Well, here we are, week three in our study of the book of Romans. More specifically, week three of studying the first seven verses of the book of Romans as we consider all of the marks of identity that Paul uses to describe himself, the person of Christ Jesus, and the believers in Rome.

This week we are going to focus on what it means to be called from Paul’s description of himself in verse one as a man who was “called to be an apostle”. Before we dive into our main study for today, I want to say a few things about our study from last week on what it means to sit in our identity as “a servant of Christ Jesus”.

A SERVANT OF CHRIST JESUS – RECAP

In our men’s discipleship group this last week, we discussed how easy it is to mentally disconnect from applying this identity to ourselves in a way that is actually helpful. It is too easy to think that what Paul says here only applies to himself and not to us – especially when we try to think of servanthood as something that is meant to be wired into our DNA as human beings rather than human doings.

It is difficult to separate the mark of identity from the act of serving. It is too easy to rush right along and get caught up with brow beating people into acting like servants rather than doing the hard work of helping them to see that they are servants – a servant is something we are at our core; it is part of the hard wiring of our being. We will either be servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, or we will be servants of our flesh, Satan, sin, the world, etc. We were designed by God to be servants before we ever came out of the womb and had the chance to behave like servants or do thew work of servanthood.

The question is: How do we sit in the identity of being servants of Christ Jesus? That was the aim of last week’s message. The aim was not to get more people to serve – although that will be the natural, unforced outcome of people who find true freedom in Christ Jesus to be his servants.

With that said, I was reminded during the discussion with our guys this last week, that Paul says, “follow me as I follow Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1) and that invitation would certainly include becoming and being “a servant of Christ Jesus” just as Paul was. Once again, at this point it is too easy to jump to a list of things that people could volunteer their service for – and that is not bad, unless we have not done the inner work of surrendering our old identity and sitting in our new identity.

For that to happen, I encourage everyone to soak in Romans 6 for the foreseeable future in your own personal times of study. Take notes about what it means to be united to Christ (vv. 1 – 11), what it means to give yourself to God rather than to sin (vv. 12 – 14), and what it means to be enslaved or to be servants of righteousness (vv. 15 – 23).

No amount of serving through volunteerism will ever come close to transforming your identity. Your identity as a servant of Christ Jesus will become your clothing as you allow the truth of God’s Word to permeate the hallways of your heart and soul as it pertains directly to whom you choose to serve as it regards being a servant of God or a servant of Satan, Sin, and Death.

Please, live there in Romans 6 for a while and ask the Lord to set you free to be his servant and not to merely do the things of servanthood in the ordinary everyday rhythms of your life – the Lord will be faithful in transforming you from the inside out. The bottom line is this: your acts of service will be self-serving at best if you do not have a clear vision for simply being a servant of Christ Jesus.

BACK TO OUR STUDY FOR TODAY

1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among the nations, 6including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As I said earlier, we are going to study what it means to be “called” from Paul’s statement in verse one where he says that he was “called to be an apostle”. Now, at first glance, we immediately see that Paul is using the word “called” in direct relation to his role or job or vocation as an “apostle”. And once again, it is far too easy to slide right on past this statement without giving it an ounce of weight in relation to our own lives.

We instinctively see the word “apostle”, and we think “I am not an apostle, but I know Paul was, so good for him, but it really has no bearing on my life”. While it is true that you and I could never be an apostle like Paul was, in the sense that he was part of the original Apostles (capital “A”) whom Christ used to establish the church, it is also true that all of us are called to be apostolic in nature, in terms of the actual meaning of the word.

What I mean is this, the word for “apostle” in the original language, simply means “sent ones”. Jesus says that just as the Father sent him, he now sends us as his representatives with the message of the gospel – this is obviously underscored by the Great Commission in the gospels, where we are instructed to go in the authority of Christ, making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and teaching them to live their lives in obedience to all that Jesus has taught us, as we rely on his presence to lead us, guide us, and empower us (Jn. 20:21; Matt. 28:18 – 20).

As you can see, and can probably imagine, we could spend some considerable time dissecting the ins and outs of our apostolic – missional or evangelistic – identity and responsibilities as followers of Christ. But I am choosing to table that discussion until we get into other portions of the book of Romans – most likely in chapters 10 and 12 since those chapters contain much for us in terms of our evangelistic identities and responsibilities in connection to the spiritual gifts that God has hardwired into each of us.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CALLED?

With that said, with the term “apostle” tabled for later, we come now to our main focus regarding what it means to be called. The word “called” (or some variation of it) shows up at least 500 times throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and it simply means to call or be called, to summon or be summoned, to invite or be invited, and to appoint or be appointed.2

Paul’s use of the word here in Romans 1 would carry the primary application of being appointed to the work of ministry as an apostle. That is the horizontal aspect of calling that you have heard me talk about before – it is horizontal in nature because it is focused on what we do for the Lord among his Creation.

But we should not miss the secondary meaning of the word “calling” as one that describes our being invited or summoned by God to become and therefore be his sons and daughters. This is the vertical calling you have all heard me talk about before – it is vertical in nature because it is focused on being a called child of God.  Paul’s appointment as an apostle (his horizontal calling) would be meaningless if he was not first summoned and invited to be a child of God in the first place (vertical calling). This secondary meaning – the summons, the invitation, the vertical calling to be a child of God – is where I want us to focus our attention today.

THE “CALLING” PITFALL

There is a major pitfall in the church today regarding this thing we call “calling”. It is far too common to believe that since you attend some church gatherings when your schedule allows or when you give your time, talent, and treasure as your budget and calendar allows, that you now belong to God.

While it is true that these are the activities of a believer (obviously without the limitations of schedule and budget since we ought not to limit our devotion to the Lord who did not limit his devotion to us) these activities or lack thereof, do not dictate or define our identity as one who has been called to be a child of God.

Your calling to be a child of God is not defined by your behavior. In contrast, your calling to be a child of God – and your answering of that call – will inevitably define the priority of your activities. All too often, we rush to help people perform a calling (a horizontal job in the church) that is not in alignment with their primary calling (their vertical identity as a child of God).

Our identity is the foundation of our performance. Everything begins with who and whose we are. All too often, we rush from that foundational identity, to building the house of our performance and we wonder why there are so many failed ministries, failed ministers, fake fruit in the lives of believers who cannot seem to master their sins, and people who jump from one church to the next looking for better programs with no real transformation.

Maybe all of this phenomenon is because we shy away from the work of settling into our identity in Christ because it is too hard, too slow, too invisible, and we crave things that make you go “woah” – we crave entertainment.

PAUL’S TESTIMONY OF BEING CALLED IN ACTS

Think with me about Paul’s testimony of God calling him in the book of Acts for a moment and keep in mind that God first invited or summoned Paul to become his child (vertically) and then he simultaneously appointed him (horizontally) for the work of being an apostle.

In Acts 9, Paul (called Saul at that time) was on a murderous rampage, killing Christians wherever he could find them, when God knocked him off his high horse on the road to Damascus. Luke – the author of the book of Acts – tells us in Acts 9:4 – 6 that “falling to the ground, he (Saul/Paul) heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’”

So, Jesus appears to Paul and confronts him for his sin and invites him to follow his instructions. Do you see the calling to repent, to turn around, and to submit to Christ here? A few verses later (after three days of being blind and unable to eat) in verses 15 – 18, the Lord recruits a man named Ananias to go minister to Paul. Here is what Luke tells us:

“the Lord said to him (Ananias), ‘Go, for he (Saul/Paul) is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and children of Israel. For I will show him how much he is to suffer for the sake of my name.’” So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized.”

Can you see what is taking place here? This is the moment of salvation for Saul whom we now know in the opening words of Romans 1:1 as “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle”. I believe that that calling in Romans 1:1 is not only a reference to God’s work of appointing Paul as his instrument for spreading the gospel, but it is also a reference to the day that God called Paul to himself in salvation – to become a child of the One whom he had been persecuting.

Part of the identity of being a blood bought child of the living God is this aspect of understanding that God was the one who initiated my salvation just as he did with Paul. That is really important to get our minds wrapped around.

Even if you were saved coming out the womb – God is still the one who initiated the circumstances and the pathway to that day of your becoming a child of God. Your prayer did not initiate it. Your submission did not initiate it. Your repentance did not initiate it. God initiates the moment of our salvation.

PAUL’S TESTIMONY OF BEING CALLED IN GALATIANS

In the book of Galatians in chapter one, Paul explains that after spending much time as a religious zealot, Christ revealed himself to him “when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me” (Gal. 1:15 – 16).

This is Paul’s own explanation of God’s primary vertical calling in salvation so that he could now be a child of God in Christ Jesus. Once again, God initiates this long before Paul was even born. Immediately following that explanation, Paul says that God saved him not only to be his child, but so that he might preach Christ among the Gentiles (Gal. 1:16).

So first, Paul was called to be a child of God (vertically) in salvation and then he was called and appointed by God (horizontally) for the work of ministry. I think that Paul’s salvation was so radical, so miraculous, and so vividly transforming that Paul could not help but to be fully devoted to the One who not only saved him, but who was now sending him as his representative in the world.

SHOULDN’T THIS BE THE PATTERN FOR EVERY BELIEVER?

I really do think that this is as it should be in the life of every believer. God’s vertical calling upon your life, to be his child, should radically transform your devotion to his horizontal calling upon your life to advance the message of the gospel in word and in deed as you serve him and his creation.

I believe that our lives ought to be a reflection of God’s vertical calling, his invitation, his summons to you and I to be his children. If you and I learn to live in that identity as sons and daughters of the God who called us to himself in salvation, by grace, through faith, in the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary and the power of the resurrection, we could literally change the world! Amen!?

Now, with all of that foundation laid, let us briefly survey what it practically means to put on this identity of someone who is called to be a child of God. We will follow the same outline as last week, where we survey a couple of key passages in Romans, then some other passages in Paul’s other letters, and then wrap up with a few passages from the rest of the Bible.

We obviously cannot survey over 500 passages today. So, I will attempt to find 2 – 3 for each circle of context that would seem to be the most helpful for helping us settle into our identity as people who are called to be children of God.

#1: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “CALLED” IN ROMANS?

I think there are at least four passages in Romans that are crucial for understanding our identity in Christ as being called to be children of God. Let us examine them briefly together.

In Romans 1:6 – 7, Paul identifies the believers in Rome as “you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ… who are loved by God and called to be saints.” This tells us that our vertical calling to be children of God means that we belong to Jesus, we are completely loved by God, and we have become saints.

You do not belong to the dirty, broken, worthless image you see in the mirror. You belong to Jesus. You are not too far gone to be fully known and fully loved. God’s complete and unconditional love for you in Christ Jesus will never run out. In Christ Jesus, you are a saint, fully set apart from the filth you once belonged to – you are perfect in every way in God’s sight, the image God sees of you in his pocket, is perfection and without blemish. Sit in that my friends. It will radically transform your life.

In Romans 8:28 – 30, Paul says that “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [what was his purpose in calling us to be his children?] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

Our identity as called children of God simply means that we are known intimately by God from before the foundations of the earth. God knows every detail about you, down to the tiniest pieces of you that you wish no one knew and he still calls you his child in Christ Jesus.

God’s plan (predestined means pre-planned) was always to save you and to form you into the image of Christ. God is the master builder who is always at work in healing and transforming you as his beloved child. You were not an afterthought, and you were not a mistake, and you did not show up on his doorstep as an orphan by surprise. God planned – way back before Creation – to make you, his child.

As God’s child, your Good Father, who never leaves and never forsakes, justified you, made you right again through the work of Christ at that cross, and he is now in the process of forming you into his image as you make your way to be with him forever in perfect glory.

If you sit in this understanding of your vertical calling to be a child of God… for longer than 30 seconds before you move onto what you think you need to perform… it will radically change your life from the inside out.

In Romans 9:11, Paul explains that God had a purpose in calling Jacob to be his child while not calling Esau to be his child, when he says, “though they (Jacob and Esau) were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad – in order that God’s purpose of election (his sovereign choice to save whom he chooses to save) might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls”.

Then, down a little further in verses 25 – 26 of chapter 9, he reminds us that this vertical sovereign calling to be children of God, according to the prophet Hosea, has been extended to anyone he has chosen to extend it to, when he says, “Those who were not my people (not Israelites) I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved’. And in the very place where it was to them ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God’”.

What is the point here? The point is this, God’s vertical calling on your life to be his child was never dependent upon your works, it was and has always been and will always be dependent upon his sovereign choice to save you from a life of slavery to sin.

And not only that, but if God chooses hookers like Hosea’s wife to be his daughter, then you and I can rest assured that our filthy broken past or even our filthy broken present holds no bearing over our belonging and that once God has saved us, and made us his sons and daughters, nothing will ever change that – not even your sin, since “the calling of God [is] irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29).

I am also reminded of Romans 8:15 – 17 which says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

As I read this last passage in Romans 8, I was reminded of how powerful fear and anxiety really are. The Spirit of adoption is what we were given the moment we heard God’s vertical call to us inviting us into his presence as his children in Christ Jesus. The problem is that our old enemy – Satan, Sin, and Death – has worked his little tentacles into our hearts and minds and he works overtime to keep us in bondage to anxiety and fear.

Fear of being fully known. Fear of God rejecting us. Fear of people seeing the darkest parts of our lives. Fear of failure. Fear of abandonment. Fear of not being good enough. Fear of being hurt. Fear of being let down. Fear of being a disappointment to others. Fear of coming face to face with the brokenness inside us.

But here is the thing… fear is worrying over something in the past that could become our future. But true freedom from slavery to fear, is fully realizing that you and I – in Christ – are purposefully adopted beloved sons and daughters of God, right here and right now. That is our identity. Sit with it. Soak in it. Let it overwhelm you. Let it fill you. Let it heal you. Our vertical calling to be children of God is meant to restore us for the horizontal calling he has for us. More on that down the road.

#2: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “CALLED” IN PAUL’S LETTERS?

As I surveyed all of Paul’s writings in his other letters that relate to this vertical upward call to be children of God, I found what I think are critical references in eight of his other books. My aim is to be super concise here and try to let the passages speak for themselves.

1 Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”. So, this vertical calling sticks and never changes because God is faithful and our relationship with Jesus is unbreakable.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Our vertical calling to be a child of God simply means that we have been made brand new and our old self – the ugly one in the mirror of our souls – has passed away and is dead forever. That old self is no longer alive. You can face it because you are brand new. Your old self has no control or power over you because you have been made brand new in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 5:13 says, “You were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” See how our identity as servants from last week intersects with our identity as called children of God? To be a child of God is to be free and to be in bondage no longer. So, what shackles need to be broken in your life as you lean into this identity as a called child of God?

In Ephesians 1:4 – 6, we read that God “chose us in him [in Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us [pre-planned us] for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”Further down in verse 18, we read that this upward vertical calling to be children of God, opens the eyes of our hearts so “that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you”. To be called as children of God is to be filled with a concrete hope in the one who never breaks his promise.

Ephesians 2:3 – 10 almost needs no introduction for this topic and really needs minimal commentary, as it says that “we all once lived in the passions of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no man may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Need I say more here? I would encourage you to spend the next few months listening to sermons and reading commentaries on this single passage and how the Lord uses it to strengthen your identity as a called child of God!

In Philippians 3:12 – 14 Paul tells us that he is not perfect, but that he pursues perfection because as he says, “Christ Jesus made me his own… [therefore] forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The past should not control us. The way Paul escapes being controlled by the past is by leaning into his identity as a called child of God, made into Christ’s possession by his work at that cross, so that he can focus on what is ahead – the upward vertical call if being a child of God!

In Colossians 3:15, Pal says, “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body”. Every believer shares this identity as being called children of God; therefore we can live in peace, knowing that we are at complete peace with our Father in Heaven. Worry, doubt, fear, shame, worthlessness, anger, bitterness, division, has no place in the heart of a believer who has been called to be a child of God and therefore at peace regardless of the circumstances.

1 Timothy 6:12 says “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many.”The way we fight the good fight of faith is not necessarily finding some cultural battle to wage war against. The way we primarily fight, is by holding fast to our calling as children of God who have the promise of eternal life.

So, what does it mean to be called children of God, according to Paul’s other letters? And what does it look like for us to sit in that identity?

We have to get the picture in our minds and hearts that this vertical calling is unbreakable.

The old you is dead and the new you is fully alive.

You have been set free from old prison cell of Satan, Sin, and Death.

You are chosen by God to be his adopted child and have been filled with true hope.

You are God’s project, his workmanship and he will not discontinue the work on you until you are finished; you will never be put on the discounted and discontinued shelf in God’s storefront.

You are not the sum total of your past failures and wounds; you are perfect in the eyes of God in Christ Jesus.

You are at peace with God; God is not your enemy – God is your Good Father.

As a called child of God, you have been designed to fight the good fight of faith – not primarily in the culture war – but in the war within you to hold fast to your eternal identity as a blood bought child of the Risen King!

#3: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “CALLED” IN THE O.T. & N.T.?

We have already covered so much in this survey of the first two circles of context that I hesitate to dive into the third circle of the rest of the Bible. But let me show you 4 passages that I think will help us tie a nice bow on this theme of being called children of God.

1 Peter 1:15 says, that “he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct”and then chapter 2 verse 9, we read that “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Our identity as called children of God begins with God himself as our holy God who chose us, and made us into royalty in his kingdom, and made us his possessions t lavish his love upon, so that we can be his ambassadors who testify to the fact that he rescued us from darkness and brought us into the light of our salvation in Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 41:9 – 10 says that God took his children “from the ends of the earth, and called [us] from its farthest corners, saying to you, ‘You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off’; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” There was no corner of the earth that God was unwilling to go to just to make you into his child. We need not live in terror or fear or dismay, because God is our strength, our only help in times of need, and our strong tower who helps us to stand under the worst of circumstances.

Isaiah 42:6 also says, “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant [promise] for the people, a light for the nations” and then in chapter 43 and verse 1 he says, “thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”

I assume that you are catching the theme by now, right? We have no reason to fear anything, or to live out of some past version of who we used to be, because the God who says, “no condemnation” and “no separation” in Romans 8 is the same God who “called”us to be his children in Romans 1, and he is also the God who says, “I have called you in righteousness” therefore “fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine”! This is what it looks like to sit in this identity trait as children of God who have been called out of darkness and into the marvelous light of our crucified, risen, and returning Savior!

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, I want to leave you with one last image that I believe should knock your socks off and help you to simply rest in your identity as a child of God who has been called out of darkness and into the light of your union with Christ.

You are probably familiar with the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15. As the story goes, the dad had two sons. The prodigal son comes to the dad and essentially tells him he wishes he was dead so he could get his inheritance now rather than waiting until he actually dies. Get that? The prodigal’s relationship to his dad was merely transactional; he only saw his dad as a way to get rich and have fun.

The dad being gracious, gave his son his inheritance early and watched him run down the driveway to destroy his life. Months or maybe even years later, the prodigal son realizes the error of ways as he is laying in the pig pen and eating pig slop, totally broke. So, he decides to return home, thinking that maybe he could at least be a hired hand, and work for his dad, and at least eat better food. Still in that transactional mindset; maybe if he performed well enough, he could earn a place inside the home again.

Upon arriving at the driveway of his dad’s house, he finds his dad at the end of the driveway waiting for him as he had done every day since his son had left. The dad runs up to his son and throws his arms around him in merciful acceptance before his son says a word… before he says a thing… smelling like pig slop! In that moment, the prodigal son says, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Lk. 15:21).

What happens next should blow your mind. The father does not scold him, and he does not mention the stench of his ruined life, and does not even mention the hurt from being wished dead. The dad simply says to his servants “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And b ring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (Lk. 15:22 – 24).

This is the picture of your identity as a child of God who has been called out of darkness and into the light of salvation. This who you are. This is your Good Father, if you have trusted in Christ. Obviously, if you have never trusted in Christ, then this is not your identity. You are still in the pig slop. You are still in darkness. But that reality – better yet – that identity can change in a moment as you surrender to the God who loved you enough to give his only Son on that cross to pay for your sins so that by his grace and mercy extended to you, and by the faith he gives you, you could respond to that call to become his child.

For whom the son sets free is free indeed! Amen! Sit in this my friends. Sit in this.

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 James, Strong, The Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2001), 177 – 180, 1618, 1622.