Paul the apostle told
the church members in Corinth, “in
the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that
by my voice
I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown
tongue.”,
and in chapter fourteen and verse twenty
of First Corinthians, Paul exhorted the church members, “be
not children in understanding”,
where we read:
Brethren,
be not children in understanding:
howbeit
in malice be children, but in understanding be men.
The verse begins,
“Brethren,
be not children in understanding:”.
Paul began
with the word, “Brethren” or
“fellow believers united to another by the bond of affection ”,
“be not children”
which is the Greek word “paidion”
means “do not be like infants or little ones” “in
understanding”
which refers to “the faculty of perceiving and judging”. Paul
exhorted the church members not to be childish in their “perceiving
and judging”.
The
verse continues, “howbeit
in malice be children, but in understanding be men.”
Paul
continued with the word, “howbeit”
which means
“nevertheless, notwithstanding and moreover” “in
malice” or
“in malignity, ill-will, desire to injure, wickedness, depravity
and evil trouble” “be children”
which is the Greek word “nēpiazō”
and means “act innocently and as a babe”, “but”
which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated “in
understanding”
or “the faculty of perceiving and judging” “be
men” which
means “brought to completeness, perfect, consummate human integrity
and virtue, full grown, adult, of full age and mature”. Paul told
the church members to be as innocent little children with “evil and
wickedness”, but to be “full grown and mature” when
“understanding” was
needed.
When
we think through these words from Paul, we see him employ the example
of “little children” and “infants” to describe the way the
church members should be acting toward “evil” and
“understanding”. The church members were to be like
“babes” when “evil” was present, and like mature “men”
when they needed “understanding”. In other words, they
were to be “innocent” with “evil” and “mature” in
“perceiving and judgment”. Jesus Christ, through the forgiveness
of their sins, desires for people to give their lives to Him and then
mature in their perception of “evil” and “understanding”
. May the Holy Spirit of God teach us the truth concerning our
“understanding” and behavior toward “malice” in
Jesus' name.
Next
time Paul quotes from “the
law”
where “it
is written”,
“with
men of
other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment