5 Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints; 6 That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Philemon 1:5-6 KJV.
How do we communicate our faith to believers and non-believers, lovingly or harshly? How did and how does Christ communicate to us, lovingly or harshly? Of course, lovingly! Christ communicates to us in a way that changes our lives for the better. Can we a believers communicate to believers and non-believers the same way as Christ communicates to believers and non-believers if we believe that Christ is in us?
For those who have ears to hear (Matthew 11:15 KJV) or to understand (or hear) the words of Jesus in your heart, Paul calls on those who having heard “of thy love [love or our benevolence (1) benevolence or our will to do good (2)] and faith [faith or our assurance or our belief (1)], which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints; That the communication [communication or our fellowship (1), i.e., fellowship or our mutual association of persons on equal and friendly terms (2)] of thy faith [faith or belief (1)] may become effectual [effectual or active or powerful (1)] by the acknowledging [acknowledging or knowledge (1)] of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”
That which is in us when we are in Christ Jesus, putting on the image of Christ, the lowly, humble persona of our Lord, makes our communication with saints, and I believe as well as with non-believers who become receptive to the word of God (Matthew 13:23), powerful, by the power of the Almighty God. This communication with believers and receptive non-believers of our faith with believers and with Christ as Jesus would communicate or as He would have us to communicate to all by His example of His life and teachings can change the lives of all who are receptive to the knowledge of “every good thing” found in us by the example of the life of Christ found in us, us having the image of Christ within ourselves. Non-believers who become receptive to a life of Christ eventually find “every good thing which is in (them) in Christ Jesus.” We must communicate our faith with Christ as we would ask God to give the knowledge to communicate our faith to all, all as each one a different receptacle [or vessel (2)] into which Christ is revealed and received.
Our communication amongst believers and receptive non-believers of our belief in Christ becomes powerful, by the power of Almighty God, in our example of our knowledge “of every good thing which is in (us) in Christ Jesus.” This knowledge of our faith and “of every good thing” found in us is a result of our daily time spent reading the word of God in our Bibles, and applying what we read into every aspect of our lives. This study of God’s word we do in order to better discern or to plant a good seed (or “every good thing”) into ourselves and all who will receive God’s word, and thus to enable believers and receptive non-believers to enhance their minds and lives to the fullest extent that God has for us in Christ Jesus.
(1) The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D.
(2) Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.
God Bless Everyone!
Brenda A. McGee has attended New York Theological Seminary in New York, NY, and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA as a Master of Divinity student.