“Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:31
In Numbers 14 through 16, the rebellion of the Israelites had reached a new watermark. From their refusal to enter into the Promised Land; to their outright rebellion they had taken God to His limit. There was, however, a remnant of followers who were willing to do exactly what God commanded and go where He would lead. That band, of course, included Moses and Aaron, but it also included Joshua and Caleb. In fact, God referred to Caleb as one “of a different kind of spirit,” or in a more modern expression, as seen in the New Living Translation, God said Caleb had “a different attitude than the others.”
So, what made Caleb different? It was his attitude of belief. According to Jesus Himself, when we “believe” we are “doing God’s will.” Jesus said in John 6:40, “For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.” There are other verses as well, throughout the New Testament, that clearly define God’s will as to “believe in Jesus.”
Belief is what makes the difference in our lives and separates us from the rest of the world: the simple belief in the finished work of Jesus on the cross and through the resurrection. This separation will be seen in the judgement as well, as Jesus clearly stated in Mathew 7:22-23 when He said; “On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name’. But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.”
The people described in these verses were those who, though they seemed holy, had put their trust in their works, instead of putting their trust the finished work of Jesus. To be accepted, they were counting on what they had “done for God”, rather than on what Jesus had done for them. They were guilty of breaking the whole law because they had put their trust in something other than Jesus for their righteousness.
Today, if you have put your faith and trust in Jesus and believe on Him for eternal life, then you are of that “different spirit” too.