For it is said: "You are bought dear price, do not become slaves of men ... ".

GOSPEL

Jesus Christ (Savior)

Pricefollowing Christ

If someone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and, moreover, his life itself, he cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:26).

For you are bought at a dear price

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? So, will I take the members from Christ in order to make their members of the harlot? Yes it won't! Or do you not know that he who mates with a harlot becomes one body with her? for it is said: the two will be one flesh. And he who unites with the Lord is one spirit with the Lord. Flee fornication; every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body. Do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit living in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls, which are the essence of God (1 Cor. 6: 15-20).

You are bought at a price , do not become slaves of men. In what title someone is called, brethren, in that is everyone and remain before God (1 Cor. 7: 23-24).

Price per person

The price of man is the blood of Christ. For it is said: "you were bought at a price, do not become slaves of men" (1 Cor. 7:23).

"The price for a person is the blood of Christ"

The words led. Vasily: The price for a person is the blood of Christ: you, he says, were bought at a price, do not be slaves to men. The warriors of the wicked thought to make this price useless to us, again introducing us once freed into slavery. Cyril: The demons almost deprived us of reason itself (which is the honor of man), forcing us to worship trees and stones, so that they say about us: a man who was in honor did not understand. Theodoret: it is an honor for the godly to serve God. Nameless interpreter: Virtue and piety are the honor of the wise, as it is said: Glory and honor and peace to everyone who does

May it be fulfilled what was said through the prophet Isaiah: “He Himself took upon Himself (to take away) our infirmities, weakness, and bore our diseases (Matthew 8:17,

He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, so that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness: by His stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24).

"By His stripes you healed" - this is not Promise. It is a fact. This has already happened. Jesus took sickness from you, and by His stripes you were healed.

"For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power - it is effective, prompt, full of energy and effective."(Hebrews 4:12, Extended Bible Translation).

The words spoken by the mouth of God are forever established in heaven. Having said once, He said forever. His words never die or lose their power.

"And God said: let there be lights in the firmament of heaven, to separate day from night"(Genesis 1:14). He does not need to get up every day at four o'clock in the morning and command the sun to rise and shine! The Word that He spoke at the creation of the world remains alive and full of power, giving the result that is needed.

Throughout time, the Words of God spoken on that day continue to rule the sun, moon, and stars in their function of illuminating the earth. Because of His mighty words: "Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven"- they dare not stop shining.

His Word came out of His mouth, commanding the lights to appear in heaven. His command is still valid and will remain so until He changes it.

The Word of your healing came out of His mouth. This Word continues to be effective.

Human unable to change it. Many have tried and even said that healing is out of date. But God says that Jesus took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses, and by His stripes we were healed.

The Word of God is alive!

God is watching His Word to be fulfilled.

He is constantly vigilant over His Word for it to be fulfilled. Now God is speaking to you. This Word of healing has the power to accomplish the purpose for which it was sent — to heal your body.

As if Jesus calls you by name and says: "I took your sickness and bore your infirmities, and by My stripes you were healed."

When you saw this in the Word of God, you heard from God! Your healing is just as plausible and true as if Jesus personally appeared to you and said this.

Ponder and confess these verses on Christ's substitutionary sacrifice until the reality of your healing literally dominates your mind and body.

Accept Jesus as Healer

Decide to live in divine health just as you chose to accept Jesus as Savior. Decide to be healthy.

Just as salvation is offered to anyone who desires, so healing is to anyone who desires.

Greek word "Sozo"Translated as "the rescue" in Romans 10: 9, it is the same word that translates to "healing" in the Gospels.

In Mark 5:23, Jairus said to Jesus: “Come and lay your hands on her for her to get well (sozo); and stayed alive. " To the woman who was bleeding, Jesus said: “Dare, daughter! Your faith saved (sozo) you "(Matthew 9:22).

When Jesus rose from the dead, He bought you health for your spirit, soul and body. You have become healthy.

Right now, by faith, confess Jesus as your Healer, just as you acknowledged Him as Lord of your life. Recognize Jesus as Lord of your body according to Romans 10:10: “According to the Word of God, with my lips I confess that Jesus is Lord. I confess Him as my Healer. I acknowledge Him as Lord of my body. In my heart I believe that God raised Him from the dead. From this moment on, my body is saved, healed, healthy and liberated. "

Resist the temptation to be sick just as you resist the temptation to sin. It may seem oversimplified, but it works because the Word of God says: "Resist the devil and he will flee from you"(James 4: 7).

Satan is the source of disease. When Satan tries to force sickness on you, refuse it in Jesus name.

Your illness is contrary to the will of God.

As soon as Satan tempts you with sickness, turn to 1 Peter 2:24 and read it aloud.

Accept it by faith and thank God that by His stripes you are healed.

You will have the opportunity stand in the freedom that Christ has given you. With His name, His Word, His Spirit, and Jesus as your Healer, you can enjoy divine health.

Believe what you accept

To receive results, you must believe that you are receiving your healing. when you pray, not after you have recovered.

You should be like Abraham and not think about your body, but take into account what God says (Romans 4:20).

Symptoms of illness may not go away immediately after you believe you are receiving your healing. It is at this point that you need to hold fast to the fearless confession of the Word.

“Therefore, do not give up your fearless confidence, for it will have a great and glorious reward. For you need constant patience and endurance in order to fulfill and completely fulfill the will of God, and to accept, take away and fully enjoy what is promised. "(Hebrews 10: 35-36, Extended Bible Translation).

Don't let Satan steal your fearless confidence in God's Word. So they walk by faith, not by sight.

E. W. Kenyon teaches that there are three witnesses in receiving healing: the Word of God, pain, or illness, and yourself. The decision is yours. If you confess illness, you will cross out the Word of God that says you are healed. If you reconcile your confession with the Word of God, then you will erase the disease.

The Bible teaches that by the mouth of two witnesses every deed will be firm. The choice is yours. Agree with the pain, and the disease will prevail. But dare to agree with the Word of God, and healing will be established. Circumstances will follow your actions and confessions.

Be firm and patient in the knowledge that the Word of God cannot be defeated. Refuse to be moved by what you see. The Word of God will change what you see. Be moved by the Word of God and your confession of Jesus as a Healer.

Satan tried to tell you that you are not saved. He comes to newly converted Christians with doubts about their salvation. Now his symptoms of pain or fever are trying to convince you that you are not healed. Hold fast to the knowledge of His Word.

Jesus said to the courtier, "Thy son is healthy," and the Word of God says that from now on youth began to recover.

When you believe that you receive your healing, you can be healed instantly, which means you have to act according to the covenant of healing even if your body does not feel healed.

Know one thing: when you believe that you are receiving healing, it begins to take place in your body. God would not have kept His covenant without healing you when you fulfilled the conditions of that covenant.

You learn to depend on the Word of God, not on what you feel or see. This is how faith works. You become the person of faith that you want to be.

Your faith grows stronger when you use it to fulfill the Word of God.

As you learn to resist Satan and his symptoms, you see that it gets easier and easier, but there is no formula that will be effective unless you continually strain the power of faith by feeding on the Word of God.

If you continually feed on the Word of God, there will come a time when you just turn to 1 Peter 2:24, apply the Word that you are healed, thank God for His Word of healing and get back to your business.

Now, as I revise and edit this book, more than twenty years after it was written, I want to give you these Scriptures and show you how I use them today.

John and Doddy Austin, pastors of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, have been good friends of ours for many years. Many years ago, doctors diagnosed Doddy with liver cancer. The doctors were powerless. So Doddy decided to leave the hospital. For several years, Doddy took the Word of God the way you usually take your prescribed medicine. She fed herself with the Word of God.

There were certain Scriptures that she “accepted” every day. Whatever happened to her, she accepted these scriptures into her mind, heart and body. Today she is completely healed of cancer, as, indeed, for many years.

The scriptures below are from the list she was using at the time. To these I added a few of mine, which I used to heal my body.

Take this list and add to it any other scriptures about healing that build your faith. When you stand for healing, do not miss a day without taking the medicine of God's Word inside. If the situation is serious, do this several times a day. I speak these scriptures out loud so that I can not only see but also hear these words - this is how the Word of God gets into your heart. You can take this medicine when you are healthy to stay healthy.

Exodus 15:26, Exodus 23:25, Deuteronomy 30: 19-20, Joshua 21:45, 1 Kings 8:56, Psalm 90: 15-16, Psalm 102: 2-6, Psalm 106: 20- 21, Proverbs 4: 20-24, Isaiah 40: 29-31, Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 53: 4-5, Jeremiah 1:12, Jeremiah 30:17, Matthew 8: 16-17, Matthew 18: 18- 19, Matthew 21:21, Mark 11: 23-24

Deuteronomy 7:15, Deuteronomy 28: 1-14,61, Mark 16: 17-18, John 10:10, Romans 4: 17-21, Romans 8:11, 2 Corinthians 10: 3-6, Galatians 3 : 13, Ephesians 6: 10-17, Philippians 1: 6, Philippians 2: 13-14, Hebrews 10:23, 35-38, Hebrews 11: 1,11 Hebrews 13: 8, James 5: 14-15, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 5: 14-15, Revelation 12:11

PLACE OF SCRIPTURE:

"Jesus, having compassion on him, stretched out his hand, touched him and said to him: I want to be cleansed." (Mark 1:41).

IT IS NECESSARY TO REMEMBER:

You have a covenant with God that includes divine health. Believe what you receive when you pray and before you see what you ask for, because the WORD of God says the answer is already yours. And according to what Jesus said, you will receive whatever you want from Heavenly Father.

If you continually feed on the WORD of God, you will come to a position where, by referring to the record in 1 Peter 2:24, you can activate the WORD of God that says that you were healed; thank God for His WORD of healing and then go about your business.

CONFESSION:

I believe that Jesus is the LORD and that He rose from the dead for me. I believe that He purchased my redemption. This atonement includes divine healing and health.
Therefore, I confess Jesus as my healer. I accept Him as the LORD of my body. I believe with all my heart that God raised Him from the dead. From this moment on, my body is saved, healed, made whole and delivered. The imperishable seed of the WORD of God works mightily in me. I believe what is written in 1 Peter 2:24, and when the symptoms come against my body, I stand on the mighty WORD of God that says, "By His stripes you were healed." I refuse to let the symptoms remain in my body. Jesus bore my sickness and ailments. Since He has already paid the price for them on the cross, I am redeemed from every curse of the law and completely healed and whole, now and forever!

CHAPTER 5

The will of God is love

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another; as I have loved you, so you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another "(John 13: 34-35).

It is God's will that all believers are marked with His love. The world does not see love between the believer and the Father, but the world sees the love of believers for each other. You have been given the love of God to love your brothers.

The carnal person is selfish, but when you are born again, this selfishness gives way to the love of God. "This new kind of love is the nature of God that man is endowed with when he is born again."

Only the Father and His children have the power and ability to act in this kind of love. This is the love of God and the word used here is a translation of the Greek word Agape. This word is used only to denote love in connection with the family of God.

"For God gave us the spirit, not fear, but strength and love and chastity."(2 Timothy 1: 7). God gave us the Spirit of love. “... the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, given to us”(Romans 5: 5).

"He who does not love has not known God, because God is love"(1 John 4: 8). This kind of love, the love of God, is not what you do; it is who you are. “And put on the new man, created according to God; in the righteousness and holiness of truth "(Ephesians 4:24). God is love, and you are re-created in His image. Your new nature is agape love. You are the love of God.

What an honor that God chose to make us His love. No wonder Jesus said that all people recognize us by this new love! Such love was not shown in this world until Jesus came in the flesh. This world did not contemplate the love of God until the Lord came into it.

The world today will not see the love of God until believers learn to walk in the fullness of this mighty power.

The world is hungry for love. God created man for love. The greatest desire of every person is to be loved and taken care of, and this desire can only be satisfied through the love of God.

This hunger for love is the main cause of mental disorders, physical illness and all kinds of ills in humanity. Without love, people are unhappy and cannot satisfy this inner hunger. (Anxiety leads to illness.)

All people on earth were created for the love of God. You are open door into the love of God for the people with whom you communicate. What honor has the Father bestowed upon you by giving you the ability and right to love, and to be loved His love.

Jesus Himself gave you personally a new commandment to love: "Love one another as I have loved you"(John 15:12).

We are commanded to love as Jesus did. “As the Father loved Me, I also loved you; abide in my love "(John 15: 9). Jesus loved as the Father loved, now we must love as Jesus loved.

If you could not keep this commandment, He would not give it to you. This is the law of the new creation. “Love does no harm to one's neighbor; so love is the fulfillment of the law "(Romans 13:10). Love fulfills the whole law. Note that love is here as a living being. Believer there is love. The believer does no harm to his neighbor. When you obey the law of God's family love, you are doing God's perfect will in your life!

“Faith begins where the love of God is known” 2. As you learn about God's type of love from the Word of God, the power of faith rises in you to live a life of love.

The world's notions of love are no match for love. Agape. This is a poor imitation of the love of God. "Agape" surpasses human understanding. You must find out what God says about His love.

From the Word of God you will learn what kind of love it is, and then you will be able to show the world the love that you have become in Christ Jesus.

This is love

For this is love for God, so that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not heavy (1 John 5: 3).

Love consists in the fact that we live and walk in accordance with the guidance of His commandments: His commands, decrees, regulations, teaching. This is the commandment that you heard from the beginning - that you walk in love - being led by it and following it (2 John 6, Extended Bible Translation).

God says that His love is keeping His commandments, walking according to His teachings. So love loses its uncertainty and becomes obvious, and you can know how to love as He loves Himself. God gave us a textbook on love, written in black and white! Obedience to the Word of God is walking in the love of God.

If you are born again, then you are the love of God by nature. When you are born of God, faith is born in you, but until you start to act according to the Word of God, this powerful force will be inactive in you. The same applies to the love of God. The love of God may be within you, but you cannot allow that love to work through you and reach other people. Faith and love become effective through the knowledge of the Word of God.

"And I pray that your love will grow even more and more in knowledge and every feeling"(Philippians 1: 9).

The love of God is released in your life when you act according to the knowledge of the Word of God. Love does not manifest without inner knowledge, and selfishness still reigns in the new creation.

Perfect love

“But whoever keeps His word, in him truly is the love of God perfected, or perfect: from this we know that we are in Him. Whoever says that he abides in Him must do as He did "(1 John 2: 5-6).

As you walk in the Word of God, the love of God is perfected in you. Through His Word, the Holy Spirit manifests in you the nature of the Father's love. As you hold onto the message of love, love will begin to flow from you to other people.

The love of God is not what the world thinks sweet. The love of God is obedience to Love Itself through submission to the teaching of His Word.

The measure of how carefully you cultivate in walking in love is the measure of how you are doing God's perfect will. The Bible teaches us that faith works through love. An answer to prayer is almost impossible when a believer refuses to forgive or is at odds with a brother.

At the beginning of the chapter on love, the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians, the Word of God says that other tongues are an empty sound if you do not have love. If someone has the gift of prophecy, he knows everything, and he has enough faith to move mountains, then without love he is still nothing. If he gives everything that he has to the poor and even sacrifices his life, but does not have the love of God, he will gain nothing.

Without love, your giving is useless. Languages ​​and prophecies don't work. Faith and knowledge are sterile. All the truths you learn from the Word of God work with love. They will do you little good if you do not live in the love of God.

Agape love

Love is hardy, patient and kind; love never envies and does not boil with jealousy; she is not boastful or vain, does not flaunt herself. She is not complacent — not arrogant or puffed up with pride; she is not rude (no bad manners) and does not behave obscenely. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its rights or its own, because it does not seek its own; she is not touchy, does not get irritated and does not remember evil; she does not take into account the harm done to her - does not pay attention to the injustice suffered. She does not rejoice in injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when justice and truth prevail. Love endures everything and is always ready to believe in the best about every person, its hope does not fade under any circumstances, it endures everything without weakening. Love never fails - does not fade, does not wear out, and never fails (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, Extended Bible Translation).

You are a creation of love. You can live a life of love. God not only re-created your spirit in the image of love, but also sent His Spirit of love into you so that He would live in you and teach you how to love as He loves.

Become sensitive to love by confessing and fulfilling God's Word of love. As you meditate on these Scriptures, imagine yourself living a life of love. Read them aloud by inserting “I” instead of “love”.

I am hardy, patient and kind; I never envy or seethe with jealousy; I am not boastful or vain, I do not flaunt myself.

I'll make a reservation right away - what will be discussed in this note, does not apply to all priests of the Orthodox Church and ... And by no means a complaint, but just an attempt to understand the problem and its causes. And this thought arose after reading 1 Cor. 7:23: "You are bought at a dear price, do not become slaves of men." .
The fact is that a person cannot but be a slave in principle. A slave in the Gospel sense of this word: 2 Pet. 2:19 - “They promise them freedom, being themselves slaves decay; for, who by whom defeated, that to that and slave». Homo sapiens cannot be called invincible, because too much has power over him. One who is obsessed with the thought of freedom is a slave to freedom. One who cannot cope with desire is a slave to desire. One who seeks to conquer the world, a slave to the idea of ​​conquering the world. These are facts. There is not a single completely free carnal person, and there cannot be, otherwise he would not be able to adapt to anything and, naturally, exist in the environment. Is this the norm?
Strange as it may seem, no, because such a master as the world will not give his freedom just like that, and it will not work out in it forever - he himself is not eternal. On the other hand, a person should not die along with the world. So, there is only one way out - to adhere from him to such a Lord, whose yoke is good and easy, and life with Him can be eternal. Of course, every Christian who is familiar with the text of the Gospel of Matthew will understand who I am talking about :).
So, everything seems to be clear here - if you want not to be a slave to every creature, become a servant of God, follow Him with active faith, and you will be saved. This is also quite a difficult task, and alone it is hardly feasible. Therefore, soon after the Ascension of the Lord, the holy apostles go into the world - people on whom the neophytes can lean as on the pillars of the Church, because they will inevitably stumble on the narrow path to God. But this became the lot of not only the saints of the first times. There are always new converts, and therefore saints, saints, righteous shepherds come into the world, whose obedience to God is to lead to Him those who cannot find their way on their own. Or go behind the whole flock, admitting yourself unworthy, in order to keep an eye on every sheep, and thus fulfill the words of Christ: "Who wants between you to be big, Yes will to you a servant, and who wants to be the first, Yes will to you slave" (Matt 20,26-27). And there are also not holy successors of these shepherds of Christ's flock, but, nevertheless, grace-filled and having the apostolic ordination.
In any case, the shepherd must be the first, because otherwise the flock will not obey. But the championship can be very different. One can strive to be the first in humility, meekness, pleasing one's neighbor - this is correct, commendable and in a Christian way. Or you can allow yourself to be made an idol and excel as a leader: "I want - I give a blessing, I want - I will bless you; but you do this, and you do that; but I don’t bless you at all now, shut your mouth.” Not in condemnation, but in reasoning, but in comparison with such "parish ideals", medieval Roman pontiffs simply rest. This cohort can be counted among the Young Elders, but someday the conversation about them will be separate and more detailed.
And now a few words about the terrible modern ulcer Orthodox Church under the name "priests-idols". It, like any serious illness, is terrible not so much by itself as by the consequences. The lethal outcome is the transformation of the community into a mini-sect that calls itself Orthodox.
Of course, I am not a seer physician, so I can hardly correctly describe all the syndromes of the disease called "the deification of a shepherd" in scientific language. Here are just a few examples.
The girl buys herself a blouse, brings it to show her confessor. He, after a critical glance, declares that, they say, seductive and good for nothing. Arriving home, the faithful child burns it.
Another girl, with the blessing of the priest, the acting chairman of the community, calls him and in tears complains that her brother from the same community offends her, just wipes her feet on her. The priest calmly says: "Well, be patient, it is good for your humility." The ridicule and humiliation continue, because, apparently, it is only necessary to humble her, and his behavior does not need pastoral correction. I hope that by the Grace of God he will not suffer, because: « Grief the world from temptations, for one must come temptations; but sorrow to that a person across whom temptation comes (Matthew 18: 7). Although, in his understanding, if a wife in the Church should be silent (is it always, if we take into account the example of the holy equal-to-the-apostles wives who preached Christ everywhere?), Then shutting her up is a good deed. Well, everyone interprets it differently.
And finally, a third example. After the parishioners completed one obedience together and the last step was left to bring the matter to the end, the priest suddenly decided that the community was not ready for its completion. As a result, she is still struggling with the same long-standing problems that could be easily solved if the case were finished. But, apparently, the Orthodox are much more ready for these familiar problems than for dealing with them and moving on to more important things. Father said, "truncated".
All this is accompanied by the endless repetition of the phrases by parishioners: "And father N said ...", "And father N did not bless ...". Obedience is very good. But if the reference to the opinion of Father N sounds more often than to the Holy Scriptures, then this is alarming. I would like to say - people, have pity on the priest, do not make an idol out of him! Introduce a person into such a temptation, and he is not iron, so as not to succumb to him.

I recall a fragment of a conversation on this topic with my confessor.
I AM: “Father, why is it like this with us? A priest is the same person as everyone else, isn't he?
Father: Undoubtedly. But only if you can still hear from a worldly person: "Excuse me, I was wrong," then do not approach the majority of priests with their aplomb. And there are very few exceptions.

He also said then that no one should be condemned in this situation. I won't. I will simply repeat once again a humble prayer, and not only mine: brothers and sisters, be merciful to the priests, do not impose on them a whole legion of slaves of their opinion. After all, it's too hard to be an idol ...

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1 Corinthians 6

1 How dare anyone among you, when dealing with another, to plead with the wicked, and not with the saints?
2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge unimportant matters?
3 Do you not know that we will judge the angels, how much more the deeds of life?
4 And you, when you have worldly disputes, set as your judges those who do not mean anything in the church.
5 To your shame I say, is there really not one wise man among you who can judge among his brothers?
6 But brother and brother are suing, and, moreover, before the unbelievers.
7 And it is already very humiliating for you that you have litigations with one another. Why would you rather not be offended? why would you rather not endure hardship?
8 But you yourself offend and take away, and, moreover, from the brothers.
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor malas, nor soddlers,
10 Neither thieves, nor covetous people, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor predators, will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you; but were washed, but were sanctified, but were justified by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
12 Everything is lawful to me, but not everything is profitable; everything is permissible for me, but nothing should possess me.
13 Food for the belly, and the belly for food; but God will destroy both. The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
14 God raised the Lord, He will raise us up also by His power.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ to make them the members of a harlot? Yes it won't!
16 Or do you not know that he who mates with a harlot becomes one body with her? for it is said: the two will be one flesh.
17 And he who unites with the Lord is one spirit with the Lord.
18 Flee fornication; every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body.
19 Do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, which dwells in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 For you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls, which are the essence of God.