Wednesday 14 August 2019

Your Spirits Gospel of Thomas Saying 14




Jesus said to them: If you fast, you will put a sin to your charge; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your inner spirits. And if you go into any land and walk about in the regions, if they receive you, eat what is set before you; heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you; but what comes out of your mouth, that is what will defile you.

While fasting is not a religious requirement, the early Christians did fast on special occasions. When Barnabas and Paul were sent on a special missionary assignment into Asia Minor, there was fasting as well as praying. Also, there was the offering of prayer “with fasting” when elders were appointed in a new congregation. (Mr 9:29 Ac 10:30 Ac 14:23 Ac 27:33 1Co 7:5) Hence, Christians are neither under command to fast nor prohibited from doing so.—Ro 14:5, 6.
So We must fast, pray, and give to charity in secret to please God and not men this is the answer to Saying 6.

Your spirits stands for yourselves or the mind we have, if we have the wrong kind of spirit for fasting, praying, and giving to charity we will be condemned. 

But what is the wrong kind of spirit?
The wrong kind of spirit is regretting what you have give away to some one and wishing you had not done it 

 And if you go into any land and walk about in the regions,  This part of the text is about missionary work among the Jews and they should expect support from those Jews they were studying with. Alternatively, the saying may be focused at non-Jews who have seen the activities of missionaries and invited them to dinner. And this idea is supported by a Latin and Syriac text of Matt. 20:28 which adds a command by Jesus to his disciples on missionary work about where to sit when invited to diner. So we should eat any thing without question on the grounds of conscience. For what goes into the mouth can not defile us but it is what comes out of the mouth can defile us. Thus he declared all foods clean.


14) Jesus said to them, "If you fast [from the Word of God (instead of the world)], you will give rise to sin for yourselves [you will slide back into your old ways]; and if you pray [in your carnal mind while continuing in your sins], you will be condemned [by the very Word you are praying about (most pray for worldly things)]; and if you give alms [as opposed to the Keys of Knowledge - see v.38 - or to be seen of and glorified by men], you will do harm to your spirits [by focusing on physical needs instead of spiritual]. #When you go into any [far away] land [meaning later down the road in time] and walk about in the districts [denominations of Christendom], if they receive you, eat what they will set before you [whatever they use as authority to teach that you might try their spirits and determine their condition], and heal [restore what was hidden from them - the mystery] the [spiritually] sick among them. ###For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth [if contrary to the Word] - it is that which will defile you [we are all judged by what we say and do]." 

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