SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/3/2014 9:15 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Paul’s
Commitment to God’s Truth
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1
Thessalonians 2:3
Message of the
verse: 3 For our exhortation does
not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit.” “3 Our message to you is true, our motives
are pure, our conduct is absolutely above board.” (Philips)
I can say that there is a lot packed into this verse, and
I will try, with the help of John MacArthur and also Warren Wiersbe to make
sense of what this verse has to say to us.
I can think of Jesus saying to His disciples a short time
before He went to the cross these words:
“I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by
me.” A little while later Jesus was
before Pilate in one of His trials and He tried to explain to Pilate what truth
was, but he did not have time to listen, and this was too bad for him. One of the attributes of God is truth, and as
we have seen truth is a person, Jesus Christ.
Paul took the truth of God, through the truth of His Word very seriously
as he tells the Thessaloians in this verse.
We can tell by what Paul is writing that he was being
opposed from those who were involved in religion for dishonest gain, some would
get sexual favors, or money and this is what Paul’s accusers were accusing him
of doing. We mentioned that God gave
Paul the truth soon after He saved him as seen in the book of Galatians.
John MacArthur breaks down the word exhortation stating
that the word is translated from the Greek word “paraklesis) and it means “an urgent cry appeal, or call with an
emphasis on judgment. Such usage
stressed for Paul’s readers the urgency and directness of his preaching. He did not stray from the truth or operate
apart from the standard of divine revelation.
Paul assured them there was no false teaching or lying –in other words, error—in
his ministry.”
I have mentioned that Paul’s critics probably were
accusing him of error, but Paul states that he was preaching the truth. Paul mentions the importance of teaching and
preaching the truth to his son in the faith, Timothy. One of the places we see this is the verse
that I have chosen to be the name of my blog 2 Timothy 2:15 which states “Be
diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to
be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” It is my desire to write nothing but the
truth as I do my Spiritual Diaries and then put them on my blog.
John MacArthur writes about the word “impurity” in his
commentary on 1 Thessalonians and he states that this word is usually used in a
sexual way, a sexual way that did not go along with the Word of God. Sexual acts were very common in false
religious ceremony during the days of Paul, and Paul was accused of doing this
same kind of thing, but of course, this was not true.
One more word to look at and that is the word “deceit”
which is translated from the Greek word dolos and this word means a fishhook or a trap or
trick which are forms of deception. Paul
did not use these kinds of tricks, but only taught the truth that is found in
God’s Word.
Dr. Wiersbe writes:
“Paul did not trap people into being saved, the way a clever salesman
traps people into buying his product.
Spiritual witnessing and ‘Christian salesmanship are different. Salvation does not lie at the end of a clever
argument or a subtle presentation. It is
the result of God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 1:5).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I surely
take it to heart in doing my Spiritual Diaries and listen and read from people
I trust to have a good knowledge of the Word of God, and then pass on this
truth to those who read it on my blogs.
I never want to write something that is not true and I never want to
water down the Word of God like some people I have known to have done.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I want to remember that the successful
Christian life is a series of new beginnings.
Memory verses for the
week: Philippians 2:5-10
5 Have this attitude in
yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the
form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but
emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the
likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by
becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this
reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is
above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those
who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “"Beware of the false
prophets, - "You will know them by their fruits.
Today’s Bible
question: “Who said "He who is
without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Answer in our next SD.
4/3/2014 10:14 PM
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