Hi all,
What do I mean spiritual soap, or spiritual body wash? Stay with me, this is a metaphor for a huge spiritual principle.
I watched a post on Instagram from a wife complaining that her husband uses a bar of soap in the shower to clean himself, washing his whole body with that 1 bar of soap. She asked why his complextion was flawless, while her complexion is a constant work in progress though she spends several minutes each morning and evening with various body washes and facial products. Her face was always having issues ranging from pimples to oily to dryness. Why? She asked.
As I watched I thought to myself:"Because your husband uses soap and you just use chemicals that disrupt your body's natural oils and balance." There is a spiritual lesson to be learned.
In the USA:Did you know that 'soap' is recognized as having certain properties that make it soap?
A product (in the US) cannot call itself 'soap' unless it includes these ingredients, as per the Federal Drug Administration, 21 CFR § 701.20. To be labeled 'soap' a product must meet ALL 3 conditions:
1) The product consists of an alkali salt of fatty acids. (Combining fats or oils with an alkali such as lye).
2) The detergent properties of the product are due to the alkali-fatty acid compounds.
3) The product is labeled, sold, and represented only as soap.
(Claims of moisturizing or making a person smell nice, would classify it as a cosmetic.)
There is no specific definition in the US for a 'body wash'. 'Body wash' is understood to be a liquid for the body, with most of them considered a cosmetic under US law, which are regulated with different requirements as to their ingredients.
I found out as a teenager
By trial and error I discovered that real soap kept pimples away from my face, along with never touching my face directly with my fingers. I've been using that soap (Zest) ever since, plus 'Grandma's Lye Soap', which is very mild. True soap kills bacteria, which is why it prevents or kills pimples.
A person might be washing themselves with something labeled 'body wash' or something else other than 'soap', thinking they are washing with soap, and left wondering like the wife above about why they aren't seeing good results. They don't realize they are (probably) washing themselves with chemicals that don't have the qualities of 'soap'.
Spiritually it is the same thing:
A person may be washing themselves with what they think is the Word, but in reality, it isn't true 'spiritual soap'. Paul's great concern in II Corinthians 11:4 was they would leave the gospel they had received, leave the Jesus they had received, and leave the Spirit they had received, for a counterfeit.
Some may think they are washing with the genuine soap, but all they are using is a body wash. They may think they believe in the same gospel they originally received, the same Jesus they originally received, the same Spirit they originally received, but they almost without notice exchanged the genuine for 'spiritual body wash', not the real 'soap'.
Another gospel, another Jesus, another Spirit - what does that look like?
The door that was opened to leave the genuine 'soap' for the 'body wash', Paul reveals in the verses immediately after v4. For in verses 5-11 he talks of how they were in strife with him, not accepting his ministry to them, not supporting his ministry to them.
In other words, they were offended at him, and that is very often the first step to opening the door to the counterfeit. Someone doesn't agree with what someone taught. I remember a case where someone emailed me in anger, demanding I remove them from our Weekly Thoughts emails. I checked their history and they had been a subscriber for over a year, meaning over 52 Weekly Thoughts. But it was 1 in particular that offended them because they didn't agree with me.
I wrote them with the intent of showing their immaturity and childishness of their expectations. I asked if they agreed with their boss 100% of the time, and if not, why don't they quit in a fit of anger at the first disagreement? I asked if he agreed with his wife 100% of the time, and if not, why hasn't he gotten divorced? So why would he be so angry at me about a teaching after over a year of receiving those emails, that he would angrily demand to be unsubscribed? I don't know what happened to him - but I laid before the choice of continuing in childhood or growing up into manhood, spiritually speaking.
Offense is often more subtle, disguised as 'this doesn't do anything for me anymore', so they turn to others that will scratch that itch for the spiritual tingles. At some point, sometimes years after having believed the counterfiet, that person will 'wake up' and realize they have turned off the path of the genuine gospel, Jesus, and Spirit, into error.
Accepting a false message - what do those ministries look like?
In verses 5-11 Paul speak of them being offended at him, and in v12-13 he shifts to talk about those presenting false messages:
"And what I am doing I will continue to do, to undermine the claim of those who desire to be considered equal to the work that we do. For they are false apostles, for they work by deceit, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ."
The Greek word in v12 for 'deceit' is 'dolos' and means ''a bait, a snare". Those presenting a different gospel, Jesus, Spirit bait people. Have you ever heard the Internet term 'click bait'? It means to post something spectacular to get people's attention so they will click the link. It's happened to me in a few interviews, in which the person interviewing me advertises they are interviewing me, but with a 1 line spectacular statement as 'click bait'. My point isn't to criticize that (which was out of my control anyway) but to point to the fact Satan deceives many by those same tactics. And just because you click that link doesn't make you off-balance, nor does it mean that ministry is off-balance - my point is to provide an example in our time of what Paul meant when he said false ministers bait people as a snare to get them to follow them.
We will pick it up there next time. Realize the path Jesus leads always intends to develop moral excellence, self-control, consistency in that self-control, brotherly love, unconditional love, joy, peace, long-suffering towards others, patience, kindness, and so on - if what you are watching doesn't contribute the character of Christ in you, or the fruit of the Spirit in you expressed outwards towards others, then an examination of why that is in your life must take place.
Until next week, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
What do I mean spiritual soap, or spiritual body wash? Stay with me, this is a metaphor for a huge spiritual principle.
I watched a post on Instagram from a wife complaining that her husband uses a bar of soap in the shower to clean himself, washing his whole body with that 1 bar of soap. She asked why his complextion was flawless, while her complexion is a constant work in progress though she spends several minutes each morning and evening with various body washes and facial products. Her face was always having issues ranging from pimples to oily to dryness. Why? She asked.
As I watched I thought to myself:"Because your husband uses soap and you just use chemicals that disrupt your body's natural oils and balance." There is a spiritual lesson to be learned.
In the USA:Did you know that 'soap' is recognized as having certain properties that make it soap?
A product (in the US) cannot call itself 'soap' unless it includes these ingredients, as per the Federal Drug Administration, 21 CFR § 701.20. To be labeled 'soap' a product must meet ALL 3 conditions:
1) The product consists of an alkali salt of fatty acids. (Combining fats or oils with an alkali such as lye).
2) The detergent properties of the product are due to the alkali-fatty acid compounds.
3) The product is labeled, sold, and represented only as soap.
(Claims of moisturizing or making a person smell nice, would classify it as a cosmetic.)
There is no specific definition in the US for a 'body wash'. 'Body wash' is understood to be a liquid for the body, with most of them considered a cosmetic under US law, which are regulated with different requirements as to their ingredients.
I found out as a teenager
By trial and error I discovered that real soap kept pimples away from my face, along with never touching my face directly with my fingers. I've been using that soap (Zest) ever since, plus 'Grandma's Lye Soap', which is very mild. True soap kills bacteria, which is why it prevents or kills pimples.
A person might be washing themselves with something labeled 'body wash' or something else other than 'soap', thinking they are washing with soap, and left wondering like the wife above about why they aren't seeing good results. They don't realize they are (probably) washing themselves with chemicals that don't have the qualities of 'soap'.
Spiritually it is the same thing:
A person may be washing themselves with what they think is the Word, but in reality, it isn't true 'spiritual soap'. Paul's great concern in II Corinthians 11:4 was they would leave the gospel they had received, leave the Jesus they had received, and leave the Spirit they had received, for a counterfeit.
Some may think they are washing with the genuine soap, but all they are using is a body wash. They may think they believe in the same gospel they originally received, the same Jesus they originally received, the same Spirit they originally received, but they almost without notice exchanged the genuine for 'spiritual body wash', not the real 'soap'.
Another gospel, another Jesus, another Spirit - what does that look like?
The door that was opened to leave the genuine 'soap' for the 'body wash', Paul reveals in the verses immediately after v4. For in verses 5-11 he talks of how they were in strife with him, not accepting his ministry to them, not supporting his ministry to them.
In other words, they were offended at him, and that is very often the first step to opening the door to the counterfeit. Someone doesn't agree with what someone taught. I remember a case where someone emailed me in anger, demanding I remove them from our Weekly Thoughts emails. I checked their history and they had been a subscriber for over a year, meaning over 52 Weekly Thoughts. But it was 1 in particular that offended them because they didn't agree with me.
I wrote them with the intent of showing their immaturity and childishness of their expectations. I asked if they agreed with their boss 100% of the time, and if not, why don't they quit in a fit of anger at the first disagreement? I asked if he agreed with his wife 100% of the time, and if not, why hasn't he gotten divorced? So why would he be so angry at me about a teaching after over a year of receiving those emails, that he would angrily demand to be unsubscribed? I don't know what happened to him - but I laid before the choice of continuing in childhood or growing up into manhood, spiritually speaking.
Offense is often more subtle, disguised as 'this doesn't do anything for me anymore', so they turn to others that will scratch that itch for the spiritual tingles. At some point, sometimes years after having believed the counterfiet, that person will 'wake up' and realize they have turned off the path of the genuine gospel, Jesus, and Spirit, into error.
Accepting a false message - what do those ministries look like?
In verses 5-11 Paul speak of them being offended at him, and in v12-13 he shifts to talk about those presenting false messages:
"And what I am doing I will continue to do, to undermine the claim of those who desire to be considered equal to the work that we do. For they are false apostles, for they work by deceit, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ."
The Greek word in v12 for 'deceit' is 'dolos' and means ''a bait, a snare". Those presenting a different gospel, Jesus, Spirit bait people. Have you ever heard the Internet term 'click bait'? It means to post something spectacular to get people's attention so they will click the link. It's happened to me in a few interviews, in which the person interviewing me advertises they are interviewing me, but with a 1 line spectacular statement as 'click bait'. My point isn't to criticize that (which was out of my control anyway) but to point to the fact Satan deceives many by those same tactics. And just because you click that link doesn't make you off-balance, nor does it mean that ministry is off-balance - my point is to provide an example in our time of what Paul meant when he said false ministers bait people as a snare to get them to follow them.
We will pick it up there next time. Realize the path Jesus leads always intends to develop moral excellence, self-control, consistency in that self-control, brotherly love, unconditional love, joy, peace, long-suffering towards others, patience, kindness, and so on - if what you are watching doesn't contribute the character of Christ in you, or the fruit of the Spirit in you expressed outwards towards others, then an examination of why that is in your life must take place.
Until next week, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
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