IS SALVATION “WHOLENESS”?
by Hal Dekker
2014/11/24
Last page update: 2014/08/27
Most disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ know better than to take at face value anything anyone says, including what I say. But a true believing disciple of Christ Jesus (Gk. mathētēs, a disciplined learner) studies God's Word for himself in depth, and in detail, so that he can’t be misled by every wind of teaching and cunning craftiness of mortals (Eph. 4:14; 2 Tim. 2:15; Col. 2:8).
For this scriptural subject matter, as well as for any scriptural subject matter, finding and learning exactly what the writers of the ancient holy scriptures wrote and meant is God's desire, as opposed to you chocking your head full with endless mortal-made theological opinions and theories. You reading what this man said, or that person said, or what someone said that another person said, and so on, insulates you from God's Spirit in you teaching you as you look at and read exactly what the ancient writers of God's word wrote, you looking first-hand for yourself.
I invite you to read the Literal Idiomatic Translation (LIT) here at this web site. It's the one and only translation which literally quotes exactly what the ancient writers wrote, as God's Spirit carried them along. Virtually all other so called "translations" are no more than conglomerations of mortal-made theological opinions couched as paraphrases of what the ancient writers supposedly wrote. And through this, along with the needlessly abundant use of endless creative "synonyming", the continuities of subject matters are fractured apart and subsequently obliterated across the texts of God's Word.
All of the paraphrasing and creative "synonyming" actually creates a wall of obfuscation and confusion, hiding the clarity and continuity of the subject matters of God from the eyes of a reader, for the sake of supporting and pushing mortal-made theological theories invented in the 4th century and later. First read what God's Spirit actually gave those ancient writers to write. Then, if necessary, read carefully selected opinions of others, if you need help in understanding something. First and foremost read and study deeply God's Word, and not mortal-made opinionated "translations" of it.
I believe one of the most important study tools of all, for a disciple of Jesus Christ, is the knowledge of how to do word studies. This is the knowledge of how to look up all the usages of a Hebrew or Greek word in the passages and contexts in which it is used by an ancient writer, based upon its Strong's number. Words have root meanings. But those meanings are given deeper character and meaning based upon their inflected forms into which holy Spirit guided the ancient writers into using to adequately convey the thoughts of the holy Spirit, the God, YHWH Elohim.
Determining the exact meaning of the individual words used in a phrase, clause, and sentence, determines the scope of meaning of a sentence, which in turn determines the meaning of a paragraph and its context, and so on, leading to the understanding of God’s Word (logos) from the inside out. It is precisely this method of studying God's Word from the inside out which guards against a disciple of Christ Jesus being misled by every wind of teaching and cunning craftiness of mortals (Eph. 4:14; 2 Tim. 2:15; Col. 2:8). It's the exact knowledge of God's Word, from the inside out, which trains a child of God how to determine Truth from lies.
I would like to show you, through a word study using the Greek word sōzō, commonly translated as “save” in the KJV, how I’ve come to believe what is its true meaning, which meaning obviously affects the meaning of the words sōtēr, translated savior, and sōtēria, translated salvation. I believe sōzō means to save in its very general meaning, but that it has a more specific meaning, which meaning is its true root meaning, which should be kept associated with any of its usages. If you have your own Bible study resources handy, you may wish to fire them up.
Here we go.
Greek word: sōtēria, noun, Strong’s # 4991, used 45 times, commonly translated in the KJV as salvation.
Its root word is sōtēr, a noun also, Strong’s # 4990, used 24 times, commonly translated in the KJV as savior.
Its root word is sōzō, a verb, Strong’s # 4982, used 110 times, commonly translated in the KJV as save 93 times, make whole 9 times, heal 3 times, be whole 2 times, and misc. words 3 times.
In the contextual usages of the verb sōzō, the root word for both nouns sōtēr and sōtēria, we can look and see exactly how holy Spirit used it and discover its nuances of meaning. I find, you may find differently, that the English rendering “saved” doesn’t always fit with the context in every occurrence of sōzō. Why? Because the English word “saved” is often much too general in meaning than what is called for in the context. I believe sōzō, from studying each and every one of its about 110 usages in the Greek text, had a meaning to Middle Easterners 2,000 years ago in a sense of therapeutic restoration, in the sense of “to be healed”, “to be made whole”, “to be kept whole”, or “to be kept from being made unwhole”.
The following verse references, which contexts show the roll and requirement of a believer’s belief in relation to sōzō, show why I believe the therapeutic references of sōzō, “to be healed", "to be made whole”, etc. show its deeper and true meaning, than simply “saved”. Since the verb sōzō is the root of sōtēr, translated savior, and sōtēria, translated salvation, then the deeper meaning of sōtēr would be, one who makes whole, and the deeper meaning of sōtēria would be wholeness. I see that this corresponds with the prophecy in Isa. 53:4-5 which defines the character and characteristics of the coming redeemer, Jesus Christ, which he fulfilled through healing, making whole all those who believe (Mat. 8:16-17; *Acts 10:38; 1 Pet. 2:24; Rev. 22:2).
Mat.
9:21, “if perhaps I may only touch the garment of him, I shall be made
whole!”
Mat.
9:22, “the belief of you has made you
whole.”
Mat.
27:40, “keep whole yourself!”
Mat.
27:42, “he made whole others;
himself he is absolutely not inherently powered to
keep whole.”
Mat.
27:49, “let us see if Elijah comes, keeping
him whole.”
Mark
3:4, (about the man with the withered hand) “Is it permitted on the sabbaths
to do good, or to do evil; to make whole
a soul, or to destroy [a soul]?”
Mark
5:23, “having come, you may put the hand to her in order that she may
be made whole?”
Mark
5:28, “If perhaps I may touch even the garments of him, I shall be made whole!”
Mark
5:34, “Daughter, the belief of you has
made whole you.”
Mark
6:56, and as many as perhaps touched him were
made whole.
Mark
10:52, “Go, the belief of you has made
whole you.”
Mark
15:30, “keep whole yourself, having
come down from the stake.”
Mark
15:31, “He made whole others;
himself he is absolutely not inherently powered to
keep whole.”
Luke
6:9, (about the man with the withered hand) “Is it permitted on a sabbath to
do good or to do evil, to make whole a
soul or to destroy [a soul]?”
Luke
7:50, “The belief of you has made whole
you.”
Luke
8:12, “then comes the devil and lifts away the Word (logon) from the heart of
them, in order that having not believed [the Word] they may [not] be
made whole.”
Luke
8:36, … and the ones having seen reported to them how the one having been
demonized was made whole.
Luke
8:48, “Daughter, the belief of you has
made whole you.”
Luke
8:50, “Fear not, only believe, and she shall
be made whole.”
Luke
17:19, “the belief of you has made whole
you.”
Luke
18:42, “Look up! The belief of you has
made whole you.”
Luke
19:10, “Because the son of the mortal came to search for and make whole the destroyed one.”
Luke
23:35, “He made whole others; if
this one is the Christ, [let him] keep
whole himself.”
Luke
23:37, “If you are the king of the Judeans, keep
whole yourself.”
Luke
23:39, “Are you absolutely not the Christ?
Keep whole yourself and us.”
*Acts
4:9, (referring to the good deed done to the lame man, Acts 3:6-7)
“if we be judged up… in what [means] this one has
been made whole,”
*Acts
4:10, “…in this one’s [name], this one has stood in sight of you, healthy
(hugiēs)
*Acts 4:12, “And there is absolutely not in any other, the wholeness (sōtēria); because there is absolutely not another name under the heaven, the [name] having been given among mortals, in which it is necessary for you to be made whole.”
In these verses in Acts, in the same context, at the same time, apostle Peter speaks of both the lame mortal being made whole, receiving physical healing, and the need for all mortal’s, in the name of Jesus Christ to be made whole, receive spiritual healing. God's Spirit working in apostle Peter extends the meaning of sōzō to mean spiritual wholeness as well. This equates mortalkind’s spiritual depravity as something from which mortals need to be made whole.
Both physical and spiritual healing of mortalkind are prophesied in Isa. 53, because Jesus Christ is the one having been made complete (teleiōtheis, Strong’s # 5048), through which he became (egneto) the requester (aitios) of eternal wholeness (sōtēria) (Heb. 5:9);
Isaiah
53:4 Surely our sicknesses he lifted up, and our pains he carried them,
but we esteemed him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.
There
are more usages of sōzō which
anyone can look up for himself.
Apostle
Paul said, reproving the Corinthian believers for their apathy,
1 Cor. 15:29 Otherwise (epei) what (ti) shall they do (poIēsousin), the ones (hoi) being baptized (baptizomenoi) over (huper) the (tōn) dead ones (nekrōn), if (ei) dead ones (nekroi) [are] absolutely not (ouk) awakened (egeirontai) wholly (holōs)!?
And (kai) why (ti) are they baptized (baptizontai) over (huper) them (autōn)?
Apostle
Paul, in the closing of his first letter to the Thessalonian believers, said;
1 Thes. 5:23 But (de) the (ho) God (theos) of the (tēs) peace (eirēnēs) himself (autos), may he keep you holy (hagiasai humas), completely whole (holoteleis).
And (kai) your (humōn) whole lot (holoklēron), the (to) Spirit (pneuma), and (kai) the (hē) soul (psuchē), and (kai) the (to) body (sōma), may it have been watchfully kept (tērētheiē) faultlessly (amemptōs), in (en) the (tē) presence (parousia) of the (tou) lord (kuriou) of us (hēmōn), Jesus (Iēsou) Christ (Christou).
So then, does our belief upon the name of Jesus, which is rewarded with the new birth above (John 3), baptism in God's gift of holy Spirit from Christ Jesus (Rom. 8), make us whole, and may I even suggest, complete (Gk. teleiō, Strong’s # 5048, see Heb. 10) in God’s eyes, or simply save us?
If you're coming to the highest God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to repent of your sin and receive his new birth above in his gift of his holy Spirit, then by all accounts of what the ancient writers have written you should expect to receive healing, any kind of healing you may need! You should expect to receive physical healing, and/or mental healing. You should expect your new heavenly Father to start choreographing things in the world around you to come your way, as he begins supplying your personal needs, financial, clothing, food and shelter.
And above all of the things you should expect, expect to receive spiritual healing, he placing his paternal Spirit in you making you a new creation, making you a paternal child of God. This places you under his new covenant, which new covenant entitles you to start receiving an inheritance from your heavenly Father (Acts 20:32; Eph. 1:14, 18; Col. 3:24; Heb. 1:14, 6:12, 9:15; *1 Pet. 1:1-7, 3:9; Rev. 21:7), which inheritance Christ Jesus shall begin sharing with you now, in this world, to start making your life now much more abundant than it ever has been before (John 10:9-10), now, before you die and are resurrected at Jesus' return for us! Christ Jesus gave us examples of this as the ancient writers recorded for us all through the gospel records - Jesus went about healing all who were in need, healing them of every sickness and malady among the people (Mat. 4:23, 9:35; Acts 10:38).
I recommend to any believing disciple to plug in make whole, made whole, keep whole, etc., in all the usages of sōzō, and then determine for yourself if it brings to you any further enlightenment into God’s Word.
May God bless you with wholeness!
Brother Hal Dekker