In Part 1 we were looking at Colossians 3:16 where Paul tells
these Christians that they are to “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within
you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another.” Our focus was on
the word “admonishing”. But as we studied this word we noticed that there are
some other words used in the Bible that have a similar meaning. Today we will
look at these other words and compare them in order that we might see what we
need to be doing to help other Christians in their walk with Christ.
But let’s
remember, this is not a moralistic lesson that gains acceptance with God when
we do it. This is what the normal Christian life should be like. Why? Because
of the gospel! Because it’s what Jesus Christ expects of His followers. Because
we have the “want to” built into our life through the Holy Spirit who indwells
us. Notice what Paul says to the Romans:
But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of
teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you
became slaves of righteousness.”
With that in our mind, let’s look at some other New Testament
words that will show us how we are to be obedient from the heart in helping
other Christians.
1.
What does it
mean to TEACH someone?
The
expectation of teaching other Christians is included in the passage before us,
but also in chapter 1. Notice what Paul says he was doing in His own ministry: We proclaim Him, admonishing
every man and teaching every man
with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.” Of
course, this is the great apostle Paul. That’s HIS ministry. Is that something
that is also expected of the normal, every-day believer, too? Well, according
to our verse (3:16), it is expected.
Of course, there is a special
spiritual gift of teaching that is described in scripture, but that does not
suggest that only those with the
gift should teach. Paul does not make any clarification about teaching if you have that gift. This is for
everyone to be doing, though it may be done in different contexts. Some may
teach a Bible study or a Sunday school class. Others may just do it with a
small group, perhaps just one other person. Since it is paired here with the
direction to admonish, we can assume that as you warn someone of their wrong
behavior, you are also prepared to show them from the Word of God what is the
right behavior.
And that is exactly what is
involved in teaching: showing someone else what God’s Word says. It does not
have to have a fancy outline, with dramatic illustrations and deep theological
truths. It means that we are providing information to someone that they can
understand and use.
2.
What does it
mean to EXHORT someone?
When you see
the word “exhort” in the Bible, it is actually translated from a couple of
different words. Most frequently, it is the same word as the one used for
encourage, which is also translated as comfort, urge, plead, beg, and implore.
The context would determine which meaning should be used in any given passage.
But the basic idea of the word is to come along to the side of someone to offer
assistance. What kind of assistance? That’s where we need to see the context of
the passage. We’ll look at a couple of verses that are specifically related to
what we are expected to do in our relationships with other believers.
1 Thessalonians 4:18 This
is the well-known passage where Paul explains the rapture to a group of
believers who were worried about some who had already died without seeing the
return of Christ. They were grieving. So Paul explains what will be happening
with those departed saints with a description of what will take place when
Christ returns for the church. Paul concludes this instruction with the
direction to come alongside one another to help each other not be discouraged
or grieving as those who have no hope. There is hope! So the context would seem
to suggest that believers should be a source of comfort for each other in the
face of grief.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Immediately
following the rapture passage, Paul turns his attention to the actual return of
Christ to earth, what we can actually call the Second Coming of Christ. In this
situation, Paul is challenging the Christians who have not died to consider their present situation and to live for Christ
and be alert, not lazy and to be self-controlled or sober, rather than
neglectful of our responsibilities (5:6). With that expectation in mind, Paul
concludes his teaching on the subject with the words, “Therefore encourage one
another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” It’s the same
word that is used in 4:18, but this time with a different context, a need for
Christians to be doing something in their life. So most translations use the
word encourage. But exhortation might also be a good translation. We are to
come along to the side of other Christians to encourage them in their walk with
Christ.
3.
What does it
mean to ADMONISH someone?
And now we
look at the word we studied in part 1. We said that it had the idea of putting
something into someone’s mind. The Biblical Counseling movement have used the
Greek word for admonish as their main word to describe their approach to
counseling (nouthetic). We saw this being used in both Colossians 3:16 and in
Romans 15:14. In the latter passage, Paul even makes it clear that all these
believers were “able” to admonish one another. It is also translated as
warn/warning, and instruction. This word suggests that a person needs to be confronted with something that is wrong
and then helped to see how they should change to conform to God’s Word.
Conclusion:
Two questions need to be asked. First, how do
these different words relate to one another? In a way they are synonymous, but synonyms do not mean exactly
the same meaning, but rather, close to the same meaning. Teaching is definitely
giving out information, exhorting
and encouraging is helping someone
to put that information into practice, and admonishing is challenging them to change their behavior according to the
information.
The second question is easy. Are we expected
to teach, exhort, encourage, comfort, and admonish other Christians?
Answer: YES! It’s right there in the verses we have studied. Some of us may
be better equipped at doing it. We may do it in different ways according to our
personalities/temperaments. But we need to be looking for opportunities to help
build up one another in Christ through the Word of God. We may do it in small
groups, but often this is a one-on-one situation where we have established a
spiritual relationship. Don’t have anyone like that? That’s a problem. And you
should address it. With all these “one another” concepts, it would appear that
God expects to be involved in the lives of other people.
You may not be the appointed “admonisher” or
“teacher” or “exhorter”. In fact, you should not be! But you should be
preparing yourself to do any and/or all of them on an as-needed basis. And if
you are involved in other people’s lives, it will be needed. Because we are all
sinners. Are you ready to receive it? God will use others in your life to so
that, with the apostle Paul, we may say “so that we may present every man complete
in Christ” (Colossians 1:28).
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