The New Testament teaches us that one reason we have the Old
Testament is that the Eternal God wants us to be instructed,
edified, and taught the way of righteousness from its pages of
history and stories. We can learn many things from the life of
Israel's first king - Saul. In this article we shall study part
of Saul's life and glean from it truths for our salvation.
by
Keith Hunt
Samuel governed Israel in righteousness, but his sons did
not follow his example. They were corrupt and perverted justice
(1 Sam.8:1-3). When Samuel was old the elders of Israel came to
him and asked that they be given a king as other nations. Samuel
went to talk to the Lord about the matter, and the reply to him
was that the people should have their desire and wish for a king,
but they should be WARNED what exactly it would mean to them, in
what literal ways of life it would effect them and the nation
(verses 4-9).
Samuel reiterated and expounded to Israel the consequences
of wanting to be like other nations around them. Desiring to have
some of the world's ways, which may seem good and right in some
human respects, will in the long run, only prove to be certain
bondage, producing sorrow and pain (verses 10-18).
This reminds us clearly of the truth of the Proverb that
states: "There is a way that SEEMS RIGHT unto men, but the end
thereof is the way of death" (Prov. 14:12). Israel did not want
to continue to have an INVISIBLE God rule them DIRECTLY through
His ministers like Samuel, but they wanted to put their TRUST in
a man, someone they could see, someone they could idolize for his
physical size, good looks, eloquent voice, personal talents, or
whatever it may be that make people put a human person on a
PEDESTAL between themselves and the true God. Israel was here
putting to one side their personal national relationship with
God, they refused to listen to Samuel (verses 19- 21).
There is much to learn from this lesson of ancient Israel as
it led to the enthroning of Saul as their king.
Over and over again the NT instructs us not to be ensnared
by the ways of the world that reject the Eternal God. Such ways
may even seem, on the surface, to be a better way that what the
Christian is situated in at some given point in time.
An example would be:
A Christian lady has been raped and she finds herself
pregnant. The world's way(for the majority it would seem) is to
DEMAND or preach - ABORTION! The circumstances of the act of rape
was evil. The situation of Israel having two sons of Samuel as
perverted judges, ruling them, was also evil. But one evil act or
situation does not mean we ignore God and perform another act of
evil, or put ourselves into a different situation that rejects
God only to do what the unconverted world would do.
I could write pages on the subject of what the NT teaches
about the fact that a Christian must come OUT OF THIS WORLD, with
its vanity, jealousy, lust, and greed. With its strife,
hostility, idolatry, hated, and bigotry.
Jesus prayed to the Father that though His followers would
not be taken out of the world in a literal way, they would NOT BE
OF the world, in its unrighteous, and unconverted ways of THOUGHT
AND ACTIONS.
We are not to reject God and His PERFECT WAY for the whims
and fancies (that may even seem to contain some honorability to
them, such as having a king of the world around us to reign over
us).
Paul was inspired to tell Christians, "Let THIS MIND be IN
you which was in Christ Jesus" (Phil.2:5). The scriptures say we
are not to be unwise but to UNDERSTAND the will of God
(Eph.5:17). We are not to be CONFORMED to this world but
TRANSFORMED by the RENEWING of our minds (Rom.12:1-2).
Israel found themselves in an undesirable situation, but
instead of going to the Eternal to find His mind and way out of
the circumstance, they REJECTED God and looked to the way of the
world. They desired a king to follow and to lead them.
This is another common weakness of the human heart -
following and making idols of humans above God, or coming
INBETWEEN our personal relationship with God.
The Christians at Corinth were led into this net of
deceptive captivity, from which Paul had to try and rescue them
with correction (1 Cor.1:10-13). Now there is nothing wrong with
admitting that the Lord uses men in different FUNCTIONS and for
different PURPOSES in His ministry. There is nothing evil or
unrighteous about acknowledging the fact that God gives different
natural TALENTS and Spiritual GIFTS to different men in His
service as Elders of the church. There is nothing improper about
APPRECIATING these differences among the male overseers of the
churches of God. But when all these good and healthy differences
are taken by people to lead them into PARTY spirit and
CONTENTIONS of carnality with each other, then it BECOMES SIN!
From the context of Paul writing to the church at Corinth,
in his letter we call First Corinthians(which was not his first
letter to them as internal evidence shows), it is plain they were
sinning by their adulation of and following of, certain
ministers. They had put MEN or a MAN between themselves and God.
They had put aside their personal relationship with God, to
IDOLIZE and have a MAN lead them. They wanted a human king to
follow and trust in, just as ancient Israel did when God told
Samuel they had rejected, not really Samuel by wanting a king,
but Himself - the Eternal God.
It is indeed true that the Eternal has in the past, and
still does, call men to instruct, guide, and oversee His people
in different sheep folds around the world, we call the churches
of God. I have written a full book on that subject called "A
STUDY IN NT CHURCH GOVERNMENT."
This is good and as directed by the Lord. The problems arise
when we put our eyes and our faith in these men and off the true
Shepherd of the flock. When we start to give our mind over to a
human fallible man, when we think they are extra specially
inspired and INfallible, somehow guided to understand the will of
God in a way all others are not, able to interpret the WORD of
the Lord (the Bible) in such a way that it makes it unnecessary
for us to "prove all things" or to "search the scriptures daily,
whether these things are so" (Acts 17:11; 1 Thes.5:21). When we
allow men to come between our personal responsibility before God,
THEN we start on the slippery slope into false deception and mind
control. We are then headed towards becoming "dumb sheep" and
into the category of people that we often say are "brain washed."
There have been a number of world famous examples of members
of religious SECTS in the last 30 years (1967-1997, the present
year of this writing) to illustrate my point. I will use the
example of DAVID KORISH and the members of the BRANCH DAVIDIAN in
Waco, Texas. This religious sect (an offshoot from the Seventh
Day Adventist Church) had TRUTHS that many of us in the Seventh
Day observing Churches of God, would agree with. They taught
observance of the 7th day. They taught we should recognize the
New Month days. They observed the festivals of Leviticus 23. They
knew the truth about the state of the dead, and what the Bible
teaches about hell and the destruction of the wicked. They
observed the food laws of the Bible. There was MUCH TRUTH within
their theology. Then came the leader David Korish.
He was no doubt very charismatic. He could speak for hours
and hold his audience entranced. I am told he had large parts of
the Bible memorized(maybe he had a photographic memory).
Certainly he knew the words contained in the books from Genesis
to Revelation. In the process of time Korish became the leader of
the Davidian sect. And through time and his charismatic
personality and preaching, more and more members of the sect
became convinced he was, quote, "special." A unique individual,
with a unique and special contact with God. Slowly but
progressively, the members in the sect's headquarters at Waco,
gave their minds over to his every whim, idea, and teaching.
Most of them (the adults) were in the end quite willing to die
with Korish in the now famous and infamous inferno that burned
their religious compound to the ground.
Here is just one example of how people can leave the plain
teachings of the Bible, and especially the NT, to follow a king
type of leader, instead of remaining with God and His sure word
of truth.
There were married couples within the Davidian sect at Waco.
They originally believed in what the NT clearly teaches - one man
and one woman in marriage. No wife swapping, no wife sharing with
another man, no adultery!
Then David Korish began to teach he could have ANY of the
women of child- bearing age, married or not! He then added to
that dogma that the married couples, or the men, the husbands,
could not have sexual union with their wives. Only he could now
perform this act and function with their wives. They in effect,
all became his wives only. He did produce many children from many
women.
The brain washing had been so effective over a number of
years, that most went right along with his wishes, desires, and
teaching, believing he was "inspired" of God, even to the point
that his word was ABOVE the word of the Bible.
It must have been that they had given their minds over to
Korish, so deeply, that they could no longer recognize WHEN he
was teaching out and out HERESY, which was the diametric opposite
to the truth, teaching, and commandments of the Eternal God.
They had REJECTED the true KING (the Lord Almighty) to
follow their human king leader. They were saying in effect: "Give
us a human king that will lead us, so we can be like the nations
around us. Give us a human king to reign over us."
They had committed IDOLATRY!!
Any form of idolatry is WRONG - it is SIN! It will only
eventually lead to mental DECEPTION, that in the context of
"idolatry with humans as king" will invariably and ultimately
result in PAIN, and SORROW during this physical life, in one way
or another.
Coming back to the time of Samuel and Israel requesting a
physical king that they could follow and put their trust in. Yes,
the people of Israel were in an unpleasant, even an evil
situation, with two perverse men as judges over the nation. But
what they thought was the answer to their problem, was really, no
answer. They were rejecting God and what answer He could have
given them to remedy the circumstances. Two wrongs just do not
make one right as the saying goes.
Israel wanted to copy the nations around them. They wanted
to "do their own thing" - wanted to do it "my way," So God said,
"Okay Samuel, let them have their human king, but WARN them what
the consequences will be."
The choice Israel made was not the correct one, but the
Eternal ALLOWED them to make it.
This teaches us that God never FORCES us to obey Him. We are
ALWAYS free agents to serve and obey Him or not.
It teaches us that even the people of God may find
themselves in life situations that are unpleasant, even evil or
perverse. We then have the opportunity to seek God and ask for
His way out of and way through our troubles and pain, which may
have come upon us through no fault of our own (like Israel
finding themselves with two corrupt judges, or the Christian lady
being raped and becoming pregnant). God is there to help and
guide us in times of evil, IF we will seek Him and His answers.
This example shows that we are always free agents. God's
people are never ROBOTS to Him against their own will and
desires. We always have free choice, and we are to exercise
CHOICE at all times, under all situations. We are back to those
very
important verses found in Deuteronomy 30:15-20. God sets before
us LIFE on the one hand and DEATH on the other hand, but we are
to CHOOSE. Yet within all that framework God PLEADS with us to
choose LIFE!
STILL ONE MORE TEACHING FROM THE ABOVE ACCOUNT
First Samuel chapter 8 gives us still one more very
important teaching. Even in our stupidity and wrong choices we
may make at times, God often (but not always) tells us in one way
or another, what the consequences will be for our wrong actions.
He is still being patient, kind, and gracious to us, even as we
are determined to go the wrong way. He often tries to rescue us
from our carnality and turn us to see the light of truth. So we
will walk in the more perfect way that is His mind, holiness, law
and commandments.
I have even known cases where after someone had gone against
the divine will of the Lord in a certain matter, He will be so
merciful towards them that He will turn the situation around to
be a blessing for them. That does not mean His will and
commandments are nil and void, it only means He is wonderful in
mercy and kindness to whom He so desires to show compassion upon.
Truly God does work in mysterious ways at times, His wonders
to perform.
SAUL IS CHOSEN AS KING
Within the historical time frame of Israel desiring a human
king to rule them, the man Saul comes on the scene.
He was the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. In
outward appearance Saul was TALL and HANDSOME. So tall was he
that no other person in Israel came above his shoulders in height
(1 Sam.9:1-2). He was probably a young John Wayne type of guy,
yet even taller. He was the envy of the fellows, and the heart
throb of the gals.
At this point, we need to clear up a popular misconception
many have held, and that is the idea that it was the people of
Israel, who in some way, chose Saul to be their king. Far too
many have thought that the people of Israel either VOTED in some
fashion, cast lots, or had their elders of the tribes, decide WHO
would be their king. The Scriptures clearly record it was the
Eternal God Himself who chose Saul to be the human king over the
nation of Israel. Please note such verses as 1 Sam.9:15-17,27;
10:1,23-24; 15:1, 10, 17, 34-35.
Yes, there seems to have been a public choosing of Saul
(chapters 10:17-21; 12:13), but the previous verses above teach
that Saul had ALREADY been chosen by God, already FORE-ORDAINED
by the Lord to be their king. It is clear that the Eternal
took full responsibility for Saul as Israel's human king.
Notice chapter 15:10, 35. The Lord REGRETTED (NKJV) that He
had set up Saul as king.
What! Didn't God KNOW what Saul wound turn out like? Was the
Eternal not able to PREVENT Saul from going astray? We shall see
later that Saul STARTED OUT with the right heart and mind, the
Lord even giving him much help to stay on the right track, but he
went astray, and now the Almighty was SORRY He had made Saul
king.
There are some great truths hidden here for us.
As God is ALL POWERFUL, as it is written, "there is nothing
impossible for God," we could argue that He could have prevented
Saul from going astray, but then Saul's ability to CHOOSE life or
death, his free agency, would have had to be taken away from him.
And as we have seen, God never forces anyone to do anything. He
always gives to us the freedom to JUSTIFY OURSELVES in our
wayward ways, or to be willing to be misled and deceived by
others, or by sin.
That's why we have so many verses in the NT that admonish us
to be VIGILANT, WATCHFUL, AS WISE AS SERPENTS, in a spiritual
sense, for Satan is as a roaring lion, going around seeking whom
he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). We are told to GROW in grace and
knowledge so we will not FALL from our salvation and be led away
with the errors of the wicked (2 Peter 3:17,18). We are
instructed to put on the WHOLE ARMOR of God, so we can withstand
the fiery darts of the wicked one (Eph.6:10-18).
Over and over the NT, nay the entire Bible, teaches us that
God never makes us into little robots. The Lord will never FORCE
us to do His will, or to obey His commandments, just as He did
not with Saul.
Then we may ask: Why was God "sorry" He had made Saul king?
As God is "all in all," as He is ALMIGHTY, as it is written He
knows everything, the end from the beginning, why does it seem
that the Lord is taken by surprise at the actions of Saul into
sin and rebellion, to the point He claims REGRET and SORROW for
choosing Saul as Israel's king?
Didn't the Eternal ALREADY know in advance that Saul would
rebel and go away from the straight and narrow pathway of
righteousness and obedience?
From these verses in chapter 15, it would seem to indicate
God does NOT know in advance, EVERYTHING an individual may do in
the course of their life, or it they will REMAIN faithful to Him
unto the end, once they start on the road of salvation.
To many this is a SHOCK to contemplate, they may even think
it is heresy to entertain such a thought as God NOT KNOWING
everything in advance. After all they may say: Is it not written,
"nothing is impossible with God" and "is there anything too hard
for the Lord?" also, "all things are possible with God." Yes,
such words are written concerning the power of the Eternal. But
this is not so much a question of WHAT can God do, for He can do
anything He wishes or turns His mind to do. It is a question of
WHAT has God WILLED Himself to do and to KNOW, under the
situation He has chosen to work WITHIN, at any given time or
within any given events.
The example found in Genesis 18 is missed by most readers of
the Bible. The Lord has come to earth with two angels. The three
of them meet and fellowship with Abraham, even enjoying a meal
with him (showing God is able to materialize Himself if He
chooses and partake of food - Jesus did this after His
resurrection among His disciples). God said He would NOT conceal
from Abraham the purpose as to WHY He was on a journey to
visit Sodom and Gomorrah (verse 16-19).
Now notice verses 20,21. Read them carefully. Do you see
what is written there? Can you see a truth God wants us to
understand about His workings?
The Lord had come to earth IN ORDER TO VERITY the truth of
the appalling report that had come to Him concerning the SIN of
the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Angels had brought the news of
gross sin to Him that was being practiced in those two cities. As
we would say (it was so horrific) "I cannot believe my ears" and
God did not WILL to bring up those two cities on some huge TV
screen in heaven to see their sins. Until the report reached Him,
He did not WILL Himself to even know this sin was as a full
blown CANCER in those cities.
And further more, He had WILLED Himself to only be able to
SEE and KNOW the reality of this sin BY PERSONALLY(bodily) going
to those cities on planet earth, and seeing it for HIMSELF.
God does WILL Himself to LIMIT Himself on certain things
pertaining to His working with mankind through His plan for them.
He has WILLED Himself NOT TO KNOW if a man or woman will
REMAIN faithful in love and obedience to Him, unto their dying
day. That is why Jesus said: "He that shall endure unto the end
shall be saved."
God chose Saul to be king. He started out on the right
footing and with a converted attitude (as we shall presently
prove), But Saul did not remain faithful and true to God and His
way of righteousness. When he did not, it grieved the Lord (as it
did with Samuel), it regretted the Lord, it was a sorrow to Him
that He had made Saul king.
Was it God's fault Saul did not remain faithful? Of course
not! God forbid, what a terrible thought! Saul was always a free
moral agent to do right or not to do right.
It is always a regret, a sorrow, to God, when someone He has
called and chosen to be a future king and priest in His family,
FALLS AWAY!
The sorrow and regret He exhibits shows to us the wonderful
greatness of His character. He is like us (do we not regret the
falling into sin of our children to their own hurt and that of
others?) and we like Him, for it is written God said: "Let us
make man in our IMAGE, after OUR LIKENESS."
SAUL - STARTED RIGHT - ENDED WRONG
When Samuel told Saul that his father's household was
greatly favored in Israel, notice Saul's humble reply: "Am I not
a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my
family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin?
Why then do you speak like this to me?" (1 Sam.9:21 NKJV).
Certainly this attitude of Saul's shows the humility that
the Bible proclaims is the necessary attribute of mind to please
the Eternal God.
Later, Samuel tells Saul what would befall him after they
parted company (chapter 10:2). You will see a promise was given
by Samuel that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon Saul. The
exact words are very revealing.
".......Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and
you will prophecy with them (group of prophets, verse 5) and be
TURNED INTO ANOTHER MAN" (verse 6).
There can be no mistake - Saul was going to be CONVERTED by
the Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit. So much so was
this going to be that all who formerly were acquainted with Saul,
believed he had become one of the prophets of God (verses 10-
13).
Verse nine gives us the truth that the Eternal gave Saul
"another heart."
Not only was he turned into another man in heart and mind by
the Spirit, but Saul was also given by God, valiant men as
companions, whose hearts had been touched by the Lord (verse 26).
Saul had everything going for him. He was tall and handsome.
He was favored by the people of Israel. He was put with the
prophets of Israel, and looked upon as one of them. He was,
through the Spirit, converted and changed in heart. And then to
help him rule Israel righteously, he was given strong male
companions who also had been touched by the hand of God.
Could anything have been better for Saul's salvation and
relationship with the Almighty? I cannot think how. Saul was
STARTING OFF on the right road, which would have led him to the
first resurrection and eternal life.
But, by the time we come to chapter 15, Saul was WAY OFF
track and heading for the DITCH along the side of the road that
leads only to the loss of salvation and destruction.
What should this TEACH US?
Why, the truth that is shouted to us many times over in the
Scriptures. There is NO doctrine of the Lord as "once saved
always saved." Such a teaching is man made, from the minds of
individuals who have not only perverted certain verses in the
Bible, but have also willfully rejected many verses in the Word
(such as those we are studying in this article) that plainly
prove you will be saved into the Kingdom of God ONLY if you
ENDURE (REMAIN FAITHFUL) to the END (see Matthew 24:12,13).
This is not the place to expose in detail the heresy of this
false teaching of "once saved always saved." The reader can
request my in-depth article called "Saved by Grace" for the plain
truth of the subject and doctrine of personal Salvation.
SAUL'S SINS - LESSONS FOR US
As we analyze the errors, mistakes, and sins that Saul
committed in just this one chapter (15) of 1 Samuel, many lessons
and a lot of pertinent instruction for us can be found, if we
will search for it. Some of this instruction is plain to see, on
the surface, a little more is a little deeper to uncover, needing
extra thought. But it is to our benefit to search the matter out.
Samuel gives VERY CLEAR and precise instruction to Saul as
to what the Lord was commanding him to do against the Amalekites,
and the city of Amalek (chapter 15:1- 3). Samuel was quite
precise in naming to Saul WHO and WHAT in the city of Amalek
was to be destroyed. Saul went forth to do the Lord's will. And
when Samuel came to him he proclaimed, ".....I have performed the
commandments of the Lord" (verse 13). As we read the next verses
it becomes clear that Saul had done no such thing. The first
teaching for us is that Saul just up front, openly, and very
simply, DISOBEYED the command of God, while making out he had
obeyed.
How often, in OUR carnality, do we just simply NOT OBEY a
commandment of God? We do at times, through the weakness of the
flesh, through the wiles of the Devil, fall short, miss the mark,
and DISOBEY the Almighty. Hopefully, as a true Christian, we
will not do as Saul did. Hopefully when God's command is set
before us in all it's simplicity, we will ACKNOWLEDGE when we
have not observed it (1 John 1:8-10).
Saul added more sin to his already sin, by trying to deceive
others (and possibly himself) that he had obeyed God, that he had
NOT sinned, done NO wrong.
This second sin, manifested the real attitude of Saul. True
humility and a genuine converted heart had dissipated from Saul.
Now it was a pretence of "I am obeying" when he knew very well he
was not obeying. His religion had become HYPOCRISY! His theology
had now become the proverbial "say one thing but do another."
This sin we all need to realize, will take us away from the
grace of God, and back out into the darkness of the carnal world.
It will lead us on into willful sin - the unpardonable sin - sin
from which we cannot repent! For let's notice what further sin
Saul entered upon as Samuel began to untangle the truth from the
error.
"But Samuel said, 'What then is this bleating of the sheep
in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?' " (verse
14).
Look at the answer Saul gave.
"THEY have brought them from the Amalekites; for THE PEOPLE
spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to SACRIFICE to the
Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed."
Immediately, Saul put the blame on OTHERS. It was "the devil
made me do" or someone else was responsible type of attitude, but
NOT himself, he was clean in his own eyes. The sin of
SELF-justification and SELF-righteousness was proclaimed loud and
strong by Saul. Coupled with that was the deceptive reasoning
that what in fact was DIS-obedience, was thought to be
righteousness. Saul argued that what they had done was FOR THE
LORD! Why, they were going to honor and worship God with the
animals they spared. They were going to sacrifice them to the
Eternal. And this amounted to yet another sin - worshipping God
according to our own whims and wishes, whatever way takes our
fancy at the time, regardless as to the way the Lord has told us
to serve and worship Him.
The world is full of "Christianity" that is according to the
ideas of men. Yes, it may SEEM good, people may THINK or SAY it
is good, but if those forms of worship are in opposition to the
direct laws, commandments, teaching, and will of God, then it is
the sin of REBELLION, INIQUITY, and IDOLATRY, as Samuel told Saul
in those famous words of his found in verses 22,23.
The Eternal God has NOT given mankind the freedom to figure
out for themselves HOW to worship God, in the way they choose,
from their own inventions of the mind. The Lord has given to
mankind only the freedom as to WHETHER they will worship Him or
not, according to the spirit and the truth of His word. God sets
the RULES! He lays down the right from the wrong, LIFE from
DEATH! He only gives us the freedom to CHOOSE either life on the
one hand, or death on the other hand. Of course I am speaking
about the large, over-all areas of worship towards God, there are
none essentials that the Eternal does give us complete freedom
in, such as eating meat or not eating meat (Romans 14).
Jesus said to the Father, "not my will be done but your
will." Saul said in effect that he would not do God's will, but
he would do his own will, while claiming it was God's will,
while believing he was worshipping the Almighty in spirit and in
truth. The Eternal made it very clear through Samuel that such
theological concepts would NOT be accepted and were gross sin!
Samuel CORRECTED Saul's thinking (verses 17-19). Told him he
had not obeyed and had done evil in the sight of the Lord (verse
19). What was the second response from Saul? Was it one of
complete humble repentance? Did he acknowledge his sin, and
cry out in true repentance?
Verse 20 relates how Saul ONCE MORE stood with bold faceness
before God and claimed he had obeyed and had "utterly destroyed
the Amalekites." Once again SOMEONE ELSE other than himself was
to blame, but even their actions were done to serve the Lord
(verse 21). He still could not see ANY SIN being committed even
as he acknowledged that what the people took should have been
destroyed.
Saul had been given the INSTRUCTIONS as to the Lord's will.
The responsibility of following those instructions lay squarely
at the feet of Saul. It could not be shifted onto the shoulders
of ANYONE else! His service towards God was his personal
responsibility.
Likewise for each of us today. Our responsibility to serve
God, to obey Him, to do His will, is personally OURS! The will of
God is revealed to us in His word. The NT admonishes us to KNOW
His will, to understand His way, to have the mind of Christ in
us, to study to show ourselves approved, to search the scriptures
daily, to prove all things, to grow in grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.
We must never make the mistake of blaming someone else for
our sins, for our errors, for our deceptions, for our being led
astray into false theology, and into ways that may seem right to
man but end in death. We must be on guard never to do, or to
reason as Saul did here at this time in his life.
We must always DESIRE to know the way, the will, and the
commandments of the Eternal. We are, as a true Christian, always
PERSONALLY responsible before God for finding, knowing, and
staying with His truth and righteousness. We can never blame our
sins, our backsliding, or our falling away from the Lord, on ANY
human person other than ourselves. Our salvation is VERY
PERSONAL. We cannot enter the Kingdom of God on the shirt-tails
or back of another flesh and blood individual. And in like
manner, no person but ourselves, can take us from truth into
error, from obedience to dis-obedience of the perfect will of
God.
Samuel once more, with even STRONGER correction, denounced
the sin of Saul (verses 22,23).
Saul responded in a way that many mistakenly believe was
true repentance (verses 24,25). But Samuel knew the deceitful
depths of the sin of Saul's heart. Notice how he answered Saul:
"......I will not return with you, for you HAVE REJECTED THE
WORD OF THE LORD....." (VERSE 26).
The rest of the life of Saul, with its many UPS and DOWNS in
his personal character, shows clearly that indeed his heart was
never again within the righteousness and grace of God, that makes
for being a true child of the Eternal.
Saul, had what the apostle Paul later called "the repentance
of the world." He was in the state of mind that was merely
saying, "oh, poor old me, I feel sorry for myself." It was not
the repentance or sorrow that is the godly kind, not to be
regretted. But Saul had the sorrow of this world that produces
DEATH (2 Cor.7:8-11).
Saul was never again able to come to godly repentance
(Heb.6:4-6).
Did he commit the un-pardonable sin? Maybe! Only the
Almighty knows for sure. Certainly his attitude of heart effected
his entire physical life from that day forward to his death.
We need to take heed unto such an example as that of Saul,
lest when we have started out as did Saul, and when we have
prophesied (by our lips of confession to be a Christian) and
preached (by our conduct) to others, we should be a cast away (1
Cor.9:27).
Salvation is a GIFT. We are saved by GRACE through FAITH
(Eph.2:8). Yet, most professing Christians DO NOT understand the
doctrine of salvation by grace, as shocking as it may sound
(remember if you are in doubt about this subject to request my
article called "Saved by Grace").
Once we have received salvation as a gift, we have our part
to play in the process of being saved to INHERIT eternal life. We
are not "once saved always saved." We must ENDURE to the END!
Those who do shall be saved into the Kingdom of God, as Jesus
Himself taught.
Now we are HEIRS of the Kingdom (Romans 8), not YET
inheritors!
The Father in heaven has not left us in darkness as to HOW
to endure to the end, as to how to inherit eternal life. He
inspired Peter to tell us HOW to make our calling and election
SURE!
That WAY is found in 2 Peter 1:2-11. Read it carefully. Look
up the words used in verses 5-7, in a Greek/English dictionary
such as VINE'S NT WORDS. Study the section with the help of one
or more of the popular BIBLE COMMENTARIES such as Barnes' Notes
on the New Testament, or the commentaries by Adam Clark, Matthew
Henry and others. Study this section of scripture with some of
the modern Bible translations, such as The Amplified Bible.
Truly, as Peter said, if you DO THESE THINGS as in verses
5-7, you shall NEVER FALL, but, ".....an entrance will be
supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (verse 11, NKJV).
.............................
Written August 1997
All studies may be copied, published, emailed, and distributed as
led by the spirit. Keith trusts nothing will be changed (except
for spelling and punctuation errors) without his consent.
