Discover the More Abundant Life in Christ

Mark VanOuse

David Had a Real Relationship with The Lord, But Solomon Did Not

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As King Solomon was embarking on the work to build the temple of the Lord, he said in 2 Chronicles 2:5-6:

5 And the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?

On the surface, this seems to be a noble thought: God is so impossibly great, who could possibly build a temple great enough to contain Him?

We may think, “Wow, Solomon! What a humble statement!”

But when we take into consideration the broader context of this statement, there is a glaring problem that reflects the huge difference between Solomon and King David, his father.

The Fundamental Difference: Relationship vs. Transaction

The fundamental difference between David and Solomon was that David had a real love relationship with God and Solomon did not. David knew God intimately in personal fellowship. Solomon did not. But David was different. David loved the Lord. David delighted in the Lord.

The temple (and the tabernacle before it) was designed to be a place of meeting with God. It was about a love relationship with God, not mere outward religious service like sacrifices. It certainly was never meant to be a place to contain God. Notice what Solomon says in 2 Chronicles 2:6:

Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?

Solomon’s focus was on sacrifice – on what he could do for God. His relationship with God was fundamentally transactional – based on performance rather than intimate fellowship.

David’s Heart: The One Thing

David’s heart was captured by something infinitely greater than sacrifice – the beauty and presence of God Himself. This is what I’ve referred to as “the one thing”:

“One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4, NKJV)

David didn’t just want to sacrifice to God; David wanted to dwell with God, to behold His beauty, to inquire of Him in relationship. This “one thing” principle is seen throughout Scripture:

  • Mary chose “that good part” by sitting at Jesus’ feet, while Martha was “worried and troubled about many things” (Luke 10:41-42, NKJV)
  • Paul declared his single passion: “that I may know Him” (Philippians 3:10, NKJV)

The key is knowing God – knowing God in real love relationship. That’s the essential difference between David and Solomon: David sincerely knew the Lord and hungered for Him. We see this demonstrated throughout the Scriptures. We don’t see that kind of spiritual hunger or intimate relationship with Solomon.

God’s Heart Toward Mere Sacrifice

The Scriptures reveal that God does not delight in mere sacrifice when it lacks the heart of true relationship and obedience. When King Saul presumptuously offered sacrifices that were not his to offer, the prophet Samuel confronted him with these penetrating words:

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).

God wanted more than mere outward performance – He wanted obedience born out of a real relationship with God. This incident reveals that religious activity – even sacrifice to God – becomes meaningless when it flows from self-will rather than humble submission to God’s heart and ways. Saul’s presumptuous sacrifice parallels Solomon’s transactional approach to God.

This is why Jesus spoke about people who would approach Him at the judgment saying: “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:22-23). Notice Jesus doesn’t dispute their religious activities – He declares the fundamental issue: “I never knew you.” The absence of genuine relationship makes all religious performance worthless.

The End Result

David, despite his failures including the sin with Bathsheba, turned back to the Lord, repented, and struggled through the consequences of his sin. Ultimately, David ended his life in honor, and God loved David. God appreciated David.

Solomon, for all his wisdom and wealth, lacked this fundamental relationship with the living God. While it’s true that when Solomon asked for a discerning heart, God blessed him way beyond what he requested – giving him not just a discerning heart but wisdom, riches, and honor, yet there is no real indication that Solomon had the kind of intimate relationship with God that marked David’s life.

And finally it came down to this in Solomon’s life:

4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. 8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. (1 Kings 11:4-8)

The Revealing Truth

Show me a person who’s caught up in sin and in the pleasures of this world, like Solomon, and you will find someone who really is not enjoying the Lord, not experiencing the delights and the satisfaction of the Lord in that deep personal relationship.

The tragedy is not in Solomon’s eventual turning to demon “gods,” but in his never having truly known the one true God in the first place. While David’s heart was set on dwelling in God’s presence and beholding His beauty, Solomon’s highest aspiration was to burn sacrifices before Him.

This reveals the difference between authentic Christianity and mere religion – between knowing about God versus actually knowing God personally in transforming relationship.

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What It Really Means to Delight in and Desire God HIMSELF

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4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

There is something profound and powerful about delighting in the Lord. Unfortunately, the moment I say “delighting in the Lord,” the focus tends to be on the delighting and not on the Lord. Through the years, when I’ve heard people talk about delighting in the Lord or desiring God, I’ve been caught up with: How do I do that? It becomes the old “how-to” trap rather than focusing on God Himself and His delightfulness.

The more I walk with the Lord, the more I realize the principle is really quite simple. When we go to a beautiful place in nature—the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Mount Everest—we don’t need a primer on how to enjoy such spectacular beauty. We naturally behold that wonder, and it invokes pleasure, enjoyment, and awe.

If that’s the way it is in creation, how much more as we behold our Creator God? The key is not learning how to delight in the Lord, because we already have the capacity to delight—it’s God-given and natural. We’re always delighting in something.

It’s the same way with the Lord. We need to be exposed to who He is, what He is, and what He has done. As we learn of the biblical truths about God, as we behold God, our capacity for delight rises. The focus is not on delighting—the activity. The focus is on God, who is delightful. The focus is not on desiring God. The focus is on God Who is desirable.

That’s the revolutionary difference that takes the focus off us and our activity, which is a trap in our fallen, man-centered thinking and upward to God-centered thinking.

For years, I used to look at Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” I’d think, “But how do I delight myself in the Lord?”

That focus is totally wrong. The focus of “Delight yourself also in the LORD” is not in the “delight yourself” part, but rather, the LORD. The delighting is the consequence of beholding God, learning who He is and what He has said, and enjoying Him.

Astronomers are some of the happiest people I’ve ever met. They experience endless delight in the vast unfolding wonders of the universe. No one needs to tell them, “Delight yourself in the universe.” They just look up and look out. There’s so much to behold and enjoy from the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes—the glories of the universe and space.

King David had such a wonderful relationship with God because as a young man, alone with his sheep, he would look up at those dazzlingly clear Judean nights and see the sky ablaze with stars. His mind was filled with awe:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? (Psalm 8:3-4)

And Psalm 19:1-2 (AMP)

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork. Day after day pours forth speech, and night after night shows forth knowledge.

Hear David’s seeking heart in Psalm 42:

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

This deep longing for God Himself captured David’s heart from his youth. I believe this was the hallmark of this godly (though flawed) man.

Human beings have a built-in capacity to desire and delight. God has given us many delightful things in creation. Food can be amazing—a five-star restaurant with top cuisine rightfully brings delight. But we can also get delight from a Twinkie, then want two, three, four, and become addicted because those things really don’t satisfy us.

This is exactly what God asks in Isaiah 55:2:

Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.”

Charles Spurgeon pointed out something brilliant about Psalm 37:4. He spoke of people who have so much—for instance, the rich—yet they want more and feel like they don’t have enough. No matter how rich they become, they remain unsatisfied. The problem is that the earthly things that we delight in don’t really satisfy us. He adds:

Mark this, this [delighting in God] is the only thing that a man can delight in and get his desires.

It’s one thing to delight. It’s quite another thing to delight and be satisfied. Nothing—no food, sex, music, work, or scientific discovery—can truly satisfy the heart that’s been designed to be satisfied by God Himself. Psalm 63:5:

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

Psalm 16:11:

You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

That’s what delighting in the LORD is all about. There’s a vast difference between focusing on “delight” versus “in the LORD“—the object of our delight.

Desiring God is not about desiring. It is about the desirability of God. Our delighting and desire is in God Himself: His character—loving, wise, gentle, kind, long-suffering, patient, faithful. His nature—all-powerful, all-present, all-knowing, eternal. His aseity, which speaks of God being I AM, and all that exists, that all good is from Him and of Him. The fact that He is immutable, unchangeable.

Hear it in Psalm 73:25-26:

Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Job 22:25-26 really nails it:

25 Yes, the Almighty will be your gold And your precious silver; 26 For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, And lift up your face to God.

Our delight in God naturally rises when we think about all the wonderful things that God has done—His perfect accomplishments through Jesus: perfect life, perfect sacrifice, perfect death, perfect resurrection, perfect redemption, perfect priesthood. He has set us apart as His own, made us holy, bought us with a price, redeemed us.

Consider also how God is also working now in the believer. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit with nine characteristics of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. He brings us peace—the Hebrew word shalom, where nothing is missing, nothing broken, nothing lacking.

There is great delight in the reality of Christ, who is our life: “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).

Beyond that, there are all those amazing “in Christ” realities—some 150 of them in the New Testament.

Also the great reality of Christ in us, Colossians 1:27: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The older I get, the more my thought isn’t about what I should do or not do. My thought is no longer “how-to” Christianity. In fact, i could care less about such “Christianity”, so-called. My thought is consumed with: “Tell me about my God! Tell me about my SaviorI Tell me about what He has **done for me! Tell me about who I am in Him! Tell me about who He is in me!” It’s all about Him.

As I look to Him, behold Him, know Him, learn of Him from His Word and by the Spirit, my heart thrills. My desire is aligned toward God and truly satisfied! My delight is in God. I want to yell and shout and dance and sing and write poetry about this great God. I want to tell the whole world!

Why? Because I’m “supposed” to delight in God and I need to work on that? No! It is because He is so wonderful, so delightful, so desirable. I think about that beautiful song that Larnelle Harris and Sandi Patty sang years ago, “More Than Wonderful”, which speaks of Jesus being more wonderful than our minds can conceive, more than our hearts can believe, beyond our highest hopes and fondest dreams, everything our souls have ever longed for and so much more. He’s more than wonderful.

Every true believer knows how beholding Him, experiencing Him, enjoying Him, brings deep satisfaction. There is nothing like a direct personal encounter with God! Every person who has directly experienced God in a deep and profound way is fundamentally altered and changed. It changes our direction, our passions, our seeking heart.

We seek Him not because the Bible says “seek the Lord.” We seek Him because He is so worth the seeking. We know Him because He is so worth the knowing. We love Him because He is so worth the loving—because He’s loving, wonderful, and good.

Psalm 34:8: “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” Taste and see—those are experiential things.

That is the great, powerful magnet and gravitational force that pulls us to His heart and away from ourselves, away from lust, pride, sinfulness, selfishness, and into His heart. We walk holy because a holy God has made us holy, and we delight in His holiness. As King David said in Psalm 27:4:

One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.”

Oh, the great wonder of delighting in a delightful God! Oh, the joy and satisfaction of desiring a desirable God!

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Whatever Happened to the Church?

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I remember as a brand new Christian at Penn State, reading through the book of Acts and being struck by something that troubled me deeply. I went to a fellow believer and asked: “Tim, whatever happened to the church?” When he realized I was talking about the early church in Acts, he chuckled with understanding. He knew exactly what I was talking about.

That was 44 years ago. Since then, I’ve witnessed too much Christianity that is simply powerless—bearing little resemblance to the supernatural, life-transforming Christianity we see in Acts.

The Day Everything Changed

On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were transformed. Acts 2:1-4 tells us:

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The result? Peter—no longer the fearful disciple who denied Jesus—preached with Holy Spirit power. Acts 2:41 tells us:

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”

One man preaching, 3,000 souls saved. This was God—the Holy Spirit on the move—and the result was supernatural.

The Life of the Real Church

But what happened after that glorious day reveals the essence of true church life. Acts 2:42-47 shows us:

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Notice the elements: apostolic teaching, genuine fellowship (koinonia), breaking bread together, prayers, and manywonders and signs. They lived life together, sharing with one another, eating “with gladness and simplicity of heart.” The result? “The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

The Heart’s Longing

This supernatural church life is what our hearts long for. The Bible speaks to this “together kind of life” in many “one another” verses:

  • Romans 12:10 (NKJV): “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.”
  • Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV): “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NKJV): “Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.”
  • Hebrews 3:13 (NKJV): “But exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

Hebrews 10:25 captures this longing:

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The Question Remains

So I return to that question from 44 years ago: “Whatever happened to the church?” The church, for the most part, is very far from this biblical model. Yet this is God’s ideal—what He intends His church to be.

The tragedy isn’t that we lack better programs or methods. The tragedy is that we’ve moved away from the simplicity and power of life in the Holy Spirit, from the centrality of Christ, from the supernatural community that flows from hearts transformed by grace.

Here’s the hope: God hasn’t changed. His Spirit is still the same. His Word is still powerful. Wherever believers gather hungry for Him rather than religious performance, this kind of church life can and will emerge.

The question isn’t really “Whatever happened to the church?” The question is: “Will we return to what the church is meant to be?”

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Obedience with Love vs. Loveless Obedience

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Yesterday, I heard an interview with the son of a famous Bible teacher, and he was reflecting on his father’s life. He made the point that his father was not just a man of belief—he was a man of conviction. Having seen his father’s ministry and public life, I would say that’s true. He obviously had clear convictions toward biblical truth, and that’s to be commended.

But to me, in my mind, it’s like… that’s fine, but it’s not nearly enough.

Jesus said in the Gospel of John, “If you love Me, you will obey Me” (John 14:15). Notice the beautiful assumption in Jesus’ words—He’s speaking to those who already do love Him. This isn’t meant to be a burden; it’s a promise about what naturally flows from a love relationship. When genuine love is present, obedience follows as surely as fruit comes from a healthy tree. There is something about obeying. But it is a problem to obey God without love. And I think this gets into at least some of the problems with the scribes, Pharisees, and teachers of the Law in Jesus’ time. They obeyed God—they tried to obey God as much as they could through the law—and they failed. In fact, they failed so spectacularly that when the Messiah Himself showed up, when Jesus came on the scene, they completely missed who He was. They didn’t understand that He was coming as the Son of God, in the image of the Father, as the long-awaited Messiah. But they plotted to kill Him, and succeeded in doing so.

There is a difference between obedience without love and obedience with love.

What would have made a difference in their lives if they had obedience with love? Well, when you have love, you’ve got relationship. In fact, you’ve got relationship to the highest degree. Think about what is communicated to us and revealed to us about the nature of God’s love. In 1 Corinthians 13, the great love chapter, we see a powerful picture of what God’s love is like. In Ephesians chapter 5, it says that Jesus has a relationship with His church like a bride, and He laid down His life for her, and that becomes an injunction or a model for husbands: “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and He laid down His life.”

So we see in the love relationship where there’s so much more that can be offered than in a relationship of mere obedience.

I think we have very little understanding of what was really going on in the minds of the Pharisees. We tend to nitpick on them and wag or shake our fingers at them, but we don’t understand the Pharisee in ourselves. We have to understand the universality of sin and the condition of sin that is throughout the whole human race, which is clearly and vividly portrayed in Romans chapter 1, beginning in verse 18, all the way through to Romans 3:20. That isn’t just the Pharisees and their condition that’s listed there in Romans—it is the condition of the entire fallen human race.

And so what was going on in the Pharisees’ lives was the problem of sin, the fundamental problem of sin in the human race, except it manifested itself in the lives of religious people, in the lives of people who I believe sincerely wanted to obey God. But they were so far from God, they didn’t have a relationship with God. They certainly didn’t love God.

How do we know that? Jesus said, “If you knew My Father, you would know Me” (John 8:19). Those who had a true relationship with God the Father—when the Messiah Jesus showed up, they recognized Him and they embraced Him and they believed Him.

There is a vast difference between obedience with love and loveless obedience. And that love and obedience working together is what Jesus shared with His disciples in the upper room in John chapters 13 through 17.

But here’s the beautiful truth that transforms everything: We love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). The source of our love isn’t something we manufacture or work up within ourselves—it flows from His love for us. This is the “God First” approach that changes everything. When we understand that He is the source of all love, all good gifts, all righteousness, then our obedience becomes the overflow of His love working in and through us (1 John 5:3).

Scripture tells us that “every good and perfect gift is from above, from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). Every good thing—including our love for Him, our desire to obey Him—comes from God Himself. He is the source. We are not trying to generate love or obedience from our own hearts; we are receiving His love and allowing it to flow through us in loving obedience.

This is what the Pharisees missed completely. They were trying to produce righteousness and obedience from their own resources, apart from relationship with the God who is the very source of all that is good (1 John 4:8). They had missed the heart of it all—that God is love, God is the giver of every good gift, and we come to Him not to perform but to receive.

The love of God is coupled with obedience. The obedience of God is coupled with the love of God. But it all begins with His love for us, His goodness toward us, His grace poured out upon us.

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picture of a young man (college age) reading the Bible at sunrise, looking up to heaven with a very peaceful and satisfied look on his face.

Three Undeniable Proofs of Perfect Sanctification Found in Hebrews Chapter 10

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Hebrews 10:5-7 says:

5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.'”

Here we read that the Lord Jesus Christ said that the Father prepared a body for Him.

So the body that the Lord Jesus Christ had when He was incarnate in this world—that perfect body—was prepared, not even by Himself, but by the Father Himself. The Father prepared Jesus’ body. Question number one: was that body imperfect for the accomplishing of the will of God in any way? No, if we say that that body was not perfect, then we are saying somehow the Father failed to prepare the perfect body that was necessary for the perfect sanctification of every believer.

Number two: if that’s the case, then the Lord Jesus Christ was lying because the Father hadn’t prepared His body. Now we have doubly accuse God, of wrong. No, that’s not the case. Our Father did it. He did indeed prepare the body of the Lord Jesus Christ—the perfect body necessary to be able to carry out the will of the Father.

Then it goes on in Hebrews chapter 10 to say that the Lord Jesus says this says, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” In fact it says that twice (verses 8 and 9), and then in Hebrews 10:10, that golden verse, it says:

10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Now the Greek perfect tense is used there for “sanctified,” and the Greek perfect tense means an action that is done once, never to be repeated again. It’s the exact opposite of the Greek continuous tense. So God, in the inspired Word of God, the Bible, selected—hand picked—the Greek perfect tense of “sanctify” to describe the extent and the completeness of our sanctification.

But even if you didn’t know about the Greek perfect tense, we still have the situation of the proofs: number one, of the body that the Father prepared for the Lord Jesus Christ to perfectly accomplish all for our justification, our redemption, our remission of sins and our complete and perfect sanctification. So He completed it. He finished it. He said, “I have come to do Your will, O God.”

And the connection to us is this: “by that will”—not your will, but by Jesus saying, “I have come Father to do Your will.” And He did do it as completely as the doing of everything that Jesus did to accomplish the Father’s will. And we can clearly see this all throughout the Gospels, particularly in the Gospel of John, where it says that Jesus came  to do what His Father was doing and say what His Father was saying:

John 5:19 (NKJV)

19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

John 12:49-50 (NKJV)

49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

So we see three forceful arguments for the completeness of our sanctification already accomplished  (not by us, but by The Lord Jesus Christ):

Number one: the body that was prepared by the Father, testifying to the completeness of what the Father did through The Lord Jesus. He truthfully testified that body was prepared by the Father.

Number two:  Second, Jesus comes and says, “Father, I have come to do Your will, O God”—stated twice so we would get it.

Number three: in verse 10, we’re told by that will—by Jesus’ will, which He did perfectly and completely when He accomplished what the Father wanted Him to do—by that will we have been sanctified (Greek perfect tense) by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

There you have it— three undeniable proofs that testify to the perfect sanctification that the believer lives in in:

Number one: the perfect body, the body that the Father prepared for the accomplishing of all.

Number two: Jesus coming to do the will of the Father.

Number three: the Greek perfect tense used for “sanctified”, telling of the completed, perfect accomplishment of everything that the Father wants through the Lord Jesus Christ, and by that will we have been—Greek perfect tense—sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.

Hallelujah! To God be the glory!

By “perfect sanctification” we are not saying (as some do) that believers are sinless. We are stating the Bible truth that God is the One who already and perfectly sanctified (set apart, made holy) the believer. When you understand that those in Christ are already perfectly sanctified, then you have the perfect basis for a holy walk with God. Paul makes that case clear in 1 Corinthians 6:11-20. the Bible nowhere teaches that sanctification is “process”, as is so often claimed. The biblical “process” is learning to walk as the holy people that we already are, because of what The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for us and God’s Grace.

You can  learn much more about the biblical reality of Perfect Sanctification by listening to my series Living in The Reality of Perfect Sanctification.

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Already Blessed!

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One of the most striking and glorious truths in all of the Bible is this: every single person who is in Christ is already blessed.

This is not theoretical. It’s not a future possibility or potential. It is present reality. We already possess the amazing riches drawn from the deep wells of God’s grace—supplied richly and fully in Christ. Colossians 2:9 says:

For in Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;

Bible-believing Christians say, “Amen” to that. Think of it: all of The Father and all of the Holy Spirit dwells IN CHRIST. Well, good for Jesus…. but what about us? Look at the next verse:

and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Those of us in Christ, by God’s Grace (1 Corinthians 1:30), are complete in Him. The Greek word means “to make something total or complete” [1]

We don’t have to go through life struggling, scraping by, barely surviving. We have a generous Father, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). These are not small blessings, nor are they occasional—they are abundant, heavenly, and ours right now.

He is the God who daily loads us with benefits (Psalm 68:19). And as Psalm 103:2 exhorts, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”

It is incredible to think that the starting point of the Christian life is not lack, but fullness. Not poverty, but abundance. Not waiting for blessing, but already being blessed beyond imagination.

This is not some vague “tomorrow” promise. It is a real possession today—and forever.

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 1:3 (NKJV)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

Psalm 68:19 (NKJV)

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Selah”

Psalm 103:2 (NKJV)

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”

Prayer

Father,

Thank You for the overwhelming truth that in Christ I am already blessed—fully, richly, and eternally. Open the eyes of my heart to see all that You’ve given me in Your grace. Help me to live not as one in lack, but as one filled with the abundance of Your life and love. Teach me to trust, to rejoice, and to walk in the full provision that is mine in Christ.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[1]  Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 597.

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God’s Use of the Word “Grace” is Not What You Think

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The word “Grace” is used frequently in Christian sermons, books, podcasts, etc. However, many times this word is used in a way that God does not use it. Which means we are communicating something incorrect when we use the word “Grace” in a Christian context. The result of such incorrect usage of the word “Grace” in the church has resulted in a lot of “grace confusion”.

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Tetelestai: All is Completely Fulfilled, FOREVER!

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What was Jesus’ last word, uttered as He gave His last breath at the Cross? We read about it in The Bible:

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:30)

In your mind, transport yourself back in time, to Jerusalem, circa 33 AD, at Mount Calvary. You’re in the crowd, watching as Jesus was crucified. Jesus’s last word was not “it is finished”, because the English language did exist yet. Jesus’ last word that you would have heard that day was the incredibly amazing Greek word:

What does “tetelestai”, mean? It is a form of the Greek root word, “teleo” which means, “to fulfil, to accomplish”. But what is so striking is that tetelestai is the word “teleo” in the perfect tense of the verb.

The perfect tense signifies that an action has been completed once, with results for all time. It is the exact opposite of the continuous tense, which signifies an action carried out continuously, without an end.

For instance, a man and wife get married on one specific day, at one specific time. Ever since that one day, that couple has been married ever since. Do they need to keep getting married over and over again to stay married? No. That one act, performed at one time results in being in that state from then on. That’s the perfect tense of “to marry”. Contrast that with the continuous tense of a verb. For instance, I need to brush and floss my teeth daily to keep them in a state of being clean. This is certainly not perfect tense, which would mean I would just have to brush and floss once and they are clean from that time on (though I wish that was the case!)

When Jesus uttered that glorious word, “tetelestai” from the cross, He used the perfect, not continuous tense of the word teleo, (to complete or fulfill). And what did Jesus’ last word tetelestai mean for us?

ALL is completely fulfilled… FOREVER!

And this powerful truth gloriously borne out throughout the book of Hebrews, particularly in chapter 10:

5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:

    “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
    But a body You have prepared for Me.
    6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
    You had no pleasure.
    7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
    In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
    To do Your will, O God.’ ”


8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Heb 10:5–10.

Jesus’ telestai fulfilled so many things. Hebrews goes into the depths of this. (To learn more, listen to my series, Hebrews: the Glory of the New Covenant). In addition, Jesus’ telestai also completely fulfilled what He said in Matthew 5:17-18

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

I used to think (like many Christians do) that what Jesus meant when He said, “till all is fulfilled” meant some time way in the distant future. But that is not true. Remember, the Bible is the best interpreter of itself. Too many Christians disregard Jesus’ perfect, finished work (expressed as “tetelestai”) when interpreting scripture. This is a fatal flaw. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”

The Lord Jesus Christ, in all of His perfection, perfectly satisfied the demands of perfect righteousness, perfectly obeying His Father perfectly fulfilling all the prophecies and perfectly settling the Law… forever. He didn’t destroy the law, He perfectly fulfilled it! Hebrews 10:9 says, “then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second.”

Remember TETELESTAI:
ALL is completely fulfilled… FOREVER!

Dear Christian, your Christian life begins with the reality and totality of Christ’s tetelestai for you! That’s because:

But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6)

(Photo by Gustavo Moreno on Unsplash)

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The Blessedness of a Blessing God!

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Psalm 103:1–5 (NKJV):

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Verse 1 explodes with blessing, worship, praise and adoration to our wonderful, blessing God!

Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! And this blessing and worship of God is not without reason or cause, verse 2:

Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits

And now those incredible, life-transforming benefits that are given to us by God who is good and loving (notice the couplets):

  • 3a Who forgives all your iniquities,
    • 3b Who heals all your diseases,

  • 4a Who redeems your life from destruction,
    • 4b Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

  • 5Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
    • 5b So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

And I am the recipient of such blessings!

Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
God has forgiven all my many iniquities! All because of what Christ did for me through His life of total obedience to the Father, all the way to death on the cross (Philippians 2:8, Hebrews 10:1-10).

God has healed me of cancer, of COVID-19 (twice), of many ills in my body and soul!

Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.

God has intervened thousands of times to redeem (rescue and buy back) my life from destruction! JESUS is my Kinsman-Redeemer! He has “delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col 2:13-14). I have even been rescued from the bullets of a gunman who came to our workplace and shot at brave police officers who were there to protect us and many others!

Not only does God lift me, redeem me and rescue me from destruction, He also “crowns me with lovingkindness and tender mercies!”

Oh, how I love that Hebrew word for “lovingkindness”: hesed! This incredible word is power-packed with God’s love toward me: a faithful and strong kind of covenant-keeping Love! This was the hallmark of King David’s life. No one else in scripture mentioned God’s hesed love more than David! I believe that God’s hesed was truly the secret behind David’s success! And God’s hesed, faithful, strong, covenant Love is also the secret behind my success!

Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

No one and no thing can satisfy the thirst, hunger and desires of our life like God Himself! No one and no thing! I’m so glad that God has created us for enjoyment, satisfaction and pleasure… and the greatest enjoyment and pleasure of our lives is God Himself!

You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)

God is no “kill joy”. He is he architect of satisfaction and pleasure. Truly, there is no greater satisfaction and pleasure for spirit, soul and body than God Himself!

“So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s”

Even though I am in my 60’s, I take no heed to what the world says about “aging”. But I sure pay a lot of attention to what God says! He says that He renews my youth like the eagle’s! Soaring high above the dangers and problems below, lofted by His glorious presence!

As I feed and delight in God… He renews my youth!

And the wonderful thing is, I am living forever, thanks to what The Lord Jesus Christ has done for me! His life and blood spent for me! Such Love, such Love, such wondrous Love!

How I praise Him for how good He is, how loving He is, how faithful, strong, wise, forgiving, healing, redeeming, crowning, satisfying and renewing He really is!

Oh, my heart and my soul want to explode and say:

Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:

(c) 2022, Mark D. VanOuse

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We Will Never Plumb the Depths of God’s Love in All Eternity

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Ephesians 2:7 (NKJV)
[7] that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Jamieson Faucett & Brown in their commentary* observe:
Ephesians 2:7 answers the question of why God lavished such love upon his people: so that they will marvel for all of eternity over the incredible kindness and love of God. It will take all of eternity to fathom God’s love, and those who are saved will never plumb the depths of it.

The thought that “It will take all of eternity to fathom God’s love, and those who are saved will never plumb the depths of it” is so powerfully touching my heart.

In this world, all we know is limited supply. Eventually, we will run to the end of everything: money, time, resources, energy, pleasure, satisfaction, peace, safety, health, life — even human love.

Yet for all eternity we will never exhaust the Love of God! There will be new (to us) depths and places in His love that we will endlessly discover for all eternity! Think of that! Oh, the constant satisfaction! Oh, the constant delight and pleasure! Oh, the wonder of real, unfailing Love!

The one thing the world over seeks is this Love…. eternal Love…. forever Love.vYet we foolishly seek love elsewhere…

“For My people have committed two evils:They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)

A catch basin, that’s all it is — and a broken one at that!
Yet He is the Living Water (John 4). His Love is an everlasting Love fit for all eternity. From this moment to eternity, His Love will always satisfy us with delight, wonder and discovery!

His great, conquering Love brought us from the depths of of sinfulness — objects of His wrath — to being “seated together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6)!

* Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown 1871

Photo by Mike Enerio on Unsplash

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