Class Notes: 2/25/2009

The doctrine of separation continued... The renovation of the thinking automatically causes separation from the kosmos Rom 12:1-3;


We are in the midst of a discussion on The Doctrine of Separation or How to protect one's spiritual life when dealing with those who are living in the kosmic system. that is found in 2Thes 3:6; 2Cor 6:17; and 2Tim 3:5;

The Greek words that are used in these passages for this command are:

"Stello" that means to avoid." aphorizo" that means to be separated, and "apotrepo" that means to turn away from.

In 2Thes 3:6 Paul states it as a command in the 2Cor 6:17 and 2Tim 3:5 the Greek words are in the imperative mood.

Separation is the technique of mentally switching from personal love to unconditional integrity love or of physically separating in order to deal with those who are persistently living in the kosmic system.

Last time we left off in our discussion of the Greek word "adakteo" that is found in 2Thes 3:6;

Where the word translated "unruly’ in the NASB is the Greek word "ataktos”.

We saw that The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 8 Page 47 defines ataktos:

As "Disordered," the word is often used in a military sense, such as a disorderly retreat; unbridled, irrational, unseemly; without order or plan; without law or order; to roam about in a disorderly fashion.

Atakteo (the verb form) means "to set oneself outside the order," "to evade one's obligations," "not to fulfill one's divinely appointed duties"; often military: "to act without discipline," "to act irresponsibly"; "to evade work which is ordered."

Secular examples show that the word group is well-known and important and that it relates to several spheres but especially to that of human conduct, both ethical and political.

In both cases it characterizes those who have established themselves outside of the necessary and given order.

In 2Thes 3:7; one might easily conclude that the primary reference is to laziness, but outside Christianity the verb, when applied to work, does not in the first instance lay emphasis on laziness but rather on an irresponsible attitude toward one's obligation and responsibility to work.

(Some) with their aloofness from working for their keep are outside the civil order, which also applies to Christians.

An undisciplined life in the secular sphere is contradictory to God's instruction for believers.

When this "disorder" is combined with the Greek word, " peripateo", it means that the disorder is a persistent disposition, a behavior pattern, a character trait, or a lifestyle.

Peripateo is used especially by Paul in his epistles to describe one's way or their walk in life.

He points out in verse 2Thes 3:11; that there were certain ones in the church at Thessalonica who "are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies."

The believer is commanded to separate from such people.2Thes 3:14; if anyone does not obey our instruction through this epistle, make a mental note (semeioo) of that person and have no social relationship (" me sunanamignumi ") with him for the purpose that he may receive shame.

The Greek word, "semeioo", is a mandate to make a mental note of those who are involved in the lifestyle of irresponsibility and to avoid them in social situations.

This is brought out by the present middle imperatival infinitive of "sunanamignumi" that literally means, "to mix with." It refers to having fellowship or keeping company with someone. In this verse, it is accompanied by the negative " me" that negates the idea and it therefore becomes a command to separate from such people.

This separation must be sophisticated. The believer cannot do this while harboring hostility or casting judgment.

Avoiding this person must be done in such a way that does not cause one to enter into mental attitude sins but instead protects the soul from the offending person's influence or tactics.

The correction of this person's behavior must be managed by the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit and their submission to the authority of Bible Doctrine as it is taught by their right pastor-teacher.

2Thes 3:15; Do not regard that person as an enemy but admonish him as a fellow believer.

When dealing with such a situation the believer must use the Royal Family Honor Code. That is Personal Love for God that results in Integrity Love for all mankind. Gal 5:14; John 13:34; Mark 12:29-31;

Another reason for separation is Influence from the kosmic system.

Remaining under the influence of those who are led by kosmic thinking will lead to an arrogant over emphasis of self:

Romans 12:1; I urge you therefore fellow believers by the mercies of God to present your bodies under orders (paristemi) as a living holy sacrifice. This is well-pleasing to God-our rational (logikos) spiritual worship (latreia).

The key word in this verse is the aorist active imperative of the Greek word "paristemi” that can be translated as " present your bodies under orders."

This verb was part of the military vocabulary of the writers of the Classical Greek writers.

A soldier was to place himself under orders to one of superior rank.

Polybius uses this word to describe a military maneuver: "He set the cavalry on both wings." Aristophanes's use is "to be on hand" and Demosthenes's is "to stand by."

In this context believers are to place themselves under orders to God as a good soldier for Christ in the invisible war.

The constantive aorist tense describes a succession of events gathered into a single whole that contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. To do this the believer must be in fellowship and filled with the Holy Spirit and therefore resident in the PPOG.

The active voice indicates that Spirit-filled believers who are advancing in the spiritual life of the PPOG are commanded to produce the action of the verb.

The imperative mood refers to the believer's obligation is spiritual growth through persistent inculcation of biblical truth.

These believers are to present their bodies as "living holy sacrifices" that are "well-pleasing to God."

The only way that our bodies can be presented as well-pleasing to God is in status-quo spirituality that is established by means of acknowledgement of known sin and the resultant filling of the Holy Spirit that is perpetuated by the application of the 10PSD's that results in the believer residing inside the PPOG.

The Greek word " logikos" describes this sacrifice as worship that is rational:

As such, worship can only be accomplished by using the two power options of the spiritual life. Logikos is a derivative of the noun, logos that refers to "reason." or "thought".

The way that this concept was developed in the Greek language is described in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Volume 4 Pages 77-81 under "Logos"

In the Greek and Hellenistic World. Logos achieved a comprehensive and varied significance with the process of rationalization that characterized the Greek spirit.

Figuratively, Logos has the original sense of "counting," "reckoning," "explaining."

The use of Logos embraces the following senses:

"Counting up," "reckoning," "account," the sum of individual words to form … "speech" or "language," "sentence" or "saying."

From the second half of the 5th century it is used subjectively for man's ability to think, "reason,” for the human "mind" or "spirit,” or "thought."

Concrete utterance or speech is part of its content, as in human words of command, divine or oracular sayings, or philosophical dialogue. But there is implied the connected rational element that is the source of the speech.

The essential thing is not simply what is said, but what is meant by the words.

It is presupposed as self-evident by the Greek that there is in things, in the world and its course, a primary Logos, an intelligible and recognizable law, which then makes possible knowledge and understanding in the human logos

The Logos is thus the norm or standard.

For the Greek, knowledge is always recognition of the law.

"Logikos" refers to that which "belongs to speech"; "belongs to reason," or is "rational." and therefore "belonging to the sphere of the logos or reason,” or “spiritual."

"Logikos" can be a term to express the spiritualizing of the cultic that is the religious belief, the ritual, and the worship. As in the pre-Christian "thusia" or sacrifice) and later "lateria" or worship, the "sèmata" or bodies of animals are brought to the hecatombs for the ancient Greek or Roman sacrifice of oxen or cattle; (or) the sacrifice or slaughter of many victims.

This idea is used to refer to the bodies of believers that are now presented as "living sacrifice" to God, or given to Him to be His possession.

The concept for this is service.

We sacrifice our bodies in the sense that learning the Logos of God becomes our top priority and as it becomes established in our souls and neural pathways then our thoughts, decisions, and actions are the result of a divinely defined rational process. Therefore the translation of Romans 12:1 can read as follows:

Rom 12:1; - I urge you therefore fellow believers by the mercies of God to present your bodies under orders as a living holy sacrifice, this is well-pleasing to God-our rational spiritual worship.

The translation "rational spiritual" to define our worship of God brings out the meaning of the Greek word " logikos". We are to develop a form of worship that is both logical and spiritual based on the intake of the "Logos" or the Word of God that is the "primary" law.

It is age abiding, self-evident, intelligible, and recognizable. Matt 24:35;

This sacrifice is hindered, compromised, or eliminated by the influence of human viewpoint, human good, and evil that is taught by the philosophies of the devil's world.

Rom 12:2; - Also, stop being molded (present middle imperative of suschematizo: to conform to a pattern, plus the negative particle "me" stop being brainwashed by the current propaganda (imperative. mood)) of this age "aion" referring to the conditions prevalent among people at the present time: this includes the passing fads, trends, viewpoints, behaviors, and language, or philosophies of the day),

but "alla" (the conjunction of opposition) be transformed "metamorphoo" (the invisible change in the soul and brain by the rejection of human viewpoint & the establishment of divine viewpoint) by the renovation "anakainosis" (the renewal of the soul through spiritual growth) of your mind "nous ".... this renovation must begin with the volition and its positive response to the doctrine presented by God the Holy Spirit for its consideration at academic understanding,

so that you may prove "dokimazo"(to put to the test for the purpose of approval or confirmation)

what the will "thelema"(divine pleasure that results from the believer's transformation of thought)

of God is, that which is, the good "agathos" (divine good production that results from divine viewpoint thinking), the well-pleasing "euarestos" (conformity to the plan and purpose of God through the execution of His divine viewpoint ) and the perfect " teleios" ( that which is complete including experiential sanctification and spiritual maturity that results in cognitive invincibility ).

Separation from the Kosmos and those who communicate its message is a battle that goes on continuously in the mentality of the soul.

The weapon that is used to fight this Invisible War is thought but the power to engage the battle effectively is provided by the Holy Spirit through the recall of Bible Doctrine that is available to the believer from their consistent persistent PMA of Bible Doctrine that is learned in Bible Class.

Transformation of thought by the renovation of the soul is how the mental separation is accomplished.

The separation is not only from others but it is also a separation from the desires and temptations that come from one's own OSN.

Believers are recommended to stop being manipulated by kosmic propaganda in verse 2 and to end their self centeredness in verse 3:

Rom 12:3; An expanded translation could read as follows: " I say through the grace that has been given to me to everyone who is among you, stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance beyond what you ought to think but think objectively in terms of sanity for the purpose of being rational without illusion as God has assigned to each one a standard of thinking from doctrine."

Paul begins this verse by reminding the members of the Roman church of the importance of grace orientation.

If they are to recover from their lapse into the kosmos it will be by means of grace through their acknowledgement of sin that enables them to be filled with the Spirit and then function in faith rest as they recall the doctrine and apply the PSD of grace orientation.

Paul received the information that he is communicating in this epistle through the grace process of inspiration.

The believers in Rome will learn through Paul's grace teaching how to permit God to transform their souls by this same grace.

This cannot be accomplished unless they respond to the mandate to "stop thinking of themselves in terms of arrogance." This translation conveys the thought found in two of the Greek words in the text:

"me "- the negative particle that indicates that the verb to which it is associated will be in the subjunctive or optative mood, as an infinitive, or a participle.

Here it is connected with the present active infinitive of " huperphroneo" so it is translated as "stop thinking in terms of arrogance"

The progressive present tense shows that these believers have developed a mental attitude of arrogance that has begun in the past and continues to the present time.

They are ordered to stop this and begin a transformation of thought through their inculcation of Bible doctrine.

The Active voice shows that they produce the action by putting a stop to this mental attitude arrogance.

With the negative "me" it becomes an imperative of prohibition.

The prefix "huper" means "over," "above," or "beyond" and implies excess above a certain measure or standard. It means to exalt oneself, to think too highly of oneself, and can be describes as "Operation Overthink".

The obsolete English word "overthink" is the perfect definition for "huperphroneo"
Oxford English Dictionary defines "overthink" as to think too highly of or over-estimate.

We all have self-consciousness and there is obviously a place for personal and spiritual self-esteem. This kind of self-awareness is normal and healthy.

It is the self esteem that is not based in the standard of doctrine that is prohibited, along with the associated arrogant attitudes that are the product of erroneous thought that stresses self absorption and an over-emphasis on self.

Paul clarifies his mandate with the phrase "par' ho dei phronein" that is translated "beyond what you ought to think."

The verb translated "to think" here is the Greek word "phronein" that is the present active infinitive of "phroneo" that refers to "objective thought".

The Tendential present tense presents the idea of what is intended or inclined to occur or that, which tends toward realization. The idea is to form an opinion based on input from the conscience that results in a point of view. This is the thinking that results from the objectivity of Bible Doctrine.

The active voice indicates that the believer should be continuously producing this kind of thought.

The tendential present connotes what has a tendency to occur but has not yet taken place. The infinitive of intended result indicates there is a purpose for eliminating arrogance from the soul and that purpose is a rational self-awareness that results in objective thinking.

Therefore, the mandate instructs the Roman believers to stop thinking in terms of arrogance without sacrificing objectivity. What they are to do instead is introduced by the Greek adversative conjunction "alla".

"alla" is translated as "but" and sets up a contrast between what we should not and what we should be doing and is followed by the same verb we just noted, the present active infinitive of: phroneo that refers to objective thinking. This time there is no negative particle so it is a direct command. In the present tense it has the force of commanding the action as an ongoing process.

The perfective present tense emphasizes that the results of such an action are continuously binding on the hearers.

The active voice shows that the believer should produce the action of being objective.

The infinitive is imperatival and as a result we have a mandate to do this.

Rom12:3; - I say through the grace that has been given to me to everyone who is among you, stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance beyond what you ought to think, but think objectively …

The way that the believer is to think is now explained by the present active infinitive of the Greek verb "sophrono".

"sophroneo" means "to be reasonable"; "in one's right mind"; or, "in terms of sanity"

Translation: "in terms of sanity for the purpose of being rational without illusion"

The present: tense refers to what is customary referring to what is to habitually occur or is reasonably expected to occur. This is a system of thinking that is to be developed into a lifestyle of righteousness.

The active voice indicates that the believer is to produce an habitual system of thinking that is rational, reasonable, and sane.


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