UNDERSTANDING THE SALVATION OF LOST SOULS.

Psalms 142:7 “Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.” BRING MY SOUL OUT, that is, save my soul; deliver, rescue me; I am in deep spiritual trouble. Here the soul is pictured as an inmate inside prison; already judged, fate sealed, and permanently stored. This soul had no hope, and had no person to come to its aid. Souls of each and every person living in this earth, are in the prison of darkness, in the way we live; the way we worship; the way politics dictates; the way of commercial interractions; and so on. BRING MY SOUL OUT OF PRISON, is thus, save my soul from the jail of darkness, from the consequences that evil brings along. The word PRISON, is used as a metaphor for trouble and distress (cf. Ps. 88:8; 107:10-14). This salvation, after reception, commands or demands individual or personal responsibility. This responsibility is THAT I PRAISE THY NAME. The message, here, is crystal clear, and straight to the point. Salvation is for the purpose of worshiping God, and not to develop a career out of it by establishing your denomination or ministry in order to get money or earn a living. It is not for selfish interests. No sinful person will accurately worship God. No sinful person will have the true worship of God. Without salvation for the lost soul from the prison of darkness effected by Jesus Christ’s perfect work of atonement in Calvary, such person cannot know the true worship of JEHOVAH. That is, unsaved person will continue struggling to worship God in corrupt way. 1 Cor. 12:13, states: “Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” The rescue of a soul from the prison of darkness (salvation) leads to the true worship of JEHOVAH, that is, the glorification of the name of Jesus Christ. Thereafter, the person should not be surrounded with fellow inmates, but instead THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL COMPASS ME ABOUT, that is, circle him like a crown, as the Hebrew KATAR signifies. The Targum replaced the phrase by saying: “For my sake the righteous will make thee a crown of praise.” The Targumist statement tend to lose the meaning of the passage or message. The correct understanding is that the RIGHTEOUS; who are the genuine Christians, will become my friends, comrades, the people in my circle, for the wicked, worldly friends will remain in the prison of darkness, in which my soul had been rescued from. My past friends will be in my old life, immediately I become new creature, having new life in Christ. Jesus Christ told Peter: “That thou art Peter (personal), and upon this rock (an act of salvation, where Peter acknowledged Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God, our Saviour) I will build my Church; and the gates of hell (not hades, not sheol, not purgatory, not soul sleep) shall prevail against it,” Mt. 16:18. Here, Christ, in support to this wonderful message in Psalms, revealed that the genuine Christians, THE RIGHTEOUS, who now, is His Church, will, and still, continue to excel in spiritual matters, everything pertaining to the Gospel, and that the gates of hell, the kingdoms of Satan: political or religious, will not overcome, neither conquer it. Once the soul is out of prison, the gates of hell, then that prison of darkness cannot rearrest the soul back again. Jesus Christ, is more powerful than than Satan who is the prison warden as well as its owner. THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL COMPASS ME ABOUT, is specifically the Church of Jesus Christ. These are brothers and sisters which make up the Body of Christ. As a genuine Christian, you have no brother neither sister in Islam, Roman Catholic, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Hindu, Buddhism, Krishna, and any other religion, for they do not serve the same God. This salvation, freeing my soul from the jail of darkness is a wonderful thing, FOR THOU SHALT DEAL BOUNTIFULLY WITH ME. That is, you have shown unmerited favour to a person who deserves nothing but punishment in lake of fire in hell; a rebellious person; a good for nothing chap in the true worship of God. You have exercised your love in forgiving my sins. The bountiful mercy, elsewhere called grace, Greek CHARIS, is the means of attaining peace, Hebrew SHALOM from God. You can’t have God’s peace without God’s grace. To summarize the this wonderful blessed message, here are the major items, the order is chronological: 1. The person must receive salvation for his lost soul, in order to become Christian. This lost soul is presented as imprisoned in the jail of darkness by Satan himself. 2. Thereafter the person must engage in the true worship of JEHOVAH. This true worship warrants a golden opportunity to bring more souls into salvation you have received. It is not for ministry, denominational establishment. 3. From that momment, and onwards, your friends will be only genuine Christians. These are the only spiritual brothers and sisters you have in this world; and 4. You must know that your salvation is an act of God’s grace, and not your own human efforts, lest this worldly boasting can overtake you unawares.