True Sheep of Christ Jesus
“And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.”
Philippians 4:3
What does it mean to be true? In order to find out we need to examine the Greek word used by Paul in Philippians 4:3, which is gnēsios. Gnēsios means legitimately born, genuine, sincere, and not spurious (fake, bogus, forged). It means to have life, to be fathered, and begotten of the same stock. Therefore, when Paul qualifies his yokefellow he implies that they were begotten by birth from the same Father and are members of the same family with the same genealogy.
As we press on into the root of the word we learn that being true is miracle, it is to be finished it is something that is performed through the process of wroughting. To wrought is to create, or put together. It is to shape a thing by hammering. This lets us know that a true yokefellow is one who has been shaped through the hammering of God.
The wroughting process of God causes us to come into existence and receive being so we can appear on the public stage as children of light the true offspring of God. Only Jehovah can cause things to come into being for he is the “existing One.”
What is clear from the meaning of gnēsios is that if we do not go through the wroughting process of God until it is finished we are not true yokefellows, therefore we would be unauthentic, false, counterfeit, and specious.
Food for thought
- Are you a true offspring of God?
- Are there areas in your life that you need to seek God’s help for additional wroughting?
- What things does the enemy still use to convince you that you’re not truly of the genealogy of God?
- Do you exhibit the true character, pursuits, and endowments of God?
Prayer
Dear Lord, you have called us to yourself as your own special possession. You desire that we grow in your likeness in all ways. Father we submit to your process or wroughting. Hammer, shape, and mold us as you see fit. Make us true spiritual beings. Cause us to be completed so when we appear on the public stage we reflect the nature of the living and not of the perverse and fallen. These things we ask in the name of Jesus, amen.
Going beyond
Today list the many areas where God had performed a miracle in your life. Identify those things he has removed or caused you to depart from, so that you are legitimately born. Examine your inner-self with the help of Holy Spirit. What evident remains from your old nature? Turn them into a prayer request unto God.
Lesson 2 Phroneō: Mind with Understanding
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