The Pillars of Christian Character E-Book

John MacArthur

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 319

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 1998

Beschreibung

"To love [God] with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." –Jesus' words in Mark 12:33 Without question the crucial issue in living the Christian life is the condition of your heart. Actions may be temporarily deceiving, but ultimately our outward behavior will reflect what's inside, because our internal attitudes form who we really are. Those inner attitudes are also what God deems most important. In this book one of Christianity's most respected Bible teachers and pastors examines the foundational attitudes, or "pillars," of Christian character as outlined in God's Word. Pillars such as genuine faith, obedience, humility, selfless love, forgiveness, self-discipline, gratitude, and worship. To some degree each trait, on its own, marks a person as one of God's own and reveals an active, living faith. Each is an essential element of mature Christianity. But there is transforming power when you combine them in your everyday living as God commands. Your character will be grounded in godliness; you will see things from an eternal perspective; and your faith, your actions, your witness to others will be revitalized from the inside out.

Leseprobe

The Pillars of Christian Character

Copyright © 1998 by John F. MacArthur.

Published by Crossway Books                a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers                1300 Crescent Street                Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Cindy Kiple

First printing, 1998

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation and are used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible: New International Version®, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from The New King James Version, copyright © 1984 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data MacArthur, John, 1939-    The pillars of Christian character / John F. MacArthur       p. cm.    Includes indexes.    ISBN 13: 978-0-89107-950-7 (tpb : alk. paper)    ISBN 10: 0-89107-950-5    1. Virtues. 2. Character. 3. Christian Life. I. Title.   BV4630.M25     1998   179'.9—dc21                                                      98-16146                                                                                        CIP

CONTENTS

Introduction

1 The Starting Point: Genuine Faith

2 Obedience: The Believer’s Covenant

3 Blessed Are the Humble

4 The Selfless Nature of Love

5 Unity: Perseverance in the Truth

6 Growth: No Real Life Without It

7 Forgive and Be Blessed

8 Reason Enough to Rejoice

9 Always a Place for Gratitude

10 The Courage to Be Strong

11 Self-Discipline: The Key to Victory

12 Worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth

13 Hope: Our Future Is Guaranteed

Study Guide

INTRODUCTION

If you ever visit London, you’ll have no trouble spotting St. Paul’s Cathedral. It’s considered to be among the ten most beautiful buildings in the world, and it dominates the city’s skyline. The venerable structure stands as a monument to its creator—astronomer and architect Sir Christopher Wren. While St. Paul’s is his best-known achievement, an interesting story is connected with a lesser-known building of his design.

Wren was given charge of designing the interior of the town hall in Windsor, just west of central London. His plans called for large columns to support the high ceiling. When construction was complete, the city fathers toured the building and expressed concern over one problem: the pillars. It wasn’t that they minded the use of pillars—they just wanted more of them.

Wren’s solution was as devilish as it was inspired. He did exactly as he was told and installed four new pillars, thus meeting the demands of his critics. Those extra pillars remain in the Windsor town hall to this day, and they aren’t difficult to identify. They are the ones that support no weight and, in fact, never even reach the ceiling. They’re fakes. Wren installed the pillars to serve only one pur- pose—to look good. They are ornamental embellishments built to satisfy the eye. In terms of supporting the building and fortifying the structure, they are as useful as the paintings that hang on the walls.

While it saddens me to say this, I believe many churches have constructed a few decorative pillars of their own, especially in the lives of their people. In an effort to renew the church and make it work better, many leaders have implemented attractive styles of worship and teaching, along with “innovative” organizational formats designed to attract more people to the church. Substance has been replaced by shadow. Content is out—style is in. Meaning is out—method is in. The church may look right, but it bears little weight.

That trend is perhaps most evident in an area especially close to my heart—the teaching of God’s Word. Too many churches today have forgotten that their main purpose is a simple one. As “the church of the living God,” they are to be “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). Instead, they have built a façade that offers no support, bears little weight, and falls far short of reaching the heights God designed for the church and wants it to reach.

What results is the existence of phony, decorative pillars in the lives of the people, which ultimately delude them into a false sense of their salvation and spiritual maturity. They never come to grips with the real issue—the need to transform their old, sinful heart attitudes into new, scriptural ones. In nearly thirty years of ministry at Grace Community Church I have learned that if the spiritual attitudes of the people are right—as a result of careful, long-term, biblical teaching—the church’s organizational structure, form, and style become far less important.

A healthy life for the church comes only from the proper spiritual attitudes of its members (cf. Deut. 30:6; Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:32-34; Heb. 10:22). The apostle Paul’s earnest desire, for which he labored and prayed so diligently, was that Jesus Christ be fully formed in the lives of those he ministered to: “I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). He expanded that concept when he encouraged the Colossians to “let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (3:16). It’s the believer’s inner person that God wants to work on. Therefore, transformed lives should be the goal of all pastors and church leaders. Every ministry and worship activity they lead ought to motivate their people to think biblically.

It is my desire that this book would awaken you and encourage your heart toward the key spiritual attitudes that will motivate and transform your life from the inside out. With that in mind we will discuss thirteen fundamental attitudes, or pillars if you will, of Christian character that Scripture teaches all genuine followers of Christ must possess and be continually developing. It is not an exhaustive list, but each attitude is essential for mature Christian behavior.

The first five chapters define, explain, and illustrate the basic Christian pillars of faith, obedience, humility, love, and unity. Chapter 6 is a reminder that spiritual growth is a command, not an option. Chapters 7—9 will encourage you to display the attitudes of forgiveness, joy, and thankfulness at all times, even when circumstances make it difficult to do so. Chapter 10 is a discussion of spiritual strength, focusing on the pictures of a strong Christian in 2 Timothy 2. In chapter 11, we’ll consider some principles of self-discipline and practical ways to apply them. Chapter 12 views the nature of true worship, centering on Jesus’ teaching to the Samaritan woman in John 4. Finally, in chapter 13 we’ll make a careful study of the attitude of Christian hope and will see that it is a wonderful source of optimism and reassurance.

Without question the crucial issue in living the Christian life is the condition of your heart. Are you understanding and applying the fundamental pillars of Christian character that God’s Word so clearly outlines? The apostle Paul writes this excellent summary of how a godly attitude applies to everyday living: “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as menpleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Eph. 6:5-7, emphasis added). It is my sincere prayer that “doing the will of God from the heart” will become an abiding reality in your life as a result of this study.

1

THE STARTING POINT: GENUINE FAITH

In a commonplace way, faith or trust underlies how everyone lives. We drink water for various reasons and trust that it has been safely processed. We trust that the food we purchase at the supermarket or that we eat at a restaurant is uncontaminated. We routinely cash or deposit checks, even though the paper they’re written on has no intrinsic value. We put our trust in the reliability of the company or person who issues the check. We sometimes submit to the surgeon’s scalpel, even though we don’t have any expertise in medical procedures. Every day we exercise an innate faith in someone or something.

WHAT IS SPIRITUAL FAITH?

In a similar way, when you have spiritual faith you willingly accept basic ideas and act on many things you don’t understand. However, your spiritual faith does not operate innately, as natural faith does. Natural trust accompanies natural birth, and spiritual trust is a direct result of spiritual birth. Paul’s familiar words in Ephesians 2:8 remind us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

A modern-language version of one of the older church confessions (closely patterned after the Westminster Confession) provides this clear, doctrinal description of practical faith for the believer:

By faith a Christian believes everything to be true that is made known in the Word, in which God speaks authoritatively. He also perceives in the Word a degree of excellence superior to all other writings, indeed to all things that the world contains. The Word shows the glory of God as seen in His various attributes, the excellence of Christ in His nature and in the offices He bears, and the power and perfection of the Holy Spirit in all the works in which He is engaged. In this way the Christian is enabled to trust himself implicitly to the truth thus believed, and to render service according to the different requirements of the various parts of Scripture. To the commands he yields obedience; when he hears threatenings he trembles; as for the divine promises concerning this life and that which is to come, he embraces them. But the principal acts of saving faith relate in the first instance to Christ as the believer accepts, receives and rests upon Him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life; and all by virtue of . . . grace. (A Faith to Confess: The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 [Sussex, England: Carey Publications, 1975], 37)

So the first foundational pillar God’s people must have is spiritual faith, or trust in God. And that attitude will not grow and develop unless individual believers come to know God better and better. That truth is exemplified throughout Scripture. Here are just a few prominent examples:

• Moses—“The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will extol Him” (Exod. 15:2).

• David—“I love Thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies” (Ps. 18:1-3).

• Jeremiah—“‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I have hope in Him’” (Lam. 3:24).

• Paul—“For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers” (1 Tim. 4:10).

• John—“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us” (1 John 4:15-16).

HABAKKUK’S EXAMPLE OF FAITH

For a more in-depth look at how biblical saints exemplified the attitude of faith, let’s consider the case of the prophet Habakkuk. He ministered in the late seventh century B.C., during the last days of Assyria’s power and the beginning days of Babylon’s rule (about 625 B.C. to 600 B.C.). The situation in Habakkuk’s day was similar to what Amos and Micah faced. Justice and faithfulness had basically disappeared from Judah, and there was much unchecked wickedness and violence throughout the land.

Why No Answer, God?

The opening of Habakkuk’s prophecy, or sermon, reveals his frustration and lack of understanding of why God did not intervene in Judah’s affairs and dramatically set things right:

How long, O LORD, will I call for help, and Thou wilt not hear? I cry out to Thee, “Violence!” Yet Thou dost not save. Why dost Thou make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; strife exists and contention arises. Therefore, the law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

—1:2-4

The prophet faced a real dilemma. He probably had already petitioned the Lord to either bring about a spiritual revival so all Judah would repent, or to judge the people for all their wickedness, violence, perversion of justice, and inattention to His law. But God was not doing either, and Habakkuk could not understand how He could observe the magnitude of Judah’s evil and not act.

Why the Chaldeans?

But in the next passage God gives Habakkuk a most startling and unexpected answer:

“Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days—you would not believe if you were told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous people who march throughout the earth to seize dwelling places which are not theirs. They are dreaded and feared. Their justice and authority originate with themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards and keener than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come galloping, their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swooping down to devour. All of them come for violence. Their horde of faces moves forward. They collect captives like sand. They mock at kings, and rulers are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress, and heap up rubble to capture it. Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty, they whose strength is their god.”

—1:5-11

God’s revelation only intensified Habakkuk’s bewilderment, because it was not what Habakkuk expected or wanted to hear. How could the Lord possibly use the Chaldeans, a pagan people who were much greater sinners than the Jews, to judge and punish His covenant people?

After all, throughout their history the Chaldeans were notorious for being a militaristic, aggressive people. They originated from the mountains of Kurdistan and Armenia, north of Iraq, and later established their own small territory in southern Babylonia at the head of the Persian Gulf. From the earliest days of Assyria’s rule over the Babylonians, the Chaldeans were a source of opposition and irritation to the Assyrian kings. Eventually, the Chaldeans had a key role in overthrowing Assyria and establishing and expanding the new Babylonian Empire.

The Chaldeans worshiped nothing but their military prowess and were certainly ready to “heap up rubble” to capture Jerusalem. (In the ancient Middle East, the stone walls of a city or fort were scaled once invading troops piled rubble against the walls. That rubble formed a ramp upon which the soldiers could march up and into the city.) The Chaldeans were sinful, self-centered, and ruthless, and Habakkuk could not understand how God could choose a far worse people than Judah to be the agents for chastening His people.

Solving the Dilemma

Habakkuk’s puzzling dilemma definitely could not be solved with human wisdom. Because he did not understand God’s plan, the prophet looked to his theology: “Art Thou not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Thou, O LORD, hast appointed them to judge; and Thou, O Rock, hast established them to correct” (1:12).

At the height of his confusion, as he was sinking into the quicksand of his dilemma and realizing that he could not answer his questions alone, Habakkuk wisely reached out for what he knew to be true about God. First, he recognized that God is eternal and has existed from eternity past and will exist into eternity future. Habakkuk was reminding himself that the troubles he and the nation faced were really just part of a short period in world history. The Lord was far greater than any small moment in time, problems and all, and He knew all along how everything fit into His eternal plan.

The prophet underscored his opening words by addressing God as “O LORD, my God, my Holy One.” The term for Lord here is the Hebrew adoni, which means “sovereign ruler.” Habakkuk knew that God was and is in charge of all circumstances—He is omnipotent, and nothing ever gets beyond His control. Furthermore, Habakkuk acknowledged that God is holy—He does not make mistakes, and He perfectly carries out His program.

Habakkuk needed to find a secure spiritual footing in his understanding of who God is and what He does. Therefore he could reassure himself that “We will not die.” He knew God would remain faithful and not destroy Judah, since He had to fulfill the promised covenant He made with Abraham, which guaranteed a kingdom, a future, and a salvation.

Habakkuk saw God’s faithfulness and His person in the closing words of verse 12, “Thou, O LORD, hast appointed them [the Chaldeans] to judge; and Thou, O Rock, hast established them to correct.” He now accepted the fact that God was too pure to approve or excuse evil and that His eyes could not favorably observe wickedness. Therefore, He had determined to punish the people of Judah, and He had sovereignly chosen the Chaldeans to mete out that punishment. Even though Habakkuk would not have chosen that method of judgment, he could now say with much greater assurance of faith than before, “I see and accept what’s going on.”

Faith Summarized and Applied

The essence of Habakkuk’s grappling with faith’s definition was determined when God told him, “Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith” (2:4). The final phrase of this verse is one of the most important statements in all of Scripture because it succinctly expresses the foundational doctrine of justification by faith. For that reason it eventually became—in its King James form, “The just shall live by faith”—one of the great Reformation mottoes.

Nineteenth-century Reformation historian J. H. Merle D’Aubigne describes Martin Luther’s discovery of the crucial truth of Habakkuk 2:4 in this way:

He [Luther] began his course by explaining the Psalms, and thence passed to the Epistle to the Romans. It was more particularly while meditating on this portion of Scripture that the light of truth penetrated his heart. In the retirement of his quiet cell, he used to consecrate whole hours to the study of the divine Word, this epistle of the apostle Paul lying open before him. On one occasion, having reached the seventeenth verse of the first chapter, he read this passage from the prophet Habakkuk, “The just shall live by faith.” This precept struck him. There is then for the just a life different from that of other men: and this life is the gift of faith. This promise, which he received into his heart as if God Himself had placed it there, unveiled to him the mystery of the Christian life and increased this life in him. Years after, in the midst of numerous occupations, he imagined he still heard these words: “The just shall live by faith.” (The Life and Times of Martin Luther [1846; Chicago: Moody, 1978 edition], 46)

That occurred while Luther was a young professor teaching biblical theology at the University of Wittenberg in Germany in the early 1500s. The insight affected him so profoundly that a few years later he was prompted to compose the famous Ninety-five Theses and post them on the church door in Wittenberg. Those statements challenged the Roman Catholic Church to be more scriptural in some of its doctrines and practices. Notably, Luther took issue with the church’s selling of indulgences to grant forgiveness of sins. He pointed out that such remission is granted freely and graciously by God, but only to those who come to Him in genuine repentance and faith. That soon led to a fuller development of the biblical doctrine of justification by faith and to the spread of the Protestant Reformation throughout much of Europe.

God’s declaration to Habakkuk is also used in key passages in the New Testament. In addition to its pivotal usage in Romans 1:17, it is quoted two other times in the epistles: “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘The righteous man shall live by faith’” (Gal. 3:11); “But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him” (Heb. 10:38).

The prophet Habakkuk did not relegate the attitude of faith to the theological realm only. He gives it a wonderful expression of practicality in the final three verses of his prophecy:

Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places.

—3:17-19

That language was very meaningful and familiar to the agricultural society of Habakkuk’s audience. They knew the fig trees always blossomed, the grape vines seemed never to fail, and the olive trees were so sturdy and long-lasting that they would always produce a good crop. It was inconceivable to them that the fields would stop producing food and the livestock would cease having lambs and calves.

The prophet is saying that even if the routine, ordinary, dependable parts of daily life quit functioning—if the whole world were turned upside-down and backwards—he would still rejoice in God and keep trusting in Him. Even when he didn’t understand the circumstances, he still understood the person and work of God.

Habakkuk concludes by comparing his stability to that which the Lord gives the mountain goat (the hind). As I’ve had the opportunity to fly close to mountains in Alaska, I’ve seen how mountain goats behave. They will stand on the rugged, rocky edge of steep cliffs, calm and confident, knowing that their hooves are safely and securely anchored to the path. That’s the kind of confidence God gave Habakkuk and that He will give all believers. Even though we might be on the precipice, completely puzzled in the face of an unsolvable dilemma or an inescapable difficulty, the Lord can make us like spiritual mountain goats who walk surefootedly over the high places without fear of falling. None of life’s precipices is too overwhelming if we have the proper attitude of trust in God, as Habakkuk did.

FAITH POSSIBLE THROUGH CHRIST

In Galatians 2:20, the apostle Paul gives this testimony to the life of faith: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.” Paul is simply saying that he and all other genuine believers in Christ live their lives constantly trusting in the Savior. The apostle also said, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). That means the Christian does not ultimately evaluate life through his natural senses, but through the eyes of faith. How could Paul be so confident that the Christian life could operate that way? Because of what he told the Philippians: “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (4:19). The real key to living a life of faith is the divine means supplied by the indwelling, powerful, ever-present Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

It’s clear, then, that the first great Christian attitude, faith, begins at salvation and will characterize your entire Christian life. It is the foundational pillar on which to build your life, if you claim to love Jesus Christ. That was Paul’s point in Romans 5:1-10:

Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

2

OBEDIENCE: THE BELIEVER’S COVENANT

The perfect companion to faith is obedience. The final stanza of the familiar hymn “Trust and Obey” summarizes quite well the partnership these two foundational attitudes have: “Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet, or we’ll walk by His side in the way; what He says we will do, where He sends we will go—never fear, only trust and obey.” The line “what He says we will do, where He sends we will go” gives us a simple definition of spiritual obedience. It basically means submitting to the Lord’s commands, doing His will, based on what is so clearly revealed in Scripture.

FAITH AND OBEDIENCE INSEPARABLE

Jesus’ Great Commission to the disciples indicates just how foundational the matter of obedience is for believers: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20). While verse 19 involves proclaiming the Gospel, seeing people saved, and having them publicly profess their faith in Christ, verse 20 builds on the new converts’ salvation experience. Disciplers, or any mature believers, will teach new Christians to obey God’s commands in His Word and to submit to Him. The Great Commission delineates the two great essentials of the sanctification process, or the believer’s life in Christ—faith and obedience.

Obedience is so foundational that if it is not present in the life of one who claims to be a Christian, that person’s faith ought to be questioned. This truth is emphasized more than once by the apostle John: “Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you abide in [obey] My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine’” (John 8:31); “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love” (15:10). He reiterates the principle even more plainly in his first epistle: “And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4).

All who profess faith in Jesus Christ must also demonstrate that faith by obeying God’s Word. Otherwise, their profession of saving faith is suspect. The obedience of a true believer will be unequivocal, uncompromising, not grudging, and from the heart. Obedience is therefore an integral part of one’s salvation.

In fact, the apostle Peter describes salvation as an act of obedience: “. . . you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren . . . for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet. 1:22-23). “The truth” is the Gospel, which in essence is a command to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15). In the New Testament, the gospel message was always preached as a command (e.g., Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Mark 6:12; Luke 5:32; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; 26:20). Because it is a command, it calls for obedience, and all who are genuinely born again have new spiritual life because they heard the truth contained in Scripture, believed it, and obeyed it.

However, the moment of salvation involves more than an isolated act of obedience. When anyone places his trust in Christ’s atoning work and receives His forgiveness of sins, he also acknowledges that the Savior is Lord and Master over his life. That means each believer has committed himself to a life of ongoing obedience, although initially he did not fully grasp all the implications of that commitment.

The reason we don’t immediately understand all the ramifications of our commitment to Christ is that God, through the Holy Spirit, must first give us that sense of dedication. It does not originate with us, but the Spirit produces in our hearts the willingness to travel the pathway of obedience to God as servants of Jesus Christ. That’s the process of sanctification, but it is only one phase of our salvation.

A well-rounded perspective on salvation and its fuller implications begins with a basic understanding of divine election. First Peter 1:1-2 describes believers as those “who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” Foreknowledge is often misinterpreted. It does not mean all people have operated by their own will, with God as a neutral observer looking ahead from eternity past to see who would believe in Him and who would not and then choosing to save some and reject others. Instead, foreknowledge means that before anyone was born, God lovingly predetermined to intimately know some individuals and save them.

The Greek word for foreknow denotes a predetermined relationship, which is the same concept that defined God’s plan to choose Israel from among all the other nations. He could have chosen a more prestigious and powerful country to proclaim His truth to the world, but He sovereignly predetermined to have a special, personal relationship with Israel (see Amos 3:2). Jesus spoke of this regarding believers when He said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).

Election according to God’s foreknowledge is the first phase of salvation. The Lord predetermined before the foundation of the world to have a close spiritual relationship with certain people, those who have believed or will yet believe the Gospel before the end of the age.

Peter’s next phrase in verse 2, “by the sanctifying work of the Spirit,” brings us again to sanctification, the present phase of salvation. That which was in the decree of God in eternity past (election) moved into time through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. That means believers are saved by the agency of the Spirit: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). So the Spirit’s sanctifying work begins when we are saved. Sanctification includes being set apart from the control of sin, death, hell, and Satan and being enabled by the Holy Spirit to live an obedient life, conformed more and more to the image of Jesus Christ.

Living a life of obedience is the third and future phase of salvation, as indicated by Peter’s statement, “that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood” (v. 2). The overarching purpose of redemption is that all believers would live the remainder of their lives walking in obedience to the Lord. The apostle Paul illuminates and sums up this future phase of salvation in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

A COVENANT OF OBEDIENCE

Peter’s brief expression in 1 Peter 1:2, “and be sprinkled with His blood,” presents us with an interesting interpretive challenge. The apostle’s words are relevant to our discussion of salvation issues, but at first glance their meaning may seem a bit strange or obscure. The meaning, however, was clear to Peter’s original audience, which included many converted Jews. He was referring to the following key passage from the Pentateuch and the graphic ceremony it depicts:

Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which the LORD has spoken we will do!” And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

—Exod. 24:3-8

As Exodus 24 begins, Moses has just recently received God’s law (the Ten Commandments and many other ordinances) on Mount Sinai. Prior to the new Mosaic law, God had revealed His will and ways to His people in many different fashions. But from now on His will would be written down in absolute specifics—everything in the moral and ceremonial laws and all the laws of social and economic life.

After he came down from the mountain, Moses, with the Spirit’s help, orally recounted God’s massive law to the people. And they responded orally with one voice of public promise, basically saying, “We will obey all that we’ve heard.” Thus began a covenant-making process between God and His people. God agreed, in the form of the Mosaic law, to provide the people with a set of standards for behavior that when violated would have certain moral and spiritual implications. The people agreed, in the form of their willing public vow, to obey God’s words and follow the path of righteousness that His law now established.

Following his oral recitation of the law, Moses (presumably throughout the night) wrote down, under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, all those words of the law. Early the next morning he built an altar at the foot of Mount Sinai to publicly symbolize the sealing of the covenant made the previous day between God and the people. To represent everyone’s participation, the altar’s prominent feature consisted of twelve stone pillars (actually stacks of stones), one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. To further signify everyone’s solemn resolve to obey God’s law, burnt offerings and peace offerings of young bulls were made in the presence of the Lord.

Next, Moses did quite a fascinating thing with all the blood that was produced as the young bulls were slaughtered and prepared for sacrifice. Half the blood remained in large basins, and the other half Moses splattered on the altar, which represented God. This splatter- ing of the blood was the next demonstrable, symbolic step Moses took to ratify the covenant.

Then, as if to reinforce the importance of its contents, Moses allowed the people a second opportunity to hear the law by reading all of the words he had recorded the night before. The people of Israel responded exactly as they had to the previous recitation of the law: “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” (v. 7).

Finally, Moses sealed the covenant made between God and the people by taking the blood from the basins and splattering it on the people. Blood was the physical demonstration that a commitment had been made between the parties. The blood on the altar symbolized God’s agreement to reveal His law; the blood on the people symbolized their agreement to obey that law.

Thus the vivid symbolism of Exodus 24:3-8 is an excellent parallel to the statements about salvation in 1 Peter 1:2. When Peter says, “and be sprinkled with His blood,” the apostle simply means that when a believer trusts Christ, he accepts His part of the new covenant. God allowed the prophet Ezekiel to foresee this principle: “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances” (Ezek. 36:26-27; cf. Jer. 31:33).