Ecclesiastes 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better. [4] The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
The preacher is fond of employing the contrasting term of “better” in Ecclesiastes. Note once more, this does not mean genuinely good by any metric of measurement, simply better than what it is contrasted against. In this case, sorrow and laughter.
Ecclesiastes 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth; [2] Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart.
A good name in this instance would be a good reputation. Referring back to Ecclesiastes 6:4, the preacher, mentioning the stillborn baby, says that its name is covered in darkness. The Tanakh, in a footnote for Ecclesiastes, records that stillborn babies were cast into pits or hidden in the ground in unrecognizable graves. This takes the verse from Ecclesiastes chapter 6 to morbid new heights.
In this final post we will consider the outcome of one’s faith in the life of a believer. This question is in fact a trifle misleading. The ultimate outcome of one’s faith is decided the moment one believes. “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life,” John 3:36. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed,” John 8:36. The grammar speaks to present, immediate possession when one believes the gospel. One is saved the moment one believes.
In the first portion we determined that the Bible is clear in its message that salvation is by God’s grace through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. A person exercises faith in Jesus Christ, believing in the message that He died, was buried, and rose again, accepting why He did it. It is only in Jesus Christ that salvation may be found. And when one is saved, they are made a member of the church, which is His body, Acts 2:41. Mind you, I am not referring to a denomination; no, denominations have caused incalculable damage to the witness of the gospel and given rise to some odious and entirely erroneous sects or cults such as Roman Catholicism or Jehovah’s Witnesses.
