Theme – Since Yahweh “searches” everything and intimately “knows” everything,
including the thoughts and intentions of the heart and mind, how then are we to
live? The answer is in the way/path that is everlasting. We are to live in our
heart, mind, words and actions in light of eternity.
Structure - Yahweh is omniscient - 139:1-6. Yahweh is omnipresent - 139:7-12. Yahweh is omnipotent over all things - 139:13-18. Reflections on the eternal consequences for every person in light of the nature and character of Yahweh.
Application of Psalm 139 to Contemporary Life
A 42 year old mother of four in our church
suddenly died. The kids are asking, why? We have many people in our church
struggling to find work and not knowing if they will be able to afford housing.
Many within our church ask why. Why did life have to be so bad for them? Why
did they get cancer? Why does it seem like the evil people triumph and good
people get shafted? Why do kids raised in godly homes rebel and grieve their
parents? Where is this all-powerful God who is supposed to be a God of love?
Doesn’t He care? Can’t He respond?
Psalm 139:1-12 – Psalm 139 (and the
book of Psalms generally) helps the pursuer of Yahweh, the follower of Jesus
the Messiah, answer these universal questions. There is nothing in or about my
life that Yahweh does not know. He knows exactly what I am doing, what I am
thinking, the desires of my heart. He knows my words before I speak them. I
cannot escape His knowledge about me. If Yahweh is good, if He loves me with a
covenant love that never stops, if He knows what is best for my life, if He has
the power to do what is exactly right in my life, then I can trust Him in all
circumstances. I never have to fear that Yahweh forgot about me or stopped
caring about me or lost the power to intervene in my life as is best for my
good and His glory.
In
my despair, if I were to sink into the deepest, darkest pit of grief, Yahweh
would still be there. In my joy, if I were to ascend to the highest of praise
and feel like I could fly, Yahweh would still be there. For the daughter whose
believing mother has died young, she can be certain that Yahweh is still with
her mother, that the soul of her mother continues to be surrounded by the love
of Yahweh for her. She can be certain that her believing mother is in heaven
with Yahweh, more alive in the presence of Yahweh than ever before. She is now
part of the great cloud of witnesses, in the joyous company of Jesus Christ,
rooting on her daughter. (Heb. 12:1-3.)
As
I write this, my son has flown to the other side of the world, the Republic of
Georgia, to teach English. I can be confident that as he has taken the wings of
the morning (139:9) to the far side of the earth that Yahweh is there, in all
of His knowledge and power and plan for my son’s life. As my friend’s son is
away at sea with the Coast Guard for long stretches of time, we know that even
there Yahweh’s hand shall lead him and His right hand will uphold him (139:10).
As
persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ are in the dark prisons of oppressive
nations, even there the darkness is not dark to Yahweh, but the prisons are as
bright as day to Him (139:12). He sees everything and is ever-present with His
saints.
As
we become consistently conscious of the presence of Yahweh around us, that
affects how we live. It is difficult to deliberately sin, to deliberately do
what grieves and offends Yahweh when I am conscious of His presence. When I am
consistently conscious of His presence, I want to please Him (2 Cor. 5:9; 1
Thes. 2:4) and become like Him (Phil. 3:10; 1 Jn. 3:2).
Psalm 139:13-17 – When Nick Vujicic was
born without arms or legs, his pastor father and godly mother could have been
in despair, wondering where Yahweh is in such a tragedy. Instead, they embraced
the truth that their son is fearfully and wonderfully made (139:13) by a loving
Heavenly Father who had a special plan for his life. Today, Nick travels the
world as an evangelist, giving a powerful testimony of the joy of Yahweh in his
life. He has shared Christ with millions of people and seen hundreds of thousands
of people surrender their lives to Jesus as Messiah. He is now married and his
wife is expecting their first child, who is also fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wow! Wonderful are Yahweh’s works! (139:14.)
Paul
says that we are Yahweh’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works
that God prepared for us ahead of time so that we would walk in Yahweh’s plan
for us. (Eph. 2:10.) Paul seems to be echoing 139:15-16. Our bodies, in fact
every facet of our lives, were intricately embroidered together before birth by
Yahweh. He saw the unformed substance of our lives before we were born. Every
day of our lives was written out by the all-knowing, ever-present, all-powerful
Yahweh before our birth. Ephesians 1:4-5 says that before the foundation of the
world, in love for us He predestined us to adoption as His children according
to the purposes of His will.
I know a family whose 21 year old son was home from
college for Christmas and suffered a tragic accident that broke his neck,
leaving him a quadriplegic. He was bright and athletic and had the world at his
fingertips. Now, he is dependent on a respirator and a full-time caregiver. They
can be certain that this is part of the masterpiece plan of Yahweh, that this will
give this young man the opportunity to affirm the glory and grace and goodness
of Yahweh even out of his own tragedy and pain. Yahweh did not make a mistake,
He did not forget, He is present and at work in His power for the good of His
children. How many will come to Christ because of the testimony of this young
man? Will he see God’s purpose and goodness in the midst of his agony? Will
others see Yahweh’s work in his live and give Yahweh the glory? The Scriptures
help us see all of life as a win-win situation. Every situation is an
opportunity to glorify God. The unbeliever and the evil man has no such hope. There
is only despair, hopeless purposelessness and eventual wrathful judgment for
the enemy of Yahweh.
Yahweh is not bound by space and time and can give
every person (past, present and future) His full, undivided attention. His
thoughts toward us, and His instruction for us, and His plans for us, are vast
and immeasurable. Even when one of His children sleeps in death, they have
assurance of awaking in His presence. (139:18.) To be absent from the body is
to be present with Yahweh. (2 Cor. 5:6-8.) Thus, we do not have to fear death,
because Yahweh will never leave us or forsake us. (Heb. 13:5.)
Psalm
139:19-22 – While we are in this
world, we are surrounded by wicked people, violent people, people whose every
intent is malicious, who hate Yahweh and who are committed to rebellion against
Yahweh and hatred of His saints. What is the appropriate response to such
people? The natural and normal response is to hate such conduct and such
people. Anyone who does not feel hatred toward the child-molester is calloused,
in denial or evil.[1] The psalmist
clearly and repeatedly affirms hatred for evil and the wicked.
How does that translate for new covenant saints who
are told to bless those who persecute them and never to repay evil or take
vengeance, but to leave room for the wrath of God? The saint is called to do
good to bad people. (Rom. 12:41-21.) Is there a conflict between the
imprecations of the psalmist and the call of the new covenant saint? In fact,
the dissonance/turbulence of 139:19-22 may mean that it is an especially
important part of this otherwise superlatively positive psalm.
There is consistency between the imprecation of these
verses and the instructions for the new covenant believer. Specifically, the
imprecation is for Yahweh, not the psalmist, to act in judgment on the wicked.
Jesus repeatedly says that judgment will come at the end of the age, that every
person will stand before Yahweh and give an account of their lives, that Yahweh
will separate the goats from the sheep and the grain from the weeds, and that an
eternal judgment of torment will await the wicked.[2]
Yahweh and His Messiah will judge with terror and finality.
At this point, we are incapable of rendering final
judgment. We know that evil must be punished in this world, but we don’t know
about the souls of men and which souls Yahweh has chosen to rescue from their
depravity. Which of us would have known that Yahweh would call David Berkovitz,
the Son of Sam serial killer, to be a saint? Which of us would have known that
Yahweh would call Ted Bundy, another serial killer to repent and confess Jesus
Christ as Lord? And none of us would have imagined that Yahweh would redeem
Jeffrey Dahmer, the depraved man who lured, killed and ate his young victims.
What kind of God redeems people like that? All three men were justly convicted
and sentenced for their crimes, but the ultimate judgment before Yahweh was
taken for them by the suffering and death of the Messiah. He took their
abominable sins on Himself at the cross, enabling these men to give testimony
to the unbelievable mercy and grace of Yahweh toward them.
So, as we live in this present world, what is our
attitude to be toward the evil and the wicked? First, we cannot set up an image
of Yahweh’s love that fits our own paradigm and then filter all of Scripture
through that paradigm. The passivist who believes that a loving God will never
punish evil or sin, but will instead allow the unrepentant guilty to go
unpunished and enjoy the blessing of heaven, has created his own filter that
recreates Yahweh in his own image. Even as the suffering servant Messiah who commended
His disciples to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them
(Matt. 5:44-48), Jesus did not hesitate to condemn evil, rebuke the wicked in
the harshest possible terms, and remind everyone of the coming and eternal
judgment on all those who fail to trust Him.[3]
Loving
wicked people does not mean ignoring or condoning evil.[4]
Civilized governments must punish criminal activity. Churches must punish evil
activity by professing believers. However, the ultimate mercy or judgment is up
to Yahweh, not us to render. Only Yahweh knows those who are His. (2 Tim.
2:19.) The Messiah is waiting to return in judgment, because He does not want
any to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance – even the especially
evil people. (2 Pet. 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4, Rom. 2:4; 1 John 2:2.) As the Savior of
the world, who took the sin of evil people on Himself, and Who loved us even
when we were His enemies, the Messiah is entitled to patiently wait for people
to be saved before coming to render judgment on the unrepentant. In the
meantime, we are called to snatch people from the fire, that they might be
redeemed and purified, exchanging their filthy, reeking rags for pure white
robes. (Jude 1:23.)
Jude
1:23 is perhaps the best summary of our attitude, which is to hate the filth
and the evil, but to do our best to rescue evil people before the flames of
hell consume them. We are called to see every person, no matter how evil, for
what they could be if they were transformed by Jesus Christ. This is impossible
in our flesh, but with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, we can live
out Jude 1:23 with a view to what evil people can become in Christ, while not
forsaking the warnings of the coming judgment against all who refuse to repent
and believe.[5]
Conclusion
– Psalm 139:23-24 – We come now to
the last two verses of Psalm 139. Do I really want Almighty Yahweh, who will
judge the living and the dead for eternity, who can crush me at will or rescue
and bless me, to know my heart and my thoughts? Certainly not in my flesh,
certainly not in my wickedness, certainly not in my unredeemed man. However,
the Messiah has redeemed and ransomed my heart and mind from the dominion of
darkness and from the prince of the power of this world system (Eph. 2:1-3;
Col. 2:15) so that I am now free to choose what is good and holy and loving and
kind and to reflect the fruit of the Spirit in my life.[6]
Since Christ is in me, I have the hope of glory (Col. 1:27) and ready access to
Yahweh’s throne of grace (Heb. 4:14-16). I am empowered to put off evil from my
mind and heart and to put on the righteousness of Christ. (Gal. 5:16-26; Eph.
4:25-6:9; Col. 3:1-4:1.) As such a saint, transformed, redeemed and made holy
and righteous by Jesus, I can know that Yahweh will not find a grievous or evil
way in me, because He will see the righteousness of Jesus instead. Therefore, I
will not fear the judgment that will eternally afflict the wicked, but I will
instead look forward to the way of Yahweh that is everlasting.
In
anticipation of the culmination of the way everlasting, C.S. Lewis, in The Last
Battle, gives us a picture of the joy and enthusiasm and thrill of our final
entry into the glory of God in that way everlasting:
“I
have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the
land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till
now...Come further up, come further in! . . . But for them it was only the
beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their
adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last
they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has
read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one
before.”
For
each of us who profess to follow Jesus, we should look forward to the
culmination of that everlasting way. As long as we are on this earth, we are to
be calling others to that way and reminding one another of that way, so that
our priorities will be right, our fears will be abated, and our hope will never
be quenched.[7]
We are to be convinced that nothing in either the spiritual or physical world
will ever be able to separate us from the love of Yahweh that is found in Jesus
our Messiah. (Rom. 8:35-39.) As we live in light of eternity, in light of the
things and people that will last forever, we are given over to the things that
glorify God. We have a win-win attitude (Phil. 1:18-30), and others see in us
the light and glory of the eternal Messiah.
[NOTE: The following is a more technical and detailed look at Psalm 139]
Stanza by
Stanza Evaluation of the Psalm – In
keeping with my Western Seminary course on the Psalms, I include a paragraph on each stanza that
evaluates the verses as if they are in some way about the coming Messiah.
139:1-6: The first line of the first stanza is the thematic
statement of the Psalm – Yahweh searches and knows the psalmist (and every
person), from Yahweh’s position of knowledge before the psalmist was born (cf.
v. 16), Yahweh has already done this before he was formed in his mother’s womb.
The first stanza reflects on Yahweh’s omniscience. He searches and knows[1]
everything about the psalmist, including what the psalmist does, thinks, is going
to do, and is going to say. He intimately knows the psalmist’s past, present
and future. The psalmist is blown away by the extent of Yahweh’s intimate
knowledge. It is more than the psalmist’s mind can comprehend.
Waltke interprets v. 5 as a forceful and even hostile
hemming in and pushing down of the Psalmist by Yahweh.[2]
The ESV Study Bible, however, interprets this as a gentle and reassuring
gesture, pointing out that the same phrase is used in Gen. 48:14, 17 in a
gentle way. The impression given is that God’s knowledge is all-encompassing,
like a hand that is hemming the psalmist in regardless of which direction he
turns. This understanding of Yahweh’s everpresent omniscience causes the
psalmist to be thrilled with this characteristic of Yahweh – it is both
wonderful and mind-blowing.
Other passages in the TaNaK that describe Yahweh as
searching and knowing include Job. 10:6; Jer. 17:10, 1 Chron. 28:9 and Ps. 17:3
and 44:21. Job 10 echoes similar ideas as Psalm 139, including a detailed
description of how God formed Job. Job is conscious of the detailed plan and
knowledge of God about his life. One wonders if the psalmist was reflecting on
these words of Job when Psalm 139 was written. David passed the lesson of Psalm
139 onto his son, Solomon, in 1 Chron. 28:9: “the LORD searches all hearts and
understands every plan and thought.” Psalm 44:1 affirms that Yahweh “knows the
secrets of the heart.”[3]
This idea of Yahweh judging the thoughts and intentions of the heart is applied
to the work of the Messiah in 1 Cor. 4:5 (at Jesus’ second coming) and Heb.
4:12 (a work of the Word of God as a person).
For the wicked man, if he were to contemplate
Yahweh’s intimate knowledge of all of his thoughts and ways, he may be
convicted to seek the way everlasting. For the follower of Yahweh, the
knowledge of Yahweh is humbling, because it comes with the realization that
Yahweh has accepted and redeemed him despite his unworthiness. For the follower
of Jesus, there is the realization that Yahweh’s intimate knowledge of him is a
knowledge of the purity and righteousness of Jesus in him. This raises the
question of how well followers of Jesus know who they are (their identity) in Yahweh’s
sight. Yahweh’s knowledge of followers of Jesus is wonderful because of their
re-creation/rebirth in the image of Jesus.
From a Messianic perspective, the first stanza may be
viewed as describing the incredibly close relationship between Yahweh and
Messiah. As Jesus told Philip in John 14:9, “whoever has seen me has seen the
Father.” From what we know about Jesus, however, the last verse of the first
stanza is not true of Jesus, because he did comprehend the knowledge of the
Father about the Son.[4] This instead
seems to be a description of David and anyone who is seeking “the way
everlasting.” While Yahweh’s omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence applies
to everyone, it is the wise one who seeks the way everlasting. That way is
ultimately found in the Messiah, the Lord of David – Ps. 110:1.
139:7-12: The second stanza follows up on v. 5, which said that Yahweh
hems him in on all sides and His hand is upon the psalmist. This stanza begins
with two parallel questions that make Yahweh’s Spirit and His presence
synonymous – Yahweh is omnipresent through the Spirit and where the Spirit is
present, Yahweh is present. The psalmist reflects on Yahweh’s omnipresence, evaluating
whether there is any escape. If the psalmist were to try to flee from Yahweh’s
presence, where could he go? In every part of the physical or spiritual world, Yahweh
is there, including in Sheol, the place of the dead, and heaven, the place of
Yahweh and the angels. Even the deepest darkness is not a hiding place from the
presence of Yahweh, because the deepest darkness is as bright as day to Yahweh.
The same hand that surrounded the psalmist in vs. 5 is now leading and
upholding the psalmist in vs. 10.
In
Genesis, rebels tried unsuccessfully to hide or flee from the presence of
Yahweh. (Adam, Eve, Cain.) Evil people will try to hide from the presence of
Yahweh in the last day. (Hosea 10:8, Luke 23:30, Rev. 6:16.) The implication is
that since a person cannot hide from the presence of Yahweh, every person
should become a follower of Yahweh and enjoy the presence of Yahweh, or the
wrath of Yahweh will prevail on that person.
Psalm
139:7 is only one of four verses in Psalms that mention the Holy Spirit. (See
Ps. 51:11, 104:30, 143:10.) From a Messianic perspective, the Spirit’s
connection with the Messiah is undeniable. The Spirit’s anointing and
empowerment and presence were evident in everything that Jesus did. When Jesus
briefly made his bed in Sheol, the Spirit was there with Him. When he ascended
to heaven, the Spirit was there with Him. There is no place that Jesus went or
could go without the Spirit’s presence.
For followers of Jesus Christ who have been given the
Holy Spirit as the deposit or seal of salvation, the same is true of them. While
the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, there is a special presence of the Holy Spirit
on and within the believer.
139:13-18: The third stanza explains the reason for Yahweh’s intimate
knowledge of the psalmist. This is a reflection on Yahweh’s omnipotence. Yahweh
formed the psalmist’s body within his mother’s womb. Yahweh intricately wove
together every aspect of the psalmist’s body and soul in a wonderful and
awesome way. Before the psalmist was born, Yahweh saw and recorded every aspect
of his life. Thus, Yahweh’s omniscience is not just of the present and past,
but also every detail of the future as if it were the present. This seems to go
beyond foreknowledge to fore-planning the life of the psalmist, with the power
to carry out the details of the plan.
The
psalmist concludes the stanza by reflecting on how Yahweh has devoted thoughts
to him, in order to plan and purpose his life. This causes the psalmist to
praise the precious and attentive immensity of Yahweh’s thoughts and knowledge.
Yahweh’s thoughts and plans and power are beyond comprehension. The psalmist
knows that when he awakes (from sleep or from death), Yahweh will still be with
him. No spiritual or physical power or realm can separate the psalmist from the
presence and love of Yahweh. (Cf. Rom. 8:35-39.)
The
verses of this stanza may be applied to the Messiah, whom Yahweh knew
intimately and uniquely before He was formed in his mother’s womb. Messiah,
more than anyone else, was “fearfully and wonderfully” formed in His mother’s
womb through the work of the same Holy Spirit mentioned in vs. 7-12. In other
words, there is a natural sequence to go from the omnipresence of the Spirit to
the work of the Spirit in effecting conception in a virgin for the purpose of
fearfully and wonderfully forming the Messiah, who was know by Yahweh and was
eternally with Yahweh before His birth. No life was better planned or planned
in greater detail by Yahweh than that of the Messiah. Certainly, Yahweh’s
thoughts were constantly on the Messiah, precious, vast, unmeasureable
thoughts. When the Messiah awoke, Yahweh was still present with Him.
139:19-24: The fourth stanza starts with imprecations against the
wicked, malicious men of blood who hate Yahweh. This seems to be a sudden,
radical jump in thought from the eternal preciousness of God’s thoughts to the
psalmist to imprecations against the wicked. This is a point of violent
dissonance in the psalm. The reader is forced to full alertness. The psalmist
hates such men and asks for God’s judgment upon them, because they are
dedicated enemies of Yahweh. Such men seem to surround the psalmist, because he
asks that they depart from him. The fact that such men take Yahweh’s name in
vain suggests that they pay lip service to Yahweh while having a malicious
intent. The psalmist’s hatred for such men is apparently beyond normal hatred,
but is “complete hatred.” They are the psalmist’s enemies as well as enemies of
Yahweh. If the Psalms as a whole can be seen as a journey of the followers of
Yahweh over time until the coming of the Messiah, when there will only be
praise and thanksgiving in all of creation (Ps. 146-150), these imprecations
late in the Psalms are a reminder that evil people will continue to harass the
people of Yahweh until the Messiah comes.
The
Messiah was certainly surrounded by such men and such men took His life. As the
Messiah told His followers, if they hated Him then His followers will also be
hated. (Matt. 10:22, 24:9; Luke 21:17; John 15:18, 24-25, 17:14.) Thus, Yahweh,
Messiah and Messiah’s followers, as well as the psalmist, have this in common –
they are all hated by evil people. For the psalmist, the acceptable response is
to hate those who hate Yahweh and Messiah. Jude devotes most of his epistle to
such people. Jesus commended the Ephesian church for hating the works of the
Nicolatians (Rev. 2:6) and he condemned the churches that tolerated the
Nicolatians (Rev. 2:15) and Jezebel (Rev. 2:20). Echoing Ps. 139, Jesus told
the church at Thyatira that He is the One who searches the mind and heart.
(Rev. 2:23.) The issue of hating enemies vs. loving enemies will be discussed
further in the application discussion below.
The psalmist concludes with an invitation for Yahweh
to search and know his heart and thoughts for the purpose of determining if
there is any sin in his life and in order that the psalmist might be led in the
way/path that is everlasting – the path that leads to eternal life. This is
apparently echoed in Jeremiah 16:16, where Yahweh says, “Stand by the roads,
and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.” The phrase translated “way everlasting” is
alternatively rendered, “in the ancient way.” The ancient way or way
everlasting is the good way, the way that brings peaceful rest for the soul, as
opposed to torment of the soul for enemies of Yahweh.
The Messiah is the way everlasting. He is the ancient way that is
charted through the Torah and the
prophets and the writings. (Luke 24:27, 44-45.) Jesus said, “I am the way, and the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John
14:6.) Thus, the ancient way and the new covenant way are one and the same –
faith in the Messiah is the way to the Father. Obviously, no mere mortals can
stand the test of the thoughts and intentions of the heart, of the “grievous
way,” except as they have been cleansed and purified by faith in the Messiah.
(Rom. 3:23, 28, 30; Eph. 2:1-9.) Thus, the psalmist is either a person who has
been purified by faith in the Messiah and Messiah’s Torah, or he is the Messiah.
Footnotes from the second part (stanza by stanza) of the discussion above:
[1] Waltke’s
translation uses “search” and “know” in the ongoing present tense, not in the
past tense. (Id., at p. 534, fn. 55.) Cf. the ESV, “searched” and “known me.”
[2] Id., at p.
549.
[3] We may
compare the various passages that state that the eyes of Yahweh search the
earth for those whose hearts are His. 2 Chron. 16:9; Prov. 5:21, 15:3; 1 Pet.
3:12.
[4] Alternatively,
perhaps the first three stanzas can be seen as focusing on the omniscience of
the Father, the omnipresence of the Spirit, and on forming of the Son in human
form. In that reading, the declaration in vs. 16 that Yahweh saw the Son’s
unformed substance would describe Yahweh’s pre-incarnation relationship with
the Son.
Footnotes from the first part (the application) of the discussion above:
[1] Is there
anything worse than an unrepentant child molester? Jesus said it would be
BETTER for such a person if a millstone were hung around their neck and they
were thrown into the deepest sea, than what awaits them at the judgment. See
Matt. 18:6, Luke 17:2.
[2] Matt. 13:30,
25:31-46; Heb. 9:27-28, 10:27; Rev. 20:12, 15.
[3] I am struck
by the harshness of Jesus’ direct, face to face condemnation of the Pharisees.
Whatever He meant by loving enemies did not include refraining from condemning
evil people. Perhaps this is due to His unique position as Messiah and as the
only man capable of rendering perfect judgment. Thus, given Jesus’ uniqueness,
perhaps this is a case of do as I say, not as I do. Jesus’ condemnation of
Judas and the cities of northern Galilee that failed to believe Him was equally
strong.
[4] See Jude. Jesus
commended the Ephesian church for hating the works of the Nicolatians (Rev.
2:6) and he condemned the churches that tolerated the Nicolatians (Rev. 2:15)
and Jezebel (Rev. 2:20). Jesus said that the unrepentant man was to be treated
as an unbeliever. (Matt. 18:17.) Paul admonished the church to remove the
unrepentant evil person from their midst. (1 Cor. 5.) Self-centered liars were
struck dead by the Spirit of the Lord. (Acts 5:1-11.) There are many other
examples. The Messiah clearly cares about the purity and passion of His church
for righteousness and against evil.
[5] I have heard
my own pastor say that we can’t hate the sin and love the sinner, we just have
to love the sinner. That, however, is inconsistent with the passages in fn. 10,
and elsewhere, and is certainly inconsistent with Jude 1:23.
[6] John 8:32;
Rom. 6:7, 18, 22, 8:2; Gal. 5:1.
[7] Heb. 3:13,
6:9-12, 17-20, 7:25, 10:24-25, 35-39, 11:1, 6, 16, 40, 12:1-3, 28, 13:15,
20-21.