KING DAVID
There are some who believe in the NEST, who look at the ancient Old Testament figure of David, and focus upon David's sin, where he lusted after Bathsheba (a married woman), committed adultery with her, and because of coveting her, he struck down her husband Uriah the Hittite with the sword (cf. 2 Samuel 12:9). With the focus upon David's shortcomings, it is then asserted, that in a specific period of time, before David expressed remorse for his sin, that he was temporarily separated from God (lost), and in that period, he was somehow doomed for eternal spiritual damnation. The philosophical implication is that David was not chosen for eternal spiritual salvation, exemplified during a time span between his famous sin, and the point of his famously expressed remorse that occurs later when he is confronted with the particular sin by Nathan the prophet. It is the philosophy that is based upon a hybrid belief of synergism, originating from Arminianism, and Pelagianism. The definition of this philosophy is called conditional security. Without becoming reconciled back to God through simply telling God, yes, David knows that he sinned (which David did do), then David is philosophically and speciously declared to have been destined for eternal spiritual damnation. The theory goes on to suggest that David was in danger of dying physically before being saved again, resulting in eternal damnation. We will analyze this by considering certain important facts that are somehow being left out by the NEST.
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As a first consideration, the Bible never mentions any such concept of an in between state of philosophical danger of damnation that supposedly exists between something labeled being lost and something labeled being saved. You are either lost, or you are saved. Salvation and lostness are the actual, and only, states of being. Salvation is to be saved from eternal separation from God.
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This leads to the second consideration, and that is that we are speaking of a man who is both under the ancient old covenants, and is chosen under those same covenants. David, while a circumcised descendent of Abraham, according to the first covenant (Abrahamic covenant), and a partaker of the Old Covenant Mosaic Law, was under the sacrificial atonement system of the Law of sacrifices, which covered sins. Therefor, David's sins could not possibly go on as poisoning agents of doom that somehow infect his life to fall out of covenant with God. In this respect, David did not lose salvation, as David did not lose either the Abrahamic covenant, nor the Mosaic Law Covenant. Under the Mosaic Law, actual physical biological death was the required punishment for certain sins, but not eternal spiritual death, as we will look at in more detail in a moment.
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In the meantime, this leads to the third important thing that must be considered, and that is that if David was chosen (elect) by God to be eternally saved, then David will necessarily be eternally saved.
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Fourthly, we must recognize that not only did David not lose eternal spiritual salvation, David was not physically killed by God because of this sin of murder and adultery, as per the true punishment required under the Mosaic Law, (and such passages as Ezekial 18). In this respect, David did not lose the salvation of his temporary biological life either. On the other hand, the fate of temporal physical death did happen to the prior king (king Saul) because of Saul's sin according to 1 Chronicles 10:13. So we recognize that David's biological life was saved from early death up until he finally died at a ripe old age.
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This leads to the fifth point that we must consider, and that is that David did, in fact, lose a physical life because of his sin! What David lost was the life of his first born son. The high price of the punishment of death was required by God, but it was not the death of David, even though neither the Mosaic Law, nor passages like Ezekial 18 give such a provision for this unique punishment of killing the son instead of the transgressor. Additionally, there was more punishment that God did not save David from. The rest of the punishment, unlike losing one's eternal spiritual salvation, is described by Nathan the prophet like this;
"10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' 11 Thus says Jehovah, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.' 13 David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against Jehovah.' And Nathan said to David, 'Jehovah also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned Jehovah, the child who is born to you shall die.' And Jehovah afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David," (2 Samuel 12:10-14)
Notice that God pronounces a judgment of a list of bad things to punish David with, which includes the demise of other people as well, yet there is one special thing that we must highlight, and that is that physical death, (which is what would be required for such a sin as murder, (cf. Genesis 9:6; and adultery cf. Leviticus 20:10), according to the Mosaic Law, was held back from David himself. Notice again,
"13 David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against Yahweh.' And Nathan said to David, 'Yahweh also has put away your sin; you shall not die.'" (2 Samuel 12:13)
[That is: you, David, shall not die the physical death that God requires according to His own previously revealed will in His Law. Yet physical death for the sin does come, but it comes to one who did not scorn Yahweh. It comes to David's child. Nathan says,]
"14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned Yahweh, the child who is born to you shall die. And Yahweh afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David," (2 Samuel 12:13-14)
We need to notice that just because David blurted out what he knew he had done all along (ie. confession), saying "I have sinned against Yahweh," God did not lift His penalties against David. God put away David's sin in the respect that David himself was saved from death according to Genesis 9:6, and Leviticus 20:10. Nevertheless, God transferred David's physical death penalty over to David's son, who was killed by God. Of course, this does not suggest that David's son was eternally spiritually lost and damned forever. There is a difference in being saved from physical death, and being saved from the completely different aspect of eternal spiritual death. Further, there was more penalty to come. God personally took David's wives before David's own eyes and gave them to David's neighbor, who laid with David's wives in broad daylight, (cf. 2 Samuel 12:11; 2 Samuel 16:21-23).
God did not save David from the shame of this sovereignly applied exhibition of public adultery, nor did God save David's wives from being defiled according to God's sovereign hand. The main point is that physical life was lost because of David's sin, and physical consequences occurred. One of the big problems woven into the grassy wall of the NEST is that people who believe in the NEST fail to consistently recognize the difference between physical death as a punishment, and eternal spiritual death as a punishment--particularly in the way God dealt with His people in the Old Testament. Those who believe in the NEST, often equivocate eternal spiritual damnation with other forms of punishment mentioned in the Bible. So, in this third consideration, we see that David was not saved from punishment. The punishment was death. The punishment was the death of David's son, which reflected, in a sense, the lex talionis (principle of retribution) in respect to David having Uzziah killed in battle. Further, the punishment involved David's own wives being adulterized in view of Israel, which reflected, in the same sense, David's blatant adultery of Bathsheba.
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The sixth thing we need to consider, concerning David, is what the rest of Scripture reveals concerning David. Paul, when teaching on God's grace in forgiveness, quotes David out of Psalm 32, stating,
"5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: '7 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. 8 Blessed is the man whose sin Jehovah will not take into account.'" (Romans 4:1-8, cf. Psalm 32:1-2)
Certainly, David understood that blessed is the man whose sins have been covered, and that God credits righteousness apart from works, but rather, according to faith, and that God will not take sin into account. Such an understanding demonstrates that David trusted in Yahweh in faith for salvation, before, during, and after he sinned! Further, David must understand this blessing, of not having sins taken into account, to be in the eternal spiritual sense, because God did, in fact, take David's sins into account in the temporal sense, by killing David's son, and taking David's wives before David's own eyes; giving them to David's neighbor who laid with them in broad daylight (cf. 2 Samuel 12:11; 2 Samuel 16:21-23). David was hoping that God would extend the grace that David wrote about in Psalm 32:1-2 even further by healing his child, which God afflicted. But God did not relent from killing David's child. David even said,
"While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, 'Who knows whether Yahweh will be gracious to me, that the child may live?'" (2 Samuel 12:22)
David soon found out that God was not gracious to him in the temporal respect, "that the child may live." This is Paul's point in quoting David in Romans concerning the better New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6-18) of comprehensive grace in Christ in the eternal spiritual sense. God's grace is made more sure in the covenant of the cross and resurrection of Christ through the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit. So, according to Paul's point in Romans 4, where Paul expounds upon David's Psalm, though David was under the Mosaic Law, David was always, is always, and will always, be eternally spiritually saved by grace through faith.
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This leads to the seventh thing we need to consider concerning David, and that is that not only is Jesus Christ called "The son of David," in the respect of being entrusted into the family of Joseph and Mary through conception by the Holy Spirit, according to Matthew 22:42-45, and Mark 12:35, David also called Jesus Christ his Lord, thus signifying that David was chosen to eternal spiritual salvation through Christ, as we read Jesus saying,
"'What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?' They said to Him, 'The son of David.' 43 He [Jesus] said to them, 'Then how does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying, 44 'The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet'? 45 If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his son?'" (Matthew 22:42-45)
David (who was promised that his descendants would bring to Israel, the Savior Jesus, which God foreknew must come through the next child, Solomon) was a man who called Christ, in the Spirit, the Lord, with no indication in His life that he ever recanted this belief. Therefor, this indicates that David was always saved. We read in Luke that David was God's servant, and so, as God's servant, Christ Jesus was raised up as David's descendent,
"68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, 69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant" Luke 1:68-69, (cf. Acts 4:25 emph. mine)
The point is that God's servant, David, never rejected God as his only Lord and Savior, and he was foreknown and predestined not to do so. Though a servant who sinned, the scriptures do not indicate that he became a non servant in his sin, and then suddenly became a servant again later on. David trusted in God's grace for salvation. David did God's will. In fact, David's whole state of being was recognized by God prophetically as a state of doing all of God's will, in spite of his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, as we read in Acts 13,
"22 After He [Yahweh] had removed him, [Saul] He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all My will.' 23 From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus," (Acts 13:22-23; cf. Acts 4:25, Luke 1:68-69 emph. mine)
In reading the above passage, we must not ignore that God clearly says, that He has "found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all My will." David did do all of God's unrevealed will (decretive will), and yet David also sinned against God by transgressing God's revealed will (preceptive will). But David's sin did not negate the fact that David did "all" of God's will in God's comprehensive determinism. And of course this is in accordance with the fact that David was created and ordained as God's chosen vessel to specifically serve the purpose of God, and David did just that, as we read,
"For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep," (Acts 13:36 emph. mine)
David, God's servant, who is a man after God's own heart, who calls God "Lord," served the purpose of his Lord God in his generation.
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This leads to an eighth thing we must consider, and that is that all of God's chosen people of history past, who died before the Christ covenant, are only eternally spiritually saved through the Christ covenant (New Covenant). There are two aspects to this truth that must be understood:
A) the blood of bulls and goats that were sacrificed for sins by God's people in history past before the New Covenant, was sacrificial blood that temporarily covered sins, but was never ever able to take away sins;
and
B) people who lived before the Christ covenant, were not regenerated, nor indwelt by God's Holy Spirit.
Looking at this great truth of the necessity of being eternally spiritually saved through Christ,
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let us first look at the the first aspect of the atonement and propitiation for sins that is necessary in Christ's blood, even though the Old Testament saints, like David, constantly shed blood sacrifices to temporarily cover their sins. The writer of Hebrews explains it this way,
"1 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He [Christ] comes into the world, He says, 'Sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; 6 In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have taken no pleasure. 7 then I said, 'behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will O God.'" 8 After saying above, 'Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins you have not desired, nor have you taken pleasure in them' (which are offered according to the Law), 9 then He said, 'behold, I have come to do your will.'" He takes away the first in order to establish the second." (Hebrews 10:1-7)
The great necessity is that only in Christ, can anyone be, and is anyone, eternally spiritually saved, which includes king David. The multitudes upon multitudes of sacrifices of bulls and goats that were made in the past, only temporarily covered sins. All Old Covenant people needed their sins completely taken away to receive eternal spiritual salvation, and that would only happen later, in Christ. This is why we read in Hebrews 9,
"14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." (Hebrews 9:14-15)
Those people of the past, including David, who were God's chosen people, could not enter into their resurrected glory until the proper time,
"8 The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tent is still standing, 9 which is a symbol for the present time." (Hebrews 9:8-9)
It was only in Christ, Who entered through the veil for all His people, that they could also enter through at the appointed time,
"14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are set apart. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says Jehovah: I will put my laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them,' He then says, '17 And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.' 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. 19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh," (Hebrews 10:14-20)
All of God's people of old that He set apart, died and awaited their entrance into eternal glory through the better covenant in Christ. They waited in "Abraham's bosom," (Luke 16:19-30, Luke 23:43). In one of the most important passages which explains all of this, the writer of Hebrews goes on in chapter 11 to show that all the set apart ones of old who had faith in the one true God (Jehovah) would only experience their eternal redemption in the future in Messiah, long after they died, as we read more in Hebrews,
"13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. ... 39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect." (Hebrews 11:14-16, 39-40)
The big point is that apart from the New Covenant, which is the better covenant that God has finally provided in Christ, any and all people of God in the past would not be made perfect, and one must be made perfect to experience eternal spiritual salvation in glory. This is why Jesus said to the Jews,
"56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." (John 8:56)
David, of course, was subject to the Law, so therefor he could never attain the perfect righteousness that God requires. David demonstrated the futility of trying to be justified by the Law, though he was commanded to keep God's law perfectly (cf. 1 Kings 6:11-13). This is why his son, Solomon declared by the Holy Spirit,
"20 Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins." (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
David was a righteous man, yet he did not continually do good and cease from sin. This is why David also declared by the Spirit, as Paul quotes him,
"7 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. 8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account." (Romans 4:7-8, cf. Psalm 32:1-2)
It was not until the future that the same Holy Spirit explained through Paul the apostle, that the Law came in so that sin would increase. Christ came in, on the other hand, so that grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Him.
"19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. 20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:19-21)
This is why Paul inaugurated his preaching ministry with the message of his first recorded sermon at Pisidian Antioch, preaching by the Spirit, Paul said,
"33 that God has fulfilled this promise to our [Israelite] children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, 'You are my son, today I have begotten you.' 34 As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: 'I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.' 35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm, 'You will not allow your holy One to undergo decay.' 36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; 37 but He whom God raised did not undergo decay. 38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses." (Acts 13:33-39, cf. Galatians 3:22-26 emph. mine)
Paul is proclaiming to Hebrews who relied upon sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem to atone for their sins, that through Christ Jesus, complete forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed, and that only through Him, everyone who believes is freed from everything from which any Israelite could not be freed through the Law of Moses. The point is that people who were living under the Old Covenant Law, only temporarily had their sins covered by the blood of the sacrifices. But the sins must be taken completely away, and that action only occurred in Christ.
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This now leads us to the second aspect concerning the necessity for anyone to be saved by being saved through Christ. The second aspect is that people who lived before the New Covenant in Christ, were not indwelt by God's Holy Spirit. They had not become "one spirit" with the Lord as occurs in the New Covenant (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:17). But, one must necessarily be indwelt by God's Holy Spirit to be saved. We read that on the day that Samuel anointed David with oil to be king, that
"the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon David from that day forward." (1 Samuel 16:13)
David did not have the Holy Spirit indwelling him as a consecrated temple. Rather, the Holy Spirit came mightily upon David, which is something else that is altogether different. This is important, because under the New Covenant, the person of the Holy Spirit indwells us as part of the New Covenant, and as such is our unbreakable seal of being once saved in eternal spiritual salvation, where we are once saved always saved (OSAS) in eternal security. As we read in Romans 5,
"5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:5)
[This is more than an interesting concept. This giving of the indwelling Spirit, is what must happen to be saved.]
"6 For while we were still helpless, ..." (Romans 5:6)
[David was helpless too]
"... at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)
["ungodly" is what describes everyone born as a descendant of Adam, who does not yet have the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to them in salvation]
"7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, ..." (Romans 5:7-8)
[Everyone sins, and everyone who sins is a sinner, made manifest in the fact that they sin, but we must be careful not to equivocate what Paul means in his taxonomy here. "Sinners" here, is Paul's noun that describes everyone before salvation, where they are completely void of the righteous nature of Christ;]
"... Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified [made the righteousness of Christ] by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." (Romans 5:8-9)
The indwelling Holy Spirit of the New Covenant is what we need to be established, sealed, and pledged to God. We notice where God puts His Holy Spirit when He saves people;
"21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge." (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
Paul is describing the indwelling Holy Spirit connection to New Covenant salvation. It is God Himself putting Himself (as that Spirit Person aspect of His Triune being), in us. It is what Paul means when he says concerning salvation that must come in Christ, that,
"13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)
In fact, the seal is for the day of redemption of the old cursed body into a resurrected super-glorified body (cf. Ephesians 4:30). We must understand that the indwelling person of the Holy Spirit is of vital importance to be once saved in eternal spiritual salvation.
The so called Bible Answer Man, Hank Hanegraaff, once tried to explain his philosophy that the Holy Spirit does not actually indwell people. His proof was some extra biblical theory that the Holy Spirit can not do such a thing because the Holy Spirit is a "non-corporeal being." This statement is absurd. The Holy Spirit can do such a thing for the very reason that He is a non corporeal being, and infinite in His essence. He can indwell throughout an infinite number of people in the miracle of salvation, and still transcend His creation as God, and He does. This is clearly demonstrated in Scripture, which is the final court of arbitration in this matter.
The point is that without the seal of the indwelling Holy Spirit, salvation simply does not exist. David did not have the person of the Holy Spirit indwelling him as the Spirit's temple. David had the Holy Spirit come upon him mightily, and living in this Old Covenant relationship, David feared that God would take away His Holy Spirit. We read that after David sinned, David pleaded with God in Psalm 51:11, not to take His Holy Spirit from David. Such prayers and concepts are unknown in the New Covenant. Things are different now, in the New Covenant, because the Holy Spirit's role is to actually change people by miracle into born again creatures. The born again person's body, then, becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19). This is why Paul can say that we, who are joined to the Lord Jesus Christ, are one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17). To never have the Holy Spirit in you as God's divine nature, that saved people partake in according to 2 Peter 1:4, is to go on forever as eternally spiritually lost. To go on, and never have God's Holy Spirit in you after the New Covenant has been completely established in history, is to go on to continue in lostness. It is to be like the lost people described in Jude. They are described as being devoid, as in absent of the Spirit (cf. Jude 1:19), but in the next verse, the truly saved are to build themselves up by praying in the Holy Spirit that only saved people have (cf. Jude 1:20). The Old Covenant people of God did not yet have this unique aspect of the Holy Spirit's ministry. It is a work of God, and it is His ministry of the Holy Spirit that must come in the future, after the Old Covenant. Once again, Hebrews 9, explains so much concerning these things,
"14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." (Hebrews 9:14-15)
The ministry of the Spirit is eternal because of the "eternal Spirit," which of course, guarantees the "eternal inheritance." This is why Jesus explained to Nicodemus that to receive eternal spiritual salvation, one must be born again. You have to be the miracle, whether you are a deceased old covenant person who had been chosen, or whether you are a chosen person who is living after the inauguration of the New Covenant at the cross and resurrection of Christ. Every single person must be born again through the indwelling Holy Spirit to be saved in eternal spiritual salvation. Salvation is a miracle. It is more than a concept. It is a miracle of the Holy Spirit, where our spirit is joined with Him and He gives us life forever. Our union with Christ is union with the life giving Spirit (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:45). The Old covenant, on the other hand, never was a ministry of the Spirit, as Paul explains, that God,
"6 also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter [that's the Old Covenant] but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. [It is the eternal spiritual life of salvation] 7 But if the ministry of death, [Old Covenant which is not of the Spirit] in letters engraved on stones, [Ten Commandments] came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit [New Covenant of the Spirit Who gives life, verse 6] fail to be even more with glory? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, [Old Covenant] much more does the ministry of righteousness [New Covenant] abound in glory. 10 For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory." (2 Corinthians 3:6-11)
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This leads to the ninth and final point, and that is that David is listed in Hebrews 11 as one of those, who by faith, obtained what is perfect in Christ. The writer does not say that David obtained it any other way, as we read,
"32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented -- 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, [in] dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us." (Hebrews 11:32-40 emph. mine)
So, there it is in black and white in the great hall of faith of Hebrews 11. David is there right before Samuel, subduing kingdoms through faith, working righteousness, obtaining promises, and being made strong by God, in his day.
In conclusion (even though we are not anyone's ultimate judge) based upon all that has been considered from the biblical record, it is safe to surmise that David was chosen by God to be eternally spiritually saved by grace through faith according to God's sovereign will, which means that David did not lose salvation at any time, and with that, it is certainly logical to expect that we who are saved, will see David, and be with him, enjoying everlasting glorious "perfect" life together in a resurrected and super-glorified New Covenant state. David, like all who trust God as His people, can only be saved through "The son of David," (cf. Matthew 22:42-45). With that said, we must continue to recognize that we will only truly know for sure whether certain Old Testament characters are eternally spiritually saved, (though passages like Hebrews 11 identify some of the truly saved for us; David being one of them) when we are there in ultimate glory to witness first hand all those who are actually there.
