parable of the wedding feast

An Invitation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chosen by God

Jesus used the parable of the wedding feast to teach his disciples the difference between being saved and being sanctified. He said, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come” (Matthew 22:2-3). The invitation to the wedding feast represented God’s divine call to partake of the blessings of redemption. Even though the invitation could be refused as was stated in their response “they would not come,” attendance at the wedding feast was not optional with regards to participation in the kingdom of heaven. After a second invitation was sent out, Jesus said, “But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city” (Matthew 22:5-7). The similarity between what happened in Jesus’ parable and what happened to the nation of Israel when they rejected God and were sent into captivity seems to suggest that the invitation to the wedding feast was an open one that could be accepted at anytime because God brought the Israelites back to the Promised Land and gave them a second chance.

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians stated that “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved…For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-9). Paul explained that the reason why some people reject God’s invitation to be saved is because of their dulled spiritual perception. He said, “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (Ephesians 4:17-18). The Greek word that is translated alienated, apallotrioo (ap-al-lot-ree-o’) means “to be non-participant” (G526). In other words, the reason why people are not saved is because they choose to not participate. As was stated in Jesus’ parable, “they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business” (Matthew 22:5).

The lives of Jacob and his twelve sons were also somewhat of a parable in that they illustrated the various ways that people become alienated from God. Jacob described his son Joseph as being “set apart from his brothers.” That meant that Joseph was consecrated, “separated from his brethren to become the savior of his father, his brethren, and their families” (H5139). Initially, Joseph’s brothers rejected his role in God’s plan of salvation, but when there was a famine in the land and they had no food to eat, “Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground” (Genesis 42:6) just as it had been revealed to them in a dream (Genesis 37:9). Joseph’s brothers accepted his invitation to come and live with him in Egypt so that their families wouldn’t starve to death and although Jacob was at first stunned by the news that his son Joseph was still alive, he too accepted Joseph’s invitation and went to live in the land of Goshen, a fertile valley where his family was able to thrive and multiply in numbers over hundreds of years so that God could make them into a great nation (Genesis 46:3).

Jacob’s twelve sons all participated in God’s provision for their physical needs, but their destinies with respect to the eternal kingdom that God planned to establish on earth were not the same. Jacob’s favoritism toward Joseph resulted in him receiving the blessing that was bestowed on Abraham and Isaac, the blessing that Jacob had stolen from his brother Esau (Genesis 27:18-23). Rather than passing the blessing to Joseph, Jacob gave his blessing to Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim. He said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth” (Genesis 48:15-16). Jacob’s mention of the angel who redeemed him from all evil was a reference to the man he wrestled with until the breaking of the day (Genesis 32:24), the preincarnate Jesus Christ (Genesis 32:30). Jacob had struggled all his life to prevail, first with his brother Esau and then, with his uncle Laban; but as he was about to reenter the land of Canaan, “he was shown that it was with God that he must ‘wrestle'” (note on Genesis 32:24, KJSB). It was at that time that Jacob’s name was changed to Israel (Genesis 32:28), which means “he struggles with God” (note on Genesis 32:28, KJSB).

The Greek word paliggenesia (pal-ing-ghen-es-ee’-ah) which means “(spiritual) rebirth” (G3824) is translated as the new world in Matthew 19:28-30 where it states:

“Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Paliggenesia is translated in the King James Version of the Bible as regeneration and refers to “that free act of God’s mercy and power by which He removes the sinner from the kingdom of darkness and places him in the kingdom of light; it is that act by which God brings him from death to life. In the act itself (rather than the preparation for it), the recipient is passive, just as a child has nothing to do with his own birth” (G3824).

The Greek word paliggenesia is related to the word pale (pal’-ay) which means to wrestle and “is used figuratively in Ephesians 6:12, of the spiritual conflict engaged in by believers (G3823). Paul said that “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.” It seems that the struggle that every believer engages in is first to overcome his or her own resistance to being saved by God and then, to overcome the attempts of the devil to undermine that decision. “The new birth and regeneration do not represent successive stages in spiritual experience, they refer to the same event but view it in different aspects” (G3824). Anakainosis (an-ak-ah’-ee-no-sis) means “‘a renewal’ and is used in Romans 12:2 ‘the renewing (of your mind).’ i.e. the adjustment of the moral and spiritual vision and thinking to the mind of God, which is designed to have a transforming effect upon the life; and stresses the willing response on the part of the believer” (G342).

In his parable of the wedding feast, Jesus pointed out that there was more to the process of salvation that just accepting God’s invitation to enter his kingdom. The king who prepared the banquet for his son told his servants, “‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as your find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:8-14). The wedding garment that was required to be worn by every guest was likely symbolic of the regeneration that is expected to place when a person is born again. Regeneration is an outward manifestation of being chosen by God. Paul said that God chose us in Christ “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4) and that the purpose of salvation is to “unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:10).

The Greek word that is translated unite in Ephesians 1:10, can also be translated as “gather together as one” (KJV), but the primary focus of this word is to identify the main point or objective God had in mind when he decided to save the world. According to Jesus’ parable, the servants of the king “went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good” (Matthew 22:10). When the king came in to look at the guests, he didn’t evaluate them based on their character, but focused his attention on a man who wasn’t wearing a wedding garment (Matthew 22:11). The wedding garments that were worn by the guests unified the bad and the good and made them appear to belong together, but the man who wasn’t wearing a wedding garment didn’t fit in, he was actually an imposter like the weeds that were sown among the wheat by the landowner’s enemy while he was sleeping in Jesus’ parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:25). When the king discovered the man without a wedding garment, he asked him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” (Matthew 22:12). The Greek word that is translated friend, hetairos (het-ah’-ee-ros) refers to a comrade or fellow clansman (G2083). Jesus used this word when he greeted Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane after he had been betrayed by him (Matthew 26:50). Judas was one of Jesus’ disciples and yet, he was never regenerated, he never adjusted his moral and spiritual vision and thinking to the mind of God (G342).

After he blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, “Then Jacob called his sons and said, ‘Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come” (Genesis 49:1). Jacob spent the last moments of his life revealing how each of his twelve sons fit into God’s plan of salvation. The Hebrew word that is translated called, qara’ (kaw-raw’) refers to God’s election of Jacob’s twelve sons to become his chosen people. Jesus correlated the twelve tribes of Israel with his twelve disciples when he said, “Truly I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). Jesus may or may not have intended Judas to be included in that promise, but it seems that Judas’ initial calling entitled him to special privileges that he may have forfeited by not conforming to God’s will. Jacob’s instruction to “gather yourselves together” meant that his sons were being addressed collectively and could be considered to be a single unit as when Jesus’ followers are referred to as “one body” (Ephesians 4:4). In that sense, Jacob was addressing not only his family, but also the nation of Israel and the course it would follow for the rest of its existence.

One of the most notable aspects of Jacob’s discourse was the messianic prophecy that was associated with his son Judah. He stated:

“Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be obedience of the peoples. Binding a foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes.” (Genesis 49:8-11).

The King James Version of Genesis 49:10 states, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Shiloh is an epithet of the Messiah and indicated that when Jesus was born, a gathering of God’s people became possible. Therefore, the uniting of God’s people was contingent upon Jesus coming to save the world.

Paul talked about believers being one in Christ and said, “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (Ephesians 2:11-16). The Greek term that is translated reconcile, apokatallasso (ap-ok-at-al-las’-so) is derived from the words apo (apo’) which signifies a reversal, “away (from something near)” (G575) and katallasso (kat-al-las’-so) which means “to change mutually” (G2644). Katallasso means “to change, exchange; hence of persons, to change from enmity to friendship, to reconcile. With regard to the relationship between God and man, reconciliation is what God accomplishes, exercising His grace toward sinful man on the ground of the death of Christ in propitiatory sacrifice under the judgment due to sin (2 Cor. 5:18-20). By reason of this men in their sinful condition and alienation from God are invited to be reconciled to Him; that is to say, to change their attitude, and accept the provision God has made, whereby their sins can be remitted and they themselves be justified in His sight in Christ.”

Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast illustrated God’s genuine desire to be reconciled to all of mankind by the king instructing his servants to “Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find” (Matthew 22:9). The servants “gathered all whom they found, both bad and good” (Matthew 22:10). The designation of both bad and good being gathered together indicated that the guests were not all in the same state of regeneration when they came to the feast. Jesus pointed out that “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14), suggesting that regeneration only occurs if a lost person is both called and chosen. After many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him, Jesus asked his twelve apostles, “Do you want to go away also?” (John 6:66-67). Peter answered that they had no where else to go for salvation and then, Jesus responded, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil” (John 6:70). Like the man who refused to put on a wedding garment before he entered the feast, Judas Iscariot wasn’t interested in accepting Jesus’ righteousness in place of his own. After Judas left the upper room to betray him, Jesus told the eleven apostles that remained, “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” (John 1516).

Jesus’ statement to his disciples suggests that being chosen by God is not enough to participate in his kingdom’s activities. The Greek word that is translated appointed, tithemi (tith’-ay-mee) is used by Paul in reference to his service in the ministry of the gospel (G5087). Paul said, “I thank him who has given me strength in Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Timothy 1:12-13). Paul stated in his second letter to the Thessalonians, “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Paul indicated that we are saved through sanctification and belief in the truth. The Greek word Paul used that is translated sanctification, hagiasmos (hag-ee-as-mos’) is properly translated as “purification, i.e. (the state) purity” (G38). “Hagiasmos signifies separation to God and the resultant state…Sanctification is thus the state predetermined by God for believers, into which in Grace He calls them, and in which they begin their Christian course and so pursue it.” The only way this can happen is for a person to believe in the truth of the gospel “that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).