TRANSPARENCY #19

Jesus said, "There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept My words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him in the last day."(Jn. 12:48)(N.I.V.) Jesus also said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall pass away."(Lk. 21:33)(K.J.V.) He said, "...He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life..."(Jn. 5:24)(K.J.V.) And He said, "...If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed."(Jn. 8:31)(K.J.V.)
Jesus' words did not disappear when He left the earth. He told His disciples He would send "...the Comforter..."(Jn. 16:7)(K.J.V.) And the Holy Spirit, He told them, "...will guide you into all truth..." "...whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak..."(Jn. 16:13)(K.J.V.)
Paul would later say, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..."(Col. 3:16)(K.J.V.) And James wrote, "...be ye doers of the word...'(Ja. 1:22)(K.J.V.) It is no wonder, after what Jesus had said about the Holy Spirit guiding them that Paul would later say, "...take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."(Eph. 6:17)(K.J.V.)
The Holy Spirit continued to convey the will of Jesus in words. And these words, if one truly knows Jesus, are more than just statements of doctrine or theology, or development of models for worship or church polity. These words go to the center of what kind of people Christians should be and how they should treat one another. Jesus' life depicted that and His words direct us to that way of life.
In these few writings I have done I have attempted to define the negative ways folks treat one another by pointing to the use of words by the Holy Spirit that teach such things. The confessional transparency of brothers, it seems, means very little to some. And the directives of the Holy Spirit prove that without a shadow of a doubt.
In this last writing on this subject I hope simply to summarize the negative ways the Holy Spirit says men treat one another.
Again, I give credit to Spiros Zodhiates for the definitions of the words. There are numerous other lexicographers who could have been referred to like Thayer, Arndt and Gingrich, etc. It would be hard to estimate how long it took to do this study. Zodhiates' Word Study is about 1500 pages long and I literally went through every letter of the Greek alphabet from alpha to omega selecting the negative ways one can treat another. I know it took weeks if not months to do this. If one person is converted from the error of negativism and looking down a self-righteous nose at others and mistreating transparent brothers the effort will have been worth it.
So in capsule form here are the ways some treat others' transparency.

"destroy" "consume" "wish evil against" "curse" "defraud" "hurt" "treat with indignity" "pretend" "extortion" "ungentle" "unmerciful" "not compassionate" "deceitful" "damage" "harm" "burdensome" "slander" "to hurt reputation or smite with reports or words" "verbal abuse against someone" "destroying one's good name" "contention" "false accuser" "perjurer" "to swear falsely" "throw out" "hostility" "enmity" "misuse" "accuse falsely" "love of strife" "rivalry" "avenger" "treat with scorn" "bursts of anger" "afflict" "trouble" "jealousy" "envy" "to judge" "fraud" "to go to law" "hinder" "wish anyone evil or ruin" "to speak against" "slander" "to speak evil of" "pronounce sentence against" "oppress harshly" "give judgment against" "injury" "malice" "prone to anger" "wrath as an outburst of a vengeful mind" "to hate" "active ill will" "reproach" "one depriving another of his property openly" "take advantage of someone" "defrauder for gain" "be a busybody" "shrewdness" "the employment of any means necessary to reach an end" "accuse falsely" "unjust" "proud" "highminded" "to make a secret agreement" "persecuter of others" "to act spitefully" "evil statements" "pain felt at the sight of excellence" "to overflow with talk" "and idle or triffling tattler" "to speak deceitfully" "lying or false witness" "a lie" "a secret slander" "whispering" "showing special favors...to the influential in order to gain personal advantage and profit" "a person who is eager to gain even if such gain degrades his character" "refuses to lay aside...enmity or to listen to terms of reconciliation"

In conclusion, the Greek word "ought" also speaks directly to the characters of above repute.
"...if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."(I Jn. 4:11)(K.J.V.)
"He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked."(I Jn. 2:6)(K.J.V.)
"...we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard..."(Heb. 2:1)(K.J.V.)
"...ye ought rather to forgive him..."(II Cor. 2:7)(K.J.V.)
"We...ought to bear the infirmities of the weak..."(Ro. 15:1)(K.J.V.)
"...to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think...'(Ro. 12:3)(K.J.V.)
"...we ought to obey God rather than men."(Acts 5:29)(K.J.V.)
"...justice, mercy and faithfulness...You ought to have practiced..."(Mt. 23:23)(N.I.V.)
"...tattlers...and busy bodies...speaking things which they ought not..."(I Tim. 5:13)(K.J.V.)
"Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren these things ought not so to be."(Ja. 3:10)(K.J.V.)