Scriptural readings: I Thessalonians 3:12,13, I Thessalonians 5:23
In general, is the world getting better? Are we all well aware and concerned about what is happening around the globe? Is the word overwhelming applicable to everyone? Is the material world now in full blast of confronting the spiritual realm?
Questions. Ah, more questions. Questions of how to overcome the difficulties of the next 24 hours with ease and comfort. Here is a fact. We are now living with complicated issues with limited sources of probable solutions, and above all, time.
Have we ever thought as Christians at this juncture what is now a necessity? Are we confident enough that the next day will be the same as yesterday? The next day has to be seen as a result of a deep faith in God through Christ. Our deeper understanding of ourselves and our relationship with God should now be a necessity
I Thessalonians 3:12
King James Version
V. 12 “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:”
New Living Translation
V. 12 “And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows”.
We are to be found blameless when He comes.
At this point, we have to look deeper into what we are. Focusing on our outward appearance seems to be like oxygen in our lives. If we run out of it, we feel as though we are dying. Have we ever given a thought to how essential our spiritual lives are? You reason out that we are still too young to expire. Think again. The Bible says, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.” For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away(James 4:14).
It seems that as this article is being written, people are perishing in every part of the world. Some of them are Christians, and maybe not. The question we have to ask ourselves is, were they saved? As Christians, is there a way that we have to be holy in every second of our lives? We all have just one life, and it has to be lived as what we are to live, as Christians.
The word make in Greek is πλεονάζω. Its transliteration is pleonazō. The phonetic spelling is (pleh-on-ad’-zo). It is a verb as a part of speech. What makes this word significant? In English grammar, it is a transitive verb, which means it has a direct object. In this verse, it tells us that God increases his love for whom? for us! We are the direct object. God is continuously working in us. He never stops making us better, and in this verse, He increases love in us.
King James Version
V. 13 “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”
New Living Translation
V. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.
There are so many things that we have to understand about ourselves. Like what? For a start. How are we going to tackle this issue of forgiving(Matthew 6:14-15)? As an example, Jesus said forgive them, for they know not what they do. Again, our Lord said to Peter forgive seventy times seven. And for the very reason, Jesus was sent down so that we would be forgiven.
What about Matthew 5:44? How can we love our enemies? How can we bless those who curse us? How can we do good to those who hate us? How can we even pray for those who spitefully use and persecute us? Is this possible? From the human perspective, it is, but from God, it isn’t.
An engine, no matter how strong, will not take us anywhere if not attached to the body of a vehicle. We are totally unhinged if we detach ourselves from the Trinity. Our connection to our God is vital. A genuine and truthful relationship with Him shapes us to be godly as humans, separated to be holy for Him. This meaningful relationship should have been in the first place, or the moment we were born again. The righteousness in Christ, which was bestowed upon us, is what God endorses and bears. It is the only thing that can justify in his sight. Read the first two bold italic sentences multiple times. Read it slowly. Then ask yourself: Am I having a genuine, truthful relationship with God, to be separated for His glory? Is the righteousness of Christ in me justifying me in God’s eyes? It is only you yourself who can answer these questions. No, not anyone, but ourselves.
It seems that at this juncture, the problem has become more complicated. The question of whether we can be found blameless when the Lord Jesus Christ comes. Is a genuine and truthful relationship and being separated to be holy, attainable? Will the righteousness in Christ be bestowed upon us?
I Thessalonians 5:23
King James Version
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
New Living Translation
“Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again”.
To further understand, first, let the Holy Scriptures tell what we are made up of. A body, a soul, and a spirit. The body is a physical appearance. The souls is the is the inner, non-physical part of man that holds the intellect, emotions, and volition (will). The spirit, on the other hand, is the God-breathed part of humanity. Being born again, it allows for a spiritual relationship with God.
Now, that the God-breathed spirit is set aside. As a result, the body and soul dominate. The relationship that should make us holy for Him loses its meaning. Christ’s righteousness must be given to us. God alone imputes and upholds it. Justification in His sight can nowhere be found without it. How, then, can this God-breathed spirit be restored to us?
The God-breathed part of a human must be born again (John 3:3). This act of God, fully revealed in Ephesians 2:8, establishes a genuine and truthful relationship with Him. It shapes us to be godly as humans, set apart for His purposes. The righteousness of Christ, bestowed upon us and borne by Him, can now be manifested and justified in us.
We are now ready for a genuine and truthful relationship. We can be separated to be holy for His purposes. God can impute Christ’s righteousness. We are now justified and can be found blameless when Jesus Christ returns. But this is just the beginning. There are still things that we have to undergo, like …“carry your cross and follow me”, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses( I Timothy 6:12), and many more. This genuine and truthful relationship shapes us to be godly humans. It separates us for a purpose. As a result, righteousness in Christ is bestowed upon us. This ensures that we are justified in His sight, which is now a necessity.
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