This post is part 1 of the series “Christians and Money”.
This post is an introductory post to the wealth series that will span five parts, including this post. These wealth series share the common theme, “Christians and Money.”
The introductory post is Part 1 provides a flavor of what is to come.
Part 1 to Part 5 of the series has the following themes. As each post is limited to 10min read, there may arise the need to increase this series by one or two more posts. Look out for these posts issued weekly.
Christian and Money Part 2 – This post examines evidence that shows Christians may have two masters., God and Mammon.
Christian and Money Part 3 – This post examines the old and new testament scriptures to understand the consequences of serving two Masters and the evidence that Christians are serving 2 Masters.
Christian and Money Part 4 – This post examines new testament scriptures to identify the root cause of money’s enslaving power over Christians and non-Christians alike.
Christian and Money Part 5 or more – This post supports the personal application. It draws from the previous post’s clarity to offer a paradigm shift that breaks away from serving two masters’ status quo.
This wealth series is not about taking Christians on a guilt trip. It has the following goals.
This series create awareness of the deceptive relationship with money. Man can avoid the eternal consequences that the current norms bring.
This series support the Christians’ walk to break out from the mold of the world economic system. It is making stronger connections between scripture, societal stance, and personal practical application.
God does not condemn the rich for their wealth. But for their boastfulness (Jam4:13, 16), oppressing the disadvantaged (Jam5:4, 2:9), and trusting in hoarded riches instead of God (1Tim6:17, Luke12:21).
Neither it is a sin or God’s punishment to be poor, for both the rich and poor operate within the purpose and will of God by the life opportunities and life challenges presented (Jam2:5, 1Tim6:18-19).
Self Check
All are encouraged to perform the following three exercises that frame the unique wealth position of each individual.
This link is an Income Percentile Comparison Calculator by Age. It gives the standing among the population based on declared annual income and age group.
Determine, X = Monthly Disposal Income/(National Means Test for Social Aid x 2.0 x no of persons in the household)
The national means test for social aid is the disposable income an individual has a month below, which qualifies for social assistance. This amount varies and depends on the cost of living of one’s location.
The factor of 2.0 adopted is an arbitrary figure that can vary between 2-3 to account for a lifestyle that eats at home or spends about SGD20 per day on food and transport. This X value reflects how lavish one’s lifestyle above one that is in financial lack.
These three parameters in the back of one’s mind make reading the posts in this series more meaningful.
God’s will is shrouded in a mist of unknowingness for believers and randomness for non-believers. The believer’s favorite verse to reinforce this perspective is, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” taken from Isa55:8. That was true in the Old Covenant because man does not have the Holy Spirit indwelling with their spirit in the body that is the (temporary) temple of God (1Co6:19). It is temporary because the true temple of God is the body of Christ (John2:19).
Holy Spirit In-dwelling Man
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit holds a significant advantage over those that lived under the Old Testament. It gives believers in Christ access to the mind of God (1Co2:11-12).
This post reflects on how the man in the new covenant engages with God’s will and God’s means to support this engagement.
God’s Will – Rules of Engagement
Transformed by the Renewal of the Mind
Rom12:2- “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (metamorphoō) by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Rom12:2 offers guidance to the new covenant believer on how to engage with God’s will. This engagement is about testing God’s will for its veracity, confirmation, and clarity. The means to perform this test is with a transformed mind as opposed to a carnal mind.
The evidence of a transformed mind is a spirit-led life (Rom12:1 offers this context) that honors the physical body as holy. There is still the question, how to develop a transformed mind? 2Co3:18 offers a clue because the same word transformed (metamorphoō) is used in this verse.
2Co3:18- “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed (metamorphoō) into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
God Tearing the Veil Separating Man and God
Two events underpin the mind transformation.
The first event is God’s prerogative. God has already accomplished this, where the face is already unveiled (katoptrizō). This veil is the barrier of the Law of the Old Covenant that separates man and God due to sin. God had removed this veil by the physical tearing of the veil between the holy place and holy of holies (Mat27:51) when Jesus paid the price for sin on the cross.
It is noteworthy that the Greek word “unveiled” is a participle verb in the perfect passive tense, which means the unveiling has been accomplished in the past and still ongoing with its effects felt in the present. God is the initiator of this unveiling experience where the man takes the passive role.
This event describes the spiritual justification apart from works (Jesus’ death fulfilled the original unveiling, Eph2:8-9) and sanctification by the Spirit of God (where the Spirit of God continues to unveil the face) when beholding as in the mirror, which brings us to the 2nd event.
The second event is man’s prerogative experienced in the present. This event involves an active decision to behold Christ’s glory. Beholding (katoptrizō) is used only once in the bible in this verse. This Greek word is a participle verb with the present tense with a middle voice. This beholding is ongoing in the present with the man as the agent of this action of beholding. This event appears to describe the soul sanctification experience.
From above, one can conclude that beholding Christ’s glory is the key to the mind transformation that equips one to test God’s will. Next, it is needful to expand the understanding of the glory that this beholding is focusing on.
What is this glory that is scripture referring to here? The glory of Christ is the suffering of Christ. Jesus referred to His crucifixion ordeal as glory (John12:23). Beholding Christ’s glory can be done in prayer, expressing gratitude/thanksgiving from the depths of an undeserving soul saved by Jesus suffering and death on the cross. This remembrance becomes significant, especially when partaking the Holy Communion elements and talking about the sufferings of Christ, for such experiences are re-enacting the sufferings of Christ.
The unfortunate fact is that many Christians fall prey to their flesh and test God with a carnal mind. God’s response – I AM NOT MOCKED (Gal6:7-8). John defines the carnal mind as the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and life pride in 1John2:16. This carnality’s most common experience is living and hanging on to this life on earth as if there no God to account for, and there is no afterlife. A transformed mind that test’s God’s will not settle for such outcomes.
In-summary, testing God’s will prerequisites a transformed mind that knows Christ has reconciled man with God and continuously nurtures the mind with the knowledge of Christ’s suffering love for man’s salvation.
The “currency of heaven” post established that the soul earns heaven glory currency while suffering according to God’s will is doing good, for righteousness, and Christ’s sake is earned on earth when the soul suffers. Therefore, glory is the measure of wealth in heaven. The Bible established that Jesus has the most glory among the sons of God.
This reflection explores scriptures to approximate a wealth ranking among God’s sons in heaven and its significance to the personal glory production on earth.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit Engaging Spirit, Soul and Body of Man
The tree represents the believer’s body on earth. The part of the tree above the ground represents the body of a man. The soul’s roots, like the body, spans both domains, Domain of the Law of Sin and Death (DOSD) and Domain of the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (DOL). The salvation of the born again spirit is secure in Christ is grounded in Abba God’s love to save man through Christ (John3:16) is in the DOL.
It is noteworthy that both Domains exist as part of the will of God.
The soul that sins shall die dwells in the DOSD operates from the old covenant (Eze18:20). The born again spirit anchors the soul that sins in the DOL. Therefore the soul that sins does not need to die based on the new covenant. Refer to the post “Once Saved Always Saved” for scriptural evidence of this claim.
The soul’s salvation is proportional to the degree to which the soul’s roots can bind themselves into the ground of Abba God’s love shown through Christ. In human experience terms, this binding is called attachment experience.
This attachment with God is similar to the attachment man develops at birth with their early childhood caregiver. First, the natural, then the spiritual (1Co15:46). Man’s failure to understand their human attachment experiences poses challenges to form an attachment with God. This failure hampers the necessary foundation for the attachment with God, which is spiritual.
The tree is exposed to the lot of life presented as a fire below the tree. This fire’s size and intensity vary according to God’s will and the person’s response to God’s will. Some fires of the lot of life are candlelight fire, and they are towering infernos for others. Regardless, the leaves of the body in the DOL catches fire when the body and soul suffer for Christ’s sake and righteousness sakes due to the fires.
The lot of life affects the tree in the DOSD. But the tree does not catch fire in this part of the domain due to the tree’s death state. The lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and pride of life enslaves the tree that’s in DOSD. Glory production does not exist in this domain.
This suffering in the DOL produces the fruit of the spirit and eternal weight of glory, heaven’s currency, and tests the attachment with God.
Does the Bible offer clues who have more significant potential to earn glory currency on earth and who are at greater risk to make less glory currency on earth?
The answers to these two questions will be the backbone of the wealth ranking framework.
The Bible has identified specific groups of people that possess characteristics that support and challenge the production of glory.
People who have more significant opportunities for suffering support glory production are as follow-
The fivefold ministry. (Eph4:11)
The martyrs that died for Christ’s sake.
The socially marginalized, such as widows, orphans, aliens (without rights of citizenship), and the poor (James2:5, Mat5:3, Luke16:25). In current vernacular, the special needs, the disabled, and the mentally challenged.
The meek (Mat5:5) and sincere, appearing to be naïve pure children (Mat5:8, 18:4, 10, Mark10:15,) to the world, often taken advantage of and discriminated.
The righteous, averse to dishonest gain. (Pet3:14)
People are challenged in glory production when they have received their reward from man and experience lesser opportunities for suffering (Mat6:4). Such people emerge from the following groups-
The rich and powerful (Mat19:23, Mat6:24, Luke12:16-21) who
Boast about the future without acknowledging God, which God deems as arrogance and evil (Jam4:16).
Oppress the poor while living in-luxury themselves (Jam5:1, 4-5).
Those who purpose to live life for themselves are unwilling to share with their fellow men in need, particularly the socially marginalized. (Mat25:35-40).
Based on the above groups of people identified, the wealth rankings take shape as follows.
The rankings involve believers making it to heaven, as the spirit is born again when one confesses, according to Rom10:9. In this way, some are poor in glory in heaven, while others are wealthier in glory.
The glory that the soul produces is only tangible eternal possession that man can truly claim as their own. Love, faith, and hope, the greatest of the 3, is love because love remains relevant in heaven for three reasons.
The first, God is love (1John4:7). The second reason, Jesus eternally bears the marks on His body paid out of love for us at the cross (John20:27). The third reason is related to glory. The glory each believer has produced is evidence of their genuine (tested by the fires in 1Pet1:7) love for God, expressed as sincere brotherly love for one another.
What is hoped and believed are manifested tangibly in heaven. There is no more need for this hope and faith in the unseen and promised.
The above ranking is to create awareness of this potential scenario in heaven. This awareness seeks to support identifying the real treasure, which is their glory earning potential on earth.
Do Not be Deceived
A caveat, this is not a get glory rich quick scheme. If one believes he can game God’s glory system, that person’s pipe dream is laughable. God foolishness is the wisdom of man (1Co1:25). God has in-place fail-safe controls to prevent such outcomes. They are
God determines each person’s lot of life, which is the foundation for earning glory points. E.g., if God calls one to the fivefold ministry, God will supply the life situations to produce glory.
If one by the flesh (self-effort) seeks the fivefold ministry without God’s call to gain glory points, that is operating in the domain of the Law of Sin and Death. By default, glory production does not occur in that domain, and that person reaps the penalties that lead to death.
God looks at the heart and not only at the action of the person. The heart motivation that underpins the action needs to be genuine faith in trusting God (1Pet1:7) and sincere love (1Pet1:22) that’s practical (James2) for people.
Hypocrisy and hidden agendas frustrate the glory production.
Avoid the Pitfalls
This reflection will explore the two groups of people to help them realize their glory production.
The rich shall have the attitude to glory in their humiliation, realizing their wealth is vanity and vapor (Jam1:10).
Therefore the rich are to abstain from
Boasting about the future as if one is God (Jam4:16)
Oppressing others by corrupt ways for financial gain (Jam5:2)
Hoarding wealth (Luke12:21) and trust in uncertain riches (1Tim6:17)
Showing partiality by oppressing the socially marginalized (Jam2:9)
Therefore the rich are encouraged to be rich in good works, ready to give and willing to share. (1Tim6:18).
The socially marginalized are encouraged to rejoice in their lot of life, for from it, God supplies the opportunity for glory production. (Jam1:9).
Both the rich and the socially marginalized are to adopt the prayer Apostle Paul made in Phil4:6 and 1The5:17-18.
Phil4:6 – “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.”
1The5:17-18 “Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Giving thanks in prayer and daily speech for everything that God has presented as one’s lot in life is the hallmark that God is looking for as evidence of this genuine faith that one professes to possess.
This post is the 4min version of Wealth Ranking in Heaven. Scripture citation is incomplete here. For a more in-depth review, please refer to the 10 min read post with the same title.
This reflection will explore from scriptures to approximate a wealth ranking among God’s sons in heaven and its significance to the personal glory production on earth.
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit Engaging Spirit, Soul and Body of Man
The tree is exposed to the lot of life presented as a fire below the tree. This fire’s size and intensity vary according to God’s will and the person’s response to God’s will. Some fires of the lot of life are candlelight fire, and they are towering infernos for others. Regardless, the leaves of the body in the DOL catches fire when the body and soul suffer for Christ’s sake and righteousness sakes due to the fires.
This suffering in the DOL produces the fruit of the spirit and eternal weight of glory, heaven’s currency, and tests the attachment with God.
Does the Bible offer clues who have more significant potential to earn glory currency on earth and who are at greater risk to make less glory currency on earth?
The answers to these two questions will be the backbone of the wealth ranking framework.
The Bible has identified certain two groups of people that possess characteristics that support and challenge the production of glory. The first group has more significant opportunities for suffering support glory production, such as the fivefold ministry, the socially marginalized, etc.
People are challenged in glory production when they have received their reward from man and experience lesser opportunities for suffering, such as the rich and powerful (Mat19:23, Mat6:24, Luke12:16-21) and the self-seeking (Mat25:35-40).
Based on the above groups of people identified, the wealth rankings take shape as follows.
The above ranking is to create awareness of this potential scenario in heaven. This awareness seeks to support identifying the real treasure, which is their glory earning potential on earth.
Do Not be Deceived- Avoid the Pitfalls
A caveat, this is not a get glory rich quick scheme. God has in-place fail-safe controls to prevent such outcomes. See the 10min version for these controls.
This reflection explores the two groups of people to help them realize their glory production.
The rich shall have the attitude to glory in their humiliation, realizing their wealth is vanity and vapor (Jam1:10) and abstain from boasting, oppressing others, hoarding wealth, and showing partiality oppressing the socially marginalized.
The socially marginalized are encouraged to rejoice in their lot of life, for from it, God supplies the opportunity for glory production. (Jam1:9).
Giving thanks in prayer and daily speech for everything that God has presented as one’s lot in life is the hallmark that God is looking for as evidence of this genuine faith that one professes to possess. (1The5:17-18)
God values glory. Jesus describes His crucifixion experience as glorified (John12:23) and glorifying God the Father (John17:1). Glory is innate to God before creation (John17:5). God’s glory is a demonstration and measure of the value of His reputation, His name (John12:28). God shares His glory with His children. Which part of the tripartite man, Spirit-Soul-Body (1The5:23), does God share His glory?
This reflection is titled Glory- The Currency of Heaven explores the evidence to support this claim, which requires answering the question posed above and understanding why and how.
Soul and God’s Glory
The Soul and God’s Glory
2Co4:16-17 says, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward (esō ) man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
The book “The Release the Spirit” by Watchman Nee interpreted the inward man as the born again spirit. For the following reasons, the inward man refers to man’s soul and not the spirit of man.
The word inward (G2080) occurs six times in the New Testament, out of which three times it is associated with the word “man,” see the snapshot below.
Blue Letter Bible – Inner Man
In Rom7:22, Paul was referring to his inward man that joyfully concurs with the law of God. Arguably this reference can be made to refer to either soul or spirit. However, it is also reasonable to claim that Paul is referring to his soul rejoicing with the law of God. For Paul, resolved to embrace death as gain and live is for Christ (Phi1:21), this claim that his soul rejoices with God’s law is within reason.
2Co4:16 and Eph3:16 mentioned that the inward man is renewed and receives strength. This inward man is referring to the soul and not to the born again spirit. Since the born again spirit is a perfect and complete divine product of God, the Holy Spirit (John3:6). It makes little sense for this finished divine product to require renewal and strengthening, which implies that the born-again spirit experiences decline and need renewal and strengthening.
For the above reasons, the inward man is the soul of man and not the man’s spirit.
Paul used the words “light afflictions” in 2Co4:16-17, relatively as he compares them to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ (Phil3:8-10), to describe hardships that he cites in 2Co11:23-29 which are by any human measure far from light or ordinary.
Paraphrasing 2Co4:16-17, “the soul of man is producing glory that has eternal weight as the result of the experiences of the temporal suffering even unto death.”
The following clarifies how the man is partaking glory with God. It also explores how the man realizes this glory.
The soul of man is partaking glory with God.
How does the soul realize glory?
Glory realized glory by suffering for goodness sake (1Pet3:17), for Christ’s sake (1Pet4:14-16), and righteousness’ sake (1Pet3:14).
This post references Peter because of the context where Christians demonstrate their faith in sincere brotherly love and experience soul purification-salvation (1Pet1:9, 22). This reflection takes the position that the soul purification-salvation and the soul producing the eternal weight of glory in 2Co4:16-17 are the same.
Why is the Soul Glory Important to God and Man?
Glory is essential to man because it is the currency of heaven that the soul earns on earth.
The soul is unique to each person. The soul is the sum of the individual life lived uniquely. The purpose and will of God have designed this life uniquely. The glory currency is, therefore, a unique outcome for each person.
Jesus, as the Son of Man (For Jesus as Son of God had glory before He took on human form, John17:5) has the most glory among all the sons of God. One can say, if glory equals currency, Jesus is the wealthiest man representative in heaven. Jesus glory has two parts
The glory He gained by this life, death, and resurrection.
The glory produced by Christian’s souls collectively is accrued to Christ (1Pet4:14, John17:10).
Glory, the soul, produces is essential to man because it is the only actual eternal possession that man can truly claim as their own, which God also desires and accrued to Jesus.
What is the use of this currency?
The use of this currency is speculative, but this reflection posits that the amount of soul salvation one possesses will determine the ruling and judgment stature of the risen believer who will rule (2Tim2:12) and judge (1Co6:1-3) the world with Christ.
But what of the born again spirit and the resurrected body? Why are they excluded from this glory?
Man’s born again spirit is begat of the Holy Spirit (John3:6), where Christ supplied the blood to forgive man of His state of sin (1John1:7). God, the Father’s power who raised Jesus (Rom8:11) from the dead, supplied the spiritual body preserved in heaven (1Co15:44, 1Pet1:3-5). God performs both works that are perfect and complete with no effort required or desired from man.
Stated, the born-again spirit and resurrected body are both saved once the person confesses, according to Rom10:9. The only difference is the timing between the two—the Holy Spirit begets the born again spirit immediately (John3:6). In comparison, God preserves the resurrected body for us in heaven (1Pet1:3-5). The Holy Spirit is the believer’s pledge to guarantee that God the Father will honor His promise (2Co5:5) to give the resurrected body.
Glory is essential to God because the more glory the soul possesses, the soul is more Christ-like. God the Father, God the Son as the man Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit have perfect communion of oneness among themselves. This triune relationship is a complete and perfect union.
God desires a similar relationship with a man but cannot force this outcome. Man has their free will in their soul to determine the degree of this oneness in man’s relationship with God. The more glory the soul has, the closer the soul will experience oneness with God and their spirit and body perfected by God.
Jesus’ soul suffered in weakness and perfected as He submitted to God’s will in weakness (2Co13:4, Heb5:2, 5:7-9). It is within reason to claim that only Jesus as Son of Man, only His soul is perfect before God.
Conclusion
Glory is essential to God because the more glory the soul possesses, the soul is more Christ-like. God the Father, God the Son as Man Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit have perfect communion of oneness among themselves. Their relationship is the ideal relationship.
God desires a similar relationship with man through the shared glory of the soul.
This post is an extension of an earlier post titled “Faith and Work in Harmony” that explored the controversy of Jam2:17, where James indicted the believers that lacked works as having faith that is dead. See the following link for this post-.
The purpose of this reflection is to offer evidence to support the claim, “Once Saved Always Saved.”
Once Saved Always Saved
Three approaches are adopted to support this claim.
The first approach enhances the clarity between works mentioned in Jam2:17 and the works that lead to soul salvation in 1Pet.
The second approach explores the implications of 1Co5 concerning the Corinthian believer, who is foolishly brave to commit adultery with his stepmother openly.
The third and final approach is to examine Col2:13 and John10:27-29, which offer direct scriptural evidence to support the claim, “Once Saved Always Saved.”
Apostle Peter with a key before St. Peter’s Cathedral, Vatican
First Approach – The Connection between 1Pet and Jam2:17
A more explicit connection between these two verses provides a better foundation to support the conclusion that Jam2:17 was speaking of the faith that saves the soul and does not relate to the salvation of the born again spirit.
1Pet9 states, “obtaining as the outcome (telos – final destination, purpose, goal) of your faith the salvation of your souls.” This faith spoken of here is the means to produce the goal, which is soul salvation.
This faith is the loving faith in the unseen Christ (1Pet1:8) and the living hope of the resurrection (1Pet1:3-5). In the context of 1Pet1, this faith was tested in fiery trials (1Pet1:7) of persecution to validate their faith genuineness as to whether their faith is sufficiently genuine to produce soul salvation, which has nothing to do with spiritual salvation.
Later in 1Pet1:22, Peter reveals this faith’s manifestation that purifies (saves) the soul taking the form of sincere brotherly affection-love with a pure heart. 1Pet2:1 defines this sincerity in negative examples of “laying asideall malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.”
The rest of 1Pet has a repeated theme that supports the scope of this sincere love. This theme shows believers committing their souls to the will of God the Father (1Pet4:19), enduring temporal suffering (1Pet1:6, 1Pet5:10), as they pour out their lives in sincere love for righteousness sake (1Pet4:14). By doing so, they partake (1Pet4:13) in Christ’s suffering where His suffering is set as an example (2Pet2:21) for believers to emulate in action (1Pet4:2) and attitude (1Pet4:1).
When one can appreciate the arduous journey to produce soul salvation, it makes sense when 1Pet18 says,” If the righteous one is scarcely saved” (NKJV). This “saving” refers to the soul salvation and not the salvation of the born again spirit. Soul salvation is difficult!
For the born again spirit is perfectly saved by God’s the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (John3:6 and John3:16). The only part played by a man is to believe by confessing (Rom10:9) Christ’s saving work apart from works (Eph2:8-9). The spiritual salvation is secure apart from the man’s works!
1Peter’s works that save the soul and Jam2:17 works share the common elements of suffering and submission to God’s will.
The two examples of works mentioned by James 2 is about Abraham and Rahab. Abraham suffered the loss of Isaac when he offered Isaac to God. However, Abraham submitted to God’s power to resurrect Isaac from the dead (Heb11:19). Rahab suffered the threat of execution for betraying Jericho when she sheltered the two Israelite spies and submitted to God’s manifested power (Joshua 2:9-11).
It stands to reason to assert at this point with greater confidence that the walk of sincere love that suffers while doing good, as the believer’s work is to emulates Christ’s suffering, is the mentioned in Jam2:17.
Aerial drone photo of the iconic archaeological site of Ancient Corinth built in the slopes of Acrocorinth, Peloponnese, Greece
Second Approach – Believer in a Sinful Lifestyle
1Co5:1 is about a man who openly indulged in a sexual relationship with his stepmother. Paul’s solution to this thorny issue of 1Co5:5 – “I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
It is notable for drawing attention.
The scripture deems the spirit saved despite his brazen behavior to openly promote his sexually immoral relationship with his stepmother and threatening to corrupt the Corinthian Church with this sin(1Co5:6).
The scripture is silent about soul salvation. Since good works (1Pet) and natural decay of the body (2Co4:16-18) produces soul salvation, such practice of sin against the body deserves the bodily death of 1Co3:17
1Co3:17- “If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”, where the body is destroyed.
Paul did not attempt to cast doubt concerning the believer’s salvation (born again spirit) status. Apostle Paul is faithful to his revelation that such judgment belongs to God (1Co4:4-5).
The above implications support the understanding that sin does not deprive the believer of their place in heaven.
Colossae ancient city in Denizli, Turkey
Third Approach- Col2:13 and John10:27-29
The Bible has three God personas, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The whole person also has three personas, the Spirit, Soul, and body (1The5:23)
It is an often committed error in the reading of scripture.
The failure to identify the various God personas speaking or spoken.
The failure to identify which part of the man that particular God persona is speaking to.
When the one reads the scripture bearing the above in mind above, scripture becomes relevant and alive. A careful examination of Col2:13 will reveal this benefit.
KJV
Col2:13- “And you, being (G5607) dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
The Greek Interlinear Bible clarifies that the tense of this being (G5607- ōn) is a present participle that indicates the ongoing action in the present.
The next step is to identify where the born again spirit, unsaved soul, decaying body, God the Father, and God the Son fit within the scripture.
And you ( born again spirit), your soul being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh that is in your decaying body, hath he, God the Father, quickened the born again spirit together with him, Jesus, having forgiven you ( born again spirit) all trespasses;
Interpretation
The above holds the perspective of a believer’s walk after the spirit is born again. The born again spirit is immune to the unsaved soul that experiences death when it sins due to the sinful flesh.
God the Father confers immunity by the quickened (syzōopoieō- to make alive with Christ) of born again spirit. For the born again spirit HAS received forgiveness from sins once and for ALL. God has thereby immunized the born again spirit against harmful effects of the soul and body that sins—thus securing the “Once Saved Always Saved” salvation.
John10:27-29 truths echo and resonate with Col2:13. Jesus refers to believers as sheep that are given eternal life in John10:27-29. The sheep secure eternal life by the protection offered by His hands and the hands of His Father, who is greater than Him. The power of God secures the sheep’s salvation once and forever.
Conclusion
While I have attempted to offer systematic reasoning of evidence to support the belief of unshakable eternal salvation, there are always outlier scenarios that reside in the domain of God to determine the authenticity of the believer’s salvation status in the very first place.
Two outlier scenarios come to mind.
The unpardonable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirt seems to the sword hanging over the believer’s secure salvation. (Mat12:31-32)
The sins of apostasy.
Another post or posts is required to cover the unpardonable sin in detail. For this post, the fact that no other scriptures further warn of this sin suggests that this sin’s applicability does not extend beyond the specific circumstances required for the sin to be relevant. The circumstances were such that Jesus had to be physically present, and Man blasphemes the Holy Spirit operating through Him. Christ’s physical presence with the Holy Spirit in Him are realities not available to Man.
Apostasy in Greek, apostasia, is mentioned twice in the new testament. In 2Th2:3, Paul used apostasia in the anti-christ context, and in Act21:21, Paul’s accusers used apostasia to voice their concerns of forsaking the old covenant traditions. Hence the apostasy is used in a specific context. Scripture DOES NOT support the casualness among Christians to lay this charge against their brethren.
In-summary, It makes little sense to construct barriers to salvation based on these outliers, given the great price paid by our Lord Jesus for humanity’s salvation. Let’s set aside these needless arguments that seek to divide the unity of the faith in the love of Christ.
Those that are adamant about doing so are usurping God’s sovereignty to judge His flock by discriminating their born again spirit genuineness in-place of God the Father.
Faith without works is a dead faith, according to James (Jam2:14-17). This verse is contentious because it challenges the salvation by grace made possible by the death by crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Rom10:9). The inference of a dead faith threatens to negate the faith of the gift of salvation apart from works (Eph2:8-9).
This reflection is to reconcile by harmonizing Jam2:14-17 and Eph2:8-9 to support the view that the faith mentioned in Jam2:17 is different from the faith mentioned in Eph2:8-9.
Often Jam2:17 is interpreted in extreme positions.
The Hyper-Grace or Liberal View
One extreme is occupied by the hyper-grace camp that takes the position to negate this verse due to the perceived threat to spiritual salvation. The proponents support this position by reframing the notion of works (dismissing the obviousness of the practical deeds found in James’s examples in the story of Abraham and Rahab) into belief in the goodness of God. I.e., this work is the work of belief and not action.
The Conservative View
The other extreme is occupied by the conservative camp that believes that the secured salvation by grace is not secure. The absence of faith works that are not dead is evidence of this insecure salvation in one’s life, thereby threatening Christ’s unconditional salvation.
The Harmonized View
Genuine Faith and Sincere Works to Save the Soul
It is needful to expand Jam2:17 (NASB) by drawing from insights from 1st Peter, which aligns with the two examples cited by James as examples of faith works that save. 1st Peter is selected because Peter connected between acts of sincere love and salvation of the soul.
Jam2:17- “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
Expanding Jam2:17 by defining
1Pet defines the nature of these faith works that save, which aligns with the two examples cited in Jam2.
1Pet defines the object that needs saving.
Items in bold are expanded content.
“Even so Faith, ifthis faithhas no works of sincere love that purifies the soul (1Pet1:22), is dead,being by itself forthe goal of this faith is the salvation of the soul (1Pet1:9).”
Christ’s salvation work of the cross offered man spiritual salvation because the only part of man that was “saved” is the dead spirit that becomes the born again spirit when one accepts Christ. The body that remains entrapped in sinful flesh will decay, leading to death (2Co4:16). The resurrected body preserved in heaven (1Pet1:5) will replace the decaying body. The soul still sins till the day of death of the body. Paul artfully described this sin challenge of the soul and body in Romans 7.
The spiritual salvation of the born again spirit is secured and immune to the effects of the sinful flesh and unsaved soul (Col2:13). Refer to the following post that explores Col2:13 in greater depth.
In summary, Jam2:17 speaks of faith that saves the soul, and Eph2:8-9 speaks of a faith that saves the spirit. The saving of the soul affects the rewards of 1Co3 and the eternal glory of 2Co4:16-18. The saving of the spirit affects the destination of heaven or hell.
This post presents, in brief, the evidence to support the balance between the conflicting goals of confession of righteousness and confession of sin.
There are also four video links added to make this deep topic more digestible. My apologies for the low voice over quality and video production. It is my first attempt at this.
The Spirit-Soul-Body
To appreciate How confession of righteousness and sin are relevant, one needs to understand that the whole person has three distinct but interrelated parts of Spirit, Soul, and Body. Watch this short video that describes the state before the spiritual rebirth.
After the spiritual rebirth, four significant changes take place.
The dead spirit became alive and righteous by Christ’s sacrificial blood (1John1:7, Heb9:28) and His resurrection (Rom4:25), respectively.
The unsaved soul has gained the potential to be saved. (1Pet1:9)
The soul (mind) has become the battleground between the spirit (God) and the body (Satan). (2Co10:3-5).
God gives believers a new heart. (Heb8:10, Eze36:26). Two possibilities present themselves to speculate about this new heart. Both may well be true simultaneously.
The newness in the human heart is biological. The studies conducted by Dr. Michelle Styrdom is about 1 hour and 15mins long. See link-
Skip to time@52mins to watch Michelle share about the brain inside the heart that functions like an umpire (Col3:15). This umpire works along the pathways of peace in the spirit-soul domain to influence the brain’s will. The believer in the hope of the resurrection (1Pet1:3-5, 1Co15:12-19) else the belief is in vain.
Perhaps this brain-heart connection experiences a transformation when one is reborn in Christ.
God has circumcised this new heart (Rom2:29, Col2:11) He provided in the new covenant (Eze36:26). This part of the newly circumcised heart has become the token of the new covenant (Gen17), set apart as holy to God.
It could be the circumcision of the heart has occurred at the brain-heart connections where the believer’s conscience is sensitive to God’s leading and where the Holy Spirit and man’s spirit dwells.
See a short video to illustrate where the new heart is present in both the body and the soul. The circumcised part is in the saved soul, and the rest of the heart that is not circumcised is susceptible to the corruption of sin.
Confession of Righteousness
Confession of righteousness primarily supports the communication from the soul to the spirit. This engagement reinforces the son-ship identity with the quality of righteousness by drawing from the spirit that calls out Abba Father.
The secondary purpose is to assure us of secure salvation despite our soul/body sinning based on divine son-ship righteous before God, both as gifts paid by Jesus’ salvation work.
When confessing as a righteous son of God, it supports an attachment relationship with God as Father, God (Jesus) as an elder brother, and God as the Holy Spirit (in a maternal sense, this claim is highly controversial, and a separate post is required to explore this claim).
Confession of Sin
Confession of sin primarily supports communication from the soul to the body as a needful reminder of the nature of the flesh-sin perpetual hostility between them.
The secondary purpose is to reinforce the value of the undeserved gifts of forgiveness and righteousness from God on an ongoing basis.
When sin confession is operating correctly, it produces contrite heart repentance. This contriteness sustainably supports the soul’s aversion towards the sinful nature of the flesh.
Watch a short video to illustrate the points shared above.
Conclusion
The Spirt-Soul-Body dynamics often is a source of confusion. God’s salvation plan covers all three parts of us. The plan details for each part are different in means and timeline. Another post is required to explain these differences to complement this post.
Prayer is the means one commune with God. Robert Deffinbaugh, who authored the in-depth study of the Book of Luke (1996) (see web-link- https://bible.org/series/luke-gospel-gentiles), observed the following regarding prayer and the Lord Jesus in his narrative in Chapter 22 of Luke.
“Thus, Jesus was praying when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him at the outset of His public ministry (Luke 3:21). Jesus was in prayer when He was transfigured before the three disciples (Luke 9:29). Jesus is likewise in prayer here in the Garden of Gethsemane.”
Prayer marked the critical events of Jesus’ life. Likewise, those who call upon Him as Lord and Saviour, who is not greater than our master (John13:16), need prayer to mark the critical events of their life.
Prayer marks the key events of life, illuminating them with the light of faith in God.
What is the purpose of prayer?
It is to commune with God. But is the purpose for the sake of communication only? Prayer is a means for the person to communicate their needs and wants to God. Prayer is not an end (purpose) unto itself. It seems superficial to claim that the purpose of prayer is to tell God want we need or want.
The following scriptures offer the basis to answer the first question, what is the purpose of prayer?
The Lord’s prayer as narrated in Mat6:9-13and Luke11:2-13
2. The three accounts of Matthew 26:36-46, Luke 22:39-46, and Mark 14:32-42 of the Garden of Gethsemane.
The summary below shows the purpose of prayer, drawing from the above scriptures.
Prayer takes place as a personal relationship between God as Father and the believer.
This personal relationship is one that acknowledges God’s sovereignty, in tandem with the Father relationship, by praying in private from the soul and in a submissive posture.
Prayer is for the person to convey their needs, desires, and emotions.
Notwithstanding these needs, desires, and emotions, prayer helps the person resist the temptation to pursue those needs, wants, and feelings that fall outside of God’s will.
Reliance on man and man’s pride has no place in the prayer.
Prayer strengthens the person’s conviction to do God’s will.
Parental Background- Father was the youngest of 4 siblings who had 5 years of fatherhood with his two sons. Me being the eldest, was 11years old when he passed away at age 44 due to non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. My mother was a World War 2 Orphan adopted into 10 children and 4 step-mothers as the eldest. My mum lived life valiantly despite suffering significant brain damage to her prefrontal cortex in her mid-adolescence, her orphan hood, her widowhood at age 39, and single mother challenges. Both Dad and Mum passed away on the same day, 28th Dec, separated 37 years apart.
Family Background – I am married since 1999. My beloved wife is a homemaker. We have two sons. My eldest was diagnosed with autism at age 3 with an IQ range in the late 70s to early 80s and speaking his first syllable at age 5plus. My younger son has challenges in processing nonverbal language that conveys emotional and social information. Against the odds, my eldest son has been accepted to NTU (History), and my younger son has set his aims for undergraduate life.
Developmental Background- I have autism or mindblindness. Despite discovering this at age 49 and awakening to almost normalcy, both my parents loved me unconditionally. I have never received a single rebuke for my lack of social and emotional awareness from my parents.
Educational Background – I have taken my A-Levels twice. Incidentally, my eldest son, has repeated his Primary one. I graduated with B.Eng (2nd Lower) from Nanyang Technological University in 1995. Following that, in 2001, Masters of Science from the National University of Singapore. More recently, I had an enriching experience from the Masters of Arts in Educational Psychology from Ball State University (2020) and coaching training (Level 1 – Transformative, 2018, and Level 2 – Professional, 2019) from Coach Masters Academy in Singapore.
Career Background– Against the odds, I have two professional licenses, Professional Engineering License issued by the Professional Engineers Board and The Registered Inspector License issued by the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Currently, I am retired. Before this, by God’s purpose and will, I was an equal equity partner in a medium-sized fire consultancy firm based in Singapore between 2003 to 2020.
Religious Background- I accepted Jesus as my savior in 1986 and renewed my vows in 1996. My wife and I see our calling in the wayside ministry, reaching the vulnerable that crosses our path. The wayside ministry comprises the 3 roles of the Good Samaritan, the good neighbor, and the Inn Keeper.
