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Stewardship and Dispensations:

The Significance of Οικονομός and Οικονομία

The sixty-six books of the Bible span thousands of years of human history and beyond. They begin before God created man and end with the creation of new heavens and a new earth where righteousness settles down and feels at ease^[1]. Within the pages of the Bible, we see changes in God’s relationship and standard for mankind and the failure of mankind to live up to God’s expectation, which ultimately brings judgment. In the Garden of Eden, Adam was not allowed to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil^[2]. Upon eating the fruit from this tree, his spirit was separated from God^[3], he became subject to physical death, and he was expelled from the garden^[4]. Having been expelled from the garden, God’s expectation for humans was for them to properly govern the manner of their lives by the knowledge of good and evil, now that they possessed it. However, again, men failed, and God judged the earth by bringing a flood^[5]. After the flood, God instructed Noah that men are to govern themselves and that capital punishment is to be implemented^[6]. Again, men fail to follow God’s instruction, reject God, and seek their own way. Therefore, God brought judgment and forced man to separate and spread across the earth^[7]. This judgment brought about multiple languages and the division of the continents, which caused man to spread out across the earth^[8].  Having scattered man across the face of the earth, God then approaches Abram and ultimately offers him four covenants^[9]. These covenants included a promise of land that Abraham and his descendants […]

1 Peter

Peter an Apostle belonging to Jesus Christ, to the elect strangers of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia dispersed according to the foreknowledge of God even the Father, by the sanctification of the Spirit because of obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace is to you and may possibly peace be multiplied.

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is well-spoken of, who birthed us again according to His great mercy into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ out from the dead, into an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance, which is kept in the heaven for you, the ones who God’s natural ability is guarding through faith into a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, in which you rejoice, since it is necessary for a little while to suffer in various trials, in order that the approval of your faith – more precious than gold even gold that has been approved by fire –  should be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love, in whom now not seeing but you are believing, rejoicing with an inexpressible joy. And you will rejoice when you are in a state of having been glorified, having receiving the end of your faith; the salvation of the soul.

Concerning which salvation the prophets sought out and diligently searched, the ones who prophesied concerning the grace unto you, searching into what person or what time the Spirit from Christ by them declared, having before testified of the suffering unto Christ and the things concerning the glories to follow, to whom it was revealed that not to themselves but to us they were serving in these things now announced to you through those who declare the good news to you by the Holy Spirit, having been sent from heaven, into which angels desire to stoop to look.

Therefore, gird up the loins of your understanding (workings of your mind), being clear […]

1 Thessalonians

Paul and Silas and Timothy to the assembly of Thessalonica in God the Father and The Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace is to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We give thanks to God always concerning all of you, making mention of you upon our communication of worship, constantly remembering your work of faith and the toil of love, and the patience of hope of our Lord Jesus Christ before God our Father, intuitively knowing, beloved brothers, your election from God, because our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in natural ability, and by the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, just as you intuitively know such as we became among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and the Lord, having received the Word in much tribulation with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you have become an example to all those believing in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you the Word of the Lord has been sounded not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in all places your faith before God has gone out, so that we have no need to speak anything, for they themselves announce what sort of entrance we had towards you and how you turned to God from idols to serve the true and living God and to wait for His Son out from the heavens, who was raised out from the dead, Jesus, our deliverer out from the wrath to come.

For you yourselves intuitively know, brothers, our entrance to you, that it did not come to be empty, but having suffered and been mistreated, just as you intuitively know in Philippi, […]