בקולוסים 4:5 פאולוס כתב לקדושים בקולוסה, לכו בחכמה כלפי אלה שבחוץ, לגאול את הזמן. מה זה אומר ללכת בחכמה לפי התנ"ך?
Paul commanded the saints to walk in wisdom toward them that were without
Paul commanded the saints to walk in wisdom toward them that were outside of the Church and lived without God. He urged them to walk as wise instead of fools. They had to redeem the time, because they had already walked a long time as fools. כעת, they had to use the precious time they had left on earth to walk circumspectly in Christ in the wisdom and will of God and preach the gospel
Christians are no longer the old creation but have become a new creation through the new birth in Christ.
They received a new heart and a new nature. כתוצאה מכך, they no longer think and live as they used to think and live as the world.
Christians don’t belong to the world anymore and don’t have the devil as father.
נוצרים no longer serve sin and death through the flesh.
But Christians have become spiritual and belong to the Kingdom of heaven. Through the reconciliation in Christ they have God as Father and serve righteousness through the spirit
Although Christians live in the world, הם לא שייכים לעולם. באמצעות התחדשות במשיח (the death of the flesh and the resurrection of their spirit from the dead) they are translated from the kingdom of the world (חוֹשֶׁך) into the Kingdom of heaven (האור) אֵיפֹה ישוע המשיח הוא מלך ושולט.
Christians belong to Christ and bear His Name
Christians belong to Christ and bear His Name and do everything in His Name.
As Christ walked on earth in submission to the Father and obedience to His word and commandments and did His works, Christians should walk the same.
They ought to walk in the wisdom of God, מי הוא ה יוצר גן עדן ואדמה וכל מה שיש בפנים, instead of the wisdom of the world.
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, חוּשָׁנִי, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. (ג'יימס 3:13-16)
חכמת העולם מתנגדת לחכמת ה'
The wisdom of the world is earthly, sensual and develish, and oppose the wisdom of God. The worldly wisdom tries to reason everything from the human intellect and the natural. This often happens through inspiration of demonic spirits without people being aware of it.
The purpose of the wisdom of the world is a total disconnection and independence from God and destroy His words, עובד, covenants, מוסדות, and influence. So that people (think they) don’t need God anymore, but can do it themselves.
God doesn’t decide, אבל הם מחליטים, whereby they have exalted themselves as god and serve their will.
עם זאת, Christians know that they need Jesus and can’t live without God and His Spirit. שֶׁלוֹ Word is spirit and life and brings forth the fruit of God, הצדקה, ו (נִצחִי) חַיִים.
The wisdom of God causes people to walk worthy of the Lord
The wisdom of God causes people to walk worthy of the Lord. Christians are no longer foolish, and don’t walk as they walked before as the יצירה ישנה in disobedience to God in sin and darkness.
That’s because Christians have come to the knowledge of the truth. Through the Word and the abiding of the Holy Spirit they have become wise. Because they have become wise, they shall speak and act as wise and walk in wisdom.
Walking in wisdom means walking in submission and obedience to God. It means walking in the truth and righteousness of His Word in the light.
כל האנשים, who say they are Christians and believe in Jesus Christ, בן האלוהים, והם נטבל במים and received the טבילה ברוח הקודש are no longer carnal but spiritual, should live according to what the Word of God says and don’t compromise with the world.
Building bridges and making connections with the darkness and compromise with unbelievers and pagan religions and philosophies are not commandments of Jesus Christ our Lord and are not part of God’s Kingdom.
Christians are not bridge-builders but peacemakers between fallen man and God by preaching the truth of God’s Word.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, עָדִין, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. ופרי צדק נזרע בשלום עושי שלום (ג'יימס 3:17-18)
Jesus commanded His followers to speak the truth and preach the gospel
Jesus commanded His followers to speak the truth and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to the people, שחיים בחושך. So that they repent and be redeemed by the blood of Jesus and be saved from the judgment of God and grow up in the truth of God’s Word and live as obedient children of God on earth, עושה את רצון האב.
God wants children who love Him ולכן, do what He says and keep His commandments.
בזה, the children of God differentiate from the children of the devil. The children of God obey God and do what the Bible (דבר אלוהים) אומר, the children of the devil don’t. (אה. ג'ון 8:42-47; 10:27-28; 14:15-24; 1 ג'ון 2:3-6; 3:6-10).
Do Christians display the right image of God?
אנשים, who say they are Christians and compromise with the world for their own sake, because they don’t want to be excluded, persecuted and/or rejected, don’t have the Spirit of the Lord abiding in them.
Instead of confessing, honoring and exalting God through the Spirit, they ridicule and להכחיש את אלוהים and defile and damage the Kingdom of God through the flesh.
God is holy and shall never compromise with iniquity and approve of sin.
Through their conduct and walk they display a false image of God. כְּלוֹמַר, שאלוהים מאשר הכל. That everything is allowed in God’s Kingdom and that the Kingdom is one big party.
בתנ"ך, we read about (the leaders of) the house Israel and the many times that the people left God’s word and the Law of Moses and compromised with the heathen nations and adopted התרבות שלהם, customs and idols. Through their conduct they didn’t represent and reflect the true God of Israel as He and His will. But they reflected God in a wrong manner and profaned God and His holy Name among the nations.
Many Christians do the exact same thing and profane the holy Name of the Lord. Through their way of thinking and conduct they don’t walk holy in obedience to God as wise people according to His will. But they walk as fools, thinking that the light and darkness go together.
עם זאת, God’s Word says that light and darkness don’t go together. The Bible says that righteousness has nothing in common with sin, and believers have nothing in common with unbelievers and adulterers. ((2 קורינתים 6:14-18).
Let no man deceive you with vain words and justify sin
אל תן אדם לרמות אותך במילות הבל: כִּי מִשּׁוּם אֵלֶּה בָּא חֵמָה אֱלֹהִים עַל בְּנֵי הַכֹּרֶר. אל תהיו שותפים עמם. כי לפעמים היו חושך, אבל עכשיו אתה אור באדון: ללכת כילדי אור: (כי פרי הרוח נמצא בכל טוב וצדקה ואמת;) להוכיח את מה שמקובל לה '. ואין לך מלגה עם יצירות החושך הבלתי פוסקות, אלא להוכיח אותם. כי בושה אפילו לדבר על הדברים הנעשים מהם בסתר. אבל כל הדברים שנוכחים מתגלים על ידי האור: כִּי כָּל מַה שֶּׁמִתְגַּלֶּה הוּא אוֹר. Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.(אפסים 5:6-14)
(15) See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. לָכֵן לֹא תִהְיֶה חָכָם, אלא להבין מהו רצון ה'. (אפסים 5:15-17)
Christians shouldn’t live reckless as fools like the unbelievers, who walk in the blindness and vanity of their mind and the hardness of their heart in darkness. But Christians should pay close attention that they walk wise and harmless in the fear of the Lord.
They ought to walk from their new nature (מהרוח) according to God’s Word.
If they walk after the Spirit according to God’s Word, they shall walk in wisdom in the will of God.
Not everyone in your area will appreciate this walk in the light. There shall even be people in the church who don’t appreciate your walk and judge you and classify you as legalistic and old fashioned.
But you can better be considered as legalistic and classified as old fashioned and enter eternity, than joining the prideful rebels and perish in lawlessness.
The persecution and rejection in the life of Jesus
Jesus was called every name in the book. Jesus was persecuted and abandoned by the people because of His hard confrontational words, and His works, which many assumed that they were not from God but Belial. (אה. מתיו 10:25; 11:18; 12:24-27; סִימָן 3:22; לוק 4:28-30; 11:15-19; ג'ון 6:66-68; 7:20; 8:48-59; 10:20-33).
בסופו של דבר, Jesus was betrayed by His disciple and abandoned by all His disciples (even the disciple whom Jesus loved), מרותק, rejected by the people and killed. (אה. מתיו 26-27; סִימָן 14:42-15:39; לוק 22:47-23:47; ג'ון 18-19).
That was the price that Jesus paid for His submission and obedience to the Father.
עם זאת, despite all the temptations, התנגדות, insults, בִּקוֹרֶת, רדיפה, abandoning, judgment and denial, Jesus didn’t adjust His words nor changed His works, but He remained faithful to the Father and did what the Father commanded Him to do unto His death.
Jesus was born on earth, but didn’t belong to the world
Jesus knew in what kind of world He came and that the days were evil.
הוא ידע (the nature and will of) the ruler of the world and the father of the rebellious and disobedient children, who belonged to the unfaithful, adulterous and corrupt generation and walked in lawlessness.
Jesus knew that the devil and his children were His adversaries and hated Him, because they were (ועדיין הם) adversaries of God and hated Him.
Through the fear and love for His Father and knowing Him and His will, Jesus resisted the many temptations and was able to endure every situation. Even the confrontation with the devil and death, which Jesus overcame through His faithfulness and obedience to God. (אה. קולוסים 2:15; עברים 2:14-15; הִתגַלוּת 1:17-18).
Jesus lived from the Kingdom of God and walked after the Spirit in wisdom and the authority of God
Jesus lived from the Kingdom of God and walked after the Spirit in the wisdom of God in His authority. He spoke the words of His Father and did His works.
Jesus walked in wisdom among a faithless and perverse generation. He was watchful, wise, and harmless and commanded His disciples to do the same. Because just as not everyone was happy with the coming of Jesus and the preaching and the revelation of the Kingdom of God, not everyone would be happy with the coming of His disciples and their testimony.
Jesus sent them forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. And we all know how wolves treat sheep and what the consequences are of a confrontation with a wolf.
לְהַבִּיט, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves (מתיו 10:16)
Christians walk in wisdom and are different and live differently
As Christians we don’t belong to the world but we belong to the Kingdom of God. לכן, we are different and behave different. We don’t live after the flesh in licentiousness and uncleanness and the truth and wisdom of the world. But we live after the Spirit in moral conduct and holiness according to the truth and wisdom of God.
במשיח, the secret of the Kingdom of God is revealed to us through the Spirit of God. עם זאת, this is hidden to the carnal people who are outside the Church and belong to the world.
They don’t know God and don’t see and understand the things of God’s Kingdom, but they do see us. Through our walk in Christ in the wisdom of God we reveal Jesus (המילה החיה) and God’s Kingdom to them.
לכן, stand firm in the faith and live after the Spirit according to God’s Word among the unbelievers. Don’t compromise and don’t be partakers of their evil works, but stay faithful to Jesus and the Father. Do righteous works and exalt them through your life. לִזכּוֹר, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Let your life be a testimony of the ישוע המשיח האמיתי, בן האלוהים, והאב.
'היה מלח הארץ’
