Tag: sin

Who Pays For Other People’s Sins?

Who Pays For Other People’s Sins?

Marissa

I’d planned to write more about the Hebrew word shamar (which we covered last week) today, but I heard an excellent sermon on the Parable of the Prodigal Son that made me want to write about this topic today. The main point was that we can learn from all three of the characters in this parable. At different points in our lives, we can be the prodigal son, the compassionate father, or the angry brother. The speaker made a point near the end of the message when talking about the angry brother that really stood out to me. He said, “We don’t pay the price of others’ sins.”

Now, at first, something in me grew hot and angry hearing this. I thought, “I’ve absolutely paid a price for other people’s sins when they’ve hurt me.” But then I realized that wasn’t the point of this statement. Yes, other people’s sins can affect us, sometimes very badly. However, the price of their sins that we’re talking about here refers to the price that God’s justice demands a sinner pay for violating His law. Ultimately, this price is death, or it would be without the sacrifice of Jesus (Rom. 6:23).

You see, while we can still suffer because of other people’s sins, we’re not the ones paying the price for forgiveness. We couldn’t; we also deserve a death penalty for our sins and we can’t offer ourselves in exchange for someone else’s soul even if we wanted to (Ezk. 18:20). This also means we don’t have the right to withhold forgiveness.

Image of a man pushing open doors to go outside overlaid with text from Col. 2:13-14, NET version: "And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross."
Image by Pearl from Lightstock

Forgiveness and Restoration

Forgiveness can be a tough subject for many of us. Many of us struggle with forgiveness even if we know we should do it, or we come up with reasons why we don’t need to forgive in particular cases. Trust me, I know it’s hard. It’s not like I’ve never been hurt by anyone and I’m saying “just forgive them” without knowing how hard that is. But even if you go through something traumatic and still have occasional panicked flashbacks, you need to forgive. Even if you ended up in counseling for 3 years trying to figure out how to process what happened, you need to forgive.

For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.

Matthew 5:14-15, NET

We think of forgiveness as something God offers us freely, but in reality it’s conditional on something. If we want forgiveness, then we need to forgive others. There’s no wiggle room in here. There are, however, some things forgiveness doesn’t necessarily entail.

Forgiveness doesn’t always mean restoring relationships–sometimes it’s not safe or healthy to continue having any kind of relationship with the person who wronged you. This is especially true if they don’t repent. For example, Paul told the Corinthians to stop associating with someone who was flagrantly sinning without repentance (1 Cor. 5), then later told them to restore someone that we assume is the same man to their fellowship of believers after his repentance (2 Cor. 2:5-11; 7:8-12). The relationship wasn’t restored until the person repented and changed his conduct. Jesus also gave step-by-step instructions for attempting to reconcile with a fellow believer if they sin, but also said that if it doesn’t work you don’t have to keep trying (Matt. 18:15-17).

Reconciliation, peace, and restored relationships is the goal for Christians, but there’s also only so much we can do if the other person isn’t repenting, changing, or trying. We’re only responsible for our own actions and can’t control others (Rom. 12:9-21). One of the actions that we can take on our own without the other person doing anything is forgive. In the New Testament, sin is often framed as a debt (e.g. when we sin, we owe God something that we can’t pay back). This is reflected in one line from Jesus’s model prayer: “forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.” If someone owes you something, you can cancel that debt. In other words, we can let go of bitterness, anger, resentment, and the sense that we’re owed something. Forgiveness is a necessary and healthy thing to do, whether or not the other person asks for it.

Image of a woman's peaceful face overlaid with text from Col. 2:13-14, NET version: "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others."
Image by PhotoGranary from Lightstock

Why We Must Forgive

One of Jesus’s parables expands on why forgiveness is something He can and does command us to do (Matt. 18:21-35). In this parable, a king (who pictures God) forgives a servant who owes him a massive sum of money. His debt is 10,000 talents, which is equal to about what a typical person could earn in 164,384 years of work (1 talent=6,000 denarii, and 1 denarius=1 day of work; see NET footnote on Matt. 18:24). Incredibly, the king forgives the debt. Then, right after receiving forgiveness, the man goes out and shakes down a fellow slave who owed him just 100 denarii, or about 3 months’ wages. He refuses to forgive right after he’s been forgiven.

 “When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place. Then his lord called the first slave and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Matthew 18:31-35, NET

As people who’ve received God’s forgiveness, we’re obligated to forgive others. As in this parable, we should be able to recognize how ridiculous it is for someone forgiven an unfathomably large debt to then refuse to forgive others a paltry sum. No matter how much someone “owes” us (or seems to) for their sin, they owe God more. If He, who is owed so much, can choose to forgive and remove the death penalty for sin, how much more should we, who are owed comparatively little, choose to stop inflicting a penalty on people who’ve wronged us.

God’s instruction to forgive should be enough for us. But there’s also research to back-up the importance of forgiveness for our own wellbeing. According to surveys by the American Bible Society published in their ebook “State of the Bible USA 2024,” people who can forgive are much better off than those who can’t or won’t. The survey asked if the respondent agreed with the statement, “I am able to sincerely forgive whatever someone else has done to me, regardless of whether they ever ask for forgiveness or not.” Those who agreed also scored higher on Human Flourishing and Hope Agency (p. 54-55), demonstrated more pro-social behaviors (p. 73), and were significantly less lonely than unforgiving people (p. 166). Forgiveness is healthy for us, helps us move forward with hope, and improves relationships with other people. God tells us to do this for our own good.

Who Paid For Sin?

Image of a woman in a flowered dress sanding on old railroad tracks holding a book, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, " We might suffer because of other people's sins, but we're not the ones paying the price for forgiveness and we don’t have the right to withhold forgiveness."
Image by Kristen McDow from Lightstock

One of the things that Jesus didn’t touch on in the parable we just looked at is who paid the price for sins. When God forgives a sin, it’s not quite like the king who just waved a hand and made the debt go away. Someone still pays for that debt, and that someone is Jesus Christ.

 For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps. He committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth. When he was maligned, he did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened no retaliation, but committed himself to God who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed. For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

1 Peter 2:21-25, NET (bold italics mark quotations from Is. 53:5-6, 9; 53:4, 12)

Jesus took our sins on Himself. He “is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2, NET). We often think of Jesus as “my savior,” but we might not always think of the implications of Him being the savior of the whole world. God didn’t just love me and send Jesus for me: He agape-loves everyone and sent Jesus to save the whole world (John 3:16).

I’m not preaching universal salvation here. God doesn’t apply salvation to everyone automatically–we have to accept the gift by repenting, believing, and entering a covenant relationship with God. But He does make salvation available to everyone because “he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9, NET). In other words, He’s already decided to forgive people if they ask Him for it.

Here, we come back to the point we started with: “We don’t pay the price of others’ sins.” Jesus did that when He offered His own life in exchange for the world. He canceled the debts of everyone who will come to God and take advantage of that offer. We don’t (and can’t) pay the final, cosmic price of others’ sins and we don’t have the right to withhold forgiveness from them. This is especially true if they repent and ask us to cancel their debt, but it’s also true that we need to let go and let God handle things even if the other person doesn’t repent or ask us for forgiveness.

Featured image by Chris Mainland from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “That’s How You Forgive” by Shane & Shane

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Do Not Lead Us Into Temptation, but Deliver Us From the Evil One

Do Not Lead Us Into Temptation, but Deliver Us From the Evil One

Marissa

I’ve missed a couple weeks of blogging since our daughter was born, but I’m hoping to get back to weekly posts soon. For now, bi-weekly might be more doable (we’ll see how things go). Today’s post is our final study of Jesus’s model prayer. We’ve been focusing on the version in Matthew, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount where He’s talking about good and bad examples for how to pray (Matt. 6:5-15). There’s also a near-identical prayer recorded in Luke, where Jesus responded to a disciple’s request that Jesus teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-13).

So pray this way:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,
may your kingdom come,
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:9-13, NET

Luke’s version is a little shorter than the one in Matthew, and the final line there simply reads, “And do not lead us into temptation” (see NET footnotes on manuscript evidence for a shorter reading in Luke). Whichever recorded version we’re looking at, we can think of this prayer as a helpful outline for our own prayers. And if we want to include this “do not lead us into temptation” sentiment when we pray, it’s helpful to understand what it does (and doesn’t) mean.

Image of people praying together overlaid with text from John 17:15, NET version: “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one."
Image by Claudine Chaussé from Lightstock

Do Not Lead Us Into Temptation

The last line of this prayer is a little tricky to interpret, at least at first glance, in light of other scriptures. James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one” (NET). The English translation of Matthew 6, at least, makes it appear that Jesus is advising us to pray against something (God leading us into temptation) that wouldn’t happen anyways. Looking at another piece of prayer advice that He gave his disciples helps clear this confusion up.

Then they went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” … Then he came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake for one hour? Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Mark 14:32, 37-38, NET

This is actually very similar to what Jesus told his disciples to pray in the model prayer. Both verses use the same Greek word for temptation, periasmos (G3986). This word involves putting something to the test. It’s “an experiment, attempt, trial, proving” that can include an internal or external “enticement to sin” for the purpose of making a “trial of man’s fidelity, integrity, virtue, constancy” (Thayer). In both cases, Jesus advised them to pray that this didn’t happen. Testing isn’t a pleasant experience. God will let it happen sometimes, though, when it’s for our good and when He knows we could succeed.

My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials (periasmos), because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. …

Happy is the one who endures testing (periasmos), because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters.

James 1:2-3, 12-16, NET

Testing serves a purpose. It can strengthen our faith, provided that we overcome the test and not give into the temptation to sin. The NET footnote on Matthew 6:13 says “The request do not lead us into temptation is not to suggest God causes temptation, but is a rhetorical way to ask for his protection from sin.” In other words, we might see this as a prayer that we not be tested but we can also see it as a prayer that if we’re tested, we won’t fail the test.

So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. No trial (periasmos) has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial (periasmos) will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13, NET

When God allows tests and trials, He intends for us to successfully overcome them and prove the genuineness of our faith. If we couldn’t endure the test, He wouldn’t let it happen. We need to be cautious and humble, though, and not just assume we’ve hit a point in our spiritual growth where we won’t be tempted or that we won’t fall if tempted. I think that’s also what Jesus is hinting at in the model prayer. Our prayers should include an acknowledgment that we need God’s help “delivering us from evil” to avoid sin and overcome tests when they do come.

Deliver Us From the Evil One

Image of a woman studying the Bible, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "Jesus closes the model prayer with a request that God help us resist sin and deliver us from the evil adversary and his influences."
Image by Pearl from Lightstock

Depending on the translation you’re reading, the end of Matthew 6:13 might read “deliver us from evil” or “deliver us from the evil one.” The Greek word poneros (G4190) can mean evil in a general sense, but here “it is most likely personified since it is articular (τοῦ πονηροῦ, tou ponērou)” (NET footnote). You can see other examples of this word being personified and standing in for the devil in Matt. 13:19, 38; John 17:15; 1 John 2:13-14. One of those examples is from the prayer that Jesus prayed right before his death.

I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. … I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one.

John 17:11, 14-15, NET

Jesus told us to pray for deliverance from evil, and he modeled that by praying the Father would keep us safe from the evil one. Jesus’s followers later wrote about God faithfully delivering us from evil people, evil deeds, and the evil one, or Satan (2 Thes .3:2-3; 2 Tim. 4.18; 1 John 5:18-19). We are also counseled to take up the armor of God to provide defense against the evil one.

Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace, and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Ephesians 6:11-16, NET

I have a whole book on the armor of God (Like An Anchor Study Guide: Armor of God), so we won’t go into it in too much detail in this post. But if we’re going to pray “do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one,” we need to have some understanding of what sort of evil we’re praying to be delivered from and that includes knowledge of the fight that we’re in. “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), but we are people of God whom God protects, promises to strengthen against temptations, and delivers from the devil.

Quick note for those wondering why there isn’t going to be another post titled “For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever:” manuscript evidence suggests that this phrase was added at some point, possibly for use in church liturgy (NET footnote on Matt. 6:13). Since it likely wasn’t part of the original prayer, I decided not to include it in this blog series.

If you want to catch up on or reread the previous posts in this series, here are the links: “Hallowed Be Your Name,” “May Your Kingdom Come,” “May Your Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven,” “Give Us Today Our Daily Bread,” and “Forgive Us Our Debts, as We Have Forgiven Our Debtors.”

Featured image by Matt Vasquez from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “The Lord’s Prayer” by Hillsong Worship

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Forgive Us Our Debts, as We Have Forgiven Our Debtors

Forgive Us Our Debts, as We Have Forgiven Our Debtors

Marissa

Today’s post is our 5th on Jesus’s model prayer. If you need/want to catch up on the previous posts, here are the links: “Hallowed Be Your Name,” “May Your Kingdom Come,” “May Your Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven,” and “Give Us Today Our Daily Bread.” As mentioned in those posts, we find versions of Jesus’s model prayer in two gospels. We’ve been focusing on the one in Matthew, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount when He’s talking about good and bad examples for how to pray (Matt. 6:5-15). There’s also a near-identical one in Luke, where Jesus responds to a disciple’s request that Jesus teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-13).

So pray this way:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,
may your kingdom come,
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

Matthew 6:9-13, NET

We can think of this prayer as a helpful outline for our own prayers. We’re not locked into repeating it word-for-word; He’s showing us the way to pray rather than giving us a specific prayer to recite (though there can be a time and place for that, too, just like we can read or sing psalms other people wrote at times when we can’t think of what to say or the psalms/prayers speak to our own situations). In this post, we’re looking at the second personal request that’s part of the model prayer: “forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.”

Image of two people's clasped hands overlaid with text from Colossians 3:12-13, NET version: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others.”
Image by Jantanee from Lightstock

Forgiving Debts

“Forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors” is the only point in this prayer that Jesus explains in more detail. Right after wrapping up the outline, He adds this:

“For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.”

Matthew 6:14-15, NET

There are two different Greek words used here, which is reflected in the English translations “debts” and “sins.” In the prayer, the word used is opheilema, which means “that which is owed” as “a debt” (Thayer’s Dictionary, entry G3783). It’s metaphorically used of sins. “Debtors” is the related word opheiletes, which as you might guess means the person who owes something to another (Thayer; G3781). This word for debtor is also used in Matthew 18, which we’ll be looking at in a moment.

“Sin” is translated from paraptoma, which means “to fall beside or near” or “a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness” (Thayer; G3900). When it appears in the New Testament it’s translated with English words like “trespass,” “offense,” “fault,” or “sin.” Interestingly, this still isn’t the most commonly used Greek word for sin. That would be hamartia, which means “to miss the mark” or “that which is done wrong, sin, and offense, a violation of the divine law” (Thayer; G266). Harmartia is the word used for “sin” in the version of Jesus’s model prayer that Luke records (Luke 11:4).

Despite the different words, “forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors” is clearly connected with “forgive others their sins” so your Father will forgive you. Jesus uses parallel wording to make the connection, and the word for “forgive” is the same in both cases. It’s translated from aphiemi, which means “to let go, give up a debt, forgive, to remit” (Thayer; G863). When we sin, it’s like we owe God something because we messed up. When Jesus died, He paid the penalty in our place, remitting our debts. We need to understand this sin-debt analogy if we’re going to make sense of what’s going on in this part of the model prayer.

Image of a woman reading the Bible at a table, overlaid with text from James 2:12-14, NET version: “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.”
Image by MarrCreative from Lightstock

The Necessity of Forgiveness

It might feel kind of weird to think that God’s forgiveness of us is conditional on our forgiveness of others. We like to think of His forgiveness and grace as something freely given that we don’t need to do anything in order to receive. But though we can’t do anything to earn His grace or forgiveness, there are some things we can do to reject them. Later in Jesus’s ministry, He shares a parable that sheds light on the connection between us forgiving others and us receiving forgiveness from God.

Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother who sins against me? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy-seven times!

“For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. As he began settling his accounts, a man who owed 10,000 talents was brought to him. Because he was not able to repay it, the lord ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. Then the slave threw himself to the ground before him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’ The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt. 

Matthew 18:21-27, NET

This is mercy. The man was an opheiletes, a debtor, who was incapable of repaying what he owed. Just one talent was “equal to 6,000 denarii. One denarius was the usual day’s wage for a worker” (NET footnote on Matt. 18:24). That means for a typical worker at the time, 10,000 talents was equal to 60,000,000 day’s wages, or about 164,384 years of work. A slave could never dream of repaying that, just like human beings can never do enough to make up for the sins we’ve committed against God (Rom. 3-6). As readers or listeners, we’re supposed to appreciate just what an incredible gift this lord gave the slave.

After he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 silver coins. So he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place.  Then his lord called the first slave and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Matthew 18:28-35, NET

The fellow slave owed only 100 silver coins, or denarii, so about 3 months’ pay (NET footnote on Matt. 18:28). It’s a real debt, but compared to what the first slave owed the lord it’s a tiny sum. The difference between what the slave was forgiven and what he refused to forgive is enormous. We can see how ridiculous he’s being. But it’s just as ridiculous if we refuse to forgive another human being’s offenses against us after God has forgiven our offenses against Him.

It’s not just crazy for us to hold on to a tiny debt someone owes us when God has forgiven us a huge debt against Him. It’s dangerous. Jesus doesn’t leave room for ambiguity in interpreting this parable. The lord takes back His forgiveness, and Jesus says, “So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.” It’s exactly like He said after sharing the model prayer: “if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins” (Matt. 6:14-15, NET). There’s an “if” in these verses, making forgiveness conditional. We need to show forgiveness if we want to receive forgiveness.

How To Let Go

Earlier, I said that aphiemi, the Greek word translated “forgive” means “to let go, give up a debt, forgive, to remit” (Thayer; G863). That’s the sense in which it usually applies to forgiveness. But it’s a complex word, and it can also mean “to send away,” “yield up,” “let alone, let be,” or “to leave, go away from one.” If we forgive, we stop holding on to the sins, offenses, debts, and trespasses of other people. We “let it alone,” send away our resentment, and walk away from what we might be owed. It’s much the same thing as our English definition of forgiveness.

Screenshot of the definition of "forgive" in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Definitions shown include " to cease to feel resentment against (an offender)," "to give up resentment of or claim to requital," and "to grant relief from payment of"

Notice that none of the things involved with forgiveness require the other person to take action. We can grant forgiveness–let go of resentment and yield any claim to payment owed us–without the other person asking for it. In fact, we should forgive as soon as possible regardless of the other person because we want God to respond positively when we ask Him to forgive us.

Image of a man praying in a church, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "One of our main goals as Christians is to become like God. That involves learning to be loving, merciful, and forgiving just the same way that He is."
Image by Shaun Menary from Lightstock

One of the things I’ve struggled with related to forgiveness is how to tell if I’ve actually forgiven someone. Some things are relatively easy to forgive, and you might legitimately forget them when you release the debt. There are others, though, that can still color your perception of a person even if you don’t feel resentment or think they owe you something. In certain situations, that can be okay. It’s not always safe to reconcile or restore a relationship, but it’s always right to let go of resentment and the feeling that someone who hurt us owes us for something.

 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that at the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector.

Matthew 18:15-17, NET

This short formula for Christian reconciliation comes before Peter’s question about forgiveness and Jesus’s parable about the unforgiving slave. Ideally, we should reconcile if there’s an issue with a “brother” or “fellow believer.” The primary goal is reconciliation and restored relationship. But if that doesn’t work after repeated attempts, you don’t “associate with such a person” (NET footnote on Matt. 18:17). It’s our responsibility to try to reconcile, especially with a fellow believer, but regardless of how that goes we have an obligation to forgive and “live peaceably with all people” (Rom. 12:18, NET; see Rom. 12:16-21).

The conditionality of forgiveness from God should prompt us to extend forgiveness to others. But I don’t think He wants that to be the main reason why we forgive (just like the threat of punishment shouldn’t be the main reason we obey His laws). When we realize what a great debt God forgives us, we should want to forgive others. Similarly, as recipients of God’s great mercy, we should be eager to show mercy to others. Like forgiveness, there’s a reciprocity involved in mercy: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matt. 5:7, NET) and “For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13, NET). One of our main goals as Christians is to become like God. That involves learning to be loving, merciful, and forgiving just the same way that He is. When we pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors,” we acknowledge that we have an essential role to play in giving and receiving forgiveness.

Featured image by Pearl from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Mercy” by Casting Crowns

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Isaiah Study: Are We Ever Abandoned By God?

Isaiah Study: Are We Ever Abandoned By God?

Marissa

The answer to this title’s question might seem obvious. Some people will read, “Are we ever abandoned by God?” and immediately say, “Of course not!” And yet for others, the opposite answer might seem equally obvious. Many people feel like God abandons them, at least part of the time, and others feel like He’s never really been there at all. We know intellectually that God sees all and says He never leaves us, but sometimes it might still feel like we’ve been abandoned.

The good Christians answer to this conundrum is summed up in the famous footprints poem. We might feel like God has left us alone during the worst times of our lives. However, if we imagine the record of our lives as footprints in sand and see only one set during trying times, then we shouldn’t think God left us to walk alone. As the poem’s final line says, “When you saw only one set of footprints, / It was then that I carried you.”

I love this poem and I think there’s a lot of truth in it. However, it’s not the only answer to why some people feel like God is far away. There are times when He is right alongside us but we have trouble seeing Him because our trials are so bad. Others times, though, He seems distant because we’ve pushed Him away. He hasn’t abandoned us in that sort of situation, but we might not be walking near Him anymore. It’s this second scenario that we’re going to focus on today as we continue our study of Isaiah.

Over the last couple months, we’ve been studying themes in Isaiah 40-66. These are the last 27 chapters of the book, and they’re a record of an extended dialog where God speaks candidly about His feelings, desires, and plans. If you go back and read the very first post, you’ll see I made a list of key themes for further study. That list included “Covenant faithfulness; God never abandons His people” and “Sins push God away from us and we need to own-up to that.” These two points might seem contradictory, but studying Isaiah helps us see how both are accurate.

Image of a woman studying her Bible overlaid with text from Isaiah 60:10, 15, NET version: “Even though I struck you down in my anger, I will restore my favor and have compassion on you. ... You were once abandoned and despised, with no one passing through, but I will make you a permanent source of pride and joy to coming generations.”
Image by MarrCreative from Lightstock

Sins that Lead To Separation

In Isaiah’s time, Israel was in the midst of a “stormy period marking the expansion of the Assyrian empire and the decline of Israel” that eventually led to “captivity at the hands of Babylon” (“Intro to Isaiah” from the NIV Study Bible). The people of Israel probably thought they had good reason to accuse God of abandoning them. How could He let this happen? Where did He go? God answers this question here in Isaiah 40-66.

Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you.
But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.
For your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies,
your tongue utters malicious words.
No one is concerned about justice;
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words and tell lies;
they conceive of oppression
and give birth to sin.

Isaiah 59:1-4, NET

The problem isn’t God. It’s with the people who stopped aligning themselves with His just character. They feel rejected and abandoned by God because they first rejected and abandoned Him. They alienated Him by embracing sins, injustice, lies, and oppression. They left Him like an unfaithful wife running off and having sex with other men. Finally, God had enough. He wanted a divorce–an end to this particular covenant He had with Israel.

This is what the Lord says:
“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate
by which I divorced her?
Or to which of my creditors did I sell you?
Look, you were sold because of your sins;
because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother.
Why does no one challenge me when I come?
Why does no one respond when I call?
Is my hand too weak to deliver you?
Do I lack the power to rescue you?
Look, with a mere shout I can dry up the sea;
I can turn streams into a desert,
so the fish rot away and die
from lack of water.
I can clothe the sky in darkness;
I can cover it with sackcloth.”

Isaiah 50: 1-3, NET

From God’s perspective, Israel was the one who wasn’t responding. They’re the ones who left Him. In another part of Isaiah 40-66, God says, “you burdened me with your sins; you made me weary with your evil deeds” (Is 43:24, NET). Their evils were so terrible that God says He could not relent from His judgement on them (Is. 57). That did not, however, mean there was no hope. As we learn here in Isaiah as well as other prophecies, God already had plans to set up a new covenant. The author of Hebrews says that God found fault with the people He’d made the first covenant with and so He decided to set up a better covenant based on better promises (Heb. 8:7-13). We’ve seen the fulfilment of this prophecy already, when Jesus Christ came to earth.

Image of a man reading a Bible overlaid with text from Isaiah 59:1-2, 20 WEB: "Behold, Yahweh’s hand is not shortened, that it can’t save; nor his ear dull, that it can’t hear. But your iniquities have separated you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. ... A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob.”
Image by Anggie from Lightstock

Reconciliation and Remarriage

In Isaiah, God’s promise of a new covenant is closely connected to the Servant Song prophecies pointing ahead to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Two of these describe Him as “a covenant for the people” (Is. 42:6; 49:8). The Messiah ushers in a New Covenant, and the promise of His coming reinforces the promise that God will not abandon His people permanently. The punishment and separation were only temporary. There’s a way to fix it, and God promised to do just that.

“Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame.
Don’t be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated.
You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;
you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment.
For your husband is the one who made you—
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name.
He is your Protector, the Holy One of Israel.
He is called ‘God of the entire earth.’
Indeed, the Lord will call you back
like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression,
like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.
“For a short time I abandoned you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.”

Isaiah 54:4-7, NET

Notice the marriage imagery here that’s undoing the divorce we saw earlier. The one who created us, our Husband, is the one redeeming us from the death penalty of sin and welcoming us into a new marriage covenant. Along with that, He gives us a new name that we talked about in more detail a few weeks ago in the article on the “new thing” God is doing.

You will be called by a new name
that the Lord himself will give you.
You will be a majestic crown in the hand of the Lord,
a royal turban in the hand of your God.
You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,”
and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.”
Indeed, you will be called “My Delight is in Her,”
and your land “Married.”
For the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married to him. …

They will be called, “The Holy People,
the Ones Protected by the Lord.”
You will be called, “Sought After,
City Not Abandoned.”

Isaiah 62:2-4, 12

As we read through this story of divorce and marriage; of separation and reconciliation, we see that for a short time God did “abandon” His people. That abandonment wasn’t a real/permanent situation, though, and it was prompted by them abandoning Him first. He was so committed to fixing this breach between Himself and His people that Jesus came and died for us. That’s how even in the midst of discussing the truth that sin separates us from Him, God can also say, “I will not forsake them,” ” my covenant of peace will not be removed,” and “I will make an everlasting covenant with you” (Is. 41:17; 42:16; 54:10; 55:1-3). In the same section of scripture where He describes where the separation came from (our sins), God also shows where the reconciliation comes from.

Image of a smiling woman with her hand raised in worship overlaid with text from Isaiah 54:10, WEB: “’For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving kindness will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed,’ says Yahweh who has mercy on you.”
Image by Pearl from Lightstock

Never Abandoned

You might be wondering what this dramatic story laid out in Isaiah has to do with us today. We’re living about 2,000 years past the start of the New Covenant. We were never literally part of this first covenant marriage, divorce, and new covenant reconciliation that ancient Israel went through; we started out as part of the New Covenant. This is still the history of our faith, though. We’re part of the whole grand love story that God is writing, even though we come in near the end.

We can see the grand metanarratives outlined through the Bible play out on a smaller scale in our individual lives as well. If we push God away and reject His covenant, we can read the words written to ancient Israel in Isaiah’s time and realize that we’re the ones who cause our disconnect from God. Then we can also read the encouraging reconciliation passages, and realize that God wants us to come back to Him. He has not abandoned us and He will not leave us alone–He wants us in a relationship with Him even if we’ve messed up and need to ask His forgiveness when we come back.

Image of a man sitting on a beach with the blog's title text and the words "When God talks about abandoning His people, it’s always temporary and He’s not the one who walks away first. He wants us in a relationship with Him even if we've messed up and need to ask His forgiveness when we come back."
Image by Aaron Kitzo from Lightstock

“Turn your ear, and come to me.
    Hear, and your soul will live.
    I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.” …

Seek Yahweh while he may be found.
    Call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him,
    to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Isaiah 55:3, 6-7, WEB

God values law, righteousness, and judgement, yet connected with all of that comes His love of justice, mercy, and reconciliation. He’s grieved when we sin, which causes separation, and He’s overjoyed when we repent and come back. Like the compassionate father in Jesus’s parable who ran to meet his prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), God is eager to welcome us back into a relationship with Him. He intends for the covenant we’ve entered with Him to be an everlasting one.

Near the beginning of this post, I quoted the start of Isaiah 59: “Behold, Yahweh’s hand is not shortened, that it can’t save; nor his ear dull, that it can’t hear. But your iniquities have separated you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Is. 59:1-2, WEB). If you keep reading through to the end of that chapter, you come to this statement about a redeemer:

“A Redeemer will come to Zion,
    and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says Yahweh.

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your offspring, nor out of the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says Yahweh, “from now on and forever.”

Isaiah 59:20-21, WEB

God wants us to be in such a close relationship with Him that we’ll never feel abandoned. As Jesus said when He told His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit, “I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you” (John 14:18, WEB). When we’re keeping covenant with God, there’s such a close relationship that His spirit dwells inside us. And if we have drifted away, we can repent and come back to the close relationship that God offers His beloved people.

I also want to mention that there are times we may feel abandoned by God even when we haven’t done anything wrong. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life and when He hung on the cross He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34). God the Father did not abandon Jesus, but Jesus was in so much agony that it felt as if He were alone and He raised His voice in an anguished lament. Sometimes that’s how we feel, too. In those times, we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus empathizes with this feeling and that God has not truly abandoned us (Heb. 4:14-16; 13:5-6). His promises of help and redemption still apply, and He will make good things happen for us in the end.

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Featured image by Inbetween from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “I Am Not Alone” by Kari Jobe

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What Does “I Lift Up My Soul” Mean?

What Does “I Lift Up My Soul” Mean?

Marissa

Have you ever been curious about the phrase, “I lift up my soul”? It’s something I’ve heard so much by this point in my life as a Christian that I don’t really think about it anymore. There’s even a “To Thee I Lift My Soul” song in our church hymnal. After hearing, reading, and singing it so often, I just assume I know what it means.

Then I read the first couple verses of Psalm 25 again this past Tuesday, and I started wondering. Is “I lift up my soul” just a poetic phrase for prayer–directing your soul up to God? Or might it be something else; like perhaps David saying he’s lifting up his soul like an offering? Maybe the meaning isn’t as clear as I thought. At the very least, I suspect there’s more here to learn.

Image of a woman with her hands raised to heaven, with text from Psalm 25:1-2, CJB version: "I lift my inner being to you, Adonai; I trust you, my God. Don’t let me be disgraced, don’t let my enemies gloat over me.”
Image by Ruby-Rose from Lightstock

Trusting With The Soul

We find the phrase “I lift up my soul” in three psalms where the writers talk about lifting up their souls to God. Let’s take a look at those verses:

To you, Yahweh, I lift up my soul.
My God, I have trusted in you.
Don’t let me be shamed.
Don’t let my enemies triumph over me.

Psalm 25:1-2, WEB

Preserve my soul, for I am godly.
    You, my God, save your servant who trusts in you.
Be merciful to me, Lord,
    for I call to you all day long.
Bring joy to the soul of your servant,
    for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul.

Psalm 86:2-4, WEB

Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning,
for I trust in you.
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
for I lift up my soul to you.

Psalm 143:8, WEB

These psalms are all prayers directed at God asking Him for something. They’re also about trust; every one of these psalms mentions it when they’re talking about lifting up the soul. This makes sense since there isn’t much point in prayer if you don’t trust God enough to think He might answer.

As I read these psalms, I see a deeper level of trust than just the basic thinking God might be paying attention. There’s a hopeful expectation here and a certainty that God can and will respond. This type of trusting prayer involves the direction and dedication of the soul (naphesh in Hebrew, which means a breathing, living being). You don’t point your soul toward someone who doesn’t care or lift up your life to them if you don’t think they’ll help. We need trust if we’re going to have a “lift up the soul” type of relationship with God.

Image of a man walking in the woods reading a Bible, with text from Psalm 86:2-4, TLV version: “Watch over my soul, for I am godly. You are my God—save Your servant who trusts in You. Be gracious to me, my Lord, for to You I cry all day. Gladden the soul of Your servant, for to You, my Lord, I lift up my soul.”
Image by HarveyMade from Lightstock

A Longing Soul

The NET translators opt for a less poetic and more literal phrase when translating “lift up my soul.” In this version, Psalm 25:1 reads, “O Lord, I come before you in prayer.” A footnote on that verse says, “To ‘lift up’ one’s ‘life’ to the Lord means to express one’s trust in him through prayer.” The translators opt for the “prayer” meaning in this verse, though they also see nuances in the Hebrew that they discuss in another footnote.

Hebrew words often have multiple meanings. The word “lift up” is nasa, and it’s no exception to this rule. The basic meaning is to lift, carry, or take. The phrase can gain slightly different meanings depending on context. In the Psalms, for example, it’s used figuratively rather than of literally picking up and carrying an object.

In a footnote on Psalm 143:8, the NET translators say, “The Hebrew expression נָאָשׂ נֶפֶשׁ (naʾas nefesh, ‘to lift up [one’s] life’) means ‘to desire; to long for.'” From this perspective, nasa seems synonymous with the longing soul spoken of in other psalms and songs where the writers want to be close with God more than anything else (Psalm 63:1; 84:1-2; 130:6).

Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, we have waited for you.
    Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.
With my soul I have desired you in the night.
    Yes, with my spirit within me I will seek you earnestly;
    for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

Isaiah 26:8-9, WEB

This also makes me think of King Solomon’s prayer at the temple dedication. He asked that God would hear His wayward people’s prayers if they “return to you with all their heart and being … and direct their prayers to you” (1 Kings 8:48, NET). Similarly, Samuel urged Ancient Israel, “direct your hearts to Yahweh, and serve him only” (1 Sam. 7:3, WEB). Paul does much the same thing in one of his letters, praying, “may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God and the endurance of Christ” (2 Thes. 3:5, NET).

The desires of our souls and the directions of our hearts show God what matters to us. When things are right between us, our prayers show that He matters to us. Lifting up our longing souls to Him demonstrates that He’s our hearts’ desire.

Image of a woman worshiping with hand raised and a smile on her face, with text from Psalm 143:8, TLV version: “Make me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You I trust. Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul.”
Image by Pearl from Lightstock

Other Things We Could Lift Up

Trusting God with our lives and showing our desire for Him in our prayers is a very good thing. There are also negative things that we could lift our souls to, but shouldn’t. In Psalm 24:4, the writer says that only someone “who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood” can dwell with God. In Hosea 4:8, God charges His people will wickedness when they “set their heart on their iniquity” (“set their heart” is the same phrase in Hebrew as “lift their soul”). We can choose whether we aim our souls in the right direction or turn them toward evil.

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) lists three categories of meaning for nasa. The first is a literal or figurative lifting up, which we’ve already looked at. The second is “bearing the guilt or punishment of sin” (entry 1421). There are several Bible verses that say the soul/person who sins will bear/lift/carry their iniquity for that transgression. Here are two examples:

“If anyone (naphesh) sins, doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, though he didn’t know it, he is still guilty, and shall bear (nasa) his iniquity. He shall bring a ram without defect from of the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning the thing in which he sinned and didn’t know it, and he will be forgiven.

Leviticus 5:17-18

The soul (naphesh) who sins, he shall die. The son shall not bear (nasa) the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear (nasa) the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.

Ezekiel 18:20, WEB

When we sin, we’re carrying that like something we’ve lifted up and put on our shoulders. We don’t bear the iniquity of someone else, but we are responsible for the things that we do as a living, breathing naphesh. This would be a big problem for us if we had to keep carrying all our sins, but God provides a solution.

Carrying Away Our Sins

Image of a woman looking up at the sky with the blog's title text and the words "As people who've had Jesus lift away our sins, we can lift up our souls and lives to Him trusting that God will continue to hear and deliver us."
Image by Brightside Creative from Lightstock

The third category of meanings for nasa describes the solution to the problem of us bearing the load of our gilt and sin. If you’re carrying something, someone else can come in, lift that burden, and carry it away. That’s what Jesus does with our sins. Because of His sacrifice, “Sin can be forgiven and forgotten, because it is taken up and carried away” (TWOT entry 1421).

Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him.
    He has caused him to suffer.
When you make his soul (naphesh) an offering for sin,
    he will see his offspring.
He will prolong his days
    and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand.
After the suffering of his soul (naphesh),
    he will see the light and be satisfied.
My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself;
    and he will bear (nasa) their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion with the great.
    He will divide the plunder with the strong;
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was counted with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sins of many
    and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:10-12, WEB

There are so many verses that speak of Jesus taking away our sins, washing away our sins, and removing sin from us (for example, John 1:29; Rom. 11:26-27; Heb. 9:25-26; 1 John 3:5). Our souls were weighed down with sin, but He lifts that burden off our shoulders. We don’t have to carry our guilt anymore. We get to do something else with our souls now.

The psalmists wrote centuries before Jesus’s sacrifice but (judging by the Messianic psalms he wrote) we know at least David had an idea of the incredible deliverance God promised. These writers also had the Old Covenant sacrifices pointing toward the Messiah’s ultimate sacrifice that would take away sin once and for all. They knew less about God’s plan for redemption than we do today, yet they were still so filled with trust and confidence in God that they lifted up their souls to Him.

How much more should we lift our souls to God now that we’ve been freed from carrying around the burden of sin? Lightened and rescued by Jesus’s sacrifice, we lift our hands, hearts, and souls to God with joy and thanksgiving, confident in His goodness and faithfulness.

For there is one God and one intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as a ransom for all, revealing God’s purpose at his appointed time. … So I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or dispute.

1 Timothy 2:5-6, 8, NET

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Featured image by Temi Coker from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Lift” by Sue Samuel

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Washed Clean by Jesus

Washed Clean by Jesus

Marissa

I read a chapter in my Bible each night before bed, and I recently finished Exodus and moved into Leviticus. This book is full of God’s laws and instructions for His people Israel, and much of it has to do with ceremonial uncleanness.

Those parts of the Torah might not seem as if they have anything to do with us today. There isn’t a temple building anymore or a priesthood conducting animal sacrifices. We don’t worry about doing things that might make us unclean until evening or take turtledoves and lambs to the temple to ask God to pass over our sins. But the fact that we don’t have to worry about that anymore means something changed, and that something isn’t God. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8). He’s still just as holy as He was in the Old Testament. What’s changed is something having to do with our holiness and God’s relationship with us.

This “something” is that Jesus’s sacrifice cleanses us from our sins. The fact that we say “cleanses” us from sin, though, points to the same problem Leviticus was trying to deal with. God is holy, but holiness is not the default state of human beings. Sins (and even things that aren’t sin which once resulted in ceremonial uncleanness) would separate us from God if there wasn’t a way of washing us. I think this is why the New Testament writers spend so much time talking about cleanliness and holiness. When they described what Jesus is doing in us, they’re working with this background knowledge that God didn’t allow unclean people into His temple.

Uncleanness and Sin

In the Old Covenant law, people became ritually unclean in several ways. One was by sinning, which required sacrifices offered as atonement even though they couldn’t actually remove sin. There were also ways to become ritually unclean without sinning, such as by touching animal carcasses or dead bodies, contracting leprosy, having a baby, and having sex (Lev. 5:2;12:2; 13:3, 44-45; 15:1-33). All sin made people unclean, but not all the ways to become unclean involved sin.

Even though many of the things that resulted in ritual uncleanness weren’t sins, they could still disqualify you from entering the temple or eating of the holy things (Lev. 7:19-21; Chr. 23:18-19; Rev. 21:23-27). Because God is holy, His people had to “make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean” so they wouldn’t die by defiling God’s dwelling place with their uncleanness (Lev. 10:10-11; 15:31). God is still holy today, but the process for making us clean is much more lasting and complete.

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 9:13-14, WEB
Image of a waterfall, with text from Hebrews 10:12-14, WEB version: "when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from that time waiting until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet. For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
Image by Jaesung An from Pixabay

Washed by Jesus

Jesus spent quite a bit of time during his earthly ministry engaging in debate with the religious leaders of His day. One thing in particular that He pointed out to them was that their efforts to be clean had gotten off-track. It wasn’t the outward cleanliness that mattered the most, but the holiness of the heart (Matt. 23:25-27; Luke 11:40-42). This doesn’t mean we ignore the outside, but outward things aren’t our focus; the outside becomes clean as a result of the cleaning happening inside us.

In John’s account of Jesus’s final Passover, he mentions that “many people went up to Jerusalem from the rural areas before the Passover to cleanse themselves ritually” (John 11:54-56). This is a detail I’ve overlooked in the past; it just seems like a note explaining something about the culture at the time. But a short time later at Passover, Jesus has this conversation with Peter:

Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!”

Jesus answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

Jesus said to him, “Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” For he knew him who would betray him, therefore he said, “You are not all clean.”

John 13:8-11, WEB

We are clean in every sense–ritually and in terms of forgiveness for sin–if Jesus Christ washes us. Paul emphasizes this in one of his letters, saying “Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it;  that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without defect” (Eph. 5:25-27, WEB).

Jesus’s sacrifice mediates a new covenant that involves more immediate and lasting cleansing than was ever available under the old covenant (Heb. 9:13-15, 22-24; 10:1-14). Instead of making it possible for us to walk inside a physical temple dedicated to God, Jesus’s cleansing makes us part of God’s undefiled spiritual temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:16-20; 2 Cor. 6:15-18). It goes beyond just being allowed to visit God. We actually get to be part of His dwelling place.

Image of a waterfall, with text from 2 Cor. 6:16-18, NET version: "For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, ‘I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ Therefore ‘come out from their midst, and be separate,’ says the Lord, ‘and touch no unclean thing, and I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,’ says the All-Powerful Lord.”
Image by David Mark from Pixabay

Dwelling in the Clean Vine

Becoming clean is something that Jesus does to us. Staying clean is something we’re involved in. It’s part of a lifelong process of becoming holy the way that God is holy (Matt. 5:48; 1 Pet. 1:15-16). We need to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1, WEB). We’re actively involved in the process of sanctification because we choose what behaviors shape the sort of people we are (1 Cor. 5:6-8; 2 Tim. 2:20-21).

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. …

“In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love.”

John 15:1-4, 8-10 WEB

The way we stay clean is by staying firmly attached to Jesus and following Him. Under the Old Covenant, we could have become “unclean” in all sorts of ways and becoming clean again involved the passage of time and/or ritual washing or sacrifice (depending on how you became unclean). Now under the New Covenant, Jesus washes us clean all the time so long as we’re sticking close to Him.

Staying in God’s Presence

Image of a waterfall with the blog's title text and the words "Unclean things don’t get to stay in God’s temple, but thanks to Jesus we’re cleansed and made holy so we can dwell with Him."
Image by Josef Schiller from Pixabay

Jesus doesn’t let anything that could make us “unclean” stand in the way of us getting into God’s presence. The relationship we have with God isn’t cut off if we touch an unclean animal or become seriously ill; there’s no more ritual uncleanness to worry about. However, God still cares about the way we live our lives.

Just like there was a difference between ritual uncleanness and law-breaking sin in the Old Testament, there’s a similar difference today. The first doesn’t matter at all anymore–Jesus takes care of washing us from any ritual uncleanness. The second doesn’t have to matter, but still could. Jesus’s sacrifice washes sins away as easily as any other uncleanness, but in this case we’re also supposed to stop sinning after we’re washed clean and repent if we make a mistake.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are.

1 Corinthian 3:16-17, NET

The word translated “destroy” here is phtheirō (G5351), and it can also mean “corrupt” or “defile,” though most modern translations use “destroy” (see Thayer’s Dictionary and KJV translation). I wonder if Paul was thinking about the effect that uncleanness had in the Old Testament when he wrote this. If something that was holy touched something that was unclean, then the holy didn’t sanctify the unclean–the holy thing became corrupted (Haggai 2:11-14). God doesn’t want that happening in His temple (i.e. the church body of believers).

If you look back at Jesus’s words in John 15, you see that remaining in Him involves keeping His Father’s commandments. Jesus washes us from sins as well as from ritual uncleanness, but we’re still not supposed to do things that would defile us. If we do realize we’ve sinned, then we’re supposed to repent and ask for forgiveness so He can wash those sins away again just like He did the first time we were sanctified (1 Cor. 6:9-11). The cleanness of our souls should matter to us because one of our chief desires should be to dwell in the presence of God (Psalm 16:11; 140:13), and He doesn’t have close relationships with people who won’t let Him wash them (as Jesus told Peter in John 13:8-11). So let’s stay close to God, repenting if we sin and continually praising Him for cleansing and making us holy so we can dwell with Him.

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Featured image by jplenio from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “In Your Presence” by Paul Wilbur

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