The doctrine of edification

1. Etymology. There are three Greek nouns and all of them are translated by the word “edification” but they are all different.

a) o)ikodomh — this is the act of erecting a structure. This is the one that is found in Ephesians four. This is the one where doctrine comes in the left bank of the soul and you begin to build a structure on doctrine — grace orientation, inner happiness, RMA, capacity to love in all categories, mastery of the details of life. O)ikodomh simply means the process of this thing.

b) o)ikodomia — this noun means the finished product, the one we are going to see in 2 Corinthians. This word sees the structure erected in the soul.

c) o)ikodomoj — this is the builder. In our context the builder is Bible doctrine, residual doctrine in the soul.

2. The biblical usage.

a) Three times in Ephesians four we have o)ikodomh, in verses 12,16,29. This is the process.

b) In Acts 9:31 we have a church that had peace and quiet and blessing because it had o)ikodomia. In other words, we actually have a church that is the perfect idea church. Everyone is relaxed because inside of the soul of each was this erected structure.

c) In 1 Corinthians 14, to show that the tongues movement only had a short-burst function and was being abused, and then no longer existed, the word oikodomia & o)ikodomh are being used in contrast with the tongues movement — verses 3,4,12,26. It was nothing compared to doctrine, grace orientation, inner happiness, RMA, capacity to love, and mastery of the details of life. That is the erected structure of the soul.

d) In 1 Corinthians 8:1 we have another use. ‘Knowledge puffeth up but love edifies’ — but knowledge there is the stuff that comes through mataiothj, it is the devil’s stuff. But when you have love, RMA, in the edification structure you have it because you have doctrine, and it is doctrine that edifies and builds the structure. The verb is o)ikodomew which means the process of building the structure, verb form to erect the structure. Therefore the inhale of doctrine erects the structure and this is a contrast between human viewpoint knowledge of kosmoj diabolikuj and divine viewpoint knowledge of Bible doctrine.

e) The communication gifts are designed for edification — 2 Corinthians 10:8; 13:10. Bible doctrine is designed for edification.

3. The first prerequisite for edification is the filling of the Holy Spirit. This is the means of inhaling Bible doctrine — John 14:26; 16:12-14; 1 Corinthians 2:9-14. This is based upon the rebound technique.

4. The second prerequisite for edification is the continuous learning of Bible doctrine.

5. The mechanics of edification. They involve all three Greek words: oikodomoj, which is doctrine equivalent to oxygen. Then mechanically you have the left bank of the soul with the left lung designed for inhale of doctrine. The basis for doing this is the filling of the Spirit. Then you exhale toward God, category #1 love; toward people, category #2 love, right man, right woman; toward friends, category #3; toward the details of life. All of this is done with residual doctrine in the soul. Then from there you build grace orientation and there must be a fantastic residual factor here before your grace orientation begins to build. The first result of this is e)pignwsij, full knowledge of God. The second result is o)ikodomia which is the finished product.