Category Archives: Attributes

All, Attributes, Bible, Fullness, Holy Spirit, Scripture, Whole

ALL IN ALL

EPHESIANS 1:23

“which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

Do you remember the Three Musketeers? They were in it together. All for one and one for all. They had each other’s backs. They never left a man behind. You know, all those “together” cliches. We still use those cheers today in our sports competitions. I remember one year our football team broke every first huddle of the game with “All for one.” It sounded good but didn’t insure a victory on the field that night.

As Paul finishes up chapter one (I know, there were no chapters in the original letter), he gives us this last phrase, “the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” What did Paul mean by that? What was the message the Holy Spirit was trying to portray in these words? It undoubtedly is referring to the omnipresence (all presence) of Christ. He is everywhere, filling all things.

APPLICATION

What does that mean for us? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:6. “There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.” The All Present God Who is in all things is working all things in us. Isn’t that just coolest thing you have ever heard? He wants to give you His all.

A few chapters later in chapter 15 and verse 28 of I Corinthians, we find this from Paul. “When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.” Christ is all in all. God is all in all. God wants us to have His all. What else could you ask for?

And then in Colossians 3:11, we have this verse, “a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free, but Christ is all, and in all.” So, “all in all” isn’t just a cute catchphrase. It has serious meaning for us as believers and followers of Christ. He is our everything. Is He your everything today?

Father God, You are my All in all. You fill my life with Your presence

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Attributes, Bible, Choices, Flesh, Hostilities, Idols, Jealousy, Scripture, Strife, Witchcraft

DEEDS OF THE FLESH, PART 2

GALATIANS 5:20

“idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions,”

We continue today in the list of things Paul named as “deeds of the flesh.” Hang on with me. Don’t let me lose you. Some of these words really get defined well when we look at the Greek word. Mark this blog down as a word study. I believe these words are here for a reason for us today.

Verse 20 begins with “idolatry” which is just a worship of idols, false gods. While most of us have not been exposed to that directly, there are still billions of people around the world who are engaged in this practice.

“Witchcraft” is the Greek word , pharmakeía, which comes from pharmakeuō, “administer drugs”). It refers to drug-related sorcery, like the practice of magical-arts.

“Hostilities” is literally hatred. God hates hatred. Does that sound ironic? Listen, God is repulsed by our hatred towards one another.

“Strife” means to quarrel. It’s a readiness to quarrel (having a contentious spirit), affection for dispute. We all know people like that, right? I pray none of us are like that.

“Jealousy” is burning emotion (inner feeling boiling over, boiling from heat.” This word can be used both positively and negatively. You can be jealous for God. You can have a godly zeal for Him. But most of the time, jealously is not a good thing.

When “outbursts of anger” is used of people it indicates rage (personal venting of anger, worth). This flaw is completely absent of the Lord expressing (inspiring) intense anger. It is used of God’s perfect, holywrath in Revelation 14:10,19,15:1). This anger is directed against sin with intense opposition and without sin. [Only the Lord exercises righteous wrath, so we must depend solely on Him as we experience or express anger.]

“Selfish ambition” is acting for one’s own gain, regardless of the discord or strife it causes. 

“Dissensions” is used of divisions which wrongly separate people into pointless (groundless) factions. Used here and in Romans 16:17. “Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.”

Finally, we have the word “factions.” The term stresses the personal aspect of choice. It was how being a Sadducee (Acts 5:17) was sharply distinguished from being a Pharisee (Acts 15:5; 26:5). We form factions over the smallest disagreements. We are told preserve unity, not factions.

None of these fleshly attributes should be used to describe us. We must represent our Lord in all that we do. Most of these mentioned in today’s verse are sins against others. Would you go through this list again and pray against them so they will not be present in your life?

Father, keep me walking in the Spirit and away from these deeds of the flesh.

(Most of these definitions today came from HELPS Word-Studies)

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