Although most Christians are familiar with the Great Commission scriptures of the New Testament – passages like Mark 16:15 and Acts 1:8 that lay out the gospel purpose and calling of the people of God –  we are often not as familiar with the “Great Commission” verses of the Old Testament.  The most important of those passages is found in the book of Isaiah:

“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.  Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed … You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.”   (Isaiah 43:10–12)

The context of these verses is a legal one: God brings a charge against those who refuse to acknowledge Him (verses 8-9) and calls His people as witnesses to His existence, saving work, and nature (verses 10-13).  While the immediate fulfillment of these verses applied to the people of ancient Israel, it is clear Israel failed in this commission (verses 26-28). It is also clear that the passage has a broader application to the people of God in a later age. In fact, just a few verses after stating His commission, Isaiah records God’s promise: “I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants” (Isaiah 44:3), signifying the spiritual Israel (Galatians 6:16)  that would take up the commission – as was also foretold by the prophet Joel and cited by Peter at the foundation of the New Testament church (Acts 2:17).  

Isaiah’s Great Commission passage not only makes it clear that God’s people were to serve as witnesses on His behalf, but it also shows what the message of that witness was to be. Through Isaiah, God summarized that message in a particularly powerful way: “I, even I, am the LORD … I have revealed and saved and proclaimed … you are my witnesses” (Isaiah 43:12). The three things that God emphasizes in this passage were to be the very core of his people’s identity as witnesses  – the truth of God’s existence, the offer of his salvation, and the proclamation of his righteous nature and way of life. 

This “Great Commission” of the Old Testament becomes, of course, the Great Commission of the New – summarized in Jesus’ final words to His disciples before his ascension: “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”  (Acts 1:8). And when we look beneath the surface, there are a number of specific similarities between Isaiah’s Great Commission message and that of the New Testament. For instance, through Isaiah God says “… I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me” (Isaiah 43:10). The words “I am he” are the identical words Jesus declares of Himself in John 8:24 and 13:19 (KJV, NKJV, ESV, CSB, and most other translations) and that are found in the Greek Septuagint translation of Isaiah 43:10.

When the apostle Paul summarized the Christian message, he wrote: “the gospel … is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last” (Romans 1:16-17). This is the same message of God’s existence (“the power of God”), the salvation of His people (“salvation to everyone who believes”) and God’s nature and way of life (the righteousness of God). 

Ultimately, the New Testament witness message is no different from that found in Isaiah – we are instructed to witness to the Son of God’s existence, the salvation that comes through him, and the proclamation of His nature and the way of life He commands.  There is no essential difference because God desires now, just as He did then, for “all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). That is the Great Commission given to the people of the gospel – both then and now.

As he closes his magnificent epistle to the church in Rome, the apostle Paul sends greetings to a number of his friends, co-workers, and acquaintances in the city. The list, given in Romans 16:1-16,  is extensive –  almost thirty individuals are mentioned as well as several groups of people – and nowhere else in Paul’s letters do we find such a long catalog of names.   As we read Romans today it is very easy to skim-read this list, noting the few names we may recognize and then finishing the epistle.  But there is more to the list than immediately meets the eye, and like everything in Paul’s writings, we can learn from it.  

First, of course, we see in this long list of individuals the degree to which Paul truly loved the church – knowing, remembering, and greeting a large number of people in a city he did not even personally know. Because of his constant travel and evangelization Paul must have met a great number of people, and it is impressive that he remembered not only the names of many of the people on his list, but also  their individual qualities.

We also see in Paul’s list his warm acceptance of all Christians – regardless of race, gender, social position, or any other consideration. The majority of the individuals mentioned in his list have Gentile names, and a large proportion are the names of slaves or  former slaves who had been freed.  Such were Tertius (verse 22) and Quartus (verse 24) whose names mean simply “Third” and “Fourth,” as they were probably minor slaves in someone’s household and simply given numbers as names, as was often the case.  These individuals were not even the “First” or “Second” slaves, making them truly socially insignificant in that culture; but Paul treated them, as he did every believer, with full equality and love. In fact, Paul mentions Quartus in the same breath as Erastus, the influential and important Corinthian director of public works (verse 23).  

Looking at what Paul says about all these people is particularly instructive. Phoebe, who is mentioned first in Romans 16:1-2, was evidently the person who delivered Paul’s letter to Rome, and the apostle’s greetings actually begin after she is mentioned.  Paul then specifically greets some twenty-eight individuals. Rather than just being an extensive list of greetings with an occasional personal comment thrown in here and there, however, if we look closely, we see a clear pattern.  Paul refers to the people he lists in seven different ways:

1.   Those Paul calls “beloved.”  Paul was well aware that God referred to his own son as “beloved” (Colossians 1:13) and doubtless did not use the expression lightly. He mentions only a few people this way.  
2.  Those who had helped Paul in some exceptional way such as  “risked their lives for me,” or “been a mother to me.”
3.  Those Paul says “worked very hard” doing God’s work.
4. Those Paul says “worked hard” doing God’s work.
5.  Individuals mentioned as being “fellow workers” without any other comment.
6.  Individuals who Paul notes as being fellow Christians who are specifically said to be “in Christ,” “in the Lord,” or “approved by Christ,” but of whom nothing else is said.
7. Some individuals are simply named, along with many others who are unnamed but included in someone’s family or household.  Although these people were doubtless Christians, they are included in the list without any qualifying remarks regarding outstanding characteristics.
 
The first thing we notice about Paul’s list, when we organize it in this manner, is the way in which he differentiates between those who are said to be involved in furthering the work of the gospel in some way, and those other individuals and groups who are said to be Christians but of whom nothing is said relative to the gospel work.  Paul doubtless deeply loved and cared about these latter individuals, but seemingly did not remember them as being notable in their service to God. Numerically, the majority of the people Paul greets are not given any special commendation and fall into this category (see verses 5 and 14–15, especially).

Those mentioned in group 6 who were said to be “approved by Christ” or described by a similar expression may have been particularly devout, though no reference is made relative to them being involved in the work of the gospel.

On the other hand, those who Paul  mentions specifically regarding their service to the gospel were certainly not all elders in the Church and served in different roles and capacities. Some, such as the lady mentioned only as “the mother of Rufus” (verse 13) clearly were extraordinarily dedicated to God’s work.  Others, such as Andronicus and Junia, had even been in prison with Paul (verse 7), showing their dedication to the gospel in that way.  

We cannot see any quantitative assessment of the work accomplished by these godly people in what Paul says, just his appreciation for their dedication.  But when we move past the individuals who are mentioned as having helped Paul personally, and those whom he calls “beloved” (yet we are not told why they are so regarded),  the remaining people on Paul’s list are the ones he shows were most actively involved in doing the work of God.  These remaining individuals are said to be  “fellow workers,” “those who work hard,” and “those who work very hard.”
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We cannot know whether Paul was subconsciously or consciously “grading” these people as he greeted them in these ways, but it is clear that they were a minority among the larger group of Christians Paul greeted in his epistle, and that there was a difference in Paul’s mind between the level of dedication of the individuals he mentions.  It is also hard to imagine Paul – who wrote so carefully and deeply – as including the public grading of individuals without having a purpose in doing so. Perhaps that purpose was for the good of those whom he greeted, but perhaps it was for our good, also. We can all ask ourselves which group Paul would have included us in.

Asking that question of ourselves can be both instructive and challenging. After all, as Paul wrote to Timothy: “All scripture” – including the list of names found in Romans 16  – “is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (1 Timothy 3:16–17, emphasis added). If we let it, Paul’s list of greetings can inspire the people of the gospel to more and greater involvement in God’s work. 

​​The word “slave” has virtually nothing but unpleasant connotations to most modern ears. Yet, as many Christians are aware, we are called to be “slaves” of God and of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 7:22). The dissonance between how we feel about the word and the unequivocally clear message of the New Testament is difficult for many to handle, and we can clearly see this in most English translations of the Bible.

The Greek word for “slave” – doulos – occurs about 150 times in its different forms in the New Testament, but it is rarely translated that way.  Even as early as the King James Version, the translators elected to use the English word “servant” except where the word cannot be understood any other way (as when slaves are contrasted with “free” individuals) or when the meaning is figurative (as when the New Testament speaks of being “slaves of sin” – Romans 6:20, etc.).

But although doulos can mean “servant” in some few circumstances, there were clear-cut distinctions.  For example, ancient slaves would routinely wash the feet of house guests, something free servants would not normally do.  Doulos is not the usual word for servant, and probably more than 90% of its occurrences in the New Testament do simply mean “slave.”  Yet only one modern translation of the New Testament (the Holman Christian Standard Bible) translates doulos as “slave” – as it should be translated – whenever it appears.  The reason is obvious.  Most translators cannot bring themselves to convey the clear meaning of the Greek with a word that is so offensive to most modern readers.

As a result, most translations use “servant” – sometimes with a footnote explaining that the Greek may be “slave,” and sometimes (as in the ESV) even with a labored explanation in the Introduction stating that the word doulos can be either slave or servant.  Yet the fact that they opt almost invariably for “servant” proves the point we are making.

But the answer to this dissonant situation is not to try to make the Greek word mean something it did not. The answer that Christians need to be aware of is to be found in the nature of ancient slavery itself.  Some try to claim that ancient slavery was “much better” than the abomination we know from the modern world, and in many cases it was – but for many it was no better at all. The key to understanding ancient slavery is ultimately not in the nature of how well a given slave was treated (which could vary considerably – just as in any other human relationship), but for whom the slave worked.
 
Few Christians today realize that in the Roman Empire a slave of someone of high position had far more status, authority, and often freedom than any poor free man.   For example, Tiro, the personal secretary of the great Roman orator and statesman Cicero, enjoyed great prestige and was successful enough to retire on his own country estate, where he died at the age of 99.  But perhaps the best examples can be seen in the fact that slaves of the Emperor included some of the highest-ranking individuals in the whole Empire.  The status of the slave was almost entirely a matter of the status of his or her master.
 
When, in his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul introduces himself as a “slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle” (Romans 1:1 HCSB), he effectively uses not the lesser, but the greater title first.  To be called as a slave of the Son of God is to be called to a far greater position than that of a “free” person.  Stating that fact is not to elevate the Christian above others in any way – it is simply to stress that we need not be reluctant to translate the Greek word doulos the way it should so often be translated. We just need to understand its meaning in context. Early Christians understood – and we should, too – that being called to be a slave of the Son of God is being called into a relationship of privileged service.  That service is not demeaning  – as slavery inevitably is in this world – it is a high calling based on the nature and stature of the one we serve.  

We have all experienced  a “window of opportunity” in our lives at some time or another – a situation where conditions are just right for something to occur and we must seize the opportunity quickly before the “window” closes.

Spiritual life certainly has its windows of opportunity, not only in the initial chance we receive to turn to God, but also in a smaller, ongoing way once we have done that.  Every time we learn something new that affects our lives we are presented with a new window of opportunity.  But if we do not quickly grasp the opportunity as soon as we see it, if we do not accept and implement whatever we see we need to do, we risk losing the opportunity entirely. Notice what the apostle James wrote about this:

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do” (James 1:22-25).

The analogy James uses of seeing ourselves in a mirror is not unlike the analogy we are talking about – of seeing a window of opportunity.  When God shows us something about the way we are, or how we should be, we must act immediately or, as James says, we look away and we forget.  Not only do we often forget what we saw, but if we do not accept and act quickly our own human nature will certainly take the opportunity to justify inaction on our part and sooner or later the window closes on change we might have made. 

The Bible records many instances of individuals seizing or not seizing opportunities:  Judges 9:33, Jeremiah 46:17, Acts 27:13, 1 Corinthians 7:21, etc.  Spiritually the need to act when we can is just as great or greater than in our physical lives.  The apostle Paul tells us that sin will certainly seize the opportunity to produce evil in our lives (Romans 7:8, 11), so we must quickly take every opportunity with which God presents us to grow and to do good (Galatians 6:10, Ephesians 5:16, Colossians 4:5).   

God is certainly patient with all of those with whom he works, but the experience of Christians throughout history has been clear that he does not give endless opportunities to change and to act on what he reveals to us (Romans 2:4-5).  Not to accept and act on each spiritual opportunity as it occurs is really a decision not to change or not to do good (“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” – James 4:17). That is why we must grasp every window of spiritual opportunity as quickly as possible once it opens. God does not call us to go window shopping  – but to choose and use every window he opens for us.

Most people have heard the old story of the Emperor’s new clothes.  The vain and gullible Emperor in the story is tricked into wearing a set of “invisible” clothes which were not clothes at all and is too foolishly “blind” to admit his own nakedness till it is pointed out to him.

The story reminds us of a striking statement in the New Testament.  In the Book of Revelation, Jesus admonishes certain Christians who thought that they were spiritually “well dressed”:  “I counsel you to buy from me … white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see” (Revelation 3:18). These Christians, despite their status as believers, thought they were clothed, but like the emperor in the old story, they had deceived themselves and were blind to reality.

Fortunately, the New Testament contains a specific “shopping guide” to enable Christians to know the spiritual clothing they really need.  We find this guide in the words written by the apostle Paul.  Almost all Christians are familiar with Paul’s discussion in Ephesians 6 of the spiritual armor we should wear, but we are not always under attack and in a defensive posture, of course.  In his letter to the Colossians Paul gives a much less well-known description of the everyday clothing Christians should wear:

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12-14).

Notice some things about this wardrobe of spiritual clothes.  First, the words Paul uses here have striking meaning. The word enduo has the meaning of putting on an article of clothing; used in the middle voice, as it is here, it means to dress oneself.    God may provide the clothes through his Spirit, but we must put them on, and the imperative form of the verb suggests immediately needed action.   If we are not dressed with these things we need to be wearing,  we must not “put off” putting them on!

The items of clothing Paul mentions are largely self-explanatory, but each one deserves our close thought and meditation, as the concept of clothing is used to signify things we should have on every day, at all times.  It can be helpful to look at these verses in different translations and versions. For example, the paraphrased Message Bible actually catches the meaning of the verses quite well:

“So … dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it” (Colossians 3:12-14 MSG).

As is sometimes said, love is Christianity with its work clothes on, and the clothes Paul mentions are indeed aspects of our characters that are needed to do the work we are called to do.   If we are “wearing” these qualities in our daily lives, they will not only be the fulfillment of the way of life to which we are personally called, they will also be a vital part of our witness to others. Indeed, the difference between the Christian’s new clothes and those of the Emperor in the old story is that everyone can see the clothes God gives us.

By Whaid Guscott Rose

Christians are to be not just faithful but fruitful.  Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:8).

In his small volume simply titled Meditation, Jim Downing paints a beautiful picture of the fruitful Christian. He points out that for every New Testament truth, there is an Old Testament illustration, or picture. Jesus’ familiar discourse about the vine and the branches in John 15 has an Old Testament picture in Jeremiah 17:7, 8:

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

This tree in Jeremiah’s illustration faced severe heat and drought. However, despite adverse conditions, it remained green and yielded fruit in its season. What was the tree’s secret? It spread its roots by the river, tapping into the life-giving nourishment it needed.

This vividly illustrates Jesus’ words in John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Through day-by-day connection with Jesus, we share His life and bear His fruit, regardless of our circumstances. This is the picture of the fruitful Christian.

By examining the rings on the stump of a fallen tree, we can know its age. But these rings reveal even more.  Large rings indicate that nourishment was plentiful that year; narrow rings reflect years of drought.

Phillips’ translation renders John 15:5 “It is the man who shares my life and whose life I share who proves fruitful.” It’s been discovered that a small amount of nourishment sustains what life is already in the tree. When the nourishment is more than the tree needs to sustain its life, the tree grows. But if the nourishment is over and above what is needed to sustain life and cause growth, it is transformed into fruit.  Fruit, then, is excess life!

This sheds new light on another familiar saying of Jesus: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10, NKJV). To have abundant life is to have life in excess — not just enough to stay alive and to grow, but surplus life that becomes fruit.

(Reproduced, in part, from the Bible Advocate, December 2008.)

Is Christianity just “being saved,” or is that only part of what Christian belief is all about?

Many Christians understand that Christianity involves a call to forgiveness of sins and to being saved in a new relationship with God,  but they don’t  think  very far beyond that.   The Bible makes it clear that being called to be saved is actually only the first half of God’s purpose for us, and it is imperative for every Christian to understand what should follow.

We can see God’s purpose for those He calls out foreshadowed in the Old Testament in the Israelites being called out of, and delivered from  slavery in Egypt (a type of sin - Hosea 8:13, 11:1). The story tells how the Children of Israel kept the first Passover with shed lamb’s blood granting them life in the same way Christians look to the shed blood of Christ.  Israel was then delivered from Egypt into a new life through the “baptism” of the Red Sea (1 Corinthians 10:1-2).  But God’s purpose for the Israelites did not stop there.  Notice the specific words God used in instructing Moses of His purpose in this deliverance:

 “ … when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain” (Exodus 3:12).

The Israelites were free from bondage to their captors, but they were not called to aimless freedom – God made it clear that they were called not only to be something, but to do something.  They were called not only to be saved, but also to serve.

When we move to the New Testament, we find exactly the same principle.  The New Testament scriptures show that we are called to be many things: to belong to Christ (Romans 1:6), to be His people (Romans 1:7), to be His freed people (1 Corinthians 7:22), and so one – but we are also called to do something as well.  We see this promised in the words of John the Baptist's father Zechariah who spoke of the redeemer who would come:

“ …to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear” (Luke 1:74).

The connection between the calling out of Israel and the work of Christ is unmistakable in these words, but it is spelled out in complete clarity as we proceed through the New Testament.  We see it particularly clearly in two scriptures from the writings of Paul which tie the two halves of our calling together.  Notice first, in Galatians:

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13).

Paul tells us here that like the ancient Israelites, we were indeed called to be free, but that freedom is not for us to use as we wish, but to serve one another.  The same truth is found in Paul’s letter to the Romans and elsewhere.  It is a basic truth of Christianity, yet one many Christians do not always grasp or put into practice.  The truth is that “being saved” is only the first part of our calling. It is in going on to serve God and others that we complete it.  

The Book of Revelation takes this fact to the end of the New Testament. Twice in that book the great purposes of our calling are summarized in the future which we are promised:  a future in which we not only are to be something, but also to do something:

“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10 and see also Revelation 1:6).

The message is consistent throughout the Bible.  We are not just called to be saved; we are also called to serve.  That service may be anything from digging wells in Africa or spreading the Gospel in India to helping the sick or just writing encouraging letters to believers needing fellowship.  But the fact is, if we wish to truly embrace what Christianity is all about, rather than seeing the Christian life as being called to be saved, we should perhaps see it as being saved to serve.