What’s in a Name?

When I read genealogies in Scripture, I often have to remind myself that every word of Scripture is there for a reason.  So I thought it would be interesting to see what genealogies may tell us. 

I started with the genealogy in Genesis 5:1-31, which describes the line descending from Adam to Noah.  I consulted two sources for my exercise: the NET Bible and Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary. 

I was surprised to learn that some of the names listed in the King James Version have different spellings in the New International Version (the alternates are in parentheses). 

Adam: Earthy, red, the first man

Seth (Sheth): Put, who puts, fixed, compensation

Enos (Enosh): Man, mortal man, sick, despaired of, forgetful

Cainan (Kenan): Possessor, possession, purchaser, buyer, owner

Mahalaleel (Mahalalel): Praise of God, praising God

Jared (Jered): descent, a ruling, commanding, coming down

Enoch: Dedicated, disciplined

Methuselah (Mathusala): He has sent his death, man of the dart

Lamech: Poor, made low, powerful

Noah: Repose, consolation, rest

Chuck Missler has written that this Genesis genealogy describes the first advent of Jesus Christ.  The references he used are different from mine, but I think we do get this picture.

 

I then chose the genealogy from Matthew 1:1-20, since it marks the beginning of the New Testament. Once again, I found it interesting that many of the names of the ancestors of Jesus also tell us about some the attributes of our Lord. 

But when you break the list up into separate blocks as I’ve done below, you might argue that it results in several “mini-stories,” that allude to the first or second advents of Christ Jesus.

Abraham: Father of a great multitude

Isaac: Laughter

Jacob: Heel-catcher or supplanter

Judas (Judah): The praise of the Lord, confession

Phares (Perez): A breach

Zara (Zerah): A rising as the sun

Esrom (Hezron): Enclosed, dart of joy, division of son

Aram (Ram): Elevated, high

Aminadab (Amminadab): One of the prince’s people, my people is liberal

Naashon (Nahshon): Enchanter; that foretells, conjectures

Salmon: A raiment; a garment, peaceful, he who rewards

Booz (Boaz): In him is strength

Obed: Serving, a servant; a workman

Jesse: A gift, oblation, wealth

David: Well beloved, dear

Solomon: Peaceful, perfect, one who recompenses

Roboam (Rehoboam): Enlarger of the people, who sets people at liberty

Abia (Abijah): The Lord is my father

Asa: Physician, cure

Josaphat (Jehoshaphat): Whom Jehovah judges, the Lord is judge

Joram (Jehoram): Whom Jehovah has exalted, exaltation of the Lord

Ozias (Uzziah): Strength of Jehovah, strength of the Lord

Jotham (Joatham): Jehovah is upright, perfection of the Lord

Achaz (Ahaz): Possessor, one that takes or possesses

Ezekais (Hezekiah): Might of Jehovah, strength of the Lord

Manasseh (Manasses): Forgetting, he that is forgotten

Amon: Faithful, true, builder

Josiah (Josias): Whom Jehovah heals, the Lord burns, the fire of the Lord

Jechoniah (Jechonias, Jehoiachin): Whom Jehovah establishes, preparation or strength of the Lord

Shealtiel (Salathiel): I have asked of God, or lent of God

Zerubbabel (Zorobabel): Born at Babel, a stranger at Babylon, dispersion of confusion

Abiud (Abihud): My father is majesty, father of praise

Eliakim: Raising up by God, resurrection of God

Azor: Helper, a court

Zadok (Sadoc): Just, righteous

Achim: The Lord will establish, preparing, revenging, confirming

Eliud: God is my praise

Eleazar: Help of God, court of God

Matthan (Mattan): Gift

Jacob: Heel-catcher or supplanter

Joseph: Let him add, increase, addition

Jesus: Jehovah is salvation, savior, deliverer

The Return of the Jewish Messiah

I am Jewish by birth and attended Sunday school at a synagogue until I was a teenager.  But it wasn’t until many years after becoming a believer that I learned that Jesus was Jewish.  This knowledge was the beginning of an incredible journey to understand His (and my) Hebrew roots.

I often wondered why the Jewish leaders did not recognize Jesus as their Messiah.  They dutifully and rigorously studied the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), most likely on a daily basis.  They knew about the writings of the prophets (while there was no collection of these books yet, the various texts were read as separate scrolls).¹  So how could they have missed it?

Believers today are fortunate to have knowledge from both the Old and New Testaments.  We can look back and clearly see how Jesus fulfilled Scriptural prophecies during His first advent on earth.  We have the advantage of having the full picture and of knowing exactly what we are looking for. 

The Jewish people were looking for Christ too, but I think their preconceived beliefs about who the Messiah was — and the role He would play — kept them from seeing the entire story.  When you explore both early and later Jewish beliefs, however, the parallels are amazing.

The Jewish people held the belief that there would be a future Messianic period, which would bring salvation to the Jewish people and to the whole world.  Their hope was for a future king who would redeem Israel and establish the kingdom of God on earth.²

In apocalyptic literature of the last two centuries B.C.E., the Messiah is described as a powerful warrior and ruler.  He was also described as a supernatural being who existed from the beginning of days and was close to God; designated as the “son of man” or as “My son.”  He is also sometimes described as an angelic being whose existence antedated the creation of the world, just waiting for the right time to reveal Himself and assume His seat of glory.  At that time He will dispense justice to all the inhabitants of the earth.²

The Jewish people also had a double concept of the Messiah: One Messiah was the son of Joseph, and another Messiah was the son of David.  They came to associate the figure of their Messiah with King David or a descendant of King David.  This idealized version of the Messiah fueled their expectation of a mighty warrior and king — and they were correct — but this will not be fulfilled until Christ Jesus’ second advent. 

When Jesus read from Isaiah 61:1-2 in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21) he stopped at the comma in the middle of passage:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,

The Jewish leaders had no idea that the remaining part of that passage (and the day of vengeance of our God;) would be fulfilled at a future time. 

The idea of a Messiah’s supernatural birth, earthly suffering, and death to atone for sin and bring salvation to those who believe in Him was inconceivable to many Jews during the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  It is not so surprising when you consider that even those who were closest to him — his disciples — did not fully understand this for themselves until Jesus appeared to them after He was crucified.  

Jesus’ resurrection was certainly beyond the realm of understanding of the Sadducees, who did not believe in resurrection.  It was also beyond their level of comprehension that a Messiah could come first as a suffering servant, be raised from the dead, and return to earth once again as king.

The Jewish people looked to the Messianic era (yemoth hamashiah, which literally means “days of the Messiah”) as a period of redemption to be ushered in and ruled over by the Messiah.  It is a time that marks the return of the people of Israel to the land of Israel. 

Interestingly, the “days of the Messiah” are different from the “world to come,” which will usher in resurrection and the judgment and the reign of God.   Later Jewish writings suggest that the Messianic era was postponed due to sin and will be preceded by social and political problems, extreme poverty, heresy, and wars, including the wars of Gog and Magog.  Jewish writers during the Middle Ages pointed to a new Jerusalem and a time of perfection.²

A more contemporary parallel to what we see with “kingdom now” believers is a platform that was established by American rabbis in 1937.  They stated that their historical task is to “cooperate with all men in the establishment of the Kingdom of God, of universal brotherhood, justice, truth and peace on earth.”² 

Issac Landman, an American reformed rabbi, educator, and prolific author who lived from 1880 to 1946 and edited the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, wrote that “The hope for a future king who will redeem Israel and establish the kingdom of God upon earth is not expressly found either in the Biblical or in the Apocryphal writings.”  

Believers know that there are Bible passages that speak to Jesus’ return to earth as King and reigning upon David’s throne (Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 1:31-33, Psalms 132:11, the tenth chapter of Zechariah, and the eleventh chapter of Romans, to name a few).  But we have the power of the Holy Spirit, which reveals to us the mysteries of the Kingdom within Scripture.

It is impossible for unbelievers to understand these mysteries (some believers are blind to them as well).  God opened my eyes when I asked Him to show me that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and our future King.  If you happen to be of the Jewish faith, I pray that you will ask God to open your eyes too. 

 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7)

1. Jones, Barry A (2000). "Canon of the Old Testament." David Noel Freedman. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans.

2.  The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia.  Isaac Landman, Ed.

Will Jesus Find Faith When He Returns?

Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)

How can this be?  There are churches everywhere, many with thousands of believers in their congregations.  Preachers on television are reaching millions of people worldwide.  Walk into a mainstream bookstore and you will see multiple shelves of books under the section “Religion — Christianity.”  

So what is this lack of faith Jesus is talking about? 

Jesus cannot be speaking of faith that He is our Lord and Saviour because more and more people are professing this every day.  I believe that Jesus is talking about having faith that He will return to earth again, this time as our King when He establishes His Millennial Kingdom.

“We are not to concern ourselves with the day or the hour,” “Why study prophecy when we have so much to accomplish here and now?”, and “His kingdom is already here in the hearts of believers” are just a few objections you may hear if you ask the question: “Why do we hear so little about the second coming of Christ from the pulpit?”

Jesus scolded the Pharisees and the Sadducees because they should have known that He was their Messiah based upon their knowledge of Scripture:

O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? (Matthew 16:3)

Will Jesus rebuke Christians in the same way when He returns?  Unlike the Pharisees and the Sadducees we have all of Scripture to study, which refers to Christ’s Second Advent more times than His first (some write that there are 2,400 such verses, eight times more than the verses that point to Jesus’ First Advent).

Here are just a handful of the many verses in the New Testament that make His second coming — and His purpose for coming — crystal clear:

• For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. (Matthew 16:27)
• Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)
• ²³But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.  ²⁴Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:23-24)
• ¹I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;  ²Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. (2 Timothy 4:1-2)
• To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:13)
• And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
• Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8)
• So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:28)
• ¹⁴And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,  ¹⁵To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 1:14-15)
• Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7)
• Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. (Revelation 16:15)
• And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. (Revelation 22:12)

 And lest we forget the last verse of Scripture:

²⁰He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.  ²¹The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (Revelation 22:20-21)

Jesus has promised to return — a truth that is our blessed hope!  We also need to prepare ourselves for His final judgment.  If man tells you otherwise, I pray that you will put your faith in Him.

Is Celebrating Christ's Birth More Important Than Anticipating His Return?

This December 25th, people in church pews all across the world will celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ (a date, by the way, that some historians say is not accurate). 

I wonder how many of the people in those churches will be stirred with excitement because they will also hear about the promise of our blessed hope, which is the return of Christ Jesus?

There is nothing wrong with looking back, as long as we also look forward.  His story starts in a manger, but it does not end on the cross.  Scripture tells us over and over again that there is so much more to come! 

In the words of Isaac Massey Haldeman:

"If the value of a statement or is to be measured by the number of times repeated, then, since from Genesis to Revelation, in every form of human language, the Second Coming is proclaimed upon almost every page of the Bible, is inwrought with every fibre of truth it finally presents; since in the New Testament alone it is mentioned directly and indirectly more than three hundred times, as there is no other theme in the Bible that approaches it in frequency of repetition, it should seem that this event and doctrine of the Second Coming with all its promises and certified consequences should easily be of supreme and all-compelling importance; and because the Holy Spirit has made it of such importance I am under bonds to preach it.  Those who persist in saying it is incidental, secondary and sporadic might well be said to be of that class of theological disputants who never study the Bible; for the fact is should you cut out every reference to the Second Coming, its cognate truths and all the events to which it gives emphasis, you would have but a fragment of the Bible; and the Book upon which faith is founded, from which hope casts its glances heavenward, see light in the grave and immortality assured, would be as a broken reed, a garment of beauty torn and shredded, or as a harp whose main chord has been snapped asunder." 

From Why I preach the second coming.  Published in 1919.

Quoteworthy: From A to Z

 

The current world in which we live is under the dominion of Satan and his angels, it was given to Satan (Luke 4:6) and he will keep it until Christ takes it (Rev. 11:17).

Eph 6:12

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (KJV)

However, the world [Gk oikoumene - (empire, domain)] to come will be run by Jesus Christ and His co-heirs (those that overcome at the Judgment Seat, and being saved does not guarantee one will overcome [Rev. 2, 3]).

Heb 2:5

5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. (KJV)

The Scripture refers to Satan as ‘the god of this world’ :

2 Cor 4:4

4 In whom the god of this world [Gk. aion - age] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (KJV)

After Lucifer’s fall, God made man to replace him and his angels as the provincial ruler of this earth (Heb. 2:5-9).

Gen 1:26, 28

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (KJV)

 

Satan sought to disqualify man at Eden (and he succeeded), and ruined the restored earth and remained its incumbent ruler, though rebel capacity:

Gen 3:1-5

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (KJV)

Though Satan succeeded and caused man to die spiritually (be disqualified); God has made provision to restore man to that place where he can realize his purpose:

Eph 2:1-2

1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (KJV)

When one believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and becomes saved, it’s his spirit that is saved:

Eph 2:8

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (KJV)

It is at the point of ‘spirit salvation’ that the distinction is made of the tri-partite being that man is; spirit, soul, and body:

Heb 4:12

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (KJV)

The spirit is that part of man that connects him to God, now saved — which is on the basis of Christ’s finished work on Calvary:

Eph 2:9

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. (KJV)

Titus 3:5

5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (KJV)

The soul is that part of man associated with the natural. It is the seat of a person’s emotions, feelings, and desires pertaining to his man-conscious existence. The Christian still has an unregenerated soul living alongside his regenerated spirit:

1 Cor 1:18

18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish [lit. them that are perishing] foolishness; but unto us which are saved [lit. us which are being saved] it is the power of God. (KJV)

The salvation of our souls, unlike that of our spirits; is realized at the end of our faith, the soul is currently “being saved” as seen in 1 Cor. 1:18.

1 Peter 1:3-5, 9

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (KJV)

The Christian at the Judgment Seat of Christ, will either ‘overcome’ or ‘be overcome’; as seen in the warnings given to all seven Churches of Revelation chapters two and three. The Church at Laodicea (the one depicting the current state in which the Church currently exists), is warned against ‘nakedness’:

Rev 3:18

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (KJV)

The clothing of the Christian (fine linen, clean and white), is [lit. ‘the righteous acts of the saints‘]:

Rev 19:7-8

7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (KJV)

The Christian that does not overcome at the Judgment Seat, who is not clothed or whose raiment is not white; will ‘suffer loss’.

1 Cor 3:14-15

14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss [Gk. zemioo - to injure or experience detriment]: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire [lit. ‘through fire’]. (KJV)

Our Lord, in praying for His own said:

John 17:14-15

14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world: 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. (KJV)

The word ‘world’ is a translation of the Gk. kosmou, — orderly arrangement, the world system; in which the Church currently has to coexist but should not be influenced by. The Church, however, to our shame, has taken on worldliness to the extent where it’s difficult to make distinctions between them at times — the orderly arrangement:

2 Cor 6:17-18

17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (KJV)

God expects Christians to constantly seek to live holy lives or we will be castaway [disapproved] at the Judgment Seat:

1 Cor 9:27

27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (KJV)

Or we could be rejected:

2 Cor 5:8-9

8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. (KJV)

Christ in addressing His disciples expressed the same warning:

Matt 16:26

26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (KJV)

Mark 8:35-37

35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (KJV)

Luke 9:23-25

 23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? (KJV)

Jesus was actually saying to His disciples, “you can loose your souls”. (The Gk word translated “soul” is the same one translated “life” psuche).

Remember it’s the salvation of the spirit that is realized when one believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, the soul is ‘being saved’ and determined at the end of our faith (1 Peter 1:9).

Acts 16:30-31

30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (KJV)

The writer of the Hebrews says:

Heb 2:1-3

1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (KJV)

The “great salvation” is the salvation of the soul, which relates to “the world [lit. the age to come] to come” of verse five:

Heb 2:5

5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. (KJV)

The Christian that looses his or her soul at the Judgment Seat, will be denied the ‘rest’ that remains for the people of God, castaway, overcome, and will have negative impact on his inclusion in the kingdom for a thousand years:

Heb 4:1, 6, 9, 11

1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (KJV)

Jesus taught kingdom exclusion in the parables of the “friend” in improper garment in Matthew 22:1-14; the “virgins” of Matthew 25:1-13; and corresponding parables. Like the Jews during the time of Jesus’ first coming who were over looking the suffering that Christ had to undergo prior to His reign; so the Church today is over looking the Millennial Kingdom (1000 year reign of Christ) which precedes the eternal ages or the Day of God:

Rev 20:6

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (KJV)

Christians are not taught that “the inheritance” that’s awaiting the people of God, is not the same as the “Heaven” of the Bible. Heaven is not an ‘inheritance’ (it is derived on the basis of one’s believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and is saved), but only those in the ‘family’ can be eligible to receive inheritance. That is what Jesus was referring to when He told Nicodemus that he had to be born again before they can even discuss “the kingdom”:**

John 3:3

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (KJV)

It was in that same passage He said, “you have to walk holy to inherit the kingdom:

John 3:5

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (KJV)

Paul in his epistle to the Galatians Christians gave a list of things that would exclude them from ‘inheriting’ the kingdom:

Gal 5:19-21

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (KJV)

Unfortunately, Christians often do these things. Does that mean they won’t go to Heaven? It’s not in reference to Heaven, but to the inheritance — rest.

** The term “born again” is incorrectly used to describe one’s becoming saved. To be more accurate, when one becomes saved, he is “born from above” and not “born again.” It is the Jewish people that were ‘born before’ — born out of Egypt, by water and the Spirit — that had to come to a place of repentance (being born again) so they can be included in the inheritance that was first given to them, that they subsequently rejected (Matt. 21:43). 

The term “born again” is used only three times in Scripture (John 3:3, 7; 1 Pet. 1:23) and all three are in reference to Jews (who were already born out of Egypt by the water of the Red Sea).

A similar error is perpetuated in Christian circles by what has become known as “soul winning.” The way it’s taught is surely not the Scriptural teaching on the subject. Soul-winning has erroneously been equated with reaching the unsaved with the message of the gospel of grace; and few Christians, viewing soul-winning in this manner, seem to even give the matter a second thought.

Books have been written on soul-winning, Bible colleges and seminaries teach courses on soul-winning, and soul-winning conferences are held by those same institutions and by various Churches. But, among these groups, almost without exception, soul-winning is viewed from a non-Scriptural perspective.

Soul winning in Scripture has to do with the saving of the soul/life of those who are already saved, whether Israelites in the Old Testament or Christians in the New. When it comes to the saving or loosing of the soul/life in this respect, solely from a Scriptural standpoint, the unsaved are not in view.

What then is soul-winning? And why is there so much confusion on this subject today? The questions are interrelated, and Scripture is quite clear concerning the answers to both.

Soul-winning, having to do with those who are already saved, is seen connected with a kingdom in both Testaments. In the Old, this kingdom was an existing kingdom (the O.T. theocracy); and in the New, this kingdom is seen as the coming kingdom (the coming Kingdom of Christ).

Thus, it is no wonder that corruption and confusion have marked the proclamation of this message throughout Man’s Day. Satan, the present ruler in the kingdom — ruling from a heavenly sphere through the Gentile nations on earth (cf. Dan. 10:13-20; Luke 4:5, 6; Eph. 6:12) — knows that the ultimate outworking of that contained in the message surrounding the salvation of the soul will bring about the end to his rule.

Accordingly, Satan has done all within his power, over millenniums of time, to destroy this message and with tremendous success, to the point where most Christians know nothing about this truth. And exactly how well he succeeded can be seen on practically every hand in Christendom today (cf. Matt. 13:31-33; Luke 18:8; Rev. 3:14-21).

Written by Pastor Al Williams (reprinted with permission).