Do you want to know what are the characteristics of a man of God (Elohim)? Many times we see exemplary people in our society who prove daily to be the best in all aspects. But do these people really have the characteristics of a man of God (Elohim)? Here we will show you in the light of the Bible what you need to be a man of God (Elohim).
Characteristics of the Man of God (Elohim) according to 1 Timothy
A man of God (Elohim) is one who, in this world, manifests the character of the God (Elohim) whom he knows and to whom he has the feeling of belonging completely. Living close to him, fed “for every word of God (Elohim)“, has the knowledge of his thought and thus can speak and act on his part.
Here you can learn about:
Is the precious privilege of being able to be a man of God (Elohim) in this world reserved only for elderly Christians?
There is an affirmation on the part of the Father that precisely says: “No one despises your youth” also says: “But you, O man of God (Elohim), flee from these things, and follow justice, mercy and faith, love, patience, sweetness of mind; he fights the good fight of faith; Take advantage of eternal life, for which you were called and you made the beautiful confession in front of many witnesses”.
Showing that the man of God (Elohim) must flee from sin, on the one hand, and pursue the spiritual, on the other. It is advisable to flee from everything that opposes the character of God (Elohim) and to pursue what glorifies Him, in order to present God (Elohim) to the world and among the saints (1 Thee. 4:12 and 6:11, 12).
“run away from these things”, to which reference is made in verses 10 and 11 of this chapter 6 of the first epistle to Timothy. It is the enemy who puts in the heart of the believer the desire to “get rich“, of possessing what God (Elohim) has not given him, and “is the root of all kinds of evil“; this can even lead to the abandonment of Christianity, since the apostle adds: “what some aspired to, they deviated from the faith, and pierced themselves with many pains“.
The man of God (Elohim) is invited to “run away from these things“recognizing that”great gain is godliness accompanied by contentment“(1 Tim. 6:6). Let us now see the criteria of a man of God (Elohim).
1. Justice
Practical justice is one of the characteristics of a man of God (Elohim), not the just position in which the work of Christ (Ha Mashiaj) has placed us, taken by faith. Justice exhorts “to pursue“the one with which practice clothes us as one”breastplate“in the presence of the adversary (Eff. 6:14).
The good shepherd leads his sheep “in paths of righteousness” (Ps. 23:3)paths where evil does not enter, so that the believer can walk in the midst of the world where evil reigns in a path of true separation from evil.
The man of God is called to faithfully follow the one who “he loved justice” Y “hated evil“, “so,“your God (Elohim)”anointed him with the oil of joy more than his companions“().
2. Mercy
It is not a “source of profit“, wrote the apostle to Timothy, is “a big profit” if it goes hand in hand with contentment. Then there is no desire in the heart “get rich“, a desire that leads to moral ruin, if not always material.
- Pity is a feeling that is both fear and trust: a pious man introduces God (Elohim) into all the details of his life, fears to displease him and trusts him for everything. In a “path of justice“, this is what the faithful are invited to “continue“and you can only do it that way, that’s why we talk about mercy after it has been a matter of justice.
3. Faith
It is not faith for the salvation of the soul that is at stake here; the apostle wants to talk about the spiritual power that is necessary to enjoy the invisible and eternal things and all these things are in Christ (Ha Mashiaj). We see the contrast between the one he wants”get rich“who runs after”the things that are seen” and that “they are for a while“and the one, busy with”the things that are not seen” and that “they are eternal“, follow the faith!
4. love
“follow the love”, wrote the apostle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 14:1) when he taught them about the exercise of the gifts in the congregation. Whether it is about the building of the assembly, our personal relationships with the brothers or with the world, let us seek love, a true love, inseparable from holiness and truth. Above all, you must seek the love that we have to show both to God (Elohim) and to Christ (Ha Mashiaj), continue in obedience to the Word, obedience that is the true proof of it (John 14:21 and 23; 1 John 5:2).
5. Patience
Patience is the most difficult Christian virtue to attain. You can walk faithfully for a day, a few days, but who will continue tirelessly, patiently, until the end? If energy is needed to reject “all burden and sin that so easily engulfs us“patience is so much”run the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1).
Patience and suffering usually go hand in hand, and certainly, pursuing justice, mercy, faith, love implies suffering, either to know something of Christ’s reproach (Ha Mashiaj), to feel our weakness for “continue“, to experience in the hostility of an enemy world, whether it be the exercises that God (Elohim) gives us on this path with a view to our formation, or even the weaknesses of those around us.
6. Meekness of mind
We could “to pursue“the different virtues of which the apostle has just spoken and to preserve, in the face of what tests our patience, a certain bitterness that would manifest itself sooner or later in our conduct. The man of God (Elohim) must guard against it, must watch out for his spirit and “to pursue” this inner sweetness that will be seen in all your progress. If “the peace of Christ (Ha Mashiach)… presides in our hearts”, it will be easy to “pursue it… with everyone” (Col. 3:15; Heb. 12:14)..
This is how the faithful can represent God (Elohim) in this world, speak and act on his behalf, contribute their resources, speak their warnings or their reproaches, ultimately being a man of God (Elohim). Then he will inevitably meet the power of the adversary, so the apostle directs a third exhortation to Timothy: “Fight the good fight of faith“.
Fighting this fight is so necessary for “flee” and “pursue” what is presented to us in verse 11 of chapter 6 of the first epistle to Timothy, as it is to keep the doctrine pure, “the faith that was once taught to them, saints” (jude 3).
At the end of the fight, the price offered is eternal life in glory: Timothy was exhorted to “take possession” of it, to enjoy it already beforehand, and this would be a precious stimulus for him in the fight.
The good works of the man of God (Elohim)
In the second epistle the apostle speaks of the man of God (Elohim) in a perhaps more general manner than in the first; in the second, he told Timothy: “But you, O man of God (Elohim)“, while in the second he writes: “…so that the man of God (Elohim) may be fulfilled and fulfilled perfectly in every good work“.
Certainly the exhortations of 1 Timothy 6:11, 12 they are also for us, so that we may also be men of God (Elohim); all the more the teaching of Timothy 3:16, 17 it concerns us all.
“every good deed” is what is offered to the faithful. It is not a “construction site” especially the one that is questioned here, like that of the woman who entered the house of Simon the leper with “an alabaster vase filled with a perfume of great price.“, he poured it on the head of the one who was about to be crucified and who was his King (Matt. 26:10).
This expression includes everything that produces a renewed heart, for example, sympathy for those who suffer, or the support of our brothers. You must not remain in the state of feeling in the heart, but translate into action.
Action flows from thought; the thought that determined the action may have been fleeting – even to the point of seeming absent when the act is purely instinctive, but it is not acts of this kind that we are talking about here.
- finally mature: That is why our thoughts must be governed, formed, and so that it is for “every good deed“It is necessary that they be governed by the inspired word. It is the Word of God (Elohim) that must be, for the man of God (Elohim), the source of everything, first thoughts, then words and actions. She is helpful:
1. teach
A man of God has the gift of “To teach”, that is, to establish sound doctrine, from which the practice of the Christian life is inseparable, as the apostle shows us in particular in the letter to Titus. Unless taught by God (Elohim), a believer cannot be a man of God (Elohim). And it is through his inspired Scripture, entirely inspired from beginning to end, that God (Elohim) is pleased to teach His own about him.
2. Correct
“Correct”. The discipline of God (Elohim) is necessary for our formation, to bring us back if we stray from the right path, to recover and straighten us when necessary. Such again is the usefulness of the inspired Scripture for the formation and direction of the man of God (Elohim).
3. Educate in justice
“instruct in justice”. We can only know what practical justice is if the Word teaches us. We received “instruction in wisdom, justice, just judgment and righteousness” (Prov. 1: 3). This is how the man of God (Elohim) is qualified to “pursue justice“and can”fulfilled and done perfectly in every good work” (1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17)..
Examples men of God (Elohim) in the Old Testament
It is in the Old Testament that we have most of the teachings on the character, service, responsibilities and privileges of the man of God (Elohim). Because, in truth, there are many who, in this part of the Scriptures, have been called by this name, while Timothy is undoubtedly the only one to whom this title has been given in the New.
1. The man of God (Elohim) of 1 Sam. 3
It was “a man of God (Elohim)” that “came to Eli“on days marked by great activity, by a service that apparently testified to a fiery zeal, while the moral character was far from that, which should have equaled it.
Eli judged evil but did not have the energy to part with it; she lost sight of the fact that she therefore stood in solidarity with him. Therefore, she is sent a man of God (Elohim) to warn her; he speaks to him in the name of the Lord- this is one of the essential characteristics of the man of God (Elohim): “Thus says the Lord”, he can declare – and he asks him this question that is also a reproach: “Why are you stepping on my sacrifice and my offering, which I have ordered to be done in my house?“.
Eli was just as guilty as his sons, though he clearly disapproved of their conduct, because he allowed them to do it: “His children are degraded and he did not keep them“(1 Sam. 3:13). A guilty weakness that gives priority to this or that consideration instead of maintaining the character of holiness of the sacrifice and offering that God (Elohim) has commanded to be made in his home! “You honor your children more than me“He said again…