Author: Joshua Maynard

I’ve heard this scripture a thousand times but it isn’t the easiest to obey. Our minds are always filled with something. Thoughts may just pop into your head in one moment and in another moment you realize the thought wasn’t good to entertain.

In the Greek, Paul is addressing the brethren or “brothers” in the faith as “the rest” or “the remaining” brothers. Elsewhere in this letter to the Philippians, he sometimes addresses particular people.

True

Thinking on things that are true, means thinking on God’s Truth or any Truth that someone else demonstrates as the same attribute of God. This  is righteous thinking. As I mentioned in another article in this series, there can be nothing more true than God’s Truth. Anything exalting itself above the knowledge of God is not true at all.

Thoughts that are “true” are upheld with integrity, credibility and reliability.

Honest

This word in Greek is referred to as “honorable”.  Not everything that is true is honorable, except as it relates to what is true in God.

It may be true that I’ve done wrong, but that is not an honorable truth about me.

It is also true that God forgives my wrongs and that is an honorable truth.

Thinking about your own failures or someone else’s failure may be true, but it is not honorable.

Therefore, it doesn’t fall into the category of something we should think on.

Just

This is referring to our relationship with God and encompasses concepts of righteousness, justice and the upright nature we receive by faith in Christ Jesus.

Pure

These thoughts are holy, clean, pure from every fault and modest. This certainly doesn’t match the kinds of thoughts that I have sometimes.

Yet if we think on Christ and Godly things, we realize that the purity of Christ will begin to affect our behavior and conduct.

This is about renewing our mind so that our first thoughts that tend to drive our reactions will produce Godly reactions.

Lovely

The word lovely here refers to Godly thoughts that are acceptable and pleasing to God. It also can refer to how you endear yourselves to be “beloved”  by others through your words.

When we realize that our thoughts have a direct correlation to the words we speak, hopefully we will learn to better control what we think so we can then control what we say.

Good Report

Thoughts that are of “good report” are considered admirable or gracious. These are attractive thoughts that describe a moral character.

Virtue

We are to think on things that reflect the virtues of God. Does this mean our minds are to be filled with rainbows and unicorns and sunshine and happy chirping birds? Of course not. That simply isn’t possible.

Yet if we discipline ourselves to spend time with God and focus on His character and His attributes, and those things which align themselves with this scripture, we will see a definite change in our thoughts and actions.

People choose to think on negative things and evil things. When those thoughts present themselves to us, we can either choose to entertain them, or cast them down.

Think of these thoughts as uninvited guests to a party. You can either sit them down and entertain them and they will be emboldened to bring more uninvited guests later, or you can turn them away at the door and give them no place in your thought life.

Sometimes we have to speak against thoughts that attack us because trying to overcome them with positive thinking will not work. The positive thought comes from the same mind as the negative thought. This is where we need to remind ourselves we have the mind of Christ.

Praise

The word “praise” here can refer to recognition or approval, specifically from God. As we think upon God’s approval of us and how much He loves us, we realize that the approval of men is not important. There is certainly more that could be said about how we seek the approval of men, but it is truly the approval of God that we should be after, and then we may find that we receive the approval of men as a result of that.

As we think on who we are in Christ and how accepted and beloved we are to Him, we train our thoughts to be positive, overcoming negativity whenever it shows itself.

When it says to “think” on these things, it means to “consider” with emotion and feeling. Emotional attachment in thoughts can tend to bring about a lasting effect much greater than just casual passing thoughts. If you think about when you remember something negative that happened and it makes you feel sad or angry just remembering it, you can also feel happy, blessed and loved when you think upon better things. The lasting effect of these thoughts can then have an impact on your day to day living.

While each of these characteristics of thoughts that we are to “think” on may seem separate, they are all qualifiers together. They all point to thinking on the “things above” and not on just the “things below” or the things on the Earth.

Again, this isn’t an easy thing to accomplish. We are constantly bombarded with what the world wants us to think and thoughts that challenge us from our schools, jobs or just life in general.

Yet I believe if we spend some time with God, focusing on Him and His thoughts about us we will find more peace and strength to overcome contrary thoughts when they show up.

This is a section of scriptures. Often, portions of it are quoted independent of the surrounding scriptures, but I want to take a deeper look at this whole portion. When it was written, it would not have had the scripture references and would have been a more complete thought if read together.

While this section is said to apply to the church and false teachings infiltrating the Corinthians at that time, I also find value in these scriptures for personal edification as well.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

Everyone reading this article walks in the “flesh”. Meaning that we are mortal beings in a physical life.

The scripture then goes on to say we do not war after the flesh.

“After” can mean “according to” but the Greek word “kata” has quite a few meanings as it has been used elsewhere.

The word “war” here denotes military service or serving as a soldier.

“Warfare” in verse 4, denotes a military expedition or campaign.

In referencing service for Christ as a soldier, it is essentially saying that we do not serve in a fleshy way, because the weapons of our campaign are not fleshly. A military campaign takes place over a period of time, so it represents more than just one battle. This indicates that this warfare also takes place over a period of time. When fighting in a campaign, strategy unfolds over a longer fight and may encompass multiple battles of different shapes and sizes.

Our weapons are not “carnal” or “fleshly” meaning they are not physical nor do they come from our mortal nature or carnal nature.

This is important to note as we get into the next portions of scripture.

Our weapons are “powerful through God”.

God is the source of our power. The word “powerful” denotes possibility and that means that while possible, a personal responsibility rests on the person wielding the power.

The “pulling down” or “overthrow” of strongholds means to utterly demolish them.

“Strongholds” as it is used here only occurs once in the New Testament.

The next portion of scripture mentions “imaginations” which can translate as “reasonings”. Some scholars believe the strongholds are “arguments” or “reasonings”.

It also could allude to Proverbs 21:22 which says, “A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, And casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof.”

This means “tears down the stronghold in which the ungodly trust.”

If we look at how that connects with the scriptures we are reading, we can conclude that the arguments or reasonings that are strongholds are ungodly, and we trust in them or believe them. See how this matters as we talk about the next part.

“casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

“high thing” can represent “strongholds” just as the word “imaginations” can, but more specifically I believe “high thing” refers to “obstacles” that we have put a high level of trust in and have given those obstacles high position of authority in our ways of thinking.

These are reasonings and arguments that are ungodly which we cannot defeat and overcome within the powers of our own mind.

“Exalteth” means to lift up in pride.

It is interesting that says exalteth “itself”.

These reasonings and arguments; these strongholds which are prideful and ungodly which we have given a high place of authority in our minds exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. They are like soldiers who no longer obey their commanders and are waging war on their own terms, harming their own campaign and losing the war.

These thoughts are only able to be overcome by the Spirit of God in His power.

The scripture says these prideful thoughts attempt to pridefully exalt themselves against the “knowledge of God” as if they are higher or more true. You can’t have something to be more true than truth. If it is more true than truth, then it is false.

‭‭If you know a friend really well, and someone says something about your friend that is false, you know it is false because you know your friend.

Likewise, when you have knowledge about God, ungodly thoughts that try and imitate truth or attempt to change your way of believing in God’s truth must be captured before they can do harm.

The verses go on to say, “and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”

“Captivity” here is referencing “taking prisoner” as in a prisoner of war. This denotes that these thoughts are the enemy and from the enemy.

It says that we are to avenge or “revenge” against these thoughts when our own obedience is fulfilled.

1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ says, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:”

‭‭It is often our ignorance that weakens us to believing the lies of the enemy and even more so, believing them to be more true than God’s Truth.

So our own obedience can be said to be fulfilled when we return our focus to God and not onto the old things that distract and harm us from our “former lusts”.

We must submit our thoughts to the Lordship of Jesus.

This means that we cannot just accept every random thought that pops into our head and believe it is of God, Godly or proper to dwell on.

I may have an evil thought pop into my head to revenge something recently done to me by someone and think that it is perfectly reasonable because I was hurt by them. Yet that kind of thought is not obedient to Christ and His love. That kind of thought seeks to exalt my own pride and hurt feelings above the truth that God’s grace is sufficient, that God’s love is stronger and that thought isn’t consistent with who I am in Christ.

As I then refocus my attention on God and His truth, I once again become obedient to His precepts and His way of thinking. I revenge the disobedient thought by retraining my mind to better resist such thoughts in the future, and the thought that came against me is replaced by forgiveness or at the very least, forgetfulness.

A hurt forgotten is not as beneficial as a hurt forgiven, because the enemy can always bring back a forgotten hurt from the past and make it feel new again. When you forgive, you take away the enemy’s power for the hurt to affect you anymore. The same is true with acts of disobedience. Satan will use your past disobedience against you, so it is important that you have justification through obedience to Christ so that your past cannot have rule over you.

You cannot fight thoughts using more “pure” thoughts or even thinking about scriptures because both the good and the bad thoughts are coming from the same mind.

You have to speak against thoughts sometimes to overcome them. Pray in tongues, pray in the Holy Spirit and speak against these thoughts and by using the power of your words, you will see better results.

When you speak the truth of God’s Word, you exalt His Word above any thought that has come against His truth.

This scripture is often quoted alone, yet this whole chapter is full of wisdom that benefits the reader. While every scripture labeled 3:16 doesn’t compare with Christianity’s cornerstone scripture in John 3:16, this is certainly an important scripture nonetheless.

So much of how I interpret the Bible is centered around who I am in Christ; my identity.

Why is identity so important?

In the Garden of Eden, we exchanged our identity in God for another that promised us something that we thought we needed.

Mankind thought they needed something to make ourselves more like God, but we were deceived. We already were like God and instead of trusting in His Word to tell us what we needed and who we are, we exchanged His perfect image and reflection in us, for a corrupted image that no longer resembled the Father.

The world is always trying to tell us who we are even though our identity is already established once and for all in Christ Jesus.

Whereas God had made a temple His dwelling place in the Old Covenant, God makes our spirit His dwelling place under the New Covenant.

When we realize that we are one with God and that He is with us all the time, we make things difficult on ourselves when we continue in sin despite having accepted Christ. We corrupt our way of thinking when we accept the unacceptable. This doesn’t mean that we corrupt our spirits per-say, it means that we filter the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and may block the outflow of God’s Spirit through us.

Therefore, let us remember that when we sin, “miss the mark”, have unrenewed habits or whatever you want to call these things, God is faithful to forgive if we turn back to Him.

This scripture and the the one following are also talking about false-teachers corrupting the church. The temple of the Holy Spirit refers to the church itself. To those who corrupt the church, it says God will destroy the corrupted. This could mean, “bring to ruin”. While we may not believe that God would destroy us, we just remember that God’s church is holy and someone who would intentionally deceive or corrupt believers has not truly placed their faith in Christ.

I’ve been asked, how would you know if God has stopped dealing with you and has cast you aside? How would you know if God has given up on you? My answer is always the same: If you can ask the question and are concerned deeply about the answer, then you can be certain that God has not given up and you and you are still on the straight and narrow road.

It is those who no longer care to ask the question or those who are not concerned with the answer that may have gone too far and have rejected Christ. I say “may” because only God truly knows the heart.

I’ve also been asked, “what about when I don’t feel the presence of God like I did before?”

When I put on a new pair of shoes, they are stiff and hard and it takes time to break them in. Until that happens, I am very conscious of each step I take because I feel that stiffness.
When they are soft and pliable, I barely feel them on my feet and might even forget I’m wearing them. Have you ever put sunglasses on the top of your head and then forgot where you put them because you didn’t remember they were there? Do you feel the shirt you are wearing? Do you feel the presence of your underwear?

The answer to these questions is probably, “no”. The answer to the questions of why we don’t feel the presence of God sometimes is often because like clothes, He is so close that He is a part of us. He is so close that we can barely tell He’s there. Yet you wouldn’t deny that you are wearing clothes that you don’t feel, or sunglasses on your head that you didn’t feel either.

Paul talks about how we are to “put on Christ” in Galatians 3:27 and Romans 13:14.

This is literally like saying we are to put on clothes or robes.

I truly believe that this analogy serves as a reminder that Jesus is with us whether we feel him or not.

God dwelling in us is more than just us becoming one in spirit with Him when we believe and receive salvation.

John‬ ‭15‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

We can do nothing without Christ in us and us in Him. We have life as long as we abide in Him.

John‬ ‭15‬:‭6 goes on to say, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

A branch that breaks away from a tree, withers and dies and is only suitable for firewood.

Here, it is saying that men gather the branches that have fallen away and they are the ones that cast them into the fire. We have to realize that there are people out there that look to gather you up and use you for their purposes. There are people that want to use you up and burn you out. They take advantage of your brokenness for their gain.

Job‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬ says; “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.”

‭‭Job’s wife and three friends condemned him. Friends may turn against you, but even Job’s wife turned against him. Sometimes, when you are down and at your worst in life, you find that those that you thought loved you and were your closest friends and allies will turn against you. Seemingly, for no other reason than to drag you down and see you fail so they can gloat in some way and lord over you. People will do almost anything to prove they are “right” and you are “wrong”, all the while being “evil” hearted towards you.

Note that it is not God who casts you “into the fire” when you are a broken branch, it is other people.

How are we cut off? By unbelief.

Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭23‬ says, “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.”

If we are cut off by unbelief, we can still be grafted back in. We may have separated from the vine but we aren’t in the fire yet.

Unbelief breaks us away from the vine, Jesus, which is our life. This doesn’t mean that we lose our salvation, but when we cut off the source of life, a process of death begins to work in us that can eventually lead us to rejecting Christ. A real dead branch cannot be grafted back into a living vine and come back from the dead. Yet the miracle of salvation is that even when dead, we as “spiritual branches” can be made alive again in Christ.

Even with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, it is important for us to put on Christ, even daily, by recognizing who we are in Him, and then abide in Him by believing His Word. When we are grafted in, His goodness abounds in us.

‭‭We may not always be holy or righteous in actions, but let us always continue to work towards improving our responses, behaviors and habits to reflect our true nature in Christ.

– Bishop Joshua Maynard

My good friend, Tom Tompkins has a great book about the book of Job that I believe is an awesome resource to study.

Understanding the Book of Job

https://www.facebook.com/utboj

You can purchase the book on Amazon.com using the link below.

https://a.co/d/c56sCN6

This article will cover this whole chapter of Psalm 23, which consists of 6 verses.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

This scripture does not mean that we should not want anything. It is talking about we should not “lack” anything. Old English has “having want” to mean “lacking something” or “having lack”.

If we read the King James Version, it is important that you understand the words they used back then and what they mean.

Here, Yahweh is used which specifically refers to the Lord Jesus.

Jesus is our shepherd. He cares for us as a shepherd cares for his flock.

He makes us to lie down in green pastures.

This indicates that we are at peace, just as sheep would be under their watchful shepherd. He isn’t making us lie down in the mud or in the swamp. He is leading us to green pastures where we lie down. We don’t lie down willingly. The shepherd makes his flock lie down because it is time to rest.

He leads us beside the still waters. Specifically, the translation of “still” here literally means “resting places”. So, He is leading us beside waters that are near resting places.

“He restoreth my soul.”

The word “restore” here means to “turn” or “turn around”. “Soul” here refers to the “life” in us or our “whole being”. It is essentially saying that He turns around our lives. We turn from our sins, and He turns us around.

He leads us in the paths of righteousness because of His name. These paths are already established, continually used and they lead to His righteousness. This is talking about God leading us to make good decisions that follow after His standards instead of us choosing to follow after sin.

When it says, “because of His name’s sake”, it is not merely referring to God’s name. It is saying that He leads us in the paths of righteousness because of His reputation, good standing or fame. He does what He does because the integrity of His reputation demands nothing less.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

The “shadow of death” is a term used to describe darkness. It also represents sorrow and despair. We sometimes take for granted that we have electricity that powers lights. We have cell phones that can produce light, and we have flashlights. In Bible times, if they didn’t have fire, they didn’t have light except by the Moon.

In the pitch-black darkness, out in the wilderness there was a very real fear of death that many of us have never experienced.

The shepherd’s staff was used to both guide sheep and to protect from predators.

It is interesting that it mentions a rod and a staff which many would consider to be interchangeable words.

Yet if we examine each of them, we find that they carry different meanings.

The rod represents authority, such as a scepter held by a King.

The staff represents something to “lean on” or “trust in”.

“Comforted” as it is used here can mean “repent” or to be “consoled.”

In this context, it is saying that we are both comforted and repentant because we trust in God’s authority as our shepherd. We submit to His leadership and His Lordship.

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

Let’s think about this for a moment. God prepares a table in the presence of our enemies.

Some of you would not even consider sitting down for a meal with your enemies but God is saying that He’s going to prepare a table and you’re going to need to sit at it with your enemies.

In Bible times, preparing a table and inviting your enemies to a meal showed their subordination to the host and the host’s dominance. It represented that the host was wealthy and in charge.

“Before me” literally means “in my face”.

God isn’t preparing the table somewhere else; He’s preparing it right in front of your face.

He’s preparing it and you are going to sit at it.

It is an interesting dynamic though, that you are not preparing the table. You are not being told to prepare the table. It is not really your dominance and wealth being represented at the table because you are not really the host. God is the host of this table. God is dominant over your enemies and Lord over you.

At God’s table, and you are there as His guest and so are your enemies whether they know it or not.

Yet, this is not a table of gloating. God has prepared the table and invited your enemies. He alone is worthy for bringing our enemies to sit at the table with us and bringing peace between us and them. How can we gloat over a situation that He alone has conquered? This also means that because He started it, He will bring it to completion.

This is a table where you share the good news of what God has done in your life and where peace can be made with your enemies when God is both the host and mediator.

The next part of the scripture says, “Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” The word for “anointest” used here means “to make fat” or “to prosper”, yet I cannot help but acknowledge that God anointing you with purpose, authority and power is also implied.

You are anointed to minister what God has done for you to your enemies that they also might come to know God’s ways and be saved.

The cup represents your life in Christ, full of salvation and overflowing.

People often associate their “cup running over” to symbolize a blessing that cannot be contained or more blessing than is expected.

While that can certainly be true, I believe that this scripture can also represent salvation and the power of the Holy Spirit filling up believers to overflowing.

When your cup overflows, it doesn’t necessarily benefit just you. The overflow is for others. When you are full, you are ready to share. When your cup is running over, that means you are fully qualified, fully prepared, fully capable, and fully usable for God’s work in you to flow out to others.

When David wrote this, he could have been and probably was running from his enemies who wanted him dead. This Psalm is as much a statement of God’s restorative power, divine provision and Lordship even in the most difficult circumstances in his own life as it is for us today. How fitting that the shepherd boy who was fearless in the face of Goliath would later turn to the heavenly shepherd of souls for rest.

David sought to be at peace with his enemies and to teach them of God’s ways. Even in the midst of his struggles, he sought a future where his enemies were dining at his table, and he was triumphant over their evil plans.

The chapter ends with, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”

“Goodness and mercy” here refer to prosperity and grace or steadfast love.

The idea here is that God would intensely pursue David with grace and steadfast love.

This is of course according to David pursuing God and relying on him. This whole section of scripture is David acknowledging that he submits himself to the God, the shepherd for direction, peace with his enemies, rest and restoration. It then seems fitting that he expects God to pursue him intensely with grace and steadfast love.

David wanted to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This doesn’t mean that he wanted to live in the temple. It means the at he prayed to be with the Lord for the rest of his life and for eternity. ”Dwell” here translates as “return” or to “turn back”. This indicates a repentant heart associated with the desire to be with God, not an arrogant expectation.

David wanted to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This doesn’t mean that he wanted to live in the temple. It means the at he prayed to be with the Lord for the rest of his life and for eternity.

Within this small segment of scripture, we find elements of lordship, provision, rest, restoration, salvation, repentance, trust, peace, victory, dominion, preparation, consecration, empowerment, prosperity, ministry, grace, steadfast love and everlasting life.

This is literally the Gospel presented from an Old Testament perspective. David didn’t have what we have today in Christ, but when we read scriptures like this there can be no doubt that God was the same then, as He is today.

David starts this section of scripture by writing that “he was shapen in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me”.
It is common for this scripture to be interpreted to mean that all of mankind is inherently born into sin, continuing to carry in us the corrupting sin nature passed on from Adam.
It is generally believed that this scripture does not mean in a literal sense that David’s mother conceived him in a sinful act.
Yet if we examine Jewish tradition surrounding the story of David’s conception, which is not in the Bible, the story goes that indeed David was conceived in what would have been considered a sinful act. Allegedly, that sinful act of conceiving David set him in the path to being made a shepherd and being treated as the lowest among his brothers and family, to the point that they wished he would be dead and hoped in every way he would not be successful in stature or their culture.
This explanation actually can explain so much of the sad statements David makes about himself in the Psalms. Statements that indicate how hard his life was, despite being the son of one of the most revered figures in Israel at that time.
The scriptures then go on to say, “I desire truth in the inward parts”. This refers to the deepest part of our being or the center core of our life.
We hear the term, “being hidden with Christ” or “keep Christ hidden in your heart”. I want to touch on that thought before moving on.
Colossians 3:3 says “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
There are other scriptures that talk about God’s Word or law being in our heart as well.
I read once that we keep Christ hidden because He represents our true identity that everything else in the world is trying to replace with a false identity. It is critical that we not forget who we are and that our identity can only truly be found in Christ alone and what God says about us. The world cannot tell you who you are. All of the false identities that that world places on you lead away from God and His best for your life.
Keeping Christ hidden in our hearts doesn’t mean we don’t share Him with others or share what God has done for us. On the contrary, because we allow God’s Word to become a part of us and we stay focused on Him, He can never be taken from us, and we can always draw on that source of living waters to remind us of who we are.
David writes that he desires truth in the inward parts, and in that, he is saying that he wants God’s truth to be real in the deepest part of who he is. He goes onto say that “in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.”
Again, he’s referencing the “secret places” or the “inmost parts”. He says he wants God to make him to know wisdom. Referring at times in scripture to the “deepest knowledge” of someone which is true intimacy, the word “know” here is not just a knowledge, but knowledge of wisdom which is gained through experience. David is not asking God to just give him wisdom, but he wants to gain it through experience. How often do we ask God for wisdom and we want Him to just zap us with instant knowledge? Wisdom doesn’t work that way. God gave Israel knowledge to do many things by His command, and yet they missed the symbolism and types and shadows in that knowledge that pointed to the Messiah. So knowledge that isn’t gained through experience doesn’t equal the reflection and deeper understanding of that knowledge that contributes to wisdom.
David knew that he couldn’t just skip over experience to get wisdom. When we consider that he humbled himself under God’s authority to lead him through circumstances, whether good or bad to gain that wisdom, he still had the courage to ask for it.
David mentions Hyssop to purge him and make him clean. While scholars believe that the Hyssop of the Bible was not actually what we call Hyssop today, this was a plant used in many rituals of that day, especially those concerning purification and atonement. It would have been used to apply the blood on the doorposts in Egypt to protect the children of Israel from the plague of death.
Denoting the sacrifice of blood as a sin offering, David asks God to purge him and cleanse him.
The term “whiter than snow” appears several places in scripture. It means to be purified to the fullest extent possible, so that no stain or blemish remains. Jesus is truly the one who cleanses us and makes us “whiter than snow.”
Mark talks about this when Jesus was transfigured on the mount.
Mark‬ ‭9‬:‭3‬ says, “And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.”
There Jesus was, standing between Elijah and Moses; between the prophets and the Mosaic Law, transfigured before the apostles, and He is described as being so white that nothing on Earth can be as white. That truly speaks to the depth that He has paid for our sins and can cleanse us from them. He has fulfilled both the prophetic words and the Mosaic Law, bringing everything together in Himself to be able to make us clean.
David then says, lMake me to hear joy and gladness; That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.”
This isn’t literally saying that God broke David’s bones, but the crushing of bones terminology here signifies the sin being judged and dealt with. Ashamed of his sins, David asks God to hide His face from looking on the transgressions and erase any record of them.
Christians often quote in-part or on-whole the next part of this scripture which says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; And take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;”.
They quote it with humility, but ignorance. This is an Old Covenant prayer from a man that didn’t have what we have through Christ.
In fact, this whole section of scripture is written by a man who more than anything wants to be clean and pure before God; a man that longs for the salvation Jesus gave us, and the power of the Holy Spirit that some Christians take for granted or reject entirely out of ignorance.
Jesus has created in us a clean heart, and not just a renewed spirit, but a brand new spirit.
We are a new creation! He has promised never to leave us or forsake us and the Holy Spirit never departs from us because God’s gifts are never taken back.
It goes on to say, “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness”. If you read the Psalms and any other writings about David, you will see that like any of us, he struggled with guilt. Here he is expressing guilt specifically over blood on his hands for the people he has killed. Yet Jesus not only took our sins, but also the guilt of those sins. We don’t have to live in a state of guilt over sins that God has forgiven and forgotten.
We are to be awakened to righteousness and no longer sin-conscious.
As we look at this example, let us remember the better covenant we have through Jesus and what He accomplished for us and in us.
Let’s make sure we don’t pray David’s prayer; acting as though we are the unsaved, unregenerated and alone. We not only have what he was praying for, but we have so much more. We can read this and other scriptures in the light of their fulfillment in Christ Jesus and still find valuable insights into the journey over centuries that faith has taken to find us.

We are adopted into the family of God when we believe in Christ Jesus by faith. It does not say that everyone is a child of God. It qualifies that the children of God are those that have placed their faith in Jesus.

It goes on to say, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

Baptized here is referring to water baptism, which shows an individual’s public expression of their commitment to Christ.

When it says, “put on Christ”, it is similar to saying that a person is putting in a garment or clothing, but on a spiritual level it represents putting on immortality or being clothed in righteousness.

The scriptures then show that we should assume no disqualifications to those who are in Christ. Regardless of racial, physical, cultural and status, those that have placed their faith in Christ are His.

Lastly, it makes an interesting distinction that if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

Jesus is Abraham’s seed.

What are we heirs of? We are heirs of Christ Jesus, and the blessing of Abraham is the Holy Spirit. We can receive Him because we placed our Faith in Jesus and in doing so have put on the “new nature”, the Holy Spirit of promise.

Compare this to the Jews that Jesus was talking with in John 8:31-37. They claimed to be Abraham’s seed and said they had never been in bondage before.

They didn’t realize that Jesus was saying that they were in bondage to sin, not man. He then goes on to explain that if being Abraham’s seed could have set them free from sin, then they would be free indeed. They needed to acknowledge that their true heritage was to be the spiritual seed of Abraham through Christ Jesus in order to be freed from the bondage of sin.

Their sin remained and they were the children of the Devil.

We have a greater heritage than theirs in Christ Jesus. We have accepted by faith the Son of God who sets us free indeed from the bondage of sin and we can live for Him boldly because of the promise of the Holy Spirit that’s given to us without measure.

I can’t even begin count how many times the last sentence of James 5:16 is quoted by itself, and sometimes out of context. It seems like that may be the only part of this scripture group that most Christians remember.

This scripture group is most commonly taught to  be referencing physical sickness or infirmity, but I want you to consider that in the overall picture that these scriptures paint, it may have another meaning.

Before I get into that, let me preface by saying that I believe in God’s healing power and that as followers of Christ, we have an obligation to pray for the sick and appropriate the healing power of God that each of us has in our born-again spirits.

Looking at a word-for-word translation, the word “sick” used here in the Greek is “asthenai”.

In the Old Testament, its use would denote a “weakness” or “hinderance”. In the New Testament scholars seem to say that it means “sickness” in a literal sense, referring to sickness, disease or a weakness in the body.

I’ve heard it said that it’s similar to Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”, but the problem with that association is that Paul’s thorn in the flesh wasn’t sickness or infirmity. It was stumbling blocks, afflictions and persecutions that he endured as he went about fulfilling the will of God.

In verse 15, it says the “prayer of faith shall save the sick”. This is certainly something I believe in regard to physical healing. Often, “save” is replaced with “heal” when people quote this scripture and so these scriptures seem to indicate a plan of action by which the sick can obtain healing.

Verse 15 goes on to say that “the Lord will raise him up”. The consensus of the Greek here seems to be that it is referring to “awaken” or to raise (as from the dead).

This connects into the next statement in verse 15 that says, “and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”.

The traditional belief about this group of scriptures was that sin  could be a source of physical sickness and that through the forgiveness of sins, healing could then be obtained.

In verse 16, it talks about confessing our faults one to another. This scripture has been interpreted to mean that we are to confess our sins to one another. However, I don’t know of any circumstances where confessing our sins to someone else produced a good result.

You may have heard the saying, “confession is good for the soul”, but I do not believe that is always true. Confession here denotes “acknowledging” your needs and issues to one another not particularly confessing a sin or sins.

Keeping all of this in mind, the word “sick” in the verse 14 can refer to physical sickness but I believe in the context of sins being forgiven and being “saved”, it is referring to someone who has a hindrance in their lives, or someone who  is struggling with a weary spirit. This could be an unbeliever who needs salvation, it could be sin but it could also be attitudes, habits and beliefs that are causing a believer to fall and stumble. In that context, the forgiveness of sins and the prayer of faith “saving” the sick makes more sense. The word “save” meaning to give salvation or to make well. It can refer to being saved from spiritual death, or being delivered from demon possession. It can mean to be “made whole” or “made complete”.

You see, while these scriptures could be referring to physical healing, I believe they might more accurately apply to spiritual healing and the healing from stumbling blocks and hindrances to our faith.

Jesus saw sin as a sickness and if we look at these scriptures from the standpoint of sin or the effects of sin being the sickness, with salvation being the cure, these scriptures speak about someone coming to the elders for a healing in their spirit, not just their body.

A holistic approach to these scriptures demands that we examine them and consider how we interpret them.

Taking this into account, it means that we can go to our elders to receive prayer, not just for physical sickness, but also things in our lives that are stumbling blocks to our faith.

Who are the “elders”? It could be the leadership in your local church or it could be someone that has more experience than yourself. Elders would be people that are mature in their faith. The key idea here is that it is someone that won’t judge you or condemn you, but agree with you for what you need to receive from God.

Verse 15 says, the “prayer of faith” and the word “prayer” here means “oath” or “vow”. In context, this makes sense to me that it is about a person coming to the elders to make a prayer of faith that will bring about the saving of their soul, or bring about a deliverance from whatever stumbling block or hinderance they have, not just sickness.

The last part of verse 16 says that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

The “effectual” or effective prayer does not indicate the effects of the prayer as much as it points to the fact that prayer is effective.

“Fervent”, which means “passionate intensity” doesn’t appear in the Interlinear Bible I have but the word denotes that the person praying passionately and intensely is presenting his prayer to God fully expecting an answer in the deepest part of their spirit.

“Righteous” indicates here that the person praying is in relationship with God, not particularly that they are morally or ethically right in every way. It is also interesting that it can denote “impartiality”.

Did you know that it is difficult to be impartial in prayer sometimes? When we know our own failures, it certainly makes it hard to ask God for something. When we know the failures and shortcomings of others, it can affect how we pray for them.

As bad as it may sound, you may be praying for someone and expecting an answer to that prayer while deep inside you feel they don’t deserve it because you know of their transgressions.

Being impartial in prayer means that you’re treating all things equally with fairness and justice.

It can be difficult to be impartial depending on who or what you are praying for and under which circumstances. Yet being in relationship with God and having His Holy Spirit in you means that you have to display His impartial attitudes in prayer.

Remind yourself that He loves the most unloveable person you can imagine.  In spite of whatever they may think about Him or about you or about others, He wants to demonstrate His love and mercy to them.

Sometimes our inability to pray impartially may seem like an excuse to not pray at all, or to pick and choose who we pray for, but that attitude  only serves to make us more judgmental and callous towards others.

Jesus saw the sin in others and yet He did not withhold His life, His love or His help and healing.

While this group of scriptures is most traditionally quoted in regard to physical healing, we can be certain that God wants to heal every part of our being from the inside out.

Whether we are praying for one another’s hindrances and shortcomings, physical healings or for salvation, God faithfully answers prayer and we can trust Him to keep His Word.