Day5
1 Thessalonians 5:22
“Avoid every appearance of evil.”
1 Thessalonians 5:22 TPT
Cross references
Deuteronomy 22:14
Stay Away!
Paul began by saying, “Abstain.…” The word “abstain” is from the Greek word apecho. This word means to deliberately withdraw from; to stay away from; to put distance between oneself and something else; or to intentionally abstain.
This Greek word apecho demands that we do not allow even the smallest hint of inappropriate behavior or any act that could be misinterpreted or viewed as being immoral or unethical. There is no doubt about it — the word apecho calls for extreme caution and vigilance.
The word “appearance” is the Greek is eidos, a word that is only used five times in the New Testament, but depicts an outward form, visible appearance, a likeness, or a resemblance of something. Therefore, Paul was telling us, “It doesn’t matter what you think or what you know to be true; what matters is what appears to be true in the eyes of others.” Even if there is a small chance that someone may mistake your actions as evil or if what you do even resembles something evil or wrong, you need to stay as far away from it as you possibly can.
What makes this even more serious is the fact that this word “evil,” the Greek word poneros, is often used in the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament to describe actions that are ultimately damaging to a person’s testimony and reputation (see Deuteronomy 22:14). There is no doubt that Paul was telling us that we must do everything in our ability to put a lot of distance between ourselves and anything that would bring harm or injury to our reputation or to our godly witness in front of other people.
By understanding the Greek words in this verse, we can interpret First Thessalonians 5:22 to read:
“You need to terminate contact with any place, action, language, or relationship that gives people the impression that you are doing something wrong. It doesn’t matter what you think is acceptable; what matters is what other people perceive. So put a great deal of distance between yourself and anything you are doing that people could misinterpret and that could thereby stain your reputation.”
This is taken from an article by Rick Renner.
Click this link for the full article.
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