Tag Archives: 2 Peter 1:3

Cobwebs

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I think I can finally wipe some sticky filaments of ideas from my face and roll them up into something like a little cotton candy ball:

I have dual citizenship in the rarefied and pampered world of resort hotels, both as a guest and as a servant working along with those who make the resort conference experience what it is.  As a servant I’m expected to express love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  And since I’m never a paying guest, the fruit of the Holy Spirit maintains my dual citizenship in this world.

I frequent the backrooms and service corridors of venues often enough to know that sometimes the expression of these “virtues” is less than genuine.  In other words, it’s the work of actors, hypocrites.  But then I walk out again into a ballroom where a keynote speaker extols the value of some aspect of the fruit of the Holy Spirit for effective servant-leadership.  Of course, no one calls it the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Hotel management and keynote speakers alike expect servants and effective leaders to generate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control out from themselves, on their own, or with tips and techniques that have been developed and written about in books for sale in the lobby.  None offers a fountain of water springing up to eternal life,[1] though all seem to recognize that even an actor’s imitation of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is what makes resort life viable.

A friend called a while back seeking my opinion on the idea that Jesus was an alien lifted up by some sort of tractor beam into a spacecraft hidden in the clouds.  I get it, I suppose.  If Jesus is a magical being from another planet no one can expect us to be anything like Him.

Believing that God has provided us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence,[2] does pose an immediate and insistent question: Why am I not more like Him?  My go-to answer is that my faith in, measured as a function of my reliance upon, his supply is not all it might be.  But that really chafes since I claim to believe that this faith, or faithfulness, is also supplied through his Holy Spirit.

In April this year, working almost every day, I began to earn my two-month-long Christmas vacation.  If I wasn’t working I was driving to the next show.  I put a little over 6,000 miles on my company vehicle.  While driving I listened to some sermons on the radio.  One in particular rang “true” and familiar, similar to sermons I had heard before.  The gist was: “God has supplied everything you need for salvation in Jesus Christ.  All he requires from you is faith and obedience.”

In the past I resolved the irrationality of these statements by assuming that everything didn’t mean everything.  So I set out to supply my own faith and my own obedience by hearing and obeying rules.

May grace and peace be lavished on you, Peter wrote, as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!  I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything  necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.[3]  The Greek word translated everything was πάντα (a form of πᾶς).  The definition of πᾶς in the NET contains an excerpt from a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon:

…”the whole world has gone after him” Did all the world go after Christ? “then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan.”  Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem, baptized in Jordan?  “Ye are of God, little children”, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one”.  Does the whole world there mean everybody? The words “world” and “all” are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture, and it is very rarely the “all” means all persons, taken individually.  The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts — some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemption to either Jew or Gentile … (C.H. Spurgeon from a sermon on Particular Redemption)

I grew up in the same religious milieu as the translators of the NET.  I, too, thought God had bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness except faith and obedience.  What was that everything?  After all, that seems to be Spurgeon’s point, to look for the limitations implicit in the text.  In my case everything was a second chance[4] to become the best Pharisee I could be, another opportunity to have my own righteousness derived from the law.[5]  But at what point does this obsessive caution in interpretation reduce forms of πᾶς from the pen of the New Testament writers to the written equivalent of uh or uhm?

So did Peter mean everything?  Well, even he had a long list of things for me to add to my faith in God through Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-11 NET):

For this very reason, make every effort to add (ἐπιχορηγήσατε, a form of ἐπιχορηγέω) to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love.  For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.  But concerning the one who lacks such things – he is blind.  That is to say, he is nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins.  Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to be sure of your calling and election.  For by doing this you will never stumble into sin.  For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided (ἐπιχορηγηθήσεται, another form of ἐπιχορηγέω) for you.

According to the Koine Greek Lexicon ἐπιχορηγήσατε is an aorist active imperative 2nd person plural verb.  The primary definition in the lexicon is “to furnish, provide for (at one’s own expense).”  So I can’t fault the translators here.  And I find no discrepancy in the Greek texts.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο δὲ σπουδὴν πᾶσαν παρεισενέγκαντες ἐπιχορηγήσατε ἐν τῇ πίστει ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρετήν, ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀρετῇ τὴν γνῶσιν και αυτο τουτο δε σπουδην πασαν παρεισενεγκαντες επιχορηγησατε εν τη πιστει υμων την αρετην εν δε τη αρετη την γνωσιν και αυτο τουτο δε σπουδην πασαν παρεισενεγκαντες επιχορηγησατε εν τη πιστει υμων την αρετην εν δε τη αρετη την γνωσιν

Granted, Peter may have admonished me to add these things in or by (ἐν) my faith rather than to it.  Faith here is πίστει (a form of πίστις), a noun in the dative case which “may also indicate the means by which something is done.”[6]  But in English translation I’m left with the disconcerting conclusion that the Holy Spirit wanted to wear me out striving to obey Peter until my ears were opened to hear Paul and then, at last, Jesus (Matthew 11:25-30 NET):

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.  All things have been handed over to me by my Father.  No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides (βούληται, a form of βούλομαι) to reveal him.  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”

In another essay I referenced John Piper’s essay “A Whole World Hangs on a Word” without any reference to opposing views.  So I typed “faith is not a gift Ephesians 2” into Google to consider some.  Wayne Jackson’s essay “Is Faith the Gift of Ephesians 2:8?” on Christian Courier was top of the list.

My purpose here is not to pick on Wayne Jackson.  He had a particular point of contention with followers of John Calvin.  My own relationship with John Calvin ended abruptly at Chapter 13 of the Institutes when the paperback copy of the book dented the wall of my apartment.  Something about his discussion of the “essence” of God so early in his book irritated me, and I’ve never looked back (except for today to recall how far I’d gotten).  Now, of course, if he meant God is love, my apologies to John Calvin and my landlord.  If not, it still seems pretentious to me.  Admittedly, I was reading in English translation with little appreciation for how problematic that might be.

What Wayne Jackson has done for me is to remind me how arguments against faith as a gift of God’s grace go.  Below is a table quoting two paragraphs from his essay under the heading: “God’s Sovereignty Does Not Negate Man’s Free Will.”

…since God is a Being of absolute truth (Dt. 32:4; “faithfulness,” ASV), he cannot do that which would violate his own nature, e.g., practice lying.  It thus is impossible for God to lie (Num. 23:19; Tit. 1:2; Heb. 6:18).  The Lord’s sovereignty is not compromised by his inability to lie.  His sovereignty is limited, however, by his own holy nature. Similarly, if it is the case that the Almighty granted man the ability to exercise free will, then the divine requirement that this free will be exercised responsibly (requiring obedience) is not a violation of Heaven’s sovereignty; rather, it is an example of the exercise thereof.

I didn’t quote these paragraphs to engage Mr. Jackson in philosophical debate but simply to highlight the contrast between them: One is stated with confidence, conviction and Bible references, the other (quite honestly, I think) is more speculative in nature with no Bible references.  I am well aware that something inhibits and impedes my expression of Christ-likeness, but is there any practical value to calling it free will over, say, the old human or sin in my flesh?

I realize that those who promote free will do so more positively, as the proximate cause of both faith and obedience.  If anyone wants (θέλῃ, a form of θέλω) to do God’s will (θέλημα), he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.[7]  Notice what Jesus did not say: If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will succeed thereby.  My failure to accomplish God’s will in my own strength was part of the confirmation that it was, in fact, God’s will rather than my own.  Jesus’ own attitude was not my will (θέλημα) but yours be done.[8]  But I don’t want to invalidate Mr. Jackson’s point entirely because Jesus’ called those who are weary and burdened.

I worked the hardest to will myself into doing God’s will when I turned Paul’s definition of love into rules I repeated as a mantra so as to obey them.  The highest achievement of that effort was that I didn’t murder my wife in her sleep.  It’s not much of a righteousness résumé but it is still a world removed from “I murdered my wife in her sleep.”  Perhaps I should patent this technique, so to speak, by writing it in a book as a kind of crisis intervention for those who are considering taking high-powered weapons to school to murder their classmates.

But the moment I consider how to market such a book to the young men I imagine them to be is also the moment I wonder if I haven’t overindulged my will even in this.  Some life-changing work had already been accomplished in me that I even cared enough to treat Paul’s definition of love as rules to obey.  And life-changing is a very poor way to characterize what Paul wrote the Ephesians (Ephesians 2:1-10 NET Table):

And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing (ἐνεργοῦντος, a form of ἐνεργέω) the sons of disobedience (ἀπειθείας, a form of ἀπείθεια), among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest…

But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! – and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast.  For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.

Love is patient, but did I by my will alone believe it to be true and obey it more or less as a commandment—thou shalt be patient—with a wife who wanted to divorce me?  Love is kind, but did I by my will alone believe it to be true and obey it more or less as a commandment—thou shalt be kind—when her daily existence rejecting me was like a knife twisting in my heart?

Or was God, the Father, according to the wealth of his glory granting me to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ was dwelling in my heart through faith, so that, because I had been rooted and grounded in love, I would be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that I could be filled up to all the fullness of God[9] because I had a pastor who taught and prayed this prayer?

Is that what was really happening as I invented a rather stupid rationalization about turning definitions into rules to obey in my own strength?  Yeah, I think so.  As Paul wrote believers in Philippi, continue working out your salvation with awe (φόβου, a form of φόβος) and reverence (τρόμου, a form of τρόμος), for the one bringing forth (ἐνεργῶν, another form of ἐνεργέω) in you both the desire (θέλειν, another form of θέλω) and the effort (ἐνεργεῖν, another form of ἐνεργέω) – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.[10]

But I’m not sure I could have gotten from there to here without that rationalization and its utter refutation by my persistent sinful behavior.  And I’m certain I couldn’t have gotten here apart from the overwhelming power of the indwelling Holy Spirit who has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.  And here is no way station from which to backslide but an excellent place from which to strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,[11] not in my own strength but in the faith and obedience that flow from his Holy Spirit, that fountain of water springing up to eternal life that Jesus promised the Samaritan woman[12] at Jacob’s well (John 4:4-42).

[1] John 4:14b (NET)

[2] 2 Peter 1:3 (NET)

[3] 2 Peter 1:2, 3 (NET)

[4] Who Am I? Part 3; Jesus the Leg-breaker, Part 1; Romans, Part 55

[5] Philippians 3:9 (NET)

[6] See Dative Case on Resources for Learning New Testament Greek

[7] John 7:17 (NET)

[8] Luke 22:42b (NET)

[9] Ephesians 3:16-19 (NET)

[10] Philippians 2:12b, 13 (NET)

[11] Philippians 3:14b (NET)

[12] My Reasons and My Reason, Part 6; Fear – Exodus, Part 9

Romans, Part 87

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So I boast in Christ Jesus about the things that pertain to God.[1]  Initially I took this to mean that Paul’s boast was about what Christ has accomplished through me in order to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God.[2]  So, I compared myself to Paul.  I pray to the same Father through faith in the same Christ and have received the same Holy Spirit.  What has He accomplished through me?  I didn’t jump out of bed, beat on the wall and curse my neighbor for playing his music too loudly.[3]

Most believers I know prefer Peter to Paul.  It’s a personality thing.  I realize Paul wouldn’t have wasted his time on me.  To him I would have seemed like the man who had his father’s wife.  Maybe that has something to do with why I assume the one who caused sadness was the same man.  Of him Paul wrote (2 Corinthians 2:6-8 NET):

This punishment on such an individual by the majority is enough for him, so that now instead you should rather forgive and comfort him.  This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair.  Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.

I love Paul.  His words taught me to hear Jesus, who told this parable (Luke 13:6-9 NET):

“A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.  So he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, ‘For three years now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it I find none.  Cut it down!  Why should it continue to deplete the soil?’  But the worker answered him, ‘Sir, leave it alone this year too, until I dig around it and put fertilizer on it.  Then if it bears fruit next year, very well, but if not, you can cut it down.’”

I don’t know that God the Father is eager to cut me down.  I know that even if He is frustrated with me Jesus has come back year after year with a request something like the parable above.  Christ is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us.[4]  So after I slept off the despair of comparing myself to Paul, I began to look at the Greek words he wrote.

I began to see that Paul’s boast (καύχησιν, a form of καύχησις) wasn’t so much about…things but about Gentiles who had become an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.[5]  This is as sure as my boasting (καύχησιν, a form of καύχησις) in you,[6] Paul wrote to infants in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1-3).  The King James translators were a bit less clear here (though the NKJV came around).  So I’ll consider a few more examples.  Paul encouraged the Corinthians to show [Titus and another brother] openly before the churches the proof of your love and of our pride (καυχήσεως, another form of καύχησις) in (ὑπὲρ, a form of ὑπέρ) you.[7]  I have great confidence in (πρὸς, a form of πρός) you; I take great pride (καύχησις) on your behalf (ὑπὲρ, a form of ὑπέρ),[8] he wrote them.  For if I have boasted (κεκαύχημαι, a form of καυχάομαι) to [Titus] about anything concerning you, Paul continued (2 Corinthians 7:14-16 NET):

I have not been embarrassed by you, but just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting (καύχησις) to Titus about you has proved true as well.  And his affection for you is much greater when he remembers the obedience (ὑπακοήν, a form of ὑπακοή) of you all, how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.  I rejoice because in everything I am fully confident (θαρρῶ, a form of θαῤῥέω; translated am full of courage in 2 Corinthians 10:1 NET) in you.

Paul’s great confidence (παρρησία, a form of παῤῥησία) in the Corinthians was not really in them but to or toward them.  His pride wasn’t in them but on their behalf.  Some had been unrighteous…sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers…[9]  But they were washed, [they] were sanctified, [they] were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.[10]  Paul’s pride or boasting was in God on their behalf.  It was his exhortation and his prayer believing that he had received his request.  But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement (παράκλησιν, a form of παράκλησις), and consolation.[11]

In Romans 15:17 the Greek word translated about the things that pertain to (KJV, things which pertain to) was πρὸς (a form of πρός).  It was translated simply to in Romans 15:22, 23 (KJV, unto), 29 (KJV, unto), 30 and 32 (KJV, unto).  There is another word right before πρὸς.  It is τὰ (a form of τό; KJV: translated, in those).  It wasn’t translated at all in Romans 15:1, 9, 11, 22, or 27, but these (they or them) is a reasonable translation in this context.  So if I look at the Greek word for word— ἔχω οὖν καύχησιν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν[12]—I get something like “I have boasting in Christ Jesus these to [or perhaps, pertain to] the God.”[13]

Now, boasting about what Christ Jesus had accomplished through him to God doesn’t make a lot of sense.  For if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law, Paul also wrote, he has something to boast (καύχημα) about – but not before God (ἀλλ᾿ οὐ πρὸς θεόν) [Table].  For what does the scripture say?  “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[14]  But boasting to the Romans about God (“I have boasting in Christ Jesus”) makes a lot more sense.  We are your source of pride (καύχημα), Paul wrote the Corinthians, just as you also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.[15]  For who is our hope or joy or crown to boast of (καυχήσεως, another form of καύχησις) before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Paul wrote believers in Thessalonica.  Is it not of course you?  For you are our glory (δόξα) and joy![16]

I can join him wholeheartedly here: Look at what Christ Jesus’ utmost patience has accomplished through the worst (1 Timothy 1:12-17) of sinners (Romans 15:18-21 NET):

For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in order to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God.  So from Jerusalem even as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.  And in this way I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as not to build on another person’s foundation, but as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”

And so I am another Gentile brought to obedience (ὑπακοὴν, a form of ὑπακοή) by Paul’s word, having never witnessed his deeds or the power of signs and wonders, only the power of the Spirit of God.  And so that’s what I’m going to go with, not because I think I know Greek better than the translators of the NET or the KJV.  I most certainly do not.  But I know that focusing on me, comparing myself to Paul, won’t get me anywhere like staying focused on God will.  So I will leave it to the translators of the NET (since the translators of the KJV are long dead) to prove that πρὸς should be translated about the things that pertain to and that Paul intended to draw my focus from God to the things that pertain to God.

I had hoped that Grant Clay would help me here in his paper “Mission as Drama: A New Proposal for Pauline Theology.”  But he glossed over Romans 15:17 (granted, it wasn’t the point of his paper), quoting from the ESV: “In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.”[17]  So here I am confronted with English words added[18] to the Greek text that pit Paul directly against Jesus’ teaching (Luke 17:10 NET):

“So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done what was our duty (ὠφείλομεν, a form of ὀφείλω).’”

This attitude won’t win any accolades from the psychology department, but it accurately reflects a created cosmos where God’s divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence;[19] where God is the one bringing forth in [us] both the desire and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure;[20] where [our] God will supply [our] every need according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus;[21] where the kingdom and the power and the glory (δοξα) are his forever.[22]  I am the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה)!  That is my name!  I will not share my glory with anyone else, or the praise due me with idols.[23]  “Let the one who boasts (καυχώμενος, another form of καυχάομαι), boast (καυχάσθω, another form of καυχάομαι) in the Lord,”[24] Paul quoted.  And, the one who boasts (καυχώμενος, another form of καυχάομαι) must boast (καυχάσθω, another form of καυχάομαι) in the Lord.[25]

I want to look at two more words here.  The Greek word translated I have fully preached above (also in KJV) was not a form of πληρόω plus a form of κήρυγμα (1 Corinthians 1:21) or a form of κηρύσσω (Romans 10:8).  It was simply πεπληρωκέναι (a form of πληρόω).  Paul wrote “I have fulfilled (or, filled up) the gospel of Christ.”  I admit the first thing that occurred to me was Paul’s warning that he could get a little carried away when he started boasting (2 Corinthians 11:16-18 NET).

I say again, let no one think that I am a fool.  But if you do, then at least accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast (καυχήσωμαι, a form of καυχάομαι) a little.  What I am saying with this boastful (καυχήσεως, another form of καύχησις) confidence I do not say the way the Lord would.  Instead it is, as it were, foolishness.  Since many are boasting (καυχῶνται, another form of καυχάομαι) according to human standards, I too will boast (καυχήσομαι, another form of καυχάομαι).

As I began to study πληρόω I found seven more instances where both the translators of the KJV and NET veered from fulfill or make full.  First, referencing the passage of time, there are two instances where forms of πληρόω were translated he was full (ἐπληροῦτο, KJV) and he was about (Acts 7:23 NET), and were fulfilled (ἐπληροῦντο, KJV) and had passed (Acts 9:23 NET).  But there are two other instances where πληρωθείσης (another form of πληρόω) was translated after (KJV) and had passed (Acts 24:27 NET), and πληρωθέντων (another form of πληρόω) was translated were expired (KJV) and had passed (Acts 7:30 NET).  The NET translators apparently took the idea that forms of πληρόω were used for the passage of time to imply completion or completeness.  A table follows were the NET translators chose complete for fulfill or make full.

Form of πληρόω

 Reference KJV

NET
ἐπλήρωσαν Acts 14:26 …the work which they fulfilled… …the work they had now completed…
ἐπλήρου Acts 13:25 And as John fulfilled his course… …while John was completing his mission…
πεπληρωμένη John 16:24 …that your joy may be full. …so that your joy may be complete…
1 John 1:4 …that your[26] joy may be full. …so that our joy may be complete…
2 John 1:12 …that our joy may be full. …so that our joy may be complete…
πεπληρωμένην John 17:13 …that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. …so they may experience my joy completed in themselves…
πεπλήρωται John 3:29 …this my joy therefore is fulfilled. This then is my joy, and it is complete.
πληρῶσαι Colossians 1:25 …to fulfil the word of God… …in order to complete the word of God.
πληρώσαντες Acts 12:25 …when they had fulfilled their ministry… …when they had completed their mission…
πληρώσατε Philippians 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded… …complete my joy and be of the same…
πληρωθῇ John 15:11 …and that your joy might be full. …and your joy may be complete…
2 Corinthians 10:6 …when your obedience is fulfilled. …whenever your obedience is complete.
πληροῖς Colossians 4:17 …that thou fulfil it. See to it that you complete the ministry…

I found one instance where even the KJV translators chose complete, while the NET translators reverted to filled.

Form of πληρόω Reference KJV NET
πεπληρωμένοι Colossians 2:10 And ye are complete in him… …and you have been filled in him…

There were three instances where the NET translators seemed to choose derivatives of completion or completeness.

Form of πληρόω Reference KJV NET
πεπλήρωμαι Philippians 4:18 …I am full, having received… …I have all I need because I received…
πεπλήρωται Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word… …the whole law can be summed up in a…
πληρωθῶσιν Revelation 6:11 …as they were, should be fulfilled. …until the full number was reached of…

And that brings me to the final five instances were both KJV and NET translators veered from fulfill or make full.  Four of them relate to completion or completeness.

Form of πληρόω Reference KJV NET
ἐπλήρωσεν Luke 7:1 Now when he had ended all his sayings… After Jesus had finished teaching…
ἐπληρώθη Acts 19:21 After these things were ended… …after all these things had taken place…
πεπληρωμένα Revelation 3:2 …I have not found thy works perfect… …I have not found your deeds complete…
πληροῦν Luke 9:31 …he should accomplish at Jerusalem. …he was about to carry out at Jerusalem.

So as a further derivative of completion or completeness I have fully preached as a translation of πεπληρωκέναι makes some sense, if one also assumes that now there is nothing more to keep me in these regions[27] was Paul’s point in using it.  Grant Clay in his paper “Mission as Drama: A New Proposal for Pauline Theology,” following the ESV which translated πεπληρωκέναι I have fulfilled the ministry, wrote:[28]

A possible background text for “sanctified Gentiles” and the Pauline mission in general is Is. 66:19-21…This is the one text in the Old Testament that seems to suggest that a “missionary movement” from Jerusalem to the nations which directly involves the Gentiles themselves and anticipates Paul’s unique commission to the Gentiles (cf. Acts 9; 26; Rom. 1:5). Therefore Rainer Riesner is surely on target by suggesting that “Paul read this text as being fulfilled in his own activity.”34

It’s an interesting suggestion.  But why go so far afield?  I would tend to stick to Paul’s own quotation of Isaiah 52:15.

Romans 15:21 (NET) Parallel Greek Isaiah 52:15b Septuagint
Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη περὶ αὐτοῦ |ὄψονται|, καὶ οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασιν συνήσουσιν οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη περὶ αὐτοῦ ὄψονται καὶ οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασιν συνήσουσιν

Still, it’s not as clear as something like “Paul preached from Jerusalem even as far as Illyricum…where Christ has not been named so that the word of the prophet was fulfilled which said, Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”  And that brings me to the final word I will consider in this essay.

The Greek word translated to preach (KJV, to preach the gospel) was not a form of κήρυγμα or a form of κηρύσσω.  It was εὐαγγελίζεσθαι (a form of εὐαγγελίζω).  It was translated to preach the gospel in 1 Corinthians 1:17.  It means to announce good news, to bring good news, to announce glad tidings.  Paul’s desire was to announce good news where Christ had not been named.  I don’t want that to get lost in translation because Paul was fairly explicit about the kind of preaching the Corinthians had fallen for instead (2 Corinthians 11:4, 20 NET):

For if someone comes and proclaims (κηρύσσει, a form of κηρύσσω) another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed (ἐκηρύξαμεν, another form of κηρύσσω), or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received, or a different gospel (εὐαγγέλιον) than the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough!

For you put up with it if someone makes slaves of you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone behaves arrogantly toward you, if someone strikes you in the face.

As a matter of completion or completeness the final instance where both the translators of the KJV and the NET veered from fulfill or make full was, And my God will supply[29] (KJV, shall supply) your every need according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.[30]

Form of πληρόω Reference KJV NET
πληρώσει Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need… And my God will supply your every need…

The entire table of translations of πληρόω in the New Testament I used to write this essay follows.

Form of πληρόω Reference KJV NET
ἐπλήρωσαν Acts 13:27 …they have fulfilled them… …and they fulfilled…
Acts 14:26 …the work which they fulfilled… …the work they had now completed…
ἐπλήρωσεν Luke 7:1 Now when he had ended all his sayings… After Jesus had finished teaching…
Acts 2:2 …and it filled all the house… …and filled the entire house…
Acts 3:18 …he hath so fulfilled. …he has fulfilled in this way…
Acts 5:3 …why hath Satan filled thine heart to… …why has Satan filled your heart to lie…
ἐπληρώθη Matthew 2:17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken… …by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled…
Matthew 13:48 …when it was full, they drew to shore… When it was full, they pulled it ashore…
Matthew 27:9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken… …by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled…
Mark 15:28 And the scripture was fulfilled… [omitted]
John 12:3 …the house was filled with the odour… …the house was filled with the fragrance…
Acts 19:21 After these things were ended… …after all these things had taken place…
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which… And the scripture was fulfilled that says…
ἐπλήρου Acts 13:25 And as John fulfilled his course… …while John was completing his mission…
ἐπληροῦντο Acts 9:23 And after that many days were fulfilled… Now after some days had passed…
Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy… And the disciples were filled with joy…
ἐπληροῦτο Acts 7:23 And when he was full forty years old… But when he was about forty years old…
πεπληρώκατε Acts 5:28 …ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine… …you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching…
πεπληρωμένη John 16:6 …sorrow hath filled your heart. …your hearts are filled with sadness…
Romans 13:8 …loveth another hath fulfilled the law. …loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
πεπληρωκέναι Romans 15:19 …I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. …I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
πεπλήρωμαι 2 Corinthians 7:4 …I am filled with comfort… I am filled with encouragement…
Philippians 4:18 …I am full, having received… …I have all I need because I received…
πεπληρωμένα Revelation 3:2 …I have not found thy works perfect… …I have not found your deeds complete…
πεπληρωμένη John 16:24 …that your joy may be full. …so that your joy may be complete…
1 John 1:4 …that your[26] joy may be full. …so that our joy may be complete…
2 John 1:12 …that our joy may be full. …so that our joy may be complete…
πεπληρωμένην John 17:13 …that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. …so they may experience my joy completed in themselves…
πεπληρωμένοι Romans 15:14 …filled with all knowledge… …filled with all knowledge…
Philippians 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness… …filled with the fruit of righteousness…
Colossians 2:10 And ye are complete in him… …and you have been filled in him…
πεπληρωμένους Romans 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness… They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness…
πεπλήρωται Mark 1:15 The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand… The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near.
Luke 4:21 …is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. …this scripture has been fulfilled even as…
John 3:29 …this my joy therefore is fulfilled. This then is my joy, and it is complete.
John 7:8 …my time is not yet full come. …my time has not yet fully arrived…
Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word… …the whole law can be summed up in a…
πληρῶσαι Matthew 3:15 …becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. …is right for us to fulfill all righteousness…
Matthew 5:17 I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. …to abolish these things but to fulfill…
Romans 15:13 …the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace… …the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace…
Colossians 1:25 …to fulfil the word of God… …in order to complete the word of God.
πληρώσαντες Acts 12:25 …when they had fulfilled their ministry… …when they had completed their mission…
πληρώσατε Matthew 23:32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Fill up then the measure of your ancestors.
Philippians 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded… …complete my joy and be of the same…
πληρώσῃ Ephesians 4:10 …that he might fill all things. …in order to fill all things.
2 Thessalonians 1:11 …and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness… …and fulfill by his power your every desire for goodness and every work of faith.
πληρώσει Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need… And my God will supply your every need…
πληρώσεις Acts 2:28 …thou shalt make me full of joy with… …you will make me full of joy with your…
πληρωθῇ Matthew 1:22 …that it might be fulfilled which was… …through the prophet would be fulfilled.
Matthew 2:15 …that it might be fulfilled which was… …through the prophet was fulfilled…
Matthew 2:23 …that it might be fulfilled which was… …spoken by the prophets was fulfilled…
Matthew 4:14 That it might be fulfilled which was… …Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled…
Matthew 8:17 That it might be fulfilled which was… …by Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled…
Matthew 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was… This fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah…
Matthew 13:35 That it might be fulfilled which was… This fulfilled what was spoken by the…
Matthew 21:4 …was done, that it might be fulfilled… This took place to fulfill what was…
Matthew 27:35 …that it might be fulfilled which was… [omitted]
Luke 22:16 …until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of… …until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of…
John 12:38 …Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled… …Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled.
John 13:18 …that the scripture may be fulfilled… But this is to fulfill the scripture…
John 15:11 …and that your joy might be full. …and your joy may be complete…
John 15:25 …that the word might be fulfilled that… …to fulfill the word that is written in…
John 17:12 …that the scripture might be fulfilled. …so that the scripture could be fulfilled.
John 18:9 That the saying might be fulfilled… He said this to fulfill the word he had…
John 18:32 …the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled… …to fulfill the word Jesus had spoken…
John 19:24 …that the scripture might be fulfilled… …to fulfill the scripture that says…
John 19:36 …that the scripture should be fulfilled… …so that the scripture would be fulfilled…
Romans 8:4 …righteousness of the law might be fulfilled… …the law may be fulfilled in us…
2 Corinthians 10:6 …when your obedience is fulfilled. …whenever your obedience is complete.
πληρωθῆναι Luke 24:44 …that all things must be fulfilled… …and the psalms must be fulfilled…
Acts 1:16 …this scripture must needs have been fulfilled… …the scripture had to be fulfilled…
πληρωθήσεται Luke 3:5 Every valley shall be filled… Every valley will be filled…
πληρωθήσονται Luke 1:20 …my words, which shall be fulfilled in… …my words, which will be fulfilled in…
πληρωθῆτε Ephesians 3:19 …ye might be filled with all the fulness… …you may be filled up to all the fullness…
Colossians 1:9 …desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge… …asking God to fill you with the knowledge…
πληρωθείσης Acts 24:27 But after two years… After two years had passed…
πληρωθέντων Acts 7:30 And when forty years were expired… After forty years had passed…
πληρωθῶ 2 Timothy 1:4 …that I may be filled with joy… …so that I may be filled with joy…
πληρωθῶσιν Matthew 26:54 ..then shall the scriptures be fulfilled… …say it must happen this way be fulfilled?
Matthew 26:56 …of the prophets might be fulfilled. …of the prophets would be fulfilled.
Mark 14:49 …but the scriptures must be fulfilled. …so that the scriptures would be fulfilled.
Luke 21:24 …the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. …the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Revelation 6:11 …as they were, should be fulfilled. …until the full number was reached of…
πληροῖς Colossians 4:17 …that thou fulfil it. See to it that you complete the ministry…
πληρούμενον Luke 2:40 …filled with wisdom… …filled with wisdom…
πληρουμένου Ephesians 1:23 …the fulness of him that filleth all in all. …the fullness of him who fills all in all.
πληροῦν Luke 9:31 …he should accomplish at Jerusalem. …he was about to carry out at Jerusalem.
πληροῦσθε Ephesians 5:18 …but be filled with the Spirit… …but be filled by the Spirit…

[1] Romans 15:17 (NET)

[2] Romans 15:18, 19a (NET)

[3] Who Am I? Part 6

[4] Romans 8:34b (NET) Table

[5] Romans 15:16b (NET)

[6] 1 Corinthians 15:31b (NET)

[7] 2 Corinthians 8:24 (NET)

[8] 2 Corinthians 7:4a (NET)

[9] 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 (NET) Table

[10] 1 Corinthians 6:11b (NET)

[11] 1 Corinthians 14:3 (NET)

[12] See also Textus Receptus and the Byzantine/Majority Text

[13] According to an excerpt from Vincent’s Word Studies on biblehub.com τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν is a “technical phrase in Jewish liturgical language to denote the functions of worship (Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 5:1).”  In Hebrews 2:17 (NET) τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν was translated in things relating to God.  And in Hebrews 5:1 (NET) τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν was translated before God.

[14] Romans 4:2, 3 (NET)

[15] 2 Corinthians 1:14b (NET)

[16] 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 20 (NET)

[17] Grant Clay, Mission as Drama: A New Proposal for Pauline Theology, p.16

[18] Nathan Shank in a footnote (13) in his paper, “No Place Left: Strategic Priorities for Mission,” wrote: “The ‘work’ to which Paul refers is implied in the Greek: ἔχω οὖν [τὴν] καύχησιν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν (Rom 15:17). Again, ‘work’ is implied in the Greek: νυνὶ δὲ μηκέτι τόπον ἔχων ἐν τοῖς κλίμασι τούτοις (Rom. 15:23a).”  In Acts 14:26 (NET) work (ἔργον) was explicit εἰς τὸ ἔργον ὃ ἐπλήρωσαν, translated for the work they had now completed.  Even if ἔργον is implied, I’m convinced the “work” is God’s rather than Paul’s.  From [Attalia] they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed (KJV, they fulfilled).  When they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported all the things God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles (Acts 14:26, 27 NET).

[19] 2 Peter 1:3 (NET)

[20] Philippians 2:13 (NET)

[21] Philippians 4:19 (NET) Table

[22] Matthew 6:13b (NKVJ)  This was omitted from the NET.  See: Note 19

[23] Isaiah 42:8 (NET)

[24] 1 Corinthians 1:31 (NET)

[25] 2 Corinthians 10:17 (NET)

[26] The parallel Greek of the NET has ἡμῶν here; Stephanus 1550 Textus Receptus has ημων; Byzantine/Majority Text has ημων; KJV has been translated from ὑμῶν according to Strong’s Concordance.

[27] Romans 15:23a (NET)

[28] Grant Clay, Mission as Drama: A New Proposal for Pauline Theology, pp.14-15

[29] See also: Romans, Part 70 and Jedidiah, Part 6

[30] Philippians 4:19 (NET)

Sowing to the Flesh, Part 1

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The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials,[1] Peter wrote to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted (λαχοῦσιν, a form of λαγχάνω) a faith just as precious as ours.[2]  Another thing the Lord knows, Peter continued, is how to reserve the unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment, especially those who indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority.  Brazen and insolent, they are not afraid to insult the glorious ones, yet even angels, who are much more powerful, do not bring a slanderous judgment against them before the Lord.[3]

I think some things in these letters are hard to understand.  Who, for instance, were the glorious ones (δόξας, a form of δόξα)?  Who did the angels (ἄγγελοι, a form of ἄγγελος) not bring a slanderous judgment against?  The glorious ones?  Or those brazen and insolent ones who indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority, who are not afraid to insult the glorious ones.

The angels “are greater in power and might,” Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary[4] on 2 Peter, “and that even than those who are clothed with authority and power among the sons of men, and much more than those false teachers who are slanderous revilers of magistrates and governors.”  In Mr. Henry’s mind the glorious ones insulted by those who indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority were human “magistrates and governors.”  If this is what Peter meant I’ve already written about the difference between Peter’s writing on the subject and his own actions.

“These ungodly ones are proud, despising authority,” David Guzik wrote in his commentary of 2 Peter 2.  “In their presumption they will even speak ill of spiritual powers (Satan and his demons) that the angels themselves do not speak evil of, but the angels rebuke them in the name of the Lord instead.”[5]  If this was what Peter meant, then the glorious ones insulted by those who indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority were the gods of Rome and its environs.  Frankly, I can’t tell if Peter meant either or both or none of the above.

Peter, in my opinion, wrote just enough to demonstrate why John and Paul were called to write most of the Gospel commentary in the New Testament.  I don’t mean to criticize Peter as a man, a believer, an apostle or a leader, simply as a writer.  But I think sometimes we Protestants are too quick to exonerate him from the Catholic contention that Peter was the first Pope.

Consider what he wrote about faith (2 Peter 1:5-7 NET):

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love.

This sounds a lot like the piling on of merits in the “form of absolution used among the monks”[6] quoted by Luther/Graebner 1,300 years later.

God forgive thee, brother. The merit of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the blessed Saint Mary, always a virgin, and of all the saints; the merit of thy order, the strictness of thy religion, the humility of thy profession, the contrition of thy heart, the good works thou hast done and shalt do for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, be available unto thee for the remission of thy sins, the increase of thy worth and grace, and the reward of everlasting life. Amen.

Granted, Peter may have been misunderstood.  The Greek word translated add was ἐπιχορηγήσατε (a form of ἐπιχορηγέω).  Another form— ἐπιχορηγηθήσεται—of the very same word was translated will be…provided just six verses later.  Peter may have meant that we should make every effort to “be provided” with excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection and unselfish love by the fruit of the Holy Spirit; since Jesus’ divine power has bestowed (δεδωρημένης, a form of δωρέομαι) on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.[7]  But apparently Peter’s writing has made that difficult to suss out.

Now I sincerely doubt a first century Jewish apostle of Jesus Christ consciously thought of himself as Pope (Pontifex Maximus), the leader of the Roman state religion.  The title was probably assumed sometime after 381 when “Christianity [was] made [the] state religion of [the] Roman Empire.”[8]  But I have no doubt that Peter was received as leader, or bishop, if or when he arrived in Rome, if not during his lifetime, surely after his martyrdom.

I may not qualify as an historian but I have an interest in history.  That interest may compel me to hear the reasoning of the author of The Lonely Pilgrim blog: “Every historical record that speaks to Peter’s later life and death attests that he died in Rome a martyr under the emperor Nero, ca. A.D. 67.  No record places the end of his life anywhere else.”[9]  But as a believer I can’t follow his reasoning when he asserts:

The fact that so many Protestants deny [that Peter ministered in Rome] so vehemently, and refute it so absurdly, tells me that they, however basically, realize the power in our claim.  They recognize and in effect acknowledge what we have maintained for many centuries: that having the chief of Apostles as our foundation gives the Roman Catholic Church legitimacy and primacy.

“We have Peter as our founder” is the same species of error that John corrected when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism (Matthew 3:7-9 ESV) [for repentance]…

“Bear (ποιήσατε, a form of ποιέω) fruit in keeping (ἄξιον, a form of ἄξιος) with repentance.  And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”

Membership in a church Peter founded is not equivalent to trusting the Savior Peter trusted.  Mason Gallagher, an American pastor, wrote, “Rome sends her heralds to this land who come to me in the name of Peter and demand my adherence, and complete subjection…”[10]  The problem was made more acute because he believed “that Peter had such power, proved by Holy Writ” (Matthew 20:20-28).  He quoted a Catholic priest, Reuben Parsons, D. D.:

The simplest way of proving that the Bishop of Rome is not the successor of St. Peter, is by establishing as a stubborn fact that St. Peter himself, the presumed source of the Roman claims, never was Bishop of Rome; in fact that he never was in the Eternal City.

But isolated as this quote is, it’s impossible to determine if it was a genuine admission of potential persuasion or a false alternative thrown off like countermeasures from a warplane caught in an enemy’s missile lock.  But Mr. Gallagher cited other quotations under the heading “What Rome Teaches.”  I’ve put them in a table opposite Peter’s words.

What Rome Teaches

What Peter Taught (Acts 4:11, 12 NET)
“If anyone should deny that it is by the institution of Christ, the Lord, or by Divine Right, that blessed Peter should [have] a perpetual line of successors in the primacy over the Universal Church, or that the Roman Pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter in the Primacy, let him be anathema!”

— Decree of Vatican Council, 1870.

 

“He that acknowledgeth not himself to be under the Bishop of Rome, and that the Bishop of Rome is ordained of God to have Primacy over all the world, is a heretic and cannot be saved, nor is of the flock of Christ.”

— Canon Law Ch. of Rome.

 

Creed of Pope Pius IV., 1564: “I acknowledge the Holy ‘Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church, for the mother and mistress of all Churches; and I promise true obedience to [the] Bishop of Rome — successor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ. I do at this present freely profess, and sincerely hold, this true Catholic faith, without which no one can be saved.”

 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone.  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.

I will not argue before the judgment seat of Christ that Peter at Pentecost was ignorant of a church he would found at Rome to usurp Jesus’ salvation.  And I would not recommend that anyone else do so.

I’m not inclined to argue with anyone who believes that Babylon means Babylon in Scripture.  As A. Allison Lewis (See: “Testimony” at the bottom of the page) wrote, “In 1 Peter 5:13, it tells us very plainly that [Peter] wrote that epistle from the city of Babylon.”[11]  This kind of literalism is my customary and preferred way to read Scripture.  But in this case—as the original fundamentalists identified themselves to one another by shortening their first names to an initial and using their middle names as their “Christian” names—I think Babylon might have been code for Rome.[12]

“The Church here in Babylon, united with you by God’s election, sends you her greeting, and so does my son, Mark” (1 Pet. 5:13, Knox). Babylon is a code-word for Rome. It is used that way multiple times in works like the Sibylline Oracles (5:159f), the Apocalypse of Baruch (2:1), and 4 Esdras (3:1). Eusebius Pamphilius, in The Chronicle, composed about A.D. 303, noted that “It is said that Peter’s first epistle, in which he makes mention of Mark, was composed at Rome itself; and that he himself indicates this, referring to the city figuratively as Babylon.”

I moved across the country about the time I began to form a negative opinion of Peter’s writing.  Looking for a church online I came across a sermon series on Peter’s epistles.  The pastor praised Peter as a clear and concise author.  Since the sermons where also online and I could catch up and keep up with the series while I was traveling, I started attending that church when I was home on Sunday.  Though the pastor praised the clarity of Peter’s writing, whenever he wanted to explain what Peter meant he turned to John or Paul.

This may be more relevant than whether Peter founded the church at Rome.  Protestants more often than not turn to John and Paul to understand Peter.  If I were more inclined to favor Peter’s writings and utilized them to understand John and Paul, I might derive a Gospel understanding more like that of the Roman Catholic Church.

But these men, Peter continued—describing those who indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority—like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed (φθοράν, a form of φθορά) – do not understand whom they are insulting, and consequently in their destruction (φθορᾷ, another form of φθορά) they will be destroyed (φθαρήσονται, a form of φθείρω), suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways.[13]

The Greek word φθοράν, translated destroyed above, was translated corruption in the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption (φθοράν, a form of φθορά) from the flesh.[14]  Another form φθορᾶς was translated decay in the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay (φθορᾶς, another form of φθορά) into the glorious freedom of God’s children.[15]  Peter described false teachers who promised people freedom while they themselves are enslaved to immorality (φθορᾶς, another form of φθορά).[16]  And he wrote (2 Peter 1:3, 4 NET):

…his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.  Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption (φθορᾶς, another form of φθορά) that is produced by evil desire.

The definition of φθαρήσονται in the NET offers the following historical insight: “in the opinion of the Jews, the temple was corrupted or ‘destroyed’ when anyone defiled or in the slightest degree damaged anything in it, or if its guardians neglected their duties.”  I want to link this to another quote and another Greek word ἀπώλεια (2 Peter 2:1b-3 NET):

These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive (ἀπωλείας, a form of ἀπώλεια) heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them.  As a result, they will bring swift destruction (ἀπώλειαν, another form of ἀπώλεια) on themselves.  And many will follow their debauched lifestyles.  Because of these false teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.  And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words.  Their condemnation pronounced long ago is not sitting idly by; their destruction (ἀπώλεια) is not asleep.

If false teachers bring swift destruction on themselves, where do they find the time to lead others into their debauched lifestyles?  But I’m not convinced that this particular confusion was Peter’s fault.  The definition of ἀπώλεια online caught my attention:

apṓleia  (from 622 /apóllymi, “cut off“) – destruction, causing someone (something) to be completely severed – cut off (entirely) from what could or should have been.

If what could or should have been was that Jesus’ divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness then this swift destruction may be, not an end of human life, but being completely severed from what Jesus has bestowed on us and intended for us, a destruction of corruption (Romans 1:18, 22-32 NET).

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness…Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.  Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves [Table].  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!  Amen.  For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions.  For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another.  Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.  And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.  They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice.  They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility.  They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless.  Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.

So we would have (2 Peter 2:12, 13):

But these men, like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and [corrupted] (φθοράν, a form of φθορά) – do not understand whom they are insulting, and consequently in their [corruption] (φθορᾷ, another form of φθορά) they will be [corrupted, led astray][17] (φθαρήσονται, a form of φθείρω), suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways.  By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight, they are stains and blemishes, indulging in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you.  Their eyes, full of adultery, never stop sinning; they entice unstable people.  They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children!

And (2 Peter 2:1b-3 NET):

These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with [corrupting] (ἀπωλείας, a form of ἀπώλεια) heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them.  As a result, they will bring swift [corruption] (ἀπώλειαν, another form of ἀπώλεια) on themselves.  And many will follow their debauched lifestyles.  Because of these false teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.  And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words.  Their condemnation pronounced long ago is not sitting idly by; their [corruption] (ἀπώλεια) is not asleep.

Watch out for false prophets, Jesus said, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves.  You will recognize them by their fruit.[18]  Do the teachers proclaim and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit?  Or are they sowing to their own flesh and reaping corruption from their own flesh?

[1] 2 Peter 2:9a (NET)

[2] 2 Peter 1:1b (NET)

[3] 2 Peter 2:9b-11 (NET)

[4] http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/2-peter/2.html

[5] https://enduringword.com/commentary/2-peter-2/

[6] Commentary on Galatians 2:18

[7] 2 Peter 1:3 (NET)

[8] “Constantine: First Christian Emperor” Christianity Today

[9] Early Testimonies to St. Peter’s Ministry in Rome

[6] Rev. Mason Gallagher,D. D., “Was the Apostle Peter ever at Rome? A critical examination of the evidence and arguments presented on both sides of the question”

[11] A. Allison Lewis, “Was Peter Ever in Rome?”

[12] “Was Peter in Rome?”

[13] 2 Peter 2:12, 13a (NET)

[14] Galatians 6:8a (NET)

[15] Romans 8:21 (NET)

[16] 2 Peter 2:19a (NET)

[17] Forms of φθείρω were translated corrupts in 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NET); corrupted in 2 Corinthians 7:2 (KJV); may be led astray in 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NET); who is being corrupted in Ephesians 4:22 (NET) and corrupted in Revelation 19:2 (NET)

[18] Matthew 7:15, 16a (NET)

Fear – Exodus, Part 9

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Now when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand – when he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.  When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid (yârêʼ)[1] to approach him.[2]  The Greek word ἐφοβήθησαν (a form of φοβέω)[3] was chosen for this fear in the Septuagint.  This word occurs in the phrase ἐφοβήθησαν φόβον[4] μέγαν[5] in Mark’s gospel and was translated, They were overwhelmed by fear.[6]

Jesus and his disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat.  Now a great windstorm developed and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was nearly swamped.[7]  Jesus was asleep in the stern.  His disciples woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?”  So he got up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be quiet! Calm down!”  Then the wind stopped, and it was dead calm.[8]

I thought Jesus rebuked them then.  “Why are you cowardly?” He said according to Mark’s account (which I assume was Peter’s account and Mark served as chronicler, if not his scribe).  Do you still not have faith?”[9]  In Matthew’s account Jesus’ rebuke—“Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?”[10]—came even before He calmed the storm.  (Matthew/Levi hadn’t been called yet, according to Matthew.[11])  Of course, the text doesn’t actually say that Jesus rebuked them.

He rebuked (ἐπετίμησεν, a form of ἐπιτιμάω)[12] the wind (the cause[13] of the problem, if you will), and said (εἶπεν, a form of ῥέω)[14] to the sea as He said (εἶπεν) to his disciples.  Matthew recorded what He said (λέγει, a form of λέγω)[15] to his disciples, and how He rebuked (ἐπετίμησεν) the winds and the sea.  But when I believed that my faith was the work that made me worthy of heaven—Why are you cowardly?  Do you still not have faith? and Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?—stung like rebuke.  My opinion began to change, however, after I began to believe that his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence,[16] and that credited righteousness[17] was a functional,[18] rather than merely a formal,[19] righteousness.

My original opinion about Jesus’ rebuke was rendered absurd when I began to believe that even faith did not come out of or out from me: For by grace you are saved through faith (πίστεως, a form of πίστις),[20] and this is not from yourselves (καὶ[21] τοῦτο[22] οὐκ[23] ἐξ[24] ὑμῶν[25]), it is the gift of God.[26]  I heard the argument that this (τοῦτο, literally these) cannot refer back to faith (πίστεως) because τοῦτο “is neuter plural and ‘Faith’ [πίστεως] is feminine.”[27]  And I certainly tried to live by its consequences: “God bestows grace on those who faithfully obey His truth (Romans 6:15-18).  Man’s obedient faith does not cancel grace.  The fact is that an obedient faith allows initial grace (Acts 2:38) and permits continual grace (1 John 1:7).”[28]  My faith proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was never up to the task.  On the other hand, “Grace is feminine…And even Salvation (as a noun) is feminine.”[29]  So τοῦτο (literally these) refers to none of them or all three of them.

Though now it seems somewhat redundant and unnecessary to say that God’s grace is not from yourselves, there was a time when I needed to hear that his grace was not from works, so that no one can boast.[30]  Though now it seems somewhat redundant and unnecessary to say that God’s salvation is not from yourselves, there was a time when I needed to hear that his salvation was not from works, so that no one can boast.  Likewise there was a time when I reached the end of MY faith and needed to hear that even faith is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast.[31]  It is Christ’s faithfulness, not mine, the fruit of his Spirit.

And notice how easily these lofty requirements are fulfilled when the faithfulness in question is Christ’s rather than mine: “God bestows grace on those who faithfully obey His truth.  [Christ’s] obedient faith does not cancel grace.  The fact is that an obedient faith allows initial grace and permits continual grace.”  I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.[32]  And, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (πίστις), gentleness, and self-control.[33]

I’m not thinking here of the works of the flesh,[34] but that desire of the flesh that is most perniciously opposed to the Spirit[35] even after its works are largely under his control; namely, the desire to be accepted by God as righteous by my own works on my own terms.  But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites, Jesus said to men who pursued that kind of righteousness.  You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven!  For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.[36]  I know Paul didn’t explicitly say that this is a desire of the flesh in his letter to the Galatians, so I may be giving the flesh more credit than it deserves.  Perhaps the desire to be right is nothing more than a perversion or short-circuiting of a God-given hunger and thirst for righteousness.[37]  Regardless, the fruit and the glory are God’s, not mine.

The Greek word for this “obedient faith” in the New Testament is ὑπακοή.  At the beginning and the end of his letter to the Romans Paul went out of his way to make it clear that he did not mean “my own works by my own righteousness,” in fact, he called it faith’s obedience (Romans 1:5; 16:25-27 NET):

Through him we have received grace and our apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith (ὑπακοὴν[38] πίστεως) among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name.

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that had been kept secret for long ages, but now is disclosed, and through the prophetic scriptures has been made known to all the nations, according to the command of the eternal God [κατ᾿[39] ἐπιταγὴν[40] τοῦ[41] αἰωνίου[42] θεοῦ[43]] to bring about the obedience of faith [εἰς[44] ὑπακοὴν πίστεως] – to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be glory forever!   Amen.

While it is correct to translate ὑπακοή obedience relative to the Greek language, when Paul used ὑπακοή, even alone, relative to the Gospel he did not refer to “my own works by my own righteousness” any more than his use of the word θεοῦ referred to Zeus, Hera, Apollo or Aphrodite.  So I have to ask, how harshly did the Lord Jesus criticize his disciples for not demonstrating the faith He had not yet given them?  And look, I am sending you what my Father promised, Jesus told his Apostles after his resurrection.  But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.[45]

Jesus’ disciples knew, or suspected, that He was the Messiah, or Christ.  That’s why they followed Him, according to John’s Gospel account.  Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two disciples who heard what John [the Baptist] said and followed Jesus.  He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah (Μεσσίαν, a form of Μεσσίας)!”[46] (which is translated Christ [χριστός]).[47]  Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”[48]

Up to that time a messiah (Hebrew: mâshı̂yach, maw-shee’-akh) was simply a man anointed by God for a specific purpose.  Though incredulous at first that anything good could come out of Nazareth,[49] when he met Jesus, Nathaniel revealed some of his expectation regarding this particular anointed one at this particular time in Israel’s history, Rabbi, you are the Son of God (υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ); you are the king of Israel![50]  I’m not sure what Nathaniel meant by υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ.  I don’t think he recognized yet that Jesus was Yahweh in human flesh.  I do think it is that particular lack of faith to which Jesus referred when He said, Why are you cowardly?  Do you still not have faith? or Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?  I’m just not so sure any more that it was a rebuke.

The word translated cowardly in both Mark’s and Matthew’s accounts is δειλοί, a form of δειλός.[51]  Online in a section labeled HELPSTM Word-studies it reads, “deilós is always used negatively in the NT and stands in contrast to the positive fear which can be expressed by 5401 /phóbos [φόβος] (‘fear,’ see Phil 2:12).”[52]  Actually δειλός only occurs three or perhaps four times in the New Testament.  The fourth was rejected by the writer(s) of this particular definition: So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe (δέους, possibly another form of δειλός).[53]  This is quite similar to Philippians 2:12 (NET): So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe (φόβου, a form of φόβος)[54] and reverence…

In a section labeled “Forms and Transliterations” at the bottom of the web-page in the Bible Hub δέους is listed along with δειλοί: “δειλοι, δειλοί, δειλοις, δειλοίς, δειλοῖς, δειλός, δεους, δέους.”  It is a form of δέος (δειλός is from δέος in Strong’s) according to the Greek Word Study Tool,[55] but it is a form of αἰδώς[56] according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.  The NET online Bible jumps to αἰδώς if I click on awe in English.  If I click on δέους in Greek the busy signal spins perpetually.  If δέους actually is another form of δειλός, Jesus’ saying might have been translated, Why are you [awestruck]?

The problem is, the one time δειλοῖς (another form of δειλός) occurs in the New Testament it is first in the list of the damned: But to the cowards (δειλοῖς), unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, idol worshipers, and all those who lie, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.  That is the second death.[57]  And so Thayer’s Greek Lexicon reads, “δειλός, δείλη, δειλόν (δείδω to fear), timid, fearful: Matthew 8:28 [actually, Matthew 8:26]; Mark 4:40; in Revelation 21:8 of Christians who through cowardice give way under persecutions and apostatize. (From Homer down.)”[58]

Before I get too carried away by the idea that the Lord Jesus used δειλός in the same way that Homer used it, I’ll look more deeply into the context in Revelation.  But that kind of confusion could explain why Peter believed that Jesus wanted him to die[59] defending Him with a sword in the garden of Gethsemane.

The damned in Revelation were contrasted to one who conquers: The one who conquers (νικῶν, a form of νικάω)[60] will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son.[61]  The one who conquers (νικῶν, a form of νικάω) will in no way be harmed by the second death.[62]  The one who conquers (νικῶν, a form of νικάω) I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never depart from it.  I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God), and my new name as well.[63]

And to the one who conquers (νικῶν, a form of νικάω) and who continues in my deeds (τὰ ἔργα[64] μου[65]) until the end, I will give him authority over the nations…[66]  The one who conquers (νικῶν, a form of νικάω) will be dressed like [the few individuals in Sardis who have not stained their clothes][67] in white clothing, and I will never erase his name from the book of life, but will declare his name before my Father and before his angels.[68]  I have not found your deeds complete (σου |τὰ| ἔργα πεπληρωμένα[69]) in the sight of my God,[70] the Lord complained against most in Sardis.  Wake up then, and strengthen what remains,[71] He said, remember what (πῶς)[72] you received (εἴληφας, a form of λαμβάνω)[73] and heard, and obey it, and repent.[74]

Ordinarily, εἴληφας, a form of λαμβάνω, means to take.[75]  Of course, coupled with πῶς which means how, in what way (translated what), the translation received makes more sense.  How could anyone take from the Lord except to receive what He has given?  What do you have that you did not receive (ἔλαβες, another form of λαμβάνω)?  And if you received (ἔλαβες) it, why do you boast as though you did (λαβών, another form of λαμβάνω) not?[76]

Translated as remember what you received I think of the Holy Spirit and all the righteousness, both fruit and gifts, that flows from Him: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.[77]  And we have different gifts according to the grace given to us.  If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith.  If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.[78]

On the other hand if I think of it translated as remember what you [took], I am reminded of the law: You shall not take (Septuagint, λήμψῃ,[79] another form of λαμβάνω) the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes (Septuagint, λαμβάνοντα,[80] another form of λαμβάνω) his name in vain.[81]  Most in Sardis had not continued in Christ’s deeds, τὰ ἔργα μου (literally, my works, these works of mine).  They had not come into the light, so that it may be plainly evident that [their] deeds have been done in [or, by] God.[82]  They relied on their own works.  I have not found your deeds complete (ἔργα πεπληρωμένα [a form of πληρόω, fulfilled]) in the sight of my God, Jesus said.  He came to fulfill his works in and through us who believe (Matthew 5:17 NET):

Do not think that I have come to abolish (καταλῦσαι, a form of καταλύω)[83] the law or the prophets.  I have not come to abolish (καταλῦσαι, a form of καταλύω) these things but to fulfill (πληρῶσαι, a form of πληρόω) them.

One of the things the one who conquers will inherit[84] is a promise: To the one who is thirsty (διψῶντι, a form of διψάω)[85] I will give water free of charge from the spring of the water of life.[86]  The translators admitted (NET note 13) that they added the word water because it “is implied.  Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.”  So the text reads, To the one who is thirsty I will give free of charge from the spring of the water of life.  The implied direct object in this case is not water but righteousness: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst (διψῶντες, another form of διψάω) for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.[87]

Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty (διψήσει, another form of διψάω) again, Jesus, pointing at a well, told a Samaritan woman.  But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty (διψήσει, another form of διψάω) again, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.[88]  So the way that righteousness, the will of God, is achieved in heaven is through free access to God’s Holy Spirit, not an occasional spurt of righteousness, but a spring or fountain springing up to eternal life, which is not so much a timeless time or place as an eternal way of life.  And so it is on earth: may your will be done (γενηθήτω, a form of γίνομαι, literally become)[89] on earth as it is in heaven.[90]

And so it was with our Lord and Savior: I will grant the one who conquers (νικῶν, a form of νικάω) permission to sit with me on my throne, just as I too conquered (ἐνίκησα, a form of νικάω) and sat down with my Father on his throne.[91]  For everyone who has been fathered by God conquers (νικᾷ, a form of νικάω) the world.  This is the conquering power that has conquered (νικήσασα, a form of νικάω) the world: our faith.  Now who is the person who has conquered (νικῶν, a form of νικάω) the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?[92]  If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God.  And we have come to know and to believe the love [the fruit of his Spirit] that God has in us.  God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him [Table].[93]

With that in mind I want to reconsider the story of Jesus calming the wind and the waves.  I’ll use my imagination along with a psalm to get into the scene a little deeper.  When a great windstorm developed and the waves first began breaking into the boat,[94] though the other disciples may have been immediately afraid, I imagine Peter, Andrew, James and John took it in stride, for they were fishermen (Psalm 107:23-25 NET).

Some traveled on the sea in ships, and carried cargo over the vast waters.  They witnessed the acts of the Lord, his amazing feats on the deep water.  He gave the order for a windstorm, and it stirred up the waves of the sea.

As Peter gave orders to man the sail, ropes or oars, I imagine he smiled to himself that Jesus could sleep through it all.  Obviously, the Messiah wasn’t worried that He might drown in a storm on the Sea of Galilee (Psalm 107:26a NET Table).

They reached up to the sky, then dropped into the depths.

That’s an apt description of a boat riding out a storm fairly successfully.  But in the midst of an inland lake, the longer the wind blows, the more confused the waves become as they bounce back from every shore.  In the dark with no clue where the next wave would come from, it became almost impossible to head into the waves, so that the boat was nearly swamped.[95]  As the level of the water rose inside the boat, I imagine Peter’s amusement gave way to dismay, that the Messiah could sleep through it all (Psalm 107:26b-28a NET).

The sailors’ strength left them because the danger was so great [Table].  They swayed and staggered like a drunk, and all their skill proved ineffective.  They cried out to the Lord in their distress…

Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?[96] Peter roused Jesus from his slumber.  I imagine that it was Peter, telling on himself through Mark (Psalm 107:28b, 29 NET).

…he delivered them from their troubles.  He calmed the storm, and the waves grew silent.

Granted, there are more appropriate ways to cry out to the Lord at the end of one’s own faith.  I’ve certainly said worse than—Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?—but the Lord’s love is not easily angered or resentful.[97]  And with time in, living at the edge of my faith, his peace and patience work out more appropriate prayers for salvation in me.  My point in all this is that Jesus was not concerned with the fear his disciples felt during the storm.  They responded more or less appropriately to that fear according to the Scripture.

Hear how the words—Why are you cowardly?  Do you still not have faith?—sound, if they were spoken quietly with a smile and a wink as Jesus headed back to bed, rather than an imperious scowl.  Granted, the order of events in Matthew’s Gospel account lends more credence to that imperious scowl, but then in Matthew the phrase you people of little faith[98] is one word, ὀλιγόπιστοι (a form of ὀλιγόπιστος).[99]  Knowing that, it sounds more like a pet name or a term of endearment than a curse, or even a rebuke.

Where the disciples were in danger of diverging from Scripture was after Jesus calmed the storm, after He revealed that this particular Messiah was in fact Yahweh (Psalms 65:5-7; 89:8, 9; 93:3, 4 NET), who spoke to the wind and the waves and, Even the wind and sea obey him![100]  The sailors [in the psalm] rejoiced because the waves grew quiet, and he led them to the harbor they desired.[101]  Jesus disciples were overwhelmed by fear (ἐφοβήθησαν φόβον μέγαν).[102]

So, when Aaron and all the Israelites…were afraid (Septuagint, ἐφοβήθησαν, a form of φοβέω) to approach [Moses] because the skin of his face shone,[103] they were not frightened by a strange sight.  They had seen stranger sights.  They were frightened by the implication of Moses’ shining face, that Moses was becoming like Yahweh.  The fear of becoming like God, if it is not faced, could keep one from conquering, from inheriting, and from hearing the Lord say, I will be his God and he will be my son.[104]

So that fear fully deserves its place first in the list of the damned.  Aaron and all the Israelites faced that fear, however, and drew near to Moses anyway.  Jesus’ Apostles, except for Judas Iscariot, faced it and overcame by faith in Him, because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world.[105]

[2] Exodus 34:29, 30 (NET)

[4] a form of φόβος

[5] a form of μέγας

[7] Mark 4:37 (NET)

[8] Mark 4:38, 39 (NET)

[9] Mark 4:40 (NET)

[10] Matthew 8:26 (NET)

[11] Matthew 9:9 (NET) As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him.  And he got up and followed him.

[13] Now a great windstorm (λαῖλαψ μεγάλη [another form of μέγας]) developed and the waves, careening back and forth between the shores of the lake called the Sea of Galilee, were the result.

[15] Matthew 8:26 (NET)

[16] 2 Peter 1:3 (NET)

[17] Romans 4

[22] a form of οὗτος

[25] a form of σύ; of you

[26] Ephesians 2:8 (NET)

[30] Ephesians 2:9 (NET)

[31] Ephesians 2:8, 9 (NET)

[32] Galatians 5:16 (NET)

[33] Galatians 5:22, 23a (NET)

[36] Matthew 23:13 (NET)

[38] a form of ὑπακοή

[40] a form of ἐπιταγή

[41] a form of ὁ

[42] a form of αἰώνιος, of eternal

[43] a form of θεός, of God

[45] Luke 24:49 (NET) Table

[47] John 1:40, 41 (NET)

[48] John 1:45 (NET)

[49] John 1:46 (NET)

[50] John 1:49 (NET)

[53] Hebrews 12:28 (NET)

[57] Revelation 21:8 (NET)

[59] The Soul

[61] Revelation 21:7 (NET)

[62] Revelation 2:11b (NET)

[63] Revelation 3:12 (NET)

[64] a form of ἔργον

[65] a form of ἐγώ

[66] Revelation 2:26 (NET)

[68] Revelation 3:5 (NET)

[69] a form of πληρόω

[70] Revelation 3:2b (NET)

[71] Revelation 3:2a (NET)

[74] Revelation 3:3a (NET)

[75] Revelation 11:17b (NET) …you have taken (εἴληφας) your great power and begun to reign.

[77] Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)

[78] Romans 12:6-8 (NET)

[79] http://www.ericlevy.com/lxx/?Book=Gen&Chapter=24  Point to the word with the mouse to see a popup translation; then point to “search” in the popup to see another popup with the root form of the word.

[81] Exodus 20:7 (NET) Table

[82] John 3:21 (NET)

[86] Revelation 21:6 (NET)

[87] Matthew 5:6 (NET)

[88] John 4:13, 14 (NET)

[90] Matthew 6:10 (NET) Table

[91] Revelation 3:21 (NET)

[92] 1 John 5:4, 5 (NET)

[93] 1 John 4:15, 16 (NET)

[94] Mark 4:37a (NET)

[95] Mark 4:37b (NET)

[96] Mark 4:38 (NET)

[97] 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NET)

[98] Matthew 8:26 (NET)

[100] Mark 4:41 (NET)

[101] Psalm 107:30 (NET)

[102] Mark 4:41 (NET)

[103] Exodus 34:29, 30 (NET)

[104] Revelation 21:7 (NET)

[105] 1 John 5:4 (NET)

Son of God – 1 John, Part 3

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Dear friends, John wrote to fellow believers, let us love (ἀγαπῶμεν, a form of ἀγαπάω)[1] one another, because love (ἀγάπη)[2] is from God, and everyone who loves (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω)[3] by God and knows (γινώσκει, a form of γινώσκω)[4] God.[5]  John used the word ἀγαπῶμεν over and over again in his letters to describe this love (ἀγάπη).

For this is the gospel message that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love (ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους) one another…[6]  We know that we have crossed over from death to life because we love (ὅτι ἀγαπῶμεν τοὺς ἀδελφούς) our fellow Christians.[7]  Little children, let us not love (μὴ ἀγαπῶμεν λόγῳ μηδὲ τῇ γλώσσῃ) with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.[8]  Now this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love (καὶ ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους) one another, just as he gave us the commandment.[9]  No one has seen God at any time.  If we love (ἐὰν ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους) one another, God resides in us, and his love (ἀγάπη) is perfected in us.[10]  We love (ἡμεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν) because he loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us first.[11]  By this we know that we love (ὅτι ἀγαπῶμεν τὰ τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ) the children of God: whenever we love (ὅταν τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπῶμεν καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ ποιῶμεν) God and obey his commandments.[12]  But now I ask you, lady (not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but the one we have had from the beginning), that we love (ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους)[13] one another.[14]

This love (ἀγάπη) is from God,[15] not from us.  It is the love (ἀγάπη) that does no wrong to a neighbor, and the love (ἀγάπη) that is the fulfillment of the law.[16]  It is the love (ἀγάπη) that is patient, the love (ἀγάπη) that is kind, and the love (ἀγάπη) that does not brag.[17]  It is the love (ἀγάπη) that never ends as opposed to prophecies, tongues and knowledge that will be set aside.[18]  It is one of the three that remain along with faith and hope, but the greatest of these is love (ἀγάπη).[19]  It is the love (ἀγάπη) of Christ[20] that controls (συνέχει, a form of συνέχω)[21] us,[22] and it is the love that holds the preeminent place in the fruit of his Spirit: But the fruit of the Spirit is love (ἀγάπη), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.[23]

John emphasized, everyone who loves has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω) by God and knows (γινώσκει, a form of γινώσκω) God.[24]  The person who does not love (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) me, Jesus said, does not obey (τηρεῖ, a form of τηρέω)[25] my words.  And the word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.[26]  And Paul wrote, the one who loves (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) his neighbor has fulfilled the law.[27]

This love is the natural (e.g., super-natural) state of those born (γεννηθῇ, another form of  γεννάω) from above,[28] born (γεννηθῇ) of water and spirit,[29] not born (ἐγεννήθησαν, another form of  γεννάω) by human parents (οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων, literally, “not out of blood”) or by human desire (οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκὸς, literally, “neither out from the will of the flesh”) or a husband’s decision (οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρὸς, literally, “neither out from the will of a husband”), but by God (ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν, literally, “but out from God born”).[30]

If you know (εἰδῆτε, a form of εἴδω)[31] that he is righteous, John wrote, you also know (γινώσκετε, another form of γινώσκω) that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered (γεγέννηται) by him.[32]  Everyone who has been fathered (γεγεννημένος, another form of γεννάω) by God does not practice sin, because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered (γεγέννηται) by God.[33]  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω) by God…[34]

I am the good shepherd, Jesus said.  I know (γινώσκω) my own and my own know (γινώσκουσι, another form of γινώσκω) me – just as the Father knows (γινώσκει, another form of γινώσκω) me and I know (γινώσκω) the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.[35]  And John added, The person who does not love (ἀγαπῶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) does not know (ἔγνω, another form of γινώσκω) God, because God is love (ἀγάπη).[36]  The point here is not for me to act like a hypocrite and turn Paul’s definition of  ἀγάπη into a list of rules I strive to obey to con people into believing that I have been fathered by God.  The point is for me to believe Him and receive all that He has given to me in Christ.

By this the love (ἀγάπη) of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him.  In this is love (ἀγάπη): not that we have loved (ἠγαπήκαμεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) God, but that he loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.[37]

Dear friends (Ἀγαπητοί, a form of ἀγαπητός),[38] John continued, if God so loved (ἠγάπησεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) us, then we also ought to love (ἀγαπᾶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) one another.  No one has seen God at any time.  If we love (ἀγαπῶμεν, another form of ἀγαπάω) one another, God resides in us, and his love (ἀγάπη) is perfected in us.[39]  Once again, lest I stray into hypocrisy believing that this ἀγάπη originates with me so that I may prove that God resides in me, John made it plain.  By this we know (γινώσκομεν, another form of γινώσκω) that we reside in God and he in us: in that he has given us of his Spirit,[40] both gifts and fruit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world,[41] i.e., through his ἀγάπη (God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him).

Then John connected knowing and believing this ἀγάπη with confessing that Jesus is the Son of God:  If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God.  And we have come to know (ἐγνώκαμεν, another form of γινώσκω) and to believe (πεπιστεύκαμεν, a form of πιστεύω)[42] the love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη) that God has in us [Table].[43]  I began this study of the Son of God because I was curious[44] how Peter, James and John followed through on Jesus’ command to tell (after his resurrection)[45] about the vision when a voice from the cloud said, “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight.  Listen to him!”[46]

Peter obeyed Jesus’ command to the letter.  He recounted the story of the transfiguration.[47]  But John wrote more in the spirit of Jesus’ command about the Son of God and all that meant.  From the very beginning of his ministry Paul proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of God: For several days [Paul][48] was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “This man is the Son of God.”[49]  And the writings of John and Paul most vividly portray the truth, And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us.  I can’t say much about Peter’s knowledge or faith, but his writing did not convey this same knowledge and faith in God’s love.

You have not seen him, Peter wrote, but you love (ἀγαπᾶτε, a form of ἀγαπάω) him.  You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because you are attaining the goal of your faith – the salvation of your souls.[50]  This sounds like my feeling for Jesus rather than his ἀγάπη in us.  You have purified your souls by obeying the truth, Peter continued, in order to show sincere mutual love (φιλαδελφίαν, a form of φιλαδελφία).  So love (ἀγαπήσατε, a form of ἀγαπάω) one another earnestly from a pure heart.[51]  This sounds like our love for each other.  Perhaps brotherly affection and ἀγάπη were essentially interchangeable in the Greek language when Peter wrote.  But this usage doesn’t indicate any appreciation for the meaning that Paul ascribed to the ἀγάπη from God, or that John carried forward in his Gospel and letters.

Peter continued to make brotherly affection equivalent to ἀγάπη.  Honor all people, love (ἀγαπᾶτε, a form of ἀγαπάω) the family of believers, fear God, honor the king.[52]  Above all keep your love (ἀγάπην, a form of ἀγάπη) for one another fervent, because love (ἀγάπη) covers a multitude of sins.[53]  The love in this quotation of Proverbs 10:12 was φιλία[54] in the Septuagint not ἀγάπη.  And Peter used ἀγάπη to describe a religious rite: Greet one another with a loving (ἀγάπης, a form of ἀγάπη) kiss.[55]

He did grant some ascendency to ἀγάπη over φιλαδελφίᾳ (brotherly affection) when he wrote, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly affection (φιλαδελφίαν, a form of φιλαδελφίᾳ); to brotherly affection (φιλαδελφίᾳ), unselfish love (ἀγάπην, a form of ἀγάπη).[56]  But while I was busy adding all of these things to my faith I failed to understand that God’s divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.[57]  Or I thought the rich knowledge of the one who called us and the key to this life and godliness was the law.  

In other words I mistook the knowledge of sin[58] for the knowledge of God,[59] that intimate form of knowing alluded to in Romans 7:4, God is ἀγάπη,[60] ἀγάπη is from God,[61] and ἀγάπη is the fulfillment (πλήρωμα;[62] fulfilling KJV) of the law.[63]  Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets, Jesus said.  I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill (πληρῶσαι, a form of πληρόω)[64] them.[65]  Apart from Paul’s and John’s writings I never would have understood that this ἀγάπη from God was the fruit of the Spirit, and, in a word, the credited righteousness of God.

God is love, John wrote, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him [Table].  By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world.  There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love.  We love because he loved us first.[66]  For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments.  And his commandments do not weigh us down, because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world.  This is the conquering power that has conquered the world: our faith [i.e., in Him, yes, and in this love (ἀγάπην, another form of ἀγάπη) that God has in us].  Now who is the person who has conquered the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?[67]

If we accept the testimony of men, John continued, the testimony of God is greater [referring, I think, to the vision of the transfiguration], because this is the testimony of God that he has testified concerning his Son.  (The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.)[68]  And this is the testimony… And here, I think, John made the ἀγάπη from God functionally equivalent[69] to the life that is eternal (Love never ends).[70]  God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life.  I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.[71]

And finally having received this ἀγάπη from God (Give us today our daily bread[72]):  We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin, but God protects the one he has fathered, and the evil one (πονηρὸς, a form of πονηρός)[73] cannot touch him.  [And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (πονηροῦ, another form of πονηρός).[74]]  We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (πονηρῷ, another form of πονηρός).  And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight to know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.  This one is the true God and eternal life.  Little children, guard yourselves from idols.[75]

It takes a religious mind to be in close proximity to this ἀγάπη from God and yet reject it for the self-aggrandizing vindication of religious works.  For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.[76]  I’ve been there, and I’ve done that.

I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! – that I may gain Christ,  and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.  My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.[77]

[5] 1 John 4:7 (NET)

[6] 1 John 3:11 (NET)

[7] 1 John 3:14 (NET)

[8] 1 John 3:18 (NET)

[9] 1 John 3:23 (NET)

[10] 1 John 4:12 (NET)

[11] 1 John 4:19 (NET)

[12] 1 John 5:2 (NET)

[13] Why was “should” inserted into 1 John 3:11 (NET)? …that we should love one another… (ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους).  1 John 4:19 (NET) We love because he loved us first (ἡμεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν, ὅτι αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς).  1 John 5:2 (NET) By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments (ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἀγαπῶμεν τὰ τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅταν τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπῶμεν καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ ποιῶμεν).

[14] 2 John 1:5 (NET)

[15] 1 John 4:7 (NET)

[16] Romans 13:10 (NET)

[17] 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NET)

[18] 1 Corinthians 13:8 (NET)

[19] 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NET)

[20] NET note: “The phrase ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ (Jh agaph tou Cristou, “the love of Christ”) could be translated as either objective genitive (‘our love for Christ’) or subjective genitive (‘Christ’s love for us’). Either is grammatically possible, but with the reference to Christ’s death for all in the following clauses, a subjective genitive (‘Christ’s love for us’) is more likely.”

[22] 2 Corinthians 5:14 (NET)

[23] Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)

[24] 1 John 4:7 (NET)

[26] John 14:24 (NET)

[27] Romans 13:8 (NET)

[28] John 3:3 (NET)

[29] John 3:5 (NET)

[30] John 1:13 (NET)

[32] 1 John 2:29 (NET)

[33] 1 John 3:9 (NET)

[34] 1 John 5:1a (NET)

[35] John 10:14, 15 (NET)

[36] 1 John 4:8 (NET)

[37] 1 John 4:9, 10 (NET)

[39] 1 John 4:11, 12 (NET)

[40] 1 John 4:13 (NET)

[41] 1 John 4:14 (NET)

[43] 1 John 4:15, 16a (NET)

[46] Matthew 17:5 (NET)

[47] 2 Peter 1:16-18

[48] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ο σαυλος (KJV: Saul) nere.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[49] Acts 9:19b, 20 (NET) Table

[50] 1 Peter 1:8, 9 (NET)

[51] 1 Peter 1:22 (NET)

[52] 1 Peter 2:17 (NET)

[53] 1 Peter 4:8 (NET) Table

[55] 1 Peter 5:14a (NET)

[56] 2 Peter 1:5-7 (NET)

[57] 2 Peter 1:3 (NET)

[61] 1 John 4:7 (NET); love comes from God (CEV, GWT, ISVNT, TEV, TMSG); love has its origin in God (MSNT), Greek: ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν (“because this love [1) out of, from, by, away from] the God is”)

[65] Matthew 5:17 (NET)

[66] 1 John 4:16b-19 (NET)

[67] 1 John 5:3-5 (NET)

[68] 1 John 5:9, 10 (NET)

[71] 1 John 5:11-13 (NET)

[72] Matthew 6:11 (NET)

[74] Matthew 6:13 (NET)

[75] 1 John 5:18-21 (NET) Table (v. 18)

[76] Romans 10:3 (NET)

[77] Philippians 3:8-11 (NET)

Peter’s Way?

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Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Jude and the writer of Hebrews managed to expound on the Gospel without recourse to Areté (ἀρέτη),1 Greek virtue.  Paul used it once in a way that seems to question its existence or value: Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue (ἀρέτη) and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.2  But Peter commanded me to add ἀρετήν (a form of ἀρέτη) to faith (πίστει, a form of πίστις): giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue.3

“There is a tale that Arete (Virtue) dwells on unclimable rocks and close to the gods tends a holy place; she may not be seen by the eyes of all mortals, but only by him on whom distressing sweat comes from within, the one who reaches the peak of manliness.”4  In other words, Areté (ἀρέτη) is Gerard Butler as King Leonidas in the movie “300,” straining, leaping, crawling, clawing, dragging himself by brute strength up a sheer cliff face to reach an oracle.  That Peter had this imagery of a slow, painful ascent in mind is obvious (2 Peter 1:5-7 NKJV):

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

And if such a manly man may imagine virtue at the pinnacle of his arduous climb as something like King Leonidas found in the movie—a beautiful, half-naked woman, writhing in ecstasy—that’s all for the better.  Peter’s letters, the only ones preserved in the New Testament, were addressed to people temporarily residing abroad,5 presumably in the churches founded by Paul, probably after Paul’s execution in Rome.  I don’t really believe that Peter held any ill will toward Paul or his teaching.  I believe that Peter was Peter, “Ready! Fire! Aim!”  A fisherman by trade, Peter was ready to take on soldiers in the garden the night Jesus was arrested.6  But I do want to compare and contrast Paul’s and Peter’s How-To writings, because Peter’s writing spoke to me long before Paul’s made any sense at all.

At the time I was ready to believe Jesus again I was more than willing to make every effort to add to [my] faith excellence.7  Excellence is a contemporary attempt to rekindle some Greek fire in Areté (ἀρέτη), since virtue has become an old scold.  I set out, discounting the Gospel as something I’d already tried and found wanting, to obey the law, excellently, virtuously.  And I saw my efforts as the only sure way of escaping the worldly8 corruption that is produced by evil desire (ἐπιθυμίᾳ, a form of ἐπιθυμία).9  After I escaped the worldly corruption produced by evil desire by making every effort to keep the law, then I may become [a partaker] of the divine nature.10  But that wasn’t what Peter said, not really.  Or if it is was, it wasn’t exactly what he meant.

Peter’s point was that God’s divine power (δυνάμεως, a form of δύναμις) has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence (ἀρετῇ, another form of ἀρέτη).11  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, Paul wrote, for it is God’s power (δύναμις) for salvation to everyone who believes.12

Through these things, Peter continued, [through God’s divine power that has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence] he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises (ἐπαγγέλματα, a form of ἐπάγγελμα).13  Abraham, according to Paul, did not waver in unbelief about the promise (ἐπαγγελίαν, a form of ἐπαγγελία) of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.  He was fully convinced that what God promised (ἐπήγγελται, a form of ἐπαγγέλλω) he was also able to do.14

Peter continued, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.15  To become partakers of the divine nature by believing what was promised sounds exactly like Paul, but only after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire?  The translators of the American Standard Version rendered it, having escaped from the corruption that is in that world by lust.16  This, according to Paul, was achieved by God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.17  Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?18  Paul continued, our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.19

The translators of the New International Version rendered Peter’s explanation, so that through [his very great and precious promises] you may participate in the divine nature and [emphasis added] escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.20  But a note (20) in the NET justifies the translation after escaping as follows: “The aorist participle ἀποφυγόντες (apophugontes) is often taken as attendant circumstance to the preceding verb γένησθε (genesthse). As such, the sense is ‘that you might become partakers…and might escape…’ However, it does not follow the contours of the vast majority of attendant circumstance participles (in which the participle precedes the main verb, among other things). Further, attendant circumstance participles are frequently confused with result participles (which do follow the verb). Many who take this as attendant circumstance are probably viewing it semantically as result (‘that you might become partakers…and [thereby] escape…’). But this is next to impossible since the participle is aorist: Result participles are categorically present tense.”

Reading this makes me wonder, did a fisherman who could change from first person plural to second person plural in mid-thought (he has bestowed on us…so that…you) know this subtle nuance of the Greek language?  The alternative—that Peter actually meant to say that God had bestowed his precious and most magnificent promises on Apostles only (or Jews only), so that the laity (or Gentiles) may become partakers of the divine nature, after making every effort to escape the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire—seems untenable to me given his opening salutation.  From Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness (δικαιοσύνῃ, a form of δικαιοσύνη) of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted a faith just as precious as ours.  May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!21

If, however, I accept that Peter was not the writer, not the literary man or learned man, that Paul was, I can make some sense of this.  The Areté (ἀρέτη) Peter wanted me to add to my faith was nothing less than the Areté (ἀρέτη) of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence (ἀρετῇ, a form of ἀρέτη) who by his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness.22  Even the rabbis who translated the Septuagint used ἀρέτη for God’s virtue as Peter alluded to Isaiah 43:21: you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues (ἀρετὰς, another form of ἀρέτη) of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.23

NET

Blue Letter Bible (Septuagint)

NET   Bible (Greek parallel text)
…you may proclaim the virtues…

1 Peter 2:9 (NET)

 τὰς ἀρετάς μου διηγεῖσθαι

Isaiah   43:21

 τὰς ἀρετὰς ἐξαγγείλητε

1 Peter 2:9

Peter changed the word from διηγεῖσθαι24 to ἐξαγγείλητε, something more than mere telling.  It is only used once in the Bible, but is a compound of two words that would literally be from an angel (messenger).  It was translated show forth in the KJV.  [Addendum 5/23/2024: According to the Koine Greek Lexicon online διηγεῖσθαι is a form of διηγέομαι, “to set out in detail, fully describe, show; to explain, report; to narrate, tell, relate fully, declare, recite, proclaim,” while ἐξαγγείλητε is a form of ἐξαγγέλλω, “to proclaim, report, tell out, make known; to give public, vocal expression to.”] It seems that ἀρέτη (ἀρετάς above) served the same function for Peter that δικαιοσύνη served for Paul: But now apart from the law the righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed – namely, the righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe [Table].25

There are really only two ways for me to add virtue or moral excellence to my faith.  I can trust in Christ, relying on the credited righteousness of God through the fruit of the Holy Spirit, or I can strive to keep the law, relying on myself.  Had I like Saul achieved the status of blameless according to the righteousness stipulated in the law,26 I still wouldn’t have qualified as a Pharisee.  And Jesus said, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.27 Though the love that fulfills the law, the credited righteousness of God by the fruit of his Spirit, seems a long way off from Areté (ἀρέτη) in Peter’s arduous climb, it is an appropriate distance between self-acquired blamelessness according to the righteousness stipulated in the law and the righteousness of God.  Of course, I didn’t see it this way before I grasped what Paul was saying in Romans.

I thought I was trusting Christ and striving to keep the law, even that by striving to keep the law I was trusting Christ, as I misunderstood James, Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by MY WORKS.28  I added the emphasis here to indicate how full of the pride of life29 I was.  Thankfully, I can’t satisfy my God-given hunger and thirst for righteousness30 by striving to keep rules.  And I also thank God that Jesus made a special appearance to call a wayward Pharisee named Saul, transformed him into Paul the Apostle, and gave him the words that make up the bulk of the Gospel commentary in the New Testament.

 

Addendum: May 23, 2024
Tables comparing Isaiah 43:21 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Isaiah 43:21 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing 2 Peter 1:4 and 1:3 in the NET and KJV follow.

Isaiah 43:21 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 43:21 (KJV)

Isaiah 43:21 (NET)
This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. the people whom I formed for myself, so they might praise me.

Isaiah 43:21 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 43:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
λαόν μου ὃν περιεποιησάμην τὰς ἀρετάς μου διηγεῖσθαι λαόν μου, ὃν περιεποιησάμην τὰς ἀρετάς μου διηγεῖσθαι

Isaiah 43:21 (NETS)

Isaiah 43:21 (English Elpenor)
my people whom I have acquired to set forth my excellences. my people whom I have preserved to tell forth my praises.

2 Peter 1:4 (NET)

2 Peter 1:4 (KJV)
Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:4 (NET Parallel Greek)

2 Peter 1:4 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

2 Peter 1:4 (Byzantine Majority Text)
δι᾿ ὧν τὰ τίμια καὶ μέγιστα ἡμῖν ἐπαγγέλματα δεδώρηται, ἵνα διὰ τούτων γένησθε θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως ἀποφυγόντες τῆς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ φθορᾶς δι ων τα μεγιστα ημιν και τιμια επαγγελματα δεδωρηται ινα δια τουτων γενησθε θειας κοινωνοι φυσεως αποφυγοντες της εν κοσμω εν επιθυμια φθορας δι ων τα τιμια ημιν και μεγιστα επαγγελματα δεδωρηται ινα δια τουτων γενησθε θειας κοινωνοι φυσεως αποφυγοντες της εν κοσμω εν επιθυμια φθορας

2 Peter 1:3 (NET)

2 Peter 1:3 (KJV)
I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

2 Peter 1:3 (NET Parallel Greek)

2 Peter 1:3 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

2 Peter 1:3 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Ὡς πάντα ἡμῖν τῆς θείας δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ τὰ πρὸς ζωὴν καὶ εὐσέβειαν δεδωρημένης διὰ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως τοῦ καλέσαντος ἡμᾶς |ἰδίᾳ δόξῃ| καὶ |ἀρετῇ| ως παντα ημιν της θειας δυναμεως αυτου τα προς ζωην και ευσεβειαν δεδωρημενης δια της επιγνωσεως του καλεσαντος ημας δια δοξης και αρετης ως παντα ημιν της θειας δυναμεως αυτου τα προς ζωην και ευσεβειαν δεδωρημενης δια της επιγνωσεως του καλεσαντος ημας δια δοξης και αρετης

1 Addendum: May 22, 2019
The Greek word ἀρέτη was used in the Septuagint. In an article titled “Are There Traces of Greek Philosophy in the Septuagint?” [The Jewish Quarterly Review Vol. 2, No. 3 (Apr., 1890), pp. 205-222] J. Freudenthal wrote:

“Aρέτη, as is well known, originally signifies man’s power and capacity; hence the term serves to denote all bodily and mental excellences, and, though more rarely, their effects or ‘great achievements,’ or the ‘glory,’ or ‘fame’ acquired in consequence…In philosophical language these usages fall into the background, and the abstract sense of ‘virtue’ preponderates. But it is precisely this ethical meaning, which afterwards became universal, that is never found in the Septuagint.”

Mr. Freudenthal wrote that ἀρέτη was only used in the Septuagint “in the sense of ‘praise,’ ‘glory,’ ‘honour,’ ‘excellence,’ ‘quality worthy of honour.’”  He offered the following examples:

Reference

 NET Parallel Hebrew Chabad.org Tanakh NET Septuagint (BLB)

Septuagint (Elpenor)
Isaiah 42:8 ותהלתי (tehillâh) וּתְהִלָּתִ֖י praise praise ἀρετάς ἀρετάς
Isaiah 42:12 ותהלתו (tehillâh) וּתְהִלָּת֖וֹ praise praise his deeds ἀρετὰς ἀρετὰς
Zechariah 6:13 הוד (hôd) ה֔וֹד the glory splendor ἀρετὴν ἀρετὴν
Isaiah 43:21 תהלתי (tehillâh) תְּהִלָּתִ֖י praise praise ἀρετάς ἀρετάς
Isaiah 63:7 תהלת (tehillâh) תְּהִלּ֣וֹת praises praiseworthy deeds ἀρετὰς ἀρετὰς

It is worth considering whether Peter meant praise rather than excellence or the virtue of Greek philosophy.  Mr. Freudenthal, however, wrote: “Only in one passage does the word seem used in the philosophical sense, viz. : in 2 Pet. i. 5…”

2 Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)

4 Simonides, Fragment 579 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric III) (Greek lyric C6th to 5th B.C.)  ARETE PERSONIFICATION OF VIRTUE

7 2 Peter 1:5a (NET)

8 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article τῷ preceding worldly. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

9 2 Peter 1:4b (NET)

10 2 Peter 1:4a (NET)

11 2 Peter 1:3 (NET) The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had |ἰδίᾳ δόξῃ| καὶ |ἀρετῇ| here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δια δοξης και αρετης (KJV: to glory and virtue).

12 Romans 1:16 (NET) Table

13 2 Peter 1:4a (NET)

14 Romans 4:20, 21 (NET)

15 2 Peter 1:4b (NET)

16 2 Peter 1:4b (ASV)  A note 21 in the NET acknowledges that the Greek is, “the corruption in the world (in/because of) lust.”

17 Romans 8:3 (NET)

18 Romans 6:3 (NET)

19 Romans 6:6 (NET)

20 2 Peter 1:4b (NIV)

21 2 Peter 1:1, 2 (NET)

22 2 Peter 1:3 (NET)

23 1 Peter 2:9 (NET)

25 Romans 3:21, 22 (NET)

26 Philippians 3:6b (NET) Table

27 Matthew 5:20 (NET)

28 James 2:18b (NET) Table