I wanna continue yesterday’s discussion about why David stayed in God’s favor while Saul was rejected.
This logically leads to the question of who exactly does God abandon?
To answer that question, let’s take a look at these verses from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
“Don’t you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t delude yourselves- people who engage in sex before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive homosexuality, who steal, who are greedy, who get drunk, who assail people with contemptuous language, who rob– none of them will share in the Kingdom of God. Some of you used to do these things. But you have cleansed yourselves, you have been set apart for God, you have come to be counted righteous through the power of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and the Spirit of our God.”-1 Corinthians 6:9-11
The above verses are from the Complete Jewish Bible.
Let’s take a look at the same verses in the King James Version:
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”-1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Now, regarding these verses, there are a couple of reasons why I believe the King James Version is superior to the Complete Jewish Bible.
First, the Complete Jewish Bible completely overrides the Torah definition of sexual immorality by inserting its bias that people who engage in sex before marriage, or who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, are sinning.
We all know that’s a bunch of booooooooool sheeeeeeeeeeet, as Scripture shows countless examples to the contrary that are not in any way condemned by God.
For a more in-depth treatment of this topic, check out some of these other previous articles of mine:
30-2: How does God really feel about polygamy?
38-5: One Hasidic Jew’s take on the Tamar & Judah Prostitution Incident
L18-1: The TORAH is the only place where you will find “Sexual Immorality” defined!
L18-5: In the OT era, adultery was considered ONLY a female crime
However, that’s not the focus of my discussion here.
What I want to focus on is verse 11 from this passage and specifically the part I highlighted and bolded in red above.
The Complete Jewish Bible says, “you used to DO these things.”
However, the King James Bible says, “You WERE these things.”
That’s a HUGE difference, homie.
One statement deals with one’s identity (the King James Version).
The other one doesn’t.
Here’s the thing.
What you do is your behavior.
Who you are is your identity.
As we saw yesterday, both Saul and David committed horrific sins.
However, on a fundamental level, their identities were different.
David’s identity remained firmly in God…despite his many sins.
Saul, on the other hand, did NOT identify with the Lord.
He blatantly broke God’s commands and consistently rebelled against Him.
There’s a big difference between a man who regularly steals, gets drunk, worships idols, and has sex with men…
Versus someone who, in a moment of weakness, temporarily falls into such behavior.
One person IS, by his very nature, a crook, drunkard, idol worshipper, and a homosexual.
The other person, like David, is NOT fundamentally a thief or fornicator, but fell into temptation.
The point is, who you are, not what you’ve done, is what condemns you before God.
That’s what being born again is all about.
The Apostle Paul is a perfect example of this identity transformation.
Before meeting the risen Messiah on the road to Damascus, he was a murderous man on a mission to kill Yeshua’s followers.
However, after being born again, he became a totally changed man, transformed from the inside out.
So the takeaway here is, it’s not enough to change your outward behavior if your inward wicked nature stays the same.
Ya feel me?
You need to be born again and cleansed from the inside out.
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“A good tree cannot
bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit.”
— Matthew 7:18
“Either make the tree good,
and his fruit good;
or else make the tree corrupt,
and his fruit corrupt:
for the tree is known by his fruit.”
— Matthew 12:33
“You are of your father the devil,
and the lusts of your father you will do.”
— John 8:44
“My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them,
and they follow me.”
— John 10:27
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
— John 3:6
“If any man be in Messiah,
he is a new creature:
old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:17
“They that are Messiah’s
have crucified the flesh
with the affections and lusts.”
— Galatians 5:24
“For as many as are
led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God.”
— Romans 8:14
“Now if any man have not
the Spirit of Messiah,
he is none of his.”
— Romans 8:9
“In this the children of God
are manifest,
and the children of the devil.”
— 1 John 3:10
“No one who is born
of God practices sin,
because His seed remains in him;
and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God.”
— 1 John 3:9
“We know that we have
passed from death to life,
because we love the brethren.”
— 1 John 3:14
“They went out from us,
but they were not of us.”
— 1 John 2:19
“For you were sometimes darkness,
But now are you light in the Lord:
walk as children of light.”
— Ephesians 5:8
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