What Is SPIRITUAL DEATH?

Spiritual death simply means that the spirit of a person is dead to God, that is, the capacity of their spirit to unite them with God is dead because they lack eternal life. The only life they have is the temporal life inherited from the perishable seed of Adam. Christianity is all about reversing this tragic condition through spiritual rebirth via the imperishable seed of Christ, the second Adam. Consider the scriptural evidence for this…

The strongest proof that the born-again believer is spiritually alive to the LORD — and, by extension, the non-believer is spiritually dead to God — can be observed here:

⁹You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

Romans 8:9-10

This suggests that the spirit of an unbeliever is dead in some manner, which is spiritual death. Paul says in verse 10, “if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin.” Just as the body of a believer is not literally dead (yet) neither is the spirit of the unbeliever literally dead.

Exactly how the human spirit of the unredeemed person is dead is explained elsewhere by Paul:

But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:17

This reveals that the unbeliever is not one with the Lord in spirit. In other words, he/she is dead to God.

Being dead to God like this is due to lacking eternal life (zoe). Acts 17:25 plainly says that God gives all people life (zoe), yet this is the temporal life (zoe) given them thru Adam. Eternal life (zoe), by contrast, is only available thru Christ (John 3:16, John 3:36, 2 Timothy 1:10 & 1 Corinthians 15:22).

The unbeliever who is alive on Earth has yet to suffer physical death and the second death. The latter takes place when an unredeemed person is discarded in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). As such, he or she only has two deaths to experience — physical death and the second death. The unbeliever is already spiritually dead because this condition was passed on to them via Adam. As such, Paul described the Ephesians and Colossians as “dead in transgressions” or “dead in their sins” before their spiritual rebirth (Ephesians 2:5 & Colossians 2:13). Since they hadn’t yet experienced physical death or the second death, Paul was referring to the state of spiritual death.

Elsewhere Christ spoke of the condition of spiritual death, which is a present state in the unredeemed (John 5:24), as did John (1 John 3:14).

The concept of spiritual death is first detailed in Scripture in the book of Genesis:

¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die [tamut muth]”

Genesis 2:17 (NIV)

‘Certainly die’ in verse 17 is translated from two forms of the Hebrew word for death, muth (you can read the original Hebrew text here). A more literal translation of the verse would be: “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, dying, you will die” (which is basically how the Young’s Literal Translation renders it). In other words, the very day Adam sinned part of his being died, leading to his eventual demise.

The Hebrew word muth always indicates that something has died or will die. It does not mean “separation” as some claim. If God meant to warn Adam that he would “separate” He would have used the Hebrew word badal. So what died? Adam’s immortal nature. In other words, he lost his eternal life.

So spiritual death simply means that the human spirit is dead to God because it lacks eternal life. If the human spirit is dead to God it is impossible to have a relationship with the Creator because the human spirit is the facet of human nature that “connects” with the LORD. As Jesus said: “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). If a person is spiritually dead it is impossible to know and worship God in spirit and truth. Why? Because they’re spiritually dead to the Creator. Because they’re spiritually dead to God they are separate from him, but ‘dead’ doesn’t mean “separation”; rather separation from the LORD is the result of being spiritually dead to God. Are you following?

This can be observed in the fact that Adam & Eve hid from the LORD immediately after suffering spiritual death. This condition robbed humanity of guilt-free access into the presence of God and the precious communion thereof.

Paul also spoke of spiritual death when he said: “Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died” (Romans 7:9). This alludes to the age of accountability, which is the age that the LORD holds people accountable to sin. Have you ever run into a family where the parents are heavily involved in sin, like drugs & crime or sexual immorality, but their kids are bright-eyed & bushy-tailed? Regardless of the moral degeneracy of their parents, the kids have the sparkle of life in their eyes! It’s incredible. Why is this? Because they’re spiritually alive.

The condition of spiritual death is passed on from Adam to everyone born into this world (Romans 5:12). Thus anyone past the age of accountability will only experience two deaths — physical death and the second death. Another way to put it is that spiritual death results in two inevitable deaths — physical death and the second death, which is eternal death, aka literal everlasting destruction (Matthew 10:28, Hebrews 10:26-27, 10:31, Luke 19:27 & 2 Thessalonians 1:9). Thankfully, no one has to suffer the second death and that’s what makes the gospel of Christ such good news (Romans 6:23).

“Original Sin” and Spiritual Death

To understand the condition of spiritual death it is necessary to grasp — as already noted — that it is the spiritual side of human nature that actually “connects” with God. “Original sin” is the reason this capacity does not exist with those who are spiritually dead. The doctrine of original sin of course suggests that humanity’s fallen nature — our inclination to commit sin and the corresponding alienation with our Creator — was naturally passed on to all of us by our primeval parents, Adam and Eve. You can read scriptural details about the fall of man here.

In order for a person’s spirit to unite with God he or she needs to be spiritually regenerated. This explains why Jesus taught that our spirit must be “born again” for us to “see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3 & 3:6). Other key passages on the necessity of spiritual rebirth include Titus 3:5, 1 Peter 1:3,  1 Peter 1:23, 1 John 3:9  and James 1:18. Those who are spiritually reborn “cross over from death to life” (John 5:24 & 1 John 3:14). In other words, they transfer from a state of spiritual death to a state of spiritual life.

The “second death,” by contrast, is a future event entailing the complete destruction of soul and body in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). The condition of spiritual death ultimately results in the second death, which is an absolute death (Matthew 10:28 & Hebrews 10:26-27).

I want to stress again that the awesome message of Christ is all about fixing the condition of spiritual death and its repercussions by redeeming humanity through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:6 & John 3:16).

That’s the quickie answer to the question. For those interested in technical details, we now go deeper into the Scriptures, which should clear some things up. Repetition is implemented on key points in order to hammer them home, not to annoy you.

Technical Details on Spiritual Death

The word ‘spiritual’ in this context signifies the human spirit. So ‘spiritual death’ refers to the human spirit dying in some manner.

“Death” is translated from the Greek word thanatos (THAY-nah-tohs), which simply means “death, physical or spiritual,” — the express opposite of life according to Romans 8:38-39. Contrary to what some ministers insist, thanatos does not mean “separation.” Whenever thanatos is used in Scripture, it indicates that something has died, that is, something has ceased to exist. Let’s consider the three types of death denoted in the Bible and determine what dies or ceases to exist in each case:

Physical Death

Physical death always refers to dying physically and therefore, at the very least, a person ceasing to exist in the physical realm. A good example of thanatos used in this context is Acts 23:29 wherein a Roman Commander observed that Paul hadn’t committed any offense worthy of death or imprisonment. If Paul was executed he would’ve ceased to exist in the physical realm. He’d leave behind a lifeless shell, of course, but his conscious life would no longer exist on our earthly plane (James 2:26).

The equivalent Hebrew word for death is maveth (MAW-veth). For proof, 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 combines quotes from Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 where the Hebrew maveth is supplanted with the Greek thanatos. Notice how Maveth is used in reference to the death of animals in the Old Testament:

Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: as one dies (maveth) so dies (maveth) the other.

Ecclesiastes 3:19

As dead (maveth) flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

Ecclesiastes 10:1

Animals that experience death (thanatos/maveth) cease to exist in any kind of conscious sense, although they leave behind a lifeless shell. This is physical death.

Spiritual Death

Spiritual death means the human spirit has died in some manner. Just as life ceases to exist in a body that is dead, so eternal life ceases to exist in the human spirit that is dead to God. A person who is spiritually dead only has temporal life whereas the person who is spiritually alive has eternal life.

For plain evidence of this, the Bible says point blank that eternal life and immortality are only available to people through the message of Christ:

…our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.                

2 Timothy 1:10

The Greek word for “life” is zoe. Paul is speaking of eternal life (zoe) here since (1) he links it to immortality, (2) eternal life is made available through the gospel of Christ and (3) people already have temporal life apart from the gospel.

Speaking of which, the only kind of life (zoe) that unredeemed people possess is the temporal life (zoe) inherited from Adam, which God gives to all people (Acts 17:25). Read that again: God gives all people zoe. In other words, every unredeemed person on Earth is born of the perishable seed of Adam and thus has life (zoe), yet this is temporal life (zoe). To acquire eternal life (zoe) the individual must be born again of the imperishable seed of Christ, the second Adam. This is what the gospel of Christ is all about:

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:22

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

1 Peter 1:23

This helps us to understand why Christ said we must be “born again” to see the kingdom of God in John 3:3, 3:6. He goes on to say: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (3:16). Please notice that Jesus does not say “whoever believes in him shall not have eternal existence but have eternal life.” Such a reading renders the text baffling, to say the least. Rather he says “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Furthermore, John 3 goes on to say: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (3:36). Whoever rejects Christ will not see any kind of life at all — not even the temporal life they currently possess.

By the way, did you notice the two polar opposite fates noted in the first passage above: “in Adam all die” but “in Christ all will be made alive”?

Eternal Death

The condition of spiritual death — if not fixed — naturally results in eternal death, which is absolute death, the destruction of soul and body (the inner and outer man) in the lake of fire, which is God’s celestial garbage dump (Matthew 10:28, Hebrews 10:26-27, 10:31, Luke 19:27 & 2 Thessalonians 1:9). The Bible calls this eternal death the “second death” because it takes place after the first death, physical death, when souls are resurrected from Hades/Sheol on Judgment Day (Revelation 20:11-15). You can read biblical details about the “second death” here.

More on Spiritual Death

Let’s return to the biblical example of a person who experienced spiritual death and the repercussions thereof. I’m referring to Adam, the first man.*

* In the Hebrew, adam (aw-DAWM) simply means “a human being (an individual or the species)” (Strong 8) or  “the man” (Genesis 2:7 & 2:20).

Adam was of course spiritually alive when God created him and therefore possessed eternal life and hence could commune intimately with his Creator in the paradisal Garden of Eden. The LORD blessed this first man with the gift of eternal life when he created him; in short, Adam had immortality.

There was, however, a condition to maintaining this immortality as God clearly instructed Adam that if he sinned he would “surely die”:

And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

Genesis 2:16-17

The Hebrew word translated as “die” in this passage is muth (mooth) which means “to die” or “kill” (Strong 63) and is repeatedly used in the Old Testament simply in reference to physical death, including the death of animals:

The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink;

Exodus 7:18a

They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?”

Exodus 14:11a

If Adam never sinned he would’ve never died. Yet he did sin, and the instant that he did part of him died — his immortal nature. We know this because the aging process started that very day culminating in his death many years later (Genesis 5:5). God foretold Adam’s death immediately after Adam’s fall, “For dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19c).

This helps us to understand why muth — “die” — is actually used twice consecutively in Genesis 2:17 (two forms of the word, anyway). As noted earlier, a more literal translation of this verse would be: “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, dying, you will die” (which is basically how the Young’s Literal Translation renders it). In other words, the very day Adam sinned part of his being died, leading to his eventual demise.

The Hebrew word muth always indicates that something has died or will die. It does not mean “separation” as some claim. If God meant to warn Adam that he would “separate” He would have used the Hebrew word badal (baw-DAL). The death of Adam’s immortal nature was the consequence of spiritual death.

Spiritual death, again, simply means that the human spirit is dead to God because it lacks eternal life. If the human spirit is dead to God it is impossible to have a relationship with the Creator because the human spirit is the facet of human nature that “connects” with the LORD. As Jesus said: “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). If a person is spiritually dead it is impossible to know and worship God in spirit and truth. Why? Because they’re spiritually dead to the Creator. Because they’re spiritually dead to God they are separate from him, but ‘dead’ doesn’t mean “separation”; rather separation from the LORD is the result of being spiritually dead to God.

How Did Spiritually Dead Saints in the Old Testament Have a Relationship with God?

This raises a question: What about Old Testament saints, like Moses and David, who were technically spiritually dead, but obviously had a relationship with the LORD? How was this possible? The answer is that they had a covenant with God, which is a relational contract. But their covenant was an inferior one because it failed to provide spiritual rebirth wherein the person literally becomes the temple of God with the Holy Spirit living within him or her (1 Corinthians 6:19). This is not to say that the Holy Spirit didn’t come upon certain individuals in the Old Covenant and anoint them, etc.

This is one of the main reasons the New Covenant is referred to as a “superior” covenant (Hebrews 8:6) and, furthermore, explains what Jesus meant when he said that there was no one greater on Earth than John the Baptist at the time, but the least person in the kingdom of God is greater than him (Matthew 11:11). How could the least in the kingdom of heaven — the Church — possibly be greater than John the Baptist? Because of spiritual rebirth and the fact that believers are the temple of God in the New Covenant and not some structure as in the old covenant; that is, the tent Tabernacle or Temple.

Getting back to Adam, the immediate spiritual death of Adam & Eve is evident by the fact that they hid from God and were afraid of Him (Genesis 3:8-10). Their relationship with the LORD severely changed when they sinned as they were no longer “united with the Lord in spirit” and thus their pure communion died. Humanity has been hiding from God ever since. This is spiritual death — being dead to the Creator.

Like Adam & Eve, we’ve tried to cover up our sin with the fig leaves of religion in the thousands of years since, but religion can never solve the problem of spiritual death, including quasi-Christian religion. That’s why Jesus, the second Adam, taught that we need to be spiritually regenerated to have a relationship with God (John 3:3 & 3:6).

So the LORD originally created human beings with eternal life (zoe), but it was conditional. Unfortunately our primeval parents failed to live by this condition and consequently passed on the curse of sin and death to us all. Thankfully, there’s redemption through Jesus Christ (John 3:16 & 3:36).

Speaking of the Messiah, Jesus is spoken of as the “second Adam” in Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 15:45-49 & Romans 5:12-19). Like the first Adam, he was spiritually alive, but experienced spiritual death even though, unlike Adam, he never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). When did Christ experience spiritual death? When he was “made sin” during his crucifixion wherein he suffered God’s wrath in our place, which is the aforementioned substitutionary death (2 Corinthians 5:21 & 1 Peter 2:24). This explains why the Lord yelled out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). He was experiencing the result of spiritual death — separation from God, which is alienation.

‘But I Thought ‘Death’ Meant “Separation From God”?’

“Death” and “separation” are two completely different words in both Hebrew and Greek, just as they are in English; these words have different meanings.

The Hebrew badal (baw-DAL) and the Greek chorizo (koh-RID-zoh) are two Old and New Testament words for “separation” (see, for example, Isaiah 59:2 and Romans 8:35 & 8:39). If the wages of sin is not really death, but rather separation, then God would have used these Hebrew and Greek words to describe the ultimate wages of sin. For example, Romans 6:23 would read, “For the wages of sin is separation (chorizo)” and Ezekiel 18:4 would read, “The soul who sins will separate (badal).” But does the Bible teach this anywhere? No, “the wages of sin is death” and “the soul who sins will die” (NASB).

It is true, as previously noted, that one of the results of sin is separation from God (Isaiah 59:2). This is the consequence of spiritual death, which — as we’ve seen  — simply means that one’s spirit is dead to God. Those who are spiritually dead cannot have a relationship with the LORD because God is spirit, and those who worship and know the Almighty can only do so in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). That’s why Christ taught that we need to have a spiritual rebirth in order to know God (John 3:3 & 3:6). I realize I’m being repetitive here, but repeating key points is effective in driving them home. The apostles practiced this, so I’m in good company (Philippians 3:1 & 2 Peter 1:12).

The Messiah experienced spiritual death when he bore our sins as he was crucified. He even cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). He also experienced severe suffering when he was crucified. While it was horrible for Christ to experience this separation and suffering, it ended in death. The penalty Jesus paid for our sins was separation from God, temporary suffering, followed by death. This was an example of the second death to all humanity. Those who are already separated from God due to spiritual death and reject the LORD’s offer of reconciliation thru Christ can likewise expect suffering that ends in death on Judgment Day (Revelation 20:11-15 & Matthew 10:28).

For more scriptural evidence that ‘death’ does not mean “separation” see this article.

The Human Spirit is NOT a Separate Entity

This is a peripheral matter, but it’s important enough to note because some readers might get the impression that the human spirit is a separate entity to the individual in question. This is not so. A human being is not made up of 2-3 separate entities, but rather is one person with two contrasting natures, spirit and flesh. This can be observed in many passages, like:

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Matthew 26:41 (NKJV)

I say then: Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

Galatians 5:16-17 (NKJV)

Since there is no capitalization in the biblical Greek translators must determine if “spirit” should be capitalized in reference to the Holy Spirit or not capitalized in reference to the human spirit. In the verse from Matthew translators unanimously agree that ‘spirit’ should be uncapitalized since it’s clearly a reference to the human spirit. In the Galatians passage most translations capitalize ‘spirit,’ but some don’t, like the Douay-Rheims Bible. The latter makes sense since — as with the Matthew verse — the Galatians passage is plainly speaking of the contrast between our two natures, spirit and flesh, and therefore “spirit” should not be capitalized. (This can be observed in other such texts, like Romans 8:5-6).

In a way it makes no significant difference since the believer’s born-again human spirit is indwelt and led by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16; Romans 8:16); as such, ‘spirit’ can be capitalized or not capitalized. The exception would be the verse in Matthew (above) since the people Jesus was talking to didn’t yet have the indwelling Spirit. Are you following?

The point is that the human being consists of spirit, mind and flesh. The mind is the soul, which has the power of volition. In other words the mind is the personality caught between the two contrasting natures, spirit and flesh, which can be observed in this passage:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. ⁶ To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.

Romans 8:5-6 (NRSV)

As you can see, the mind of a person is the seat of disposition, which has the power of volition and therefore chooses to live according to the spiritual nature or the fleshly nature. These two conflicting natures constantly send impulses or desires to the mind and the person chooses which nature to feed and live out of. Whichever proclivity you choose will determine if you’re a spiritual person or a carnal person.

The point is that, while the human spirit and flesh are two opposite natures, they are not two separate personalities. People only possess one personality but are caught in a war between two natures.

Here is a diagram of human nature which will help you to visualize these things (click to enlarge):

As you can see, the human spirit is a person’s “godly nature” whereas the flesh is the “sinful nature.” One’s mind & heart are caught between these two conflicting inclinations.

The human spirit is the individual’s “godly nature” because it relates to the spiritual breath of life that proceeds from the LORD, which animates the soul (Genesis 2:7 & Psalm 104:29b-30). The human spirit is naturally where the conscience is located because it’s the “godly nature.” The flesh, by contrast, is the sinful nature because it’s the satanic nature. You can read more about how humankind inherited a satanic nature here.

All of this helps us to understand statements like “it is the human spirit that connects the person to God.” Again, the human spirit is not a separate entity with its own will, but rather is the person’s spiritual nature, the part of him/her that inclines towards what is good, godly and productive. For scriptural details on human nature see this article.

Related Topics:

Religion vs. Christianity (video)

The Fall of Man (Humanity) and Slavery to Satan

What is the “Age of Accountability”?

The Basics of Christianity

Why Is This World So Messed Up?

MANNA Was a Shadow of the BREAD FROM HEAVEN, Jesus Christ

After the Hebrews escaped from slavery in Egypt circa 1446 BC, they wandered in the desert wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula for 40 years before making it to their earthly “promised land,” Canaan, which became Israel. Since there were 603,550 fighting men over the the age of 20 (Numbers 1:46), this places the total number of Hebrews at well over 2 million and possibly as many as 2.5-3 million. Modern scholars naturally consider this number fanciful since the Sinai Desert could never have supported so many people, let alone for 40 years.

However, this supposed conundrum is plainly explained in Exodus 16 and Numbers 11. The LORD miraculously rained down “bread from heaven” (Exodus 16:4), which the Hebrews called manna, derived from their understandable response to it, “What is it?” (16:14 & 16:31). This honey-tasting, vitamin-chocked flake-like food from God is what the Hebrews existed on for those four decades, along with dairy products from their herds and plentiful quail on two separate occasions (Exodus 16:13 & Numbers 11:31).

Some 1472 years later, Jesus Christ had a discussion with a crowd of Israelites who were following him around because he had just provided food for thousands of people,* which was incredible (John 6:1-15).

* The 5000 cited in 6:10 only referred to men, which means there were thousands more women & children.

Here’s the discussion:

²⁵When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

²⁶Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

²⁸Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

³⁰So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? ³¹Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

³²Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

³⁵Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

⁴¹At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴²They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. ⁴⁴“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. ⁴⁶No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. ⁵⁰But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

⁵²Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

⁵³Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

John 6:25-59

Several truths can be extracted from this discourse:

• The crowds that followed Christ were motivated by superficial desire for free food and did not grasp his true nature and purpose.
• The Messiah links the manna that the Hebrews existed on in the arid Sinai wilderness to a greater “bread from heaven” that enables those who believe to exist forever in a paradisal New Heaven & New Earth (2 Peter 3:13) as opposed to 40 years wandering around the desert in a fallen world.
• The manna that God provided for the Hebrews after they escaped slavery in Egypt was temporary and perished, a mere shadow of the true Bread from Heaven, Jesus Christ, who provides eternal life for all those who believe (John 3:16 & 3:36).
• The Hebrews wanted to know what works were required to earn everlasting life, which they felt they were able to do. The Messiah said the only ‘work’ required was faith in the One the Father sent (verse 29), which corresponds to John 3:16, 3:36 and Ephesians 2:8-9.
• The Lord referred to himself as both the “bread from heaven” (verse 32) and the “bread of life” (verses 35 & 48).
• The Lord said twice “I AM the bread of life” (verses 35 & 48), which was an acknowledgement that he was I AM, aka God (Exodus 3:14). This explains why the religious Jews, including the Pharisees, attempted to stone him to death after his “I AM” statement in John 8:58.
• There are seven times total in the book of John where Christ said “I AM” linked to specific things in a figurative sense, like “I AM the bread of life” (verses 35 & 48). The six others are: “I AM light of this world” (8:12), “I AM the gate” (10:7 & 10:9), “I AM the good shepherd” (10:11 & 10:14), “I AM the resurrection and the life” (11:25), “I AM the way, the truth and the life” (14:6) and “I AM the vine” (15:1 & 15:5).
• Jesus’ references to “eating the flesh of the Son of Man and drinking his blood” are obviously figurative and not literal (verses 53-58); after all, would God seriously want us to become cannibals to attain eternal life? Moreover, once Christ’s body was entombed, resurrected in a glorified state and ascended to the right hand of the Father in Heaven, how exactly could believers throughout the Church Age literally feed on his body and drink his blood? Obviously we couldn’t, so “eating the flesh of the Son of Man and drinking his blood” metaphorically refers to accepting Christ’s sacrificial death. The Lord used this peculiar analogy because eating & drinking are necessary for physical life in this fallen world; just so, “eating” & “drinking” the Bread from Heaven — the Bread of Life — are necessary for eternal life in the New Heaven & New Earth (2 Peter 3:13).
• These references to “eating the flesh of the Son of Man and drinking his blood” do not refer to the The Lord’s Supper / Communion / Eucharist for two reasons: (1) that particular ceremony had not yet been instituted and (2) if Christ was referring to the Lord’s Supper that would mean anyone who simply partook of this ritual would have eternal life, regardless of belief, which obviously isn’t true (John 3:16, 3:36 and Ephesians 2:8-9).

Related Topics:

The Basics of Christianity

ETERNAL LIFE (“Heaven”): Questions & Answers

God’s Name — YHWH (Yahweh), the Tetragrammaton

Comparing Jesus Christ With… Superman

SPIRITUAL Blessings vs. MATERIAL Blessings

Observe what the apostle Paul said about “spiritual blessings”:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Ephesians 1:3

“Spiritual blessing” suggests immaterial blessing in contrast to physical blessings, as distinguished in these two verses:

They were pleased to do it,* and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.

Romans 15:27

* This refers to believers in Macedonia and Achaia giving a financial offering to the poor in Jerusalem.

If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?

1 Corinthians 9:11

With this understanding, what are some examples of spiritual blessings? James cites an obvious one in his epistle:

¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ¹⁸He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

James 1:17-18

Verse 18 shows that spiritual regeneration is a gift from above, from our Heavenly Father. It is through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit that we obtain eternal life and have salvation from eternal death (John3:3, 3:6, 3:36, Titus 3:5, 1 Peter 1:23 & Romans 6:23).

Spiritual rebirth and the corresponding eternal salvation pave the way for other immaterial blessings, like:

• Day-to-day relationship with the LORD by the Spirit (Ephesians 1:17 & Hebrews 8:11),
• Access to forgiveness of sin (1 John 1:8-9),
• Faith for a healing (Mark 5:34 & Mark 10:52),
• Spiritual gifts, including glossolalia, and…
• Victory over the defeated Enemy in Christ (Colossians 2:15).

Returning to our main text:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Ephesians 1:3

Some suggest that “every spiritual blessing in Christ” is not limited to immaterial blessings on the grounds that the source of all blessing is Father God in the spiritual realm Heaven. “God is Spirit,” they argue (John 4:24), and dwells in the heavenly domain from which all blessings originate. In fact, literally everything in the physical realm originally sprang from the spiritual realm (Hebrews 11:3). Thus it could be argued that any blessing — whether immaterial or material — is a spiritual blessing. And particularly any physical blessing provided “in Christ,” aka in covenant with the LORD through Jesus Christ.

Examples of such physical blessings would include needed finances, any material answer to prayer, shelter, clothing, food, potable water, reliable transportation, healthy bodies, the right mate and so on.

Environmental context and God’s assignment for the individual in question determine the specifics of the physical blessing. For instance, Joseph was a slave in Potiphar’s house and a prisoner in Egypt, but the Bible says that he prospered in both contexts despite the obvious limitations thereof (Genesis 39:2-6 & 39:20-23). While Joseph indeed prospered in these challenging environments, it would certainly be a different kind of prosperity than that of living on Mulholland Drive in the modern day.

Speaking of physical prosperity, let’s consider how…

Spiritual Riches Are Superior to Material Wealth

Here’s what the resurrected Lord had to say to the historical assembly in Laodicea, which was located in what is today southwestern Turkey:

¹⁶“So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”

¹⁹“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.”

Revelation 3:16-19

Christ rebuked these believers for being “lukewarm” and threatened to spit the whole fellowship out of his mouth if they didn’t repent, meaning he would “pull the plug” on them and they’d be a church in name only.

The Lord desired that they were cold or hot rather than lukewarm. This was an allusion to nearby cold and hot springs. The cold springs were useful for refreshing while the hot springs were useful for bathing, but lukewarm water was useless. Thus this assembly was useless to the Lord.

What was their core problem? They made something other than Christ Lord of their lives; and verse 17 reveals that this ‘thing’ was material wealth. I want to stress that it’s okay to have physical wealth, but it’s not okay for physical wealth to have the person wherein it basically becomes their ‘god’ (Luke 12:15). As Jesus put it, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

Simply put, physical riches replaced Christ’s Lordship in the lives of these believers in Laodicea, which can be observed in their boasting of their great wealth and the brazen claim that they had need of nothing. So the Lord gives them a rude awakening by informing them that they were, in reality, “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” and needed to repent (verses 17 & 19).

Think about it: As materially wealthy as they were, Jesus blatantly calls them “poor” and “pitiful”! He was speaking of poverty in a spiritual sense. While they claimed to be Christians and therefore supposedly followed Christ, the Lord wasn’t even in their fellowship, which can be observed in the follow-up verse:

²⁰Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. ”

Revelation 3:20

The Messiah was outside the assembly politely asking them to let him in while threatening to spit them out of his mouth if they foolishly refused.

This shows that material blessings — viewed from a fleshly perspective — can fuel arrogance and render people spiritually poor and blind. Needless to say, let’s not be like that.

Let’s close with this insight on spiritual blessings from Peter’s second epistle:

³His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

2 Peter 1:3-4 

If this wets your appetite, see our linking article The Seven Keys to SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Related Topics:

The Basics of Christianity

What Goes On “Behind the Scenes” in the Spirit?

Spiritual Warfare — The Basics

How to Keep Yourself BLAMELESS (While Not Being SINLESS)

Does Walking in AGAPE LOVE Mean You Should Be a DOORMAT to Abuse?

A popular minister was preaching on walking in agape love wherein he quoted a verse from the great love passage:

Love bears up under anything and everything that comes,

1 Corinthians 13:7a (Amplified Bible Classic)

He then brought up a Christian brother who was dealing with a rude, abusive jerk and vented in desperation, “I just can’t take it any longer; I just can’t put up with him any longer.” The minister replied, “Love can.” The implication is that the believer who walks in agape love will perpetually put up with fleshly mistreatment in the name of agape love.

The problem with this kind of teaching is that it’s unbalanced since it disregards other pertinent passages. Being unbalanced, it puts people into religious bondage, which is never a good thing (religious bondage is a form of legalism). The ‘bondage’ in this case is the ‘doormat syndrome,’ which is the mentality that Christians must continually tolerate abuse from others in the name of love. If they don’t, they’re not walking in agape love (supposedly).

To show that this is error we’re going to look at several passages for proper balance. ‘Scripture interprets Scripture’ is a hermeneutical rule for good reason. Let’s begin with the biblical definition of agape love:

⁴Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up [arrogant]; ⁵does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NKJV)

The Greek word for ‘love’ in this passage is agape (ah-GAH-pay), which means that this is the biblical definition of agape love. As you can see, agape love is practical in nature and doesn’t involve a feeling. In other words, agape love is practical love and is not dependent upon an emotion, like adoration, fondness or respect. This explains how believers can love their enemies in a practical sense even though they understandably may not like or respect them, which both Christ and Paul taught (Luke 6:27 & Romans 12:20-21).

Notice how the Lord phrased this instruction:

²⁷“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Luke 6:27-28

Jesus is using the verb form of agape here. observe how he describes loving one’s enemies in terms of doing good to them regardless of how they’re unjustly treating you. In verse 28 he gives the examples of blessing them and praying for them. In other words, loving a person in the agape sense has nothing to do with affection and everything to do with doing something good for a person regardless of how you feel about him/her. There are separate Greek words for loving someone in the sense of having affection or respect, such as phileo love (e.g. John 11:35-36).

So agape love is loving a person in a practical sense and has zero to do with affection or respect. This kind of love is a fruit of the spirit as opposed to a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). In short, the more you walk in the spirit the more you’ll produce the fruit of agape love. By contrast, the more you live out of your flesh the less you’ll be able to walk in agape love.

The minister noted earlier argued that agape love “bears up under anything and everything that comes.” While this is true, it does not mean a believer who walks in agape love is obligated to perpetually tolerate rude mistreatment. Verse 4 in the Bible’s definition of agape love (quoted above) says that “love suffers long,” which is 100% true, but this doe not mean agape love suffers forever, just that it extends grace to the fool who’s doing the mistreatment. The Old Testament puts this wise principle like so:

Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.

Proverbs 12:16

Christ phrased it like this: “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also” (Matthew 5:39). Since he specified the right cheek, Jesus was referring to a backhanded slap to the face, which was an insult in that culture. Turning the cheek therefore signified overlooking an insult as an extension of grace to one’s persecutor. The goal of this principle is to make an effort of peace with unjustly contentious people, which is an example of agape love, aka practical love (Romans 12:18 & Hebrews 12:14). Overlooking an insult or “turning the cheek” is a refusal to feed the person’s hostility and prevents the situation from escalating into something ugly or dangerous. You’re extending grace to a person who’s walking in the flesh and preventing them from drawing you into their darkness. So you’re protecting yourself from being victimized by a fool. You can read more about this here.

However, while making a generous effort to live in peace with troublesome people is biblical and noble, it’s not wise to make an idol out of it and become a living doormat to abuse.

While agape love “endureth all things” this doesn’t mean believers should perpetually put up with rude, abusive jerks in the name of love. Agape love “suffers long” for the sake of peace with irksome people, but it doesn’t suffer perpetually. Actually…

Agape Love Confronts & Corrects When Appropriate

In the biblical definition of agape love we see that “love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). So, while the believer who’s walking in the spirit and thus walking in agape love “suffers long” by forbearing with a rude, abusive person far longer than someone who’s walking in the flesh, it’s not a perpetual thing. There’s a time and place for Spirit-led confrontation and rebuke. The believer can overlook the mistreatment and pray for the abusive person in the name of peace, but also confront and correct with scriptural truth at the appropriate moment as led of the Spirit.

This is the balance of gentle love and tough love. Here are some passages that support this:

Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

Proverbs 27:5

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.”

Luke 17:3

¹⁵“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ ¹⁷If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

Matthew 18:15-17

Someone might ask, what would Jesus do? The Messiah only put up with the corrupt religious leaders of Israel to a gracious point — wherein he interceded for them, hoping they’d repent — but then he boldly confronted them to their faces as led of the Spirit, frankly calling them “blind fools,” “hypocrites” (fakes), “snakes,” “whitewashed tombs,” “brood of vipers,” “children of Gehenna,” etc. (e.g. Matthew 23:13-33 & Luke 11:37-54).

Paul was the apostle who wrote the ‘love passage’ inspired by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:4-7), so he strongly believed in agape love suffering long when dealing with offensive fools, but notice how he dealt with some oppressive unbelievers on this occasion in Corinth:

5When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

Acts 18:5-6

When the stubborn Hebrews became abusive Paul refused to take it, but rather openly rebuked them (Proverbs 27:5) and took his service for God elsewhere, i.e. to those who would welcome it. Needless to say, go where you’re celebrated, not where you’re abused.

Now observe how Paul handled a troublesome unbeliever on the island of Cyprus who was hindering his strategic ministry:

⁶They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, ⁷who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. ⁹Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, ¹⁰“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹²When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

Acts 13:6-12

Elymas was a celebrity of sorts on Cyprus and so Paul & Barnabas were likely aware of him before visiting the island. They no doubt bathed the magician in prayer, as well as the proconsul, since Paul taught believers to do this very thing (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

Paul & Barnabas were sharing the message of Christ with the proconsul, but Elymas was rudely hampering their ministry and actively trying to keep the official from the faith. So Paul “filled with the Holy Spirit” openly rebuked Elymas, calling him a “child of the devil and enemy of everything that is right,” and then proceeded to curse him with temporary blindness in order to humble him. As it is written, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Verse 12 shows that the proconsul was amazed by their ministry and accepted the gospel.

Paul & Barnabas had prayed about this situation beforehand and were walking in the spirit. They no doubt suffered long with Elymas’ abusive antics but, when enough was enough, Paul took a righteous stand against the troublesome magician and boldly humbled the man, led of the Spirit.

While this was a rare happening in the apostles’ ministries in the early Church, it wasn’t an isolated occurrence, as Peter did something similar with another sorcerer while ministering in Samaria (Acts 8:9-24). In both cases the apostles were dealing with non-Christians, so the argument that believers can only confront & rebuke fellow Christians is unbiblical.

I’m not encouraging believers to be rash when encountering offensive people (Proverbs 12:16 & Proverbs 13:3), I’m encouraging us to walk in the spirit rather than the flesh; walk in agape love, which is practical love. Agape love “suffers long” for the sake of peace, but it refuses to be a doormat to ongoing fleshly abuse. It refuses to make an idol out of niceness and peace. There’s a time & place for taking a righteous stand and boldly rebuking unreasonable fools for their evil, led of the Spirit.

Confrontation and correction are good & appropriate when negative behavior continues because it holds the offender accountable to their abusive actions, not to mention it “sharpens” them like iron sharpening iron, although incorrigible fools will likely hate you for it (Proverbs 9:8-9). If you fail to confront and correct an impenitent abuser he/she will just continue in their negative behavior and continue hurting people. That’s not agape love because “love does not rejoice in evil, but rejoices in the truth.”

Yes, agape love “bears up under anything and everything that comes,” but this includes bearing up under the challenges of life, like taking a righteous stand against wickedness and reproving someone who desperately needs reproving; it does not exclude such challenges due to an unbalanced religious understanding of love.

Related Topics:

The Four Types of LOVE in the Bible

Turning the Cheek — What it Means and Doesn’t Mean

Gentle Love and Tough Love

Handling Personal Offenses vs. Handling Criminal Acts

What if You KNOW a Confrontation Will Turn UGLY?

Pacifism — Absolute Pacifism (Unbiblical) and Limited Pacifism (Biblical)

Military Service — Is it Okay for Believers to Serve in the Armed Forces?

Forgiveness—Should You Forgive EVERYONE for EVERYTHING ALL of the Time?

Why You should Always FORGIVE When the Offender Is Repentant

Judging—When SHOULD You Judge and When SHOULDN’T You Judge?

What Does It Mean to Be a LUKEWARM Christian?

The term ‘lukewarm’ can be traced to Jesus Christ’s frank words to the believers at the historical assembly in Laodicea, which was located in what is today southwestern Turkey:

¹⁶“So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”

¹⁹“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. ”

Revelation 3:16-20

The Messiah rebuked these believers for being “lukewarm” and threatened to spit the whole fellowship out of his mouth if they didn’t repent, meaning he would “pull the plug” on them and they’d be a church in name only.

Christ desired that they were cold or hot rather than lukewarm. This was an allusion to nearby cold and hot springs. The cold springs were useful for refreshing and the hot springs for bathing, but lukewarm water was useless. Thus this assembly was useless in the eyes of the Lord.

What was their core problem? The context shows that they made something other than Christ lord of their lives; and verse 17 reveals that this ‘thing’ was material wealth. I want to stress that it’s okay to have physical wealth, but it’s not okay for physical wealth to have the person wherein it basically becomes their ‘god’ (Luke 12:15). As Jesus put it, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

Sadly, riches replaced Christ’s Lordship in the lives of these Laodicean believers, which can be observed in their boasting of their great wealth and the claim that they had need of nothing. But the Lord gives them a rude awakening by informing them that they were, in reality, “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” and needed to repent (verses 17 & 19).

Further support for the fact that material wealth was their ‘lord’ and not Christ can be observed in the fact that Jesus was outside the fellowship knocking on the door wanting to come in and commune with them. In short, the very Lord they claimed to serve wasn’t even in their fellowship — he wasn’t even in their midst! He was outside politely asking them to let him in while threatening to spit them out of his mouth if they foolishly refused. You could say that being lukewarm means falling into a rut wherein you don’t have a relationship with the LORD.

So being a lukewarm Christian is a believer who has made something other than Christ lord in his/her life and is not limited to money & material wealth. It could be any number of things, but it renders the person useless to the Lord and service in His Kingdom. It’s a form of idolatry — putting something above the LORD — which in effect renders the believer a nominal Christian.

Related Topics:

Understanding Christ’s LORDSHIP in the Believer’s Life

The Basics of Christianity

How to Keep BALANCED in Every Area of Life

How to Walk FREE OF THE FLESH by being Spirit-Controlled

Understanding Christ’s LORDSHIP in the Believer’s Life

You’ve heard the call to “accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.” Is this just a religious expression or is there actually a biblical basis to it? It is scriptural. Look no further than this popular evangelistic verse:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

So, yes, Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior. For a person to apprehend eternal salvation — that is, reconcile with God and receive eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:19; John 3:16,36) — they have to first acknowledge that Yeshua is Lord.

While not everyone in the three realms presently acknowledges Christ’s Lordship, they will eventually, even the unredeemed on Judgment Day (Philippians 2:5-11; Revelation 20:11-15).

Thus every genuine believer 1. acknowledges that Jesus Christ is Lord and is therefore 2. saved from the wages of sin, eternal death (Romans 6:23). But what about…

The LORDSHIP of Jesus Christ in the Believer’s Life

If Christ is Lord to a believer, what exactly does that mean? The Greek word for ‘Lord’ is kurios (KOO-ree-os), which means “lord, master — a person exercising absolute ownership rights.” This indicates a profound truth of Christianity: We are not our own since God purchased us through the precious blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Peter 1:18-19). We are thus to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to our LORD on a continuing basis (Romans 12:1) and, more than that, our thoughts too since the verse goes on to instruct us to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Romans 12:2).

Since we’ve been purchased by God, each believer is to offer every part of himself/herself to the LORD as “instruments of righteousness” (Romans 6:13). How do you do this? Simple: Find out what God’s Word says and simply put it into practice (James 1:22-25). Just as important, find out who you are in Christ and make that your mindset and confession since it reveals how God sees you, which you can get details about here.

This is how the believer increasingly acquiesces to the Lordship of Christ and it relates to spiritual growth. The very word ‘growth’ suggests a process, something that naturally happens over time. It’s the day-to-day progression of sanctification. John the Baptist put it like this:

“He must become greater; I must become less.”

John 3:30

This doesn’t mean that the individual loses his/her identity, but rather that the will of the Lord becomes increasingly paramount. Things and activities that used to seem so important gradually lose their appeal and you find yourself content and at peace simply serving your Lord in the unique way that God has called you, which corresponds to your talents and distinct situation.

This process involves years, even decades, wherein you may experience relapses with certain issues of the old self, but keep getting back up and moving forward (1 John 1:8-9; Proverbs 28:13). You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there. The Bible stresses that the LORD has compassion on the plight of his children in this fallen creation (Psalm 145:9). Compassion means “sympathetic understanding.” Christ is our high priest who fully emphasizes with our weaknesses and struggles because he dwelt in a flesh-and-blood body on this fallen world, just like us (Hebrews 4:15).

It’s crucial to understand that God is for you and not against you (Romans 8:31).

Focus on relationship with God because this will anchor your faith when you face the inevitable hard times and great challenges of life. Also keep in mind that your relationship with the LORD isn’t one-dimensional in the sole sense of servant and Lord. Christ is also your friend (John 15:15), you are a precious son or daughter to the Father (Matthew 6:9 & 23:9), a rightful co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17; Ephesians 3:6), and the Holy Spirit is your teacher, guide, comforter and helper (John 14:26, 16:13 & 16:17).

Since the LORD is the Fountain of Life (Psalm 36:9) it’s imperative that you develop closeness with your Creator and stay close. Why? Because, as the Fountain of Life, the LORD will constantly gush forth life into your being and give you the grace to overcome the challenges of this fallen world, not to mention fulfill your unique call and purpose. See this video for insights.

Why am I stressing all of this and encouraging growing believers? Two reasons:

1. I’ve heard sermons on Christ’s Lordship that tend to dish out the condo, which is an unbalanced approach, not to mention legalistic. So I wanted to emphasize the positive side of this vital topic.
2. It’s necessary in the name of balance to also look at the unfortunate reality of…

What Happens to Foolish Believers Who Don’t Acquiesce to Christ’s Lordship

If Jesus Christ is truly your Lord and Savior, would you not seek to know him and find out what he wants you to do and not do with your life — a life that he literally purchased with his blood? Of course you would, as explained above. Acquiescing to Christ’s Lordship is a natural part of spiritual development and increases with growth. As John the Baptist put it, “He must become greater; I must become less.” It’s a process. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen and naturally so.

But what about those who foolishly choose not to do so? Here’s what the Lord said:

⁴⁶“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Luke 6:46-49

The Messiah is talking about those who call him ‘Lord,’ but aren’t interested in putting his word into practice. As Titus put it, “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him” (Titus 1:16). Jesus then links this to the issue of spiritual development, which can be observed in his parable of building a foundation along with the phrase “well built.” The succinct parable speaks of two separate people building foundations for their houses:

1. The wise one digs deep and builds his house on a rock foundation; thus when the storms eventually come, his house stands strong.
2. The foolish one, however, builds his house without a foundation and thus it collapses when the storms manifest.

Interestingly, the LORD is repeatedly described in the Bible as a rock to those who trust in Him (Psalm 18:2, 18:46, 19:14 & 95:1). Why? Because, like a rock foundation, God is unmovable and impregnable. Christ is saying that believers need to build their spiritual houses on the solid rock of the LORD. If we don’t, our spiritual house will collapse when facing the inevitable challenges and temptations of life.

For instance, I was reading up on some believers who were in Christian bands in the 80s-90s and held up as Christian leaders, often interviewed in mags & newspapers wherein they gave their wise advice to other believers. I was surprised to discover that several of them are no longer walking with the Lord and some are even evangelistic atheists. What happened? I thought these were Christian leaders. Answer: They didn’t build their house on the Rock of the LORD. Thus when the torrents of life’s difficulties and challenge of secular ideologies threatened their faith their spiritual houses collapsed.

The lesson is that the LORD must be the believer’s rock foundation in spiritual development. This can be seen in Christ’s coinciding statement in Matthew:

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ”

Matthew 7:21-23

As with his similar statement in the above passage, Luke 6:46-49, Christ emphasizes those who readily call him ‘Lord,’ but don’t practice God’s Word. However, this passage adds that the Lord didn’t know these people and even calls them evildoers or “workers of lawlessness,” as some translations put it (Matthew 7:23). In short, these people:

• Didn’t know the LORD, that is, they didn’t have a relationship with him, even though they confessed him as ‘Lord.’
• They walked in the flesh on a regular basis without repentance.

They also trusted in their religious works, rather than the Lord (Ephesians 2:8-9), as observed in verse 22. Thus the Messiah plainly tells them when they stand before him, “I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!”

So merely calling Jesus ‘Lord’ and performing religious works doesn’t necessarily mean a believer is acquiescing to the Lordship of Christ, but rather:

1. Practicing the Word of God you currently understand,
2. Having a relationship with the Lord and…
3. Walking in the spirit as opposed to the flesh.

Any believer who wisely attends to these three things will build a solid rock foundation to spiritual growth and fruit-bearing service in the kingdom. All three signify that the believer is acquiescing to the Lordship of Christ. Those who fail to do these three things are apparently only interested in Jesus as Savior, but not Lord. They want what Christ can give them — forgiveness of sin and salvation from eternal death — but they don’t want who he ultimately is, Lord.

Let’s close with…

A Real-Life Example of an Assembly that Made Something Other Than Christ Lord of Their Lives

Here’s what the resurrected Lord had to say to the historical assembly in Laodicea, which was located in what is today southwestern Turkey:

¹⁶“So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”

¹⁹“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. ”

Revelation 3:16-20

Christ rebuked these believers for being “lukewarm” and threatened to spit the whole fellowship out of his mouth if they didn’t repent, meaning he would “pull the plug” on them and they’d be a church in name only.

The Lord desired that they were cold or hot rather than lukewarm. This was an allusion to nearby cold and hot springs. The cold springs were useful for refreshing and the hot springs for bathing, but lukewarm water was useless. Thus this assembly was useless.

What was the root problem? They made something other than Christ Lord of their lives; and verse 17 reveals that this ‘thing’ was material wealth. I want to stress that it’s okay to have physical wealth, but it’s not okay for physical wealth to have the person wherein it basically becomes their ‘god’ (Luke 12:15). As Jesus put it, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

Sadly, riches replaced Christ’s Lordship in the lives of the Laodicean believers, which can be observed in their boasting of their great wealth and the claim that they had need of nothing. But the Lord gives them a rude awakening by informing them that they were, in reality, “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” and needed to repent (verses 17 & 19).

Further support for the fact that material wealth was their ‘lord’ and not Christ can be seen in the fact that Jesus was outside the fellowship knocking on the door wanting to come in and commune with them. In short, the very Lord they claimed to serve wasn’t even in their fellowship! He was outside politely asking them to let him in while threatening to spit them out of his mouth if they foolishly refused.

The obvious moral is: Be careful not to make anything other than Jesus Christ Lord in your life.

This article is available in book form as chapter 2 in…

• The print book is available here  for only $12.50  (303 pages)
• The Kindle eBook is available here  for just 99¢!

Both links allow you to “look inside” the book.

Related Topics:

What Are THE BASICS of Christianity?

BEREAN SPIRIT — What Is It? How Do You Cultivate It?

The Seven Keys to SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Pay Attention to the CONDITIONS of Biblical Promises

Elsewhere on this site it has been emphasized that “no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:20). In other words, the believer can claim a promise in Scripture by faith, such as Psalm 91:1-7 and Isaiah 54:17. But have you ever claimed a promise by faith and it wasn’t manifesting? So you naturally cry out, “But God, you promised”?

When this happens, first examine yourself to see if you’re being compliant with the conditions of the promise (2 Corinthians 13:5). Even promises that don’t seem to have terms have assumed ones, such as keeping with repentance and faith (Matthew 3:8 & 1 John 1:8-9), which are the first two doctrines of the six basic doctrines of Christianity (Hebrews 6:1-2).

As far as faith goes, “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Moreover, faith works by love (Galatians 5:6) and loving the LORD is the preeminent commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) (remember, believers are not under the Mosaic Law, but rather under Christ’s law, which is the law of love). If we love God we’ll be sure to keep with repentance since it’s the first basic doctrine of Christianity. Are you following?

So repentance and faith are assumed conditions in claiming any promise from the Bible, but there are sometimes specific conditions cited in the text. For example, observe the conditions stipulated in this popular passage:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord,

Jeremiah 29:11-14a

Verse 12-13 illustrate the if/then principle: If the Israelites would call on the LORD and pray, then God would listen to them; if they seek the LORD with all their hearts, then they would find God. The same applies to anyone today wanting to claim these promises.

Here’s another example:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

The verse is showing us how to overcome when facing attacks from the kingdom of darkness: If you (1) submit to God and (2) resist the devil, then the enemy will flee from you.

Here’s another one:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Matthew 7:7-8

• If you ask, then you will receive;
• If you seek, then you will find;
• If you knock, then the door will be opened.

Now let’s consider a couple of examples that actually include the conditional terms “if” and “then”:

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

¹ My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:1-6

The first one is a fairly well-known verse and speaks for itself. The second passage is more obscure and happens to be a treasured text from my early years as a believer. I turned to the LORD at the age of 20 after some extremely lost years as a teen and immediately started engulfing the Word of God like a famished man (Matthew 4:4). I wanted the spiritual understanding and knowledge of God noted in verse 5, but I knew that attaining this was dependent upon doing verses 1-4. So I diligently put those verses into practice and here I am today many decades later sharing the understanding & knowledge of God’s Word with people all over the world on a daily basis.

To close, when claiming a promise from the Scriptures by faith, always be mindful of the conditions thereof and you’ll be blessed.

Related Topics:

SPIRITUAL WARFARE — Do You Know What You’re Fighting For?

How to “FEAR NOT” in Perilous Times

Prayer — The Basics

The Basics of Christianity

What Does ABBA Mean in the Phrase ABBA FATHER?

The term ‘Abba’ appears three times in the New Testament as follows:

Going a little farther, he [Christ] fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Mark 14:35-36

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:14-15

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. ⁶ Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Galatians 4:4-7

Abba is the Aramaic equivalent of the Greek word for ‘father,’ which is patér (pat-AIR). The repetition reflects endearment and entreaty, taken from the natural inclination of children to repeat a beloved name in different forms.

Interestingly, as revealed above, the only three passages in Scripture that feature the phrase “Abba, Father” are spoken by three different peoples:

• Jesus Christ
• Believers by the Spirit
• The Holy Spirit

In all three cases “Abba, Father” refers to the Heavenly Father.

Related Topics:

Prayer—Communing with God

Is Christianity a “RELATIONSHIP With God”?

Praise & Worship—What’s the Difference? Why are they Important?

The Basics of Christianity

DRINK UP from the Fountain of Life (video)

An Honest Look at the M WORD (Masturbation)

Back in the ’80s an Evangelical pastor who was popular with young people spoke frankly on the topic of masturbation and tried to be balanced. Being a controversial topic, interviewers would naturally ask him about it. He responded, “Look, I’ll answer your questions to the best of my knowledge and understanding, but I don’t want to be known as the ‘masturbation pastor’; that’s not where my heart is.” I feel the same here.

Masturbation is one of those subjects that are so private, so intimate, it’s understandably awkward to openly discuss. If you can’t handle an honest examination of this very personal, adult-oriented issue, I suggest leaving and maybe coming back later.

The two extreme positions on the issue reflect the Conservative and Liberal mindsets. It’s wise to consider the evidence for both sides, along with the Middle Ground position, before drawing plausible conclusions that apply to one’s own situation. That’s what we’re going to do here.

Let’s start with the fact that…

The Bible Doesn’t Directly Mention Masturbation

Whatever answers we come up with in this study, they will be from indirect material since the topic of masturbation is not mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. In short, there’s no commandment “Thou Shalt Not Masturbate.” Sexual lust is detailed, of course, but not self-stimulation of the genitals for gratification.

For anyone who might cite Onan from Genesis 38:8-10, his offense wasn’t masturbation, but rather Onan’s refusal to fulfill his Hebraic duty in perpetuating his brother’s line of descendants (Deuteronomy 25:5-10).

The obvious question is: Why doesn’t the Creator mention masturbation in the God-breathed Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16) — the LORD’s written Word to humanity — a topic that practically every human being has to deal with during his/her life on Earth? Perhaps because it’s not a cut-and-dried issue and, whether or not masturbation is a sin, depends on several things, which will be detailed as we progress. As such, each individual will have to work out this private issue in his/her personal relationship with their Creator with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

That said, I want to stress that…

A Person Is a Slave to Whatever Has Mastered Him/Her

Peter put it like this:

They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”

2 Peter 2:19

If a person allows himself/herself to become in bondage to something that’s not necessary for survival (water, food, air, etc.) they in essence become a slave to that thing, not to mention the thing in question becomes a figurative idol. Christianity is all about true freedom, which includes freedom from the flesh and religious legalism (2 Corinthians 3:17 & Galatians 5:1), but it also supports the wisdom of moderation in all things so as not to be hindered or mastered by anything (Hebrews 12:1 & 1 Corinthians 6:12).

Anything that impedes a person’s productivity in life automatically becomes a destructive “weight” and needs to be “thrown off.” This would include the practice of masturbation. This must be understood at the outset of our study along with the fact that…

Believers Are Instructed to Control Their Bodies

This can be observed in Paul’s instruction to the Thessalonians:

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵ not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; ⁶ and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. ⁷ For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-7

Verse 5 reveals that the issue comes down to knowing God or not knowing God. The spiritually-regenerated believer who walks with the Lord is expected to control his/her body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like unbelievers who aren’t walking with the Lord.

This shows that the Creator wants his children to be in a state of control over their bodies & thoughts/actions and not in bondage to anything. Yet verse 4 plainly says that believers have to “learn” to control their bodies; in other words, it’s a process — there is a progression that goes with sanctification.

Secondly, while the text is pretty straightforward, there’s also a degree of mystery: What exactly does “control your body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust” mean for each individual? Obviously the indwelling Spirit is going to have to guide & help each believer in this matter. The Spirit’s guidance will depend on the maturity level of the person, their unique situation and their calling. Such things will be elucidated as we continue.

Now let’s consider the three perspectives on masturbation and the pros or cons of each:

The Conservative View: Masturbation Is Always a Sin

This is the go-to position of most Evangelicals, which makes masturbation a black & white issue. They base it on the fact that Christ said, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28), which is bolstered by righteous Job’s attitude: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman” (Job 31:1) and similar comments made in verses 9-12.

These passages support the obvious connection between what goes on in the mind to one’s potential actions (as well as the error of objectifying a woman due to her physical beauty). And, since it’s arguably impossible to masturbate without the use of imagination, advocates of this position reason that masturbation is always a sin.

Until the individual is married, they argue, the sexual side of life can be totally shut down through walking in the spirit (Ephesians 4:22-24). Of course learning to live by the Spirit is a process and so the believer will have to “keep with repentance” when they inevitably miss it (Matthew 3:8 & 1 John 1:8-9).

Speaking of marriage, supporters of this view point to God’s original design for the two genders, male & female, to unite together in marriage and multiply (Genesis 2:18 & 1:28) — with nothing being said about masturbation in the Song of Songs, which is God’s poetic ‘manual’ on romantic love/sex/marriage.

Likewise, the New Testament says zilch about masturbation when the topic of singlehood and marriage surfaces. For instance, the apostle Paul argued, since sexual immorality abounds, “each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband” (1 Corinthians 7:2). While Paul stressed that being single is good, particularly in that time and place (Corinth, a city about 50 miles west of Athens, Greece), he also pointed out that marriage is the natural solution for the single person who can’t control himself/herself for “it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (1 Corinthians 7:9). This would be the fitting place for Paul, led of the Spirit, to bring up the topic of masturbation, but he mysteriously says nada.

Is nothing said about masturbation in these key passages because it’s implied that it’s a prohibited, sinful practice, as supporters of this position would argue, or is it simply because God leaves the issue open for each individual to work out in his/her relationship with the LORD? (Philippians 2:12).

As far as releasing pent-up sexual energy goes, adherents of this view maintain that the Creator has provided a natural way for a person to release constrained sexuality; it’s called the wet dream (Deuteronomy 23:10-11). As such, masturbation is not necessary to release bottled-up sexual energy since a wet dream will naturally do it for the individual.

If you are satisfied with the arguments for this position, I encourage you to stick with it (Romans 14:14). However, if you discern some holes or unexplained details, read on. But, first, let’s consider the other side of the moral spectrum…

The Liberal View: Masturbation Is Never a Sin

A moderate Liberal argued that masturbation was God’s gift to assist people with pent-up sexual energy (presumably single people). While this sounds somewhat reasonable, the radical Liberal position goes back to the sexual revolution of the 60s and the foolish Leftie mantra: “If it feels good do it.” This is the philosophy of hedonism. Those who subscribe to hedonism are libertines.

When it comes to carnal desires, no matter how questionable, libertines typically encourage the embracing of the whim. After all, you were “born that way,” they argue, and so you are free to indulge because “it’s the way you were made.” Does this mean an adult male is free to pursue having sex with a 14 year-old girl because he experiences the desire and therefore was “born that way”? Should a woman who has the whim to eat 2 gallons of ice cream per day do so because she was “born that way”? Should a youth become a druggie/drunkard because he has the desire to be wasted? Obviously not in all three cases. And this reveals the absurdity of libertinism: Just because you experience a desire doesn’t automatically mean it’s good and you should act on it or base your life around it.

Speaking of which, Liberals tend to encourage people to base their identities around curious desires and whims. To deny a flesh urge is repression to them; and repression of desire, they reason, creates a “repressed” individual, which they consider mental illness. Personal discipline is an abomination to libertines unless it involves things like performing yoga or not using straws. Yes, I’m being amusing, but it’s pretty much the truth when it comes to Leftwingers.

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the Liberal view on masturbation is that it’s natural & healthy and can be practiced as often as the individual wishes, regardless of whether he/she is single or married. “If it feels good, do it!”

Since modern-day Liberalism is equal to what the Bible calls “the world” (1 John 2:15-17) — and explains why I refer to it as LIEberalism — this viewpoint can be dismissed out of hand in this discussion. Remember, these are the folks who say with a straight face that there are 152 genders (or whatever the tally is these days) and that a man can become a woman by simply identifying as a female or, worse, having his penis surgically removed and being pumped with female hormones; either way, he can then legitimately compete in female competitions and be praised for winning (rolling my eyes).

The Middle Ground: Masturbation May or May Not Be a Sin, Depending on the Individual and Details Thereof

This view argues that, since masturbation is not mentioned in the Bible and there is no direct prohibition against it, whether or not it is permissible in a person’s life depends on his/her unique position, their level of spiritual maturity and the leading of the Spirit. Let’s look at each of these:

• The person’s unique position: God doesn’t make people ‘cookie-cutter’; we’re all unique. What may be an issue for one person is not an issue whatsoever for another. For instance, Paul spoke of his gift of continence to which he acknowledged many others don’t have, yet they have other gifts (1 Corinthians 7:7). Some single men have exceptionally high sex drives and the occasional ‘wet dream’ arguably isn’t going to cut it for them. As for Paul’s argument that “it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (1 Corinthians 7:9), while this may be true, it would be extremely foolish to marry someone solely on the grounds of sexual gratification since it’s a huge commitment and life-altering matter.
• The person’s level of spiritual maturity: There’s a world of difference between, say, a new believer at 20 years of age and a seasoned man or woman of God of 55. There are stages to spiritual growth, not to mention keys to spiritual growth, and so everyone isn’t at the same place.
• Conscience and the leading of the Spirit in the individual’s life: Since masturbation isn’t mentioned in the Scriptures and there is no direct prohibition against it, the believer is going to have to go by the leading of the Spirit within and the conviction thereof (1 John 3:19-24). In other words, if your conscience & indwelling Spirit convict you of something, then don’t do it. If there is no conviction — at least currently — then you can be certain that “to the pure all things are pure” (Titus 1:15). However, when the Spirit guides you to remove something from your life, you are obligated to do so since “you are not your own, you were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

It goes without saying that we have to be careful with the verse that says “to the pure all things are pure.” This shouldn’t be mistaken to mean that a sin can ever be pure, like adultery. We also have to be careful of the self-deception of being “pure in our own eyes” (Proverbs 16:2 & Proverbs 30:12).

While the Middle Ground position respects the Conservative view and admits that believers should stick with that position if they’re convinced of it, à la Romans 14:14, it objects to its black & white simplicity. For instance, both Matthew 5:28 and Job 3:1 are talking about committing adultery within one’s heart. But what if a married man is away from home for a long period of time and releases his sexual energy by masturbating to thoughts of his wife? By doing this, he reasons, he’ll be less prone to amorous temptations on the road. Obviously this wouldn’t be adultery and the masturbation would arguably be permissible.

For those who understandably contend that the same principle would apply to the sin of fornication, what if the ‘woman’ in question is a drawing or image. To explain, in concentration camps, like Soviet gulags, artists would draw an alluring sketch of a woman and barter it to other captives. How exactly can a man commit fornication with a ‘woman’ that doesn’t exist? In other words, if what the person is imagining when he/she masturbates involves an unreal figure, how exactly is it a sin, unless of course the Spirit leads that person to not do it or stop the practice?

What if a single man with an exceptional sex drive expunges his sexual energy in this manner on the grounds that it will assist in evading amorous temptations, including the allure of porn, which is always just a click away in the modern day? In other words, to him, it basically removes that challenge from the table and frees him up for spiritual things. I’m not necessarily agreeing with this position, just sharing what guys have said who deal with this real-life issue.

On top of all this is the glaring question: When does merely appreciating beauty end and sinister lust begin?

These kinds of questions are naturally troubling to those who see everything in black & white, which is what some STAGE TWO believers tend to do. This is said with zero condescension; it’s simply a reflection of the way it is with spiritual growth and non-growth. Yet we’re talking real-life issues and struggles here, which demand frankness and tackling the hard questions.

In any case, the Middle Ground position acknowledges that masturbation is something that the Lord will eventually weed out of a person’s life as he/she grows, à la Colossians 3:5 and 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7, but this is going to be accomplished by the Spirit’s leading and not some legalistic religious rule that’s not actually cited in the Bible. It’s the aforementioned process of sanctification.

Remember, the Bible emphasizes God’s compassion, which means sympathetic understanding of our plight in this fallen world (Psalm 145:9 & Hebrews 4:15). In short, anyone struggling with the things we’re talking about here, the Lord understands — the Lord cares. God’s not some ogre in the sky waiting to smash people with a cosmic baseball bat; the Lord’s full of love, mercy and compassion for his children (Psalm 86:15, 103:8 & 103:13), which is not to say that that there isn’t a time for divine discipline (Hebrews 12:5-7). God is for you, not against you (Romans 8:31). It’s of the utmost importance to your spiritual health that you get a hold of this!

A young minister strongly advocated the Conservative position in an honest article, arguing that masturbation is indeed a sin, yet the reason for his rigid stance was revealed in his testimony: He became captive to the practice in his teens and desperately wanted freedom. Upon turning to the Lord he acquired emancipation, but the experience unsurprisingly left him viewing masturbation as a great sin and his personal #1 flesh-enemy. Yet this doesn’t necessarily make masturbation a sin any more than it makes playing computer games a sin because an individual is in bondage to the activity. What about the gazillions of people who play computer games, but they do so in moderation and there’s zero bondage?

The same goes for the severe alcoholic who turns to the Lord and escapes the bondage of drunkard-ness. Just because drinking alcohol is a sin to this person, it doesn’t mean another person who isn’t an alcoholic can’t drink a sip of alcohol, assuming s/he is in an environment that’s not going to make someone stumble (Romans 14:13-23). Are you following?

One pastor I served under adamantly taught from the pulpit that merely shopping at a store that sells alcoholic beverages is a sin. Why? Not because the Bible says it’s a sin, obviously, but rather because he was a serious alcoholic before giving his life to the Lord and this caused him to unjustly condemn anything involving alcoholic beverages, even if it wasn’t immoral from a biblical standpoint. (While this is wrong and grossly legalistic, the Holy Spirit might of course lead a specific believer to not shop at a certain establishment for one reason or another).

Speaking of alcoholic beverages, supporters of the Middle Ground position believe masturbation could be equated to the topic of alcohol in the Bible. While being a drunkard is indeed a sin (Galatians 5:19-21), drinking in moderation is not (Matthew 11:19 & 1 Timothy 5:23) — assuming a believer even chooses to drink an alcoholic beverage in the first place (some could care less about alcohol, like me). As long as it doesn’t compel anyone who struggles with alcoholism to fall or troubles someone with a weak conscience, it’s allowable. In short, just as drinking alcohol can become a bondage and therefore detrimental to someone’s life, so can masturbation, yet neither are evil in-and-of-themselves (Romans 14:14). The details of the person, their situation and the leading of the Spirit will determine if either is permissible or destructive at the time.

Closing Word

I was reluctant to do this article because the topic is controversial and any minister who doesn’t staunchly support the Conservative position is readily written off as “going Liberal” (at least in Evangelical circles). But that’s hardly the case here. In any event, there’s pressure for ministers to tout the Evangelical convention on this topic — the Conservative position — or just keep mum on the subject.

Since masturbation is not directly mentioned in Scripture — and God obviously did this intentionally — it comes down to a matter between the individual believer and their Creator. It’s one of those “disputable” issues that should be kept between the person and their LORD (Romans 14:22) as they weigh the applicable verses of Scripture, their conscience and the guidance of the Spirit. In short, it’s a private matter.

Someone mocked the idea of God — the Creator of all things — caring about what a guy does with his pee-pee, which is an understandable point, but the Lord does care since we were bought at great price:

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. ¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20

We are not our own; the LORD purchased us through the precious blood of Christ and we’re to offer our bodies as living sacrifices (1 Peter 1:18-19 & Romans 12:1). As far as our thoughts go, the Bible acknowledges that thoughts run our lives and thus God is very interested in what goes on in our minds (Psalm 24:3-5, Proverbs 15:26, Matthew 5:8, Colossians 3:2 & Philippians 4:8). For one, our thought life determines our actions, one way or another.

Personally, I don’t masturbate. The Holy Spirit pruned it from me long ago as part of my particular process of sanctification. That’s my example. How, when, and why the Lord deals with other people on the issue is between them and their Creator. I don’t care to know the details because it’s a TMI matter of the first order. This doesn’t mean, of course, that they can’t talk to a spiritual mentor about it if they feel the need to do so, just be sure that he/she is actually spiritual and not a gossip (Matthew 7:15-23). (For instance, I’ve come across ministers who regularly counsel others and have been known to share details of their counselee by name behind their backs, typically with other ministers; it goes without saying that this is outrageously wrong, but it unfortunately happens).

The reason I decided to cover this topic is because the journey in finding answers from God’s Word brings up many issues relevant to one’s walk with the LORD in this fallen world, such as spiritual development, self-control, thought life, appreciating beauty vs. lust, walking in the spirit, knowing God, Christianity vs. legalism, libertinism, disputable issues and so on.

Our conclusion is that the Liberal view should be dismissed outright because it embraces the folly of libertinism. The Conservative view should be respected and works for many believers while the Middle Ground perspective honestly explores the holes in that view and dares to tackle the ignored details. So the truth lies somewhere between the Conservative position and the Middle Ground position. Being a decidedly private matter, it’s up to each believer to work it out with their Maker on their spiritual journey with fear and trembling.

Amen.

This article is also available in book form as a chapter in…

• The print book is available here  for only $7.26  (171 pages).
• The Kindle eBook is available here  for just 99¢!

Both links allow you to LOOK INSIDE the book.

Related Topics:

Dealing with LUST

Beauty, Objectification and Lust

The Basics of Christianity