Christ's Law

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● Col 3:19 . . Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

The Greek verb translated "love" doesn't necessarily pertain to either affection
and/or fondness. It's more about civility than emotion. This is the kind of love that
we extend to everyone-- friend, foe, and stranger alike --regardless of how we
might feel about them. It's the very same love that Jesus taught in Matt 5:44 which
reads:

"You have heard that it was said: You shall love your neighbor, and hate your
enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies,"

In other words; you don't especially have to like your enemies, but you do have to
be civil with them, i.e. courteous, kind, charitable, tolerant, patient, diplomatic,
tactful, gentle, reasonable, fair, deferent, approachable, cordial, genial, affable,
sociable, helpful, thoughtful, sympathetic, considerate, and cooperative, etc.

I readily admit the difficulty of being nice to people who rub us the wrong way; but
still, Christian men whose marriages resemble an on-going cold war would greatly
ease the tensions in their homes, and make the situation bearable for both sides of
the bed, were they to simply be courteous.

"Harsh" can be exemplified any number of ways.

Abrasive
Abusive
Snapping
Critical
Cruel
Demanding
Fault Finding
Giving Her No Say In Important Decisions
Hostile
Impatient
Explosive
Insensitive
Intolerant
Laying Down The Law
Loud
Marginalizing
Mockery
Money Rationing
Nit Picking
Oppressive
Penny Pinching
Public Scolding
Remarks About Her Appearance
Rough
Uncivil
Unfriendly
Obtuse
Unyielding

Those behaviors are very effective at making a Christian wife's existence bitter, i.e.
a living hell; especially a Christian wife who's making an honest effort to comply
with Col 3:18.
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● Col 3:20 . . Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases The Lord.

Those instructions pertain only to Christian kids; not to just any kid who happens to
be looking in. And it needs to be said that not every kid in a Christian home is a
saint. Some are demon seeds: that's just a fact of life and it can't be helped, e.g.
Cain & Abel.

The Greek word for "obey" in that verse is somewhat ambiguous. It can mean,
variously, to hear under (as a subordinate), i.e. to listen attentively; by implication,
to heed and/or conform to requirements.

Too many movies and television sit-coms today portray kids who don't listen to
their parents. But of course those sit-com kids are typically indifferent to pleasing
The Lord so it's to be expected they'd be more like fallen angels than the holy
variety.
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● Col 3:21 . . Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become
discouraged.

The Greek word translated "discouraged" has to do with breaking the spirit. Really
bad cases of emotional abuse can cause a child to lose the will to excel; sometimes
even the will to live, i.e. suicidal.
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● Col 3:22-25 . . Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not
only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and
reverence for The Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working
for The Lord, not for men

Some Christians tend to forget that they live in a fishbowl wherein nothing escapes
God's notice.

"Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives
as strangers here in reverent fear." (1Pet 1:17)
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● Col 4:1 . . Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you
know that you also have a Master in heaven.

I have yet to find a passage in the Bible condemning slavery as a moral evil. I'm
not saying that such a passage doesn't exist; only that in my 56 years as an
ongoing Bible student via sermons, books, seminars, lectures, Sunday school
classes, radio programs, and personal study, I've yet to run across one. The Bible's
primary issue with slavery is the treatment of slaves.

The master in heaven is providential. In other words: Christian masters have a
sacred obligation to house their slaves in decent accommodations, clothe them with
adequate garments, and nourish them with good food too because slave masters
are a father to the souls in their house; they depend on him to care for them;
there's no one else; and according to Gen 1:27 and Matt 12:11-12, people deserve
to be treated better than an animal.

Whether the above rule should be taken to apply in normal labor relations can be
disputed, but in my judicious estimation; Christian employers really ought to pay
their workers a living wage-- augmented with timely adjustments for inflation -
rather than just paying them the least they can in order to keep profits up and
overhead down. (Just saying)
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● Col 4:2 . . Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

The Greek word translated "devote" means to persevere; viz: not give up and/or
lose interest.

"And he spoke a parable unto them to this end: that people ought always to pray,
and not lose heart." (Luke 18:1)

For many of us, prayer is a last resort; a grasping at straws because we simply
have nowhere else to turn. We wish for success with prayer, while not really
expecting it because we already know from plenty of experience that prayer too
often leads into a cul-de-sac of perplexity and discouragement; so then, what's the
use? In other words: prayer is very difficult for some Christians because it's often
so futile.

Why doesn't God respond? And if He's not going to respond, then why keep on
making a fool of ourselves trying to get through to an imaginary playmate when all
the while its phone is off the hook?

It was this very issue that led Mother Teresa of Calcutta to question whether there
really is a God out there. During virtually her entire five decades in India, Teresa
felt not the slightest glimmer of The Lord's presence and suffered a good deal of
anxiety wondering why Christ abandoned her.

In one of Teresa's private letters, penned to a Father Picachy, Teresa complained:
"I am told God loves me; and yet the reality of darkness & coldness & emptiness is
so great that nothing touches my soul."

In yet another letter, Teresa complained: "When I try to raise my thoughts to
Heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like
sharp knives and hurt my very soul. How painful is this unknown pain-- I have no
faith."

If the most pious nun the 20th century ever produced found heaven's phone lines
dead for virtually five decades, then why should John Que and Jane Doe pew
warmer persist with prayer? Well; primarily because it's required. I would suppose
that's reason enough for most. I mean; were God to ask us to throw a baseball at
the Moon every so often; wouldn't we comply just to please Him, even knowing we
couldn't possibly hit it?
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● Col 4:3-4 . . And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so
that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I
may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Proclaiming the mystery of Christ clearly as one should means to avoid
sophisticated intellectualism. (1Cor 2:1-5)

For example: when physicist Stephen Hawking set out to write his fabulously
popular book "A Brief History Of Time" he determined to make an effort to speak of
complicated cosmological concepts for a layman's ears. Well; he succeeded, and
consequently just about anybody with an average IQ and the ability to read can
pick up Stephen's book and get something out of it.

When the Bible is taught with too many uncommon words, the result isn't much
different than speaking in a foreign language. So to avoid a language barrier, I
suggest keeping one's presentation colloquial, i.e. informal.

"In the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than
ten thousand words in a tongue." (1Cor 14:19)
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● Col 4:5 . . Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every
opportunity.

Christian wisdom should consist of Christian moral values, Christian conduct, and
Christian character.

I once heard a story about a well-meaning sidewalk evangelist who was handing
out Gospel tracts. A man came by and asked the side-walker what he was doing.
The side-walker handed the man a tract and said: Here, read this. Well, the man
was illiterate. So he told the side-walker: I can't read your tract, so I'll just watch
your tracks.

In other words; don't just talk the talk; walk the walk too-- live it because for some
people, your actions speaks so loud they may not hear a word you're saying.
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● Col 4:6 . . Let your speech be always full of grace, seasoned with salt

Grace can be defined as kind, courteous, gentle, patient, lenient, inclined to good
will, generous, charitable, altruistic, compassionate, sympathetic, thoughtful,
cordial, affable, genial, sociable, cheerful, warm, sensitive, hospitable, considerate,
and tactful.

It seems to me from the language and grammar of Matt 5:13, Mark 9:50, and Luke
14:34 that the primary purpose of salt is to enhance flavor and make otherwise
naturally insipid and/or bad-tasting things palatable, viz: salt can be thought of as
diplomacy; roughly defined as conversation that makes an effort to maintain peace
rather than provoke conflict and/or annoy people and make them uncomfortable.
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● Col 4:16 . . After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the
church of the Laodiceans; and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.

The cities of Colossae and Laodicea weren't all that far from each other so it was
convenient for them to share information.

Paul's instructions have little application today except to point out that the epistles
are meant to be curriculum in every Christian assembly; not just special Christian
churches and/or denominations.

* Ironically, the Christians at Laodicea are immortalized in the New Testament as
examples of a church very nearly gone off the rails. (Rev 3:14-22)
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● 1Thess 4:1-2 . . Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in The Lord
Jesus, that, as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and
please God (just as you actually do walk), that you may excel still more. For you
know what commandments we gave you by the authority of The Lord Jesus.

The commandments instituted in the apostle Paul's letters are given to the Lord's
followers for the purpose of taking the guess work out of walking and pleasing God;
viz: nobody should expect to excel in Christ's commandments when they don't even
know what they are.

"Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I
speak this to your shame." (1Cor 15:34)
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● 1Thess 4:3-5 . . It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should
avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a
way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not
know God;

The Greek word translated "sanctified" speaks of purity, i.e. clean living.

Some folk, not quite understanding the nature of the Spirit birth about which John
wrote in John 1:12-13 and about which Christ spoke in John 3:3-8, have been led
to believe that born-again Christians are supposed to be free of their libido and
their romantic impulses. Well, obviously not, or why else would it be God's will to
control them?

"and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him."
(1Thess 4:7

"this matter" refers not only to fornication, but also to adultery.

"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will
judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." (Heb 13:4)

Christians commit adultery with Christians? Haw! Does that even need to be
answered? Of course they do; and it goes on all the time, even among church
officers; who by all rights should be setting the example for the rank and file.

* My wife was once friends with the wife of a counselor in a very big church in a
large California city. She confided with my wife (on the QT of course) that it was
amazing the number of church officers and their wives involved in affairs.
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● 1Thess 4:6b-8 . . God has called us to be holy, not to live impure lives. Anyone
who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human rules but is rejecting
God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Why "gives" the Spirit instead of gave? Well; although Christ's believing followers
are all equally endowed with the Spirit (1Cor 6:19, Eph 1:13) its benefits are doled.

His holy Spirit is depicted as a source of living water.

"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice: If
anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the
scripture has said: streams of living water will flow from within him. By this he
meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive." (John
7:37-39)

When Christ's followers go rogue, and allow human nature to dominate their lives
instead of complying with Christ's commandments; the water is withheld.
Consequently it's possible for them to dry up. (Rom 8:5-13)
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● 1Thess 4:11a . . Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life,

I highly recommend avoiding political activism like the plague. Demonstrations,
protests, marches, and the like are not what I call a quiet life; and they sometimes
result in violence and civil disobedience; which are really bad things for Christ's
believing followers. (cf. 2Tim 2:4)

● 1Thess 4:11b . . and tend your own business.

Getting one's self involved with stuff that doesn't pertain to you whilst neglecting
your own commitments and obligations is irresponsible.

I think this rule may be intended to regulate meddling too; which in my opinion is a
very annoying habit practiced by people who honestly believe they know how to live
your life better than you. Well; maybe they do; but if there is one thing I and quite
a few others really despise is unsolicited counseling; especially the spiritual kind.
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● 1Thess 4:11c-12 . . Work with your own hands, just as we instructed you, so that
your daily life may win the respect of outsiders; and so that you will not be
dependent on anybody.

In times of economic stress-- e.g. the 2008 Wall Street collapse, downsizing, wage
reductions, corporations expatriating for tax advantages and/or outsourcing and
moving their manufacturing offshore to take advantage of cheap labor and skimpy
government controls, and the covid-19 virus chaos --a pretty large percentage of
America's employable Christians were, and have been, out of work not because
they were lazy free-loaders; but because their opportunities for full time work with
decent wages and benefits evaporated.

So tread lightly when services like unemployment benefits, SNAP, and TANF, etc,
come up in conversations. Innocent people's feeling might get hurt if you become
too critical of those kinds of relief systems. And don't ever assume that you are
immune to poverty. It can happen to anyone; even overnight and then you'll be
looking around for assistance; maybe even from the very agencies that you at one
time thought were below you.
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● 1Thess 4:18 . . Encourage each other with these words.

Below are the words to which Paul referred.

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to
grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose
again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep
in him. According to The Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive,
who are left till the coming of The Lord, will certainly not precede those who have
fallen asleep.

. . For The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with
the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ
will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet The Lord in the air. And so we will be with
The Lord forever." (1Thess 4:13-17)

In other words: "the rest of men" have no way of knowing for sure whether their
dead will ever be seen again, i.e. non Christians lack anticipation, which is just
the opposite among Christ's believing followers.

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we have gained access by faith into
this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."
(Rom 5:1-2)

The word "hope" is translated from a Greek word that pertains to confidence in
one's expectations. Folks unsure of what to expect on the other side of course
haven't that kind of hope. They're crossing their fingers praying for the best while
in the back of their mind dreading the worst.
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● 1Thess 5:5-6 . . We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us
not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.

Christians walk a strange path. On the one hand they have to be ready to leave this
Earth and join Christ on a moment's notice, while on the other hand ready for a
long stay, i.e. live like there's no tomorrow, and yet live like there are years to
come.

Those two dissimilar expectations balance each other so that we don't live to
extremes in either direction: always keeping in mind that as we came into this
world empty-handed we will leave it empty-handed. So be prepared to suffer the
loss of every personal item in your possession that you hold dear; along with every
project, every pastime, and every endeavor. (1Tim 6:7)
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● 1Thess 5:8 . . Since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on
faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

There's likely any number of explanations for "the day" and probably all are useful.
However, we can narrow them all down to just saying that we who belong to the
day are alive to God as opposed to when we were at one time dead to God.

According to Rom 8:23-25 the "hope" of salvation regards another body.

"We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait
eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we
were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already
has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

This hope isn't a wishing hope, nor is it a hope-for-the-best hope, nor a cross-your
fingers hope. The Greek word basically means to anticipate with pleasure and
confident expectation.

* When I was young and strong, the resurrection wasn't very meaningful. But now
in my 80's, and breaking down from cancer and old age; I have a very different
outlook.
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● 1Thess 5:11 . . Therefore encourage one another, and build each other up, just as
in fact you are doing.

Building up is just the opposite of tearing down. Christians in Galatia were busy
doing the latter.

"But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one
of another!" (Gal 5:15)

Biting and devouring one another describes cannibals and carnivorous beasts.
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● 1Thess 5:12-13a . . Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard
among you, who are over you in The Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the
highest regard in love because of their work.

I would say that if the officers in your church are just too impossible for you to
respect then it's time to abandon ship. Don't mutiny though because mutiny is just
as much a sin as heresy. The rank and file aren't called to reform church officers;
but to cooperate with them. (Heb 13:17)

If they can't cooperate with them; then I sincerely believe the rank and file should
leave and find a church where they can because Christ isn't pleased with grudging
cooperation; rather, with whole-hearted cooperation. (cf. Mark 12:30)
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