Salvation of the soul (part 5)

One of the most amazing things about The Bible is the way in which the truths of the New Testament are foreshadowed in many of the stories and illustrations of the Old Testament. This principle is true of our topic – the death of our “old man” and the subsequent salvation of our soul. A number of stories from the Old Testament give us insight into how this process actually works in our lives. One of these is the story of King Saul. 1^st Samuel 8:4-8 makes it clear that it was the people who demanded to have a man as king over them (The name “Saul” even means, “demanded”) and that God considered this demand an outright rejection of himself as their king.

In this we can see the initial decision made by mankind in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil instead of the tree of life they were in a sense rejecting God as their ruler, and choosing a man (themselves) to be their “king.” They were essentially saying, “We can rule ourselves if we just have the right knowledge.” The story of the Israel choosing to have a man as their king really shows us man’s exaltation of his soul, in spite of God’s clearly expressed will that His own Holy Spirit reign as “king” in man.

Not long after being anointed king, Saul rejected a direct order from God, choosing instead to do what the people pressured him to do. This same thing is true of fallen man, or “flesh.” Paul actually refers to unregenerate man as a “soulish man” because he has set his own soul up as his “king.” Like King Saul, a man in this state is a man who sets his mind on man’s interests and not God’s. (See Mark 8:33, Colossians 3:2) And like King Saul, a man governed by his own soul is a man who cannot walk according to God’s law, and so cannot please God. (Romans 8:7)

Because of Saul’s clear rejection of God’s word, which was really an act of rebellion, God rejected him from being king. (1^st Samuel 15:23) God told Saul that his kingdom would not endure, and that God had chosen someone better than Saul – a man, “After God’s own heart” to be the new king. (1 Samuel 13:14, 15:28) We know, of course, that the man God was talking about was David. But David also represents Jesus – the only true and rightful king of every man’s heart. Through this incident we see God rejecting our “old man” as king, and choosing the “new man” (who is really Jesus himself living in us – Galatians 2:20) to be king in his place.

But the story of King Saul has still more to teach us. Even after David was chosen and anointed king, it would still be many more years before he actually took his seat on the throne as king. In the same way, many people live for many years with their soul reigning as king of the “old man” even though God has already provided a new king through the miracle of the New birth. During this period, King Saul tried to kill David many times – again foreshadowing the opposition between the Spirit and the flesh that is portrayed in many New Testament passages.

And the parallel does not end here. Even after King Saul finally died (representing the death of our “old man” – Romans 6:2-6) we are told that, “There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David grew steadily stronger, but the house of Saul grew weaker continually.” (2 Samuel 3:3) Saul’s fruit, or offspring continued to fight with David long after Saul was dead - representing the continuing struggle within us even after the new birth. Even after “Old things have passed away” (2 Cor. 5:17) and the “old man” is dead, the corrupt fruit that it produced in our soul continues to wage “a long war” with the “new man.” (1^st Peter 2:11) It is during this “long war” that our soul is being saved by the “leaven” of God’s Word and Spirit within us. Just as “David grew steadily stronger” and “The house of Saul grew weaker continually,” even so our “new man” grows steadily stronger, while the offspring of the “old man” grows continually weaker! (See “Understanding the New Birth”) So let Jesus stay on the throne in your heart, and His “leaven” will do the rest!