I’ve been rereading one of my favorite one-year devotional books, and I’d like to start today’s post by quoting part of one devotional entry.
God is holy, and we must conform to His holiness. This means restrictions on our behavior. But when the restraints become the essence of our faith, as they did for the Pharisees, we are far from the heart of God. … Faith is about following His character. That’s the whole point of obedience.
Chris Tiegreen, 365 Pocket Devotions, Day 49
It’s very easy for humans to go to extremes. On the one hand, you’ll meet Christians who build their lives around what they can and cannot do as if keeping the law perfectly can save them. On the other hand, you’ll meet Christians who say they don’t have to be obedient to God’s law because grace covers all that. The truth is somewhere in between. Obedience isn’t what saves us, but it is the right and proper response to receiving salvation. Having the right understanding of our relationship with God helps us have a right understanding of our relationship with His law.
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Start With Love
There are certain things that God expects from people who follow Him. It is much like any healthy relationship. I expect people that I am friends with to generally treat me well and follow a basic standard of good conduct, and they expect the same from me. If one of us violated these unspoken “rules” of friendship, the friendship would dissolve or at the very least become more distant. Healthy relationships require things like regular communication, trustworthiness, reciprocity, a way to resolve conflicts, and mutual respect for the other’s needs, morals, and boundaries.
Our relationship with God works the same way, and He doesn’t leave us guessing about how the relationship works. He invites us into a covenant relationship with Him and lets us know exactly what He expects from us as well as what we can expect from Him. It’s actually pretty simple, and can be boiled down into just two commandments:
Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40, NET
There are lots of other commands in scripture, of course (both Old and New Testament), but they are all just elaborations on these two expectations. At the most basic level, God’s restrictions on our behavior are all connected to making sure that we love Him and love the people around us in the right way. Remembering that helps us have the right perspective on obedience.
Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,” (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:8-10, NET
I like how Paul frames all the “do not” commandments as telling us how to love the way God does. A lot of times people describe God’s laws as restrictive or oppressive or outdated, but at the heart of it all is healthy relationships with God and with other people. He wants what is best for us, and He wants a personal relationship with us. His instructions reflect that truth.
Check Your Heart
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God knows what our motives are. He looks inside our hearts and searches our minds to understand us even better than we understand ourselves (1 Sam. 16:7; Jer. 17:5-10). He knows if we’re flippantly disregarding His laws because we don’t care about what He says, and He also knows if we’re obeying from wrong motives.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many powerful deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’”
Matthew 7:21-23, NET
This has got to be one of the most sobering passages in the entire Bible. Jesus warns us that calling Him Lord is not enough to get into the kingdom of heaven. Even doing wonderful things in His name isn’t enough. Only those who do the Father’s will and are known by Jesus Christ will be in His kingdom.
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father …
“My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand.”
John 10:14-15, 27-29
Once again, it comes back to relationships. We must listen to Jesus and follow Him, “conforming to His holiness” and “following His character,” as Tiegreen puts it. So, how do you view the restrictions God places on our behavior?
As something you must do perfectly or else you’ll lose your salvation?
As something not worth bothering with?
As guides for how to live in close relationship with God and enjoy all the blessings that accompany adopting His character?
I don’t really like to think of God’s laws as “restrictions.” They do restrict my behavior, but I see them more as guides, guardrails, and insights into God’s character. We keep the law because we’re walking in the spirit; law-keeping is a side-effect of becoming like God. Christians today ought to obey God because we want to be like Him and follow Him faithfully, and His law tells us how to do that.
I had a different post topic in mind for this week, but I keep thinking about Charlie Kirk’s murder on September 10. I didn’t follow any of his work, and wasn’t even sure if his name sounded familiar when I saw the news of his assassination. But I immediately thought of how much other political violence I’ve been hearing about lately, and how much more prevalent it seems than ever before in my lifetime (“Charlie Kirk killing deepens America’s violent spiral,” Zachary Basu, Axios.com).
“With Charlie Kirk’s slaying, we’ve witnessed more high-profile assassinations or assassination attempts in the past 14 months — including two assassination attempts on President Trump, the killing of a Democratic Minnesota lawmaker and an arson attack on the residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) — than at any point since 1968, when the nation lost the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., then Robert F. Kennedy just two months later.”
It’s sobering to realize that my feeling that political violence (in my country at least) is the highest it’s ever been in my life is based on facts (King and Kennedy were killed more than 20 years before I was born). And while I do see people struggling to encourage unity and condemn political violence as a bi-partisan issue, it seems like many are becoming even more extremely polarized. It’s a frightening and uncertain time.
In the midst of all this, I happened to read Psalm 37 this past week. It’s one of David’s longer psalms, but I found it helpful to read through it slowly this week, and I want to quite it in it’s entirety for today’s post. This is a different format than we’ve done before, so quick word of explanation. If you’re on a computer, you’ll see Psalm 37 (WEB translation) in the column on the left and my commentary is in the column on the right. If you’re on mobile, you’ll see all of Psalm 37 first, then my comments underneath the psalm with numbers next to the comments to indicate which verse I’m reflecting on.
Psalm 37
1 Don’t fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb. 3 Trust in Yahweh, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this: 6 he will make your righteousness shine out like light, and your justice as the noon day sun. 7 Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don’t fret; it leads only to evildoing. 9 For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for Yahweh shall inherit the land. 10 For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more. Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there. 11 But the humble shall inherit the land, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 12 The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth. 13 The Lord will laugh at him, for he sees that his day is coming. 14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to kill those who are upright on the path. 15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart. Their bows shall be broken. 16 Better is a little that the righteous has, than the abundance of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but Yahweh upholds the righteous. 18 Yahweh knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever. 19 They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil. In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20 But the wicked shall perish. The enemies of Yahweh shall be like the beauty of the fields. They will vanish— vanish like smoke. 21 The wicked borrow, and don’t pay back, but the righteous give generously. 22 For such as are blessed by him shall inherit the land. Those who are cursed by him shall be cut off. 23 A man’s steps are established by Yahweh. He delights in his way. 24 Though he stumble, he shall not fall, for Yahweh holds him up with his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging for bread. 26 All day long he deals graciously, and lends. His offspring is blessed. 27 Depart from evil, and do good. Live securely forever. 28 For Yahweh loves justice, and doesn’t forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and live in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom. His tongue speaks justice. 31 The law of his God is in his heart. None of his steps shall slide. 32 The wicked watch the righteous, and seek to kill him. 33 Yahweh will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. 34 Wait for Yahweh, and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35 I have seen the wicked in great power, spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil. 36 But he passed away, and behold, he was not. Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found. 37 Mark the perfect man, and see the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace. 38 As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together. The future of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 But the salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh. He is their stronghold in the time of trouble. 40 Yahweh helps them and rescues them. He rescues them from the wicked and saves them, because they have taken refuge in him.
Commentary
1. Much easier to say “don’t fret” than to do it. I often find myself battling anxiety about things that might happen, which is the type of fretting I though of first. Here, though, David seems more focused on the temptation to envy those who seem like they’re “getting away with” unrighteousness.
4. This is one of my favorite verses. I prayed it for years before God granted my desire for a family of my own, and I always smile now when I read it, thinking of my husband and daughter.
5-6. There are so many verses in the Bible reminding us that our focus should be on trusting God and following Him. It’s so much simpler than we often make it.
7. Here is where the psalm starts to feel particularly relevant today. It feels almost impossible not to fret over those “who make wicked plots happen.”
8-11. A key set of verses for times like this, when it’s so easy to react with anger to things we see around us. We must remember that wrath leads to evildoing and evildoers, no matter how well-intentioned they think they are, will be stopped by God. We must wait humbly for God to act. See also Romans 12:14-21.
12-15. Further assurance from the Psalmist that no matter how much wickedness seems to run rampant, even to the point of killing upright people, we can be assured that the Lord will act to put an end to the evil that they do and repay their deeds.
17-19. “Yahweh upholds the righteous” is a recurring motif in the psalms and Isaiah. Here, we also start to get hints that David understand the cosmic timescale where God’s justice plays out: “their inheritance shall be forever.” Not all of God’s promised blessings on the righteous are fully realized in this life, but they will certainly come to pass.
20. Likewise, God’s justice on the wicked doesn’t always happen as quickly as we might like, but it will happen. He is victorious in the end, and what seems like delay to us is actually mercy (2 Pet. 3:9-10; 1 Tim. 2:1-4).
25. Here’s one of the spots that pops up frequently in the psalms where we see the writer’s personal experience rather than a general rule that applies to all time. This is what David has seen; it is not a promise that righteous people will never go hungry. Even earlier in this same psalm, David acknowledges that sometimes the wicked kill the righteous (v. 14). It is possible to hold both truths in our minds: that God is always faithful to His people, and that sometimes He allows bad things to happen.
28. The fact that “Yahweh loves justice” is very reassuring to me. The Hebrew word is mishpâṭ (H4941), and I’ve written about it before. The word encompasses all the functions of a proper government and reflects God’s desire and ability to set things right.
33-34. These are hard verses to reconcile when it does seem as if the wicked might be triumphing over the righteous. Once again, we must remember the timescale that God operates on. In the last days when the righteous are resurrected and stand before God in judgement, He will not condemn them. Those who wait on God and keep His way will be there to see Him bring justice to earth.
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Often during times of great stress, we feel like we ought to do something. That is true, but it’s not always the sort of thing we think. Two of the most powerful, and the most counterintuitive, things we can do is lament and pray. Lament is something I don’t think we talk about nearly enough in society today. It’s a Biblical model for talking to God about anguish, pain, grief, and confusion. All too often, we get angry or afraid when we ought to be sighing and crying (see Ezk. 9:4). We want to lash out or take action externally when the Biblical answer is to start with lament and prayer. That doesn’t mean we won’t say anything to take any action, but what we do and say must spring from godly motives rather than human impulses if we want to walk uprightly. I want to close with two more verses that I think are important to keep in mind right now, no matter which side of the intellectual/political divide you lean towards.
First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people,even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 2:1-4, NET
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they? So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
One of the interesting, seemingly contradictory, things about Christianity is that it is both very simple and deeply complex. The basics of following God are easily grasped once He opens your mind to understand, and at the same time there’s so much depth to His truth that you’ll never exhaust the possibility for learning more.
At its most basic, God’s way is simple and it’s all contained in the Bible. We can read the scriptures and see that God created all things, He wants a relationship with people, and that under the Law governing the universe people deserve a death-penalty for sins, but that Jesus Christ died in our place so that we could live forever as part of God’s family. All we have to do is repent (turn away from) our sins (which we can recognize as sin by comparing our actions to God’s law), believe in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, and commit to following Him the rest of our lives.
Then, we have the rest of our lives to study the Bible, learn about the culture and languages it was written in, pray to and talk with God, and figure out just what’s involved in following Him for the rest of our lives. We get to experience the same feeling Paul did when He wrote, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how unfathomable his ways!” (Rom. 11:33, NET). As we dive deeper into those riches, though, we need to be careful we don’t get distracted from the foundations of our faith.
Remember The Foundations
I did a study 10 years ago (can’t believe it’s been that long!) on the concepts the author of Hebrews calls foundational: “repentance from dead works, of faith toward God, of the teaching of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment” (Heb. 6:2-3, WEB). Those are core doctrines of Christianity. Repentance is what you’re supposed to do when you first enter a relationship with God, and involves turning away from your sins. Faith is key to the next step: actively believing (or faith-ing) in Jesus Christ and accepting His sacrifice. Baptism is when we commit to God in covenant, and there’s an ongoing aspect as well. Laying on of hands is linked with setting us apart for God (along with a few other things). Understanding the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgement aligns our perspective for the future with God’s plan.
We need to be careful not to forget the simple foundations as we continue our Christian walk. Sure we want to learn more about what God expects of us when we’re in a relationship with Him and how to follow Him whole-heartedly, but that doesn’t mean we should forget that repentance, belief, and commitment are the core things (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 16:31; 19:4; Romans 10:9). Following God isn’t hard (Matt. 11:30). It can be challenging to stick with it, but figuring out what God wants or how to follow Him isn’t complicated.
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Appreciate The Depth
I am very thankful that God both keeps things simple and invites us to keep learning and growing. I would get so discouraged if God kept changing the requirements, expected perfection with no slips, or hid something that’s key to pleasing Him and earning the rewards He promised. At the same time, I’d get so bored if there wasn’t more to learn and discover in the Bible.
Ironically, the most famous verse talking about “simplicity in Christ” is one of the places that we can dig deeper and learn something that isn’t immediately apparent (at last in English translations). Let’s start by looking at the verse in two different translations.
But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Cor. 11:3, WEB (bold added)
But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3, NET (bold added)
Already, just looking at this verse in two different translations shows us there’s something more to learn. One says “simplicity that is in Christ” and one says “sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” The NET has a footnote on their translation pointing out that most manuscripts don’t have “and pure,” but several early ones do and that provides strong evidence that the original letter included both haplotētos (“sincerity”) and hagnotētos (“purity”) (NET translation comment on 2 Cor. 11:3). It doesn’t change the meaning much, but it does give us something to think about.
Then we have the difference between “simplicity” and “sincerity.” We often look at the Greek and Hebrew behind the English translation when trying to puzzle out a meaning, but I think we often forget that English words can also change meanings over time or have multiple meanings. In the Oxford English Dictionary, “There are 13 meanings … for the noun simplicity, three of which are labelled obsolete” (it’s behind a paywall, though, so we can’t access those definitions). Perhaps the meaning of “simplicity” has changed since 1611 when translators used it in the King James Version. Even today, though, there are four common meanings: 1) “the state of being simple, uncomplicated, or uncompounded,” 2) “lack of subtlety or penetration,” 3) “freedom from pretense or guile,” and 4) “directness of expression.” In this case, it’s the English word “simple” that has multiple meanings and leads to confusion, not the Greek or Hebrew words.
Following With Sincerity
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Most people I’ve heard talk about this verse assume that “simple” means “uncomplicated.” But the fact that another translation used “sincerity” indicates that perhaps we should read “simple” as meaning “freedom from pretense.” A Greek dictionary confirms that we’re on the right track with this interpretation. Thayer defines haplotes (G572) as ” singleness, simplicity, sincerity, mental honesty,” including “the virtue of one who is free from pretense and hypocrisy.” So this verse isn’t actually talking about how easy it is to follow Christ. It’s about following Him with integrity and devotion, which also fits the context better.
I wish that you would be patient with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are being patient with me!For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough!
2 Corinthians 11:1-4, NET
Here, Paul’s focus isn’t on how uncomplicated or easy Christianity is. He’s concerned about his readers being lured away by people who spread false teachings. He doesn’t want us to become like those who “will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.And they will turn away from hearing the truth” (2 Tim. 4:3-4, NET). There is plenty of depth within God’s truth to satisfy our desire to learn without us running off after some counterfeit teaching that adds to or takes away from God’s word (Deut. 4:2; Prov. 30:5-6; Ecc. 3:14; Rev. 22:18-19).
As we progress in our Christian walks, we need to be on guard against several dangers in relation to the knowledge that we’re given. We might become haughty, thinking we understand everything and that there’s nothing new for us to learn, when in reality we’re someone who “does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know” (1 Cor. 8:2, NET). On the other hand, we might become discontent with the basics of God’s way and start adding things on, having “itching ears” that seek out whatever new thing or controversy catches our attention (1 Tim. 6:3-4; 2 Tim. 4:2-4). We must guard ourselves, neither straying from the foundations of God nor forgetting there is always more to learn from Him.
We’ve been talking a lot recently on this blog about faith. Specifically, our faith toward God and the connection between faith, righteousness, and obedience. There’s another aspect that we haven’t really talked about yet, and that’s the faithfulness of the one that we have faith in.
The fact that God is faithful enables us to have faith in Him. You can’t have faith (at least not for very long) in someone who’s unreliable and untrustworthy. Thankfully, God has proven Himself faithful, reliable, and trustworthy for thousands of years, and there’s no reason to think He’ll change any time in the future.
Christ’s Faithfulness
There’s a Greek phrase that Paul uses, pistis Christou (πίστις Χριστοῦ), that scholars aren’t quite sure how to translate. Many older versions use the phrase “faith in Christ” but modern translations are opting more often for “faithfulness of Christ.” It might even be that either translation would work equally well and that Paul’s intent was to imply “that the object of faith is a worthy object, for he himself is faithful” (see NET footnotes on Gal. 2:16). Our faith is closely linked with Jesus’s and the Father’s faithfulness.
We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners,yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. … I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:15-16, 20, NET
With this translation, it shifts the focus of justification off of us believing in Jesus (i.e. having active faith) and onto what Jesus did for us. Instead of being justified by the law, we’re justified by Jesus. That doesn’t eliminate our role–it’s still important to understand that our righteousness doesn’t hinge on keeping the law but rather on being obediently faithful to God. But it does emphasize how vital Jesus’s faithfulness is to this whole process (see also Rom. 3:20-26; Gal 3:21-22; Eph. 3:11-13).
More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as dung!—that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness—a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness. My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:8-11, NET
We owe everything to Jesus and the Father. They want us to actively participate in the covenant relationship they offer us, but make no mistake: everything we can do in this relationship is enabled by the Messiah’s faithfulness. God is the one who sets up the covenant. Jesus is the one who died to free us from the death penalty for breaking God’s law. Jesus and the Father are actively continuing to wash us, forgive us, teach us, and work in us. We get to choose whether or not we participate and we’re required to stay faithful, but we’re not the instigators of the opportunity nor the only ones working on this relationship.
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Faithful Atonement
What did Jesus’s faithfulness involve? As we’ve talked about before, “faith” in the Bible isn’t just something that happens in the mind or a system of belief that we acknowledge. It’s an active, living thing. In the first century, pistis meant “faithfulness, steadfastness, and trustworthiness” (Brent Schmidt, Relational Faith, 2023, p. 11). It also “implied active loyalty, trust, hope, knowledge, and persuasion in the patron-client relationship or within the new covenant brought about through Christ’s Atonement” (p. 11). This isn’t something that goes one-way. Covenants are reciprocal relationships even when one party is infinitely greater than the other. We can’t pay God back for anything He did and we didn’t do anything to deserve His patronage, but once we join in covenant with Him we owe Him our loyalty, obedience, and active faith. Jesus modeled that kind of faith in His relationship with His Father while He lived here on earth as a human, and He’s still being faithful today.
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess,who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s house.For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself! For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithfulin all God’shouse as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken. But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. We are of his house, if in fact we hold firmlyto our confidence and the hope we take pride in.
Hebrews 2:17-3:6, NET (bold italics mark a quotation from Num. 12:7)
As a human being, Jesus’s faithfulness to His father gave us a pattern for us to follow. Now that He’s been resurrected and lives forever at God’s right hand, He’s still practicing faithfulness as the Head of the church, the High Priest of the New Covenant, and the Son of God over His house.
One of the ways Jesus demonstrated His faithfulness was by a making “atonement for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17, NET). If you’re reading this blog post the day it goes live, then today is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This is one of the special annual festival days that God designates as holy to Him. In the Old Testament, this day involved a ceremony with two goats: one killed for the sins of the people as a picture of Jesus Christ and the other banished as picture of what will happen to Satan (Lev. 16; Heb. 2:17; Rev. 20:1-3). This was also the only day that the high priest could enter the most holy part of the temple.
Today, the Day of Atonement reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice, looks forward to a time when Satan is removed from the picture, and invites us to think deeply about our High Priest Jesus Christ who “secured eternal redemption for us” when He entered the heavenly Holy Place (Heb. 9:12, NET, see Heb. 9). Thanks to His decision to faithfully fulfill the roles given to Him by His Father, we have the opportunity to live by faith.
Proven Faithfulness
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God’s faithfulness isn’t just a New Testament thing. He’s always been faithful to His promises, people, and covenants. Faithfulness and loyalty are part of who He is.
The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name.The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness,keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”
Exodus 34:5-7, NET
The Hebrew word emeth is often translated “truth,” but it’s more than just something being factually true. It also involves “firmness, faithfulness … sureness, reliability” (Brown, Driver, Briggs; H571). The word translated “loyal love” is chesed, and it means “goodness, kindness” (BDB; H2617). The two words both point to God’s faithfulness.
These two words (“loyal love” and “truth”) are often found together, occasionally in a hendiadys construction. If that is the interpretation here, then it means “faithful covenant love.” Even if they are left separate, they are dual elements of a single quality. The first word is God’s faithful covenant love; the second word is God’s reliability and faithfulness.
NET footnote on Ex. 43:6
Faithfulness is such a core part of God’s nature that He included it when proclaiming His name to Moses. He “is the true God, the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully with those who love him and keep his commandments” (Deut. 7:9, NET). This aspect of His character is celebrated throughout the psalms and mentioned in the prophets, including prophecies of the Messiah (Is. 25:1; 42:3; 49:7; 65:16; Jer. 31:3, 32; Hos. 2:20). Yet despite His love and faithfulness, ancient Israel was not faithful to Him (Jer. 3:20; 9:2; 23:10). That’s something that needed to change in the New Covenant.
“In a faraway land the Lord will manifest himself to them. He will say to them, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you.’ …
“Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord.“But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people.
“People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”
Jeremiah 31:3, 31-34, NET
God is faithful no matter what, and He wants people to reciprocate faithfulness in their relationship with Him. He has demonstrated His faithfulness time and time again, including by Jesus’s atoning sacrifice. Because of His faithfulness, we who are in a New Covenant relationship with Him can “live by faith” and please God with that faith (Rom. 1:17; 2 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 11:6). His great faithfulness ought to inspire great faithfulness in us.
The other day as I was reading through Hebrews 11, I noticed the faith chapter follows a pattern: “By faith [name] [action].” Each time the writer mentions a hero of faith, they following it by saying what it was this person did by faith.
As we’ve been studying here on this blog for the past three weeks, faith is linked with the actions we take (see “The Obedience of Faith,” “Be Careful How You Listen,” and “Increase Our Faith“). I thought it might be fitting to follow these posts up with one that’s more concrete; one that moves past discussing faith in action as a concept to looking at the actions that people of faith really did. Hebrews 11 isn’t an exhaustive list, but it is a great place to start.
We Understand
By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.
Hebrews 11:3, NET
I’ve never before stopped to think about the fact that the faith chapter starts with us. We think of this as a list of heroes of the faith, but the very first people mentioned is “we”–the author and all the readers. None of us were there at the creation of the world. The understanding we have to worship God as Creator is something we do by faith.
Abel Offered
By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead.
Hebrews 11:4, NET
Abel’s faith prompted him to give an offering to God. If we do this today it’s usually money, but in the Old Testament God’s followers gave physical offerings. In Genesis, we read, “Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering” (Gen. 4:4, WEB). Something about Abel’s offering and the way he presented it pleased God and led to Him commending Abel’s righteousness. We’ll see this connection between action, faith, and righteousness repeated with Abraham as well.
Enoch Pleased God
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God. Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:5-6, NET
Enoch is the one break in our “By faith [name] [action]” pattern. Here, “Enoch was taken” by God–it’s God doing the action, not Enoch. The lines that follow, though show that Enoch was doing something to please God. We’re not sure exactly what all was involved in that, but it is linked with “believe” (translated from pisteuo, the verb/action word form of pistis, which is faith as a noun/thing/concept).
Noah Constructed, Condemned, and Inherited
By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Hebrews 11:7, NET
I still think about a study I published in 2016 “Grace To Build An Ark.” The first time we see “grace” in the Bible, it’s when God decided to spare Noah and his family from the flood. Like the grace we receive, Noah couldn’t have enacted this salvation on his own, but once he received grace he took action. He built an ark, and here we learn that he did that “by faith.”
We’re also told that through faith Noah “condemned the world.” The word translated “condemned” is katakrino, “to give judgement against” (G2632, Thayer’s Dictionary). Noah wasn’t the one who decided the world was “worthy of punishment” (Thayer), but the actions he took by faith highlighted that he was the only one alive who would be obedient to God and drew a sharp contrast between him and the sinful world.
Noah also “became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” In Romans, Paul talked extensively about how “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness” (Rom. 4), but this points out that it happened for Noah as well. It’s really an amazing thing to say about someone in the Old Testament, when many people who knew about God were “pursuing a law of righteousness” yet fell short of “righteousness that is by faith” (Rom. 9:30-31, NET, see Rom 9:30-10:13). Noah’s example provides further support for one of Paul’s main arguments in Romans: that God has always worked with people who pursued righteousness through faith and obeyed God from the heart rather than simply by rote obedience to the letter of the law.
Abraham Obeyed, Went Out, Lived, Looked Forward, Procreated, and Offered
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going.By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. So in fact children were fathered by one man—and this one as good as dead—like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sandonthe seashore. …
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,”and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.
Hebrews 11:8-12, 17-18 NET (bold italics mark a quotation from Gen 21:12)
Abraham is known as the father of the faithful, and for good reason (Rom. 4:12, 16). His whole life is characterized by faithful action in obedience to God and based on trust in God. Most of the other action words used in this section of Hebrews 11 hinge on that first word: “obeyed.” It was in obedience to God that he left his homeland and “lived as a foreigner” in the land God promised to his descendants. He was obeying when he “offered up Isaac.” We also see a lot of trust in Abraham’s life–trust that God would raise up Isaac if he died, trust when looking forward to a heavenly city, and trust that God would give him a child. For Abraham, as for all of us, faith is an action that involves trusting God, staying loyal to Him, and obeying Him.
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Isaac and Jacob Blessed
By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future.By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.
Hebrews 11:20-21, NET (bold italics mark a quotation from Gen 47:31)
When we think of blessing today, we usually think of it as something God does for us (e.g. “God blessed us with protection during the storm”) or that we do for God (e.g. “Bless the Lord, O my soul”). In the Bible, though, there’s a third type of blessing as well. People can bless other people. It’s part prophecy, part asking God to bless them. To bless someone like this, you have to have faith in God–faith that He’s guiding the words of your blessing and faith that He’ll carry it out.
Joseph Mentioned and Instructed
By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial.
Hebrews 11:22, NET
This is another example of faith that includes trusting God about the future. Joseph’s only guarantee that Israel would leave Egypt is that God told Him about it (Gen. 50:24-26). He trusted God’s word so much that he made plans for the Exodus that would happen long after his death, instructing his brothers to pass down this command all the way to Moses (Ex. 13:19).
Moses’s Parents Hid
By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
Hebrews 11:23, NET
We often think of hiding as something we do because of fear, but that’s the opposite of what’s happening here. Moses’s parents hid him to keep him safe from the murderous pharaoh. My baby is almost 3 months old now, and I can’t imagine how much faith it took for his mother to overcome her fears, put her little baby into a basket in the river, and hope that he’d be safe (Ex. 1:22-2:3).
Moses Refused, Chose, Suffered, Left, Persevered, and Kept
By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward. By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.
Hebrews 11:24-28, NET
Movies like The Ten Commandments and Prince of Egypt make it seem like Moses didn’t know about his Israelite heritage until shocked by the revelation as an adult, but this passage in Hebrews indicates he knew for a while. He didn’t stumble into the knowledge or run away because he was scarred. He chose, by faith, to align himself with the people of God even though that meant suffering.
All of the faithful actions recorded here for Moses hinge on looking to the future and relying on God. He chose God over Egypt–long-term good over “fleeting pleasure” and treasures in heaven over earthly wealth. He trusted in God to pass the last plague over Israel if they obeyed His instructions, and though it isn’t mentioned here, we know Moses and generations of Israelites to follow continued keeping the Passover as they looked forward to the Messiah.
People of Israel Crossed Red Sea and Watched Jericho Fall
By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days.
Hebrews 11:29-30, NET
The people of ancient Israel are often seen as a cautionary tale–an example of disobedience that we’re to learn from and not imitate (1 Cor. 10:1-12). But there were times that they acted in faith, and we can look to those times as positive examples. They were scared at the Red Sea, but when God parted the waters they fled through this supernatural way of escape by faith. They weren’t the most formidable army in the world, but Joshua didn’t hesitate to lead them into the promised land and trust God to provide the victory. Once again, we see that actions of faith are linked with trusting God.
Rahab Escaped
By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.
Hebrews 11:31, NET
Rahab didn’t know anything about the God of Israel except what she’d heard about the things He’d done through and for His people (Josh. 2:8-13). That was enough, though, for her to say, “Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath” (Josh. 2:11, WEB), and to act based on faith in Him. You don’t need to know everything about who God is and what He expects from you to begin a life of faith.
Summary of Other Faithful Actions
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And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight,and women received back their dead raised to life. But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life.And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, sawed apart, murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth. And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us.
Hebrews 11:21-40, NET
The actions of faith often seem exciting and heroic when we look back on them. At the time, though, I imagine they were often harrowing for people. The verses in Hebrews tell us people like Moses and his parents acted without fear, but there was still uncertainty. They trusted God, but they didn’t know the outcome when they started out.
Sometimes, the actions we take by faith lead to things like conquering kingdoms, attaining the promises, escaping from lions, and raising the dead. Other times, these actions lead to God’s people being tortured, mocked, imprisoned, and homeless. No matter what the outcome, the point of this chapter is that we can trust God when we act in faith. In the grand scheme of things, He always works things out for good. Sometimes that’s obvious in this life, but whether we see a good outcome here or not, the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises will happen in His kingdom.
These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:13-16, NET
Every single person mentioned here in the faith chapter is still waiting to receive all that God promised them. They’ll be resurrected at the same time as the New Covenant believers are at Jesus’s return (see “Rethinking Heaven: Capturing A Vision of the Resurrection“). The faith chapter begins by including us (“by faith we understand”) and it ends with us as well (“they would be made perfect together with us”). When we remain faithful to God–demonstrated by the actions of faith that we take in obedience to Him–we’ll inherit the promises right alongside all the faithful people who’ve followed God over thousands of years.
In our lives as Christians, we’ve probably all thought at some point that we’d like to have more faith. We look at the heroes of faith in the Bible and read Hebrews 11, and we think it’d be nice to have faith like that. Jesus’s disciples had a similar desire.
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”So the Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this black mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Luke 17:5-6, NET
At first, it seems like Jesus didn’t give them a helpful answer. They asked for more faith, and He said if you had faith you could do this and this, but didn’t actually tell them how to get that faith. But then, as He so often did when teaching, He proceeded to tell them a story.
“Would any one of you say to your slave who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, ‘Come at once and sit down for a meal’?Won’t the master instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready to serve me while I eat and drink. Then you may eat and drink’?He won’t thank the slave because he did what he was told, will he?So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done what was our duty.’”
Luke 17:7-10, NET
The disciples asked for more faith, and Jesus gave this enigmatic response. First, He told them what they could do if they had faith. Then, he told them this story about the slave and the master. Finally, He gave them an instruction: “So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done what was our duty.’” It’s this story and concluding instruction that serve as the answer to the disciples’ plea, “Increase our faith!”
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Master and Slave
When we read the word “slave” with modern eyes, we become very uncomfortable. We think of involuntary subjugation and mistreatment. In many English translations, they use the word “servant” or “bondservant” to avoid using “slave.” However, “δοῦλος (doulos) … does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another” (NET footnote on Matt. 8:9). “Bondservant” is a pretty good translation, since doulos “often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another,” but it’s not a word that most modern English speakers are familiar with. That makes “slave” the best translation option even though our modern sense of what that means is a little different than what doulos meant in the ancient world.
It’s important that we understand doulos because the master-slave relationship is one that Jesus and New Testament writers frequently use to explain how God and His followers relate to each other. Jesus has multiple parables about the kingdom that compare us to slaves and He and/or His father to a master (Matt. 24:45-51; 25:14-30). While Jesus did say, “I no longer call you slaves … But I have called you friends” near the end of His human life (John 15:15), Paul, Timothy, James, Peter, and Jude all call themselves slaves of God the Father and Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Tit. 1:1; James 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:1; Jude 1:1). In the sense that Biblical writers use the word, we don’t have a choice about whether or not we’re slaves. All people either serve sin and the devil as their master, or serve righteousness and the one true God (Romans 6). We just get to choose whom we serve. With that in mind, let’s look at Jesus’s response to His disciples again.
“Would any one of you say to your slave who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, ‘Come at once and sit down for a meal’?Won’t the master instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready to serve me while I eat and drink. Then you may eat and drink’?He won’t thank the slave because he did what he was told, will he?So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done what was our duty.’”
Luke 17:7-10, NET
First, Jesus asked His listeners to put themselves in the master’s role. You wouldn’t think it was a remarkable thing, He points out, if your slave did as they were told and served you. Like the slave in this story, we have a master that we’re expected to serve. When we do everything God has commanded us to do, we shouldn’t think we’ve done something amazing. That’s just what’s expected of us. It is our duty to obey God in everything. And somehow, that is connected to faith.
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Doing What We Hear
Paul tells us that “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17, NET). As we talked about last week, a Jewish writer like Paul would have connected the idea of hearing to the action of doing. If you really hear or listen to something God says, then you’re going to act on what you hear. Faith follows from hearing God’s word and, as we talked about the week before last, that faith involves obedience to what God says.
When I read, “when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done what was our duty’” I think of the difference Jesus drew between people who made a show of righteousness and people who lived genuinely righteous lives. Usually, this came up in relation to the Pharisees, who prided themselves on keeping God’s law to the letter and even adding more laws on top of it.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place. So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!”
Matthew 5:17-20, NET
Clearly, the true righteousness Jesus talks about here has something to do with keeping the commands of God but it isn’t confined to just being an expert in the law or keeping that law as strictly as possible. In the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus continued talking about taking God’s law to the next level. Our righteousness has to go beyond the letter of the law to obeying God in the spirit and intent of His law. For example, it’s not enough to avoid murder; Jesus also expects us not to despise or condemn others (Matt. 5:21-22). It’s not enough to refrain from cheating on our spouses; we’re not even to lust after someone who doesn’t belong to us (Matt. 5:27-28). If we’re only keeping the letter of the law, then we are servants who have merely done our duty. If we want to be deserving of “special praise,” we need to demonstrate a higher degree of commitment to God than what He expected under the Old Covenant.
Now we have such confidence in God through Christ.Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 2:4-6, NET
Paul explains “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” more fully in Romans, especially Romans 7-8. The law gives knowledge of sin, but it can’t save us from the death penalty that comes from breaking God’s law. We need Jesus’s sacrifice for that, and when we have a relationship with Him we’re “free from the law of sin and death” and under “the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:2, NET).
The Law That Gives Freedom
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Many people think of God’s law as something restrictive, demanding, and confining. But when we’re in a New Covenant relationship with the Father and Jesus, the law becomes something else. It’s not so much that the law of God changed, but that our relationship with it changed.
But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators.For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law. Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom.For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment.
While Paul often emphasized how we don’t rely on the law for salvation (even though we still owe God our loyalty and obedience), here, James emphasizes the continuing importance of God’s law. If we really love our neighbors as ourselves, then we’re keeping God’s whole law the way He intends us to (Rom. 13:8-10). But if we break one of the more detailed commands summed up by “love your neighbor as yourself” then we’re guilty of violating God’s law. He’s merciful, though, and the law is there for freedom not condemnation. It lets us know what kind of works we should produce when we have faith.
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that—and tremble with fear.
But would you like evidence, you empty fellow, that faith without works is useless?Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way?For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
James 2:14-26, NET (bold italics mark a quotation from Gen. 15:6)
Belief that acknowledges God’s nature then does nothing based on that knowledge is the same kind of “faith” that the demons have. Faith that’s linked with righteousness takes action. Active faith does good works, not because works will save us but because our salvation links us with God the Father and Jesus Christ. A real relationship with them inspires change, growth, and goodness in us. As we follow Jesus’s example and obey God in the spirit of the law, not just doing our duty to obey in the letter of the law, our faith continues to grow.
Like An Anchor 