Here is a fuller way and a slightly different route to the same meaning as above @
#33
“There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (
John 1:6-13 NASB).
In this passage from John, being
saved is expressed as,
“the right to become the children of God,” and it is the same in meaning as that which we all agree with when we speak of being born again. The word
right in this passage is
exousia (ἐξουσία). The English word,
excused, from
excūsare (Latin: meaning to be removed from an accusation) carries a similar meaning. We could say, “
I needed to be excused in order to believe.”
It could also in the context of the passage itself, be expressed as, “
I needed a reason to believe.” Or it could be said, “
I needed the power to believe.” Or else it could be, “
I needed light to believe”. Finally, it could be said, “
I needed faith to believe.” In literal translation, the word
exousia (ἐξουσία) means being given the right, ability and power to become something else. This
something else is, to become
“children of God”. Becoming the sons of God is by faith. And this means, “
born of God.” Lastly, the qualifying condition to receive this power is to receive Christ Himself. There is no doubt therefore, that becoming the children of God means to be born from on high, or else to be born again of the Spirit of God. There is also no doubt that the thing that makes this possible is receiving Jesus. Receiving Jesus results in being given power, and that power is faith to believe in Jesus name, resulting in being born of God. In all of this no one could reasonably deny that we are “
justified by faith” and “
saved by grace.” So by the Scriptures alone we can establish that the ground for salvation is receiving Christ Himself. And if we receive Christ, we must also receive all that which proceeds from Him.
Thereto we are faced with a sudden and serious difficulty when we examine the words of Christ in another place.
““If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.” Matthew 16:24-27 NASB).
“τοτε ο ιησους ειπεν τοις μαθηταις αυτου ει τις θελει οπισω μου ελθειν απαρνησασθω εαυτον και αρατω τον σταυρον αυτου και ακολουθειτω μοι ος γαρ εαν θελη την ψυχην αυτου σωσαι απολεσει αυτην ος δ αν απολεση την ψυχην αυτου ενεκεν εμου ευρησει αυτην τι γαρ ωφεληθησεται ανθρωπος εαν τον κοσμον ολον κερδηση την δε ψυχην αυτου ζημιωθη η τι δωσει ανθρωπος ανταλλαγμα της ψυχης αυτου μελλει γαρ ο υιος του ανθρωπου ερχεσθαι εν τη δοξη του πατρος αυτου μετα των αγγελων αυτου και τοτε αποδωσει εκαστω κατα την πραξιν αυτου” (
Matthew 16:24-27). Novum Testamentum Graece.
The word
life in verse 25 is the Greek
ψυχην, transliterated
psychén, and translated
life. The word
soul in verse 26 are the Greek words
ψυχην and
ψυχης, as in, “
κερδηση την δε ψυχην αυτου ζημιωθη η τι δωσει ανθρωπος ανταλλαγμα της ψυχης αυτου μελλει.” Transliterated
psychén and
psychés respectively. They are both translated
soul.
In Genesis 2:7 we read, “
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.” NASB
If we refer to the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) we can say, the word
πνει (to blow) is from the same root as the word
pnoe (πνοή) of which the word
πνοὴν used in
Genesis 2:7, is translated
blew. As the English translation is
breath of life, and makes reference to “
and man became a living soul” (
Genesis 2:7), so in
John 3:8 the word
wind, which “
blows where it will” is the Greek
πνευμα, denoting spiritual life, or the giving of spiritual life. When Jesus tells men that they must
lose their lives in order to
find their lives, He is speaking of the soul, and not the spirit. The word
save in verse 25 is
σωσαι from the root word
sozo (σώζω). This word literally means to preserve one’s soul.
The word
lose in verse 25 is
απολεση and comes from the root
apollumi (ἀπόλλυμι). The term is a simple, expressive form that speaks of the soul’s suffering when it sets itself to serving Christ fully because that obedience is predicated on a willingness to deny oneself. It also alludes to the fact that the soul takes its comfort from the body itself, being in such an ordinary condition of imprisonment to the lusts of the flesh, and therefore to go the same way that Christ chose to go, is to go the way of personal suffering for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. In short, it means,
deny yourself and choose the way of the cross as Christ did.
The word
find in verse 25 is
εὑρίσκω and is transliterated
heuriskó. In the simplest sense,
finding something can either mean, to come upon a thing, by looking for it and in context means, “
seek first the Kingdom of Heaven.” Or it may mean to indulge in something desired. In this instance, of the Lord’s words,
find, carries both of these meanings. On the one hand, it means coming upon the pearl of great price, as a coming upon the kingdom. This is both now, inwardly, and in the future, when Christ returns. On the other hand,
finding yourself now means fulfilling your own desires and refusing the cross.
Men and women cannot be more benefitted in life than to be born again unto a living hope, and sure faith. This benefit is chiefly unto eternal life and is a spiritual possession The soul however, is the thing that benefits chiefly through false teachings that express a supposed purpose of God in personal gratification as a basis for serving Christ, by whatsoever means; and it is clear that to take such a view of God’s will, is to take a wholly contrary opinion to Christ. As Christ cannot contradict the Father, then we can say that those who press such teachings are turning men from following Christ, unto their own selves.
The difficulty with all of this is how do we reconcile the claims of
John 1:6-13 NASB where we read about a seeming unitary salvation and
Matthew 16:24-27 NASB where we read that salvation means to lose your own life (soul) or else to save your own life (soul) by losing your own life? Yet
John 3:5-8 defines new birth as a spiritual regeneration. That which is born of the Spirit, is spirit. It is our spirits that are born again and not the soul, else
Matthew 16:24-27 and
John 12:25-26 are mistaken because they assert contradictory claims to what it means to be saved if
being saved simply means being born again. The only way I have encountered to settle that meaning is to assert both a trichotomous view and a dichotomous view of man. Both cannot be true and so we have a great problem. Or have we?
Rhomphaeam
