One of the greatest doctrinal deficiencies among believers is the reasoning that since God is Spirit, He does not have a body or a defined figure, and therefore, in conclusion, He cannot be located in a space or place, nor can He be attributed morphological characteristics, such as a right hand and a left hand.
I say it is a doctrinal deficiency, because such ‘definitions’ are rational insertions that have been imported from the philosophical endeavor to complement the atheistic thinking that denigrates the existence of a supernatural Being who created all the things we know of this universe.
The question is not as naive as it seems to be, such a definition is an attack on the Sovereignty of God, because to say that God has no body or form is to admit that God is a kind of energy dispersed in the universe. If God has no body, Jesus cannot be the image of the invisible God, and consequently, Jesus would cease to be God in flesh sent for the forgiveness of sins and to reconcile man with his Creator. As can be seen, the question is a whole satanic argument to invalidate the operation of the reconciliation of man.
The fact that God is Spirit does not mean that God is like a vapor, ethereal, without form and without a place of location; the definition only hints at the ignorance of the Gospel regarding the doctrine of Faith in God, apostolic doctrine quoted in the epistle to the Hebrews.[1]
From the very moment that the doctrine of the Gospel proclaims that God is a person,[2] from that moment such proclamation immediately establishes the recognition that God has body and form. God is a Being, and as such has a body.
In all the texts of the Scriptures, without exception, not only the personal characteristics of God are recognized, but also the attributions of the body of his operations.
The account of Moses’ experience with God attributes hands, face and back to him:
22 and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with myhand while I pass by: 23 and I will take away minehand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but myface shall not be seen.
Exodus 33:22-23
And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
Exodus 33:20
The psalmist David recognizes in his experience of prophetic communion with God, that God has eyes and ears:
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
Psalm 34:15
The psalmist David also recognizes that God has a ‘space’ within Eternity:
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Psalm 110:1 (Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42; Acts 2:34; Hebrews 1:13)
Such expressions are not part of a biblical anthropomorphism to try to understand the abstract of God, and to be able to visualize His manifestations; such expressions are on the contrary, the expressions of men of God who by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit ‘described’ the form of how the essence of God develops in a body, as the person that He is.
Jesus and the Father are one. Jesus is not superior to the Father, if Jesus has a body, the Father also has one. There can be no discrepancy between them.
The Scriptures testify that the Father has a body from which Jesus takes to manifest the Father:
who (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Colossians 1:15
For in Him (Jesus) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Colossians 2:9
to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
2nd. Corinthians 5:19
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
John 14:9
I and my Father are one.
John 10:30
If angels have body and form, and are located in a space of Eternity, does the God of spirits lack one?
The Creation of angelic things follows a spiritual law, angelic beings have no greater attribute than the one who created them; if angelic beings have body and form, and occupy a place in the heavens, their Creator is not lesser than them in manifestation; the body is not just a ‘feature’ of presentation, it is an attribute of manifestation.
And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
Hebrews 1:7
The Scriptures bear living testimony that angels have bodies.
then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
Daniel 10:5
And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
Luke 1:19
He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
Acts 10:3
7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. 9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.
Acts 12:7-9
God is Spirit, but this does not mean that He has no body. Spiritual bodies are not similar to material bodies.
The apostle Paul, guided by the Spirit of God, foreseeing the doctrinal risk involved in believing that because God is Spirit He has no body, wrote to the Corinthian community of faith, and forcefully established by the Spirit that God has a body, only that the spiritual bodies are not similar to those we know in this human creation.
38 but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
1st. Corinthians 15:38-40
God has a spiritual body, it is proper to His essence and nature; such is His Greatness that the apostle Paul described by the Spirit that He dwells in places inaccessible to man’s understanding.
who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
1st. Timothy 6:16
This teaching does not only consist in ‘knowing’ that there are heavenly bodies, and that God has a body proper to His essence as Creator of all things; in reality, this teaching has the purpose of denouncing the doctrinal ignorance that exists within the believing people regarding the doctrines of the Gospel; and denouncing, at the same time, how men with a calling easily accept heretical doctrines, and defend them, as if they were greater than the teachings of the Word of God.
It is time to wake up from the lethargy of ignorance.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized King James Version (AKJV).
The question we have posed as a basis for today’s teaching has the sole purpose of discovering the transcendence of the group for our days, and how far we can be exposed to the same influence.
The Nicolaitans are mentioned on only two occasions in the entire Bible, specifically, in the book of Revelation; both mentions have to do with the messages of rebuke to the churches of Ephesus and Pergamum. In the message to the church of Ephesus, it is emphasized that Jesus abhors the deeds of the Nicolaitans.
Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;… 6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Revelation 2:1-6
In the message to the church of Pergamum, the emphasis is to denounce the active permanence of the group within the church, and the acceptance of its doctrine as a parallel doctrine to the Gospel of Jesus.
12And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; 13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. 14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
Revelation 2:12-15
In both messages, the Nicolaitans are presented as a heretical and idolatrous group, whose doctrine is associated with doctrine of demonic influence.
The messages to the seven churches of Revelation have a very particular characteristic regarding the way of presenting the content of the message; five of the seven messages are messages of reproof, so the introduction is not only a preamble but the point of correction towards which the church is intended to be redirected. The way each message is introduced in itself establishes the yardstick by which the action-situation of the church is judged.
The introduction of each message is elaborated to establish doctrinal comparison between the Gospel, the position of the church in question, and the heretical platform of the group operating within it; for example, in the message to the church of Ephesus, the introduction exposes that the deeds of the Nicolaitans are practices based on occult knowledge.
Let us see how the process of doctrinal comparison works. The introduction states that Jesus, the sender of the message, walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks (verse 1). The Gospel, inasmuch as it is the Good News of Jesus, operates also from the Light, that is, from the midst of the golden candlesticks; the text of the message also states that Jesus abhors the deeds of the Nicolaitans, therefore, and here comes the doctrinal comparison, the Nicolaitans do not walk in the midst of the Light; therefore, the deeds of the Nicolaitans are practices based on occult knowledge.
Thus, likewise, in the message to the church of Pergamum, the expression with which the message is introduced, the one with the sharp two-edged sword (verse 12), shows, in principle, that the teaching of Jesus-the Gospel-is the ‘purity’ of God’s expression; the sharp two-edged sword is precisely the Word of God.
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12
The introduction of the message is a doctrinal comparison that denounces that everything that is not built on the Word of God is a false work, so again, because Jesus abhors the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, it means that the doctrine of the Nicolaitans is based on a magical-esoteric-mythological syncretism, and not on the Word of God.
These doctrinal denunciations, proper to the messages to the seven churches of Asia, can also be confirmed by the requirements of the apostle Paul to Timothy, when the apostle decides to leave Timothy in Ephesus to correct those in the church who taught ‘different doctrine’.
3As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
1st. Timothy 1:3-4
It was not a simple doctrinal ‘discrepancy’, or a different way of ‘interpreting’ the sacred text; it was distorted doctrine imported from the same mythical sources that gave rise to the cults of the Greek mythological gods. In the instructions given to Timothy, the apostle takes time to highlight the heretical power against which Timothy must confront; note how the apostle in his instruction to Timothy uses three terms to alarm about the heretical situation that looms over the church of Ephesus. First, he stresses that the heretical doctrines are, ‘other doctrine’ (ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖν: advocates another doctrine: verse. 3), completely different from the doctrine of the Gospel; second, he discovers the mythical source from which they are taking the content of their doctrine: ‘fables and endless genealogies’ (μυθοιςκαιγενεααλογιαιςαπεραντοις: myths and genealogies without an end: verse. 4); thirdly, he denounces that such doctrines have been raised in ‘blasphemy’ against the Gospel: always in the same chapter, the word, ‘blaspheme’ (βλασφημεῖν: curse: verse. 20), in denouncing the work of Hymenaeus and Alexander.
The doctrine of the Nicolaitans is a heretical doctrine, a doctrine based on fables and mythological genealogies, whose purpose is to distort the message of salvation in Jesus Christ.
In the other of his epistles to Timothy, the apostle refers to the work of Hymenaeus and Philetus, thus understanding that the doctrine of the Nicolaitans is a demonic work that eats away like gangrene.
But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
1st. Timothy 4:7
16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. 17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenæus and Philetus; 18 who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
2nd. Timothy 2:16-18
Additionally, it is necessary to keep in mind that in the region where the seven churches mentioned in the Revelation were located there was a tendency to worship mythology, in the book of Acts of the Apostles it is emphasized that both in the city of Ephesus and in the city of Pergamum they worshipped Diana and the image of Jupiter,
26 Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:…. 35 And when the town clerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?
Acts 19:26-35
The message to the church of Pergamum establishes precisely how much mythological and idolatrous worship had been established within the city.
I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
Revelation 2:13
This was the real spiritual danger that the doctrine of the Nicolaitans represented for the church, that is why in Jesus’ message to the church of Pergamum, Jesus demands ‘repentance’ (verse 16).
There is still an additional characteristic that we must point out with respect to the Nicolaitans, and it arises from the expression, thou hast those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans (verse 15), an expression with which the tolerance that the church of Pergamum has maintained with respect to the group is denounced.
The expression, thou hast those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans; in Greek the expression appears as follows: ἔχεις ἐκεῖ κρατοῦντας τὴν διδαχὴν τῶν Νικολαϊτῶν. Note carefully the two words marked in bold, both of which are translated into English as, thou hast those who hold; in Greek, the first word, ἔχεις, means ‘to have’ in the sense of ‘belonging’, but the second word, κρατοῦντας, means ‘to hold’ in spite of, or simply, to retain. The term appears in use three times in the same message:
13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast (κρατεῖς) my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. 14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold (κρατοῦντας) the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15 So hast thou also them that hold (κρατοῦντας) the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
Revelation 2:13-15
This expression appears three times, the first, to refer to those who retain faith in Jesus: you retain my name (και κρατεις το ονομα μου: verse 13); the second, to refer to those who retain the doctrine of Balaam, (εκει κρατουντας την διδαχην βαλαααμμ: verse 14); And the third, to refer to those who retain the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, (κρατουντας την διδαχην των νικολαιτων: verse 15).
The repeated use of the expression, retain (κρατέω), shows us that in spite of God working singular wonders by the hands of Paul, in Ephesus, and throughout the province of Asia, according to Acts chapter 19, many of those integrated in the church of Pergamum, particularly, retained their mythological practices in parallel with the Gospel. This repeated use shows that the church of Pergamum was formed by three doctrinal phalanxes that competed in authority among themselves.
The Nicolaitans were disbanded by Paul’s apostolic proclamation in Ephesus, but in Pergamum there were those who retained their practices. There are indications of this in the way the writer of the Acts of the Apostles writes of the massive conversion of many of those who had practiced occultism:
9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. 10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:… 17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. 19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Acts 19:9-19
The two years of the Apostle Paul’s stay in Ephesus represented the greatest geographical advance for the Gospel in the entire region where the seven churches mentioned in Revelation were located, the text is conclusive in confirming that all those whodwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
Πεερίεργα, the term that is translated as ‘curious arts’ refers to occult sciences, otherwise, why would they have had to burn the books on the subject. The use of this term in the wording of the account of what happened in Ephesus about the dark arts, in Acts 19, reveals to us that the deeds of the Nicolaitans also contemplated ‘divination’ based on the magical-esoteric-mythological-mythological-cabalistic syncretism of the customs of the region. By the fact of presenting themselves in parallel with those who retained the doctrine of Balaam, the Nicolaitans also enjoyed a pseudo-prophetic prestige.
The account of what happened to Paul, in his encounter with a girl given to divination, in Philippi, is a clear sample of the tendency among the pagan population of the area regarding the use of fortune tellers.
And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
Acts 16:16
The Nicolaitans did not arise after this stage of Paul’s proclamation of the Kingdom in Ephesus, they were his contemporaries, for we see in the message to the churches of Ephesus and Pergamum, in the Apocalypse, the claim of Jesus for having allowed such doctrines in their midst; the message is directed to reconvince them about their negligent doctrinal attitude that has allowed, in the case of the church of Ephesus, the loss of their first love, and in the case of the church of Pergamum, the active permanence of the doctrine of Balaam, and of the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.
2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3 and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
(verses 2-4)
Leaving the first love is a Hebrew expression that denounces the infidelity of a husband towards the wife of his youth to give himself to pleasures in fornication.
13 And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand. 14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
Malachi 2:13-15
To leave the first love of God is to have abandoned the covenants of loyalty on which the Work of God was developed in Ephesus: and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds
In the case of the message to the church of Pergamum, the claim emphasizes that the doctrinal negligence of the church allowed Satan to retake the city again:
I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth… 16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
(verses 13-16)
In summary, the Nicolaitans was a heretical group, emerged as part of the mythological religiosity of the pagan society of the region; chapter 19 of Acts of the Apostles refers that the foundation of the group’s practices was based on the writings of sorcery, witchcraft and divination that were circulating at that time, and that by the account of Acts of the Apostles, were of great acceptance among the population of the region.
Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Acts 19:19
The doctrine of the Nicolaitans consisted in the search for spiritual purity, but based on rituals of exorcism by magical-pagan formulations imported from the ancient practices of sorcery and witchcraft of mythological literature. Chapter 19 of the Acts of the Apostles presents us with a situation that refers precisely to this practice:
13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
Acts 19:13-17
As for the character of the name of the group, in principle, the Nicolaitans are not the ‘followers of Nicholas’; the name does not arise by appropriation of the name of a founder, their name obeys the practice they developed; the above can be clearly seen by the way the message to the church of Ephesus is written, in it is described that Jesus abhors the ‘deeds’ of the Nicolaitans (τα εργα των νικολαιτων).
The name Nicolaitans (νικολαιτων) is formed from the Greek term νικος (G3529), late form of νίκη (G3529), a term meaning ‘victory’; see Matthew 12:20: εις νικος την κρισιν: till he send forth judgment unto victory. In 1st. Corinthians 15:54-57: κατεποθη ο θανατος εις νικος: Death is swallowed up in victory (54)… που σου αδη το νικος: O grave, where is thy victory? (55)… τω δε θεω χαρις τω διδοντι ημιν το νικος: But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory (57). In 1st. John 5:4: και αυτη εστιν η νικη η νικησασα τον κοσμμον: and this is the victory that overcometh the world.
In the Septuagint (LXX), the term is also used in the same way, grammatically speaking, which demonstrates the primary value of the term within the Greek language; in its English translation the term additionally assumes the meaning of ‘perpetual’, and it is because the term denotes splendor. Thus in 2 Samuel 2:26, Μὴ εἰς νῖκος καταφάγεται ἡ ῥομφαία: Shall the sword devour forever?. In Job 36:7: καὶ μετὰ βασιλέων εἰς θρόνον καὶ καθιεῖ αὐτοὺς εἰς νῖκος: but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them forever. In Amos 1:11: καὶ τὸ ὅρμημα αὐτοῦ ἐφύλαξεν εἰς νῖκος: and his anger did tear perpetually. In Amos 8:7: εἰς νῖκος πάντα τὰ ἔργα ὑμῶν: Surely I will never forget any of their works.
As can be seen, the Nicolaitans are not the followers of Nicholas, but the celebrants of victories (achievements, triumphs, merits, reaching goals, etc.); the name is derived from Greek mythology, for, Νίκη (Nike) is the goddess of victory. In any case, if one wants to understand Nicolaitans as ‘followers of’, it would be followers of the goddess of victory.
The deeds of the Nicolaitans did not consist of a mere celebration for victories, or a celebration for achievements, is that their practice was associated with food, just like those who retained the doctrine of Balaam, only the food consisted of a festival of victory by means of a banquet (Παναθηναια: panatenea), originally dedicated to the goddess Athena (Αθηνη. Minerva), and later held parallel to the Olympics.
The Nicolaitans, or followers of the goddess of victory, in terms of their deeds and heretical doctrine, were those who participated in the festival of victory that was celebrated parallel to the Olympics in honor of Zeus; as can be seen, the deeds of the Nicolaitans were founded on mythological knowledge, as Paul warned Timothy, and they were a very strong phalanx within the church of Pergamum.
Before concluding, I want to give an additional explanation regarding the difference between the doctrine of the Nicolaitans and the doctrine of Balaam; the emphasis of both groups had to do with partaking of the ‘ceremonial meals’; the difference was that those who retained the doctrine of Balaam participated in all the annual festivals in honor of the mythological gods of the Greek pantheon, and ate their ceremonial meals; hence the reference to Balaam, who advised Balaac to make the ‘daughters of Moab’ integrate the children of Israel into their festival dedicated to their gods.[3] The doctrine of the Nicolaitans, on the other hand, did not participate in all the festivals, participated only in the festival of victory, which was the greatest celebration of all the festivals, and was celebrated with a banquet dedicated to Zeus, Satan, in the message to the church of Pergamum.
Both groups, although they were part of the Christian church of Pergamum, participated in the same way in the mythological events, and ate without hesitation the ceremonial food in honor of the gods. The heretical aspect of both doctrines consisted not only in mythological ‘knowledge’, it consisted in participating in the festivals consecrated to mythological deities, and in partaking of the food dedicated to them; these facts established links with the demons.
In the epistle to the Philippians there is an instruction that if read without taking into account the religious and mythological aspect of the Greek regions of that time, is not understood; it is necessary to understand that the apostle is denouncing the practices of some who, being within the church, participated in the same mythical customs in honor of the mythological gods.
18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
Philippians 3:18-19
The apostle is not referring to a mere taste for food, much less to gluttony for food; the apostle is denouncing the fact that some want to be part of the church, but maintain their ancient customs of participating in mythological festivals. Whose god is the belly, simply means, to partake of the table of mythological deities (demons); in his first epistle to the Corinthians, Paul writes:
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.
1st. Corinthians 10:21
Does all this have any repercussions for our times? Many will say no, because when a person is immersed in a situation they cannot see how serious it is until they get out of it. The reality of the case is that yes, all of this has repercussions for us. There are entire communities of believers who ‘retain’ the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.
In our days we still have mythological festivals, and as in those times, they are all celebrated with ceremonial meals. The day of love (day of friendship, among Christians, to soften its effect), consecrated to eros; Christmas, a pagan feast celebrated with a decorated tree, with gifts and with the fantasy and magic of Santa Claus; Easter, although with Christian emphasis, was actually chosen in the calendar to coincide with the spring equinox, it is therefore a cult to the sun. Many witches and shamans have their mystical rituals on those dates.
Other festivities, although not religious, turn the motives for which they are celebrated into idolatrous motives, without a true spiritual sense for the occasion; and the deplorable part of all this is that such festivals are celebrated within the churches parallel to the celebrations of the world.
Every communal celebration according to the cultural custom of the region, if there is food involved, establishes a link with the Nicolaitans. Patronal feasts, celebrations for the founding of the town, celebrations for the fallen martyrs, even celebrations for births and deaths of founders of the town, all of them, are a link with the Nicolaitans, and it is an abhorrent act to the Lord.
Men and women of faith, those of us who walk in the Light of the Word and of Grace in Christ Jesus, cannot live according to the agenda of this world; the celebrations that the world has established, although they may seem good and noble, and many of them highlight a motive of self-denial, their foundation is to exalt Greek philosophical humanism.
Is this subject relevant to us? Yes, definitely. Are there in our time those who retain the doctrine of Balaam, and those who retain the doctrine of the Nicolaitans? Yes, there are, and what is even more serious is that even knowing it, they persist in it, and for fear of the people, and what they will say, they do not want to introduce changes neither in their persons nor in their congregations.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized King James Version, 1909 (AKJV).
The establishment of faith that Adam and Eve were formed in the image and likeness of God, in the book of Genesis (1:26), helps us to understand the nature with which man and woman were formed. Man although taken from the earth, his nature is spiritual, the image and likeness of God in him means that he was formed with a spiritual constitution similar to the nature of God, hence his faculty to establish direct ‘communion’ with Him, and to understand the language of God with all its meanings.
But this is not the only attribution of its meaning, the image and likeness of God, also means that man and woman were formed to be eternal beings.[1] Adam and Eve were not formed with the design that they would one day disappear, the fact that God warns them and emphasizes that if they disobey, they will die, helps us to understand that death is not part of their original design, that such a condition was grafted on man as an attribute of the new nature forged by their submission to Satan’s deception.
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Romans 6:16
Man was not born to die but to live eternally, but disobedience to the voice of God introduced into him a new nature of sin and death,
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Romans 5:12
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1st. Corinthians 15:21
For that reason, the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven proclaims in its message the resurrection of the dead as the measure in Jesus to ‘recover’ all that Adam lost by his disobedience.
35 but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36 neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
Luke 20:35-36
So, in synthesis, image and likeness of God in man means that his constitution is of a spiritual nature, similar to that of God, and above all, that his constitution is eternal; Adam and Eve were exempt from death.
It has been important to take time to highlight these two formative attributes, because it is imperative for us to establish a statute of faith regarding man’s ability to eat, and therefore, the value of the food that God established for them as part of their functionality in Eden. For our purposes, the spiritual value of the food we eat.
Because of the habit we have of eating as part of our existence, it seems to us that such a function has always been the same since man has existed on the face of the earth; however, reviewing the Scriptures and verifying that Adam and Eve did not necessarily have the same functions as man and woman today, leads us to understand that some functions in man and woman have a specific purpose other than simply helping us to subsist.
Such is the case with food as a resource of subsistence, and let me explain. If Adam and Eve were formed as beings with a spiritual constitution, and as eternal beings, there was absolutely nothing that would have harmed their existence, except disobedience to the voice of God, as we already know; in other words, their strength did not come from the food they ingested,[2] and this leads us to ask the following question: why then did God provide food for them to eat?
In Genesis, we read:
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Genesis 1:29
Later in the story, in chapter two, this same provision is reemphasized. In chapter 2, we read:
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Genesis 2:16-17
Was the food a resource to subsist physically, or to nourish their spirit in order to keep alive the purpose of their formation in God?
We have already noted that food was not a subsistence resource, they ingested food, herbs and fruits, not for strength or to ensure their subsistence. What was God’s purpose in feeding them?
In the book of Revelation we read that the tree of life, the same as in the book of Genesis, produces fruit for the ‘healing’ of the nations,
In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22:2
By this reference we understand that food, originally, was not intended to be a resource of physical strength; food became a resource of strength and physical subsistence from the disobedience of man, proof of this is the fact that the book of Exodus relates two stays of Moses in the Presence of God, for forty days each, and he did not eat food during his stays, and did not die for lack of food.
And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Exodus 24:18
And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
Exodus 34:28
The order that God established in Eden with respect to food was that it was intended to ‘nourish’ the vision with which the man and woman were placed in the garden, we read this clearly in the Creation account in chapter one:
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Genesis 1:26-28
The food in Adam and Eve was meant to ‘feed’ their vision, their purpose of formation in God, hence when they tasted the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the first thing that changed in them was their vision about things:
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Genesis 3:7
Thus, when transferred to our context, everything described above has a faith value, and helps us to understand about the spiritual state in which a person is with respect to God. The food a person eats is useful to measure the spiritual condition in which he is with respect to God.
Food retains a spiritual value from God, it is intended to nourish the spiritual constitution of faith; a person in open rebellion toward God will seek to ingest foods that deteriorate his physical condition and health.
What is our spiritual condition before God: obedience or rebellion? The kind of food we eat reveals it. Let us check for a moment the account of man’s fall into disobedience.
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
Genesis 3:10-11
Notice the dialogue. The man and the woman have just disobeyed, in other words, they are estranged and hidden from God, their condition is one of rebellion; God comes as He used to do, seeking Adam, and finds him hiding from Him, and asks: Who told thee that thou wast naked?; now notice how God Himself answers his first question: Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
The two questions God poses to man establish a direct relationship between man’s spiritual condition and what he eats.
How did God know that the man and the woman had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
God knew that the man had eaten of the fruit of the forbidden tree, besides the fact that He is Omniscient God, because with the statement, in the day that you eat of it, you will die, God established a parallel between the spiritual condition of a person and what he usually eats; this relationship serves us to establish the following statement: If the spiritual state of a person weakens, sleeps, and even moves away from God, look for the answer in the food he eats, and the conditions under which he eats it, and you will know the reason for his condition.
The apostle Paul established by the Spirit that the Kingdom of Heaven is neither food nor drink,[3] establishing with such a statute of faith that the man and woman of faith does not ‘depend’ on the amount of food they ingest to subsist, not even to stay strong, for as it was well established from the book of Deuteronomy, man shall not live by bread alone,
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
Deuteronomy 8:3
The strength of the man and woman of faith comes from the Lord, through the operation of the Spirit in them,
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isaiah 40:29
The man and woman of faith learn by the Spirit to ‘fast’ food, and not for dietary reasons, but for the purpose of attaining that for which he or she was attained.
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.
Isaiah 58:6-8
There is food that brings spiritual death to men and women of faith, and many deliberately ignore it.
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
1st. Corinthians 11:30
How to recognize a spiritual state of demonic contamination?
From the teaching established in this story, we can understand that every situation in man and woman where an activation arises at once by the desire to eat, or to taste some food, without justification, is because there is in the environment a demonic operation that seeks to establish contamination through food.
Food in itself is a source of physical and spiritual strength for man, but a food that does not fulfill this purpose, that is, a food that is ingested only for the pleasure of delighting the palate, is a food that becomes a focus of spiritual contamination; the same happens with the origin of food, or the excessive use of the same kind of food. The not warning about the origin of the food, and/or the imbalance in the choice of the same ones, turns the person prone to develop a spiritual disintegration.
The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.
Proverbs 13:25
The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
Proverbs 18:8
Demons use food as a means to contaminate man’s spirit and have the right to enter his inner self.
And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
John 13:27
A person who manifests an anxious need to eat food without restraint, even without considering its origin, even if he or she is a man or woman of faith, is simply a sign of a spiritual condition in open rebellion to God; the apostle Paul makes a reference to this very thing and identifies in the excessive need to eat, a demonic force that operates from within the one who acts in such a way,
whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
Philippians 3:19
The rebellion of a man or woman of faith is shown in his or her intolerance to follow instructions from the Word, and intolerance to allow the life counsel of others. A condition of rebellion is shown by an attitude that minimizes the seriousness of the situation.
If the person, even a man or woman of faith, cannot control his or her need to eat, a spiritual contamination of darkness has definitely taken hold of the person; a person free from contamination is guided by the Wisdom of the Word,
and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
Proverbs 23:2
Food can never be an object of worship or ritual, if the person enters into rituals about what he eats, and how the food should be prepared, definitely a spiritual contamination of darkness has been established, and the food is simply feeding a demonic activation in the person, even if he or she is a man or woman of faith.
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.
Isaiah 66:17
I do not intend to exhaust the subject, I intend to show by the Word the risks to which we expose ourselves every day for lack of wisdom. Each one is judge of himself, and each one will give an account to the Lord, besides, each one will suffer the consequences for what he eats. Peace.
Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
[1] Ecclesiastes 3:11: He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. (New King James Version)
[2] John 4:34: Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
[3] Romans 14:17: for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
God wants men and women of faith to walk under the Light of His Revelation; it is the message that both the New and Old Testaments present as the Will of God for those who know Him, and follow Him.
In his first epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul makes a reference to the book of the prophet Isaiah, and quotes, But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (the text belongs to 1 Corinthians 2:9, quoting Isaiah 64:4)
In the book of the prophet Isaiah, also, we find God’s exhortation to His people to walk under His light: O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. (the text belongs to Isaiah 2:5)
In the book of the prophet Jeremiah, the prophet conveys the words of God Himself, and says: Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. (the text belongs to Isaiah 45:11)
The apostle Paul denounces in his epistle to the Romans that many men and women of faith have fallen into confusion precisely because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, the apostle writes: And because they did not seem to have God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do that which is not expedient, (the text is from Romans 1:28)
God wants men and women of faith to walk under the Light of His Revelation; it is the message of God’s Will presented in the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven.
But, why does God want us to walk under the Light of His Revelation?
The purpose of studying the Scriptures and exposing ourselves to the Revelation that God gives through His Word, is so that we learn to establish God’s work on earth, where do we see it?
In the account of Matthew 16:16-17; let us observe that as soon as the apostle Peter answered: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (in verse 16), it was immediately established by Jesus that Peter’s ‘declaration’ of faith had been the product of the Revelation that God had deposited in his spirit, let us note it in verse 17: And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
These texts show us that the purpose in God for us to live under the Light of His Revelation is for the Kingdom of God to be established in the regions in which we live. Let us look at it in more detail; verse. 16, the apostle confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; verse. 17, Jesus certifies that Peter is under the Light of the Father’s Revelation: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Verse. 18 and 19, Jesus establishes the purpose of living under the Light of God’s Revelation: And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Now, what is to establish the Kingdom of God? in light of the text we have just read, we might think that to ‘establish’ the Kingdom is to ‘bind and loose’, or even to rebuke and turn back the gates of hell. is that to establish the Kingdom of God?
Let us read Ephesians 2:1-3, and we will discover what it means to ‘establish’ the Kingdom on earth.
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Ephesians 2:1-3
Let us understand verse one: And you hath he quickened, How do I know that I have life? How it shown He quickened us?
To answer this question let us turn to the account of the resurrection of Lazarus, we read in verse 44: And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. The question we want to answer is, How do I know that I have life? Let us place ourselves in the case of Lazarus, how do I know that Lazarus has life? Immediately we could answer, because he is moving, but that is not the answer; the answer is: Because he is no longer in the tomb, wasn’t that the answer that the men in shining garments gave to Mary when she and others went to the tomb: Why seek ye the living among the dead? (the text belongs to Luke 24:5)
How do I know that I have life? I know that I have life because I am not in the grave, it is as simple as that; I know that I have life, and now let us return to Ephesians 2, to answer according to the words of the text;
I know that I have life because (1) I no longer follow the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
I know that I have life because (5) I am no longer a child of wrath.
These answers are leading us to understand what it is to ‘establish’ the Kingdom of God on earth. Let us note again:
(1)I no longer follow the course of this world, I broke with the current of this world;
(2)I no longer live in the lusts of our flesh; I broke with the lusts of the flesh;
(3)I no longer fulfill the will of the flesh; I broke with the will of the flesh;
(4)I no longer fulfill the desires of the mind; I broke with the desire of the mind;
(5)I am no longer a child of wrath,I broke with the Adamic heritage of being under God’s wrath;
All of these answers, without exception, are speaking of ‘breaking’ with the cycles of life that this world has imposed upon those who do not walk in the Light of Revelation.
To walk under the Light of Revelation is to live under the life cycle of the Kingdom, not under the life cycle of the world. If I have broken my nexus with the world, because I have to follow the same agenda that the world imposes, many men of faith continue to celebrate February 14, like the world; they celebrate May 3, like the world; they celebrate ‘holy week, like the world; they celebrate Christmas, like the world; many have not broken their nexus with the world.
To establish God’s Kingdom is to ‘restore’ the laws and cycles of life that the Lord ordained to establish for them His visitation; many do not enjoy God’s ‘Visitation’ because they do not know God’s times.
Living in the Light of God’s Revelation leads us to ‘restore’ time as He established it at the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt. Precisely one of the two conditions that will initiate the return of Jesus to earth is the restoration of all things. The apostle Peter established this condition on the very day of the birth of the Lord’s church. We read in Acts 3:21:
whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Acts 3:21
To establish the Kingdom of God is to ‘restore’ all things. We are called to restore all things, we read in Isaiah 58:12:
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Isaiah 58:12
The prophet Jeremiah also denounces it in his prophecies, in chapter 6, verse 16, he says:
Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
Jeremiah 6:16
Then, in chapter 18, verse 15, he repeats it again:
Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
Jeremiah 18:15
What is it to establish the Kingdom on earth? It is to restore the ancient path that the Lord established for us to walk on; many men and women of faith have preferred to live according to the agenda of life that the world imposes, and have made an alliance with death, and have forgotten the statutes and cycles of life that He has established in His Wisdom.
God wants us men and women of faith to walk under the Light of His Revelation, so that we may learn to establish His work on earth, and above all, so that we may restore the statutes and cycles of life that the Lord established for us to live in rest all our days on the face of the earth. May the Lord open our sense so that we may understand the Scriptures and walk under the Light of Revelation. Peace.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized King James Version, 1909 (AKJV).
And be not conformed tothis world (τω αιωνι): but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind(νοός), that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:2
Before going into the study properly, let me first refine the translation, the terms used in the English translation do not honor the original sense of the apostle’s message. The terms, τω αιωνι, translated as ‘this world’, are not necessarily what the apostle wrote in his epistle.
As for the term,’τω αιωνι’, the meaning is not ‘world’, the term means a long period of time, but with emphasis on the indefinite aspect of it (eon, in English); the apostle uses the term rather to indicate that they should not let time pass indefinitely; the apostle’s exhortation is not to stagnate ‘permanently’ in their present state of thinking.
So, in his epistle to the community of faith in Rome, what the apostle is really saying to them is:
do not adopt the structure of thought established by this way of life, but transform yourselves by the renewal of how you think, so that you may prove what is the good, pleasing and perfect Will of God.
Note in the context of the reading that the apostle explains to his readers that all men are under a thought structure of disobedience and unbelief, the apostle discovers to them that God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all (11: 32); this same establishment is also presented in his epistle to the Ephesians, the apostle defines it as the mystery of God’s Will, which was not made known to any man, in the past, but is now revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets.[1] The purpose of the Revelation of God by the Gospel is to show the abundant riches of His Grace, in order that all may understand whence God has brought them forth.
According to the apostle’s instruction, the structures of thought that the systems of life impose on their protégés can alter how the life of faith in Jesus Christ should be lived; and, together with the above, an incorrect way of thinking can alter the conception of God’s Will, and present it under other concepts that are not necessarily the good, pleasing and perfect Will of God. If one observes carefully, the apostle is warning about the danger of persisting in the style that the systems of life have established as the model of thought.
The thought structures imposed by the systems of life, in all their forms, social, cultural, military and religious, all walk hand in hand with an atheistic spirit whose emphasis is to establish a way of thinking in disobedience to God. This is what the apostle is warning about.
It must be emphasized that the apostle’s warning is not exclusive to the believers of the community of faith of Rome, Paul recognizes that the systems of life, Jewish, Greek, Gentile, all without exception, are oriented towards idolatrous worship, and loaded with a mythological influence, and as such, the behaviors of the inhabitants of such communities are behaviors in open opposition to the Will of God, this doctrinal emphasis we find it in all his epistles, without exception. In his epistle to the community of faith of Ephesus, the apostle denounces that the Gentile systems of life are loaded with pagan practices:
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind (διανοιῶν); and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Ephesians 2:3
having the understanding (διανοίᾳ)darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Ephesians 4:18
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind (νοὸς: mind);
Ephesians 4:23
In his epistle to the Colossian community of faith, the apostle denounces that the ‘gentile’ systems of life have no awareness of spiritual life.
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind(διανοίᾳ) by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.
Colossians 1:21
In his epistle to the Corinthian community of faith, the apostle demonstrates that ‘gentile’ thought forms are influenced by demons.
in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds(νοήματα: mind) of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
2nd. Corinthians 4:4
To Timothy he writes about the care he must be careful not to allow people around him to establish doctrinal thinking, for their thoughts follow mythological conceptions.
perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds(νοῦν: mind), and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
1st. Timothy 6:5
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds (νοῦν: mind), reprobate concerning the faith.
2nd. Timothy 3:8
neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
1st. Timothy 1:4
The apostle’s warning is directed to the reader so that he understands that the life of faith does not consist only in believing, it is necessary that the one who believes in Jesus, additionally, abandons his structure of thought formation, everything, without exception, and renews it from the doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus. Faith in Jesus without an abandonment of the pagan structure of life formation, will simply result in a religious life, and possibly pious, but not a life with hope of Salvation.
The renewal of the mind is not an isolated process nor independent from the development of the spiritual life; the renewal of the mind is for the purpose of living according to the new life in Jesus.
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing (ἀνακαινώσεως) of the Holy Ghost;
Titus 3:5
and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge(ἐπίγνωσιν) after the image of him that created him:
Colossians 3:10
It is not just about ‘purifying’ ways of thinking, the emphasis is not on ‘changing’ ways of thinking, we have to be careful not to glorify thinking as if it were all about thinking differently. It is about learning to live according to the faith of the Gospel. The apostle writes in his epistle to the Corinthians, and says that the preaching of the cross is ‘foolishness’ to those who hear it, Why is it foolishness? Because it does not fit into the idolatrous way of thinking that the systems of life propose; see for yourself, all systems of life have pagan diets with foods sacrificed to idols, all have religious practices based on sexual depravity, all have customs based on unrighteousness, lying, stealing; the summary that the apostle presents in chapter one of his epistle to the community of faith in Rome emphasizes that every way of life promotes disloyalty and does not esteem natural affection as a virtue of character, this is what the pagan system of life promotes.[2]
The reason why even among the communities of faith we find the same ways of acting that we see in people who do not have Jesus, is because these communities do not emphasize the need to transform and renew their thinking; the great majority continue to think in the same way as they did before believing in Jesus, they have not changed their vocabulary, they continue to converse with the same sayings and proverbs as before, although many of them are of an ominous type; their expressions are fatalistic and some are even cursing, but they do not see this as an inconvenience to the life of faith.
It is not a matter of purifying thought as the ultimate goal, it is a matter of making the way of thinking subject to the obedience of the doctrine of the Gospel, that is the purpose. If believers do not see the need to be transformed in their pagan ways of life, we will soon see the emergence of religious forms of pagan life dressed in a philosophical Christianity.
Faith is not a way of thinking, and although at the moment of acting in faith it is not required to rationalize the acts or thoughts, it is necessary to renew the way of thinking so that when the teachings of the Word of Jesus are brought to memory,[3] it is done with the purpose of understanding what is the good Will of the Lord: so that you may experience what is the good Will of God, pleasing and perfect.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized King James Version, 1909 (AKJV).
[1] Ephesians 3:5-6: 5 which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
[3] John 14:26: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Colossians 2:2: that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding (συνέσεως: reasoning), to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
2nd. Timothy 2:7: Consider (νόει: think)what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding (σύνεσιν: reasoning) in all things.
Treasure in Earthen Vessels 
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