Thursday, July 12, 2012

Ephesians 4:21


Copyright Ó 2012 J. Neely
Ephesians 4:21

21 If so be that [eige] ye have heard [akouo] him, [autos] and [kai] have been taught [didasko] by [en] him, [autos] as [kathos] the truth [aletheia] is [esti] in [en] Jesus: [Iesous] KJV-Interlinear

21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,  NASB

If indeed, is a word of caution.  To hear truth means that you need to hear it from within the mechanism of hearing which was designed by God.

In Jesus, refers to the whole mechanism of the teaching and instruction and learning and growing up in the spiritual life, as designed and defined by God.

These things you cannot learn on your own.   Even if you hear truth, but are out of fellowship, that truth does you absolutely no good.  Truth needs to be assimilated from within the spiritual sphere, not from the carnal sphere of the sin nature.

And until spiritual phenomena is assimilated within the spiritual side of your life, then it is not beneficial to you.

Satan knows doctrine forwards and backwards.  He can quote scripture, probably better than you.  But when Jesus was being tempted, Satan misquoted scripture, or rather quoted it correctly, but misapplied its intended use.

Satan knows more information than any of us, but he possesses absolutely no spiritual benefit, zero. That makes you far wiser than even Satan.

And what this verse states, is that when you actually learn doctrine, legitimately learn it, then you learn it by means of the correct learning process that God has designed for learning spiritual information.  If that process is not utilized, then what you have learned, is not really spiritual, only academic.

Anyone can learn information academically.  That is the process of taking in information into the brain.  You do this in school, at home, at work, in your everyday life.  The Bible typically refers to this as ‘gnosis.’

The word, ‘epignosis,’ on the other hand is used to refer to doctrine, that is possessed, not simply known, but beyond the knowing part.  It becomes understanding and wisdom.  But more than that, it is fully incorporated into your soul, by means of its channeling through your human spirit, therefore perfecting it within your soul as a construction component, building up the spiritual structure within your soul.  That structure is often referred to as your fortress, temple, mansion, place of safety and security and so forth.  It is the muscle that your faith is built upon.

And taught by him.  Jesus is the living word.  Doctrine is the written word.  Both are Jesus Christ.  You learn doctrine, legitimate doctrine by means of the Holy Spirit, who channels the real truth, into your human spirit, and from there it goes into your soul as usable building material for the perfection, or the construction of your inner soul.

Your soul is incomplete, an empty vessel when you are born into this world.  You learn vocabulary and worldly things, which contribute to your learning ability for the spiritual side of life.

But without the spiritual things, your soul is still virtually empty and useless.  You must believe in Christ in order to be saved, and learn Christ (doctrine), in order to grow up in your spiritual life.  Your spiritual life is the ultimate you.  Without it, you are incomplete, unfinished, and missing out on a great deal of the many things that God has waiting for you.

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