3 John 2; Dear Friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is. (NLT)
John was expressing both his concern for his friend’s physical body as well as his spiritual soul. The reason John was doing this is that a popular false teaching in the early church was that there was a separation of the spirit and the body. The spirit or soul of a person was good, but the body was evil. This is were we see the false teachings that Christ was not a man, but only a spirit. Because if Christ had been a man, then he would have been evil. John was making the point that this was not true.
This false teaching lead to two responses: neglect the body and physical health and only attend to the spiritual health or indulge in every sinful desire. The first is were you can get those who only believe in spiritual healings, or the idea of separating themselves from the rest of the world. The other belief is that our bodies are for our enjoyment and whatever feels good we should do. This is the most popular belief of our generation.
“I just don’t love her anymore.”
“I must do what feels right of me.”
“My happiness is what is most important.”
“If it feels good, do it.”
“It is my body to do what I want with it.”
“It is just physical, it is not emotional.”
The correct Christian response is that we are to take care of our bodies and our souls. We are to feed ourselves with both physical and spiritual bread. God created this world for our enjoyment, but we should enjoy it in moderation. Nothing God has created is sinful, only how we use it is sinful.
Sex inside of marriage is good. Sex outside of marriage is evil.
Food is good when it is to nourish our bodies. Food in excess is bad and will lead to obesity and unhealthy bodies.
Money used to take care of your family and to sever God is good. Loving money more than you family and God is evil.
Drugs used to make you feel better when you are sick are good. Drugs used to make you feel better when you want a high is evil.
Loving others is good. Loving only yourself is bad.
Worshipping God is good. Worshipping a false god is evil.
God created this wonderful world for us, but nothing and no one should replace Him as first in our lives. Both our bodies and our spirit belong to God.
Reference: Life Application Study Bible-NLT
About Me
- Chuck Baker
- Chuck Baker is Right! Well, I am. What I mean is that my friends always joke that I’m always right (or at least I think I am). The thing is I don’t say anything, unless I know I’m right. So it's not that I’m right about everything, but usually when I speak I know what I’m talking about. My dad always said, “Don’t speak unless you know your right.” This blog includes many subjects like religion, politics, business, movies, sports, and more. On the left you will see options to search this blog, see popular posts, a catalog of posts, and favorite links. Please check out my YouTube channel by clicking on the link under favorite links.
