“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 3:1
When you read the Book of Acts, do you see the same Church as seen in the world today? It seems to me that today there is more of the world in the Church than Church in the world. The church of our time, in many ways, is much different than the Church of the New Testament. There seems to be a power outage in the Church today. The empowerment of the Holy Spirit often seems absent. How can we assess ourselves? How do we know if we need to be empowered by the baptism with the Holy Spirit? Yes, there are differences between us today and those of our company who were first baptized with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What are we going to do about that?
But we should also recognize that there are some likenesses between todays’ Church and the Church of the past. The early Church wasn’t perfect. There was plenty of division, plenty of the world in the Church. The same is true of the Church today. We haven’t grown spiritually or learned from past mistakes or miss-steps. We see too many Annanias’ and Sapphira’s, but not too many of them are being called out for their carnality. Certainly few if any are judged and dropping dead in churches. It would seem that the good examples we should be following from the Church of Acts we are not following, and the bad examples, those we are following. Maybe its because humanity, even those who are born again of the Spirit, continue the age-old struggle with indwelling sin. Is victory possible? Can we become more like Jesus; like the many named and nameless Spirit-filled brothers and sisters of Christ? Only God knows. But we owe it to our Savior to at least try to live holier lives for His glory. We owe it to Jesus to show our appreciation for all He has done, is doing, and will do for us. Living holy Spirit-filled lives is how we do that.
How do we know if we need to be empowered by a baptism with the Holy Spirit? We may be a Christian and in full possession of the Spirit received at conversion, but we may also feel as though something is missing. What are the signs of spiritual weakness and that we need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit?
Signs of Spiritual Weakness – The Flesh -The Corinthian Example
In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians he is inspired early in the letter to make the following comments:
1 Corinthians 3:1-4 – “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?”
Notice first that Paul refers to these people at Corinth as “brethren” (1 Corinthians 3:1). These were people who had accepted Christ as their Savior and were a part of the body of Christ. But there was definitely something wrong with the Corinthian believers and Paul identified it as being “carnal.”
The word “carnal” is translated from the Greek term SARKIKOS (Strong’s #4559 – sar-kee-kos´) which means, “pertaining to flesh, . . . bodily, temporal, . . . animal, unregenerate . . . carnal, fleshly.” [1] This word is derived from the root word “flesh” which in the original language is SARX (Strong’s # 4561 – sarx) meaning, “flesh.” This can refer to the actual flesh and skin of an animal or human. But more importantly, it refers to “the body as opposed to the soul [or spirit], . . . human nature” with its limitations and passions. [2] Your “flesh,” spiritually speaking, is that part of you that is self-oriented, self-centered, self-promoting, self-serving, preoccupied with self, self-reliant, the “me,” ‘myself,” and “I” of our nature as it is in opposition to the work of the Spirit in us (Romans 7).
The recipients of First Corinthians were definitely Christians (1 Corinthians 1:4-9; 6:9-12). The problem that Paul was identifying was that these Christians were acting more like unbelievers than Spirit-filled disciples. To be “carnal” is to be worldly oriented. To be carnal means your priorities, purposes, pleasures, and prizes are in line with a worldly perspective of things. Furthermore, a carnal person relies on their own strength, their own wisdom, their own understanding rather than on the Spirit’s leading and empowering. A carnal person is one who is self-reliant and seeks selfish, self-promoting, self-centered things. Unfortunately, this is an apt description of much of the Church today.
This passage in 1 Corinthians 3 gives us several signs of the carnal spiritually weak believer who needs a baptism with the Holy Spirit. What are these signs?
First, the carnal spiritually weak person in need of a baptism with the Holy Spirit is unwilling to receive the truth of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:1b). Paul said, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people . . .” Paul could not talk to them about the things of the Spirit. They were unwilling, their flesh, or sarx, tried to shut out anything that would challenge its rule, especially things of the Spirit. It is the flesh that rationalizes and redirects that sent by the Spirit to correct and root out sinful self in the believer. The flesh wars against the Spirit (Romans 8:5-13; Galatians 5:16-26). Such a person sits in church and when the Spirit seeks to do spiritual surgery on them to cut our cancerous flesh with the scalpel of God’s word, the hand of the flesh pushes the scalpel away by rationalization of one kind or another. This is the person who never sees that they may be the one the Lord is speaking to; they always assume what is being taught or said is for someone else not for them. Such people are polluted with the sin of prideful self and therefore, like Paul said, are not willing to receive a word from the Spirit.
Second, the carnal spiritually weak person in need of a baptism with the Holy Spirit is immature in their faith (1 Corinthians 3:1-3a). Paul describes such a person as a “babe.” Interestingly, the word “babe” here is translated from the Greek term NEPIOS (Strong’s # 3516 nay´-pee-os) which refers to a pre-verbal infant or, “a simple-minded person, an immature Christian . . . babe, child (-ish).” [3] Paul did not use this term to express the idea that the Corinthians were cute. Babies are cute, at birth and in the early stages of development. But should that person remain babyish and pre-verbal as they reach an older age of say 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, and onward, that becomes a tragic situation of retarded development. The Corinthians were not growing spiritually and that was not cute or pretty, it was tragic. A major sign of a carnal Christian is that they are not growing spiritually. How about you, as you look back at the end of the year and review where you were at the same point a year ago and where you are now, do you see growth, maturity, advancement in your walk with the Lord? Are you eating and digesting solid spiritual food, or are you still on milk, still on baby food? (Hebrews 2:1-3; 6:1-3). If not perhaps you need to do some self-examination and get more serious with the Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Third, the carnal spiritually weak person in need of a baptism with the Holy Spirit is envious (1 Corinthians 3:3b). The idea here is one given to jealousy, one who often compares themselves to others and proudly negates good in others. (Strong’s # 2205 – dzay´-los). [4] The carnal person looks at relationships from a worldly dog-eat-dog perspective with an eye to manipulate, use and if necessary abuse others to rise above them in status and position. The Bible says if we compare ourselves with anyone it should be ourselves (Galatians 6:3-4). Compare your own progress over a period of time. Ultimately we should seek to be like Jesus (Romans 8:29; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:6). If you’re going to play the envy game, compare yourself with Jesus.
Fourth, the carnal spiritually weak person in need of a baptism with the Holy Spirit is given to strife (1 Corinthians 3:3c). When we have that envious attitude it always leads to friction and strife with those around us. Envy is a very fleshly sore in our spirit. The word “strife” means to be given to quarrels, debating and wrangling (ERIS – Strong’s # 2054). [5] Such a person is always looking to pick a fight in some way. They are negative and opposing. These are the people who always look to twist what is said to create a debate over some issue, real or imagined so that they can show themselves knowledgeable. Later Paul tells the Corinthians that knowledge puffs up, but love edifies (1 Corinthians 8:1). We ought to speak the truth in love, not simply nitpick and quarrel with those around us (Ephesians 4:15,29). The servant of the Lord who is mature is not to be quarrelsome but rather looking to teach and edify those around them (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
Fifth, the carnal spiritually weak person in need of a baptism with the Holy Spirit is divisive (1 Corinthians 3:3d-4). Envy and a quarreling spirit inevitably led to divisions because it puts people on the defensive. There is a constructive and destructive way to deal with differing opinions and issues in the body of Christ (Galatians 6:1). It is true that sometimes those who refuse to receive the truth need to separate from those who do. When Peter stated that we should have a fervent love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins, he did not at all mean that the body of Christ should overlook heresy and welcome cults and false teachings into the church (1 Peter 4:8; 2 John 7-11; Jude 3). But what is sad is when the body of Christ divides over non-essentials, over carpet colors, pews or chairs, service times, et.al. When that happens it is a sure sign the flesh is in control and God’s name is tarnished as the world looks on and laughs as well as does Satan.
Sarx!
Onomatopoeia refers to when a word sounds like what it is describing. Sarx is such a word. I like the word sarx to describe the fleshly nature of the Christian. Doesn’t it just sound like what it refers to? Say it out loud, “sarx!” It makes you think of something that clogs up, like hair and soap scum that clogs a shower drain. Sarx! The stuff that clogs one’s arteries. Sarx! The filthy thing that clings to you like chewed discarded gum off the street. Sarx! The tar-like goo that sticks to your shoes. Sarx! Something you step in that you wish you hadn’t stepped in. The word sarx is the perfect word to refer to that ugly, sticky, disgusting aspect of humanity that clogs you up and opposes the Spirit’s work in and through us.
The Greek word for “spiritual” is pnĕumatikŏs. I really like that word. It sounds like the wind, the breeze of the Holy Spirit. Say that word, “pnĕumatikŏs,” NEW-MA-TI-KOS. You have to blow air out of your mouth to say it and that is what it refers to, the spirit in us and the Spirit in us. Pnĕumatikŏs makes me think of the sweet light aroma of a beautiful perfume or cologne left by a person who walks by you. It makes me think of the smell of a flower, a sweet pleasant fresh smell. It makes me think of the sweet smell of a fruit attached to the vine of Christ (John 15). I think of light and free instead of sloggy and enslaved when I think of that word NEW-MA-TI-KOS. I also think of the power of the wind when it blows hard. The breeze of the Spirit refreshes us. The powerful BLOWING of the Spirit moves obstacles out of the way. Pnĕumatikŏs is the perfect sounding word to refer to the spiritual Spirit filled person.
In his book The Power of the Spirit, William Law, written in the early 1700s, makes the following statement about the church living in the flesh rather than the Spirit:
A letter learned zeal has but one nature wherever it is and can only do that for Christians which it did for Jews. As in ancient times it brought forth scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, and crucifiers of Christ; as it afterwards brought forth heresies, schisms, popes, papal decrees, images, and anathemas; so in Protestant churches it will do the same things, only under different names. The empty idolatry of Rome will show itself even without crucifixes and indulgences. Images of wood and clay will only be exchanged for images of doctrines. Grace, works, imputed sin, imputed righteousness, and election will all have their worshipping advocates, dividing the body of Christ in their very zeal to defend their own good opinions about Scripture doctrines. And so great will be the blindness thus generated that every kind of gossip, slander, and hatred will be pursued by brother against brother, all of it done in the name of Him who prayed that we might be one . . .. Our divine Master compares the religion of the learned Pharisees to ‘whited sepulchers, outwardly beautiful, but inwardly full of dead men’s bones.’ How was it that a religion so serious in its restraints, so beautiful in its outward form and practices, and commanding such reverence from all that beheld it, was yet charged by Truth itself with being ‘inwardly full of hypocrisy and iniquity’? It was only for this one reason: because it was a religion of self. Wherever self has power and keeps up its own interests, even in teaching or defending sound Scripture doctrines, there is that very same Pharisee still alive whom Christ with so much severity of language constantly condemned. The reason for such heavy condemnation is that self is the root and sum total of all sin. Every sin that can be named is centered in it. Self is nothing else but the creature broken off from God: the power of Satan living and working in us the sad continuance of that first turning from God, which was the whole fall of our first parents. (Emphasis added.) [6]
Unfortunately, what William Law wrote 300 years ago was not heeded by much of the church and today we have a church that is more carnal and centered on its sarx, than it is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit. We cannot afford to allow our flesh, our sarx, to rule us; we need the Spirit to overcome it and empower us to do all that God has wonderfully laid out for us to do.
The Solution to Such Sarxy Spiritual Pollution
What is the answer to such sarxy (i.e. fleshly) pollution of the spirit? Paul contrasts these sarxy, fleshly Christians in 1 Corinthians 3 with those who are “spiritual.” The word “spiritual,” PNEUMATIKOS (Strong’s # 4152 – pnĕumatikŏs”, pnyoo-mat-ik-os´), means, “supernatural, regenerate, religious . . . spiritual.” [7] These verses imply Paul wished he could have referred to the Corinthians as spiritual people, those who lived in, were guided by, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The answer to such carnal sarxy behavior is to refocus on Jesus in the Holy Spirit as the only viable foundation worth living for and uniting in serving Him.
Paul goes on to say in his first letter to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 3:5-18 – “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. 18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.”
It doesn’t really matter who we are. “I’m ‘Paul!” “I’m Apollos!” So what? We’re really nothing. It’s not about “me.” It’s not about “you.” It’s about Jesus! That is the inspired message of the Holy Spirit here. It is God who brings victory, success, and spiritual growth (1 Corinthians 3:5-8). We need to unite and rely on God’s grace not our own “strength” (1 Corinthians 3:9-10).
If we try to build on anything other than on Jesus and our relationship with Him, our living for Him, it is all superficial slush that will be burned up when our works are judged by Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Jesus needs to be our focus and foundation.
We need to examine ourselves and see that the Spirit is in control and that we are not living according to worldly ways (1 Corinthians 3:16-18). We need to go to the cross of Christ and Jesus Who paid our debt of sin on it. It was on that cross that our debt of sins was paid. It was and is on that cross that we find the example to follow and power for victory. Remember Paul’s testimony to the Christians of Galatia:
Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) – 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
The cross of Christ is the key to carnality. Memorize and meditate on this verse. Pray it into your heart and life. Today’s Church is more about buildings and construction, and compromises with the world. Today’s Church need to get back to the cross of Christ. I don’t mean a dead cross with an image of a dead “Jesus” hanging from it. That is “another Jesus” (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:3-4). I mean the cross of the resurrected Jesus. I mean the cross that represents what Jesus meant when He said, “if anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (cf. Luke 9:23-26). That cross, that is the cross that holds the cure for carnality.
When we point to the cross of Christ we aren’t doing so to bring a burden of self-efforts toward “holiness.” No. That would just be pharisaism. When we look at the cross, it is in the power of the Holy Spirit that any and all qualities that cross represents are implemented in us. We need to live in the Spirit; that is the answer! And that is what we are seeking to understand and experience in this series.
The Spirit is the Life Breath of the Church and the Believer
In the epilogue of Pastor Chuck Smith’s book entitled Living Water – The Power of the Holy Spirit in Your Life (p. 291-292), Pastor Chuck Smith quotes Charles Haddon Spurgeon as saying,
“I believe brethren, that whenever the Church of God declines, one of the most effectual ways of reviving her is to preach much truth concerning the Holy Spirit. After all, He is the very breath of the Church. Where the Spirit of God is, there is power. If the Spirit be withdrawn then the vitality of godliness begins to decline and we are backsliding. Let us turn to the Spirit of God crying, “Quicken Thou me in Thy way!” If we sorrowfully perceive that any church is growing lukewarm, be it our prayer that the Holy Spirit may work graciously for its revival. Let us return to the LORD. Let us seek again to be baptized into the Holy Spirit and into fire and we shall yet again behold the wonderful works of the LORD. He sets before us an open door and if we enter not, we ourselves are to be blamed.”
It is possible for a believer to be “dry” spiritually. It is possible to fall back in our relationship with the Lord and enter a state where we are relying on our own strength, ability, and understanding rather than walking in the Spirit. This is what must have happened to the disciples of Ephesus who Paul came across. They got their eyes off of Thee, and onto “me.”
In Part Three of our study we will consider some disciples at Ephesus who, at first glance, appeared to have something missing in them. What was it? Read on and do some study in Acts 19. That is where we will pick it up in Part Three. Until then, I encourage you to go to the cross of Christ and ask that Jesus crucify your flesh with its passions and carnal desires. Seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Let Him do His holy work in you. In Jesus’ name, amen!
First Things First – Have You Been Born Again? Do You Know Jesus?
Before you can be empowered by the Spirit, you have to be born of the Spirit.
Early in John’s Gospel Jesus explained to a very religious pharisee named Nicodemas that being religious was not enough to enter heaven but that he needed to be “born again.” Jesus explained what He meant by this in John 3. Later, the night before He went to the cross, Jesus explained that “eternal life” was about personally knowing Him. Think of it, it’s possible to KNOW God.
Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). The word “know” here is translated from the Greek term ginosko. The idea of this word “know” in the original language meant to become aware, perceive (as in “seeing is believing”), to understand, to be conscious of, to see something or someone as it/they truly are (not merely opinion or speculation).
When this word is used in the sense of knowing someone it means:
- To know someone personally
- To be personally acquainted with someone
- To trust someone
- To have a friendship with someone
- To have an intimate personal relationship with someone
It is possible to know personally the only true God and His Son Jesus Christ. In light of this the question arises, do you know Jesus?
The Good News is that we can have a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Entering into such a relationship is as simple as ABC: Admit/Ask, Believe/Receive, and Confess/Call.
Admit your sin and ask God’s forgiveness for them. Our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). And we all have sinned and fall short of what it takes to enter heaven (Romans 3). We need to admit this truth before God. Once we admit our sin before God we need to ask God’s forgiveness for our sins. This implies turning from our sins to God (i.e., repentance). This is humbling but necessary. We come to Him on His terms not our terms. We come humbly before God who is Awesome and Holy.
Believe in Jesus and His atoning work. Jesus and Jesus atoning work on the cross alone, not our efforts or works, are the basis for God’s forgiveness of our sins. The wages or consequences of our sin is death. God Who is Holy and Just, in order to be true to Who He is, does not just dismiss the penalty for sins. He enforces a just sentence and determines a just way that that penalty be paid. A just judge sees that a just penalty is enforced for an offense. The God of Heven and Author of all Law and Justice is no different.
The penalty and just sentence for sin is death. All sinners have a just penalty of death hanging over us. Not a death of annihilation, but a death of eternal punishment. Sin is so serious that this is a just sentence for those who persist in it. Jesus died on the cross in our place, paying our punishment for sin. God offers us salvation from our sins freely as a gift of His grace through Jesus’ death on the cross (Romans 6:23).
We are saved from our sins because of the cross work of Jesus, not our works. We are saved from our sins when we admit our sins to God and ask and receive His forgiveness based on Jesus redemptive work not our own efforts.
To believe, trust, or put our faith in Jesus as Savior is not a “work,” it is God’s grace working in us (Ephesians 2:8-9). Once we believe in Jesus and His atoning work, we believe and receive forgiveness for our sins based on Jesus and His work, God has a just basis to forgive our sins because of Jesus justifying work on the cross on our behalf. Jesus paid our death penalty on the cross for us. He’s the only One qualified to do that. Jesus took our sins on Himself on the cross and when we trust in Him and His work, He offers us His righteousness to be put to our account (cf. Isaiah 53; 2 Corinthians 5:21). That’s incredible. The righteousness provided by God is a perfect righteousness. God’s righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus PUT TO OUR ACCOUNT. “For He made Him who knew no sin [i.e. Jesus] to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God did this for us in Christ because He loves us. God is Love with a capitol “L” (e.g., John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:8 and 16).
Confess and call. We confess our sins to God and receive His forgiveness (1 John 1:9). But we also confess Jesus to those around us; we tell others about Jesus; we call others to follow Jesus too. These are not a works that lead to salvation. This is a fruit or evidence that salvation has genuinely taken place in us. The Bible states, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
When we admit our sins to God and ask His forgiveness believing in Jesus as our Savior and confessing Him, we receive eternal life and are spiritual born by the Holy Spirit Who indwells us (See John 3; 14, 15, and 16; Romans 8). This is essential to experience. The Bible states:
1 Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV) – 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (NKJV) – 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
The genuine Christian is a temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. There is a sense in which we are made holy by virtue of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. That is why in the New Testament Christians are referred to as “saints” or holy ones. [8] The Holy Spirit indwells a person when they trust Jesus as Savior by way of the Gospel.
Look up these verses and pray over them. “So, then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). If you want to grow in your faith, read God’s word; read the Bible. There are no short cuts to spiritual growth. Prayerfully read Gods’ word and ask His help to understand it and live it out. That’s a prayer God will always answer.
All of this is a prerequisite to being baptized with the Holy Spirit as explained in this series. God wants more than mere religion for us. He doesn’t want us to rely on ourselves and flounder around like a fish out of water. That’s not His plan for us. He has and wants so much more than that for us. God has a plan and purpose for us. To fulfill that plan we must first receive the incredible salvation He has provided as a gift of His grace. First. We MUST be born again. Then God wants to fill us to overflowing. You must be “born again” before the Holy Spirit can empower you. Jesus said the life he planned for us is ABUNDANT! (John 10:10).
Let’s not settle for a carnal Churchianity. Let’s not be Christian couch potatoes. Let’s not be carnal Christians. Let’s pray we experience all that Jesus has for us. Let’s pray together to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Let’s pray the Lord makes us what we need to be, to do all He desires for us to do, for His glory, until Jesus’ returns. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
[1]James Strong, New Strong’s dictionary of Hebrew and Greek words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.
[2]James Strong, New Strong’s dictionary of Hebrew and Greek words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.
[3]James Strong, New Strong’s dictionary of Hebrew and Greek words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.
[4]James Strong, New Strong’s dictionary of Hebrew and Greek words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.
[5]James Strong, New Strong’s dictionary of Hebrew and Greek words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.
[6] William Law, The Power of the Spirit, Edited by Dave Hunt (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade Pubs.) Reprinted 2003. Pages 28,30.
[7]James Strong, New Strong’s dictionary of Hebrew and Greek words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.
[8] Christians called “saints” – E.g., Matthew 27:52; Acts 9:13, 32, 41; 26:10; romans 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col 1:2; 1 Thess. 3:13; 2 Thess. 1:10; etc.