{"id":10448,"date":"2021-08-28T11:52:34","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T03:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tfscc.org\/en\/?p=10448"},"modified":"2021-08-28T11:54:48","modified_gmt":"2021-08-28T03:54:48","slug":"gospel-not-as-unwise-but-as-wise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/resources\/gospel-not-as-unwise-but-as-wise\/","title":{"rendered":"Not as Unwise but as Wise"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

In Ephesians 5:15-17\u2014Paul the Apostle instructs believers in how to behave. Firstly, one should be careful. \u201cBe very careful, then, how you live\u2014not as unwise but as wise,\u201d (Ephesians 5:15 NIV)<\/span> Paul reminded believers.<\/p>\r\n



The Bible often advises people to be careful, as Moses said, \u201cBe careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands.\u201d (Deuteronomy 8:11)<\/span> In Gospel of Matthew, \u201cWatch out that no one deceives you,\u201d (Matthew 24:4)<\/span> Jesus warned people.<\/p>\r\n

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Wisdom comes from God. People have to respect and fear God in order to gain wisdom.<\/h4>\r\n

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Secondly, Paul emphasized the importance of not being a foolish person, which is defined in the Bible as those who \u201care skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good,\u201d (Jeremiah 4:22)<\/span> \u201cEveryone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice,\u201d (Matthew 7:26)<\/span> or \u201cThey knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him,\u201d (Romans 1:21)<\/span> or those who \u201cconform to the evil desires.\u201d (1 Peter 1:14)<\/span> Therefore, Paul taught us to be wise. How do we be wise?<\/em> Wisdom comes from God. People have to respect and fear God in order to gain wisdom. Just as the Book of Proverbs pointed out, \u201cThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.\u201d (Proverbs 9:10) <\/span>More importantly, obey God\u2019s words\u2014\u201cAll who follow his precepts have good understanding.\u201d (Psalm 111:10)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Paul hopes that we can seize the opportunity God has given us before then.<\/h4>\r\n

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Furthermore, Paul instructs believers in seizing the opportunity. \u201cMaking the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil,\u201d (Ephesians 5:16)<\/span> he said. While it is easy to understand the latter in today\u2019s crooked and corrupted world where wickedness, adultery, and all sorts of injustice collide\u2014what does Paul mean by \u201cMaking the most of every opportunity\u201d?<\/em> Opportunity is Kairos in Greek, which refers to a specific time. What Paul refers to here is God\u2019s time. Especially because we live in the wicked age, and \u201cthe wages of sin is death.\u201d (Romans 6:23)<\/span> As believers, we ought to grasp the opportunity to hear the gospel because we are granted salvation. Jesus Christ was born as a man and shed his blood for our once-only redemption. When the Lord returns\u2014it will not be another salvation but judgement of the world. Therefore, Paul hopes that we can seize the opportunity God has given us before then.<\/p>\r\n

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Believers must not be ignorant, one must understand God\u2019s will.


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Finally, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord\u2019s will is,\u201d (Ephesians 5:17)<\/span> said Paul. Believers must not be ignorant, one must understand God\u2019s will. What is the will of God? In accordance with the fundamental principles, the apostles enumerated some illustrations, for instance, \u201cIt is God\u2019s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality,\u201d (1 Thessalonians 4:3)<\/span> said Paul, \u201cRejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God\u2019s will for you in Christ Jesus.\u201d (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)<\/span>\u00a0\u201cIt is God\u2019s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people,\u201d (1 Peter 2:15)<\/span> said Simon Peter. However, God has a unique purpose for each one of us. One can only find their own answer by approaching and asking God humbly. As King David said, \u201cWho, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.\u201d (Psalm 25:12)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Let us understand his will and seek wisdom in this dark age; seize the opportunity and act carefully.

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Amen.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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In Ephesians 5:15-17\u2014Paul the Apostle instructs believers in how to behave. Firstly, one should be careful. \u201cBe very careful, then,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories-for-the-soul"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10448"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10452,"href":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10448\/revisions\/10452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taofongshan-staging.pandawork.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}