Fishing

for He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,  Colossians 1:13

Delivered – What do you think it means for God to deliver us?  A typical answer would involve some statement about rescue from sin, forgiveness or heavenly assurance.  But the verb Paul uses is anything but typical.  It is not the customary verb for “save” (sozo), but rather a verb that has a special nuance (rhyomai).  This nuance re-directs our perspective.  The emphasis of “deliver” is not on us, the objects of the action, but rather on God, the initiator of the action.  Rhyomai contains the nuance of drawing or dragging someone to oneself in order to accomplish rescue and protection.  You can think of it as God’s way of fishing.  He catches in the net those He chooses and drags them to safety.

All of this stems from a Hebrew root, nsl.  This Hebrew verb is used 15 times in the simple active tense (“I deliver”), but 191 times in the causative tense (“I caused to be delivered”).  Sixty-five percent of those 191 times, God is the one who is doing the causing.   The nsl root means to take out, to take away, to separate, to take for oneself, to protect and to deliver.  You can see that the general sense of the verb easily fits actions that are of special significance to the one who causes this to occur.  The focus is not on those who benefit from this gracious choice, but rather on the one who makes the choice in the first place.  Now you know why Jesus said that the Father “drags” everyone whom He chooses to Him and He (Jesus) does not let a single one escape from His protection.

Why is this important?  Because deliverance is not the automatic application of Jesus’ moral perfection to your guilt before God.  There is nothing automatic about this at all.  Deliverance has nothing to do with some rewritten rule in the moral code so that you merely have to claim a “Jesus exemption” and you are granted a reprieve.  Deliverance is a specific, personal, deliberate fishing expedition whereby God catches whom He chooses and draws them to Himself in order to accomplish His will.  Walking down the aisle won’t apply the deliverance code.  Neither will being baptized.  Unless God catches you, you are just fooling yourself.

How do you know you’ve been caught in the net?  Well, for one thing, you will feel the drag.   You will find yourself compelled to know Him, empty without Him, anxious to learn of Him, ready to serve Him.  You will recognize the separation (another nuance of rhyomai) from your old life.  The net will pull you away from those things that used to be attractive.  You will be a fish out of water, leaving the old, polluted sewer and discovering a new way to breathe.

Have you noticed a change?  Do you feel caught in God’s net?  That’s deliverance, my friend.