Wholeness

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, (Gk. mathētēs, a disciplined learner, pupil) 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). I’m concerned about employing study tools to replace drive-by reading of heavily paraphrased English translations which virtually ignore figures of speech, cultural and social practices, and language idioms present in the original language texts.

I believe disciples of Jesus Christ know that the Bible is an Eastern book, which original languages are Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Some believing disciples, such as myself, desire to study God’s Word deeper, into the ancient Middle Eastern language peculiarities (which have been neutered out of English paraphrased Bible translations), because it helps me to understand God’s Word better. And so using electronic study tools like concordances and analytical lexicons, and other study tools resources like E. W. Bullinger’s ‘Figures of Speech used in the Bible’, and Ada R. Habershon’s ‘The Study of the Types Priests and Levites, A Type of the Church’, and ‘Typology of Scripture’ by Patrick Fairbairn, and for customs and cultural studies, George M. Lamsa’s ‘Gospel Light’ and ‘New Testament Commentary’, or James M. freeman’s Manner and Customs of the Bible’, and many other high scholarly quality resources, believers can become fairly acquainted with the mechanics and peculiarities of ancient Middle Eastern languages, which knowledge pays great dividends in Bible study.

But 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 context in which it sits like a diamond, based upon its Strong's number, to see how the holy Spirit used that life-giving word in each and every one of it's various contextual usages, and, how the holy Spirit defines the meaning of the word in each of those contextual usages, by the way it uses it. Determining the exact meaning of the individual words (rhēmata) 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.

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 the 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” often is 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 “healing”, “being healed”, “made whole”, “kept whole”, or “kept from being made unwhole”. The 50 KJV translators gave us a clue that they saw this as well, by translating sōzō in some of its occurrences as make whole (9 times), heal (3 times) and be whole (2 times), sicknesses, weaknesses and illnesses of all kinds were healed.

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, “make whole”, “keep 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 Isaiah 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 the 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 seek 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, (refering 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. The holy 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. I believe both physical and spiritual healing of mortalkind are prophesied in Isaiah 53, because Jesus Christ is the complete (teleiōtheis, Strong’s # 5048) author 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. 15:29b, If dead ones are absolutely not raised wholly (holōs), why are they baptized also on behalf of them?

Apostle Paul, in the closing of his first letter to the Thessalonians, said;

1 Thes. 5:23 But the God of the peace Himself, may He keep you holy, completely whole (holoteleis); and [may] your whole lot (holoklēron), the Spirit, and the soul, and the body have been watched blamelessly, in the presence of the Lord of us, Jesus Christ.

So then, does our belief upon the name of Jesus, which is rewarded with the new birth above (John 3), baptism in the 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? I recommend to the believing disciple to plug in make whole, made whole, keep whole, etc., in all the usages of sōzō, and determine for yourself if it brings to you any further enlightenment into God’s Word.

May God bless you with wholeness!