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Thessalonians 5:22 seems simple enough a scripture, coming in Paul's
closing comments of a letter sent to church members living in
Macedonia. In actual fact, the verse is mistranslated, misapplied and
therefore, often misunderstood. As I often preach, the Word of God is
limitless in its depth and breadth and demands a high level of study and
contemplation or what I call, "full
immersion". I will begin by offering a better rendering of the
verse.
Key word: "Appearance"
A more accurate rendering of this verse is, "abstain
from every form of evil." The key word, "appearance" is
the Greek word, eidos or
Strong's word, 1491
NT:1491
eidos (i'-dos); from NT:1492; a view, i.e. form
(literally or figuratively):
Most Bible translations render the verse this way. Notice:
1. Stay away from every form of evil (Jewish
New Testament)
2. Abstain from every form of evil (New
American Standard)
3. Avoid every kind of evil (New International
Version)
4. Keep away from every kind of evil (Living
Bible)
5. Abstain from evil—shrink from it and keep aloof from it—in whatever
form or whatever kind it may be (Amplified
Bible)
Notice these now from The Wycliffe Commentary and Vine's Expository
Dictionary
Paul's negative command is
actually: Abstain from every kind of evil. Eidos (appearance,, AV) is
often used in the papyri of the Greco-Roman period to denote "class,"
"sort," "kind." It has frequently been noted that while "the good" in
verse 21 is singular, evil is said to take many different forms. The
wording recalls Job 1:1,8; 2:3. –(from The
Wycliffe Bible Commentary)
APPEARANCE
1. eidos
NT:1491, properly "that which strikes the eye, that which is exposed to
view," signifies the "external appearance, form, or shape," and in this
sense is used of the Holy Spirit in taking bodily form, as a dove, Luke
3:22; of Christ, 9:29, "the fashion of His countenance."
It has a
somewhat different significance in 1 Thess 5:22, in the exhortation,
"Abstain from every form of evil," i. e., every sort or kind of evil
(not "appearance," KJV). This meaning was common in the papyri, the
Greek writings of the closing centuries, B. C., and the New Testament
era. –(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of
Biblical Words)
I will quote I Thessalonians 5, verse 22
from the Textus Receptus (Received Text) first and then from the
Nestle-Anland, as these are the "closer to" the original text than what
we read of in the KJV.
Textus Receptus
vs. 22 from every form of evil, hold back
Nestle-Anland
vs. 22 abstain from every form of evil.
What "form of evil" means
The word
eidos
(i'-dos) is used four times in the New Testament [Luke 3:22 (shape),
Luke 9:29 (fashion), II Cor 5:7 (sight)
and I Thess 5:22 (appearance/form)].
In each case these words
relate not the real thing
but to a type, form or fashion of the real thing. This is significant
as we search to know what "form of evil" means.
One commentary I found spoke to the
idea of the firstfruit not approaching the area of the sin....not
pushing the envelope.......not approaching the demarcation line or
border where one might enter into the area of sin. So clearly "form
of evil" means both the evil itself and any form or type of that
evil, best described as any process and/or action that moves us
toward or near such evil.
Evil and/or the committing of sin does not just happen. Everything
is a process. There is a process of salvation as well as a process
of sin. Verse 22 is an encouragement not to begin or even get near
the early stages of the sin process. We check ourselves and examine
ourselves for anything that might even be part of a process toward
the evil or the committing of sin.
Key Point
In all this description of "form of evil" it is important to
understand that there MUST be an evil. All forms of evil must link
to a known and established evil identified in the Word of God. One
cannot define what is evil and then declare certain actions as forms
of that supposed evil.
This Verse is
Personal
1 Thessalonians 5:22 is an
admonition from Paul to the lone individual in the Salvation
Process. Only the individual firstfruit can make these judgments
about evil, sin and his or her approach towards it. The individual
has to decide what he or she is going to do regarding his proximity
to evil.
Verse 22 clearly cannot be used by
third party firstfruits or other individuals to declare what is the
apparent evil in the firstfruit's life. This is the problem with
the misapplied word "appearance" rather than "form". The moment one
utters, "Abstain from all appearance of evil", the picture is
one of third parties, looking at the firstfruit and his or her
life. Carnal nature loves to judge the other person. Doing so
gives one self-justification. This verse must remain out of the
hands of third parties. It is admonition specific to the person in
his or her own Salvation Process.
Misuse of this Scripture by Would-be Judges
The primary problem of third parties using this verse to judge other
people is that THEY become the ones to define "appearance of evil"
in the congregation. If this was allowed as common practice, we
would all be forced to remain home for the duration of our lives.
In my 35 years in the church, my experience is that third party
judges name virtually EVERYTHING as being an appearance, form or
type of evil. This was true in the first century of this church.
Consider the cases of...
Jesus making so much wine at the wedding.
Jesus fellowshipping with wind bibbers,
prostitutes and tax collectors.
Jesus picking corn on the Sabbath.
Paul walking among idols in Athens.
Most of these instances were seen as being evil and/or inappropriate
by third parties of the day. In these modern times, we have had
instances of members looking for every appearance of evil and others
fearing anything they do as being possible appearances of evil.
This is why this verse needs to be taken out of third party hands.
Being Spring-loaded to the Negative
There is a situation I call,
"happenstance appearance of evil". This is the case where a third
party stumbles into a situation which unexpectedly and sudden
unfolds and the third party concludes evil. Two examples:
1) Third party member is walking down
the street and happens to look into a cafe window. He sees two
married members, a man and a woman. Problem is, they are not
married to each other. Assumption:
Adultery or at least the appearance of evil.
Truth: It was a double date.
The mates were in the restroom.
2) Third party member is walking down
the street and encounters another member and his precocious
6-year-old daughter. As they stand talking, the daughter reaches
into her dad's coat and pulls out two marijuana cigarettes.
Assumption: The member uses
drugs.
Truth: The dad had taken those
from his brother days before and forgot about them being in the
jacket.
Both of these were explained to the third party as I recall, but the
point is that no third party should assume evil in another member
unless it can be fully demonstrated and confirmed. It should never
be assumed by a single viewed happenstance.
Casting of Stumbling Blocks a Separate
Issue
The principle of casting stumbling blocks before a brother is
actually a separate issue. Again, this admonition against doing so
is one for the firstfruit and not third party individuals. In other
words, the casting of a stumbling block is not appearance of
evil....it is a specific act. Further, a stumbling block is not
necessarily evil or sin, in and of itself.
Keeping to
Design
Every word of God is given by His inspiration (2 Tim 3:16) and each
scripture has specific purpose and design. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 is
a specific tool for the firstfruit in his or her own Salvation
Process. Do all you can to keep it there.
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