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1 Thessalonians 2:13
13 For this [touto] cause [dia] also [kai] thank [eucharisteo] we [hemeis] God [theos] without ceasing, [adialeiptos] because, [hoti] when ye received [paralambano] the word [logos] of God [theos] which ye heard [akoe] of [para] us, [hemon] ye received [dechomai] it not [ou] as the word [logos] of men, [anthropos] but [alla] as [kathos] it is [esti] in truth, [alethos] the word [logos] of God, [theos] which [hos] effectually worketh [energeo] also [kai] in [en] you [humin] that believe. [pisteuo] KJV-Interlinear
13 And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. NASB
Now, here is what Pauls message is leading up to and this is a difficult concept to understand for most.
In life there are two spheres of existence. There is the temporal sphere, and there is the spiritual sphere.
The spiritual sphere can see into the temporal, but the temporal cannot see into the spiritual sphere.
Divine revelation operates within the spiritual sphere and cannot be accessed from the temporal sphere.
The temporal sphere has its limitations, obviously, and is dependent on empiricism, the five senses, logic, trial and error, testing and comparing and so forth. The hunt for knowledge is difficult at best, because all of the details of life are not always readily available, and certainly the spiritual side of existence cannot be accessed by this human search process.
When we read the Bible, we read the many stories it contains. We read of Adam and Moses and baby Jesus and so forth. This is academic material which can be read by anyone (believer or unbeliever).
From the temporal side of life, people will demand proof, credentials, verification and that is among their biggest stumbling blocks to seeing the truth in life.
There is a great big temporal (physical) world out there and vast amounts of knowledge to be learned. In history, humanity has not even begun to scratch the surface of all there is to learn, and that means only the physical universe. Of the spiritual universe, there is far, far more knowledge. However, the spiritual side is not accessible by means of the usual physical methods of discovery.
So, when you read of Adam, and Moses and baby Jesus, you see very little of the truth contained within their stories.
Academic knowledge funnels into the soul and is called ‘gnosis,’ which is simply the details of knowledge. It requires a great deal of information support in order to comprehend it all.
However, when the individual has believed in Christ, and is a believer, is in fellowship, and therefore the Holy Spirit is actively functioning within his soul, then another layer of information (the spiritual side) is conveyed into the soul, sorted through the human spirit, and redirected into the soul as ‘epignosis,’ or complete knowledge.
This concept is spelled out in more detail in Ephesians.
The point here is that there is a supernatural system of learning that is available only through the spiritual apparatus that operates only while the believer is in fellowship.
Within that system, the Holy Spirit makes all things discernable, clear, conspicuous, and therefore efficacious.
And while all knowledge is built word upon word, precept upon precept and so forth, eventually the believer who is advancing in their spiritual life, begins to see the truths of life more and more clearly.
The objective of the spiritual life is to make the believer free and independent and autonomous from this world, with no need for counselors, with no need for consultants, with no need for crutches of any kind. Doctrine is the foundation upon which life is constructed, and when the believer begins to see this, and advances as far as is humanly possible in this life, then in the next life, in eternity, your life will be beyond phenomenal.
The temporal crowd, will continue to demand and demand, proof, and evidence, and they will scoff at that which they have no inkling about, because they simply cannot grasp it, and therefore refuse to grasp it.
If you were to travel back in time several centuries, and found a blind man from birth, and tried to describe the technology of today, he would probably think you were mad. But then isn’t that how most of society sees the Christian philosophy?
The blind will come up with all sorts of theories and beliefs and they will invent sciences and evidences to prove their beliefs. This is true with abortion, with global warming, with socialism, and so forth. There have been many world leaders who have gotten themselves caught up in the occult and zodiac ideas, and such, and they have all led to great suffering for the masses.
Anyone who relies on the temporal only, will always go in the wrong direction and fail. Anyone who relies on the spiritual, will always come to the knowledge and wisdom of truth and see life clearly.
So, as Paul states here, these words, though spoken or written, or typed by man, are God inspired, God directed. And that does not mean that God is sitting on my shoulder telling me what to type, but that God, through my words, is able to communicate the truth, regardless of my typing or vocabulary, or content, or writing skills.
This simply means that God does not depend on human ability or human resources, to get His word to those who want it. But through His grace, God has graciously used Paul and others throughout history, to accomplish His will, not mans.
A PhD, credentials, fancy robes, extensive accomplishments, formidable talents and more, are not necessary in order to communicate the Word of God. Actually those things tend to lead the person astray.
When you embrace the Word by means of your pursuit of a legitimate and genuine study, then all of this becomes very simple and obvious.
Those who do not pursue their spiritual lives, will be no different than those who lived during Jesus’ day, demanding to see miracle after miracle, proof after proof, hustling and hustling after knowledge, and getting nowhere.
