The Nature of Biblical Edification (Part 2)
First Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” There is no doubt that the Bible clearly teaches us to follow after things that edify. Romans 14:19 states, “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 states, “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” And in 2 Corinthians 12:19, Paul says “…we do all things for your edifying.” However, we also read that not everything that is lawful is something that edifies. Paul writes in 1 Cor.10:23, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.” This leads us to ask the question: what are the kinds of things that truly do edify?
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul deals with the problem of the Christians at Corinth speaking in unknown tongues without the presence of an interpreter. In contrast to the one who speaks in an unknown tongue, Paul states in verse 3, “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.” In essence, Paul is saying that the unknown tongue does not edify, but prophecy does edify. He states, “For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.” For something to edify, it must have meaning. Not in the sense of emotion or feeling, but in the sense of the understanding. That is, if something is not intelligible or comprehensible by the intellect, then it cannot edify. True edification can only come through a situation where knowledge and instruction are imparted with the attitude of love.
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley