1 Thessalonians 4:12
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.
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