Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
Before the world began Christ was appointed to be the sacrifice, the Redeemer, the spotless Lamb, and in the last times He was revealed for believers when God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved. The plan of salvation was laid before the earth was created and not made later to fit circumstances, when the Father and the Son together entered the everlasting covenant with clasped hands that Christ would become the substitute and surety for the human race if overcome by Satan's deception. He came in human nature and lived in sinless obedience, then died on Calvary's cross bearing human guilt, and by that perfect obedience He broke Satan's power, set captives free, and as conqueror carried His humanity to heaven. Believers are redeemed by His precious blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, not by corruptible things as silver and gold, and through Him they believe in God who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that their faith and hope are in God. In view of that sacrifice they are to obey the truth through the Spirit, be holy in all conduct as God is holy, purify the soul, and love one another sincerely with fervent, unfeigned love.
Wording and Setting
The verse means that Christ was appointed and foreordained before the world began and before its foundation to be the sacrifice, the Redeemer, and the spotless Lamb, and that He was revealed and made manifest in the last times for believers and for humanity when God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved. His earthly mission and great sacrifice make possible the new birth, a living hope through His resurrection, and the inheritance kept in heaven, while His precious, sinless, spotless blood, not corruptible things such as silver and gold, redeems sinners from sin and from the empty, vain way of life handed down by tradition. Through Him believers believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that their faith and hope are in God.
Its immediate setting is a call to gird up the mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ. It calls believers to live as obedient, holy children in all conduct as God is holy, no longer shaped by former lusts in ignorance, to purify the soul by obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love, to love one another fervently with a pure heart, and to be born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the living and abiding Word of God.
The passage belongs to Scripture that comforts and strengthens feeble and afflicted believers, feeds hungry souls who seldom have preaching, awakens love for souls, gives hope and courage and increased faith and confidence as evidence that God cares, and shines light upon the pathway to lead those outside the faith to walk in it. It stands with the witness to the importance and sacredness of prophecy and of the Old Testament Scriptures, that Christ was speaking in the Old Testament as well as the New, against cutting them out or claiming they were done away with the law of God.
Eternal Plan and Covenant
The plan of salvation was laid before the earth was created and before time began, laid open before the world was formed, and was not made later to fit circumstances. In that foreordination Christ was appointed as the sacrificial Lamb to be revealed in the last times to save humanity and redeem fallen humanity, coming to earth to carry it out by taking human nature, living in obedience for the sinful race, and accepting humiliation and death on the cross to bear the penalty of transgression and answer the claims of God's law so restoration is possible. This plan expresses Christ's love for humanity and the Son's devotion to the Father's glory, displaying before the universe the glory of divine love in human salvation, and revealing the character God requires and what human beings may become by receiving Him as Saviour. Yet salvation is not automatic, for people must exercise faith, build on Christ as the true foundation, allow God to recreate them by the Holy Spirit, and cooperate with Him in building His church.
God knew before creation what would happen and in His eternal purposes prepared an offering for fallen humanity, knowing that a defection among heaven's high intelligences would occur. The hidden plan provided for it and was not made to fit later circumstances. The plan was made by the Father and the Son together, who determined that Jesus would be given as an atoning sacrifice for sin, manifested in human nature to redeem sinners. That giving made known the Father's love, justice, and holiness, revealing God's love and mercy while fully meeting divine justice.
Before the foundation of the earth the Father and Son made the everlasting covenant together, with clasped hands entering a solemn pledge that Christ would become the substitute and surety for the human race if overcome by Satan's deception and sophistry, to give fallen man another chance. Christ was not alone in making the great sacrifice, for it was the fulfillment of that covenant pledge made with the Father before creation, consummated to the letter on the cross where the redemption price was paid and victory won. Before creation and before man was made, Christ pledged to give His life as a ransom, bear human guilt and its penalty, and buy back the fallen race by dying for them if humanity turned from loyalty, fell from its appointed place, and was led into sin. He who was One equal with God pledged beforehand to redeem those who would fall, promising to come to earth if Adam sinned, and this gives human beings the greatest reason to be thankful. Redemption is part of the divine nature and God's prerogative to reconstruct, not to destroy, for the Son of God was given to die before the foundation of the world.
Manifest Sacrifice and Victory
To be manifested was to come in human nature and humble Himself to serve fallen people, born as a Babe in Bethlehem, living in sinless obedience for the race, enduring Satan's temptations without turning from loyalty to the Father, and thereby revealing the character God requires and what human beings may become by receiving Him as Saviour. Before the world was founded He had pledged to give His life as a ransom if humanity turned from loyalty, and after Adam fell He carried out that pledge by taking humanity, accepting humiliation, and offering Himself, His glory, and His character to those who return to loyalty and keep God's law. His sinless life proved that Adam's descendants can resist temptation, and His coming brought them power to overcome, for He is their only hope. That manifestation fulfilled the plan made by the Father and the Son before the foundation of the world, revealing God's love and mercy while fully meeting divine justice.
His ordained work was accomplished in cruel suffering, crucifixion, and death on Calvary's cross, where as victim to jealousy and hate and false religious zeal He bore human guilt, became obedient unto death, descended from the highest position to the lowest that could be occupied, drank the cup of suffering apportioned to Him, and died as transgressors of the law must die if they continue in sin. That ordained work was victory, not defeat: though the temple seemed destroyed and the head seemed bruised, Satan in grasping his prey demolished his own throne. In His dying agony Christ was victor over Satan, evil angels, evil men, and the powers of earth and hell.
By His own perfect obedience to the law of God He broke the spell that had held millions in slavery under subjection to Satan's rule and jurisdiction, broke the power of the destroyer, opened the prison house and set the captives free, reinstated man in the position from which Satan had hurled him through temptation and sin, and placed him on vantage ground. At His ascension as conqueror He finished that covenanted work, carrying His human nature with Him to heaven, making humanity partaker in His triumph and giving humanity sure assurance. His awful conflict fulfills the covenant made before creation and does not end in defeat but in glorious, eternal victory to save the world from sin.
His coming did not abolish the law: He fulfilled its every requirement, answered its claims, vindicated it, fulfilled God's will, and gave a human example of perfect obedience, making it possible for God to be just and to justify those who believe in Jesus. His sacrifice as humanity's substitute came to reveal God's love to sinners and to fulfill that will. He offers Himself to those who return to loyalty and keep God's law.
His sacrifice was ordained before the foundation of the world and was carried out to redeem and save humanity, and the sacrifices offered since Adam's transgression symbolized it. Prophecy, types, shadows, and symbols pointing to His suffering and death were fulfilled in His work of redemption. The first sacrifice taught Adam that sin brings death and that the innocent victim pointed to the costly ransom God would provide, giving him a deeper sense of his guilt and hope in God's goodness, since the promised Redeemer is God's Son, the spotless Lamb whose death alone could expiate sin.
The plan for His sacrificial death established before the earth's foundations were laid was carried out in His death, which He completed on the sixth day of the week and followed by resting in the tomb on the Sabbath, in parallel with the Father and the Son resting after completing creation. On the cross the compact of the everlasting covenant was fully consummated and the pledge fulfilled to the letter, the redemption price paid and victory won. Prophecy showed that the Messiah would take the lowest place in human life, not the earthly throne and power people expected.
Redemption and Faith in God
Redemption is by the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, not by corruptible things such as silver and gold. That blood redeems from sin and from the empty, vain way of life and vain conversation handed down by tradition. He was foreordained for this before the foundation of the world and was made manifest in these last times for believers, when God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved and receive life through faith in Christ. His appearing and giving of His life made Him the precious, spotless Lamb whose blood redeems.
The ransom paid to preserve the honor of Eternal Justice in delivering the transgressor was an infinite sacrifice. On the cross of Calvary He paid the redemption price that satisfies the principles of justice by which the kingdom of heaven is governed, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, to save the race from ruin. God as creditor had the right to make provision for redemption, justice demanded that a certain price be paid, and the Son of God was the only One who could pay it. He volunteered to come to earth and pass over the ground where Adam fell as Redeemer of the lost race, to conquer the foe by steadfast allegiance to right and save all who accept Him as Saviour.
Satan holds men as his subjects and jailer through their belief of his lie against God's government and refuses to let them go. He obtained them not by lawful conquest but under false pretenses, and therefore has no right to demand a price. By paying the redemption price Christ gained the right to take the captives out of Satan's hands and rescue them from the great deceiver who caused the fall of man. His manifestation and death paid the price of redemption and show the great worth of the souls He purchased with His blood. His death is the price paid for the soul, therefore the soul is to be entrusted to Christ, who alone can keep it.
Christ is the only hope for the removal of sin. Though sinless, He bore human guilt in humanity's place, and those who trust in Him as personal Saviour are accounted pure through His imputed righteousness. Through Him believers believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that their faith and hope are in God and rest in God. His manifestation is connected with His precious blood by which people are redeemed, and with His resurrection and glory through which faith and hope are directed to God. His sacrifice is the price of redemption, and through Him they believe in God.
His earthly mission and great sacrifice make possible the new birth, living hope through His resurrection, and the promised inheritance kept in heaven. His sacrifice is the source of strength for believers, and by that sacrifice every provision has been made for believers to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. The perfection of Christ's character makes it possible to gain perfection and to be presented without spot or wrinkle, unto the highest standard of glory and virtue and the standard of Christian perfection. Salvation is not automatic: people must exercise faith, build on Christ as the true foundation, allow God to recreate them by the Holy Spirit, and cooperate with Him in building His church.
Holy Life and Love
Foreordained before creation and manifested in the last times for humanity, Christ's earthly mission and great sacrifice make possible the new birth, a living hope through His resurrection, and the inheritance kept in heaven, and in view of that sacrifice believers are to obey the truth and love one another sincerely. His precious blood redeems, and those who know this are called to live reverently and to love one another sincerely without regard to skin color. Those who believe in Him are called to obey the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love and to love one another sincerely, since His redeeming work makes faith and hope in God possible. This stands within the call to gird up the mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ, to live as obedient children holy in all conduct as God is holy and no longer shaped by former lusts in ignorance, and to love one another fervently with a pure heart after purifying the soul by obeying the truth through the Spirit, being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the living and abiding Word of God.
Hope in Christ rests on being sinners with a right to claim a Saviour, for redemption belongs to the divine nature and it is God's prerogative to reconstruct, not to destroy, since the Son was given to die before the foundation of the world. No soul knows what God is until he sees himself as a sinner in light reflected from the cross and detests himself in bitterness of soul, and when the soul cries out in great need for a sin-pardoning Saviour God is revealed as gracious, full of compassion and forgiveness and love, longsuffering and patient, the existence of sin itself being unexplainable. Faithful servants as laborers together with God must therefore take up the work next to them to heal and restore one who is bruised and wounded and errs, not to denounce, condemn, ruin and destroy. Foreordained before the foundation of the world and manifested in these last times for believers, Christ redeems by His precious blood rather than silver or gold from the inherited vain way of life and makes the redeemed servants of God and stewards individually accountable to use entrusted means and gifts faithfully for God's work. To reach the highest standard of glory and virtue and the standard of Christian perfection, believers must learn of Christ His meekness and lowliness, for His sacrifice is the source of strength by which every provision is made to receive all things pertaining to life and godliness, the perfection of His character making it possible to gain perfection and to be presented without spot or wrinkle, and eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
The verse gives hope and courage rather than discouragement, increasing faith and confidence in God as evidence that God cares, joining the command to fear the Lord and keep His statutes for good and for righteousness with the call to put on the whole armor of God to withstand in the evil day in the struggle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness. Its readers are God's workmen learning lessons from Him to work as Christ worked, with efficiency from God and not from self, which is the will of God, even sanctification. Before the foundation of the world a covenant was made that Christ would come in humanity, descend from the highest position to the lowest that could be occupied, drink the cup of suffering apportioned to Him, and die as every transgressor of the law who continues in sin will die, and His awful conflict fulfills that covenant not in defeat but in glorious eternal victory to save the world from sin. His followers must therefore live as He lived and work as He worked with intense, persevering effort.
Jesus knows it all when afflicted by others, having died and given His precious life in order that sufferers might believe and trust in Him in every trying hour under every adverse circumstance, with His hand always stretched out in pitying tenderness to every suffering child, never failing and sufficient for the present hour of trial, and no believer will have to be a sin-bearer for any soul. Believers are therefore to commit the case wholly to Jesus and not let go of faith and drop His hand when others do wrong and afflict the soul, to thank God when innocent of accusation, and never to become exasperated, let the feelings of the natural heart control them, or cherish retaliation whatever course others pursue. As a Lamb without blemish and without spot whose precious blood redeems from vain conduct received by tradition, Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world but manifested in these last times when God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved and receive life through faith. A people who believe in Christ and live out His Word, revealing Bible sanctification and unfeigned love for one another, bear the credentials proving God sent Him.
Before the world began Christ was appointed to be the sacrifice, the Redeemer, the spotless Lamb, and in the last times He was revealed for believers when God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved. The plan of salvation was laid before the earth was created and not made later to fit circumstances, when the Father and the Son together entered the everlasting covenant with clasped hands that Christ would become the substitute and surety for the human race if overcome by Satan's deception. He came in human nature and lived in sinless obedience, then died on Calvary's cross bearing human guilt, and by that perfect obedience He broke Satan's power, set captives free, and as conqueror carried His humanity to heaven. Believers are redeemed by His precious blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, not by corruptible things as silver and gold, and through Him they believe in God who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that their faith and hope are in God. In view of that sacrifice they are to obey the truth through the Spirit, be holy in all conduct as God is holy, purify the soul, and love one another sincerely with fervent, unfeigned love.
Wording and Setting
The verse means that Christ was appointed and foreordained before the world began and before its foundation to be the sacrifice, the Redeemer, and the spotless Lamb, and that He was revealed and made manifest in the last times for believers and for humanity when God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved. His earthly mission and great sacrifice make possible the new birth, a living hope through His resurrection, and the inheritance kept in heaven, while His precious, sinless, spotless blood, not corruptible things such as silver and gold, redeems sinners from sin and from the empty, vain way of life handed down by tradition. Through Him believers believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that their faith and hope are in God.
Its immediate setting is a call to gird up the mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ. It calls believers to live as obedient, holy children in all conduct as God is holy, no longer shaped by former lusts in ignorance, to purify the soul by obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love, to love one another fervently with a pure heart, and to be born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the living and abiding Word of God.
The passage belongs to Scripture that comforts and strengthens feeble and afflicted believers, feeds hungry souls who seldom have preaching, awakens love for souls, gives hope and courage and increased faith and confidence as evidence that God cares, and shines light upon the pathway to lead those outside the faith to walk in it. It stands with the witness to the importance and sacredness of prophecy and of the Old Testament Scriptures, that Christ was speaking in the Old Testament as well as the New, against cutting them out or claiming they were done away with the law of God.
Eternal Plan and Covenant
The plan of salvation was laid before the earth was created and before time began, laid open before the world was formed, and was not made later to fit circumstances. In that foreordination Christ was appointed as the sacrificial Lamb to be revealed in the last times to save humanity and redeem fallen humanity, coming to earth to carry it out by taking human nature, living in obedience for the sinful race, and accepting humiliation and death on the cross to bear the penalty of transgression and answer the claims of God's law so restoration is possible. This plan expresses Christ's love for humanity and the Son's devotion to the Father's glory, displaying before the universe the glory of divine love in human salvation, and revealing the character God requires and what human beings may become by receiving Him as Saviour. Yet salvation is not automatic, for people must exercise faith, build on Christ as the true foundation, allow God to recreate them by the Holy Spirit, and cooperate with Him in building His church.
God knew before creation what would happen and in His eternal purposes prepared an offering for fallen humanity, knowing that a defection among heaven's high intelligences would occur. The hidden plan provided for it and was not made to fit later circumstances. The plan was made by the Father and the Son together, who determined that Jesus would be given as an atoning sacrifice for sin, manifested in human nature to redeem sinners. That giving made known the Father's love, justice, and holiness, revealing God's love and mercy while fully meeting divine justice.
Before the foundation of the earth the Father and Son made the everlasting covenant together, with clasped hands entering a solemn pledge that Christ would become the substitute and surety for the human race if overcome by Satan's deception and sophistry, to give fallen man another chance. Christ was not alone in making the great sacrifice, for it was the fulfillment of that covenant pledge made with the Father before creation, consummated to the letter on the cross where the redemption price was paid and victory won. Before creation and before man was made, Christ pledged to give His life as a ransom, bear human guilt and its penalty, and buy back the fallen race by dying for them if humanity turned from loyalty, fell from its appointed place, and was led into sin. He who was One equal with God pledged beforehand to redeem those who would fall, promising to come to earth if Adam sinned, and this gives human beings the greatest reason to be thankful. Redemption is part of the divine nature and God's prerogative to reconstruct, not to destroy, for the Son of God was given to die before the foundation of the world.
Manifest Sacrifice and Victory
To be manifested was to come in human nature and humble Himself to serve fallen people, born as a Babe in Bethlehem, living in sinless obedience for the race, enduring Satan's temptations without turning from loyalty to the Father, and thereby revealing the character God requires and what human beings may become by receiving Him as Saviour. Before the world was founded He had pledged to give His life as a ransom if humanity turned from loyalty, and after Adam fell He carried out that pledge by taking humanity, accepting humiliation, and offering Himself, His glory, and His character to those who return to loyalty and keep God's law. His sinless life proved that Adam's descendants can resist temptation, and His coming brought them power to overcome, for He is their only hope. That manifestation fulfilled the plan made by the Father and the Son before the foundation of the world, revealing God's love and mercy while fully meeting divine justice.
His ordained work was accomplished in cruel suffering, crucifixion, and death on Calvary's cross, where as victim to jealousy and hate and false religious zeal He bore human guilt, became obedient unto death, descended from the highest position to the lowest that could be occupied, drank the cup of suffering apportioned to Him, and died as transgressors of the law must die if they continue in sin. That ordained work was victory, not defeat: though the temple seemed destroyed and the head seemed bruised, Satan in grasping his prey demolished his own throne. In His dying agony Christ was victor over Satan, evil angels, evil men, and the powers of earth and hell.
By His own perfect obedience to the law of God He broke the spell that had held millions in slavery under subjection to Satan's rule and jurisdiction, broke the power of the destroyer, opened the prison house and set the captives free, reinstated man in the position from which Satan had hurled him through temptation and sin, and placed him on vantage ground. At His ascension as conqueror He finished that covenanted work, carrying His human nature with Him to heaven, making humanity partaker in His triumph and giving humanity sure assurance. His awful conflict fulfills the covenant made before creation and does not end in defeat but in glorious, eternal victory to save the world from sin.
His coming did not abolish the law: He fulfilled its every requirement, answered its claims, vindicated it, fulfilled God's will, and gave a human example of perfect obedience, making it possible for God to be just and to justify those who believe in Jesus. His sacrifice as humanity's substitute came to reveal God's love to sinners and to fulfill that will. He offers Himself to those who return to loyalty and keep God's law.
His sacrifice was ordained before the foundation of the world and was carried out to redeem and save humanity, and the sacrifices offered since Adam's transgression symbolized it. Prophecy, types, shadows, and symbols pointing to His suffering and death were fulfilled in His work of redemption. The first sacrifice taught Adam that sin brings death and that the innocent victim pointed to the costly ransom God would provide, giving him a deeper sense of his guilt and hope in God's goodness, since the promised Redeemer is God's Son, the spotless Lamb whose death alone could expiate sin.
The plan for His sacrificial death established before the earth's foundations were laid was carried out in His death, which He completed on the sixth day of the week and followed by resting in the tomb on the Sabbath, in parallel with the Father and the Son resting after completing creation. On the cross the compact of the everlasting covenant was fully consummated and the pledge fulfilled to the letter, the redemption price paid and victory won. Prophecy showed that the Messiah would take the lowest place in human life, not the earthly throne and power people expected.
Redemption and Faith in God
Redemption is by the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, not by corruptible things such as silver and gold. That blood redeems from sin and from the empty, vain way of life and vain conversation handed down by tradition. He was foreordained for this before the foundation of the world and was made manifest in these last times for believers, when God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved and receive life through faith in Christ. His appearing and giving of His life made Him the precious, spotless Lamb whose blood redeems.
The ransom paid to preserve the honor of Eternal Justice in delivering the transgressor was an infinite sacrifice. On the cross of Calvary He paid the redemption price that satisfies the principles of justice by which the kingdom of heaven is governed, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, to save the race from ruin. God as creditor had the right to make provision for redemption, justice demanded that a certain price be paid, and the Son of God was the only One who could pay it. He volunteered to come to earth and pass over the ground where Adam fell as Redeemer of the lost race, to conquer the foe by steadfast allegiance to right and save all who accept Him as Saviour.
Satan holds men as his subjects and jailer through their belief of his lie against God's government and refuses to let them go. He obtained them not by lawful conquest but under false pretenses, and therefore has no right to demand a price. By paying the redemption price Christ gained the right to take the captives out of Satan's hands and rescue them from the great deceiver who caused the fall of man. His manifestation and death paid the price of redemption and show the great worth of the souls He purchased with His blood. His death is the price paid for the soul, therefore the soul is to be entrusted to Christ, who alone can keep it.
Christ is the only hope for the removal of sin. Though sinless, He bore human guilt in humanity's place, and those who trust in Him as personal Saviour are accounted pure through His imputed righteousness. Through Him believers believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that their faith and hope are in God and rest in God. His manifestation is connected with His precious blood by which people are redeemed, and with His resurrection and glory through which faith and hope are directed to God. His sacrifice is the price of redemption, and through Him they believe in God.
His earthly mission and great sacrifice make possible the new birth, living hope through His resurrection, and the promised inheritance kept in heaven. His sacrifice is the source of strength for believers, and by that sacrifice every provision has been made for believers to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. The perfection of Christ's character makes it possible to gain perfection and to be presented without spot or wrinkle, unto the highest standard of glory and virtue and the standard of Christian perfection. Salvation is not automatic: people must exercise faith, build on Christ as the true foundation, allow God to recreate them by the Holy Spirit, and cooperate with Him in building His church.
Holy Life and Love
Foreordained before creation and manifested in the last times for humanity, Christ's earthly mission and great sacrifice make possible the new birth, a living hope through His resurrection, and the inheritance kept in heaven, and in view of that sacrifice believers are to obey the truth and love one another sincerely. His precious blood redeems, and those who know this are called to live reverently and to love one another sincerely without regard to skin color. Those who believe in Him are called to obey the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love and to love one another sincerely, since His redeeming work makes faith and hope in God possible. This stands within the call to gird up the mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ, to live as obedient children holy in all conduct as God is holy and no longer shaped by former lusts in ignorance, and to love one another fervently with a pure heart after purifying the soul by obeying the truth through the Spirit, being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the living and abiding Word of God.
Hope in Christ rests on being sinners with a right to claim a Saviour, for redemption belongs to the divine nature and it is God's prerogative to reconstruct, not to destroy, since the Son was given to die before the foundation of the world. No soul knows what God is until he sees himself as a sinner in light reflected from the cross and detests himself in bitterness of soul, and when the soul cries out in great need for a sin-pardoning Saviour God is revealed as gracious, full of compassion and forgiveness and love, longsuffering and patient, the existence of sin itself being unexplainable. Faithful servants as laborers together with God must therefore take up the work next to them to heal and restore one who is bruised and wounded and errs, not to denounce, condemn, ruin and destroy. Foreordained before the foundation of the world and manifested in these last times for believers, Christ redeems by His precious blood rather than silver or gold from the inherited vain way of life and makes the redeemed servants of God and stewards individually accountable to use entrusted means and gifts faithfully for God's work. To reach the highest standard of glory and virtue and the standard of Christian perfection, believers must learn of Christ His meekness and lowliness, for His sacrifice is the source of strength by which every provision is made to receive all things pertaining to life and godliness, the perfection of His character making it possible to gain perfection and to be presented without spot or wrinkle, and eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
The verse gives hope and courage rather than discouragement, increasing faith and confidence in God as evidence that God cares, joining the command to fear the Lord and keep His statutes for good and for righteousness with the call to put on the whole armor of God to withstand in the evil day in the struggle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness. Its readers are God's workmen learning lessons from Him to work as Christ worked, with efficiency from God and not from self, which is the will of God, even sanctification. Before the foundation of the world a covenant was made that Christ would come in humanity, descend from the highest position to the lowest that could be occupied, drink the cup of suffering apportioned to Him, and die as every transgressor of the law who continues in sin will die, and His awful conflict fulfills that covenant not in defeat but in glorious eternal victory to save the world from sin. His followers must therefore live as He lived and work as He worked with intense, persevering effort.
Jesus knows it all when afflicted by others, having died and given His precious life in order that sufferers might believe and trust in Him in every trying hour under every adverse circumstance, with His hand always stretched out in pitying tenderness to every suffering child, never failing and sufficient for the present hour of trial, and no believer will have to be a sin-bearer for any soul. Believers are therefore to commit the case wholly to Jesus and not let go of faith and drop His hand when others do wrong and afflict the soul, to thank God when innocent of accusation, and never to become exasperated, let the feelings of the natural heart control them, or cherish retaliation whatever course others pursue. As a Lamb without blemish and without spot whose precious blood redeems from vain conduct received by tradition, Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world but manifested in these last times when God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved and receive life through faith. A people who believe in Christ and live out His Word, revealing Bible sanctification and unfeigned love for one another, bear the credentials proving God sent Him.