the Ten Commandments. Hundreds of years later, when Jesus was teaching his disciples the principles of the kingdom of heaven, he was asked to identify “the great commandment in the Law” (Matthew 22:36). Essentially, what the lawyer wanted to know was which of the Ten Commandments was most likely to be broken by every person and would therefore cause everyone in the whole world to go to hell. Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). The two commandments that Jesus identified were similar in that they both focused on loving others. Jesus likely emphasized that we need to love God with all of our being because we tend to hold back certain parts of ourselves in order to keep a safe distance between us and our Creator. The fact that we are expected to love our neighbor as ourselves suggests that in the spiritual realm there are no boundaries between one soul and another. That’s why we must act like we are responsible for everyone’s happiness.

Shortly before his death, Jesus prayed that all believers would be united in the same way that he was with his Father (John 17:11). Jesus prayed, “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, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:22-23). The Greek words that are translated “become perfectly one,” teleioo (tel-i-o’-o) eis (ice) heis (hice) and o (o) refer to the joining together that Peter and Paul talked about when they said that believers are to be built up (1 Peter 2:5, Ephesians 4:16). The Greek word oikodomeo (oy-kod-om-eh’-o) means to be a house-builder and oikodome (oy-kod-om-ay’) refers to architecture. Peter and Paul likely used these words to convey the process of edification because believers are joined together in a systematic way that results in an enduring structure somewhat like a home that is passed on from generation to generation which can be remodeled as needed. Peter’s depiction of a spiritual house that was built using living stones (1 Peter 2:5) was probably meant to convey the idea of a community that is in constant motion. If you look at the kingdom of heaven as a state of being as opposed to a physical space that has occupants, you might see that spiritual sacrifices are ones that go beyond the boundaries of physical life and deal with the immaterial needs of human beings.

Jesus’ attempt to convince a rich young man that he didn’t need all the possessions he was depending on was most likely hindered by the young man’s image of the kingdom of heaven as a place that was luxurious and designed to provide comfort. Matthew’s gospel states, “And behold, a man came up to him, saying, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.’ He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘All these I have kept. What do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible'” (Matthew 19:16-26).

Jesus indicated there is only one who is good (Matthew 19:17) and suggested that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven one must be perfect (Matthew 19:21). His disciples realized that it would be impossible for anyone to meet God’s standard because giving away one’s possessions went against the very core of human nature. Jesus’ statement, “With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26) was meant to point out that God doesn’t expect us to go against our nature, but provides a way for us to do what is humanly impossible. Jesus went on to tell them a parable about laborers in a vineyard in order to show them that it wasn’t a matter of giving things up that hinders people from serving God, but the expectation that God will reward our spiritual sacrifices according to how long or hard we work for him. In the parable, everyone was paid the same wages even though some worked all day and others just one hour. Jesus concluded his parable by stating, “‘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 20:16). In other words, God’s goodness isn’t controlled by our human efforts to please him. It is only when we do God’s will that we receive rewards in heaven.

The finish line

Paul’s second letter to Timothy is believed to be the last message he wrote before he was beheaded by the Roman Emperor Nero. His instructions to Timothy reflected the importance of having a successful transition after Paul was removed from his leadership role. Paul encouraged Timothy to not be ashamed of the work he had been called to do and told him to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1). Paul also focused on the process of sanctification which he probably thought Timothy was going through in order to prepare him for the increased responsibility he would have after Paul was gone. Paul told Timothy regarding confessing his sins, “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21).

Paul used his own life as an example for Timothy to follow in his pursuit of evangelism and told Timothy that he should expect his ministry to be challenged by unbelievers. Paul said, “You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:10-12, ESV). One of things that Paul was clear about was that suffering and doing God’s work would always go hand in hand. There was no way to escape the persecution that resulted from preaching the gospel.

Paul told Timothy, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Greek words Paul used that are translated perfect and thoroughly furnished had to do with the process of sanctification being completed in the life of a believer. Paul linked scripture to this process and indicated that God’s word is sufficient to complete that process. There is no other requirement to reach spiritual maturity than to understand or fully comprehend all of God’s word.

Paul concluded his final message with these words, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8). Paul had likely already been condemned to death when he wrote this message to Timothy. Paul was careful to note that he didn’t expect to be used any further in his ministry of preaching the gospel. It was Paul’s imminent death that prompted him to urge Timothy to keep his ministry going. Paul’s mention of a crown of righteousness was probably meant to encourage Timothy to work as hard as he had to spread the gospel around the world because he would be rewarded in heaven.

Paul’s comparison of the completion of ministry to a good fight and a finished course was his way of communicating the importance of endurance in serving God. Roman boxing was popular in the time period in which Paul lived. “Some boxers were known for their skill; others were known for simply being able to take punishment…Romans used gloves with pieces of metal placed around the knuckles (caestus) to inflict the most damage possible. Moreover, there was no time limit or weight classification. Proclaiming a winner resulted from either a knockout or the conceding of defeat by one of the boxers” (factsanddetails.com, Ancient Roman Sport). Paul’s declaration that he had fought a good fight implied that he had knocked out his opponent or at the very least gotten him to concede defeat.

Paul talked about his conflict with Satan in his second letter to the Corinthians. He stated, “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure” (2 Corinthians 12:7). The Greek word translated buffet, kolaphizo (kol-af-id’-zo) means “to rap with the fist” (G2852). Paul indicated the source of his afflictions were the revelations he received which were a progressive, private unveiling of the otherwise unknown and unknowable facts about God (G602). Paul’s numerous epistles are a testimony to the surpassing knowledge he had of Jesus and his future kingdom on Earth.

Paul likened his career in ministry to a race that was completed. Interestingly, Paul didn’t say he had won the race, but had merely finished the course. Paul’s humility in judging his importance in spreading the gospel around the Roman Empire showed that he genuinely viewed himself as an instrument in God’s hand. Paul didn’t take credit for any of his accomplishments. Most of what Paul talked about had to do with the suffering he endured while serving in the ministry of Jesus Christ. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul boasted of his sufferings and mentioned in detail the various trials he had experienced (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). The only evidence that Paul was content with what he had done at the end of his life was his statement, “I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). The Greek word translated kept, tereo (tay-reh’-o) means to fulfill a command (G5083). In other words, Paul felt he had done everything God had told him to.

Unshakable faith

Paul’s appeal for endurance in his letter to the Hebrews pointed to the ultimate goal of God’s plan of salvation, that believers inherit the kingdom of heaven. Comparing the Israelite’s interaction with God on Mount Sinai with the believer’s entrance into heaven, Paul stated:

But instead, you have come to the mountain of Jerusalem. It is the city of the living God. It is the Jerusalem of heaven with its thousands of angels. You have gathered there with God’s children who were born long ago. They are citizens of heaven. God is there. He will judge all men. The spirits of all those right with God are there. They have been made perfect. Jesus is there. He has made a way for man to go to God. He gave His blood that men might worship God the New Way. The blood of Jesus tells of better things than that which Abel used…On Mount Sinai, God’s voice shook the earth. But now He has promised, saying, “Once more I will shake the earth and the heavens.” (Hebrews 12:22-24, 26 NLV)

The Greek word translated shake in Hebrews 12:26, seio (si’-o) means to rock or vibrate sideways moving to and fro like an earthquake. Seio is used figuratively “to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern)” (G4579). Paul’s mention of God’s promise to shake the earth and the heavens probably had to do with the universal battle that will take place at the end of the great tribulation that results in Satan being cast into the bottomless pit and shut up for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3).

Paul went on to say that God’s promise to shake the earth and the heavens signified the establishment of his kingdom on earth. He explained, “When God says, ‘Once more,’ He means He will take away everything of this world that can be shaken so the things that cannot be shaken will be left” (Hebrews 12:27, NLV). The Greek word translated shaken, saleuo (sal-yoo’-o) means to waver or to be insecure about what we believe in (G4531). Paul’s reference to things that cannot be shaken related back to the acts of faith that he mentioned in Hebrews chapter eleven. What Paul was getting at had to do with his definition of faith. Paul said, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:1-3).

Paul’s understanding of faith was that it causes God’s kingdom to be made visible on earth. Jesus eluded to this in his parable of the sower. In his explanation of the parable, Jesus told his disciples:

And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8:10-15, NKJV)

Jesus indicated that God’s word becomes fruitful in our lives when we keep it or translate it into action (G2722). In other words, we have to do what God’s word tells us to in order to reap the benefits of it.

Paul described the results of Abraham’s faith in terms of dwelling in the Promised Land. He said, “By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:9-10, NKJV). In Hebrews 13:14, Paul linked all believers to Abraham’s inheritance by stating, “For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.”

The city Paul was referring to was depicted by the Apostle John in the book of Revelation. John stated, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God'” (Revelation 21:1-3, NKJV).

The interesting thing about John’s description of the New Jerusalem was that he likened it to a bride adorned for her husband and John said, “the tabernacle of God is with men” (Revelation 21:3). Revelation 19 portrays the union of believers with Jesus as a marriage ceremony and it states specifically in Revelation 19:7-8 that, “‘ the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (NKJV), the phrase “the righteous acts of the saints” means an equitable deed or a demonstration of faith (G1345). According to John, the visible manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth will involve the body (bride i.e. church) of Christ being transformed into a unified physical structure that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:27), coming down from heaven and becoming the eternal dwelling place of God (Revelation 21:3).

A perfect fit

Part of the reason Paul knew it was foolish of him to boast about his super-apostle position in the ministry of Jesus Christ was because he realized he was equal with everyone else when it came to God’s mercy or compassion. Paul stated, ” Again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God in Christ. But we do all things, beloved, for your edification.” The Greek word translated edification, oikodome (oy-kod-om-ay’) means “architecture that is (concretely) a structure” (G3619). Paul talked about the believer’s body being a tabernacle or tent and said, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). With regards to edification, Paul was implying that the building of God, our eternal home in heaven was being constructed by way of his ministry.

From Paul’s statement, we know that the process of edification is connected to the teaching of God’s word. One of the clues Paul gave us about how the process of edification works can be found in 2 Corinthians 13:9 where it says, “For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong; and this also we wish, even your perfection.” The Greek word translated perfection is katartisis. “This word means making a fit” (G2676). Kartartisis is derived from the word katartizo which comes from the words kata and artios. The word artios “stresses that in which nothing is maimed. It refers not only to the presence of all the parts that are necessary for completeness, but also to the further adaptation and aptitude of these parts for their designed purpose” (G739). Apparently, Paul was saying that the strengths and weaknesses of each believers’ knowledge of God’s word should balance each other out so that when we are joined together in the body of Christ there will be no discrepancies in our understanding of the scriptures.

Paul concluded his letter to the Corinthians with the statement, “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you” (2 Corinthians 13:11). Paul’s commands to be perfect and be of one mind suggested that he expected believers to study God’s word and to discuss their beliefs with other Christians. The Greek word translated mind, phroneo means “to exercise the mind, i.e. entertain or have a sentiment or opinion” (G5426). Paul’s statement to be of one mind was specifically meant to express the uniting of everyone’s opinions; what we might refer to today as a consensus or everyone being on the same page. With regard to edification, Paul’s instruction to be perfect meant that there would be a perfect fit or joining together of everyone’s minds so that individual opinions were adjusted according to the truth of God’s word and therefore, there would be no errors in the Corinthians’ thinking.