eManna

eManna

The Word of God Delivered Daily via Email

Calendar

April 8, 2021

The Safeguard of Faith, Love, and Hope

1 Thes 5:5 For you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. (6) So then let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us watch and be sober. (8) But since we are of the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and a helmet, the hope of salvation.

To be watchful and to be sober are related to safeguarding the three basic structures of the holy life for the church life: faith, love, and hope. Verse 8 indicates this...The words breastplate and helmet both indicate spiritual warfare. The breastplate is of faith and love, covering and protecting our heart and spirit according to God's righteousness (Eph. 6:14). The helmet is the hope of salvation (Eph. 6:17), covering and protecting our mentality, the mind. Faith, love, and hope are the three basic structures of the genuine Christian life as depicted in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Faith is related to our will-- a part of our heart (Rom. 10:9)--and to our conscience--a part of our spirit (1 Tim. 1:19). Love is related to our emotion, another part of our heart (Matt. 22:37); and hope is related to our understanding--a function of our mind. All of these need to be protected that a genuine Christian life may be maintained. Such a life is watchful and sober. At the beginning of this Epistle, the apostle praised the believers' work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope (1:3). Here, at the conclusion of the Epistle, he exhorts them to keep these spiritual virtues covered and protected by fighting for them.

Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Thessalonians, p.149. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].

To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.

Life-study of 1 & 2 Thessalonians