1 Thessalonians 4:14

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1 Thessalonians 4:14

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14 For [gar] if [ei] we believe [pisteuo] that [hoti] Jesus [Iesous] died [apothnesko] and [kai] rose again, [anistemi] even so [houto] them also [kai] which sleep [koimao] in [dia] Jesus [Iesous] will [ago] God [theos] bring [ago] with [sun] him. [autos] KJV-Interlinear


14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. NASB


The whole basis of Christianity is Jesus Christ, His existence, His sacrifice, His death and more than all of that, His resurrection. For if there was no resurrection, then death would swallow us all up and there would be nothing more for us than this life, and then oblivion or nothingness.

For without the resurrection, there is no destiny, no next life. And if there is no next life, then all that matters to us, namely truth, righteousness, justice and everything that we have been studying, becomes irrelevant and meaningless. Sin could rule and the laws of the jungle reign over all.

However, Jesus did rise from the dead, defeating deaths grip for all, and defeating our eternal separation from life and heaven and God.

For those who have believed in Christ, and have already passed into death, often called sleep or rest in the Bible, then they are where presently??

They are in heaven with the Lord.

The Bible calls death for the believer, sleep or a period of perfect rest.

If you have ever been very exhausted, and gone to sleep for a complete night, then your stresses and burdens of life seemingly vanish during your deep sleep. You wake up many hours later, but that time seems to have been only a few moments. During that sleep, your worries and troubles of life simply do not exist for you.

Of course they return to your thinking and life in the morning, but that is the way of life in this life.

When a believer dies, this representation of rest or sleep, means just that. In heaven they are not unconscious, but completely free, and forever free, of all of life’s burdens. They are at peace, rested, completely relaxed with all of life’s burdens forever gone.

This Paul teaches us in many verses, so that you will not grieve or worry over your lost loved ones. They are in a perfect place, and certainly far better off than any of us who remain here on this earth.

But one day soon, those friends and loved ones, who are presently with Christ, will be called together in heaven. We can only imagine the scene, with many billions of believers in heaven, all relaxed and happy, doing whatever it is that they are doing in heaven, and then they will be instantly called together.

It is time for the next great event.

Together, with Christ, all of the deceased believers from our dispensation, and who are in heaven, will return with Christ at the Rapture, and they will receive their resurrection instantly, along with those who remain alive on this planet.

Christ was the first resurrection (first of the first fruits), and then believers of our dispensation, the Church Age, will become the second resurrection (the first fruits of believers).

At the Second Advent of Christ, at the end of the Tribulation (which is the official last seven years of the Old Testament era), then all Old Testament believers along with the Tribulation believers, will become the third resurrection. And at the end of the Millennium, all millennial believers will become the fourth and final group to be resurrected.

Resurrection means being returned to a new indestructible body, or transformed into a new indestructible body, which will happen to all of us instantly at the Rapture, and for everyone else at their respective resurrection events.

But for those who have already gone before us to heaven, they will have the treat of their life, in that they will accompany Christ back to earth, into the clouds, or upper atmosphere, not to the ground, for no one on earth will see any of this activity. And there in the clouds, the call will go out to all living believers, and we who remain alive, will be instantly be caught up into the clouds, into the upper atmosphere, to be with Christ.

And then the second biggest parade, procession, in history, will occur, as we will all return to heaven with Christ, and then the Judgment Seat of Christ will begin.

While back on this earth, only unbelievers will remain and the worst period of human history also will begin.

1 Thessalonians 4:13

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1 Thessalonians 4:13

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13 But [de] I would [thelo] not [ou] have [thelo] you [humas] to be ignorant, [agnoeo] brethren, [adelphos] concerning [peri] them which are asleep, [koimao] that [hina me] ye sorrow [lupeo] not, [hina me] even [kai] as [kathos] others [loipoy] which [ho] have [echo] no [me] hope. [elpis] KJV-Interlinear


13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. NASB


From this text, it was obvious that there were those who had died and Christ had not yet returned. Therefore, a worry of sorts that they had missed out on the coming Kingdom of Christ here on the earth. The common expectation in Pauls time, was that the return of Christ in order to establish His Kingdom on Earth, was to happen at any time. That was the general understanding from the Old Testament scriptures.

However, Paul is aware that there is now a new dispensation, and that the coming of Christ to establish His Kingdom, would not occur until three events had occurred first. The first of these three events was the dispensation of the Church Age, and the second event was the Rapture of the believers who will live during this dispensation, and the third event would be the seven year period of the Tribulation.

However, folks who lose their loved ones, would naturally grieve for the loss of their loved ones. And that grief was and is a normal response to ones loss.

However, our loss of today, is not a permanent loss, because we will see our loved ones again. And we will see our loved ones because we are the saved through faith in Christ.

Those who will not see their loved ones, are those who have refused to believe in Christ. Without salvation, they have no hope, no confidence, nothing to look forward to, for all of eternity.

When a person, a believer, dies, he leaves his body behind and his soul and spirit go to be with the Lord in heaven.

When an unbeliever dies, he too leaves his body behind and his soul only (unbelievers have no human spirit), go into the realm known as Torments. There they await their calling before Christ at the Great White Throne, which will occur at the end of the Millennium. From that judgment they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire and remain there separated from everyone and everything, in extreme torment, forever.

Believers will remain in heaven until the moment of the Rapture, and then when that event occurs, they will return into a new resurrection body, and then reunited with family and friends, etc. and return to heaven while the events of the Tribulation play out back here on the earth.

So, while we grieve our loss when we lose someone close to us, we have a confidence within us that we need to understand, and that is that even through death, we will not lose our loved ones forever, but only for a short time. We will see them again at the Rapture.

1 Thessalonians 4:12

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1 Thessalonians 4:12

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12 That [hina] ye may walk [peripateo] honestly [euschemonos] toward [pros] them that are without, [exo] and [kai] that ye may have [echo] lack [chreia] of nothing. [medeis] KJV-Interlinear


12 so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. NASB


This verse is one of the most misunderstood and misapplied verses in the Bible. As we have been studying, you are to behave in an honorable and trustworthy manner toward people, in your day to day life.

And when we get to this verse, it appears on the surface that if you are an honest and good and decent person, then you will lack for nothing in life.

However, that is not what is being presented here. We need to consider a couple of other verses.

Rom. 13:14
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. NASB

Col. 4:5
5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. NASB

Both of these verses teach us that our walk in life in not from the source of our own efforts, but from the knowledge and wisdom derived from the Word of God.

Spiritual growth is your first and only objective in life. Everything else is merely an application of the knowledge that you learn and master from doctrine.

Next consider the instruction which Paul is teaching here and where he is going with all of this.

Your responsibility in life is to prepare yourself for your one and only important evaluation before Christ.

In order to grow up in your spiritual life, you have to want to learn, then study on a regular basis, learn the doctrines, principles, mandates, etc., being taught, believe them, adopt them into your daily life (application of doctrine), and to do this all over again and again, day after day, for your entire life.

This is the circle of wisdom, as I have called it in past studies. I tweaked a phrase years ago from a movie, circle of life, which implies the application of evolution, but here we use it correctly in the transformation of your soul, from an immature (useless) person to a spiritually mature (most valuable) person.

Paul is driving to the best known phrase in the Bible regarding the Rapture, which is just a few verses away. I presume that you have read ahead.

And of course you read ahead because you have a deep desire to know what is ahead of us in our study, presuming that you already know, but in fact you don’t know. Of course you don’t read ahead because you are bored with the current study of daily habits and manners and such mundane things.

If you lacked nothing in life, just by being a nice person, then what good would there be of doctrine? Any person, even unbelievers can be nice and personable, but their lack in life is not from the things of this world, but from the things of the spirit.

And that is your mandate here. Review our study in James. Your work in life is your spiritual production, not your temporal activities or attitude.

Your life is driving in one direction and one direction only, and that is the date (already appointed) when you will stand before Christ, and He will look right into your eyes and show you your true life, and then judge you based on truth, not based on your opinions of yourself.

Learning doctrine is one thing, but applying it on a daily basis is quite another. Most folks think that all they need do is believe in Christ and nothing more. Most folks think that all they need do is live a good and honest life and nothing more. And of course their idea of a good and honest life is always flawed when compared with truth.

People tend to think too highly of themselves and of their own opinions, when they disregard doctrine in their life.

Once doctrine is genuinely learned and legitimately adopted into ones life, then production, spiritual production enters into their spiritual picture. We have learned that faith alone is not enough. Faith without works is empty. And works in the scriptures in the spiritual sense is a reference to your spiritual production, or your activities in life which you accomplish while inside the fellowship sphere.

Inside of your soul, God is constructing a spiritual palace, a temple, a fortress, with the doctrine you learn. That is the framework of the structure. But no palace is a real home until you actually move inside of it. And no one lives in a home that is not furnished. Your furniture is your spiritual production. That is what gives your soul, your home, its value.

Therefore, when you stand before Christ in that day of judgment, your day of judgment, then you will not be lacking in your soul. A loaded soul is one with gold, silver, and precious stones of production. A loaded soul is a valuable soul and productive soul, and it is richly rewarded.

An empty soul is one that lacks production or possesses production of the wrong kind, wood, hay and stubble. That production Christ will burn away, then we will all see what is left. An empty soul is a lacking soul.

The words, ‘chreia,’ and ‘medeis,’ mean ‘requirement’ and ‘no man’ respectively. They can mean to lack for nothing, but they also mean to furnish that which is required.

As most of ones life is spent in dealing with people in one fashion of another, and since your attitude, respect, and dealings with people are fashioned after the thoughts and attitudes in your mind, and since your final action in life is to be prepared for your last evaluation before Christ, then it stands to reason that you must operate within the sphere of fellowship and therefore build up a reservoir of wealth, spiritual wealth.

And that comes to a large extent by being a nice and honorable person.

But your behavior must come from doctrine, and not from self-righteousness, from the energy of Christ in you, and not from the energy of the sin nature. In all other things in life, you will still experience trials and hardships and difficulties and such things that will put your spiritual muscle to the test in order to prove the genuineness of your spiritual status, or the lack of it.

1 Thessalonians 4:11

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1 Thessalonians 4:11

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11 And [kai] that ye study [philotimeomai] to be quiet, [hesuchazo] and [kai] to do [prasso] your own business, [idios] and [kai] to work with [ergazomai] your [humon] own [idios] hands, [cheir] as [kathos] we commanded [paraggello] you; [humin] KJV-Interlinear


11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you; NASB


To ‘study to be quite,’ ‘to do your own business,’ and ‘to work with your own hands,’ are three idioms that describe the manner and acceptable social behavior of the mature believer, or of one who is advancing in his spiritual life.

Study to be quiet, means to pursue honor. You are to live your life observing respect and being respectful. To give credit where credit is due. To not presume credit or recognition for yourself, regardless of whether you deserve it or not. To preserve the reputation of others, and to do nothing that would cause damage to the reputation of others.

To do your own business, means to not be meddlesome. To not interfere in the lives of others. To avoid gossip and maligning, and judging. To respect the privacy of others and not invade their right to privacy and having their own life as they see fit to live it.

To mind your own business. To not engage in the promotion of social issues, crusades, beliefs that may or may not be recognized by others. To not attempt to forcibly superimpose your standards and beliefs and views, onto others.

To work with your own hands, means to take care of your own life. To not superimpose expectations or make demands of others for your own sake. To consider your own life, your own options, and pursue them yourself.

To not be a habitually idle person, but work when work is required, to not be a reckless or lazy bum on the street corner simply because it seems to be an easier way of life. To be responsible, to recognize your responsibilities, to go the extra mile in performing your assigned or expected duties.

To keep your life, your home, your work area clear and orderly, to the best of your ability.

And although these attributes apply to your temporal life, it follows that your spiritual life should follow the same principles of pursuing a genuine approach to your spiritual growth. Not one with ulterior motives, and certainly not one that attempts to compromise Gods principles in order to fit some convenient desires or beliefs that you simply do not want to change.

1 Thessalonians 4:10

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1 Thessalonians 4:10

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10 And [kai] indeed [gar] ye do [poieo] it [autos] toward [eis] all [pas] the brethren [adelphos] which [ho] are in [en] all [holos] Macedonia: [Makedonia] but [de] we beseech [parakaleo] you, [humas] brethren, [adelphos] that ye increase [perisseuo] more and more; [mallon] KJV-Interlinear


10 for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, NASB


‘That you practice it,’ means that the Thessalonians (all believers) practice good behavior, as they know that they should.

In the last verse, the practice of brotherly love, ‘philadelphia,’ or being socially responsible, comes from the daily instruction and learning of Bible doctrine, ‘agapao.’ ‘Agapao,’ means the content of the scriptures.

And while all people possess some fundamental level of good behavior instincts, there is but one way of enhancing those behavior traits in ones self. That is through the study of the Bible and advancing in ones spiritual life.

There is no other means of enhancing or stabilizing ones personality and behavior.

But being born into this world is not enough. Being saved by faith in Christ is not enough. Learning a little doctrine and thus stabilizing your life to some extent, is not enough.

Paul here states that you need to increase, in the way you conduct yourself in life. And not only increase, but continue to increase, more and more throughout your entire life.

There is no upper limit for learning and for being responsible.

The word for increase, ‘perisseuo,’ means to superabound. That does not mean to do just a little, or just enough to get by, but to go the extra mile, to go far above and beyond that which is generally expected of everyone.

In this respect, you not only have a great responsibility to God, but you have a great responsibility to everyone on the planet, as it were.

And even if you do not have the resources to do business, or charity, or interact socially with others, you still have the capacity to behave properly, with respect, with honesty, and with courtesy, thus eliminating all aspects of gossip, criticism, and such, toward others.

You gain nothing by holding contempt or disrespect toward others, even if they are indebted to you.

Remember that we are all indebted to God, for a debt that none of us will ever be able to repay. Therefore, anything owed us, is as nothing by comparison. Gods grace and blessing is worth far more than anything that we could collect from people, in this lifetime.

1 Thessalonians 4:9

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1 Thessalonians 4:9

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9 But [de] as touching [peri] brotherly love [philadelphia] ye need [echo] [chreia] not [ou] that I write [grapho] unto you: [humin] for [gar] ye [humeis] yourselves [autos] are [este] taught of God [theodidaktos] to [eis] love [agapao] one another. [allelon] KJV-Interlinear


9 Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; NASB


You have within you, intellect, common sense, and intuition (natural instincts). Among these three, God makes the various principles of life clear to one and all.

There is no need to teach each person, the difference between right and wrong. Even those who grow up in third world settings, among hate and radical teachings, and especially where the scriptures of the Bible are not readily available, it is possible for a person to reach the right conclusions about life, about people, and about relationships between people.

Paul makes it clear here, that no writing is required in order to instruct folks as to how they should deal with others.

Granted there are those who are heartless and hard cases with respect to their dealings with others. But even the worst of criminal attitudes, knows that his views are wrong. He simply does not care to make the effort of being friendly, or honest, or sociable.

And if the hardest of stubborn attitudes can know this difference, then certainly you, who are most likely not so criminally inclined, should be able to discern between how to act with others and how not to act in public.

This difference is made clear by God Himself.

In all the world, the acts and truths of God are made known in innumerable ways. Unbelievers come to God consciousness through their environment, simply by their observations in life.

Believers in Christ have already passed this barrier of faith, and their perceptions should be all the more clear to them.

But whether believer or unbeliever, the interactions between people is a common experience, of which everyone sooner or later, comes to the understanding of what is appropriate and what is inappropriate.

Being a believer in Christ, you have even greater responsibility to follow the mandates from God, with respect to how you deal with others. Having eternity and your spiritual life on the line every moment of your life, any inappropriate behavior only brings you great loss, in exchange for nothing being gained by bad behavior.

God did not place you on this earth, to judge or criticize or complain about others, or even to be downright mean. He placed you here to grow up in your spiritual life, and to be responsible.

And whether you are an unbeliever or believer, you have no excuses for bad behavior. All of your choices in life come from your own decisions, and your decisions come from your own thinking, and no one can reach inside of your mind, and force or coerce or threaten, or cause pain for you in order to force any thinking upon you, without your accepting it first.

Even in pain, fear or weakness, you still know the difference between right and wrong.

1 Thessalonians 4:8

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1 Thessalonians 4:8

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8 He therefore [toigaroun] that despiseth, [atheteo] despiseth [atheteo] not [ou] man, [anthropos] but [alla] God, [theos] who hath [didomi] also [kai] given [didomi] unto [eis] us [hemas] his [autos] holy [hagios] Spirit. [pneuma] KJV-Interlinear


8 Consequently, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. NASB


God has given you intellect, and common sense. In some cases, generally among females, there is also intuition, for sorting out that which is right from that which is not right. Women just seem to have a better feel for certain things in life while men strive to be as smart as rocks.

That last part is a stab at humor … to some extent!

Anyway, we all have the ability to sort out the rights from the wrongs of life. That is simply the function of ones intellect. But this is a temporal attribute in life.

When doctrine is absent from your soul, then that intellect, common sense, intuition, become dysfunctional and do not operate as well as they could.

Bible doctrine is the filter through which all truth and all perspectives get sorted out correctly.

This is not a filter that operates correctly and with complete reliance, immediately, when you become a believers in Christ. You have to grow up, learn doctrine, experience life and then put it all together, making mistakes along the way and learning from them as well. And though this is difficult in life to accomplish, with doctrine it is accomplishable, while without doctrine in your soul, it is not.

With doctrine, your senses get better as time goes on. Without doctrine, your senses get dulled and therefore worse as time goes on.

The key ingredient for sharpening your mental focus, is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the conduit through which all truth and discernment is transferred to you.

You cannot feel it, you cannot sense it, you cannot detect the presence of the Holy Spirit or His work within you. The spiritual side of life is not perceived in the usual ways, but is a supernatural mechanism by which God provides you doctrine and spiritual truth.

Not only does God provide it, communicate it, and store it within your soul, but He does this for everyone, regardless of their intellectual, common sense, intuition abilities or handicaps. The playing field is perfectly level for every human being who has or will ever live in history.

This life may give us all advantages or disadvantages between each other, but the spiritual life is perfectly fair and equal for all.

Now, in the first part of this verse, Paul states clearly that when you reject truth, you reject God. We will all have encounters with people and life, during our lifetime, where we get upset by the circumstances of life and frustrated with people. It’s inevitable.

But remember one thing. Jesus Christ controls history. Getting upset means losing some trust in Gods handling of life. And while there will be times when you just want to blow a cork over some situation, you need to focus your thoughts and give God the credit for giving you this test of difficulty and the opportunity to exercise your self control.

Likewise, you will encounter many views and opinions in life. Most of them will be wrong. You may even have beliefs that disagree with the scriptures. You need to keep an open mind and allow God to instruct you. That takes time and exposure to doctrine on a daily basis, and sooner or later you will come to recognize the truths being taught in doctrine, as well as the untruths that some try to teach.

This is not brain washing, because truth is never force fed to you, making you to agree with it, and the untruths of life are never kept from you. Brainwashing comes from the force feeding of lies to you, with the intent of keeping truth from you. Doctrine never keeps the lies from you, but allows you to see the truth and the lies for what they are. Then you decide of your own free will.

Given time and a positive attitude, you will recognize doctrine for its truth, and not because of what you hear, or read, or see in life, but because of the invisible effort of the Holy Spirit within you.

By rejecting doctrine, you reject objectivity, you reject listening to alternate views, and you in fact reject God.

But since the Holy Spirit makes discernment available and easy, then therefore if you reject truth, you are in fact rejecting the easiest path to learning.

Origin of Life

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Origin of Life

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This is probably one of the more difficult subjects to tackle in the study of the Bible. Besides salvation through faith in Christ, which has more rejection in this world than anything else, the subject of life, birth, abortion and such, generate a great deal of emotional reaction in folks than almost any other subject.

It is interesting that folks will not view their own spiritual life with much passion, but they will take any given subject, isolate it from all of the other subjects, and express extreme passion regarding it.

That of course should teach us all something. And that is, that folks who lack spiritual knowledge, are the folks who get all upset over subjects over which they know virtually nothing about.

Life is a good subject to help the student of the scriptures to learn about many of the terms and original language meanings. Because without that knowledge, then you are left with emotion and popular thought, and that is a product of worldliness and evil. Or something to get you caught up in controversy rather than knowledge, speculation rather than certainty, opinion rather than truth.

There are two fundamental views on the origin of life – Creationism and Traducianism.

Creationism is the view that all life originates from God. This is of course the view of Christianity.

Traducianism is the view that all life originates from the physical universe. This view was originated by Tertullian who lived from 155-200 A.D., and really did not come into world view until 1836 through the work of Charles Darwin.

In short, Traducianism states that all life originated from the beginnings of the universe, and evolved through many various processes into its current state. That all life, whether human, plant, or animal, originates totally from the physical and material universe. This follows that the human soul is material and mortal, just as the human body is material and mortal, and both are subject to permanent termination. Thus the view that human life is perpetuated from conception.

In the political arena of today’s world, the political left, the liberal side of politics, has adopted the right to choose, or pro-abortion view, which view is completely contrary to the general views of the liberal left which generally pursues big government and the elimination of ones personal right to choose.

The political right has adopted the right to life and the anti-abortion position, which again is contrary to the general views of the political right, which pursues the concept of less government and the right of a person to make their own choices.

So, odd as it may seem, both sides have adopted contradictory views with respect to abortion, verses their overall general views concerning society and government and so forth.

But, getting back to our subject on the origin of life.

There are a few questions that need to be addressed.
First, is life all from one source and or from one type, or second, does life come in various components and not from one same source. In other words, is human life all from a material inseparable source, or is it from a material and an immaterial source and therefore separable.

So here is where we go to the Bible.

The first stop is the terminology used in the Bible.

There are several fundamental terms used for creation in the Bible – bara, asah, yatsar, banah.

There are a couple of terms used for life – ruwach, naphach, nashamah, chayyah.

The meanings of these terms are as follows:

bara, to create something out of nothing.
asah, to create something based on a pattern.
yatsar, to create something out of a material.
banah, to create something by building it out of something that already exists.
ruwach, the immaterial spirit (could refer to God or to man).
naphach, to breathe (either inhale or exhale).
nashamah, the spark of life.
chayyah nephesh , the living human soul.

As to the nature of life, the Bible clearly states that the life of the material and the immaterial are two and separate and distinct things, with two and separate and distinct origins.

Upon death, we are separated from the body – ‘absent from the body and face to face with the Lord,’ 2 Cor. 5:8.

This verse addresses the separation of two components of life, one from the other. Just as you live within your home in the city or country, but you are separate from that structure, so too, the soul is a separate structure residing in the body of flesh and bone.

Eccl. 12:7
7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. NASB

And this verse indicates the origin of both life components. The life in the physical body comes for the earth, or from the dust or chemicals of the ground. We call this life, biological life. And to the dust it returns when the person dies.

The life which is in the soul comes from God, is immaterial, and to God it returns.

God is the origin of all life. In the creation chapters of Genesis, it is clear that God created each category of life on different occasions. In Gen. 1:11, God created vegetation. In Gen. 1:20, God created the fish and birds. In Gen. 1:24, God created the cattle and snakes and such. All of these things were created on different days. None of them arose out of each other, but came into existence as original components of creation.

Gen. 1:11
11 Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them, on the earth"; and it was so. NASB

Gen. 1:20
20 Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens." NASB

Gen. 1:24
24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so. NASB

Then in Gen. 1:26, God created man. And that is really where our study begins.

Gen. 1:26
And God ['elohiym] said, ['amar] Let us make [`asah] man ['adam] in our image,
27 So God ['elohiym] created [bara'] man ['adam] in his own image, [tselem] in the image [tselem] of God ['elohiym] created [bara'] he him; male [zakar] and female [naqebah] created [bara'] he them.

The key words for creation here are ‘asah’ and ‘bara.’

The word for make is ‘asah,’ which means to create after a pattern. The pattern is that of Gods image. Since God is spirit, then this means to create man in the form of a spirit, or an immaterial life form.

The word for created is ‘bara,’ which means to create out of nothing. Therefore, God created out of nothing, mans spirit, which we call human life.

This concept applies to both male and female, Adam and Eve, with respect to their human lives. So God created Eve as well, after the same method as that of Adam, even though Eve did not come along until later.

But the pattern for all of human life is established here. There will be other verses later in this study to support that.

Both ‘asah’ and ‘bara’ are connected in Gen. 1:26-27, in reference to the immaterial part of human life, and were created after the pattern of Gods spirit.

Gen 2:7
And the LORD [Yahovah] God ['elohiym] formed [yatsar] man ['adam] of the dust [`aphar] of [min] the ground, ['adamah] and breathed [naphach] into his nostrils ['aph] the breath [nashamah] of life; [chay] and man ['adam] became a living [chay] soul. [nephesh]

Gen 2:22
And the rib, [tsela`] which the LORD [Yahovah] God ['elohiym] had taken [laqach] from man, ['adam] made [banah] he a woman, ['ishshah] and brought [bow'] her unto the man. ['adam]

In Genesis 2, we learn of the composition of mans material part, the dust of the earth. This is the biological part of humanity.

The word for formed is ‘yatsar,’ to make, fashion, or create something out of a material. In this case the dust or chemicals of the ground are used to fashion man. This is the basis for what we have come to discover as the genetics, DNA, and such things as our physical makeup.

The word for Eve’s creation is ‘banah,’ which means to be built. Have you ever wondered why women are referred to as built? Well, Eve was built from a preexisting thing, Adam’s rib. But since Adam’s rib came from the dust, then Eve also came from the dust, only through Adam.

Both physical bodies were fashioned out of the dust of the earth. And thus from the dust they came, therefore to the dust they will return upon their physical death.

But the verse has one more component which is needed in order to make man alive, and that is the breath of life mentioned in Gen. 2:7.

God has created mans body out of dust (biological), and then He breathed, ‘naphach,’ Gods exhale, into mans nostrils (which must exist before they can be breathed into - mans inhale), the spark of life, ‘nashamah,’ human life, separately created, into mans soul, ‘chay nephesh.’

Thus the concept of Creationism means God creates life, not the material universe around us. That God imputes life after the body is formed, that life does not come into existence at conception as promoted by Darwinism. And more importantly, that the physical body and the immaterial soul are two separate and distinct entities.

Isa 2:22
Cease [chadal] ye from man, ['adam] whose breath [nashamah] is in his nostrils: ['aph] for wherein is he to be accounted of [chashab]?

Soul life comes from God and not from man. Man does not perpetuate himself through physical propagation.

‘Chashab,’ is a living soul.

Isa 57:16
For I will not contend [riyb] for ever, [`owlam] neither will I be always [netsach] wroth: [qatsaph] for the spirit [ruwach] should fail [`ataph] before [paniym] me, and the souls [nashamah] which I have made. [`asah]

Ruwach is the spirit of man and is the human life immaterial part. God is the continuing creator of human life after Adam and Eve, and every person thereafter.

Isa 42:5
Thus saith ['amar] God ['el] the LORD, [Yahovah] he that created [bara'] the heavens, [shamayim] and stretched them out; [natah] he that spread forth [raqa`] the earth, ['erets] and that which cometh out [tse'etsa'] of it; he that giveth [nathan] breath [nashamah] unto the people [`am] upon it, and spirit [ruwach] to them that walk [halak] therein:

God created the universe out of nothing and continues to create human life at birth (after the formation of the physical body), in all of history, after the same pattern of Adam and Eve’s creation, by breathing the spark of life, ‘nashamah,’ into mans immaterial spirit or soul.

Job 33:4
The Spirit [ruwach] of God ['el] hath made [`asah] me, and the breath [nashamah] of the Almighty [Shadday] hath given me life. [chayah]

The spirit of God is the pattern, ‘asah,’ of mans spirit, into which the breath of life (spark of life) was breathed to make a living soul, ‘chayah.’

Zec. 12:1
The burden [massa'] of the word [dabar] of the LORD [Yahovah] for Israel, [Yisra'el] saith [na'um] the LORD, [Yahovah] which stretcheth [natah] forth the heavens, [shamayim] and layeth the foundation [yacad] of the earth, ['erets] and formeth [yatsar] the spirit [ruwach] of man ['adam] within [qereb] him.

God perpetuates life not man. It is impossible for man to generate human life or a soul.

Here are several verses that indicate that mans life begins at birth (born of woman), not at conception.

Ecc. 3:2
A time [`eth] to be born, [yalad] and a time [`eth] to die; [muwth]

Mans life span is from birth to death – not conception to death.

Isa. 9:6
For unto us a child [yeled] is born,

Matt. 11:11
Verily [amen] I say [lego] unto you, [humin] Among [en] them that are born [gennetos] of women [gune] there hath [egeiro] not [ou] risen [egeiro] a greater than [meizon] John [Ioannes] the Baptist: [Baptistes]

Luke 2:11
For [hoti] unto you [humin] is born [tikto] this day [semeron] in [en] the city [polis] of David [Dabid] a Saviour, [soter] which [hos] is [esti] Christ [Christos] the Lord. [kurios]

Job 14:1
Man ['adam] that is born [yalad] of a woman ['ishshah] is of few [qatser] days, [yowm] and full [sabea] of trouble. [rogez]

Job 15:14
What is man, ['enowsh] that he should be clean [zakah]? and he which is born [yalad] of a woman, ['ishshah] that he should be righteous [tsadaq]?

Job 38:21
Knowest [yada`] thou it, because thou wast then born [yalad]? or because the number [micpar] of thy days [yowm] is great [rab]?

Job 3:11
Why died [muwth] I not from the womb [rechem]? why did I not give up the ghost [gava`] when I came out [yatsa'] of the belly [beten]?

Job 10:18
18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth [yatsa'] out of the womb [rechem]? Oh that I had given up the ghost, [gava`] and no eye [`ayin] had seen [ra'ah] me!
19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried [yabal] from the womb [beten] to the grave. [qeber]

Job 10:8
Thine hands [yad] have made [`atsab] me and fashioned [`asah] me together [yachad] round about; [cabiyb] yet thou dost destroy [bala`] me.
9 Remember, [zakar] I beseech thee, that thou hast made [`asah] me as the clay; [chomer] and wilt thou bring [shuwb] me into dust [`aphar] again [shuwb]?

Job 10:11
Thou hast clothed [labash] me with skin [`owr] and flesh, [basar] and hast fenced [suwk] me with bones [`etsem] and sinews. [giyd]
12 Thou hast granted [`asah] me life [chay] and favour, [checed] and thy visitation [p@quddah] hath preserved [shamar] my spirit. [ruwach]

Psa 22:9
But thou art he that took [giyach] me out of the womb: [beten] thou didst make me hope [batach] when I was upon my mother's ['em] breasts. [shad]
10 I was cast [shalak] upon thee from the womb: [rechem] thou art my God ['el] from my mother's ['em] belly. [beten]

Two typical terms used for birth ‘out from’ the womb are, min and beten, or mibeten which mean ‘out from the womb’ not from within the womb, Job 3:11, Job 10:19, Psa. 22:9-10. Life begins at the moment of birth, when God exhales the breath of life and the infant inhales the breath of life into his nostrils. That is the moment when human life springs into existence.

Probably the last concept regarding life is the penalty for taking life in murder.

Num. 35:31
31 'Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. NASB

When property is damaged, then the penalty for that damage is some form of restitution in payment for the value of the loss. However in the loss of life through murder, the penalty is capital punishment.

Ex 21:22
If men ['enowsh] strive, [natsah] and hurt [nagaph] a woman ['ishshah] with child, [hareh] so that her fruit [yeled] depart [yatsa'] from her, and yet no mischief follow: ['acown] he shall be surely [`anash] punished, [`anash] according as the woman's ['ishshah] husband [ba`al] will lay [shiyth] upon him; and he shall pay [nathan] as the judges [paliyl] determine.

In this passage, two men were fighting, the pregnant woman was somehow caught in the fight such that she aborted her pregnancy. The death of the fetus was not murder in that the fetus was not a living person. It had not breathed the breath of life. The penalty was for the loss of the value of the property (the pregnancy), the physical and emotional trauma which the woman was put through, and such.

Now, all that being said, you do not have to agree with abortion or disagree with it. In some societies dogs are the pets or dogs are the next meal. Neither side is wrong. They just have different views of mans best friend or meal as it were.

Personally I do not agree with abortion, because pregnancy is the mechanism of bringing new life into this world. And certainly, I disagree with many of the new procedures for aborting the fetus, especially when it is so near birth. But that being said, there are times when abortion is necessary or would be a better decision for the parents or parent. Such as in rape, or a girl who is simply too young to become a mom, or because of medical conditions, and so forth. Usually circumstances dictate the obvious course of choice.

And one more note here. Since pregnancy is a physical condition, and because this world is a material world, and ruled by Satan, many difficulties can arise from the conception of a child.

Genetics drive the formation of the fetus. Often times the fetus can have things go wrong in pregnancy or even after the child is born. Many a person is born with disabilities. Many more folks grow up and get cancers late in life. These things are all genetic or environmentally driven.

God is not the author of bad things, but this world is currently the devils world.

And whether you decide to abort because you know of a difficulty arising in the pregnancy, thus preventing a person from coming into a living world and dealing with a problem, or whether you decide to go along with the birth, and deal with the aftermath, is entirely up to you and your conscience.

Just remember one important thing. Jesus Christ controls history. And there is not one single person who He does not know. There is not one single person who He did not create. There is not one single person for whom he did not have a plan individually designed for their life.

A person not born does not exist and therefore nothing is missed.

God can impute life, into any person at His discretion. You were born into life at this time of history, because it was Gods pleasure, and for your best interest to do so now, rather than at some other time in history. Gods creation of life is not dependent on anything you do, or do not do.

Decisions based on sound doctrine are always good decisions. Never make decisions based on emotional uncertainty.

1 Thessalonians 4:7

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1 Thessalonians 4:7

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7 For [gar] God [theos] hath [kaleo] not [ou] called [kaleo] us [hemas] unto [epi] uncleanness, [akatharsia] but [alla] unto [en] holiness. [hagiasmos] KJV-Interlinear


7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. NASB


There are two common references to humanity, that of the flesh which refers to the material, physical or temporal side of life, and the spirit, which refers to the immaterial or spiritual side of life.

The material side of life is the flesh, the sin nature, the carnal side. God is not the author of sin, nor the perpetuator of sin or evil.

God promotes the spirit side. God is the creator of all things, the physical (the universe), life (the temporal), and eternal (the spiritual).

God brought us into this world not to become impure, but to be pure. It is the sin nature and fundamental nature of man which drives him to the carnal side of life, rather than the spiritual side.

And given mans tendency, then God provided a way for man to become separated from the trap that the carnal side of life, holds for humanity. That separation path is called sanctification and was made possible by the work of Christ on the Cross.

Trapped by sin, man had no outlet to hope for in life. Man being a biological entity in his physical makeup, had no means of creating or discovering or inventing a way out of the sin nature which traps him. Likewise, since man cannot create new life or a new life for himself, then also man cannot release himself, or escape from, the trap that sin has on his soul.

God provided salvation, and through salvation the path to separation from sin and evil, and into eternal life and eternal completion of humanity.

It remains for you to make the correct choice in life, in order to achieve that which God provides freely.

Gods intention is for you to advance to the fullest possible person that you can be. God gives you the means of accomplishing that goal. All is there right before you. You only have to want it, desire it, and go for it, without quitting.

1 Thessalonians 4:6

This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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1 Thessalonians 4:6

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6 That no [me] man go beyond [huperbaino] and [kai] defraud [pleonekteo] his [autos] brother [adelphos] in [en] any matter: [pragma] because [dioti] that the Lord [kurios] is the avenger [ekdikos] of [peri] all [pas] such, [touton] as [kathos] we [proepo] also [kai] have forewarned [proepo] you [humin] and [kai] testified. [diamarturomai] KJV-Interlinear


6 and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. NASB


To go beyond or to transgress, means to cross over that invisible line of behavior, which God has established through the work of the Cross. Remember that God provided us with sanctification, or a setting apart, or a separation path, by which we can extricate ourselves from the evils of this world, and bring us into His level of holiness.

When someone pulls you out of the mud pit, washes you off and dresses you in fine clothing and provides you with the finest of everything imaginable, then why would you throw it all away and jump right back into the mud pit and have nothing?

And here Paul warns us not to cross back over that line into the former life, because in that life, there is nothing there for us except doom, loss, misery, and total failure.

To defraud means to deceive, cheat, lie, trick, con, dupe and so forth.

When on the one hand, God gives all that we can possibly use in life, and God gives it to us freely and without effort on our part, then why would someone go out into the world and try to cheat or lie their way through life, in order to gain the very things that God gives freely?

But, when you reject truth, or doctrine, when you ignore your daily Bible study, when you are more or less indifferent about all of this Jesus stuff, then you have only one other avenue to follow in life and that is the avenue of the sin nature.

The sin nature has sin on the one hand (its area of weakness), and human good on the other (its area of strength). Both together, or separately, do nothing for your life but cause you failure.

You might want to visit the web site and view the Carnal Human Nature chart, to refresh the many and broad aspects of the carnal life into which you can easily get caught up.

And so the warning. God gives us everything freely, but people reject the phenomenal wealth that is there at their finger tips, and rush out in the the world and hustle life for the same things, but never acquiring any of them.

And when you hustle life, that is the same thing as defrauding others. You cannot gain anything in this life, unless it costs someone else something.

What work can you do that is not repetitive? What purchase or sale can you make that will last forever? And so the world by its very nature, causes limited benefit, because of its own limitations.

Only God is eternal and therefore His provisions are unlimited. Remember the burning bush and what was said to Moses? ‘I Am, that I Am.’

I Am, means eternal and unlimited resources and therefore eternal and unlimited provision.

In God there is no shortage, no limits, no rationing, no restrictions.

So, do not cross back over into the realm of the carnal world, because God has given you an out, and an unlimited realm in the spiritual life.

The carnal realm of the sin nature, is the target of judgment and nothing will survive that judgment. Whatever gains you may have in the carnal world, you will lose permanently.

1 Thessalonians 4:5

This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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1 Thessalonians 4:5

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5 Not [me] in [en] the lust [pathos] of concupiscence, [epithumia] even [kai] as [kathaper] the Gentiles [ethnos] which [ho] know [eido] not [me] God: [theos] KJV-Interlinear


5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; NASB


Typically the term, Gentile, is used to refer to people who are not Jewish, or to people who are not believers. It is used as a synonym for unbelievers.

The term, Gentile, is used to categorize all people into two groups. Namely those who are Jewish and those who are not Jewish.

But in order to fully understand the term, we have to go back a little further in history, back to Abraham.

After the flood of Noah, this was a time known as the period of the Patriarchs. Simply stated, the patriarch was the man who was the head of the family, or tribe, or group.

Among his duties, was to forward the scripture of instruction from his fathers, down to his children. He was the pastor, the priest, the teacher, the chief person for administering the sacred sacrifices, as well as the head of the household. The book of Job gives us an in depth insight of this principle.

However, after Noahs time, the world again turned against God and attempted to construct the Tower of Babel. It failed of course, because all of mans plans fail. But the world was turned around spiritually and had gone negative toward God.

Along comes Abram, who believed in God, had his name changed to Abraham, and followed Gods instructions. Abraham crossed out of the Arabia region and into the region then called Canaan. A region named after the people who lived there, the descendants of Ham, and against whom the curse of Ham was issued.

With this crossing over, Abraham became known as a Hebrew, or one who has crossed over. In this case the spiritual connotation is the crossing over from unbelief into faith. And thus a new species (believers) was formally represented by this change.

Hebrew simply means one who has crossed over – from unbelief into belief.

Abraham had descendants Isaac, and Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacobs name was changed to Israel. And he had twelve sons, which became known as the sons of Israel. And these sons developed into a nation called by that name as well, Israel. This represents the compilation and ongoing formation of the nation of believers in the Savior, the Messiah, who we call today, Jesus Christ.

Israel was a spiritual term used to distinguish those who were believers, out from those who were not (gentiles). Of course it is also the temporal term to describe the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, etc.

Hundreds of years passed and after Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom adopted the name of Israel and later Samaria. The Southern Kingdom adopted the name of Judah, and later became known as Judea. The residents of Judah or Judea became known as Jews.

The residents of Judea adopted the Mosaic Laws and continued the Levitical Priesthood, and along with its rules and regulations developed their religion known as Judaism. This was a formal separation away from the true scriptural teaching of Jesus Christ, and an adoption of religious works looking for a savior of their own choosing, rather than of Gods choosing.

So, the lustful passion of the gentiles, is the same as the works of the sin nature. It is absent truth, and pro human viewpoint. It follows the pattern of life represented by the rejection of God, of Christ, of doctrine, and of the spiritual life.

Unbelievers follow this pattern by default. They have no other choice.

Believers who are negative toward God and doctrine, etc. are said to ‘imitate’ the unbelievers in their lifestyle and thought patterns. Even though saved, they still act and behave as the unbelievers do.

And Gods command is for you to not act as the gentiles, but act as you are expected to act, by honoring the sanctification (setting apart from the world), which God provided for you, by means of living if fellowship, by means of studying daily, your scriptures, and utilizing what you learn in your daily life, and advancing in your spiritual life, so that you will be completed, established, prepared for the next increment of your life, namely standing before the Judgment Seat of Christ.

That is where you will ultimately stand one day. And there is no uncertainty regarding that. So this life is one of preparation and readiness for that next great event of your life.

This life is your training period. Your physical death is simply the termination of your training period. Your evaluation before Christ is your next great and most important event of your life.

Therefore, you are to follow the pattern of faith, and not the pattern of the sin nature.

1 Thessalonians 4:4

This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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1 Thessalonians 4:4


4 That every one [hekastos] of you [humon] should know [eido] how to possess [ktaomai] his [heautou] vessel [skeuos] in [en] sanctification [hagiasmos] and [kai] honour; [time] KJV-Interlinear


4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, NASB


The word for vessel, ‘skeuos,’ refers to a container which is weaker, but holding something within it, that is extremely valuable.

The wife is said to be the vessel belonging to her husband. The body is the vessel holding biological life, but also the vessel which houses the soul. And the soul is the vessel of human life.

In each case, the vessel (the container), is the weaker of the two – the container and its contents.

The vessel is expendable or rather, easily damaged, but its contents are of a higher value, and in order to preserve the contents, the container needs to be cared for.

The person within is more valuable than the outer vessel, but the outer vessel or body needs to be looked after as part of ones responsibility to ones self.

Viewing the body as an example then, the use of drugs or things harmful to the body are a disrespect of ones self.

Likewise, the use of non-doctrinal viewpoint (untruths or lies), is harmful to the soul. As we saw yesterday, the non-doctrinal viewpoint is a harmful addictive habit, which is difficult to break away from.

The term for possess, ‘ktaomai,’ means to know and understand how to come to obtain or acquire, for ones own ownership, to the benefit of ones own use.

When you own something it is yours to use and derive the benefit from.

The wife is the vessel of the husband. He derives the benefit from her use. He owns or possesses her, so to speak (symbolically of course). Don’t get all wigged out over the example, but learn the principle. But likewise the husband owes her special care and respect.

The body is the vessel of the soul. The soul resides in the body, so taking care of the body is a part of ones responsibility.

However, these things are all temporal concepts, of things of the physical life.

Your real life is in your soul, and that is the key vessel of your spiritual life.

What you think is what you are, therefore if you possess doctrine, then your thinking is doctrinal or truth. Your viewpoints of life, your orientation to life, is one from the perspective of truth.

Avoiding the untruths, the lusts, the sin patterns of life, is the desire of God for your life. It is His will that you grow up in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. That is Bible doctrine.

The ultimate respect and honoring of life, of ones self, of other people, is to live within, and function within, the sphere of your very own personal and owned spiritual life.

Note one important thing. Of all the things in this world, you can own only one thing, and keep it forever, and that is your spiritual life, its makeup, its content, its production and its results.

This is your most valuable possession, because when eternity comes along, and it will, your spiritual status will determine the degree of reward and blessing which you will receive and possess also, for all of eternity. That value is potentially infinite.

No one has ever amassed that amount of wealth in all of the history of the world. But you can amass that wealth for yourself, within the space of your very own lifespan, if, and only if, you pursue your spirtitual life with a genuine and legitimate desire (not skewed by lusts or improper ambitions, etc.).

What is Gods will?

For you to grow up in your spiritual life to the point of spiritual maturity, establishing you for the rewards and blessings and life of eternity.

You are a compilation of many pieces of a puzzle, which we call, you. Your puzzle in life is not complete unless you advance to spiritual maturity (completing the soul), acquire your resurrection body (completing the body), stand before the Lord and receive your full complement of blessings for eternity (completing the reward), and then move into eternity and possess them (life finished, completed, ready to enjoy to beyond imaginable happiness and contentment).

That then is, or should be, your story, your song, your destiny forever.

And minstrels will sing:

There once was one named you
Who endured life, boohoo
But sucked it all up
Looked to God and not luck
And raced to the finish, yahoo!

Perhaps you can come up with a better personal song!! In doctrine, I am certain that you will.

1 Thessalonians 4:3

This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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1 Thessalonians 4:3


3 For [gar] this [touto] is [esti] the will [thelema] of God, [theos] even your [humon] sanctification, [hagiasmos] that ye [humas] should abstain [apechomai] from [apo] fornication: [porneia] KJV-Interlinear


3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; NASB


Sanctification means to make holy, to become separated from the world. The world is a reference to that (sin, evil, untruths) which is separated from God.

Holiness is the result of the work of righteousness and justice.

Righteousness is the absolute unblemished perfection of God. In Gods righteousness there is no sin, no evil, no filth of any kind.

Justice is the process of cleansing. The washing away of sin, of evil, of filth from ones life.

When Christ went to the Cross, He accomplished these things for each one of us. He paid the price of sin. Sin is the wrong doing of every type which demands punishment for such wrong doing. Punishment is the penalty process whereby the wrongs of the world (sin) are washed away as though they were never there in the first place.

By paying that price, Christ opened up the door for each one of us. That door, which we call salvation, is accessed by means of believing in Him, in what He accomplished, in who He is and so forth. We simplify this by saying believe in Christ, which commands the entire concept of who He is, and what He did.

When we believe in Christ, we become sanctified, set apart, cleansed, separated from the world and consecrated (made holy) such that we can have a relationship with God, who is perfection and pure.

That which is impure cannot have a relationship with that which is pure. When something impure is mixed with something that is pure, then the pure becomes contaminated, therefore God cannot have a relationship with something that would contaminate. Likewise, if we are impure, then we cannot have a relationship with that which is pure, until we are made pure. We cannot purify ourselves. Someone else with greater power and ability, has to do that.

We are commanded to be sanctified, believe in Christ. And maintain our sanctification, live in fellowship. We live in fellowship by confessing our sins on a regular basis, in which case God recognizes our confession (acknowledgement) of our sins, to Him and places us in a fellowship (relationship status) with Him.

Our spiritual life functions only while we are in fellowship (abiding within our sanctified sphere).

We are to avoid fornication, or the flirting or participation in all that is unholy. All sin, all human good, all untruths, etc. are unholy. The word ‘porneia,’ is a broad term for all desires, all lusts, all sins, and so forth. Things that are vices to which one can easily become addicted.

In ancient times, these vices, were typical of things that the pagans (a general term for those who were unbelievers) were addicted to, and as such they were consumed by their addictive habits, to the destruction of their lives.

Today we have many types of things that people can become addicted to, such as alcohol, drugs, prescriptions and so forth. These things are obvious.

But the most dangerous addiction is that of indifference toward truth, or the pattern of life that you follow as an unbeliever (absent salvation), or the indifferent believer (absent functioning doctrine in the soul).

The unbeliever is separated from God, and the believer who is indifferent is simply dysfunctional in their spiritual life.

Therefore, in order to have a functional life, a complete life, a meaningful life, you must, repeat, must function day in and day out, in life, from within the sphere of a sanctified state (in fellowship), and avoid living outside of that state.

To live out of fellowship you risk being caught up in the addictive habits and lures of the world. Once addicted, that type of life is difficult to break. Once addicted, then your views and thinking, are clouded and skewed.

The only way to have a complete and meaningful life, and to be able to see and understand life completely and correctly, you must live within the fellowship sphere, and advance within that sphere, in your spiritual life.

1 Thessalonians 4:2

This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library


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1 Thessalonians 4:2


2 For [gar] ye know [eido] what [tis] commandments [paraggelia] we gave [didomi] you [humin] by [dia] the Lord [kurios] Jesus. [Iesous] KJV-Interlinear


2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. NASB


There is no excuse for anyone not advancing in their spiritual life. Opportunity is openly and freely available to all.

There is no excuse for anyone not having knowledge of the realities of life that surrounds their life.

There are more than enough examples of the infinity of God. The vastness of the heavens above, the depth of the details of creation all around us (atoms, DNA, genetics, light spectrum, sound waves, human anatomy, the details of life in general), the limitations of life itself (birth, death, physical limitations), things that speak to God and a higher deity (churches, cemeteries, religions, and such).

To this and more, there is no excuse for anyone not having heard the name of Jesus Christ. His is the most common name known to everyone on the planet.

There is no excuse for anyone not wondering about life after death.

There is no excuse for anyone not recognizing the smallness of their lifespan, when mapped on the infinite timeline of eternity.

And so Paul states here very clearly, that people ‘know,’ things regarding life and God and eternity. He specifically indicates the knowledge of the Thessalonians regarding the things he has been mentioning in this letter. But to that, we can easily add that everyone knows of God, of the devil, of the fight between the two, and much more.

People are not without knowledge, and therefore to go through life, not pursuing the answers to their questions, going through life, presuming that this life is all that there is, going through life with an indifference toward the overwhelming realities that surround us all, provides them with no basis for excusing themselves when they and eternity finally meet face to face.

Truth is universally available to all. Truth is self evident to all. Truth needs no crutch to lean on and needs no explanation because it is made clear by means of the Holy Spirit.

Those who recognize this principle, are one step closer to their fullest and most complete life possible.

Those who ignore this principle, make the most noise, boast the most regarding their own ideas, and will continue to pursue command of the world, which will always be elusive to them. Only after their life has come to an end and they meet Jesus face to face, will they realize their reckless foolishness. But of course it is too late by then.

1 Thessalonians 4:1

This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library


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1 Thessalonians 4:1


1 Furthermore [loipon] then [oun] we beseech [erotao] you, [humas] brethren, [adelphos] and [kai] exhort [parakaleo] you by [en] the Lord [kurios] Jesus, [Iesous] that as [kathos] ye have received [paralambano] of [para] us [hemon] how [pos] ye [humas] ought [dei] to walk [peripateo] and [kai] to please [aresko] God, [theos] so [hina] ye would abound [perisseuo] more and more. [mallon] KJV-Interlinear


4 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you may excel still more. NASB


Finally, and that is Pauls beginning for reminding the Thessalonians, and you and me, that because of all of these things, you have no excuse for not preparing yourself in your spiritual life.

The truth of life is clear and lucid, and coherent, and obvious. We have examples all around us, that indicate that this life is a temporary one, that the plans of man are inadequate and always head into abuses or favoritism, and that means that the most of us, the greater population will end up suffering in some fashion, while the favored few will have an easier time of it, at our expense.

Humanity can pursue noble causes, but humanity cannot attain them. The leadership almost always has its own agenda for gaining and holding their power and authority. They gain their power either by force or by leading people on, with dignified causes. ‘Don’t you want your planet green? Don’t you want everyone to have a healthy life? Don’t you want everyone working?’ And so forth.

And while no one can disagree with these types of arguments, the real motive behind them is to gain the trust and support of the people so the leaders can get into power.

There will always be a number of exuberant followers, who will push the noble agenda. And they are used to the fullest in order to gain even more following of the masses who don’t especially follow the arguments, or don’t follow the particulars of the debate, whatever it may be. They are the naïve who simply go with the political, or whatever seems popular, flow of society.

And all of the good intentions, and all of the good promises, cannot be fulfilled because they are unattainable, and that leads to the rules, and to the exceptions to the rules and then exceptions to the exceptions.

This pattern was followed as far back as the Levitical Priesthood, when the regulations became so massive, that people could not even function in life for fear of violating some rule or regulation.

And even in our more current history, Mao, Stalin, Lennon, and Hitler, all came into power with promises of freedom and equity, and ended up with horrendous abuses of power.

In the future, when the Rapture occurs, there will be a huge population of people left behind on this earth, after the believers have left. The huge unbelieving population will not be without its problems. The anti-christ leader will be the savior on the white horse, but who will turn disastrous policies into mass murder campaigns. The policies will not work, therefore someone must be blamed and punished. Christians, Jews, Gypsies, and others will be among those blamed.

But before we get to the Rapture and a huge unbelieving population, there has to be a decline in the spiritual lives of people in the world. That means more folks looking to worldly solutions for their lives and less to God.

And since that does not occur overnight, then a generation or two, of negative people, have to come into the picture. Less doctrine means more human viewpoint. More human viewpoint means more radical solutions. More radical solutions means more failures because man does not have the wherewithal to accomplish his own plans.

And as the plans fail, then rationing is tried, rules are implemented, exceptions and favoritism are put into placed, the blame is sought, and then people suffer because of it all.

In the past, a negative population ended up in economic depressions, famines, wars and such things. These served to bring them back to reality and to God and doctrine.

But one day, that correction in history will not occur.

The Rapture will mark the beginning of the last big negative population handling policy of God.

With every former worldly disaster, people turned to God through repentance and a renewed positive attitude. God rescued them.

However, in the future, since the believers will diminish and the negative population will increase, that implies that there will come a time when this repentance turnaround, because of increasing world troubles, will not occur. A gap is people believing in Christ will occur, and quite possibly that will be among the many reasons for Gods timing of the Rapture.

This (the Rapture), will remove the believing population from out of a suffering and dismal world, and shock those who simply will not turn back to God, back to God with a huge and horrendous shock, as never before in history.

Now, you know the future. And even though none of us know the exact timetable, we all know that this life is determined by attitude toward God, Christ, doctrine and the spiritual life.

Those who are for God and will in fact pursue their spiritual life will be successful for all of eternity.

Those who look at all of this as a bunch of hokum, will discover the truth the hard way, and lose. And along the way they will be responsible for causing suffering for everyone else.

The difference in your life, between an unbelieving life and a saved life is literally infinite. The difference between a spiritually immature life and a spiritually mature life, is also literally infinite. And because these are the only real realities in life worth noting, that is why Paul here in this verse beseeches (a mild word) and exhorts (a more stern word), everyone to pursue their spiritual life correctly, honestly, genuinely, and consistently, because so much is at stake.

Your entire future depends on your daily decisions, and knowing that this world is going to trend toward the anti or indifferent attitude toward God, then this alone should encourage you even more, to do that which no one else, or at least fewer and fewer folks, will be doing, as time advances in the coming years or decades.

1 Thessalonians 3:13

This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library


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1 Thessalonians 3:13


13 To the end [eis] he may stablish [sterizo] your [humon] hearts [kardia] unblameable [amemptos] in [en] holiness [hagiosune] before [emprosthen] God, [theos] even [kai] our [hemon] Father, [pater] at [en] the coming [parousia] of our [hemon] Lord [kurios] Jesus [Iesous] Christ [Christos] with [meta] all [pas] his [autos] saints. [hagios] KJV-Interlinear


13 so that He may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. NASB


The objective of your spiritual life, is to establish, to complete, to open up your eyes to truth, to make you, your soul finished as it is intended to be.

When you were conceived, you were not a completed person. When you were born, you were not a competed person. As a child you were not a completed person, and even with all the experience and academic learning in the world, you will still not be a completed person.

The temporal side of your life, the physical side, is only a small part of your life. The larger side is your spiritual side, and that begins only with salvation which is obtained by faith in Christ. But even then your life is not complete. With study and learning and experience, you begin to grow up in your spiritual life, and still your life is not complete. Once you advance to spiritual maturity, then you begin to near the point of completion, but not yet.

Maturity is your first objective in this life which prepares you, which establishes you, which readies you for your evaluation before Christ, at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

An unblamable heart is one in which doctrine resides and virtually controls the thought processes of the soul. Truth is doctrine, and all that is fair and good and decent and more, are its productions.

In holiness is another way of saying a life that is not unholy. Holiness is the combination of righteousness and justice. Rightness is Gods perfect essence. Justice is Gods perfect cleansing process of all evil, filth, dirt, etc. Therefore the holy life is the person who resides in fellowship, with wisdom at the helm of their soul.

Jesus Christ is the living word. It is He, who resides inside of your soul in the form of the written scriptures which you learn. Since doctrine comes from God, since doctrine is God, then it is God who forms your spiritual life, not you. Your spiritual transformation is the artwork of His fingers, not the result of your efforts.

And one day, Jesus will come to execute the Rapture. He will be attended by all the angels in heaven.

They will descend in to the clouds only, and will not be observed by anyone on this earth. But when He shouts for those who belong to Him, all believers at that time, then all believers who have already died during our dispensation and all who remain alive at that moment in time, will be instantly caught up off of the planet into the air, and assembled before Him.

We will all be transformed instantly from our physical bodies or present condition if previously deceased, into resurrection bodies, and there before Christ every knee will bend, every head will bow, before the presence of His glory.

And then the second greatest victory parade will begin as we all head off to heaven, for the next great event in our lives, the Judgment Seat of Christ and each of our personal evaluations.

While back on the earth, confusion and chaos will begin to unfold, as the planet will head into its last seven years of satanic and human rule, and near extinction of humanity.

Meanwhile, each one of us will stand before Christ and receive our just reward. For those who have ignored their spiritual life, there will be no additional reward. For those who have had some semblance of spiritual growth, there will be some reward.

But for those who have established their lives in doctrine, have grown to spiritual maturity, have lived a productive spiritual life, then there will be vast beyond-imagination rewards.

This is the result of your persistence in an open minded and genuine pursuit of Bible doctrine, regardless of the circumstances, good or bad, that you might encounter in this life.

And while you are advancing in your spiritual life in preparation for the next appearance of Christ, and the greatest destiny beyond your imagination, the rest of the world is deeply involved in the debate over who will receive health care, and who will not. Who will make the decisions for your life and where you will fit in, to the statistics of government policy.

Mans good intentions never end up that way. Why? Because humanity does not have the wherewithal to carry out his own plans. And in the midst of failure, rationing, inclusion and exclusion, random choosing, and private preference always enter into the equation.

The usual historical targets for exclusion, the blacks, the Jews, the disabled, the odd, the homosexuals, and add to that group, the Christians, will all be treated with contempt and suffer accordingly.

So if you are a mentally disturbed Christian black Jew with a handicap and homosexual preferences, then your life is … how does that proverbial saying go ….. ?

The world will try to run your life, but you need to turn to doctrine and allow God to take charge of your life. Alone you cannot defeat the world, but through Christ, the world cannot defeat you.

We seem to be at another major crossroads in history, as Christ allows man to maneuver himself into position for what God has had planned for a very long time. And whether that maneuvering occurs in the next few months or not for several decades, makes no difference if you are in pursuit of your spiritual life.

Jesus Christ controls history, not you, and certainly not any government. Stick with your Bible studies and focus on establishing your life in preparation for Christs’ appearance, whenever that will be.