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Tag: holy

The Holy Spirit IS that I AM
The Holy Spirit IS.
I am the Spirit of God.
I am the LORD.

The HOLY SPIRIT of Trinity

Who IS God?

It’s a question we all ask and a familiar question asked by many souls before us.

Moses said to God,

“If I go to the Israelites and tell them,

‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’

and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ – what should I say to them?”

Exodus 3:13 NET Bible

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Exodus 3:14 KJV

JESUS asked His Apostles a rhetorically similar question:

While he was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them,

“Who do the crowds say that I am? ”

Gospel of Luke 9:18 CSB

And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ

And Peter answered and said, “The [Messiah] Christ of God.”

Gospel of Luke 9:20 LSB – Transliterated Greek [above] – ‘ho christos theos’

The Apostle Matthew’s Gospel witnesses this same relational answer of his fellow Apostle Peter:

And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:16 LSB

God our Father and Lord

We get it humanly – the relationship of a son (or daughter) to a father (or to our mother).

Human AND ever-existing SON

Mortal men and women can relate to a Son of THE FATHER.

We understand, in part, that JESUS was flesh and blood, body and brain a perfect human son of man (Mary, actually: ‘man‘ as in human like all of us).

John, the Apostle who speaks so well relationally in the witness of his Gospel tells us:

But these [signs, proofs or miracles] are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Gospel of John 20:[30-]31 New English Translation

The Twelve, having loved their friend and Master whom they followed willingly, understood a relational link between JESUS and each of His disciples personally.

When the Lord in so many ways showed His Disciples His ever-existing relationship to Almighty God our Father — HIS Father from before the beginning — they could not have been more awe struck that GOD stood in their human presence.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

I and my Father are one.

Gospel of John 10:27-30 KJV [context: John 10:22-30 KJV ]
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We get that - in a human sense of relationship.
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Jesus and Spirit

Yet think from the witness of any of the Twelve of the impact of JESUS, the living Christ they follow, telling His disciples: “I and the Father are One.”
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Just like all faithful Jews, these disciples had recited the Sh'ma since their childhood:
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Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד׃

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

דְּבָרִים (Deuteronomy) 6 : 4
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Even so, the Disciples had heard their Master instruct Nicodemus, a leader of the Sanhedrin:
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Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Gospel of John 3:5-6 ESV [in context of John 3:1-21]

John’s Gospel continues with Jesus’ further explanation of the Spirit:

“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Gospel of John 3:23-24 LSB – Words of Jesus Christ to a Samaritan woman

What is JESUS telling us about spirit and the Holy Spirit?
- Although mankind is flesh and blood, created from dust and water,
- and Man is created in God’s image;
- Man, LIKE GOD, is also spirit.
What is Spirit?

John begins his Gospel with Jesus (the Word) and the Spirit.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

Gospel of John 1:1-4 Berean Standard Bible

John’s clear reference is the beginning written in the word of Moses:

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃

וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵי תְהֹום וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל־פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם׃

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep.

And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Genesis 1:1-3 [Hebrew] Berean Standard Bible

JESUS, THE WORD, WAS WITH GOD AND WAS GOD — ‘hovering over ‘a waste and emptiness,’ in the darkness over a face of the deep…

And the Word said:
“Let there be light,”
and there was light.
Genesis 1:3 in the context of John 1:1-5
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READ MORE BELOW
NOTE: 
Although I generally limit your reading time to ~5 minutes, today I'll expand our TOPIC of SPIRIT with additional definitions and more Biblical verses than we could cover in a single post on the SPIRIT.

Please continue and COMMENT at the end of this entire post.- RH
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Spirit [spirit] – rûaḥ – רוּח
- The KJV translates Strong’s H7307 in the following manner: Spirit or spirit (232x), wind (92x), breath (27x), (various additional)
- Two additional uses in Genesis show both the Spirit of God and His quickening spirit in His creatures, including mankind:
  - And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; – Gen. 6:3a NKJV
  - And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. – Gen. 7:15,22 NKJV
COMMENTARY

The Spirit of God; not the wind, which was not yet created, as is manifest, because the air, the matter or subject of it, was not yet produced; but the Third Person of the glorious Trinity, called the Holy Ghost, to whom the work of creation is attributed, Job 26:13, as it is ascribed to the Second Person, the Son, Joh 1:3 Col 1:16-17 Heb 1:3, and to the First Person, the Father, every where.

– Matthew Poole’s Commentary on Genesis 1

Job asks [12:10 LSB]:

In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all the flesh of man?

Man cannot grasp the whirlwind or the unseen breath of God, yet JESUS, who IS One with the Father tells us:

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”

Gospel of John 4:24 CSB

πνεῦμα – pneuma in the New Testament

Spirit in the New Testament – basically has the same meaning AND is just as mysterious, illusive as the breath of angels. – RH
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(Note the prepositions, 'the' or 'a' in the Strong's definitions) 
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spirit in a living soul
- the spirit, i.e. the vital principal by which the body is animated
  - the rational spirit, the power by which the human being feels, thinks, decides
  - the soul
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How do you think of your own spirit? 
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“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Gospel of Matthew 5:3 LSB from the Beatitudes of Jesus Christ
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Consider a mysterious ethereal truth: observable, yet beyond measure of man's contemporary thought. 
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spirits apart from your own mortal soul
- a spirit, i.e. a simple essence, devoid of all or at least all grosser matter, and possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding, and acting
  - a life giving spirit
  - a human soul that has left the body
  - a spirit higher than man but lower than God, i.e. an angel
    
    used of demons, or evil spirits, who were conceived as inhabiting the bodies of men
    
    the spiritual nature of Christ, higher than the highest angels and equal to God, the divine nature of Christ
“Now when the unclean spirit G4151 goes out of a man [anthrōpos – a human being, whether male or female], it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.

Matthew 12:43 LSB

spirit and soul alike, yet distinct

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
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Before proceeding to the more powerful and most mysterious Holy Spirit of God, 

consider beyond flesh and blood, mind and spirit --
that which is the same in Old and New Testaments, yet having subtle ungraspable distinction: spirit and soul.
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“BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN;

MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL [psychē] IS WELL-PLEASED;

I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT [pneuma] UPON HIM,

AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES.

Gospel of Matthew 12:18 LSB quoting Isaiah 43:1 quote of the LORD

We hear it also in the heart of Isaiah, a Prophet of God:

With my soul [nep̄eš] I have desired You in the night,
Yes, by my spirit [rûaḥ] within me I will seek You early;
For when Your judgments are in the earth,
The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Isaiah 26:9 NKJV
- soul – psychē – NT Greek
- soul – nep̄eš – נֶפֶשׁ – OT Hebrew
the HOLY Spirit
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Although related to spirit, we cannot examine the soul today as part of our brief topic of the Trinity and Holy Spirit.
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Spirit – rûaḥ or pneuma

H7307 – rûaḥ – רוּחַ

Spirit of God, the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son
1. as inspiring ecstatic state of prophecy
2. as impelling prophet to utter instruction or warning
3. imparting warlike energy and executive and administrative power
4. as endowing men with various gifts
5. as energy of life
6. as manifest in the Shekinah glory
7. never referred to as a depersonalised force
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

Gospel of Matthew 1:18 NKJV

Simply the human beginning of the son of man (Mary, a virgin, that is; bearing a second adam in the line of God’s created ones).

Certainly mysterious, controversial to this day to the psyches and spirits of mortal men and women who resist the Spirit of God.

In His love and in His pity He redeemed them;
And He bore them and carried them
All the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit;

Isaiah 63:9b-10a NKJV

πνεῦμα – pneuma – spirit OR ghost

When you hear an ENGLISH translation of pneuma in the King James Version it will most often suggest an image of the Holy Ghost.

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Gospel of John 14:26 KJV – the promise of Jesus Christ

As mysterious as Ghost or the Spirit may be to mankind, its root word [Strong’s G4154 – pneō] directs our thoughts
- to breathe hard, i.e. breeze:—blow (of the wind)
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit. Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’

The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Gospel of John 3:5-8SB

The HOLINESS of God

NO mention of Trinity is absent the key concept of HOLY in reference to the HOLY GHOST or the HOLY SPIRIT.
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We have examined the doctrines of Holiness previously:
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DOCTRINE: GOD IS HOLY

He will give you another Helper – the Holy Spirit

I encourage you in the spirit to pray with ears to hear the Holy Spirit of the Lord God, who IS ONE with the Father and the Son our savior Jesus Christ.

Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

David, King of Israel – Psalm 51:11

Acts of the HOLY SPIRIT

God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.

Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

Acts of the Apostles 2:32-33 BSB

– testimony of the Apostle Peter in Jerusalem’s Temple

“Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied,

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,

and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

With many other words he testified, and he urged them, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.”

Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day.

Acts of the Apostles 2:37b-41 Berean Standard Bible
November 16, 2024
Commandments of Relationships in the Church 1 Corinthians 7
The Apostle clearly states both his authoritative advice AND commandments from the risen Christ Jesus.

I say this to give you permission. It is not a command.

1 Corinthians 7:6 ICB

Commandments for Christians from the Lord

Now I give this command for the married people. (The command is not from me; it is from the Lord.)
A wife should not leave her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:10 International Children’s Bible

Paul previously has already conceded to those who are single, ‘..because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.’ – 1 Corinthians 7:2 NKJV
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The New King James Version HEADS this section of Paul's Epistle: Keep Your Marriage Vows
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NOW Paul must address how a corinthianized saint of Christ’s Church in Corinth ought to apply such commands of the Lord.

‘Do NOT be unequally yoked’ is good pre-marital advice from the Bible.

Roger@talkofJesus.com

– referring to Paul’s Second letter to the Corinthians 6:14

Divorce

A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband.

And a husband is not to divorce his wife.

Let’s be clear on this command:
- For most of history ONLY the HUSBAND could sign a certificate of divorce.
- In this Common Era a WIFE is JUST AS LIKELY to sue her husband for divorce.
OR a ‘liberated‘ woman may simply leave (or evict) the husband of her vows, rather than seeking to reconcile their marital relationship as commandments of the Lord and scripture clearly state.

Any Exceptions or Advice?
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(In deference to our own vows before the Lord, sometimes the hardness of a heart is that of our spouse.)
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12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.

13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.

The Apostle also makes clear his desire for fidelity in marriage between a CHURCH MEMBER and an unbeliever.

Scripture is clear: DO NOT commit adultery applies to HUSBAND and WIFE alike.

What about the kids?

The husband who is not a believer is made holy through his believing wife.

And the wife who is not a believer is made holy through her believing husband.

If this were not true, then your children would not be clean. But now your children are holy.

1 Corinthians 7:14 International Children’s Bible

Sanctified, the King James Version instructs.
ἁγιάζω – Strong’s G37 – hagiazō – From ἅγιος (G40) the same word scripture uses for ‘Holy’ and for ‘saint,’ the name identifying members of Christ’s church.
- to separate from profane things and dedicate to God
- to purify by expiation: free from the guilt of sin
- to purify internally by renewing of the soul
MARRIAGE is HOLY, ITS TWO SAINTS ONE with each other and with CHRIST.
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The saints of the church are Christ's SANCTIFIED ones, yet are our christian MARRIAGES a HOLY witness of CHRIST?
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The Good News About Marriage also reveals the divorce rate among those active in their church is 27 to 50 percent lower than among non-churchgoers.

Jeff Feldhahn, husband of Shaunti Feldhahn, marriage researcher in 2019 CBN interview

Which spouse claiming to be christian while embracing adultery is NOT ACTIVE in worship in their local church?

So they divorce, often calling themselves, ‘single mom’ or ‘single dad,’ as if they had never been bound to any vow.

And they witness falsely to the world that they are ‘christians‘ (though in name only) who DIVORCE as FREELY and frequently as the rest of the world, those who vilify Christ our Lord, His Church and every Christian family.

but IF the ..

ἄπιστος apistos – (note some meaning from various translations)

[departs, insists on leaving, leaves, separates, wants a divorce],

χωρίζω chōrizō – let him depart

.. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

1 Corinthians 7:15b KJV

ἄπιστος apistos
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And what does the Bible call this person breaking their vows of marriage by divorce?
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- unbelieving or unbeliever, KJV & NKJV
- the husband or wife who isn’t a believer, NLT
- unbelieving one, LSB
- unbelieving partner, AMP & RSV
- infidelis, VUL
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In fact, since 
they trouble Christ, 
divide the saints and
cast chaos into the world of witness in Jesus Christ, 
those church members who DIVORCE become anti-Christs in the eyes of the world.
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Let it be so. – 7:15b NIV

Concerning Change of Status

When this happens, the brother or sister in Christ is free. God called us to a life of peace. 16 Wives, maybe you will save your husband; and husbands, maybe you will save your wife. You do not know now what will happen later.

1 Corinthians 7:15c International Children’s Bible

This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.

Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches.

1 Corinthians 7:17 New Living Translation
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Paul addresses the men - Jewish saints of the church as well as Greek or Roman converts to Judaism, now also saints adopted into Christ.
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Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 20 Each person should remain [abide] in the situation they were in when God called them.
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This, of course, opens another relational question for women, as well as questions of status of Jews the circumcision, Greek Corinthians and Roman Corinthians, both the uncircumcision.
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Slaves – δοῦλος –doulos

Rome had slaves.
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(Most Bible translations prefer the less-offensive word, servants), but even employee labor is bought by your employer.) Some are slaves to their work. Others, slaves to
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Lose a war, as the Greeks had to the Romans, and your citizens become subject to a government over which you have no control. Jews, whether in Corinth or Jerusalem were also either Roman citizens, free aliens or slaves to a Roman, Greek or other master, their lord.

doulos
1. a slave
2. metaph., one who gives himself up to another’s will those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing his cause among men
3. devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interests
For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord.

Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ.
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So note here Paul's all-important metaphor:
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You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants [doulos] of men.

So, brothers, [v.29 meaning ‘brothers and sisters’] in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

1 Corinthians 7:23 ESV

The Apostle uses ABIDE once again in v.23, his fourth of five times in 1 Corinthians 7.

Situation of the unmarried and widowed

25 Now I write about people who are not married. I have no command from the Lord about this, but I give my opinion. And I can be trusted, because the Lord has given me mercy.

Remedies for this present distress

I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—
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Paul's advice is both personal AND circumstantial: to the single (virgins and unmarried men), engaged (betrothed), married, widowed (no longer bound to a spouse), divorced (once again single and unbound to another).
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- 27 Are you pledged to a woman?
  - Do not seek to be released.
- 28 Are you free from such a commitment?
  - Do not look for a wife.
- 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned;
- and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned.
  - But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
    
    NIV
The time is short
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We do not have much time left. So starting now... 1 Corinthians 7:29b International Children's Bible
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What’s the historical context of which Paul speaks? (This seems somewhat prophetic, but certainly the handwriting on the wall is whispered in every province of the Empire.)

AD 55 – Six years ago Caesar Claudius had expelled some of the Jews from Rome. And now Nero has succeeded him as Emperor.
- ‘Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus was self-indulgent, cruel, and violent as well as a cross-dressing exhibitionist.’
- Nero planned his mother’s death with great care
- After Nero and [his second wife] argued late one night (Nero liked to stay out late), he supposedly kicked her in the stomach, killing both her and the unborn child.
  - READ more from our source
And, of course we know Nero’s evil reputation best from an incident about to take place in the burning of most of Rome just nine years from now [AD 64] and more malicious persecutions of Christ followers, including Paul, who viewed Nero as an anti-Christ.

The Apostle writes twice to the Corinthians during turbulent times.

..the time is short, so that from now on

even those who have wives should be as though they had none,
- those who weep as though they did not weep,
- those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice,
- those who buy as though they did not possess,
- and those who use this world as not misusing it.
For the form of this world is passing away.

Paul’s first Epistle to the Corinthians 7:29-31 NKJV

Free from earthly cares
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Again, a list from Paul confirming motivations of men and women in their relationships - freedom apart from the commandments of the Law and rules concerning marriage.
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A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives;
1 Corinthians 1:39a NKJV
- The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord. – 1 Cor 7:32b BSB
  - But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife, – v.33
- The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit:
  - but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. – v. 34b KJV
cautions for your profit and not restraint

to promote propriety and undistracted devotion to the Lord.

If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. – v.36 ESV

But if he has decided firmly not to marry and there is no urgency and he can control his passion, he does well not to marry. – v.37 NLT

So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does better.

1 Corinthians 7:38 NIV – Paul’s advice for uncertain times

.. but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 7:39b NKJV
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Once again, from the KJV, Paul's fatherly Apostolic opinion:
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40 But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.

NEXT: a Corinthian Culinary Conscience
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November 5, 2024
Sanctification and your Walk Toward Holiness
WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION and WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Walking instructions to please God more

Not ME – the deception of SIN

Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. – 1 Thessalonians 4:1 KJV

SOUNDS LIKE GOOD FATHERLY ADVICE, doesn’t it?

Allow me to tell you a story about a letter.
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ONCE UPON A TIME there were some gentile pigs (as Jews supposed them to be) 
who having fled their straw and stick houses to a brother's brick-built house where these young believers thought they were safe from the enemy.

BUT did some young saint slip out through a wider door of their former sins?
And won't the unclean pig only to be barbecued by the enemy?

Paul, a father of these tender believers, knows that the enemy may deceive them. 
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The apostles Paul and Silas have recently received good news about the Thessalonians from Timothy.

ἀπόστολος – Apostles of Christ
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and communication with the Church
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1 Thessalonians 3: .. we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith..

BEFORE Paul’s speech to the idol worshipers of Athens — BETWEEN the two missionary journeys (the first with Barnabas and this with Silvanus) — the risen Jesus sent out JEWS and GENTILES with clarification of the GOOD NEWS (Gospel) of ALL believers becoming sanctified by the blood of the Cross and a call to holiness and righteousness in Christ.

Epistle from the Council of Jerusalem – Acts 15:20

.. we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,
but should write to them
to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.
Acts 15:19b-20 ESV

Letters from other Church Fathers about Sanctification

In the sense that Jesus’ biological half-brother James sends out this apostolic instruction and another letter to the Church, for he too is an apostle (although not by a personal journey into the nations).

In A.D. 49 James writes:

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:4

Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
from a recent letter from James 1:21 ESV written ~A.D. 49 ~ the same time as the Council at Jerusalem

Galatia was a large Roman province which at that time included the region north to the Black Sea but most populated along the Mediterranean and included Cypress, Pamphylia and other regions.

Paul has already written a general epistle to the Galatians in A.D. 49 which includes churches founded during his first missionary journey.

Sanctification of children learning to walk in Christ

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God,

how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Paul’s letter (epistle) to the Galatians 4:8-9 ESV

“Abba! Father!” WE ARE NO LONGER SLAVES of these things!
Now the works of the flesh are evident:
- sexual immorality,
- impurity,
- sensuality,
- idolatry,
- sorcery,
- enmity,
- strife,
- jealousy,
- fits of anger,
- rivalries,
- dissensions,
- divisions,
- envy,
- drunkenness,
- orgies,
- and things like these.
I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul’s letter (epistle) to the Galatians 5:19-21 ESV
A.D. 50 –

Paul, so pleased with his Thessalonian children, now warns of dangers before them.

1 Thessalonians 4:

2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
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The Apostle sent by Christ our Lord to the Nations commands his beloved young children.
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3 For this is the will of God,

your sanctification:
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Before we continue with Paul's command through the Lord Jesus and God the Father let's DEFINE a term sometimes omitted from some English translations of the Holy Bible.
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ἁγιασμός – Lexicon :: Strong’s G38 – hagiasmos

a word used only by Biblical and ecclesiastical writings signifying:
1. consecration, purification, τὸ ἁγιάζειν.
2. the effect of consecration: sanctification of heart and life, 1 Corinthians 1:30 (Christ is he to whom we are indebted for sanctification); 1 Thessalonians 4:7; Romans 6:19, 22; 1 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 12:14; ἁγιασμὸς πνεύματος sanctification wrought by the Holy Spirit, 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2.
It is opposed to lust in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 f. (It is used in a ritual sense, Judges 17:3 [Alexandrian LXX]; Ezekiel 45:4; [Amos 2:11]; Sir. 7:31, etc.) [On its use in the N. T. cf. Ellicott on 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:13.]
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The King James and other versions of the Bible generally translate this as SANCTIFICATION or HOLINESS. Paul will use it 3x in the next few verses of his Epistle and uses its root word in his benediction [5:23], as well as later in a second letter.
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God has chosen you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:13B

that you abstain ἀπέχω

from sexual immorality

Here’s a HOT TOPIC in Thessaloniki now OR anywhere in every generation.

πορνεία

porneia

“fornication” is the old word for this “porneia” behaviour nearly no one remembers.
- illicit sexual intercourse
  - adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
  - sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
  - sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11-12
- metaph. the worship of idols
Each must control our body

4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.
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"..possess his own vessel" [acquire his OWN wife, referring to fornication or adultery, states the King James] 
"..in sanctification and honor,"

THERE IT IS AGAIN - SANCTIFICATION of the flesh (for HOLINESS of the vessel of our spirit).
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WHY CONTROL IT?
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Again, from the KJV, the reason lies at the end of Paul's single long sentence which began back in v.3.
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For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.. That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter:

because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
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Remember v. 2 pointing back to their previous instruction in Christ?
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OR ELSE!

For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

ἀκαθαρσία – UNCLEANNESS?
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 (Isn't there a better way for a 21st century Christian to read this?)
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Of course we could use other words to describe those who refuse to wash their flesh in the sanctifying cleansing water of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible almost always points toward an imagery of walking in the way Christ would be recognized by OUR witness.

Lexicon :: Strong’s G167 – akatharsia

ἀκαθαρσία, -ας, ἡ, (ἀκάθαρτος) [from Hippocrates down], uncleanness;
a. physical: Matthew 23:27.
b. in a moral sense, the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living: Romans 1:24; Romans 6:19; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 4:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; used of impure motives in 1 Thessalonians 2:3. (Demosthenes, p. 553, 12.) Cf. Tittmann i., p. 150f.

⁸Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
1 Thessalonians 4:8 ESV

Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy then return to their opening praise of the Thessalonian church.

9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia.

But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
1 Thessalonians 5:27 KJV – conclusion of the first Epistle from Paul to the Thessalonians

Next (or should I say, LAST) – eschatology

I have already detailed Paul’s praise for this church with the enemy at the door of its brick house, BUT we won’t want to overlook the Apostle’s warning of later times like these…

Some commentators believe Paul’s principle purpose in writing to the Thessalonians is warning about last times.

.. the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

Stay tuned.
July 17, 2023