You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
19 Nevertheless
[mentoi] the foundation [themelios]
of God [theos] standeth [histemi] sure, [stereos] having [echo] this [taute] seal, [sphragis] The Lord [kurios] knoweth [ginosko] them that are [on] his. [autos] And, [kai] Let [aphistemi] every one [pas] that nameth
[onomazo] the name [onoma] of Christ [Christos] depart
[aphistemi] from [apo] iniquity. [adikia] KJV-Interlinear
19
Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The
Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name
of the Lord abstain from wickedness." NASB
Nevertheless, begins a contrast, which means that regardless of how you conduct your life, regardless of how the world functions, regardless of whether you are positive or negative in your spiritual life, there is a foundation of truth that exists. And that foundation will always exist.
Your attitude won't ever change it. Your beliefs will never alter it. Society can do nothing, even by consensus, to compromise the truth.
The foundation, is an underlying sub-structure upon which the main structure is built. The main structure is only as good as the foundation.
And that foundation, among its many components, is that God knows who belongs to Him, and, that among those who belong to Him, abstinence from wickedness is a mandatory.
Depart or abstain, 'aphistemi,' means to revolt, to desist, to desert, to refrain. And this means just that. A believer must abandon the former ways of life (sin) and replace it them with a better way, (spiritual fellowship and growth).
The carnal life and the spiritual life are mutually exclusive. There is no place for both in a persons life. That would be like being married but playing around a little here, a little there, thus cheating and justifying it.
The spiritual life is not there for arbitrary use, or for convenient use, or occasional use, just to mix in with the carnal life and to be used for guilt medicine.
God knows who belongs to Him. And just who belongs to God? Believers, and believers only. The seal, 'sphragis,' means ownership. And God owns believers. Unbelievers are not in this picture, except that they are not owned, nor a part of Gods possessions. That is accomplished in only one way and that is by means of the individual believing in Christ.
We place ourselves as Gods possession, voluntarily of our own free will, because His ownership is far better and preferable to being owned by the world, which offers nothing but the Lake of Fire or zero reward, for a future.
No person is autonomous to themselves. You are either owned by God, or by this world. You are controlled by Gods truth, or by the cosmos of evil. There is no third choice.
There is but one certainty in life, and that is Gods essence, and accompanying that essence is Gods steadfastness, God assurance, Gods security of purpose and intent.
There is nothing else upon which you can rely, nothing else to which you can turn, nothing else that will provide anything other than an empty life.
As an unbeliever, you have but one question put to you, 'What do you think of Christ?' Apart from that question, you have absolutely nothing.
Once you answer that question with faith in Christ, and are thus saved, then you have a second question, which is a set of questions, repeated over and over, again and again, and that question series is, 'What do you think of doctrine?'
From that question your spiritual life and growth is determined.
As a believer, you have placed before you a daily question, as to whether you will study, and learn, and apply doctrines to your life, and thus grow up, or not.
And the mandate here, is to abstain from wickedness. In order to do that you have to grow up. And in order to grow up, you have to learn. And in order to learn, you have to study as mandated back in verse 15.
Therefore, there are two certain things in life - Gods ownership, which means eternal security, and second there is spiritual maturity, which means eternal reward. Both things mean a destiny that is beyond your imagination.
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End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
