"Sirs, What Must I Do To Be Saved?"

 [This talk was delivered by me June 1, 2025 at St. Christopher's New Carrollton; based on Acts 16:22-34, John 17:20-26; Revelation 22]

The jailer falls down before Paul and Silas and asks:
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Some Christian groups maintain that baptism is required before a person can be saved; some say that only those baptized in their denomination or in a certain way will be saved. Some say that you have to be well-schooled in a catechism prescribed by their denomination before you can be considered a candidate for salvation. And some denominations teach that once you are saved, you can be lost.

But how did Paul respond? Any body?

"Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." Let everyone say it together!

He did not say: Well, first, you have to sign up with our church and commit to tithe or otherwise your membership will be declined. Then you must complete 20 hours of doctrinal learning and pass the test at the end. If you cannot pass the test, you may need to repeat part or all of the class. And then, perhaps, we can talk about baptizing you so that you can be saved.|| Nor did Paul say – oh, well, you weren’t born into the –name the particular Christian denomination – I mean, you worshiped idols! We’re going to have to take this under advisement to figure out if you are even a candidate for salvation. And neither did Paul say – oh, your lifestyle does not sync up with Christian values; you have to change your lifestyle before we can even continue the discussion about how to be saved.

No - none of that was said nor implied. Why? Because the Holy Spirit had already positioned the jailer for salvation. You see, it was not a coincidence that Paul and Silas wound up in this particular jailer’s prison. Let’s see what God’s Word says about this. If you have your Bible or a Bible app on your phone, go to Ephesians 2. We are going to look at verses 1-10. Ask for a reader. Now as we read this passage let’s allow the Holy Spirit to teach us.

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Grace and faith. Paul writes that twice in case we didn’t get it the first time. The Grace gives us the ability to believe, the faith gives us the ability to act. We humans can presume and tell ourselves that “someday I’ll get around to ‘formalizing’ or settling into my salvation – right now I need to focus on my career/my university education/sowing my oats before I can take that next step” – as if salvation is something to be attained on a checklist of things to-do.

Believing here means committing our life to Christ. We are willing to sacrifice our perceived ‘lordship’ to make Christ our Lord and Sovereign. So the question that is begged to be asked is “what are we being saved from?” What do we think we are being saved from? Let’s look again at verses 1-3. Ask for a reader.

The same Holy Spirit moved Paul to write in Romans 6:20-23, that we are all born spiritually dead because of Adam’s sin DNA we carry. We are born slaves to sin. But by grace through the faith we receive, we are saved by the blood of Christ, and given new life (called regeneration or being born again as Jesus spoke about in John 3) – you see God is the author of our faith and of our salvation, so that no one can boast about how she or he won God over. Say Amen if you believe because what God has done in you?

In our Gospel lesson in John 17, Jesus tells us that in addition to His praying for us – yes He sits at the Father’s right hand and intercedes for us (Rom 8:34) who have been chosen and saved by the Father, Jesus put His Spirit in us – not for ornamental value or to lord over someone, but rather to humble us so that we may be one and love one another as He loves us. In the preceding verses of John 17, Jesus indicates what He is praying to the Father for us: protection in Jesus’ name and protection from the evil one; to have Jesus’ joy in us; and that the Holy Spirit would sanctify us by the truth of God’s word and the transformative work the Spirit would do in us, and that we may be with Him and see His glory.

I’d like to share a story with you that I came across. There was a man who had been convicted rightly of murder, and subsequently found guilty and sentenced to death. He was put on death row in prison. He admitted his guilt and knew that the state’s response was life for life. As his appointment to his execution grew nearer, something began stirring within him. Most of his life was a fight against the goads, and he had hurt or harmed others just as others had done to him. But one day, a noise-cancelling quiet came over his cell. When you are on death row, quietness is a luxury that you did not have, yet at that point in time, all the surrounding noise was silenced. He hears a voice that asks him why is he here? The voice not so much audibly as internally speaks his name and asks again, why are you here, and tells him that he had fought against Him much of his life. The voice begins to sound like thunder, and the cell vibrates; no one else heard it or felt it but the man. For the first time in his life the man experienced a fear that he could not fight against. It must be a dream he reasoned. Then a strange bright light engulfs the cell and the Voice says: I Am Jesus whom you have been fighting against. Now, in this place, I have chosen you to serve me and teach my word to those fellow prisoners here who are lost and to whom I will direct you, so that they may experience the release from the real prison – the prison of sin and death. I declare you righteous and have freed you and I am sending you to others in this place so that the Holy Spirit will be in you and will guide you to bring back to me those men who have been in a life-long prison like you. In this place I will use you to plant my church. Very soon you will hear footsteps that are coming to your cell to tell you that your execution has been permanently stayed and that you will be relocated to another area where I will show you all you will need to accomplish the work I have for you. Long story short, the light fades and the man hear the footsteps. Still in awe and a fear inexplicable, he watches the warden open the cell door, and tells him the news about the execution pardon. What had once been a pathway to hell, was now a mission field for God. The man asks for a good study Bible and is mentored by another prisoner who also became born again in the prison, and together they establish a prison ministry that was both challenging and rewarding.

Like Paul and the man in the story, we have all been at war with God at some time in our lives. Some of us are still kicking against the goads. These last 7 weeks have been a repeated opportunity from God, a repeated summons from the Holy Spirit God and the Bride of Christ – His Church – to Come. To come into real relationship with Jesus, to be one in Him and in the Father, and desire, thirst for Him. To Come, and drink in the water of Jesus’ truth for sanctification as His saints or people separated unto Him to be remade in His image. To be blessed with the healing tree of life that Adam and Eve forfeited. To respond to the voice who has been asking you, why are you here, still stuck in your unrighteousness? Jesus says He is coming soon, and His reward is with Him to repay according to everyone’s work. Jesus – whose very name means salvation – and in whose Name by God’s will we too will know the awe and inexplicable joy of His salvation.

In the mustard seed of faith given us by God we ask: Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And Jesus tells us, COME BELIEVE ON ME, YOUR LORD JESUS. LET ANYONE WHO IS THIRSTY COME. LET ANYONE WHO SEEKS ME COME AND TAKE THE LIVING WATER FREE–it is already paid for! AMEN! HALLELUJAH!

 We’ve come this far by faith…

"But the First Shall Be Last, and the Last Shall Be First"

In Mark's Gospel, chapter 10, verses 17-31, the Holy Spirit records through Mark the account of the rich young ruler who sought to justify his reserved right to eternal life. 

When that sad encounter ended and the young man walked away grieving, Jesus says: "“How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were shocked that Jesus could say that! Why? Because for generations, the religious leaders and the Pharisees had taught that following the rules of the Law and the Pharisaic interpretation of the Law (known as Oral Tradition or Mishnah, which is now a part of a more broader set of interpretations called the Talmud) gives a person the right to consider themselves "good", deserving of riches/wealth, position through which gave them seated authority over others who were "less". They were taught that those people who remained poor, or who could not conceive or bring to full term a child from their womb, who were born blind or deformed, or who met with some kind of calamity - well, to them it was proof that these persons or someone in their family line had to be sinners, scorners of the Mosaic Law and the teachings of the Pharisees. (compare John 9)

Jesus repeats His statement, and adds:  "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”  Jesus uses hyperbole to make the point that it will be very hard for a rich person, so schooled in and adherent to the Pharisees' "prosperity gospel", to enter into God's kingdom - which would have been the expectation of those whose wealth and comfort should have confirmed their residency there. It would be like trying to fit a camel through a sewing needle! So in just one sentence, which he repeated, Jesus overturned the prosperity teachings of the Pharisees, and the expectations of the proud. 

Well, good grief Lord, who can be saved? - was the essence of the stupefied response from the disciples.

Jesus answers them, but not how they expected: “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news [Gospel] who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life."  They were expecting Jesus to offer them some good-deed-doing options, but instead, Jesus continued with them as He did with the young ruler - you must be willing to be living sacrifices for me. That you will inherit a spiritual family through Me, and all of your needs would be met by Me, and your richest reward will be eternal life with Me. 

Then to add to that eye-opener, Jesus says at the very end of this account in verse 31, "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” Who are the "first"? Who are the "last"? What does all of that mean?

Jesus' statement ties to the running theme here, which is, how do we perceive ourselves in the perspective of deserving God's grace and favor? (Until doing some Bible research - comparing scripture by scripture as God commands, and following a discussion of this during our regular Bible study, the Spirit has begun to bring us some understanding of this difficult statement. Some of us had been taught that this referred to the order of salvation, as if we are given some ticket to show us where we are to stand in line relative to salvation. That there would be those who would be at the head of the line and others wayyyyy in the back of the line. Thus, it was a blessing from the Holy Spirit to be corrected on this matter.)

The Pharisees' prosperity gospel teachings were - to put it in the contemporary vernacular - a "set up" as regards attaining eternal life and entering the kingdom of God. It may have given a sure "slam dunk" in the minds of those who had the accoutrements to show for their adequate to fervent adherence to the Law and those interpretations of the Law (for example, the Pharisees brought forward interpretations that would cast certain people in a very good light, deserving of honor and praise, and cast others in the role of unrepentant sinners, persons without the favor of God. Like the dozens of interpretations on how to carry out the Sabbath (for an indepth look at the interpretations, view this page on Wikipedia). By such "oral traditions" and other add-ons, the Pharisees were able to set themselves apart (and those who would closely follow their teachings) pridefully, and even exalt themselves as models of a good Jew.  

In their own determination, they set the standards that should be followed to attain to righteousness. Their "faithful" obedience to the Law and traditions rated them A-one in their own sight and estimation. Their self-righteousness gave the impression that they were of great importance, and should be followed - if you, too, wanted to be recognized as righteous. Have you ever had to experience such an attitude either in or outside of the Church? Many of us have. How did we deal with their put-downs and better-than-thou attitude? That they followed the rules that they made gave them the self-embossed rubber stamp of approval before God, their self-assurance that they were, indeed, in right standing before God. Positionally in the scheme of things, they considered themselves "first" in importance and portrayal of righteousness. Proud of their pride.

In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount recorded by the Holy Spirit through Matthew in chapter 5, Jesus speaks of those principles that undergirded the Mosaic Law as originally given by Yahweh God. We are familiar with the Beatitudes topically, but do we understand what Jesus was actually teaching relative to what the Law was conveying?1/  Following the teaching of the Beatitudes, Jesus goes into the deeper meaning of certain of the commandments, indicating that God's favor was not found in shallow obedience to rules, but in relationship with Him on a personal level, in being "holy as He is holy" in mind, heart and soul. Not the "holiness" proffered by the Pharisees that amounted to self-righteousness. In that context, Jesus says, as found in verses 19-20: "Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."  The light is getting a little brighter now regarding the "first" and "last", maybe?

"Whoever teaches others to break the Law of God..." Jesus would also speak later and boldly of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and of how they had misled the people. In Matthew, chapter 23 we read of Jesus' condemnation of the scribes (those who taught the teachings of the Pharisees) and the Pharisees - who set their teachings equal to or above the Law of God. Jesus' words are damning. His judgments were also foretold by the prophet Isaiah in words God-breathed found at Isaiah 11:1-5 --

"A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill [condemnation judgment] the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist and faithfulness the belt around his loins."

The "wicked" were those who had transgressed the Law of God and were those whom God had judged and condemned; Jesus, fully God and fully man, announces the judgment of God on those scribes and Pharisees -- as a group -- and who have - in God's sight - committed atrocities that were unforgivable (most comprehensively recorded in Matthew 23). (As scripture shows us, not all the Pharisees were condemned to eternal judgment - there were individuals who dared to not fully identify with the body of Pharisees as a whole, such as Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and later through a miraculous conversion, Saul of Tarsus, and some Pharisees per Acts 15:5) The Pharisees demanded strict obedience (see John 7:47-49 for example), to the extent that they would ban individuals from the Temple for not obeying them. Per Jesus' words in Matthew 23, the scribes' and Pharisees' hypocrisy and errant teachings made persons who followed those teachings "twice as much a child of hell" - eternal death rather than eternal life.

Within the Matthew 23rd chapter, Jesus clarifies His statement in verse 31 of Mark 10 regarding the "first" and "last". Verse 12: "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted." Thus, as Jesus points out, the Pharisees themselves (and all who practice their ways even unto these modern times) have positioned themselves as above others, exalting themselves through pride, and were then and now by Jesus condemned. He condemns those who have throughout the centuries exalted themselves as demi-gods, positioning themselves to be the spokesperson of God or even equal to God. They place themselves (or even their denominations) first according to their self-righteousness to the detriment of all who would embrace through coersion or free will their false teachings and behaviors.  

We who have lived in the latter half of the 20th century and forward have witnessed the growing trend of such leadership in the Church - regardless of denomination. Those who will teach false doctrine with assurance to their hearers that it comes from God's mouth. Those who would call "right" their teachings which condone those things God says are "wrong". They exalt themselves even in false humility and demand obedience. They put themselves and their teachings "first" before or even in place of sacred doctrine. They put heavy demands on their people or congregations financially - chiefly for self-aggrandizement; e.g., who of their ilk will be "blessed" with the most luxurious vehicles and homes, or "build" a gleaming edifice that is supposed to bring glory to God, but who instead brag about what they have accomplished. God Himself demotes them in His eyes, while the world applauds them, and He counts those sins against the unrepentant; in His view, they are not only "last" but also condemned. 

Therefore, it is God who exalts the lowly and humble, who makes the "last" the "first", and it is God who humbles the proud and haughty, who makes the "first" the "last". 

As we consider the foregoing, we must ask ourselves as the disciples asked and ruminated on: how do we perceive ourselves in the perspective of deserving God's grace and favor? Can the grace of God be deserved? Are we in right standing with Him, or simply righteous and good in our assessment of ourselves? Ask the One who sees the heart to help with the answers. 

 

1/  For those who may be interested: I have written up in a separate blog post series in the form of a regular Bible study some lessons that were shared with the youth a while back on the Beatitudes. The study goes a bit further past what was shared with the youth, as it helps to highlight the principles undergirding the Mosaic Law that Jesus exposited on in His Sermon on the Mount.

Mini Series on Ephesians - The Holiness of God and Who We Are In Christ. Chapter 1: Awareness

May the LORD bless you and keep you, may the LORD make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

Awareness of Who We Are 
One of my favorite passages in the Bible (there are actually quite a few favorites!!), is the one we were blessed with in the Bible reading from Paul's epistle to the church at Ephesus. According to Bible scholars, the ancient Greek manuscripts show that the passage in Paul's letter we identify as verses 1 through 14 was a single sentence (no grammar police back then!). To me it is as if the message contained in those few verses was a singular reassurance to the church, some members of which were new to the faith and/or persons who were experiencing trials and uncertainties. The letter would have been read to the church by an elder, and no doubt exegeted or expounded upon by a leader or leaders based on Paul's two-year visit with them and the evangelism/Gospel teaching he shared. I wonder how I would have responded if I were with the believers at Ephesus hearing this letter: would I have hung on every word, or at least try to commit to memory as much as I could? How would you have responded?

Even now, reading and re-reading this passage is so encouraging - especially in the midst of a dark valley or path that does not seem to have an exit ramp. On this 'visit', let us read out loud the opening words at least a couple of times, slowly. Listen to them, and let them soak in: "To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus." (Ephesians 1:1, NRSV) 

Contrary to what some of us may have been told or taught, a Biblical saint, that is, what the Bible calls a saint is not defined as a heroic Bible character or highly pious person who has practiced good-deed-doing, or some other extraordinary act. A Biblical saint is a person made a saint (or regenerated) by God's will to become a saint - a person who He has set apart from the world culture to be holy and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, not because he or she has done something extraordinary, or has earned special merit by some other act. All who are saved and sanctified by God are saints. To be a person He has "called out" to "come in".

Yet, as early church history has shown - and even unto this day, the Roman Catholic Church has overwritten Bible theology, and in and of itself, has appointed a Roman Catholic-based group - the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (originally called the Congregation of Rites) tasked by the Roman church with the responsibility of determining if a person is worthy of canonization – i.e., the formal process to declare such person a "saint." Because of this human intervention, the church has adopted such a nonbiblical premise for awarding humans it has deemed worthy the title of "Saint."  The Bible, never uses the word saint as a title, but rather as a "position", a salvific identity, given true worshipers as those God has indwelt with His Spirit and who God has redeemed by the blood of Christ. All Christians who are saved by the blood and imputed with the righteousness of Christ are sacred vessels - saints - made by God for God. Admittedly, this truth will take some time to inculcate as we have been conditioned in the opposite direction.

Further on this point: Read the following excerpt from Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3-4. "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, just as He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in love." God the Holy Spirit, Author of the Word of God, says that God has chosen us, placed a calling on us, has set us apart from the world to become a person made new by the Holy Spirit (more of that in verses 13-14) The word "saint", which is also translated in some versions as "holy ones," appears several times in both the Old Testament and New Testament scriptures. It is derived from the Latin version of the word holy as applied to such a person (agnus), translated from the Greek word hagios, which means to be set aside or separated apart from ordinary use to be made sacred or created for a sacred purpose. A calling from God to become a Christ follower, a person who is "in Christ", is a holy calling. It is an invitation into the family of God. You and I who have been called by God to such a holy purpose, are saints made by God.

And there is more to be made aware of in the opening verses of chapter one:

The passage reveals something even more amazing: "He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world." Before the foundation of the world. That is, before the "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth", God had already determined who would be called. This is referred to as the "doctrine of election" and if you were a regular Bible study attendee you would have heard Mr. James refer to this doctrine a number of times. It is definitely one of those hard sayings in the Bible, but the essence is that God is the One Who Saves, God is the One Who Calls us to be in Christ. This is a recurring theme in chapters 1 and 2 of Ephesians, and in my messages, will likewise be repeated.
     Some of you who continue to read this message may be unsettled by what you read, as you have been raised and taught either by those who raised you, or by a minister, or by a religious rite or ritual the very opposite.

We do not, we cannot become a Christian any other way, no matter what anyone says or professes - only God alone can do this. He doesn't need help from us to make that decision. We can't inherit it from mommy and daddy, or from grandma or grandpa, or any other "ancestor". Nor does sainthood - the call to be in Christ - "rub off" on us when we are around a Christ follower; yes, we can be influenced by their example, by their sharing of the Gospel message, but it is ultimately God who chooses to stir the heart of the hearer. We cannot earn it by being "good" which is beyond impossible because we have an inherited sin nature from Adam that is anti-God. We cannot earn it through good-deed-doing; no church or religious person or religious ritual can make us Christian or saved; such activities may be able to point us to God, but they cannot usurp the power of God to save an individual. It is God alone who makes that choice - and it is God alone who has set the time and circumstance of the manifestation of that choice.

Thus, when you really sit and meditate on that tenet, that truth, can you feel the ramifications of what God has done for you and in you, if indeed you are saved, that He pierced all of eternity to choose us out of love? 

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I'll be honest with you: I often well up with tears and a heart so full of gratitude that it overflows whenever I am hit with that reality!! He chose me - me, a nobody, a "blip on the screen of eternity". I don't deserve even a passing thought by Him. Why can I honestly say that? Because: He is a God so Holy that there are no adjectives created by man to adequately describe Him. And I (along with everyone else) am a sinner that has no inherent right to even step into a space of holiness, or even on the edge of God's shadow. (Kind of like Moses and the burning bush1/: God told Moses to remove his sandals, the identity of his walk or character, because what he was entering was holy space. If Moses had instead arrogantly stepped into that holy space with the uncleansed sinful character he had, we wouldn't even know about him, for he would have been consumed by the fire he was investigating, never to be used in the holy work of liberating the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from slavery in Egypt. He would have been a "blip" that immediately disappeared, never to return. But, praise God that He had already ordained Moses for this calling, so that we are here today because he obeyed by the grace of God. Just as God called Moses and planted a faith in him that obeyed the call to approach the bush, God calls us out of the bondage and penalty of sin by endowing us with the faith to respond in obedience so that we can respond by acknowledging His holiness and "take off our sandals" to be used by God.)  

As the hymn says, "we are not worthy of all His blessings." yet God in His amazing grace and mercy chose us to be in Christ since before the foundation of the world. This knowledge and awareness of what God has done has to be the most awesome, most serious, solemn and at the same time, the most amazing and joyous thing that ever happened to us. The All-Knowing, All-Seeing, All-Powerful God who lives in the Eternal Present - a time frame we cannot even begin to wrap our brains around - has chosen us to become an heir with Christ - the same Christ Jesus who left heaven, came to earth, lived a life of righteousness, then died as a sacrifice for sin. *More about that later.*

Friends, please do not take this truth lightly. If you know that you are called by God, that you were chosen from before the foundation of the world -- as opposed to mere attraction or feel good vibes of a service, as a social interaction with family or friends, or as a duty to a lifestyle so that you are perceived as a good person by crossing a church threshold -- then please, please grab hold of this awareness, even the miracle of who you and I are and how we became to be in Christ, let it seep deeply, let it be digested into our souls and fill us with all wonderment and awe, fill us with overflowing gratitude, fill us with indescribable joy and peace, and anchor our trust in Him in all things. Mark this page in your Bibles so that you can return to it often, repeat it often, pray it often. May it shape our faith, nurture our love for and in Him, knowing that through Him we have not only eternal life in us in the person of the Holy Spirit, but that we have been gifted the promise of eternal life in the realm where we will see our Savior face to face. Knowing that by His choice of us and the imputed holiness - a holiness that cannot be naturally derived or developed by us, but rather be transferred to us by God - through the Spirit of Christ, we are being sanctified (another word derived from the Greek word hagios), transformed into the image of Christ until we reach the full measure and be "translated" to live in the heavenly places already designated for us. 

Friends, let us believe so strongly and feel the promise in our hearts and souls so deeply so that we will be able to see our lives and humanity through a mind set on God. May we consider all our sufferings (for they can be many), all our woes, our troubles, our grief, our pains - while very and sometimes brutally real and sometimes scarring - as a "slight, momentary affliction [that] is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure," i.e., they are "slight" when compared to the eternal life with Christ in the holy realm and kingdom of God that we will enjoy beyond our earthly journey. What a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus as He is! As the Gospel song says echoing scripture, "Don't wait 'til the battle is over: shout now!" Hallelujah!

Next time, what it means to be "holy and blameless", a "faithful saint", and what it means to be "blessed".

1/ See Exodus 3:1-22 for full text of Moses' calling.

Forgiveness – My Story [Inspired by the crucifixion of Christ as told from the perspective of an unnamed thief circa 31AD]

      

Seven hours is a long time when you’re in trouble. 

I keep goin’ over this in my head ‘til it hurts – “how did I wind up here?” 

*Sigh*. I’m guessin' it started when I was a youth – I got mixed up with some fellows –one of’em was the son of my mother’s sister; they were bullies and stole stuff from people who were naki, real weak. It was scary first time, but when you poor and your pockets all of a sudden got coins in'em, the fear just goes away--like a scared bird--when you hear them coins clinkin' together - mmmh – you feel rich! But, uh, if I was gonna tell the truth – course not somethin’ I be sayin’ to my partners, I really was scared each time we stole stuff from people cuz I kept asking myself, how many more times can we get away with it? But later, when there wunt nothin’ to eat, hungry took over fear; no sech thing as free food. 

Ev'rythin' was goin' good enough...somedays you gettin' enough for some food and somedays you be gettin' enough for food and shoes, and even a decent robe! Then one day, this rich man who look like he was a lawyer or sumthin was gone on the road that goes from the Engedi in the wilderness all the way to Jerusalem and Samaria. You see, there’s this little spot on the road up between the mountains so travelers can’t see what’s in front of ‘em or behind’em. It’s real wind-ee, you know? So this rich lookin' ol’ man had a bunch-a bondsmen – so you know he had coin -  they went afore him with this noisy rattlin’ cart fulla loot; couldn’t hear much by that noise. Too many of’em to try to steal from that stash. But, when they gone afore enough so you couldn’t see’em and they couldn’t see you or them master, we made our move. One of our gang gagged the ol’ man an’ pull’him down off his donkey; you could hardly hear his little whine. The fellow what’s grab’him kept him down, while the rest of us pick’d his pockets an’ stole the purse hangin’ on the animal. When we got our plunder, the fellow who was holdin’ the ol’ man down told him not to make any noise or else… we ran back to the thicket where we been hiding. I was shaking ‘cuz we never in all the time we be doin’ this – we never hurt somebody to make’em bleed; I mean the ol’ man was alive but he was scared-er than me. Never been so scared in my life! This was the most hard we e’er done to somebody – they just usually throw their money at us and run. Now, I’m the one who runnin’. I also thinkin’ – when we first started working this shohd, this robbin’, we bein' just glad to get a coin here, a coin there, but, y’know, we was “lucky” – we got away erry time! An’ we stole from a lotta people. This one, this time though -- I swore on my father’s head this gone be my last time. We could sell alla stuff we had store, an I buried some coin for me when nobody lookin’. I beg’ the gang to lay low for a while ‘til this blew over. Are greedy leader  he laughed at me. He always greedy – we threw fists once ‘cuz he wanna take mos'of da plunder, but this time he says layin’ low might be a good idea. Says we won’t be stealing for a while. I liked the sound of that, and it made me feel good an' comfutable to hear'em say so. 

Well, he was right, but not the way I wanted him to be right. 

We made it to our reggla cave where we like tuh go ‘cuz it hides from the main road. But this time, some kind of way, they found us. Where’d we mess up? We tried runnin’, but the soldiers come up on us. Guess we muss’v  run outta  “luck.” Our leader and one of the other fellows tried  fightin’ their way out – I kept tellin’em to stop, stop man, then one of’em hit one-uh the soldiers and him an’ the leader tried gettin’ way to the wilderness; in the end, though, well--they didn’t make’it. I tried to bribe the soldiers with the purse – they like bribes, but they wont having' it today for some reason. The soldiers then tie' me up with leather straps and rough rope; they make me walk all da way to Jerusalem. I knew what was comin’. Jewish men never gets a fair trial no matter what. The Romans always wanted to make an example of criminals. Ha - muss’v been my turn.

Seven hours is a  l o n g  time. A long time. 

I got hanged onna stake next to two other fellows – one was a rebel who tried-duh get some other Jews to go up on the Roman governor. He be a thief too like me and he was very angry. The other man was this Rabbi I heard ‘bout – he been upsettin’ all da villages, and making the Pharisees mad. The soldiers ha'done a number on him – he was beat up bad, and looked like they tortured ‘im; he looked half dead. He really muss’v done somethin’ wrong for all that! The fellow on my other side started cursin’ him, callin’ him a blasphemer. An’ sayin’ he was God anna  new king! I tol’ the beaten up man “if yous a god, get us down offa these crosses!” I added my own cursin’ ‘cuz I was angry I got caught an’ now here I was. Hangin’ on a crossbeam. I asked him, “if you god then why you hangin’ on a crossbar like us? Why they treat you so bad? What kind of god are you?” Only, I wished right then he was God, ’cuz seven hours is a long time to hang on a crossbar ‘n’ stake.

The day wored on, an’ the sun’s heat made the air feel like it’s full of needles. The angry fellow kept on with his rilin' on the tortured man; kep’ callin’ him Yeshua, which kina made me laugh ‘cuz the name means “God saves.” Yeah, right. So I’s in and out of consciousness. But one of those times I start thinking about it -- then I 'emember seein’ this Yeshua walkin’ with a crowd some time afore all of this. . .hey! He’s da one that healed the lame man! That man’s legs were all messed up – he’s always beggin. I’s on the edge of the crowd but I saw most of it with my own eyes. Thought it was a scam though… It was hard to remember who this Rabbi was ‘cuz I mean his face so messed up. An’ I heard him mumblin’ words I just barely make out over the angry fellow’s yellin’ – like, he was talkin’ to somebody and tellin’em that the people should be forgiven. 

Seven hours is a long time to hang on a crossbar and stake… 

So I come to ag’n. Angry fellow looked all used up. The Rabbi, Yeshua, was really lookin' bad and in lotsa pain. But his words—his words about forgiveness was still ringin’ in my ears – I saw what he done; I was even one of the people that the wild man John baptized. For repentance. I, I remembered seein’ Yeshua near the river one day and the wild man John said that Yeshua was the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Someone even said that He was The Messiah!! Was it true? Could it be true? I prayed for the first time in a long while that it could be true an’ that I was next to somethin’ or somebody divine. 

I was in the seventh hour on this cross and know’d my life would soon be over... 

Then Angry fellow woke up and tried to yell at Yeshua again—pantin’ with each word. With the little bit of force I had left I told angry man “to stop cuz this man, Yeshua, is innocent. We’a payin’ for our sins, but this man he’s not sinned.” I heard myself say those words like an echo. Was I still alive, then? I looked up, then the Rabbi Yeshua looked at me with eyes that seem to look all the way into my soul.  An' I felt somethin' like I nevah be feelin' before. I felt peace!  There was something ‘bout them eyes. 

With slow breaths I ask the Rabbi, the Messiah: ‘Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And the Lord, the Lamb, hangin’ next to me, and still lookin’ in my eyes said, “Truly I will remember you and you will be with me in Paradise.” 

I was forgiven! I am forgiven! I wanted to shout it out loud, but it came out in gasps. I prayed to God in heaven “toda, thank you” and tol’ the Rabbi, The Messiah Yeshua, with tears in my eyes, “toda , toda,” and I wont sure why; I just knew inside somethin’ had happened I didn’t deserve. 

See: seven hours is a long time to hang on a crossbar ‘gainst a rough wood stake only knowin’ ‘til right now, my last hour, my life had no meaning. This seventh hour changed everything—I was forgiven by Him.

Then the soldiers broke Angry man’s legs and he cried out loud cursin’ the emperor; he died just a little while later. An’ then a soldier stuck a spear in The Messiah’s side and water and blood came out. When the spear went in, I heard’im scream what should have been a scream heard all over Judea!, but his voice was thick with pain and the scream a whisper. After a short while, He said real soft strainin’ his voice, ‘I am a-thirst,’ then another soldier ran and got him a sponge soaked in vinegar, but a'fore he could suck good on the sponge, I heard him say, “It is finished.” And he died. 

Seven hours is a long time to hang nailed to a rough wood cross. 

I heard a soldier say that this Rabbi Yeshua, My Messiah, was truly the Son of God. And then I knowed -- I knowed for sure I was forgiven an’ I was gonna see my Lord in Paradise! 

An’ then it was my turn. In my head, my face was smilin’; I had spoken with the Son of God – the Son of God!! uhg! the soldiers broke my legs, then the world around me became dim, dim, then dark.

Seven hours is a long time to hang on a rough wood cross. But, 

Paradise is forever! 

                                                               ~The beginning~

                    ~by an unnamed thief at Calgary in Judea circa AD 31~

The Unpardonable Sin - What is It and Why?

This post was added in April 2024 during our Bible study on Luke's Gospel.

Luke 11:14-23 and its synoptic (parallel) account in Mark 4:20-30, also parallels Jesus' words recorded by Luke in chapter 12, verses 8 to 12. The repeated statements speak of sin against the Holy Spirit. These parallel accounts also illumine the mystery of the nature of the Triune God. Luke 12 and Mark 4 specifically note that sin and blasphemy against the Father and Son will be forgiven, but one who sins and blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Frankly, this is one of the hardest statements in scripture. What is also illumined here is the holiness of God  - the depth of which we cannot grasp, and His choice to show mercy to whom He wishes to show mercy. Mercy is not a required response from God; do not be misled: God owes no one mercy! (another hard statement) He says so Himself:  "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy to whom I will show mercy." (Exodus 33:19; Romans 9:13-18)  I have attempted within my understanding of the Scriptures to offer what is meant by the deadly penalty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit; see the attached below. 

Unpardonable Sin – Jesus’ Message on Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

The matter raised in Luke’s Gospel and Mark’s Gospel concerning sin and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit illumines for us even more the great mystery of the Triune Godhead – a mystery that cannot in human terms be fully explained nor comprehended.

Before we look at that dynamic, let us get a definition of blasphemy: Merriam-Webster says that “blasphemy, in a religious sense, refers to great disrespect shown to God or to something holy, or to something said or done that shows this kind of disrespect; heresy refers a belief or opinion that does not agree with the official belief or opinion of a particular religion.” Vocabulary.com puts it this way: “If you're saying something bad about a god, or taking the Lord's name in vain [the opposite of the Lord’s prayer where we say “Hallowed be your name”] or, questioning a religious institution in any way, you could be accused of blasphemy — insulting something sacred.” Blasphemy also includes a total and continued disregard or rejection of something holy or sacred. Since the Godhead is 3 in 1, i.e., all are co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, how can only one of the Godhead be insulted to the extent of unforgiveness?

I’ll be honest – I do not know. I cannot on my own provide any verifiable light through any speculation - I can only go by what I am finding in scripture, and in researching Biblical references and works that exposit on this matter to get as close as possible (still lightyears away I’m sure) to a way to understand this. The following is a very limited explanation; one day, as the Bible says, we will be able to see and understand more fully some of the spiritual mysteries that challenge us now. Yet, I suspect that even then there will not be full disclosure as God is beyond the comprehension of any creature!

We agree on humans’ inability to fully explain and comprehend the Trinity; we can only offer very weak examples to try to illustrate the complex revelation of the Godhead. Personally, I only have very weak and very limited examples, which most assuredly pale in comparison to our Triune God. I share what I’ve found thus far.

(1)Let’s say that a trade association has 3 senior vice presidents who are all co-equal in executive authority, who co-exist within the association structure with responsibilities equal in importance to ensure a well-run organization. But they each possess a specific role unique to them within the context of the organization’s mission. One of the SVPs has the oversight, authority and leadership role of being an intermediary between the company’s paying member companies so as to develop a coalescense with their companies’ goals, and to develop in thought and action the face and voice of the industry. Another SVP has the oversight, authority, and leadership of the company’s Human Resources division to ensure that the company is well- and dynamically staffed, that all employees carry out their duties, follow company guidelines and that the company is in compliance with DOL regulations, and work as a team to promote the industry’s goals. The other SVP has oversight, authority, and leadership of the company’s financial assets and standing, ensuring that budgets are properly met, that financial assets and liabilities are correctly accounted for under existing national accounting standards, that the company is financially solvent and profitable, with an excellent credit standing that ensures the association’s goals will be undergirded by the financial wealth required for continuation of the industry’s goals. Each executes their unique but equal-in-authority roles as a leadership team to ensure that the mission of the organization is fully realized.

(2)Another example I came across: a Christian man whose three main roles and identities are the “priest” or faith leader of his family, a husband, and a father. The man physically does not change with each identity or role; those roles are unified within him.

Again, the foregoing are very weak examples! Like negative 1 minus 1! And are more symbolic or metaphorical than solid, literal explanation!

As noted, the Triune Godhead – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are co-equal, co-existent, and co-eternal. They operate as One in three personhoods. God the Father begot God the Son and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are consubstantial, each person of the Godhead being the One Eternal God and in no way separated. All alike are uncreated and omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are understood by and revealed to us primarily within the context of salvation and worship, as explained in Scripture. As the Godhead they are in agreement in all things; again, our best understanding of our Triune God of Love is within the context of God’s salvation plan. God the Father “orchestrates and creates the plan”, God the Son implements the plan, and God the Holy Spirit administers the plan. Who was it that “administered” the first advent of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Who was in Him everyday during His humanity? Jesus further and succinctly describes the Holy Spirit’s role in the salvation plan in John 14-17 (see, for example, 14:16,26; 15:7-15,26-27; and 17:11-12,17-19). The Holy Spirit likewise God-breathed the words of the Father and Son to the epistle writers, who explain the salvation plan in depth. The Holy Spirit’s work includes convicting the world, that is, declaring the world to be wicked and sinful, deserving of God’s wrath, unable through any human effort to reconcile a relationship with a Holy God. He declares the need of a Savior-Redeemer. He indwells those believers who have been redeemed and saved through the implementation of the Son who shed His blood to cleanse them of the sin guilt and penalty. Ephesians, as in other letters, speaks to the salvation orchestration and implementation, and Romans, as well as the other epistles, speaks to the work of the Holy Spirit in believers. The Holy Spirit speaks and administers the Word of God in the lives of believers, God-breathing The Truth into each one continually as they feed on His Word, thus sanctifying each through transforming and regenerating the sin-laden hearts and souls of believers into the new life as children of God and heirs. (I have only pointed to two passages; you will find the salvation message and planall throughout the epistles.)

So here is what I think to be the crux of the matter as to the sin and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: Rejecting the sacred work of the Holy Spirit, continuing in unbelief and defiant irreverence, resisting His work and refuting His conviction, denying His sentience and speaking of Him as being a created force of God – thus denying His personhood, discredits and blasphemes Him. Such persons who reject the directions, signs, warnings, the opportunities that He repeatedly makes available to enable persons to do that “U-turn” back to God the Father and God the Son, who are rejecting His calling for whatever reason, continue condemned and on the “broad road” that leads to the just punishment of eternal separation from God (Ephesians 2; Romans 5:1-9). “Continue condemned” because as Ephesians and Romans tells us plainly, all of the offspring of Adam were born dead spiritually, with the prognosis of permanent death – eternal darkness and separation from God, unless by God’s grace they believe and trust in Christ and thus escape the wrath of God, who imputes Christ’s righteousness into them, placing His Spirit within them.

There are some clerics who teach against the Holy Spirit, who claim that the whole world is going to be saved according to their narrow interpretation and twisting of scripture (see varying examples here and here). They also teach against the Holy Spirit through false doctrine, refuting or substituting the truth (see 2 Peter 3:15-17). There are those who say that since Jesus ascended into heaven and no longer is physically present to perform miracles, that it is not possible to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Yet this Holy Person of the Godhead has already declared that such continued sin against Him equates to blasphemy, an unpardonable sin. 

 

…this is how I am understanding this matter at this time (April 2024) based on what I am gleaning from Scripture and hearing. I still have ????? and will continue to have them. But what I will not question is what the Holy Spirit has already stated clearly, speaking and testifying by and with the words of the Father and Son as He is charged to do.

Sometimes... A Prayer Narrative

Following the pandemic shutdown, the number of people returning to the church building in person for worship has dropped significantly. At least in mine and other mainline faith communities I know about. People have become complacent, dare I say lazy, and prefer to have Zoom turned on, cameras turned off, so that they can stay in their bed clothes to 'attend' worship service. This is not secret information nor privileged secrets - folks have talked about these gaps over social media pages for a while. Persons who must have forgotten about how God wants to be worshiped - compare Exodus 19:9-11,17 and Nehemiah 8:1-8; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 11:17-22; Ephesians 5:18-20; Hebrews 10:25. We praise God that He had made available the telecommunications that allowed us to worship remotely when everything was shutdown and person-to-person contact was dangerous. We did not have to 'skip a beat' in our worship. However, that was not to be a permanent situation; that situation has been suspended. 

And here we are. Kind of like the African Americans in remote places of the south who did not know that the Civil War had ended and slavery abolished - they believed that the status quo was to be the status quo forever. That slavery would never end. Some believed they were still slaves even throughout the remainder of the 19th century. That's the locked mindset of some professing Christians. 'I'm used to being a remote 'worshiper' having only myself to deal with. Getting washed up, dressed and traveling to a building is not necessary in order to worship.' Worshiping in person has become more of 'I'll worship when I get there - if I choose to come. Who knows? Zoom is so easy - all I have to do is click some keys and 'I'm in'. 

Not only has in-person worship become distasteful, Bible study has become less of a priority so that it is no longer on the menu for too many persons who profess to follow Christ. There is no longer the appetite for it to the extent it once was. I'm not talking the kind of Bible study that is lecture-driven and that are one-way orally so all you do is sit back and maybe look up a scripture during the talk or view it on the mag screen. Or online studies where you are the only participant - where there is no 'iron sharpening iron'. Nor am I talking about personal study and Bible reading time which are essential daily disciplines. These are commendable for the purpose they serve, but is not the same as small group Bible study. I'm talking about members of a faith community coming together with Bibles open and discussing together what the Spirit wants us to learn during that session. Some churches are able to do a hybrid type of group Bible study so that some meet in person and also accommodate via Zoom members who cannot drive, who may be using their work break to participate, are at home with their young ones and might be able to listen and engage in discussion a little at a time, etc. Other churches may do Bible study solely on Zoom where vibrant discussions take place.  Many church leaders have sought ways to engage their members in this vital spiritual discipline through as many practical means that are available, and yet, participation has either decline or has become almost nonexistent. I may be out of line, but I have to ask myself, how can we legitimately refer to ourselves as followers of Christ, if we do not study the scriptures together? How will we come to a knowledge of the truth? When a person of 50 has attended church services for all of his or her life, and is unable to grasp who the "Let us" of "Let us create mankind in our image" is - which is fundamental/foundational truth, how has such a person been using their Bible? Is it truly an open book, a place to seek God and determine His will, or is it on the shelf? What has happened to the desire to see the treasure God has given us in His Word, to taste and see the goodness of God throughout His Word? Do we even consider it to be God's Word, to even consider that it is meaningful for all who consider themselves human, created in God's image? Christ values every utterance from the mouth of the Father, so much so that He is called The Word! That He is the wisdom that we are to seek in scripture. He shared scripture amongst His disciples in an interactive way all during his ministry. Sometimes, it seems that we have recreated worship to please ourselves so that it is just enough 'Christian' in it to get by. What god does a person with that mindset serve? When will a person who belittles the gift of God's Word realize that with such distaste, how can you be saved? What would you even be saved for if worshiping God in the way He wants to be worshiped has no appeal for you?

'Thus saith the Lord:'  (Hebrews 2:1-4)   1)Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2)For if the message declared through angels proved valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, 3)how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was confirmed for us by those who heard him, 4)while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will. 

Sometimes, only a very small percentage of a congregation may gather for Bible study. Where are those who bend the knee to commune at the Lord's Table, for it is the same Word who commanded the observance of this New Covenant? I ask God will it always be this way? Am I doing enough to engage others? Please tell me what more I should be doing! [I want to say to those who give the excuse - "well, I don't want to seem ignorant because I don't know all the answers and embarrass myself! So maybe later." -- I want to ask them, "Be sure to rehearse that excuse convincingly well, because Judge Jesus is coming soon and He will be asking."] 

But a recent small group study completed, and after the closing prayer, the picture that came to my mind was Abraham speaking to God, who was angry with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah: "How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin!" and who was poised to destroy completely every human in those places. Read the account in Genesis 18:22-33 in your own Bible. Abraham began to plead with God because his nephew Lot and his family lived in that wicked place. Lot would go to the gate - which in those times was like the convening place for conferring with the leaders of the city or town and where they held their town meetings. In that way, he figured he had bought time or some kind of favor to be relieved of any unwanted assault or attention, for the people were aggressive with their sexual immorality and lusted with heat - seeing any and everyone as someone to be joined with regardless of gender or species. Lot thought that he had made peace enough with the people so that they would not prevail against his family. The money and illusion of power and importance Lot enjoyed took precedent over hating the very thing that God hated, and instead, deluding himself into justifying his continued presence in that wicked and evil city was not an issue for him.

And Abraham, some distance away, knowing that God was going to wipe out completely both cities, kept asking God these 'what if' questions: what if like 50 people might be righteous in the city, will you still destroy everyone--what if forty-five are in the city, will you still destroy everyone--what if, what if, what if, and Abraham, sensing that he's walking a thin line here, stops at what if ten - hoping that would cover Lot's situation. I was thinking, what if, Lord, our study group was only 30 people, would you still show us your favor and blessing? What if there were only twenty-five of us, would you still show us your favor and blessing? What if, what if, what if, what if, what if there are only 4 of us studying your Word together regularly, would you still show our congregation favor and blessing?  

Lord, not only am I praying for the 100, or the 30, or the 4, but Lord I am asking you to please send more laborers into this harvest, persons who believe Bible study is a vehicle to open our minds, hearts to the revelation of You, to knowing You, to growing closer to You, to living in this wicked world and yet not being of the world, that it is within your Word the stuff to teach us to pray and to shape and inform our prayers so that they will be in alignment with your will, to understand your will for each of us? I should be praying, What if our congregation could be a congregation that studied your Word zealously and applied it? What would our congregation look like?  What if we choose not to neglect so great a salvation, so great because your only Son was hanged on a cross to make a way for us to know you, to commune with you, to worship you and serve you and each other? What would our congregation look like then? What if we obeyed Christ's commandments - for which we must open His Word to find - with our whole hearts, minds and souls - what would our church community look like? What could we accomplish in our surrounding neighborhoods? What gifts could we employ that You have or would graciously be giving us to use to your glory and to serve others which will bring people to Christ? 

Sometimes, I wonder what if and pray, like now, to see such faith in action before I leave this earth, to see more congregations become on fire for Christ and what He would have us do. That we would be the community of love, that we would enjoy learning more and more about our Lord so that we can effectively lead our households to become lovers of righteousness? Lord, what if we prayed your Word together regularly? What if what we do daily will cause you to say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant'? 

Why would you let us build a house for you if we are not worshiping you now in the way you would have us do? If we fail, would You not be justified to take that house from us and give it to those who have a zeal for you and who sacrificially serve you daily? 

Father, I beseech your mercy, I offer up confession that we have forsaken what identified us as your children. Like the prodigal, we left well dressed, full of life, eager to be independent. We are now in tatters, unsure of where we are in your plan, unsure of our ability to do anything, and with our faces pressed into the mire. If it is what it would take, please chastise us, also, so that we can be shocked back into spiritual sanity and return to you without question, without hesitation. Lord, for the sake of your name and in the power of the Holy Spirit may He saturate us in awareness of what we must do now, rather than choosing to wait "for just the right time, sometime." Today is the day of salvation, now is the time to return. Praying for that miracle, Lord, praying and trusting that our sometime has come to fullness and our what ifs into faith in action. In Jesus Name. Amen.

The Ten Plagues on Egypt - Why and on Whom

Almost every Sunday School curriculum - at one time or another - has covered the 10 plagues on Egypt, as it covered the narrative of God's rescue of His people from Egyptian bondage and slavery. Let's refresh our memories on what they were, and then we will attempt to answer the "why and whom": turn in your Bible to Exodus chapter 7, beginning at verse 1 for context and read of the plagues through chapter 12. As you read the account, try to immerse yourself into the story, either as an eyewitness or better yet, in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived so that you would have experienced what they experienced.

As a serious Bible student will know, the deliverance from Egypt is only one part of the full story. And the full story is only one part of God's overarching plan of salvation (see John 3:16-21). So we start in the Garden of Eden, we witness the betrayal by Adam and Eve and the devil's deception as he poses/speaks through a snake (sidebar: satan the devil has now had several thousand years to "perfect" his evil intention of turning all of mankind against God - and he is really good at it). Being ousted from the perfect Garden, Adam and Eve are in the wilderness suffering from the sin condition that has come upon them physically, mentally, and spiritually. This condition settles into their "DNA", i.e., it is a permanent characteristic of humanity, so that it is passed on from generation to generation. Yet, it was not only impacting humans, but every living thing over which God had initially given them dominion (Genesis 1:26-28; compare Romans 8:19-22) 

In only a handful of generations following the fall in the Garden, the wickedness of human mindsets, morals, and a seeking after other gods had spread throughout the entire inhabited earth; God was grieved over what sin had accomplished in humans so quickly, and how the earth had fared under the 'supervision' of mankind and, justifiably, because of the ravage that sin had caused, God sought to remove that wickedness from the earth. (see Genesis 6:5-8) He would call a faithful man, Noah, to be a witness and to forth-tell as he built the ark of salvation according to God's specific criteria that God's wrath had declared a destruction of sin and those who rejected Him in due time. For 100 or so years, the opportunity was there; however, only Noah and his family - 8 human souls, along with the God-directed collection of land and winged animals would survive the punishment (Genesis 6:8-8:22).

In time, God calls Abram from Ur of the Chaldeans to serve Him. He was to go to Canaan and settle there to fulfill another step in God's salvific plan - the raising up of a people with whom He would come into covenant relationship with. God promised Abram, whose name would be changed by God to Abraham, that he would have offspring more numerous than the stars of heaven. The LORD promised the land of Canaan to Abraham as the place where his descendants would dwell (Genesis 12-17). God would, at the appointed time, open Sarah's womb so that she would bear a son, Isaac, who would be Abraham's promised heir. God also prophesied through Abraham what He would do at an appointed time - offer up His own Son (Genesis 22). Isaac would eventually marry, and would become father to Jacob who, through Divine intervention, would come to be known as Israel. Jacob would become the promised heir, would have 12 sons. One of his sons, Joseph, would be sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, and eventually come to be in Egypt. Through a series of Divinely-willed events, Joseph would become the vice regent of Pharaoh, with the authority of a ruler over Egypt. A famine was foretold that would overtake the region from Canaan to Egypt and surrounding areas. Jacob (Israel) would take his entire household - family, servants, slaves - and relocate in Egypt to join his son Joseph. Years later, Joseph would die; however, the Israelites would be fruitful and multiply in the land of Goshen in southern Egypt. Because Joseph had garnered through the grace of God favor of the Pharaohs, the Israelite people lived well and flourished for about 400 years. However, a new Pharaoh would arise who developed a hatred for the Israelite people, eventually enslaving them and relegating them to captivity in the land. 

And so we now come to the appointed time for God's deliverance of His people. God raised up for Himself an unlikely prophet named Moses, whose life God had preserved despite Pharaoh's mandate for all male Israelite infants to be killed. Moses would come to live in Pharaoah's household until he was 40 years old; Moses would kill an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite, news of which spread like wildfire. Moses escaped to the land of Midian, where he would remain in hiding for 40 years as a shepherd. God was ready to use Moses, even though Moses was reluctant to be the leader and God's agent to deliver His people. God would call Moses' brother, Aaron, to join him for this amazing calling. They were to go to Pharaoh and deliver the message from The LORD, the I AM: "Let My people go." God told Moses that He would harden Pharaoh's heart, i.e., would leave Pharaoh to his own arrogance and rejection of Israel's God, never to relent of his choice to go against the will of The LORD (Genesis 3:19; Exodus 4:21). 

The Israelites were at first very skeptical of Moses' authority and mission, and blamed him for the added labor punishment that Pharaoh had chastised them with. Even Moses became discouraged when Pharaoh immediately rejected God's demand and the people railed against him! God would respond to Moses complaint by using Moses to reveal more fully to the people who the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is, and what He was about to do. God would tell Moses that He was making Moses like God to Pharaoh, and that Aaron would be the prophet / spokesperson. God confirmed again that Pharaoh's heart would grow harder with each successive sign, until God forces His hand and causes Pharaoh to surrender. 

THE PLAGUES

God had ordained 10 plagues to befall Egypt, chiefly to glorify Himself before the human leader Pharaoh and confirm His Sovereignty, His claim to the people of Israel  The people of Egypt would suffer greatly because of the rejection by their god, Pharaoh, of the I AM's demand to release all of the Israelites. These plagues would be unlike anything Egypt had encountered before, impacting both man and beast and the very land itself - defying the Egyptian gods of land, water and creation -- Geb and Khnum, Aker, Amun, and leaving even the war god Anhur, weak and impotent. They would befall the people in succession - one after another, even though the intervals between each varied. They would come to fear the Almighty God of the Israelite people and eventually do all they could to placate their God and turn his wrath away.

What is as interesting to a Bible student is the fact that not only did the Egyptians need to witness the revelation of the God of Israel, but also God's people, the Israelites, needed to know who the I AM, the LORD was. They had not had a personal relationship with this God about whom they spoke about from generation to generation. They did not know him aside from being the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," their forefathers. They did not know Moses aside from the couple of times they interacted with him; the older Israelites who were still alive would remember Moses as a prince of Egypt until he fell out of favor, which would have cut off any authority he may have had until that time. They have only heard the words that Moses told them were from the I AM; they did not have intimate knowledge of who this "God" was. They lived as a people in a land of multiple gods for every experience in life in the culture of Egypt. The descendants of Israel enslaved in Egypt needed to believe in a God who was great, who was powerful, and who would come to their rescue. They needed to know Him as Sovereign over all creation - not just a favored deity of their forefathers. God would show them who He was, and what His power and authority were: He would allow the Israelites a taste of that power and authority by permitting them to know and even be exposed to the first three plagues that God would pronounce against Egypt!

There is a point upon which not all Bible scholars agree, based on how they interpret Exodus 7:19-21, 8:2-6, 16-18 and the reference to the "whole country of Egypt." But, as we approach the account of the fourth plague - the flies, notice this new statement in verses 21-22, which is not found in the first three plague pronouncements: "21Otherwise, if you won’t let my people go, I will send swarms of insects [flies] on you, your servants and your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of insects, and likewise the ground they stand on. 22But I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live — no swarms of insects will be there — so that you can realize that I am Adonai, right here in the land."  A similar statement would be repeated for the next five plagues. The final plague, the tenth plague, God would spare the lives of the firstborn only within the homes where there was sacrificial blood on the lintel. Placing the blood on the lintel was a matter of obedience and faith; by the tenth plague the Israelites should have developed a saving faith and thus obeyed the command. The command was given to the Israelite people so that they would not experience this final plague; if they chose not to follow the commandment, their firstborn would die just as surely as the Egyptians who were not included in this 'salvific' act of faith.

I encourage us to read and re-read these accounts. The reason for doing so: if you have lived in Christ for any amount of time, you will have experienced suffering - not because God does not care for you or has abandoned you, nor necessarily because you/we have done something wrong (John 10:27-28). We may -- not everyone of God's people, but there may be some among those who will, for example, be impacted by extreme weather events and lose materials things as their neighbors around them have, or who may be the victim of an automobile accident like others have suffered who may not be children of God, or other set backs - even unexpected death (Romans 14:7-9; Philippians 2:25-30). Why would God allow these things to befall those whom He has called to be His children? No doubt, the Israelites may have asked the same question, or began to doubt on the deliverance that had been promised. 

We may never know the exact, primary reason. But we will experience, by God's grace, a newer intimacy with God, a new revelation of who He is even in the throes of something negative. God does not promise us that He will make us live forever in these damaged bodies and souls (Romans 7:23-24); He promised to never leave us. He uses the hard things and turns them into something good for a reason that has to do with our eternal souls and eternal relationship with Him (Romans 8:28). While the Israelites would have been pained for a short period of time, their experience nevertheless gave them a new understanding of who the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was. That He was not some mythical person, nor far away unsympathetic god type, or the god of cultural lore. He is real, He is Almighty, Creator, Sovereign, and Deliverer (Exodus 15:1-18). The Great I AM wants us to know Him as such also; in the new covenant that we are blessed to be under, our future is one that would have been hard for the Israelites of Moses' day to understand. Because our future is founded in the blood of Jesus and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Yet, in both cases, RELATIONSHIP is at the heart of the matter. 

Is our relationship with God beyond stories, Christmas and Easter, good times and material blessings? Do we seek to obey Him by knowing His word and keeping it? Do we long to live a life of sacrifice to Him, or do we long for the days before we knew God when we felt free to live our lives to please ourselves? Have we engaged in relationship with God to know all that He has revealed about Himself, or do we 'engage' with God long enough to get the rewards? These are tough questions; these are tough times. As God shows us in His Word: Today is the day of salvation; do not harden your hearts in rebellion and suffer a death that one can never rise from.

Special Mid-Summer Bible Conversation on Hard Sayings in the Bible (Question 3 - Born Again))

  

1.    John 3 Rebirth - "Being Born Again" & Salvation. This passage is so loaded doctrinally!   I think the three most offered answers when people are asked if they are born again are: “I don’t believe in that holy roller stuff!” (no doubt referring to the frantic behavior of some who are presumed touched by the Spirit during worship); the second is, “what do you mean?”; and, lastly, “I don’t know!” Some believe that being born again means that God refreshes us with His Spirit, which would infer that we are reborn several times.

God reveals to His people the character or operationality of salvation for believers. (we find a further level of understanding in John 4.) Salvation was not earned by being legally ‘right’ by an obedience to the Law. God says that the 10 commandments and the other Mosaic laws could not eternally save; in the Law God demonstrates how to worship Him, how to rely solely on Him for our needs; He refers to the Law as a "disciplinarian" that would reveal our need for a Savior, but which could not eternally save someone. Nicodemus and other religious leaders of his time relied upon both the Torah – God authored,  and the Talmud, or the “Oral Law” – human interpretation of the Torah. Holding fast to both the Law and interpretations developed by the priests and rabbis was the standard of righteousness that was thought to make them worthy of life in the world to come.

Before we go into the deep exposition of Jesus’s words in John 3, let’s look at Ephesians 2 to get a fundamental understanding of salvation.

 

Evangelicals and others generally believe that salvation is a synergistic process – that before you can be saved, you have to develop faith, so that salvation is dependent first upon actions we take. That is, according to some beliefs, it is our efforts through which we can negotiate a peace with God that makes us worthy of salvation. Or, more commonly, “you have to get right before you come to Church!” Reading the first 3 verses of Ephesians 2 we are told by the Holy Spirit a different beginning. [read a couple of times from different versions - easy to do at the Biblegateway.com link above] Can a dead person believe in God and develop faith? Because the Spirit is telling us here that we were dead – D E D D -- spiritually. We were consumed by lusts that lent to trespasses – the act of going outside of the law into forbidden area – and by a myriad of sins, which are inherent in us and easily influenced by the satanic world culture in what we think, do, and are.

 

Answer this: when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, was Lazarus really dead? Or was he in-between life and death in some suspended state of consciousness? Put a pin in the Ephesians passage for a minute and Let’s see what the Spirit tells us at John 11 about Lazarus. We’ll read verses 11-17, and then pick up at 38-39. 

Not only was Lazarus dead, but his body was beginning to decay – there was already a stench emanating from Lazarus’ tomb! Lazarus was dead – D E D D. There was no life in him – not even one gasp of breath. So when Jesus got to the tomb, did He wait for Lazarus to come out simply because He was present there in front of the tomb? Did the mourners – both genuine and in tradition – through their tears and crying, through their pleadings, cause Lazarus to come back to life? Or was Lazarus starting to remove the many bandages that were on him so that he could be ready for Christ’s arrival? NO! NO! Read verses 41-44. No matter how much crying and mourning, no matter that the family believed that “someday” in “the resurrection” that their beloved brother would return to them – someday, somehow, somewhere. No. It was only by the power of God in Christ that Lazarus is raised from the dead. Jesus COMMANDS Lazarus to come out! He commands him. It was not until then that Lazarus could move, become sentient, become alive and obediently come forward from the tomb (since he was bound head to toe, some scholars suggest that he came forward without walking). He was made alive by Christ, regenerated/re-created. Regenerated is a word you’ll hear church folk say sometimes; it means, relative to being born again, to form or be formed again; come or bring into existence once again spiritually through the Holy Spirit.

Going back to Ephesians 2 again at verses 1-3: Spiritual death is as insusceptible by human efforts as was Lazarus’ physical death. What is worse is that the spiritual death which we ALL walked in – you know that expression, “dead man walking”, was and is the result of the inherited sin nature from Adam. Our already condemned state of spiritual death was exacerbated with our being infused with a world culture influenced and guided by the devil and his demons. We were objects of God’s wrath, because God loathes sin and does not “entertain”, i.e., He does not become Abba to spiritually dead people. We were born spiritually dead, dead relationship with God, and remain so until a similar command is given to us to become alive spiritually. let’s pick up at verse 4 through verse 10. [reader reads it] What does the Spirit say had to occur before we could be saved? [God had to make us alive; He calls us out of our spiritual death (KJV says quickened)], He without any help from us resurrects us or raises us up back to spiritual life, raises us up as it were to life in the Spirit, placing His Eternal Spirit within us to regenerate us and deposit a new faith instantaneously as He did with Lazarus. In the face of those Bible truths, the thought that we of our own volition according to evangelicals and others who make that claim, can prepare ourselves to be saved, can clean up our life to become fitting before a Holy God, can read scripture and understand it and then apply it in a way that pleases God is ludicrous! Can dead people think? Can dead people reason?

Do you think that being raised from the dead changed Lazarus’ outlook on life? When God raises us from spiritual death to spiritual life, He performs an unequivocable miracle within us where we not only come to life but are endowed with the faith needed to please God. God has chosen – we did not originate that choice - to create new life in us, restores us to spiritual aliveness. This is the "process" referred to in John 3 as being born again.

So with this detailed backdrop on God's salvific plan, we can now 'unpack'  Jesus' explanation to Nicodemus of being born again. We’ll take it step by step.

(a) Nicodemus bravely comes at night to where Jesus is staying. What he had to say he did not want to ask in an open forum or on the street as many of the Pharisees liked doing with the purpose of tripping Jesus up. Nicodemus wanted more than what his opening words said; Jesus, who was fully God and fully man knew in His Godship what was on Nicodemus’ heart, what brought him out of his home at night to seek Him out Jesus, and so Jesus wastes no time getting to the heart of the matter. Cool, right? Read verse 2. During the course of the conversation Jesus would ask Nicodemus how could he, i.e., Nicodemus, who was a teacher of Israel not understand the requirement of being born again and what that means. Even today, those who have a standing within the Church of God are still puzzled by what it means, although they have before them God’s Word of truth that provides the answer.
(b) Entering the kingdom of God – was Jesus saying that in order to go to heaven you have to be born again, thus equating the kingdom of God with heaven? It is true that many equate God’s kingdom with heaven since God and Christ sit on thrones in the Kingdom. In studying this passage, I am thinking that Jesus, in speaking of the kingdom of God, means not just the ‘heavenly’ Kingdom, but His universal kingdom – God’s rule, over those who are His Church – both here on earth and in heaven. It is not a singular geographical location, nor is it solely heaven. I mean, what did Jesus teach us to pray in the Lord’s prayer about God’s kingdom? [allow answer] That God’s kingdom would also be on earth. So the kingdom is borne from heaven, "from above", – i.e., God’s rule emanates from heaven. Thus, I think that Jesus was referring to entering into God’s theocratic spiritual domain where worshipers on earth and heaven obey God and do the work and will God has appointed them to do. The Holy Spirit binds together believers who are living on earth into this kingdom domain which is growing with believers daily. Jesus’ parables of the kingdom refers to this change of rule within our hearts while we are still alive on earth. Therefore, It is not a geographical location as Jesus confirms in the account at John 4 where Jesus’ encounters the Samaritan woman. Jesus further shows the invisible aspect of the kingdom of God when He says that "the kingdom is within you" – [ask for any questions or more clarification]
(c) Born again of water... Let’s talk about the “water” first. Jesus says we must be born of water and Spirit before we can enter into the kingdom. Nicodemus was clearly puzzled because he knew that in order to be born, conception must take place and one must live in the waters of a mother’s womb for nine months. So he tells Jesus, I’m a grown man; I cannot climb back into my mother’s womb! So we come to this point on which Christians will sometimes disagree – even Christians within the same denomination! I do not want this to be an argument, or a "2 by 4" insistence on a point of view, or judgement but rather an opportunity to share what we have learned, and allow the Holy Spirit to correct any misplaced thoughts.

This is where believers have different viewpoints of what the “water” represents, namely:

• Some say that the “water” is baptismal water – that you have to have been baptized in water in order for the ‘salvation transition’ to take place; 
• Others say that Jesus was telling Nicodemus that only those born from the womb – who lived within that protective sac for the duration would meet the requirement of “water”. 
• Yet others say that the ”water” means that a person will be required to know God’s Word – which the scriptures metaphorically refer to as water, as part of the qualification for being born again.

My personal thought, based on the context of the conversation, is that the “water” refers to the waters of birth from a human mother.  Jesus says as He continues explaining this regeneration process to Nicodemus: “what is flesh is flesh (born of a woman) and what is Spirit is Spirit” (born of God). It would seem that in being born again, a person must first be human born of a woman. As such, there are no born again angels, no born again animals. In passages of the Gospels where we read about the person that hanged on the cross next to Jesus, and who confessed his belief in Jesus as Savior and Messiah, the criminal had first rejected Jesus and had joined in with the other criminal in the verbal abuse of Christ. (Mark 15:29, 32) Luke’s account in chapter 23, verses 39-43 reflects that when the Holy Spirit opened the thief’s mind and heart, the thief repented and rebuked the other criminal for his continued castigation and berating of Christ, and then asks Jesus to remember him when He enters the kingdom. Jesus, who in His Godship foreknew the “election” of the thief, did not act surprised by the thief’s question, did not have to convince the thief that his change of heart was by the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit did His work with the thief, so that Jesus responds, “Truly I tell you today that you will be with me in Paradise”, i.e., he would be raised back to life and would live again in Jesus' presence. Jesus does not add, “but, first we have to get you down from this cross and baptized in the Jordan River or the temple pool for this salvation to stick, and then put you back up on the cross.” Some denominations equate the Christian water baptism to the water baptism that John the Baptizer performed for the forgiveness of sins – a baptism of repentance. It was synonymous to a cleansing ritual under the Mosaic Law that would make God's people ready to worship Him and to come into His presence before the Tabernacle. The Christian’s cleansing is by the blood of Christ and the Word according to Ephesians 5 and Hebrews 9; it is a continual cleansing – when you’re not in the Word you are not getting clean! As scripture shows us and even the catechism shows—to some extent, that water baptism does not guarantee salvation; rather, it is an outward sign or symbol of an inward grace or saving faith transferred to us, so as to make a worthy commitment to Christ. According to Ephesians 1:12-14, it is God the Holy Spirit in us that is the guarantee. In Romans 6:2-4, the apostle Paul refers to the grace of salvation that causes us to die to sin – being transferred from spiritual death and darkness, to spiritual life and light. Creating a complete change of heart within the individual, and becoming submitted to Christ using the metaphor of being baptized into Christ’s death, i.e., dying to Christ is dying to sin, as Christ died for all sin. Then there comes the raising to life, The Life of Christ sustained by the Holy Spirit.

(d) Born again through the Spirit. Undoubtedly, Nicodemus – as some professing Christians do even now – saw and see the Holy Spirit or Spirit of God solely as a power or force of God. They did not/do not understand the personhood of God the Holy Spirit. Also, during the “Old Testament Times” the Holy Spirit’s work in and with a human was often limited or bestowed for a particular time frame or purpose. Like the anointing of artisans in the building of the Tabernacle; in God’s prophets who spoke by the Spirit; the writers of OT scripture who were informed by the Spirit. Or the accomplishment of miracles and such. However, due to what Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah would accomplish on the cross, God the Holy Spirit would actually dwell within a person who has confessed Christ crucified for his/her sins, and who have made Jesus the Lord over their life; they recognize that they have been bought or redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus and no longer can claim ownership of themselves. 1 Corinthians 6 plainly shows that one’s salvation becomes operational within a person who has been washed in the blood, which justified them before a Holy God, and who are sanctified (set apart by God to accomplish His purpose through them) through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which guarantees that position. [repeat slowly] God the Holy Spirit had Paul communicate this truth more than once to the churches of his day (see Ephesians, Romans, et al.), and has caused it to permanently reside in the collection of holy writings, i.e., the Bible – made holy because it’s Author, God the Holy Spirit, is Divine. Jesus, during His last night on earth, told soon-to-be traumatized disciples in John 14-17 that the Holy Spirit would come and be in them, indwell them to guarantee their salvation and empower them for God’s purposes for them. Romans chapter 8 tells us plainly that the Spirit gives life, and if He does not dwell in a person they are not of Christ – no matter how they identify themselves. Ephesians 1 tells us that God has placed the Holy Spirit in those who are saved as a guarantee of our salvation, signifying that the Holy Spirit is tasked with the growing of believers into the image of Christ. [touching back to the “election” - a hard saying whose explanation would consume the better part of half a day - God foreknew who He would choose to be graced with salvation; therefore, God the Holy Spirit cannot be influenced by any rite or ritual to indwell someone who is not called to salvation – no matter what happens within the worship tradition of a congregation. We humans are made individually aware of our salvation, but we cannot read anyone’s heart – let alone police our own without the Spirit’s intervention. In Acts 11:16 and 1 Corinthians 12, scripture refers to this indwelling as being baptized by the Spirit. It is that baptism which guarantees our salvation. (Ephesians 1:13,14)

(d) Sainthood. The Roman Catholic Church for hundreds of years has claimed the right and authority to reward certain persons with the designation of sainthood. Such individuals were believed to be men and women of “heroic virtue” who would after their deaths hold a privileged place with God in heaven. [see full article here] Because of this, saints were considered to be spiritual guides and mentors, who would add their prayers in heaven to those offered by Christians still living in the material world. Their ranks include martyrs, kings  and queens, missionaries, widows, theologians, parents, nuns and priests, and “everyday people” who dedicated their lives to the loving pursuit of God. The designation process is called canonization, which has been described as a long and a politically fraught process. The first canonized person by the Roman Church occurred in 993 AD; certain named persons in scripture, including the apostles and those associated closely with Christ, were posthumously referred to as St. Peter, St. Mark, St. John, etc. Yet, is this the Bible’s definition of saints?  [see also full articles at the online Encylopedia Brittanica, on this day, BBC report]

I’m afraid not! In scripture passages (and this is just a partial list) we find the opposite: at Matthew 27:52, Acts 9:13,32, 41; Romans 1:7; Romans 8:27; Romans 12:13; Romans 15:25, 26.31; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 16:15; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:10; and Revelation 5:9. As you read these passages, you will see that these were written to the common folk who worshiped God in the community of believers. These were persons indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit calls them “saints.” (pls. note that of the commonly used Bible versions, only the NIV omits the word “saints” and uses instead, “holy ones”). 

For those whose minds are still married to the Roman Catholic See’s self-authority to name saints, let us go deeper into the language in which these passages listed above were written – Koine Greek. The word for “holy” in the Greek language derives from the word hagios (HAH-gee-ohs). Interestingly, there are passages in the Old Testament, e.g., Psalm 31:23; Deuteronomy 33:2-3; 2 Chronicles 6:41, to name a few - speak also of “holy ones” or saints; in that instance the Hebrew word kedosh or phrase kol kedoshav is used. So what does holy one in scripture refer to? It is translated – appropriately – as “saints” (harking back to the Latin translation of hagios to "sanctus") – which means individuals set aside by God through the Holy Spirit indwelling them to do God’s holy work and purpose. God does not make us saints because of our works, but because of His work in us. We could never on our own merit be made a saint through heroic works, despite the “sainthood” that the Catholic Holy See authorizes itself to perform.  We become saints positionally – that is, when we are saved and born again through the Spirit, God makes our position that of being holy, covered by Christ’s blood, no longer estranged from Him. We are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:12-13). Again, God does not make us saints because of our works, but, rather, because of His work in us, through the Holy Spirit, Who makes us “children of God, born of God, heirs with Christ.” That is the Biblical definition of what a saint is. The Bible does not claim levels of sainthood as some have been led to believe; as seen above, sainthood is not a title earned by exceptional acts, therefore to be something that places persons at a better advantage than others. That is not Biblical. There are no lower saints, higher saints, etc. Sainthood is a position in which God places all who have been saved - being a saint simply means that God makes holy what was once unholy. (See 1 Peter 2) (Dr. Charles Stanley preached more than once on this topic because of the ingrained wrong understanding held by many as to what God calls a saint. The sermons can be found online at intouch.org.) It is surmised that the Roman Catholic Church was persuaded to promote the idea that persons "achieving" sainthood would be assigned to different levels of holiness by the governing body incorporating culturally accepted teachings in that regard. This would appease some, and by so doing, the Roman Church would place itself in a role of authority presumed endowed by God, but which is, in truth, one that God never gave it.

Per the above, not all translations make the distinction of translating the original languages for "holy ones" as "saints" in the English translation, but the Hebrew and Greek words cited above will be present each time. Translations that use the word “saints” appropriately in their English versions (this list is not all-inclusive but am citing some of the familiar translations/versions) are the English Standard Version, the Amplified Version, the 21^st Century NKJV, the American SV, the Holman Christian, International Standard, King James V./NKJV, The Living Bible, NASB, and NRSV. The NIV does not include the word saints in either the Old or New Testament, no doubt because of the Latin rendering of "sanctus" for the ancient Hebrew and Greek words. It translates the original Hebrew and Greek as "holy ones" without the added Latin version.  

So is it wrong to call the apostles St. so and so? No. What is wrong is not calling all of the persons saints that God calls saints.

So, by God’s determination, He sets aside persons to carry out His will. He does not leave this up to a denomination or a political process; only He can read the heart and know its contents. Jesus plainly says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” 

So to sum up: how does God make His determination as to who He sets aside? The process is formally called election. In the Old Testament we see God's hand at work: it was those who were bought/redeemed by blood from enslavement in Egypt, and brought into covenant relationship with Jehovah God/Elohim/Adonai, who would be called to be holy as God is holy. Their keeping covenant with God would allow them to be in right standing with God, or as some are described in the Old Testament, being “righteous persons.”  (Deuteronomy 7:6-8; 2 Samuel 7:23-24; et al.) God created a people through whom He would reveal Himself, record the oracles and employ them in God’s Name, and it would be that God ordained/set aside nation through whom the Messiah – God’s remedy and salvific provision would come; He would become the bridge that heals the broken relationship between God and humanity. In the OT, those saints or persons set aside or apart by God to carry out His holy purpose would be enabled to do so by the Holy Spirit - e.g., see 1 Kings 8:53 - for a determined time frame. The psalmist David, in Psalm 51, asks God to not take His Holy Spirit away from him; the psalmist knew that God’s Spirit would rest on certain individuals for a limited time and for a unique purpose – that He would not be permanently indwelling persons at that time. Things would change upon Christ’s coming and His work at the cross. He fulfilled the requirement to be a perfect sacrifice for the death-dealing sin inherited from Adam. Because of that one act, we who are not under the Mosaic Covenant are graced to enter into a New Covenant with Christ that would restore our relationship with the Father. The Holy Spirit baptizes us, indwells us to guarantee that relationship; He does so following the individual’s repentance of sins and repentance of their rejection of Jesus, and removal of self from the throne that belongs to Christ and make Him our Lord.