Wow, what a controversial subject!
I thought that we can solve this, but it is so difficult, seeing that we all don't speak the same language.
Whitout entangling myself too deep into this maze, I will say that I found the following explanation
from John Westley's explanatory notes on the Bible, on 1Th.5:23, which was my original question.
'And may the God of peace sanctify you-By the peace he works in you, which is a great means of sanctification.
Wholly-The word signifies wholly and perfectly; every part and all that concerns you;
all that is of or about you.
And may the whole of you, the spirit, and the soul, and the body-just before he said you; NOW HE DENOMINATES THEM FROM
THE SPIRITUAL STATE.
The spirit (Gal.6:
; wishing that it may be preserved whole and entire; then from their natural state, the soul and the body;
THESE TWO MAKE UP THE WHOLE NATURE OF MAN, (Mat.10:28) wishing it may be preserved blameless till the coming of Christ."
"TO EXPLAIN A LITTLE FURTHER: OF THESE THREE HERE MENTIONED, ONLY THE TWO LAT ARE THE NATURAL CONSTITUENT
PARTS OF MAN. THE FIRST (SPIRIT) IS ADVENTITIOUS, AND THE SUPERNATURAL GIFT OF GOD, TO BE FOUND IN CHRISTIANS
ONLY."
"That man cannot be possibly consists of three parts, appears hence: The soul is either matter or not matter: there is no medium.
But if is matter, it is part of the body:if not matter, it coincides with the Spirit."
This explanation make complete sense to me, and answers my previous question of how we are different from the rest of the world.
We are different because we have received a downpayment of the Spirit of God, a seal!!
To me, on Heb.4:12, after the Spirit is given, it separates the wheat from the shaft. The old from the new. The process is hidden,
and little by little is accomplished.(Deut.7;10, Isa.28:10) the bitter water from the sweet(James3).The great Seperator will do this.
Furthermore, this explanation is congruent with Ray's teaching (as far as man, two part is concerned),and the bible.
I must add, that as Rodger wrote in his post, that SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING must be given to us.
I TOTALLY AGREE!!!
God is LOVE. In order to understand Him, we must speak his language, THE LOVE LANGUAGE!
That's why (like Ray wrote, the apostles, and everybody else for that matter) did not understand Jesus.
HE was not speaking their LANGUAGE!!!
They were speaking phileo, and HE was speaking agape.
We strive to understand each other, but, we agree in some points, and we disagree in others. I always wonder why?
Because we are still mixture.
TO UNDERSTAND SCRIPTURE, WE NEED TO SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF GOD!!!
God is Love, therefore He speaks lovish.
Only those who speak this language can be given passage over Jordan!!
I adventure further to prove this by Scripture:
In Judges, ch.12, we meet Jephthah, (which is a type of Jesus Christ) that was called by Gileadites to
lead them in battle against the Ammonites. They did this after they (the Gileadites) has first rejected him (see ch.11).
Jephthah accepts the challenge, and lead them in battle and won!!!
So, we meet him here in chapter 12, after he had won, where the "man of Ephraim" (recall that the tribe of Ephraim
is from the original tribe of the children of Israel, THEREFORE THEY ARE BROTHERS), come against Jephthah and the Gileadites to
accuse them falsely.
Jephthah rebukes them, come against them and smote them at the passage of Jordan.
Then, he catches up with the Ephraimites that escaped, and they beg him to let them pass over Jordan.
NOW THE TRUE TEST IS PLACED ON THEM!!!tHEY WERE ASKED TO SAY THE PASSWORD!!!!!
ONLY THOSE WHO TRULY ARE CHOSEN KNOW THE PASSWORD, THEY HAVE THE KEYS OF THE KINDOM OF HEAVEN,
THOSE WHO HAD BEEN TAUGHT THE LOVISH LANGUAGE!!!
HERE IT IS:
"And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so,
that those Ephraimites which were escaped said, LET ME GO OVER; (as many are begging Jesus to let them in)
that the man of Gilead [the chosen] said to him, Are you an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay: (there were lying)
"Then said they to him, [here comes the test!!!
] Say now SHIBBOLETH: and he said SIBBOLETH:
FOR HE COULD NOT FRAME TO PRONOUNCE (enunciate) IT RIGHT. Then they took him, AND SLEW HIM
AT THE PASSAGES OF JORDAN: and there fell at the time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand."
Judges12:5,6 (emphasis mine)
That's why people can say scripture, can quote scripture, can list scripture, but an H is missing!
For the unlearned, there is no difference, but for the one who speaks lovish, they can discern which is which.
That's why myself and my husband cannot understand eachother, we speak a different language!
If you go to Rev.7, the tribe of Ephraim did not make the list!!
These are the ones who wants to take it [the kindom] by violence. They can't!
Further prof that there is a language of love, is in 1Cor.13:1:
"Though I speak with the TONGUES (languages) of man and angels (angels only hear and speak the
word of God, Psa.103:20), and have not CHARITY, I am become as SOUNDIDNG BRASS, or a
TINKLING CYMBAL. (the one that is scratching the ears, THAT'S WHY THE ONES IN BABYLON
HEAP TO THEM TEACHERS, BECAUSE THEY HAVE ITCHING EARS THAT NEED SCRATCHING, AND
ONLY AN TINKLING CYMBAL CAN SCATCH THE EARS!!!!)
That's why we "HEARD" Ray!!!!
His voice does not SCRATCH the ears!!!
They cannot hear Ray, because they cannot understand lovish!!
Further poof:
"For with stammering lips and ANOTHER TONGUE WILL HE SPEAK to HIS PEOPLE."
Only THE CHOSEN will understand the language of LOVE.
Only to the ones who can hear Him in the wind, in a word of a child, see Him in the clouds, in the tears of a brother,
desire Him until they are utterly consumed with HIS LOVE, when NOTHING in this world can satisfy, when you see Him in the
trees, in the flowers, in the billboards on the highway, the ones who are willing to lay everything down for Him, even the hope of salvation, the ones who don't desire anything apart from Him, that one my friends, is a CHOSEN!!!
SO, LET US LOVE EACH OTHER, THAT IS THE MOST EXELLENT WAY!!!
Shibboleth!!
Ariel