Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;                                                                          I want Thee forever to live in my soul;                                                                      Break down every idol, cast out every foe;                                Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Refrain:
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow,
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, look down from Thy throne in the skies,
And help me to make a complete sacrifice;
I give up myself, and whatever I know—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat,
I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet,
By faith for my cleansing, I see thy blood flow—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait;
Come now and within me a new heart create;
To those who have sought Thee Thou never said’st “No”
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.*

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18

*Author – James L. Nicholson – 1872

Paul said this concerning himself:

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus                  came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.                                  I Timothy 1:15

Why would Paul call himself the chief of sinners?  After all he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews and he expressed his pedigree in this way:

If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.  Philippians 3:4b-6

The Apostle Paul was not a drunken sot, he was not a profane person, and he was not an adulterer or a thief.  Furthermore he was blameless concerning the righteousness in the law.  How could he possibly call himself the chief of sinners?

I believe Paul considered himself the chief of sinners because in spite of the fact that he knew the Scriptures inside and out, he had failed to recognize and receive the righteousness of God provided in the substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.   

Paul was so confident in his own righteousness that he not only persecuted those who were recipients of God’s righteousness, which is found only in Christ, but he killed them as well.

How does that relate to you and I?  Well, many of us were raised to fear God and respect the truth of Scripture.  And yet we turned each one of us to our own way, going about to establish our own righteousness (doing it our way), while rejecting the righteousness found only in God’s Son, Messiah Jesus.

Oh, what wickedness that is to be found in self-righteousness!  Self-righteousness rejects God’s righteousness and provision for our sin!

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Revelation 3:17-19

Paul goes on to say:

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: Philippians 3:7-9

It is no wonder that Paul would say:

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus                  came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.                                  I Timothy 1:15

O the love that sought me!
O the blood that bought me!
O the grace that brought me to the fold,
Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold!*

…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…

*In Tenderness He Sought Me by W. Spencer Walton 1850-1906

Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.

And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.  And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.  And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.

And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.

And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes?  let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.  But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.  Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?  how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

Then went he (Naaman) down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.

But he (Elisha) said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none.  And he (Naaman) urged him to take it; but he refused.

And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth?  for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.

In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.

And he (Elisha) said unto him, Go in peace. So he (Naaman) departed from him a little way.

But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.

So Gehazi followed after Naaman.  And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well?  And he (Gehazi) said, All is well.  My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.

And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents.  And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him.  And when he (Gehazi) came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed.

But he went in, and stood before his master.  And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi?  And he said, Thy servant went no whither.

And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee?  Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?

The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever.  And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. 

II Kings 5:1-27

God gave instructions to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden concerning what could be eaten and what could not be eaten.  God told them, concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:17)

What happened to Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God?  They did not disintegrate or turn to dust the same day they ate of the forbidden fruit, although the process of physical death started that day. They ate of the forbidden fruit and were separated from God.   They died immediately.  The first death was spiritual death.  Spiritual death is separation from God.

Before Adam and Eve disobeyed, they walked in fellowship with God in the Garden.  After they sinned, they hid from God.  Adam and Eve were separated from God by their disobedience.  Sin entered the world through Adam’s disobedience and death by sin (Romans 5:12).

Spiritual death came first and physical death came as a result of spiritual death.  The Scriptures speak of individuals being dead while they live.  These are the spiritually dead.  The unbelieving are separated from God by their sin.  All have sinned and are condemned already because of unbelief (John 3:18).

Death is separation.  Physical death is separation from the body. Spiritual death is separation from God.  The immaterial part of man, be it his soul or spirit, or his soul and spirit is separated from the body in physical death and is separated from God in spiritual death.  Because of Adam’s sin we are born into this world dead in trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1,5), separated from God.  This is the proper view of death and it supports the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross and His eternal existence.

The wages of sin is death.  Jesus Christ died in our place.  Was He annihilated (ceased to exist) for us or was He separated from the Father when He paid our sin penalty?

If the penalty of our sin is annihilation of the soul (cessation of being) and Christ took the penalty of our sin upon Himself when He died on the cross, then at that moment He had to have ceased to exist.  This is unthinkable!  How did we get here?  The faulty view of death from the teaching of annihilation of the soul brought us here.  Faulty premises lead to faulty conclusions.

When Jesus Christ became sin for us and died in our place there was separation between the Father and the Son.  Jesus’ words on the cross prove that; My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46).  The fellowship between the Father and the Son from eternity past was broken when our sin was laid on Christ and the Father poured out His wrath upon Him, but there was no separation in their essence or oneness as God.  This is consistent with the doctrine of the Trinity.

The biblical view of death as separation supports Christ’s substitutionary death and preserves the doctrine of His eternal existence.

No suggested interpretation of a Bible passage can be correct if it is not also correct for every Bible passage on the same topic.*

…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…

*Larry

Infirmity – the inability to produce results*

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.  II Corinthians 12:10

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.      Philippians 4:13

*W.E. Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words  Copyright 1984, 1996, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, TN

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he (the rich man) lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Then he (the rich man) said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him (Lazarus) to my father’s house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.  And he (the rich man) said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

And he (Abraham) said unto him (the rich man), if they hear not Moses and the prophets (Scripture), neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.  Luke 16:19-31

Note: Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. 

…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… 

These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.  

I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.  Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.  And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

John 17

.……..when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;  II Thessalonians 1:7b – 9

The Greek word translated destruction in II Thessalonians 1:9 is olethros (the noun form).  This word means destruction or ruin. [1]  More light can be shed on the meaning of this word by examining how it is used elsewhere in Scripture.

This Greek word olethros is used in I Corinthians 5:5 in reference to an erring believer: To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.  Here it is used of the effect upon the physical condition of an erring believer for the purpose of his spiritual profit. [2]      

Olethros is also used in I Timothy 6:9.  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.  Here destruction is used of the indulgences of the flesh, referring  to physical ruin. [3]

The Greek word translated perdition above is apoleia.  It reinforces the meaning of ruin.  This word is related to the verb form apollumi (see below): and likewise indicates “loss of well being, not of being“, it is used (a) of things, signifying their waste, or ruin; of ointment, Matt 26:8; of money, Acts 8:20 (“perish“); (b) of persons, signifying their spiritual and eternal perdition, Matt 7:13; John 17:12; II Thess. 2:3; where son of perdition signifies the the proper destiny of the person mentioned;………of false teachers, II Peter 2:1, 3; of ungodly men, 3:7; of those who wrest the Scriptures, 3:16; of the Beast, the final head of the revived Roman Empire, Rev. 17:8, 11; (c) of impersonal subjects, as heresies, II Peter 2:1, where “destructive heresies” (RV; KJV, “damnable“) is, lit., heresies of destruction (marg., “sects of perdition“). [4]

The verb form of olethros is ollumi.    The strengthened form of this word is apollumi which means to destroy utterly or to perish.  The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well being.  This is clear from its use, as, e.g., of the marring of wine skins, Luke 5:37; of lost sheep, i.e., lost to the shepherd, metaphorical of spiritual destitution, Luke 15:4,6, etc.; the lost son, 15:24; of the perishing of food (meat), John 6:27; of gold, I Peter 1:7.  [5]

As you can see the word olethros and translated as destruction, lost, waste or perish elsewhere in Scripture, does not mean extinction, annihilation, or loss of being.  The use of this word in the New Testament consistently conveys the meaning of ruin or the loss of well being. [6]

…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…

        [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Copyright 1984, 1996, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, TN

You are writing a Gospel,

A chapter each day,

By deeds that you do,

By words that you say.   

Men read what you write,

Whether faithless or true,

Say! What is the Gospel

According to You?

Author Unknown