Daily Bread - FEB/28/07

1 Corinthians 15:1-2 - "But brothers I make known to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand. Through which you are also being kept safe, if you hold fast to the word, which I preached to you, lest you believed in vain.

The context demands a rendering of either "safe" or "whole." Although the Greek word "sotzo" is the common word for "saved" there are several places in the New Testament where the context calls for different aspects of this word to be brought out. For example, the meaning of sotzo is properly rendered "made whole" with respect to physical health in Matthew 9:21, 22; Mark 5:23, 28, 34; 6:56; 10:52; Luke 8:48, 50; 17:19; Acts 4:9; 14:9; also the meaning of "keep safe" may be observed in 2 Timothy 4:18 and John 12:27. In fact, "sotzo" may refer to either spiritual, physical, or financial rescue from God. The context of 1 Corinthians 15:2 is more suited to the good health and well-being of a person rather than the salvation of the soul.

Some even attempt to make the salvation of the soul a work in process instead of the miracle transformation which it is (John 3:5-6; Colossians 1:14; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:9). This phrase is also rendered, "by which you also are being kept safe" by Green's Literal Translation. The fact is that the word of God reveals to us that we have been saved from the former way of life. We have been made new creatures; old things have passed away, and all things have been made new (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15).

When we define salvation as the act whereby we were redeemed, then the testimony of the New Testament gives us the assurance that we are redeemed and that we belong wholly to God. Without looking beyond the letters that Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, we find the absolute testimony of this salvation. The opening statements to the church of Corinth set the tone for this in that Paul wrote, "to the sanctified ones who were called to be holy ones" (1 Corinthians 1:2). There are numerous verses of scripture in this first letter to the Corinthians that testify to the fact that Paul believed and taught that salvation was an event that had already taken place for those who believed (1 Corinthians 1:8-9, 18, 21; 2:12, 16; 3:9, 16, 23; 4:17, 19-20; 6:1-2, 10, 15, 17, 19-20; 7:23; 10:17; 12:13, 27; 15:17).

When we consider Paul's writings as a whole, then the present reality of salvation is witnessed hundreds of times. We are presently being kept safe by the power of God (1 Peter 1:5; John 10:28; 17:11, 15). But it is essential that we stand in the power and authority that He has entrusted us with. If we do not hold fast to the word of the gospel, then we will find ourselves without the blessings and promises of God.

Blessings,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org