Tag Archives: John 3:21

Psalm 22, Part 6

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This is a continuing look into Psalm 22 as the music in Jesus’ heart as He endured the cross.

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Psalm 22:14a (Tanakh) Psalm 22:14a (NET) Psalm 21:15a (NETS)

Psalm 21:15a (Elpenor English)
I am poured out like water, My strength drains away like water [Note 31: like water I am poured out]; Like water I was poured out, I am poured out like water,

The Hebrew word translated I am poured out was נִשְׁפַּכְתִּי֘ (shaphak).  The Greek word in the Septuagint was ἐξεχύθην (a form of ἐκχέω).  Jesus taught his disciples:

Matthew 26:27, 28 (NET)

 Mark 14:23, 24 (NET)

Luke 22:20 (NET)
And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, And after taking the[1] cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out (ἐκχυννόμενον) for you[2] is the new covenant in my blood.
for this is my blood, the blood of the[3] covenant,[4] that is poured out (ἐκχυννόμενον) for many for the forgiveness of sins. He said to them, “This is my blood, the blood of the[5] covenant,[6] that is poured out (ἐκχυννόμενον) for[7] many.

Here, too, the Greek word translated poured out was ἐκχυννόμενον (another form of ἐκχέω).  On the day the Holy Spirit was poured out on all who believed Jesus, Peter quoted the prophet Joel:

Acts 2:17 (NET)

 Joel 2:28 (NETS)

Joel 3:1 (English Elpenor)
‘And in the last days it will be,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out (ἐκχεῶ) my Spirit on all people, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. And it shall be after these things, I will pour out (ἐκχεῶ)[8] my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out (ἐκχεῶ) of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
Acts 2:17 (NET Parallel Greek) Joel 2:28 (Septuagint BLB) Joel 3:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔσται ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις, λέγει ὁ θεός, ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα, καὶ προφητεύσουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ οἱ νεανίσκοι ὑμῶν ὁράσεις ὄψονται καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι ὑμῶν ἐνυπνίοις ἐνυπνιασθήσονται καὶ ἔσται μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα καὶ προφητεύσουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι ὑμῶν ἐνύπνια ἐνυπνιασθήσονται καὶ οἱ νεανίσκοι ὑμῶν ὁράσεις ὄψονται ΚΑΙ ἔσται μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα, καὶ προφητεύσουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες ὑμῶν, καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι ὑμῶν ἐνύπνια ἐνυπνιασθήσονται, καὶ οἱ νεανίσκοι ὑμῶν ὁράσεις ὄψονται
Acts 2:18 (NET) Joel 2:29 (NETS) Joel 3:2 (English Elpenor)
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out (ἐκχεῶ) my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out (ἐκχεῶ)[9] my spirit. And on my servants and on [my] handmaids in those days will I pour out (ἐκχεῶ) of my Spirit.
Acts 2:18 (NET Parallel Greek) Joel 2:29 (Septuagint BLB) Joel 3:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καί γε ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους μου καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς δούλας μου ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος μου, καὶ προφητεύσουσιν καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς δούλας ἐν ταῗς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός μου καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους μου καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς δούλας μου ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός μου

Peter’s addition of γε (translated even) understood as at least, and the potential addition of μου (depending on which version of the Septuagint is closer to the original Greek and which Greek is closer to the original Hebrew), indicates to me that the pouring out of the Holy Spirit was limited in Peter’s then present to believers—limited to my (e.g., God’s) servants or slaves (δούλους, a form of δοῦλος, and δούλας, a form of δούλη).  Jesus told his disciples, “you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves (δοῦλοι, another form of δοῦλος) undeserving of special praise; we have only done what was our duty.’”[10]

The religious mind as “a subspecies of the carnal mind” will not hear this saying.  It rejects such a concept entirely as it strives to justify itself by having its own righteousness derived from the law or Church doctrine or whatever virtue system it might imagine for itself.  The religious mind craves credit and praise for its own standards and achievements of righteousness.   I think the phrase slaves undeserving of special praise (δοῦλοι ἀχρεῖοι; KJV: unprofitable servants) was Jesus’ way of expressing the attitude of those led by the Spirit of God.  Paul described it a bit differently (Galatians 2:19-21 NET):

For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!

What you have done (ποιήσητε, a form of ποιέω) when you have done everything as a disciple of Christ led by his Holy Spirit is not your work (Hebrews 4:1-13) but Christ’s: the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness—a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.[11]  The one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.[12]

This Jesus God raised up, Peter continued on the day the Holy Spirit was poured out upon believers, and we are all witnesses of it.  So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out (ἐξέχεεν, another form of ἐκχεῶ) what you both see and hear [Table].[13]

The phrase what you both see and hear was a reference to what happened when the Holy Spirit was poured out on believers (Acts 2:4-12 NET):

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem [Table].  When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion because each one heard them speaking in his own language.  Completely baffled, they said, “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? [Table]  And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language?  Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!”  All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” [Table]

Peter was also first to preach the Gospel to Gentiles (Acts 10:34b-48a NET):

I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism in dealing with people [Table], but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is welcomed before him.  You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, proclaiming the good news (εὐαγγελιζόμενος, a form of εὐαγγελίζω) of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all)—you know what happened throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John announced: with respect to Jesus from Nazareth,[14] that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power.  He went around doing good (εὐεργετῶν, a form of εὐεργετέω) and healing all who were oppressed by the devil because God was with him.  We are[15] witnesses of all the things he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.  They killed[16] him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him up on[17] the third day and caused him to be seen, not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had already chosen, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.  He commanded us to preach to the people and to warn them that he[18] is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.  About him all the prophets testify, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the message.  The circumcised believers who had accompanied[19] Peter were greatly astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out (ἐκκέχυται, another form of ἐκχέω) even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.  Then Peter said [Table], “No one can withhold the water for these people to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”  So he gave orders to have them baptized in the name of Jesus Christ [Table].

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere I have never spoken in tongues.  I receive God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control from his Holy Spirit.  Paul wrote: And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out (ἐκκέχυται, another form of ἐκχέω) in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.[20]

A note (6) in the NET acknowledged the possibility that this love of God (ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ) means: “The love that comes from God and that produces our love for God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  I will testify to this actuality, and add that the love that comes from God and that produces our love for God and others has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever!  Amen.[21]

Paul wrote to Titus (Titus 3:3-7 NET):

For we, too, were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another.  But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us not by works of righteousness that[22] we have done but on the basis of his mercy,[23] through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out (ἐξέχεεν, another form of ἐκχέω) on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior.  And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become[24] heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”

After Jesus bowed his head and gave up his spirit,[25] one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out immediately.[26]  I’ve heard the physical explanation of this flow of blood and water many times.  A quote from an article on compellingTruth online—“When Jesus was pierced, why did blood and water come out of His side?”—follows:

Crucifixion typically resulted in death through one of two ways. The first way was hypovolemic shock. The prolonged rapid heartbeat resulting from hypovolemic shock can cause fluid to gather in the area around the heart….

The second way death often occurred during crucifixion was due to asphyxiation….This…can also result in the buildup of fluid around the heart.

I didn’t grasp the symbolic significance of blood and water (αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ) until I did this study of what poured out of Jesus: his blood for the forgiveness of sins and the water near to his heart, his Holy Spirit, for the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe.[27]  As He promised the Samaritan woman at the well: whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water (ὕδωρ) that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.[28]

I am poured out like water, Jesus sang in his heart as He died on the cross.

Tables comparing Psalm 22:14; Joel 2:28 (3:1) and 2:29 (3:2) in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing Psalm 22:14 (21:15); Joel 2:28 (3:1) and 2:29 (3:2) in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:23, 24; Acts 2:18; 10:38-40; 10:42; 10:45; Titus 3:5; 3:7 and John 19:34 in the NET and KJV follow.

Psalm 22:14 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 22:14 (KJV)

Psalm 22:14 (NET)
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength drains away like water; all my bones are dislocated. My heart is like wax; it melts away inside me.

Psalm 22:14 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 21:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὡσεὶ ὕδωρ ἐξεχύθην καὶ διεσκορπίσθη πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐγενήθη ἡ καρδία μου ὡσεὶ κηρὸς τηκόμενος ἐν μέσῳ τῆς κοιλίας μου ὡσεὶ ὕδωρ ἐξεχύθην, καὶ διεσκορπίσθη πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου, ἐγενήθη ἡ καρδία μου ὡσεὶ κηρὸς τηκόμενος ἐν μέσῳ τῆς κοιλίας μου

Psalm 21:15 (NETS)

Psalm 21:15 (English Elpenor)
Like water I was poured out, and all my bones were scattered; my heart became like wax melting within my belly; I am poured out like water, and all my bones are loosened: my heart in the midst of my belly is become like melting wax.

Joel 3:1 (Tanakh)

 Joel 2:28 (KJV)

Joel 2:28 (NET)
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: “After all of this I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy.  Your elderly will have prophetic dreams; your young men will see visions.

Joel 2:28 (Septuagint BLB)

Joel 3:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔσται μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα καὶ προφητεύσουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι ὑμῶν ἐνύπνια ἐνυπνιασθήσονται καὶ οἱ νεανίσκοι ὑμῶν ὁράσεις ὄψονται ΚΑΙ ἔσται μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα, καὶ προφητεύσουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες ὑμῶν, καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι ὑμῶν ἐνύπνια ἐνυπνιασθήσονται, καὶ οἱ νεανίσκοι ὑμῶν ὁράσεις ὄψονται

Joel 2:28 (NETS)

Joel 3:1 (English Elpenor)
And it shall be after these things, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

Joel 3:2 (Tanakh)

 Joel 2:29 (KJV)

Joel 2:29 (NET)
And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My spirit. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. Even on male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

Joel 2:29 (Septuagint BLB)

Joel 3:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς δούλας ἐν ταῗς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός μου καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους μου καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς δούλας μου ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός μου

Joel 2:29 (NETS)

Joel 3:2 (English Elpenor)
Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit. And on my servants and on [my] handmaids in those days will I pour out of my Spirit.

Matthew 26:28 (NET)

Matthew 26:28 (KJV)
for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν τὸ αἷμα μου τῆς διαθήκης τὸ περὶ πολλῶν ἐκχυννόμενον εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν τουτο γαρ εστιν το αιμα μου το της καινης διαθηκης το περι πολλων εκχυνομενον εις αφεσιν αμαρτιων τουτο γαρ εστιν το αιμα μου το της καινης διαθηκης το περι πολλων εκχυνομενον εις αφεσιν αμαρτιων

Mark 14:23, 24 (NET)

Mark 14:23, 24 (KJV)
And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ λαβὼν ποτήριον εὐχαριστήσας ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἔπιον ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντες και λαβων το ποτηριον ευχαριστησας εδωκεν αυτοις και επιον εξ αυτου παντες και λαβων το ποτηριον ευχαριστησας εδωκεν αυτοις και επιον εξ αυτου παντες
He said to them, “This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· τοῦτο ἐστιν τὸ αἷμα μου τῆς διαθήκης τὸ ἐκχυννόμενον ὑπὲρ πολλῶν και ειπεν αυτοις τουτο εστιν το αιμα μου το της καινης διαθηκης το περι πολλων εκχυνομενον και ειπεν αυτοις τουτο εστιν το αιμα μου το της καινης διαθηκης το περι πολλων εκχυνομενον

Acts 2:18 (NET)

Acts 2:18 (KJV)
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καί γε ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους μου καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς δούλας μου ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος μου, καὶ προφητεύσουσιν και γε επι τους δουλους μου και επι τας δουλας μου εν ταις ημεραις εκειναις εκχεω απο του πνευματος μου και προφητευσουσιν καιγε επι τους δουλους μου και επι τας δουλας μου εν ταις ημεραις εκειναις εκχεω απο του πνευματος μου και προφητευσουσιν

Acts 10:38-40 (NET)

Acts 10:38-40 (KJV)
with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power.  He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil because God was with him. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Ἰησοῦν τὸν ἀπὸ Ναζαρέθ, ὡς ἔχρισεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ δυνάμει, ὃς διῆλθεν εὐεργετῶν καὶ ἰώμενος πάντας τοὺς καταδυναστευομένους ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἦν μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ ιησουν τον απο ναζαρετ ως εχρισεν αυτον ο θεος πνευματι αγιω και δυναμει ος διηλθεν ευεργετων και ιωμενος παντας τους καταδυναστευομενους υπο του διαβολου οτι ο θεος ην μετ αυτου ιησουν τον απο ναζαρετ ως εχρισεν αυτον ο θεος πνευματι αγιω και δυναμει ος διηλθεν ευεργετων και ιωμενος παντας τους καταδυναστευομενους υπο του διαβολου οτι ο θεος ην μετ αυτου
We are witnesses of all the things he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.  They killed him by hanging him on a tree, And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ἡμεῖς μάρτυρες πάντων ὧν ἐποίησεν ἔν τε τῇ χώρᾳ τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ [ἐν] Ἰερουσαλήμ. ὃν καὶ ἀνεῖλαν κρεμάσαντες ἐπὶ ξύλου και ημεις εσμεν μαρτυρες παντων ων εποιησεν εν τε τη χωρα των ιουδαιων και εν ιερουσαλημ ον ανειλον κρεμασαντες επι ξυλου και ημεις εσμεν μαρτυρες παντων ων εποιησεν εν τε τη χωρα των ιουδαιων και εν ιερουσαλημ ον και ανειλον κρεμασαντες επι ξυλου
but God raised him up on the third day and caused him to be seen, Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
τοῦτον ὁ θεὸς ἤγειρεν [ἐν] τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὸν ἐμφανῆ γενέσθαι τουτον ο θεος ηγειρεν τη τριτη ημερα και εδωκεν αυτον εμφανη γενεσθαι τουτον ο θεος ηγειρεν τη τριτη ημερα και εδωκεν αυτον εμφανη γενεσθαι

Acts 10:42 (NET)

Acts 10:42 (KJV)
He commanded us to preach to the people and to warn them that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ παρήγγειλεν ἡμῖν κηρύξαι τῷ λαῷ καὶ διαμαρτύρασθαι ὅτι οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ ὡρισμένος ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ κριτὴς ζώντων καὶ νεκρῶν και παρηγγειλεν ημιν κηρυξαι τω λαω και διαμαρτυρασθαι οτι αυτος εστιν ο ωρισμενος υπο του θεου κριτης ζωντων και νεκρων και παρηγγειλεν ημιν κηρυξαι τω λαω και διαμαρτυρασθαι οτι αυτος εστιν ο ωρισμενος υπο του θεου κριτης ζωντων και νεκρων

Acts 10:45 (NET)

Acts 10:45 (KJV)
The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were greatly astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ἐξέστησαν οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς πιστοὶ |ὅσοι| συνῆλθαν τῷ Πέτρῳ, ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη ἡ δωρεὰ τοῦ |ἁγίου| πνεύματος  ἐκκέχυται και εξεστησαν οι εκ περιτομης πιστοι οσοι συνηλθον τω πετρω οτι και επι τα εθνη η δωρεα του αγιου πνευματος εκκεχυται και εξεστησαν οι εκ περιτομης πιστοι οσοι συνηλθον τω πετρω οτι και επι τα εθνη η δωρεα του αγιου πνευματος εκκεχυται

Titus 3:5 (NET)

Titus 3:5 (KJV)
he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ ἃ ἐποιήσαμεν ἡμεῖς ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος ἔσωσεν ἡμᾶς διὰ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας καὶ ἀνακαινώσεως πνεύματος ἁγίου ουκ εξ εργων των εν δικαιοσυνη ων εποιησαμεν ημεις αλλα κατα τον αυτου ελεον εσωσεν ημας δια λουτρου παλιγγενεσιας και ανακαινωσεως πνευματος αγιου ουκ εξ εργων των εν δικαιοσυνη ων εποιησαμεν ημεις αλλα κατα τον αυτου ελεον εσωσεν ημας δια λουτρου παλιγγενεσιας και ανακαινωσεως πνευματος αγιου

Titus 3:7 (NET)

Titus 3:7 (KJV)
And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.” That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἵνα δικαιωθέντες τῇ ἐκείνου χάριτι κληρονόμοι γενηθῶμεν κατ᾿ ἐλπίδα ζωῆς αἰωνίου ινα δικαιωθεντες τη εκεινου χαριτι κληρονομοι γενωμεθα κατ ελπιδα ζωης αιωνιου ινα δικαιωθεντες τη εκεινου χαριτι κληρονομοι γενωμεθα κατ ελπιδα ζωης αιωνιου

John 19:34 (NET)

John 19:34 (KJV)
But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out immediately. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἀλλ᾿ εἷς τῶν στρατιωτῶν λόγχῃ αὐτοῦ τὴν πλευρὰν ἔνυξεν, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν εὐθὺς αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ αλλ εις των στρατιωτων λογχη αυτου την πλευραν ενυξεν και ευθυς εξηλθεν αιμα και υδωρ αλλ εις των στρατιωτων λογχη αυτου την πλευραν ενυξεν και ευθεως εξηλθεν αιμα και υδωρ

[1] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article το here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[2] The word order in Greek is: 1) τοῦτο τὸ ποτήριον (This cup); 2) ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη (the new covenant); 3) ἐν τῷ αἵματι μου (in my blood); 4) τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐκχυννόμενον (that is poured out for you).  Neither my Greek nor my King James English is subtle enough to know if This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you (KJV) means This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood (NET).  They sound substantially different to my ear.  The KJV translators have mimicked the Greek word order better than the NET translators.

[3] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article το preceding the article τῆς.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[4] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had καινης (KJV: new) preceding covenant (KJV: testament).  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[5] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article το preceding the article τῆς.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[6] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had καινης (KJV: new) preceding covenant (KJV: testament).  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[7] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ὑπὲρ here where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had περι.

[8] The Hebrew word in the Masoretic text was אֶשְׁפּ֚וֹךְ (shaphak, שָׁפַךְ) another form of the word נִשְׁפַּכְתִּי֘ translated I am poured out in Psalm 22:14.

[9] The Hebrew word in the Masoretic text was אֶשְׁפּ֖וֹךְ (shaphak, שָׁפַךְ) another form of the word נִשְׁפַּכְתִּי֘ translated I am poured out in Psalm 22:14.

[10] Luke 17:10 (NET) The Greek word translated duty was ὠφείλομεν (a form of ὀφείλω): we have only done what what was owed to God in Christ.  Owe (ὀφείλετε, another form of ὀφείλω) no one anything, Paul wrote, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law (Romans 13:8 NET).

[11] Philippians 3:9b (NET)

[12] John 3:21 (NET)

[13] Acts 2:32, 33 (NET)

[14] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had Ναζαρέθ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ναζαρετ.

[15] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the verb εσμεν here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[16] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἀνεῖλαν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ανειλον (KJV: they slew).

[17] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐν here.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[18] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had οὗτος here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτος.

[19] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had συνῆλθαν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had συνηλθον (KJV: came with).

[20] Romans 5:5 (NET)

[21] Romans 11:36 (NET)

[22] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἃ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ων (KJV: which).

[23] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἔλεος here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ελεον.

[24] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had γενηθῶμεν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had γενωμεθα (KJV: we should be made).

[25] John 19:30b (NET)

[26] John 19:34 (NET) The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Stephanus Textus Receptus had εὐθὺς here, where the Byzantine Majority Text had ευθεως.

[27] Romans 3:22a (NET) Table

[28] John 4:14 (NET)

Father, Forgive Them – Part 6

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Three things stand out to me (Luke 23:32-34a Table; John 12:32, 33; Matthew 22:41-46):

Two other criminals were also led away to be executed with [Jesus].  So when they came to the place that is called “The Skull,” they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.  [But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”]

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw[1] all people to myself.”  (Now [Jesus] said this to indicate clearly what kind of death he was going to die.)

While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Christ?  Whose son is he?”  They said, “The son of David.”[2]  He said to them, “How then does David[3] by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’ [Table]?  If David[4] then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”  No one was able to answer him a word,[5] and from that day on no one dared to question him any longer.

A fourth thing is like the other three: And when he comes, Jesus promised concerning the Advocate, the Spirit of truth, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.[6]

So I have Jesus’ righteous prayer from the cross, his promise to draw all to Himself, our Father’s promise to put Jesus’ enemies under his feet and the promise that the Holy Spirit will prove wrong or reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.[7]  This sketch outlines the work of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit for salvation, work which precedes my faith that (Romans 3:23-26 KJV):

all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus [Table].

It adequately explains why Paul didn’t celebrate my faith as a worthy personal achievement: For by grace you are saved through faith,[8] and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. [9]

I’m aware of the argument that this (τοῦτο) cannot refer to faith (πίστεως) because τοῦτο is neuter and πίστεως is feminine.  I’m not qualified to engage that argument so I’ll defer to Matthew Olliffe, “Is ‘Faith’ the ‘Gift of God’? Reading Ephesians 2:8-10 with the Ancients,” from The Gospel Coalition online.  An alternative view is presented by René A. López, “IS FAITH A GIFT FROM GOD OR A HUMAN EXERCISE?,” from Dallas Theological Seminary online.  The only thing I feel qualified to comment on here was a rhetorical question: “Who would accuse a beggar of working by holding out his hand to receive a dollar bill?  No one!”[10]

I have disengaged from conversation with a person seeking alms by saying, “I’ll let you get back to work.”  The difference between us is that when I go to work my pay is guaranteed by law.  No matter how many hours the person seeking alms spends in the heat, the cold or the wet, there is no guarantee but the grace of God.  And more often than not I’ve been blessed in his name by those dependent upon Him for their next meal.

Whether the momentary faith that brings one into a relationship with Jesus Christ is ultimately “a gift from God or a human exercise,” faith (πίστις) is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23 NET Table):

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (πίστις), gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.

The believer seeks to rely on the Holy Spirit’s faithfulness, as opposed to one’s own, as soon as possible: For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.[11]  (Perhaps a new believer relies instinctively on the Holy Spirit’s faithfulness, until the religious mind leads one astray.)  Mr. López didn’t confine his objections to initial saving faith.  He continued with some discussion of sanctification, quoting Gary Nebeker: [12]

“An infused idea of faith engenders a less-than-balanced view of sanctification, i.e., victory in the spiritual life is viewed as a virtual guarantee.  If God gives believers faith to live the Christian life, then the difficult aspects of progressive holiness commanded in Scripture tend to be softpedaled.”66

If faith is a gift, then many commands in Scripture that exhort, command, prompt, and warn believers to live obediently become superfluous because the ultimate end of infused faith guarantees the sanctification of believers without their involvement.  Followed to its logical conclusion the gift-of-faith view lessens the urgency of putting forth effort to obey scriptural exhortations.

I may be more susceptible to a works religion than some, but “putting forth effort to obey scriptural exhortations” sounds to me like trying to have my own righteousness derived, if not from the law, from the exhortations, commands, prompts and warnings of the New Testament perceived as rules to be obeyed.  That does not sound like the one who practices the truth [who] comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.[13]  Nor does it sound like the one who has entered God’s rest (Hebrews 4:10-13):

For the one who enters God’s rest (κατάπαυσιν, a form of κατάπαυσις) has also rested (κατέπαυσεν, a form of καταπαύω) from his works, just as God did from his own works.  Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest (κατάπαυσιν), so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience (Numbers 13-14).  For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul[14] from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.  And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

It seems pertinent here to point out that we must make every effort (KJV: Let us labour) was Σπουδάσωμεν in Greek, a form of Σπουδάζω: “to hasten, hurry, use speed, act with speed; to be zealous, eager, diligent; to be busy; to become mentally unsettled.”  They [e.g., those who were influential] requested only that we remember the poor, Paul wrote believers in Galatia, the very thing I also was eager (ἐσπούδασα, another form of σπουδάζω) to do.[15]  I’ll suggest that being eager to enter God’s rest might be a better understanding than effort or labour.

Mr. López’s argument that “the ultimate end of infused faith guarantees the sanctification of believers without their involvement”[16] seems like a diabolical red herring to me since my primary “involvement” in my sanctification was to take charge and try to accomplish it myself by obeying rules.  If he referred instead to Bible study, I can’t say that any consideration of how faith is produced—whether as an outright gift or by other means of God’s grace—ever diminished my appetite for Bible study.

My life divides into two parts: 1) From reciting the sinner’s prayer to atheism (about 5 years of age to 17); and 2) asking to know the Lord if He was there to be known to the present (about 22 years of age to 66 currently).  In part one of my life I had a distaste for the Bible, almost nothing could compel me to regular study.  In part two, I’ve had such a hunger that almost nothing could dissuade me from regular Bible study; nothing except, sadly, marriage and family.  I was too busy then being promoted at work to my level of incompetence and at home trying to please my wife (another “promotion” to my level of incompetence).  But I consider this appetite for the Bible God’s answer to my prayer rather than a personal achievement.

“If God gives believers faith to live the Christian life, then the difficult aspects of progressive holiness commanded in Scripture tend to be softpedaled.”  Which of the two regimes Jesus contrasted does this Gary Nebeker quote sound most like?

Matthew 23:2-7 (NET) Matthew 11:25b-30 (NET)
The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’[17] seat.  Therefore pay attention to what[18] they tell you[19] and do[20] it.  But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach.  They tie up[21] heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they[22] themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them.  They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for[23] they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long.[24]  They love[25] the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’[26] I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden[27] these things from the wise and intelligent, and have 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 to reveal him.  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (ἀναπαύσω, a form of ἀναπαύω).  Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle[28] and humble in heart, and you will find rest (ἀνάπαυσιν, a form of ἀνάπαυσις) for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.

To my ear “the difficult aspects of progressive holiness” being “softpedaled” leans more toward heavy loads, hard to carry and an unwillingness even to lift a finger to move them, as it leans away from a yoke that is easy to bear and a load that is not hard to carry.

Mr. López considered, “true believers will never fail to live godly lives…because God, having infused them with faith, guarantees their sanctification throughout their lives,” a view that “diminishes the seriousness of the commands of Scripture for believers to pursue holiness.”[29]  Does God infusing me with his love through his Holy Spirit diminish the command You shall not murder?[30] Or is it the way He fulfills his command?  “[M]ost Christians do not understand,” an article titled Sanctification on The Alliance website acknowledged, “the fullness of the Holy Spirit in their lives.”[31]  The uncertainty expressed concerning sanctification in Mr. López’s article seems too accommodating to that majority.

Though my knowledge of Koine Greek syntax is insufficient to argue that—For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—means that faith is not a gift from God, I have experienced by simple trial and error the difference between relying on my faith and resting in God’s own πίστις (NET: faithfulness), a fountain of water springing up to eternal life[32] as Jesus promised.  The writer of Hebrews encourages believers to enter this rest (Hebrews 3:12-14 NET):

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes the living God.  But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception.  For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence (ὑποστάσεως, a form of ὑπόστασις) firm until the end.

It seems obvious to me now, this requires the continuous infusion of the faithfulness that is an aspect of the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit (not to mention his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-contol), rather than something I might conjure on my own (Ephesians 3:14-21 NET).

For this reason I kneel before the Father, [Table] from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.  I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he will grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, [Table] that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,[33] you will 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 you will be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen [Table].

A table comparing Exodus 20:13 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET; and another comparing Exodus 20:13 (20:15) in the BLB and Elpenor versions of the Septuagint with the English translations from Hebrew and Greek follow.  Tables comparing Matthew 22:42, 43; 22:45; Ephesians 2:8; Hebrews 4:12; Matthew 23:2-7; 11:25; 11:29 and Ephesians 3:18 in the NET and KJV follow those.

Exodus 20:13 (Tanakh) Exodus 20:13 (KJV) Exodus 20:13 (NET)
Thou shalt not murder; Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not kill. “You shall not murder.
Exodus 20:13 (Septuagint BLB) Exodus 20:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐ φονεύσεις οὐ φονεύσεις
Exodus 20:15 (NETS) Exodus 20:15 (English Elpenor)
You shall not murder. Thou shalt not kill.
Matthew 22:42, 43 (NET) Matthew 22:42, 43 (KJV)
“What do you think about the Christ?  Whose son is he?”  They said, “The son of David.” Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?  They say unto him, The son of David.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
λέγων· τί ὑμῖν δοκεῖ περὶ τοῦ χριστοῦ; τίνος υἱός ἐστιν; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· τοῦ Δαυίδ λεγων τι υμιν δοκει περι του χριστου τινος υιος εστιν λεγουσιν αυτω του δαβιδ λεγων τι υμιν δοκει περι του χριστου τινος υιος εστιν λεγουσιν αυτω του δαυιδ
He said to them, “How then does David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying, He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
λέγει αὐτοῖς· πῶς οὖν Δαυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι καλεῖ αὐτὸν κύριον λέγων λεγει αυτοις πως ουν δαβιδ εν πνευματι κυριον αυτον καλει λεγων λεγει αυτοις πως ουν δαυιδ εν πνευματι κυριον αυτον καλει λεγων
Matthew 22:45 (NET) Matthew 22:45 (KJV)
If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
εἰ οὖν Δαυὶδ καλεῖ αὐτὸν κύριον, πῶς υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ει ουν δαβιδ καλει αυτον κυριον πως υιος αυτου εστιν ει ουν δαυιδ καλει αυτον κυριον πως υιος αυτου εστιν
Ephesians 2:8 (NET) Ephesians 2:8 (KJV)
For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God;
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
Τῇ γὰρ χάριτι ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διὰ πίστεως· καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν, θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον τη γαρ χαριτι εστε σεσωσμενοι δια της πιστεως και τουτο ουκ εξ υμων θεου το δωρον τη γαρ χαριτι εστε σεσωσμενοι δια της πιστεως και τουτο ουκ εξ υμων θεου το δωρον
Hebrews 4:12 (NET) Hebrews 4:12 (KJV)
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
Ζῶν γὰρ ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐνεργὴς καὶ τομώτερος ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν μάχαιραν δίστομον καὶ διϊκνούμενος ἄχρι μερισμοῦ ψυχῆς καὶ πνεύματος, ἁρμῶν τε καὶ μυελῶν, καὶ κριτικὸς ἐνθυμήσεων καὶ ἐννοιῶν καρδίας ζων γαρ ο λογος του θεου και ενεργης και τομωτερος υπερ πασαν μαχαιραν διστομον και διικνουμενος αχρι μερισμου ψυχης τε και πνευματος αρμων τε και μυελων και κριτικος ενθυμησεων και εννοιων καρδιας ζων γαρ ο λογος του θεου και ενεργης και τομωτερος υπερ πασαν μαχαιραν διστομον και διικνουμενος αχρι μερισμου ψυχης τε και πνευματος αρμων τε και μυελων και κριτικος ενθυμησεων και εννοιων καρδιας
Matthew 23:2-7 (NET) Matthew 23:2-7 (KJV)
The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
λέγων· ἐπὶ τῆς Μωϋσέως καθέδρας ἐκάθισαν οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι λεγων επι της μωσεως καθεδρας εκαθισαν οι γραμματεις και οι φαρισαιοι λεγων επι της μωσεως καθεδρας εκαθισαν οι γραμματεις και οι φαρισαιοι
Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it.  But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
πάντα οὖν ὅσα ἐὰν εἴπωσιν ὑμῖν ποιήσατε καὶ τηρεῖτε, κατὰ δὲ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν μὴ ποιεῖτε· λέγουσιν γὰρ καὶ οὐ ποιοῦσιν παντα ουν οσα αν ειπωσιν υμιν τηρειν τηρειτε και ποιειτε κατα δε τα εργα αυτων μη ποιειτε λεγουσιν γαρ και ου ποιουσιν παντα ουν οσα εαν ειπωσιν υμιν τηρειν τηρειτε και ποιειτε κατα δε τα εργα αυτων μη ποιειτε λεγουσιν γαρ και ου ποιουσιν
They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
δεσμεύουσιν δὲ φορτία βαρέα [καὶ δυσβάστακτα] καὶ ἐπιτιθέασιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὤμους τῶν ἀνθρώπων, αὐτοὶ δὲ τῷ δακτύλῳ αὐτῶν οὐ θέλουσιν κινῆσαι αὐτά δεσμευουσιν γαρ φορτια βαρεα και δυσβαστακτα και επιτιθεασιν επι τους ωμους των ανθρωπων τω δε δακτυλω αυτων ου θελουσιν κινησαι αυτα δεσμευουσιν γαρ φορτια βαρεα και δυσβαστακτα και επιτιθεασιν επι τους ωμους των ανθρωπων τω δε δακτυλω αυτων ου θελουσιν κινησαι αυτα
They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
πάντα δὲ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν ποιοῦσιν πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· πλατύνουσιν γὰρ τὰ φυλακτήρια αὐτῶν καὶ μεγαλύνουσιν τὰ κράσπεδα παντα δε τα εργα αυτων ποιουσιν προς το θεαθηναι τοις ανθρωποις πλατυνουσιν δε τα φυλακτηρια αυτων και μεγαλυνουσιν τα κρασπεδα των ιματιων αυτων παντα δε τα εργα αυτων ποιουσιν προς το θεαθηναι τοις ανθρωποις πλατυνουσιν δε τα φυλακτηρια αυτων και μεγαλυνουσιν τα κρασπεδα των ιματιων αυτων
They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
φιλοῦσιν δὲ τὴν πρωτοκλισίαν ἐν τοῖς δείπνοις καὶ τὰς πρωτοκαθεδρίας ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς φιλουσιν τε την πρωτοκλισιαν εν τοις δειπνοις και τας πρωτοκαθεδριας εν ταις συναγωγαις φιλουσιν τε την πρωτοκλισιαν εν τοις δειπνοις και τας πρωτοκαθεδριας εν ταις συναγωγαις
and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ τοὺς ἀσπασμοὺς ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς καὶ καλεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ραββί και τους ασπασμους εν ταις αγοραις και καλεισθαι υπο των ανθρωπων ραββι ραββι και τους ασπασμους εν ταις αγοραις και καλεισθαι υπο των ανθρωπων ραββι ραββι
Matthew 11:25 (NET) Matthew 11:25 (KJV)
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 have revealed them to little children. At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν· ἐξομολογοῦμαι σοι, πάτερ, κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἔκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις εν εκεινω τω καιρω αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν εξομολογουμαι σοι πατερ κυριε του ουρανου και της γης οτι απεκρυψας ταυτα απο σοφων και συνετων και απεκαλυψας αυτα νηπιοις εν εκεινω τω καιρω αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν εξομολογουμαι σοι πατερ κυριε του ουρανου και της γης οτι απεκρυψας ταυτα απο σοφων και συνετων και απεκαλυψας αυτα νηπιοις
Matthew 11:29 (NET) Matthew 11:29 (KJV)
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. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
ἄρατε τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς καὶ μάθετε ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πραΰς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ εὑρήσετε ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν αρατε τον ζυγον μου εφ υμας και μαθετε απ εμου οτι πραος ειμι και ταπεινος τη καρδια και ευρησετε αναπαυσιν ταις ψυχαις υμων αρατε τον ζυγον μου εφ υμας και μαθετε απ εμου οτι πραος ειμι και ταπεινος τη καρδια και ευρησετε αναπαυσιν ταις ψυχαις υμων
Ephesians 3:18 (NET) Ephesians 3:18 (KJV)
you will be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
ἵνα ἐξισχύσητε καταλαβέσθαι σὺν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἁγίοις τί τὸ πλάτος καὶ μῆκος καὶ ὕψος καὶ βάθος, εν αγαπη ερριζωμενοι και τεθεμελιωμενοι ινα εξισχυσητε καταλαβεσθαι συν πασιν τοις αγιοις τι το πλατος και μηκος και βαθος και υψος εν αγαπη ερριζωμενοι και τεθεμελιωμενοι ινα εξισχυσητε καταλαβεσθαι συν πασιν τοις αγιοις τι το πλατος και μηκος και βαθος και υψος

[1] Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 8

[2] In the NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text David was spelled Δαυίδ, and δαβιδ in the Stephanus Textus Receptus.

[3] In the NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text David was spelled Δαυίδ, and δαβιδ in the Stephanus Textus Receptus.

[4] In the NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text David was spelled Δαυίδ, and δαβιδ in the Stephanus Textus Receptus.

[5] Since I’ve considered this recently it seems pertinent to note that the Pharisees did not answer Jesus’ quizzical allusion to his own incarnation by saying, “Oh, well, David was just being respectful to the future Messiah, calling him ‘sir’.”

[6] John 16:8 (NET)

[7] John 16:8b (KJV)

[8] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article της preceding faith.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.  A note (20) in the NET indicates that this difference might actually be significant.

[9] Ephesians 2:8 NET

[10] René A. López, “IS FAITH A GIFT FROM GOD OR A HUMAN EXERCISE?,” IS FAITH CONSIDERED A WORK?, BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / July–September 2007, p266, from Dallas Theological Seminary

[11] Romans 8:14 (NET)

[12] René A. López, “IS FAITH A GIFT FROM GOD OR A HUMAN EXERCISE?” THE CONFLICT: IF FAITH IS A GIFT, BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / July–September 2007, p. 275, from Dallas Theological Seminary

[13] John 3:21 (NET)

[14] The StephanusTextus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τε και (KJV: and) following soul, where the NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had simply καὶ.

[15] Galatians 2:10 (NET)

[16] René A. López, “IS FAITH A GIFT FROM GOD OR A HUMAN EXERCISE?” THE CONFLICT: IF FAITH IS A GIFT, BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / July–September 2007, p. 275, from Dallas Theological Seminary

[17] In the NET parallel Greek text and NA28 Moses was spelled Μωϋσέως, and μωσεως in the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text.

[18] The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had ὅσα ἐὰν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had οσα αν (KJV: whatsoever).

[19] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τηρειν (KJV: observe) following tell you (KJV: bid you).  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[20] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ποιήσατε here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ποιειτε.

[21] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had δὲ (not translated in the NET) following tie up, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had γαρ (KJV: For).

[22] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had αὐτοὶ here.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[23] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had γαρ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δὲ (KJV: But).

[24] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had των ιματιων αυτων (KJV: of their garments) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[25] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had δὲ (not translated in the NET) following they love, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τε (KJV: And).

[26] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had a second ραββι (KJV: Rabbi) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[27] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἔκρυψας here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had απεκρυψας (KJV: had hid).

[28] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had πραΰς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had πραος (KJV: meek).

[29] René A. López, “IS FAITH A GIFT FROM GOD OR A HUMAN EXERCISE?” THE CONFLICT: IF FAITH IS A GIFT, BIBLIOTHECA SACRA / July–September 2007, p. 275, from Dallas Theological Seminary

[30] Exodus 20:13 (NET)

[31] Here is a link to a table comparing Presbyterian, Baptist and Christian & Missionary Alliance views of sanctification according to their own websites.

[32] John 4:14 (NET)

[33] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εν αγαπη ερριζωμενοι και τεθεμελιωμενοι (“in love rooted and grounded”) at the beginning of verse 18, where the NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had it (ἐν ἀγάπῃ ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ τεθεμελιωμένοι) at the end of verse 17.

Atonement, Part 4

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I’ll continue to consider yehôvâh’s (יהוה) instruction to Moses: They[1] are to eat those things by which atonement (kâphar, כפר; Septuagint: ἡγιάσθησαν, a form of ἁγιάζω) was made to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else may eat them, for they are holy.[2]  The atonement of Aaron and his sons continued:

Exodus 29:10-14 (NET)

Leviticus 8:14-17 (NET)
You are to present the bull at the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to put their hands on the head of the bull. Then [Moses] brought near the sin offering (chaṭṭâʼâh, החטאת; Septuagint: ἁμαρτίας, a form of ἁμαρτία) bull and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the sin offering (chaṭṭâʼâh, החטאת; Septuagint: ἁμαρτίας, a form of ἁμαρτία) bull,
You are to kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting and he slaughtered it.  Moses then took the blood and put it all around on the horns of the altar with his finger and decontaminated the altar, and he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and so consecrated (qâdash, ויקדשהו; Septuagint: ἡγίασεν, another form of ἁγιάζω) it to make atonement (kâphar, לכפר; Septuagint: ἐξιλάσασθαι, a form of ἐξιλάσκομαι) on it.
and take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; all the rest of the blood you are to pour out at the base of the altar.
You are to take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe that is above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. Then he took all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and Moses offered it all up in smoke on the altar,
But the meat of the bull, its skin, and its dung you are to burn up outside the camp.  It is the purification offering (chaṭṭâʼâh, חטאת; Septuagint: ἁμαρτίας, a form of ἁμαρτία). but the rest of the bull – its hide, its flesh, and its dung – he completely burned up outside the camp just as the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) had commanded Moses.

The sin offering bull was eaten by no one.  The Hebrew word translated holy in the clause for they are holy was קדש (qôdesh).  In the Septuagint קדש (qôdesh) was translated ἅγια (a form of ἅγιος).

But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come.[3]  He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, and he entered once for all into the most holy place (ἅγια, a form of ἅγιος) not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption.[4]

The Greek word translated more perfect was τελειοτέρας (a form of τέλειος).  Later in the same chapter the author located that more perfect tent beyond the phrase not of this creation (Hebrews 9:24-28 NET):

For Christ did not enter a sanctuary (ἅγια, a form of ἅγιος) made with hands – the representation of the true sanctuary – but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us.  And he did not enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary (ἅγια, a form of ἅγιος) year after year with blood that is not his own, for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world.  But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice.  And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation.

I got a little obsessed (See Table1 below) convincing myself that πολλῶν ἀνενεγκεῖν ἁμαρτίας (to bear the sins of many) was the referent of χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας, but did eventually come to the conclusion that not to bear sin was a better translation of χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας than the more literal without sin (KJV).[5]    The phrase to bear (ἀνενεγκεῖν, a form of ἀναφέρω) the sins of many was an allusion to Isaiah’s prophecy.

Isaiah 53:12 (NET) Hebrews 9:28 (NET Parallel Greek) Isaiah 53:12 (Septuagint)

Isaiah 53:12 (Tanakh)
…he lifted up the sin of many… πολλῶν ἀνενεγκεῖν[6] ἁμαρτίας ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνήνεγκεν[7] …he bare the sin of many…

The Hebrew word translated ἀνήνεγκεν in the Septuagint was נשׁא (nâśâʼ), which brought me back to the long name of God: And HaShem passed by before him, and proclaimed: ‘The HaShem, HaShem, G-d, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving (nâśâʼ, נשׁא; Septuagint: ἀφαιρῶν, a form of ἀφαιρέω) iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and unto the fourth generation.’[8]  The author of Hebrews concluded (Hebrews 10:15-18 NET):

And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after saying,[9] “This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord.  I will put my laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,”[10] then he says, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember[11] no longer.”  Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Dear friends, we are God’s children now, John wrote, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.  We know[12] that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.  And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure.[13]  The Greek word translated purifies was ἁγνίζει (a form of ἁγνίζω).  It had a very specific meaning.  Now the Jewish feast of Passover was near, and many people went up to Jerusalem from the rural areas before the Passover to cleanse (ἁγνίσωσιν, another form of ἁγνίζω) themselves ritually.[14]

There were rituals to perform.  We have four men who have taken a vow, the brothers in Jerusalem instructed Paul, take them and purify (ἁγνίσθητι, another form of ἁγνίζω) yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may have their heads shaved.[15]  Then Paul took the men the next day, and after he had purified (ἁγνισθείς, another form of ἁγνίζω) himself along with them, he went to the temple and gave notice of the completion of the days of purification (ἁγνισμοῦ, a form of ἁγνισμός), when the sacrifice would be offered for each of them.[16]  But I will strongly suggest that those rituals relate only tangentially to John’s use of ἁγνίζει above.

You have purified (ἡγνικότες, another form of ἁγνίζω) your souls by obeying (ὑπακοῇ, a form of ὑπακοή) the truth,[17] Peter wrote.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and the Byzantine Majority Text had δια πνευματος here as well, translated through the Spirit (KJV).  The clue John left that he meant something other than established ritual was καθώς ἐστιν (literally, “just as he is”), translated just as Jesus is pure.  To walk just as Jesus walked is to be led by the Holy Spirit.  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.[18]  But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.[19]

John described a new covenant purification ritual, if you will, previously (1 John 1:8-2:2 NET):

If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.  (My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.)  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One, and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, John continued, indeed, sin is lawlessness.  And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away sins,[20] and in him there is no sin.  Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him.  Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous.[21]  The Greek words translated practices above were not forms of πράσσω but forms of ποιέω.  The one who [does] (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous.

The One who does righteousness is the Holy Spirit.  He fills the new human born of God from above with God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness[22] and self-control.[23]  By his will we have been made holy[24] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.[25]  And the second point is like it: The “God of peace…will in fact do (ποιήσει, another form of ποιέω) this”:[26] make you completely holy and [keep] your spirit and soul and body…entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ[27] because He is trustworthy (πιστὸς, a form of πιστός).  I want to be one who [does] (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) the truth [who] comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that [my] deeds have been done in God.[28]

The one who practices sin is of the devil, John continued, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.  Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice (ποιεῖ, another form of ποιέω) sin, because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.[29]

The one who [does] (ποιεῖ, another form of ποιέω) sin is of the devil.  This is the old human: You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old (παλαιὸν, a form of παλαιός) [human] (ἄνθρωπον, a form of ἄνθρωπος) who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new (καινὸν, a form of καινός) [human] (ἄνθρωπον, a form of ἄνθρωπος) who has been created in God’s image – in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.[30]  So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.[31]

Though the new human is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God, at any given moment one born from above might revert to walking according to the flesh, the old human, sin personified (Romans 7:14-23; 8:1-4 NET):

For we know that the law is spiritual – but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.  For I don’t understand what I am doing.  For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate.  But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good.  But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me.  For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I want to do the good, but I cannot[32] do it.  For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want!  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.

So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me.  For I delight in the law of God in my inner being.  But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to[33] the law of sin that is in my members…

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[34]  For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.  For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh.  By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Endure your suffering as discipline,[35] the author of Hebrews wrote.  Actually, your suffering was added by the translators.  The NET parallel Greek text and the Byzantine Majority Text began with εἰς.  A more literal translation would be “Into (or, unto) discipline endure.”  (The Stephanus Textus Receptus began with ει, translated If ye endure chastening.)  What one endures unto discipline was clearer a few verses prior (Hebrews 12:3 NET):

Think of him who endured such opposition against himself[36] by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up.

When I think of Jesus I think of others in opposition to Him, the sin in his own flesh was so marvelously controlled.  The old human has been the most obvious, nearest and dearest sinner whose opposition has been mine to endure.

A table of the occurrences of χωρὶς in the New Testament and its translation in the NET and KJV, and nine tables comparing Hebrews 9:24-28; 1 John 3:2-9; Galatians 5:22-23; Hebrews 10:10; Romans 7:25; Romans 7:14-23; Romans 8:1-4; Hebrews 12:7 and 12:3 in the NET and KJV follow.  I broke the latter tables when the NET parallel Greek text differed from the Stephanus Textus Receptus or the Byzantine Majority Text.

χωρὶς in the New Testament
Reference Greek NET KJV
Matthew 13:34 χωρὶς παραβολῆς without a parable without a parable
Matthew 14:21 χωρὶς γυναικῶν Not counting women beside women
Matthew 15:38 χωρὶς παιδίων (NET) / χωρις γυναικων (Stephanus Textus Receptus) Not counting children beside women
Mark 4:34 χωρὶς δὲ παραβολῆς without a parable without a parable
Luke 6:49 χωρὶς θεμελίου without a foundation without a foundation
John 1:3 χωρὶς αὐτοῦ apart from him without him
John 15:5 χωρὶς ἐμοῦ apart from me without me
John 20:7 χωρὶς by itself by itself
Romans 3:21 χωρὶς νόμου apart from the law without the law
Romans 3:28 χωρὶς ἔργων νόμου apart from the works of the law without the deeds of the law
Romans 4:6 χωρὶς ἔργων apart from works without works
Romans 7:8 χωρὶς γὰρ νόμου For apart from the law For without the law
Romans 7:9 χωρὶς νόμου apart from the law without the law
Romans 10:14 χωρὶς κηρύσσοντος without someone preaching without a preacher
1 Corinthians 4:8 χωρὶς ἡμῶν without us without us
1 Corinthians 11:11 χωρὶς ἀνδρὸς (NET) / χωρὶς γυναικὸς (Stephanus Textus Receptus) independent of man without the woman
χωρὶς γυναικὸς (NET) / χωρὶς ἀνδρὸς (Stephanus Textus Receptus) independent of woman without the man
2 Corinthians 11:28 χωρὶς τῶν παρεκτὸς Apart from other things Beside those things that are without
2 Corinthians 12:3 χωρὶς τοῦ σώματος (NET) / εκτος του σωματος (Stephanus Textus Receptus) apart from the body out of the body
Ephesians 2:12 χωρὶς Χριστοῦ without the Messiah without Christ
Philippians 2:14 χωρὶς γογγυσμῶν without grumbling without murmurings
1 Timothy 2:8 χωρὶς ὀργῆς without anger without wrath
1 Timothy 5:21 χωρὶς προκρίματος without prejudice without preferring one before another
Philemon 1:14 χωρὶς δὲ τῆς σῆς γνώμης However, without your consent But without thy mind
Hebrews 4:15 χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας yet without sin yet without sin
Hebrews 7:7 χωρὶς δὲ πάσης ἀντιλογίας Now without dispute And without all contradiction
Hebrews 7:20 χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας[37] done without a sworn affirmation without an oath
without a sworn affirmation without an oath (verse 21)
Hebrews 9:7 χωρὶς αἵματος without blood without blood
Hebrews 9:18 οὐδὲ…χωρὶς αἵματος / ουδ…χωρις αιματος (Stephanus Textus Receptus) with blood neither…without blood
Hebrews 9:22 χωρὶς αἱματεκχυσίας without the shedding of blood without shedding of blood
Hebrews 9:28 χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας not to bear sin without sin
Hebrews 10:28 χωρὶς οἰκτιρμῶν without mercy without mercy
Hebrews 11:6 χωρὶς δὲ πίστεως Now without faith But without faith
Hebrews 11:40 μὴ χωρὶς ἡμῶν together with us without us…not
Hebrews 12:8 χωρίς ἐστε παιδείας you do not experience discipline be without chastisement
Hebrews 12:14 οὗ χωρὶς for without it without which
James 2:18 χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων without works without thy works
James 2:20 χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων without works without works
James 2:26 χωρὶς πνεύματος without the spirit without the spirit
χωρὶς ἔργων / χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων (Stephanus Textus Receptus) without works without works
Hebrews 9:24-28 (NET)

Hebrews 9:24-28 (KJV)
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands – the representation of the true sanctuary – but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οὐ γὰρ εἰς χειροποίητα εἰσῆλθεν ἅγια Χριστός, ἀντίτυπα τῶν ἀληθινῶν, ἀλλ᾿ εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανόν, νῦν ἐμφανισθῆναι τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ου γαρ εις χειροποιητα αγια εισηλθεν ο χριστος αντιτυπα των αληθινων αλλ εις αυτον τον ουρανον νυν εμφανισθηναι τω προσωπω του θεου υπερ ημων ου γαρ εις χειροποιητα αγια εισηλθεν ο χριστος αντιτυπα των αληθινων αλλ εις αυτον τον ουρανον νυν εμφανισθηναι τω προσωπω του θεου υπερ ημων
And he did not enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world.  But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἐπεὶ ἔδει αὐτὸν πολλάκις παθεῖν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου· νυνὶ δὲ ἅπαξ ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς ἀθέτησιν [τῆς] ἁμαρτίας διὰ τῆς θυσίας αὐτοῦ πεφανέρωται επει εδει αυτον πολλακις παθειν απο καταβολης κοσμου νυν δε απαξ επι συντελεια των αιωνων εις αθετησιν αμαρτιας δια της θυσιας αυτου πεφανερωται επει εδει αυτον πολλακις παθειν απο καταβολης κοσμου νυν δε απαξ επι συντελεια των αιωνων εις αθετησιν αμαρτιας δια της θυσιας αυτου πεφανερωται
And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οὕτως καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἅπαξ προσενεχθεὶς εἰς τὸ πολλῶν ἀνενεγκεῖν ἁμαρτίας ἐκ δευτέρου χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας ὀφθήσεται τοῖς αὐτὸν ἀπεκδεχομένοις εἰς σωτηρίαν. ουτως ο χριστος απαξ προσενεχθεις εις το πολλων ανενεγκειν αμαρτιας εκ δευτερου χωρις αμαρτιας οφθησεται τοις αυτον απεκδεχομενοις εις σωτηριαν ουτως και ο χριστος απαξ προσενεχθεις εις το πολλων ανενεγκειν αμαρτιας εκ δευτερου χωρις αμαρτιας οφθησεται τοις αυτον απεκδεχομενοις εις σωτηριαν
1 John 3:2-9 (NET)

1 John 3:2-9 (KJV)
Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.  We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἀγαπητοί, νῦν τέκνα θεοῦ ἐσμεν, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα. οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ, ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ὅτι ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν καθώς ἐστιν αγαπητοι νυν τεκνα θεου εσμεν και ουπω εφανερωθη τι εσομεθα οιδαμεν δε οτι εαν φανερωθη ομοιοι αυτω εσομεθα οτι οψομεθα αυτον καθως εστιν αγαπητοι νυν τεκνα θεου εσμεν και ουπω εφανερωθη τι εσομεθα οιδαμεν δε οτι εαν φανερωθη ομοιοι αυτω εσομεθα οτι οψομεθα αυτον καθως εστιν
And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away (ἄρῃ, a form of αἴρω) sins, and in him there is no sin. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ οἴδατε ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ἐφανερώθη, ἵνα τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἄρῃ, καὶ ἁμαρτία ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν και οιδατε οτι εκεινος εφανερωθη ινα τας αμαρτιας ημων αρη και αμαρτια εν αυτω ουκ εστιν και οιδατε οτι εκεινος εφανερωθη ινα τας αμαρτιας ημων αρη και αμαρτια εν αυτω ουκ εστιν
Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Everyone who has been fathered 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 by God. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)

Galatians 5:22, 23 (KJV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
πραΰτης ἐγκράτεια· κατὰ τῶν τοιούτων οὐκ ἔστιν νόμος πραοτης εγκρατεια κατα των τοιουτων ουκ εστιν νομος πραοτης εγκρατεια κατα των τοιουτων ουκ εστιν νομος

Hebrews 10:10 (NET)

Hebrews 10:10 (KJV)
By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἐν ᾧ θελήματι ἡγιασμένοι ἐσμὲν διὰ τῆς προσφορᾶς τοῦ σώματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐφάπαξ εν ω θεληματι ηγιασμενοι εσμεν οι δια της προσφορας του σωματος του ιησου χριστου εφαπαξ εν ω θεληματι ηγιασμενοι εσμεν οι δια της προσφορας του σωματος ιησου χριστου εφαπαξ
Romans 7:25 (NET)

Romans 7:25 (KJV)
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
χάρις τῷ θεῷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν. ῎Αρα οὖν αὐτὸς ἐγὼ τῷ μὲν νοὶ_ δουλεύω νόμῳ θεοῦ τῇ δὲ σαρκὶ νόμῳ ἁμαρτίας. ευχαριστω τω θεω δια ιησου χριστου του κυριου ημων αρα ουν αυτος εγω τω μεν νοι δουλευω νομω θεου τη δε σαρκι νομω αμαρτιας ευχαριστω τω θεω δια ιησου χριστου του κυριου ημων αρα ουν αυτος εγω τω μεν νοι δουλευω νομω θεου τη δε σαρκι νομω αμαρτιας

Romans 7:14-23 (NET)

Romans 7:14-23 (KJV)
For we know that the law is spiritual – but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
For I don’t understand what I am doing.  For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ οἰκεῖ ἐν ἐμοί, τοῦτ᾿ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου, ἀγαθόν· τὸ γὰρ θέλειν παράκειται μοι, τὸ δὲ κατεργάζεσθαι τὸ καλὸν οὔ οιδα γαρ οτι ουκ οικει εν εμοι τουτ εστιν εν τη σαρκι μου αγαθον το γαρ θελειν παρακειται μοι το δε κατεργαζεσθαι το καλον ουχ ευρισκω οιδα γαρ οτι ουκ οικει εν εμοι τουτ εστιν εν τη σαρκι μου αγαθον το γαρ θελειν παρακειται μοι το δε κατεργαζεσθαι το καλον ουχ ευρισκω
For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
βλέπω δὲ ἕτερον νόμον ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν μου ἀντιστρατευόμενον τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοός μου καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζοντα με |ἐν| τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τῷ ὄντι ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν μου βλεπω δε ετερον νομον εν τοις μελεσιν μου αντιστρατευομενον τω νομω του νοος μου και αιχμαλωτιζοντα με τω νομω της αμαρτιας τω οντι εν τοις μελεσιν μου βλεπω δε ετερον νομον εν τοις μελεσιν μου αντιστρατευομενον τω νομω του νοος μου και αιχμαλωτιζοντα με εν τω νομω της αμαρτιας τω οντι εν τοις μελεσιν μου
Romans 8:1-4 (NET)

Romans 8:1-4 (KJV)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
NET Parallel Greek Stephanus Textus Receptus Byzantine Majority Text
Οὐδὲν ἄρα νῦν κατάκριμα τοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ουδεν αρα νυν κατακριμα τοις εν χριστω ιησου μη κατα σαρκα περιπατουσιν αλλα κατα πνευμα ουδεν αρα νυν κατακριμα τοις εν χριστω ιησου μη κατα σαρκα περιπατουσιν αλλα κατα πνευμα
For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Hebrews 12:7 (NET)

Hebrews 12:7 (KJV)
Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  For what son is there that a father does not discipline? If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
εἰς παιδείαν ὑπομένετε, ὡς υἱοῖς ὑμῖν προσφέρεται ὁ θεός. τίς γὰρ υἱὸς ὃν οὐ παιδεύει πατήρ ει παιδειαν υπομενετε ως υιοις υμιν προσφερεται ο θεος τις γαρ εστιν υιος ον ου παιδευει πατηρ εις παιδειαν υπομενετε ως υιοις υμιν προσφερεται ο θεος τις γαρ υιος εστιν ον ου παιδευει πατηρ
Hebrews 12:3 (NET)

Hebrews 12:3 (KJV)
Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἀναλογίσασθε γὰρ τὸν τοιαύτην ὑπομεμενηκότα ὑπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν εἰς |ἑαυτὸν| ἀντιλογίαν, ἵνα μὴ κάμητε ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν ἐκλυόμενοι αναλογισασθε γαρ τον τοιαυτην υπομεμενηκοτα υπο των αμαρτωλων εις αυτον αντιλογιαν ινα μη καμητε ταις ψυχαις υμων εκλυομενοι αναλογισασθε γαρ τον τοιαυτην υπομεμενηκοτα υπο των αμαρτωλων εις αυτον αντιλογιαν ινα μη καμητε ταις ψυχαις υμων εκλυομενοι

[1] Aaron and his sons (Exodus 28:43 NET)

[2] Exodus 29:33 (NET)

[3] The Greek word translated to come in the NET parallel Greek text was γενομένων (a form of γίνομαι).  In the Stephanus Textus Receptus and the Byzantine Majority texts it was μελλοντων (a form of μέλλω). Table

[4] Hebrews 9:11,12 (NET)

[5] NET note (34): “Grk ‘without sin,’ but in context this does not refer to Christ’s sinlessness (as in Heb 4:15) but to the fact that sin is already dealt with by his first coming.”  My actual question was whether χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας (without sin) referred to those who eagerly await him.  I didn’t discover anything that would allow me to propose that argument in the face of those who know Greek syntax better than I do.

[6] A 2nd aorist active infinitive form of the verb ἀναφέρω

[7] An aorist active indicative 3rd person singular form of the verb ἀναφέρω

[8] Exodus 34:6, 7 (Tanakh)

[9] The NET parallel Greek text had εἰρηκέναι here, a perfect active infinitive form of ῥέω according to the Koine Greek Lexicon (a form of ἐρέω according to BibleHub).  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had προειρηκεναι, a perfect active infinitive form of προερέω.

[10] The NET parallel Greek text had διάνοιαν here, an accusative singular feminine form of διάνοια.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had διανοιων, a genitive plural feminine form of διάνοια according to the Koine Greek Lexicon.

[11] The NET parallel Greek text had μνησθήσομαι here, a form of μιμνήσκω in the indicative mood (though the word “μνησθήσομαι” in the parallel Greek text of the NET for Hebrews 10:17 highlights as, and links to, μνάομαι).  The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μνησθω, another form of μιμνήσκω in the subjunctive mood, the same as the Septuagint and the full quotation in Hebrews 8:11, 12.
In the Septuagint and the full quotation this is not an issue: “if the subjunctive mood is used in a purpose or result clause, then the action should not be thought of as a possible result, but should be viewed as a definite outcome that will happen as a result of another stated action” (from Subjunctive Mood).  Isolated as it is in verse 17, however, μὴ μνησθω ἔτι would mean something like “I might remember no longer” while μὴ μνησθήσομαι ἔτι would translate “I will remember no longer.”

[12] In the Stephanus Textus Receptus and the Byzantine Majority Text this clause began with δε (KJV: but).  It is absent in the NET parallel Greek text.

[13] 1 John 3:2, 3 (NET)

[14] John 11:55 (NET)

[15] Acts 21:23b, 24a (NET)

[16] Acts 21:26 (NET)

[17] 1 Peter 1:22a (NET)

[18] Romans 8:14 (NET)

[19] Galatians 5:16 (NET)

[20] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αμαρτιας ημων here (KJV: our sins).  The NET parallel Greek text had simply αμαρτιας.

[21] 1 John 3:4-7 (NET)

[22] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had πραΰτης here, which was also spelled πραοτης in the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text.

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

[24] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had οι here, which was absent from the NET parallel Greek text.

[25] Hebrews 10:10 (NET)

[26] 1 Thessalonians 5:24 (NET)

[27] 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NET)

[28] John 3:21 (NET)

[29] 1 John 3:8, 9 (NET)

[30] Ephesians 4:22-24 (NET)

[31] Romans 7:25b (NET)

[32] The NET parallel Greek text had οὔ here where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουχ ευρισκω.

[33] The NET parallel Greek text and Byzantine Majority Text had ἐν here where the Stephanus Textus Receptus did not.

[34] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μη κατα σαρκα περιπατουσιν αλλα κατα πνευμα (KJV: who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit) while the NET parallel Greek text did not.

[35] Hebrews 12:7a (NET)

[36] The NET parallel Greek text had ἑαυτὸν here where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτον.

[37] The second occurrence of χωρὶς ὁρκωμοσίας was in verse 21 of the Stephanus Textus Receptus and King James translation, while both were in verse 20 in the NET parallel Greek text and Byzantine Majority Text.

Atonement, Part 2

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The next occurrence of כפר (kâphar), translated atonement, I want to consider on this pilgrimage is found in yehôvâh’s (יהוה) instruction to Moses (Exodus 29:33 NET):

[Aaron and his sons[1]] are to eat those things by which atonement was made to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else may eat them, for they are holy.

In the Septuagint כפר (kâphar) was translated ἡγιάσθησαν (a form of ἁγιάζω).  Though ἡγιάσθησαν doesn’t occur in the New Testament, other forms of ἁγιάζω do.  I’ll try to be mindful of similarities between old covenant and new covenant atonement as well as differences.  So many concepts appear in this verse—to consecrate and to set them apart…they are holy—I want to back up and take a run at it.

The Hebrew word translated to set them apart was לקדש (qâdash). It was translated ἁγιάσαι (another form of ἁγιάζω) in the Septuagint.  “Now this is what you are to do for them to consecrate them,” yehôvâh instructed Moses, “so that they may minister as my priests.”[2]  The Hebrew word translated to consecrate was also לקדש, the very same form of qâdash as to set them apart above.  And in the Septuagint it was also translated ἁγιάσαι.  The new covenant is quite similar.

1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24 (NET)

1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24 (KJV)
Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy (ἁγιάσαι, another form of ἁγιάζω) and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the very God of peace sanctify (ἁγιάσαι, another form of ἁγιάζω) you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this (ποιήσει, a form of ποιέω). Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

Both ἁγιάσαι and τηρηθείη (a form of τηρέω; translated may…be kept [NET] and I pray God…be preserved [KJV]) are in the optative mood, the “mood of possibility.”  Both verbs recognize that one’s actual state may be far removed from holiness, sanctification and blamelessness at a given moment.  But ποιήσει (translated he will in fact do [NET] and who also will do [KJV]) is in the indicative mood, “a statement of fact” based on the trustworthiness or faithfulness of God in Christ.  Even more precious to me, ποιήσει is future tense in the active voice.

I was one who misunderstood the “finished work of Christ” as an invitation to a do-it-yourself works religion.  Since Christ was finished working, I reasoned, the rest of the distance between my current condition and his holiness and blamelessness was up to me, a race for me to run.  I don’t think my pastor intended to enroll me in a works religion, except…I wonder if I, sitting idly “trusting” Jesus, could ever have understood the word of God.  Or was it the desire to do his will combined with my failure to do his will that opened my mind to it?  Jesus said, If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.[3]

This epistemological aspect intrigues the philosophical bent of my mind.  I earn a living on the fringes of a conference industry that, viewed economically or technologically, shouldn’t exist.  Gathering in one location wastes human resources, both time and money, now that the technology exists to meet virtually.  But viewed epistemologically conferences are extremely valuable.  A group of people pressed together, smelling one another, espousing the same or similar opinions can more easily convince themselves that their opinions are true.  The larger the group the “truer” their opinions are until that critical moment when the group fractures into disparate opinions.

I was born into evangelicalism as an established group, revealed truth.  But it grew to prominence in the U.S. from many streams:

According to religion scholar, social activist, and politician Randall Balmer, Evangelicalism resulted “from the confluence of Pietism, Presbyterianism, and the vestiges of Puritanism.  Evangelicalism picked up the peculiar characteristics from each strain – warmhearted spirituality from the Pietists (for instance), doctrinal precisionism from the Presbyterians, and individualistic introspection from the Puritans”.[40]  Historian Mark Noll adds to this list High Church Anglicanism, which contributed to Evangelicalism a legacy of “rigorous spirituality and innovative organization”.[41]

In the 1730s, Evangelicalism emerged as a distinct phenomenon out of religious revivals that began in Britain and New England.  While religious revivals had occurred within Protestant churches in the past, the evangelical revivals that marked the 18th century were more intense and radical.[48]  Evangelical revivalism imbued ordinary men and women with a confidence and enthusiasm for sharing the gospel and converting others outside of the control of established churches, a key discontinuity with the Protestantism of the previous era.[49]

It was developments in the doctrine of assurance that differentiated Evangelicalism from what went before.

Before his conversion to evangelicalism, which we evangelicals assume to be synonymous with a conversion to Christ, John Wesley wrote, “I hope he has died to save me.”[60]  “About a quarter before nine,” Wesley recalled his conversion, “while [the speaker] was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.  I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone[4] for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”[61]

Evangelical preachers emphasized personal salvation and piety more than ritual and tradition.  Pamphlets and printed sermons crisscrossed the Atlantic, encouraging the revivalists.[64]  The Awakening resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of deep personal revelation of their need of salvation by Jesus Christ.  Pulling away from ritual and ceremony, the Great Awakening made Christianity intensely personal to the average person by fostering a deep sense of spiritual conviction and redemption, and by encouraging introspection and a commitment to a new standard of personal morality.  It reached people who were already church members.  It changed their rituals, their piety and their self-awareness.

By the time I arrived on the scene those new rituals, piety and self-awareness were nothing more than the ritual and tradition of a bygone era.  And the critical epistemological moment had passed: evangelicalism had already fractured into many disparate opinions.  Though Berger and Luckmann denied[5] it for adults, the teachings of any given religious sect are as much a part of the paramount reality[6] for children who grew up in it as anything an adult does at work.[7]

Though the relatively mindless taken-for-granted-ness[8] of the reality of everyday life shares some of the same blindness (Isaiah 42:18-25) to alternatives as religious faith, it was not faith in Christ in my case.  And apparently, part of my attempt to reinsert myself into the church I had abandoned and the mindless-taken-for-granted-ness of my youth, what I have called “fighting my way back from atheism,”[9] was like Cypher’s (Joe Pantoliano) attempt to be reinserted into The Matrix.  When my pastor lamented that most people came to Christ as children rather than as adults I nodded my “Amen” despite my anomalous personal history.

Now it seems obvious that there is no intrinsic reason that God would be merciful to children but not to adults.  An eternal life knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent,[10] living his own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,[11] should be more appealing to those who have been around awhile and have had their fill of sin than to those for whom everything is still new and interesting.  I don’t doubt the accuracy of my pastor’s reflections on his experience.  But the truth behind that actuality seems to be that nearly three centuries of dumbing eternal life down to gaining heaven (or its corollary, escaping hell) has blunted the effectiveness of the gospel presented by evangelicalism.

“Evangelical revivalism” may have “imbued ordinary men and women with a confidence and enthusiasm for sharing the gospel” in its early days.  But by the time I was born into it “sharing the gospel” had become a necessary condition for belonging to the group.  As such, there were many aids, tips, tricks and techniques to make it easier for any Peter, Paul and Mary to “share the gospel.”  So we drowned the voices of God-gifted apostles and evangelists (Ephesians 4:11-16) in a sea of gospel peddlers promoting Jesus as a means to an end.  Even that end is now largely imaginary.  What is heaven, after all, but knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent, face to face, living his own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,  forever?

In an opinion piece on Fox News Chris Sonksen cited Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s concept of a “wish dream” from his book Life Together:

Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive.  He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.

Bonhoeffer’s wish dream intrigues me because of my own running feud with “the pursuit of happiness.”  Pegging my happiness to a fantasy of my own mind—I will be happy if…—was at best nonsensical and at worst a diabolical prescription for unhappiness.  Even when I have achieved my goals happiness was no longer-lived than that which one should expect from such achievement.  It has proven far better to pursue Christ (Philippians 3:8-11) and his righteousness, and let happiness float freely with the ups and downs of life.  Now I’m mostly happy.

Pastor Sonksen’s point was:

God did not wire us to be alone.  We are truly better together.  It’s in community that we grow, are challenged, stretched, and inspired to truly live for Jesus.  It’s messy, difficult, and at times frustrating…but it’s so worth it.

All true, though I would tend to credit the Holy Spirit, filling me with God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control toward others, over the mere fact of being in community with them.  Pastor Sonksen wasn’t referring to the communities most of us actually live and work in, however.  (Admittedly, my community is more transient and geographically dispersed than most.)  His plea was to the once a week, twice a week, thrice a week meetings (ἐπισυναγωγὴν, a form of ἐπισυναγωγή) of a contemporary church for the purpose of encouraging (παρακαλοῦντες, a form of παρακαλέω), inciting (παροξυσμὸν) one another on to love and [beautiful] (καλῶν, a form of καλός) works.[12]

One hopes that a pastor lives in that eternal life of knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He] sent, buoyed up in God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control by the Holy Spirit and his own immersion in scripture.  As such, he may be the last to recognize that the church he pastors enforces—by its rituals and traditions, by the way things are done, by the relatively mindless taken-for-granted-ness of the reality of everyday life within its walls—a lesser form of spirituality than being led by the Holy Spirit.

I don’t know Pastor Sonksen or South Hills Church.  I can’t say this is the case there.  I’m recognizing the possibility from my own past.  But it is the wish dream of every pastor that God will make his congregation completely holy and keep their spirit and soul and body entirely blameless through the well-ordered operation of the church he pastors.

The similarity between the atonement of Aaron and his sons to consecrate and to set them apart and our atonement is that it required no work on Aaron’s part or of his sons, only submission to God’s word (Exodus 29) and Moses’ ministry of that word (Leviticus 8).  The difference is clearly stated in the text (Exodus 29:1b-3 NET):

Take a young bull and two rams without blemish; and bread made without yeast, and perforated cakes without yeast mixed with oil, and wafers without yeast spread with oil – you are to make them using fine wheat flour.  You are to put them in one basket and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams.

We are no longer made holy, consecrated or set apart by bulls or rams or bread or cakes or wafers without yeast, mixed with oil or spread with oil (Hebrews 10:1-10 NET).

For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality (εἰκόνα, a form of εἰκών) itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect (τελειῶσαι, a form of τελειόω) those who come to worship.  For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have no further consciousness (συνείδησιν, a form of συνείδησις) of sin?  But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year.  For the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away (ἀφαιρεῖν, a form of ἀφαιρέω) sins.  So when he came into the world, he said, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.

“Whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you took no delight in.

“Then I said, ‘Here I am: I have come – it is written of me in the scroll of the book – to do your will, O God.’”

When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you did not desire nor did you take delight in them” (which are offered according to the law), then he says, “Here I am: I have come to do your will.”  He does away (ἀναιρεῖ, a form of ἀναιρέω) with the first to establish (στήσῃ, a form of ἵστημι) the second.  By his will we have been made holy (ἡγιασμένοι, another form of ἁγιάζω) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

So the finished work of Christ is that we have been made holy through the offering of [his] body…once for all.  The ongoing work the God of peace…will in fact do because He is trustworthy seems to be the breaking down of my resistance (Hebrews 12:5-13) to Him and his will and the truth of his word, filling me instead with faith in Him and his word, so that the holiness I have been made through the offering of his body once for all is manifest to me, and to others, here and now.  That God will do (ποιήσει, a form of ποιέω) this is quite evocative of the doer (ποιηταὶ, a form of ποιητής) of the law and of the one who practices the truth [who] comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done (εἰργασμένα, a form of ἐργάζομαι) in God.[13]

A table comparing Hebrews 10:1-10 in the NET and KJV follows.  If the parallel Greek of the NET differs from the Stephanus Textus Receptus or the Byzantine Majority Text I broke the table to highlight that difference.

Hebrews 10:1-9 (NET)

Hebrews 10:1-9 (KJV)
For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have no further consciousness of sin? For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
For the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
So when he came into the world, he said, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
“Whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you took no delight in. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
“Then I said, ‘Here I am: I have come – it is written of me in the scroll of the book – to do your will, O God.’” Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you did not desire nor did you take delight in them” (which are offered according to the law), Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

Net Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἀνώτερον λέγων ὅτι θυσίας[14] καὶ προσφορὰς[15] καὶ ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας οὐκ ἠθέλησας οὐδὲ εὐδόκησας (αἵτινες κατὰ νόμον προσφέρονται) ανωτερον λεγων οτι θυσιαν[16] και προσφοραν[17] και ολοκαυτωματα και περι αμαρτιας ουκ ηθελησας ουδε ευδοκησας αιτινες κατα τον νομον προσφερονται ανωτερον λεγων οτι θυσιαν και προσφοραν και ολοκαυτωματα και περι αμαρτιας ουκ ηθελησας ουδε ευδοκησας αιτινες κατα τον νομον προσφερονται
then he says, “Here I am: I have come to do your will.”  He does away with the first to establish the second. Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

Net Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
τότε εἴρηκεν· ἰδοὺ ἥκω τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὸ θέλημα σου. ἀναιρεῖ τὸ πρῶτον ἵνα τὸ δεύτερον στήσῃ τοτε ειρηκεν ιδου ηκω του ποιησαι ο θεος το θελημα σου αναιρει το πρωτον ινα το δευτερον στηση τοτε ειρηκεν ιδου ηκω του ποιησαι ο θεος το θελημα σου αναιρει το πρωτον ινα το δευτερον στηση
Hebrews 10:10 (NET)

Hebrews 10:10 (KJV)
By his will we have been made holy (ἡγιασμένοι,[18] another form of ἁγιάζω) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Net Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἐν ᾧ θελήματι ἡγιασμένοι ἐσμὲν διὰ τῆς προσφορᾶς τοῦ σώματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐφάπαξ εν ω θεληματι ηγιασμενοι εσμεν οι[19] δια της προσφορας του σωματος του[20] ιησου χριστου εφαπαξ εν ω θεληματι ηγιασμενοι εσμεν οι δια της προσφορας του σωματος ιησου χριστου εφαπαξ

[1] Exodus 28:43 (NET)

[2] Exodus 29:1a (NET)

[3] John 7:17 (NET)

[4] “Christ alone” is so much better an expression than “faith alone” with its scriptural association to dead faith: But would you like evidence, you empty fellow, that faith without works is useless?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?  You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected (ἐτελειώθη, a form of τελειόω) by works.  And the scripture was fulfilled (ἐπληρώθη, a form of πληρόω) that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.  You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.  And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way?  For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead [Table] (James 2:20-26 NET).

[5] “All finite provinces of meaning are characterized by a turning away of attention from the reality of everyday life. While there are, of course, shifts in attention within everyday life, the shift to a finite province of meaning is of a much more radical kind. A radical change takes place in the tension of consciousness. In the context of religious experience this has been aptly called ‘leaping’. It is important to stress, however, that the reality of everyday life retains its paramount status even as such ‘leaps’ take place.”

Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, “The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge,” 1966, p. 39

[6] “Compared to the reality of everyday life, other realities appear as finite provinces of meaning, enclaves within the paramount reality marked by circumscribed meanings and modes of experience. The paramount reality envelops them on all sides, as it were, and consciousness always returns to the paramount reality as from an excursion.”

Ibid., p. 39

[7] “Closest to me is the zone of everyday life that is directly accessible to my bodily manipulation. This zone contains the world within my reach, the world in which I act so as to modify its reality, or the world in which I work. In this world of working my consciousness is dominated by the pragmatic motive, that is, my attention to this world is mainly determined by what I am doing, have done or plan to do in it. In this way it is my world par excellence.”

Ibid., p. 36

[8] “The reality of everyday life is taken for granted as reality. It does not require additional verification over and beyond its simple presence. It is simply there, as self-evident and compelling facticity. I know that it is real. While I am capable of engaging in doubt about its reality, I am obliged to suspend such doubt as I routinely exist in everyday life. This suspension of doubt is so firm that to abandon it, as I might want to do, say, in theoretical or religious contemplation, I have to make an extreme transition. The world of everyday life proclaims itself and, when I want to challenge the proclamation, I must engage in a deliberate, by no means easy effort.”

Ibid., p. 37

[9] Solomon’s Wealth, Part 4; A Monotonous Cycle, Part 2; A Monotonous Cycle, Part 3; A Monotonous Cycle, Part 5; Who Am I? Part 1; Torture, Part 4

[10] John 17:3 (NET)

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

[12] Hebrews 10:24, 25 (NET)

[13] John 3:21 (NET)

[14] Accusative plural feminine  form of θυσία

[15] Accusative plural feminine form of προσφορά

[16] Accusative singular feminine form of θυσία

[17] Accusative singular feminine form of προσφορά

[18] Perfect passive participle nominative plural masculine form of ἁγιάζω

[19] https://greekdoc.github.io/lexicon/oi.html

[20] https://greekdoc.github.io/lexicon/to.html#tou

My Deeds, Part 3

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There is a table representing my unstudied view of the relationship of the clauses of Revelation 2:26-29.  I’m considering the clause, who continues in my deeds until the end, because it tugs the hardest at me to return to my own works.  I’ve begun to try to understand τὰ ἔργα μου, translated my deeds, with a study of τηρῶν (a form of τηρέω), translated who continues.  The most basic understanding of τηρῶν is: Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose (τηρῶν, a form of τηρέω) his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked…[1]  It means to keep, not to lose or discard.

To review, the NET translation of John 14:21 confirms both my initial belief and practice, that obeying Jesus’ commands was the path to loving Him, knowing Him and being loved by Him and his Father.  Refining the translation obeys to keeps lowers the standard a bit but doesn’t alter the order of events, that Jesus and his Father loved me because I first loved Jesus (by keeping his commandments, not losing or discarding them).  But this argument was preceded by another, outlined below:

If you love Me…

John 14:15a (NASB)

 …you will keep (τηρήσετε, another form of τηρέω) My commandments.

John 14:15b (NASB)
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides (μένει, a form of μένω; present tense) with you and will be (ἔσται, a form of εἰμί; future tense) in you.

John 14:16, 17 (NASB)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…

Galatians 5:22, 23a (NASB)
I have not come to abolish [the law or the prophets] but to fulfill them.

Matthew 5:17b (NET)

 …love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:10b (NET)
He who has My commandments and keeps (τηρῶν, a form of τηρέω) them…

John 14:21a (NASB)

 …is the one who loves Me…

John 14:21b (NASB)

I will love Jesus and keep his commandments by the Holy Spirit who abides with me and will be in me.  If I concede to the old man (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-11), fighting for its own survival by attempting to lose or discard Jesus’ commandments, though it may not alter God’s love for me, I have ceased to love Him with the love that is the fruit of his Spirit, the love that is the fulfillment of the law, no matter what I tell myself and no matter how much emotion I feel for Him.

In this essay I’ll consider John’s explanation, And the person who keeps (τηρῶν, a form of τηρέω) his commandments resides in God, and God in him,[2] but I’ll back up first to take a run at it (1 John 2:28, 29 NET):

And now, little children, remain (μένετε, a form of μένω) in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back.  If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) righteousness has been fathered by him.

The Greek word translated fathered was γεγέννηται (a form of γεννάω).  John didn’t leave us wondering what he meant by it: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω) by God…[3]  He had a unique understanding of the word μένετε as one of the twelve Jesus sent out with the following instruction (I’ve included Luke 10:7 though it was addressed to the seventy-two others Jesus appointed and sent on ahead of Him).

Mark 6:10 (NET)

Luke 9:4 (NET)

Luke 10:7 (NET)
[Jesus] said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay (μένετε, a form of μένω) there until you leave the area.” Whatever house you enter, stay (μένετε, a form of μένω) there until you leave the area. Stay (μένετε, a form of μένω) in that same house, eating and drinking what they give you, for the worker deserves his pay.  Do not move around from house to house.

I understand what it means to stay in a house, to not move around from place to place.  But what does it mean to stay in God?  A few verses prior to this John wrote (1 John 2:24 NET):

As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain (μενέτω, another form of μένω) in you.  If what you heard from the beginning remains (μείνῃ, another form of μένω) in you, you also will remain (μενεῖτε, another form of μένω) in the Son and in the Father.

So I remain in the Son and in the Father if Jesus’ teaching remains in me.  Here is Jesus’ teaching on the subject (John 15:4, 5a NET):

Remain (μείνατε, another form of μένω) in me, and I will remain in you.  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains (μένῃ, another form of μένω) in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain (μένητε, another form of μένω) in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  The one who remains (μένων, another form of μένω) in me – and I in him – bears much fruit…

In other words, remaining in Jesus (and his Father) by remaining in the teaching I have heard from the beginning of my new life in Christ (assuming that teaching was the Gospel of Christ) brings forth the fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that is the fulfillment of the law.  Jesus continued, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.[4]  I don’t think He meant that I couldn’t become a hypocrite, an actor playing at righteousness more or less skillfully.  Jesus warned, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.[5]  But I can’t do the righteousness that fulfills the law apart from remaining in Jesus by remaining in his teaching.

Jesus continued teaching his disciples (John 15:6 NET):

If anyone does not remain (μένῃ, another form of μένω) in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and are burned up.

He listed some impediments either to hearing in the beginning or to what was heard from the beginning remaining (Luke 8:11-15 NET):

Now the parable means this: The seed is the word of God (ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ).  Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.  Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.  They believe for a while, but in a time of testing fall away (ἀφίστανται, a form of ἀφίστημι).  As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked (συμπνίγονται, a form of συμπνίγω) by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.  But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing the word, cling (κατέχουσιν, a form of κατέχω) to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance.

If you remain (μείνητε, another form of μένω) in me and my words remain (μείνῃ, another form of μένω) in you, Jesus continued, ask whatever you want, and it will be done (γενήσεται, a form of γίνομαι) for you.  My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are (γένησθε, another form of γίνομαι) my disciples.[6]  The words if and whatever are the same Greek word ἐὰν.  I understand this request as related to, and bracketed by, bearing fruit.  I’m unsure about translating ἐὰν whatever.  In my case it led to unbelief while—ask [if] you want, and it will be done (or, become) for you—has led to some faith-confirming results.  Jesus continued (John 15:9, 10 NET):   

Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain (μείνατε, another form of μένω) in my love.  If you obey (τηρήσητε, another form of τηρέω) my commandments, you will remain (μενεῖτε, another form of μένω) in my love, just as I have obeyed (τετήρηκα, another form of τηρέω) my Father’s commandments and remain (μένω) in his love.

This is how I understood this passage even when the Bible I read translated τηρήσητε keep and τετήρηκα kept.  “Jesus promises to love the disciples if they obey his commandments,” reads the sermon notes for John 15:9-17 on Sermon Writer online.  Here, and other places like it, I turned from being led by the Holy Spirit, especially if my behavior was too embarrassing too often to confess any longer, to take charge of my own righteousness in my own strength.

See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children,[7] John continued.  The note (1) in the NET reads:

The ἵνα (Jina) clause is best understood (1) as epexegetical (or explanatory), clarifying the love (ἀγάπην, agapen) that the Father has given to believers. Although it is possible (2) to regard the ἵνα as indicating result, the use of ποταπήν (potapen, “what sort of”) to modify ἀγάπην suggests that the idea of “love” will be qualified further in the following context, and this qualification is provided by the epexegetical ἵνα clause.

I think option (2) is the better understanding.  The sort of love the Father has given to us is not the Father’s feeling for us, but a very practical gift: It is the love that is patient, the love that is kind, the love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.[8]  This love may be shared in.  It is the fruit of his Spirit, the fulfillment of the law.  This love may be remained in or may be left behind.  If I leave God’s love behind to run ahead in my own strength God’s love has not and does not change.  If I do not remain in his love I strive way too hard to become a highly-skilled hypocrite rather than receiving the love he has given us.  He gave us this sort of love in order that we should be called God’s children.  Paul concurred with John (Romans 5:5b; 7:6b; 8:3, 4, 14 NET):

…the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us…

…so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.

For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh.  By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.

“To remain in Jesus’ love,” the entry in SermonWriter reads, “suggests being immersed in Jesus’ love—surrounded by Jesus’ love—comforted by Jesus’ love—empowered by Jesus’ love.  Imagine a swimming pool filled, not with water, but with Jesus’ love.”  All analogies have their problems but this one isn’t too bad.  Ordinarily one tries not to drown in a swimming pool.  A pool of Jesus’ love is really only threatening to the old man (Ephesians 4:25-5:5; Colossians 3:12-17).  The believer lives and breathes in its environs, in fact, only in its environs.  This pool travels with the believer, but the believer can leave the pool.  A believer leaving the pool of God’s love does not change God’s love at all.  Leaving only changes the believer’s access to, and appreciation of, God’s love.  Jesus’ and John’s point was, don’t get out of God’s love.

Here is John again (1 John 3:1-10 NET):

(See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children – and indeed we are!  For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him.  Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.  We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.  And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).

Everyone who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) sin also practices (ποιεῖ, another form of ποιέω) lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness.  And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away (ἄρῃ, a form of αἴρω) sins, and in him there is no sin.  Everyone who resides (μένων, another form of μένω) in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him.  Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous.  The one who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.  Everyone who has been fathered (γεγεννημένος, another form of γεννάω) by God does not practice (ποιεῖ, another form of ποιέω) sin, because God’s seed resides (μένει, another form of μένω) in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω) by God.  By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) righteousness – the one who does not love his fellow Christian (ἀδελφὸν, a form of ἀδελφός) – is not of God.

Now if I do what I do (ποιῶ, another form of ποιέω) not want, Paul wrote believers in Rome, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.[9]  It is better to greet John’s and Paul’s explanations with faith than with fear or mockery.  But the Spirit of God relentlessly dragged me back when my default position was to “chuck this whole religion thing.”  He was kind and patient when my default position became do-it-myself sanctification, when I said in so many words, “I can’t trust You with something as important as MY righteousness.”  Jaco Gericke had a very different testimony.  I rationalize this difference with Paul’s conclusion: So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.[10]  Others rationalize it as individual free will.

When I was young righteousness was a matter of good habits developed through willpower because Jesus had saved me.  Now I can see this as a childish misunderstanding of potentially good teaching.  But at the time I saw Jesus’ salvation only as a reason, why I should do righteousness, never as a cause, how I could do righteousness.  My willpower proved to be unequal to the task.  I am weak-willed vis-à-vis righteousness.  So I tend to minimize the effect of my will and magnify the effect of God’s mercy.   Now that I understand that Jesus’ salvation causes righteousness I have replaced willpower with the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Of course, I still don’t recognize any habit in me toward the good apart from that daily infusion of his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

On the other hand, I proved to be quite willful, stubborn, rebellious and stiff-necked regarding my sin.  So I tend to see free will as more useful, or more conducive, to sinning.  I don’t tend to argue the point because I can see how one who had more success than I did could regard willpower as helpful in the pursuit of righteousness.  Still, I keep my mind open to the possibility that the preachers of free will may have taken more credit for that righteousness than they deserve.

Little children, John continued, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.[11]  As Jesus tried to teach me about the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe,[12] I got tripped up here quite often.  I thought, especially if my performance was less than perfect when I had attempted to trust Him, that his teaching was not his teaching but me playing word games, loving with word (λόγῳ, a form of λόγος) or with tongue (γλώσσῃ, a form of γλῶσσα).  “No, you really have to do it,” I heard many times from my elders if I tried to share what I thought I had been learning.  How I ever thought that obeying rules in my own strength might become loving in deed (ἔργῳ, a form of ἔργον) and truth (ἀληθείᾳ, a form of ἀλήθεια), I can’t explain apart from being willful, stubborn, rebellious and stiff-necked.  Now I assume that loving with word or with tongue corresponds to my hypocrisy, while loving in deed and truth corresponds to being led by his Holy Spirit.

John continued (1 John 3:19-24 NET):

And by this we will know that we are of the truth (ἀληθείας, another form of ἀλήθεια) and will convince our conscience in his presence, that if (ἐὰν) our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience and knows all things.  Dear friends, if (ἐὰν) our conscience does not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God, and whatever (ἐὰν; or if) we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him.  Now this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave us the commandment.  And the person who keeps his commandments resides (μένει, another form of μένω) in God, and God in him.  Now by this we know that God resides (μένει, another form of μένω) in us: by the Spirit he has given us.

I want to conclude this essay by addressing one of the statements in the entry in Sermon Writer directly:

The emphasis is love.  Love begins with the Father and flows through the Son to the disciples (v. 9).  It is contingent on obedience…Jesus promises to love the disciples if they obey his commandments.

The demonstrably false statement—“Jesus promises to love the disciples if they obey his commandments”—mischaracterizes God’s love and remaining in his love.  First, consider Jesus’ teaching on the nature of the Father’s love (Matthew 5:43-48 NET):

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they?  And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do?  Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they?  So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus’ love for me is not equivalent to, or contingent upon, my remaining in his love.  Jesus loves me because God is love and Jesus remains in his Father’s love.  If and only if I remain in his love I will bear the fruit of his Spirit, the love which is the fulfillment of the law, and obey him thereby.  It is not that his love, or even remaining in his love, is contingent upon some open-ended obedience of mine but that my obedience is contingent upon his love and my remaining in his love.

Here the misdirection of translating forms of τηρέω with forms of obey becomes evident.  To keep Jesus’ commandments, not to lose or discard them, has much more in common with his words remaining in us than it does with any form of obey.  Even as I write this I hear the quibble in my head: “But you have obeyed: you have remained in his love by clinging to his teaching.”  I write this quibble off to the religious mind.

I acknowledged the religious mind as nothing more than the carnal mind or the outlook of the flesh, but the term still serves a useful purpose for me.  I expect the carnal mind or the outlook of the flesh to be focused directly on sin.  The pretense of the religious mind is its focus on righteousness, albeit a righteousness of its own derived from the law with a keen desire to justify itself by law.  Consider Jesus’ teaching on the subject (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.’”

As I’ve written before, we have this attitude not because we are in some wretched social condition but because our deeds have been done in (or, by) God[13]…for the one bringing forth (ἐνεργῶν, a form of ἐνεργέω) in you both the desire (θέλειν, a form of θέλω) and the effort (ἐνεργεῖν, another form of ἐνεργέω) – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.[14]

[1] Revelation 16:15b (NET)

[2] 1 John 3:24a (NET)

[3] 1 John 5:1a (NET)

[4] John 15:5b (NET)

[5] Matthew 5:20 (NET)

[6] John 15:7, 8 (NET) Table

[7] 1 John 3:1a (NET)

[8] 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NET)

[9] Romans 7:20 (NET)

[10] Romans 9:18 (NET)

[11] 1 John 3:18 (NET)

[12] Romans 3:22a (NET)

[13] John 3:21b (NET)

[14] Philippians 2:13 (NET)

Hypocrisy

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You shall not take (nāśā’, תשׁא; Septuagint: λήμψῃ, a form of λαμβάνω) the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes (nāśā’, ישׁא; Septuagint: λαμβάνοντα, another form of λαμβάνω) his name in vain.[1]

Three occurrences of forms of nâśâʼ from Genesis 1:1 – Exodus 20:5[2] were translated with forms of λαμβάνω in the Septuagint:

Genesis 21:18 (NET)

 Genesis 27:3 (NET)

Genesis 31:17 (NET)
Get up!  Help (nâśâʼ, שׁאי; Septuagint: λαβὲ, another form of λαμβάνω) the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation. Therefore, take (nâśâʼ, שׁא; Septuagint: λαβὲ, another form of λαμβάνω) your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game for me. So Jacob immediately put (nâśâʼ, וישׁא; Septuagint: ἔλαβεν, another form of λαμβάνω) his children and his wives on the camels.

Only one of those (Genesis 27:3) was translated take in the KJV and NET before Exodus 20:7.  There is no particular problem with this translation if I’m studying nâśâʼ.  But if I read Exodus 20:7 in English only while trying to be declared righteous by the law[3] or attempting to have my own righteousness derived from the law,[4] the temptation is great to hear it as words I might say when I stub my toe in the dark.  If I don’t say those words then I may consider myself blameless according to the law.

You shall not bear the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who bears his name in vain.

This translation might have persuaded me even in English that any and every deviation from righteousness is bearing or taking the Lord’s name in vain.  Unbelievers seem to grasp this better than those who are trying to be declared righteous by the law or attempting to have [their] own righteousness derived from the law.  But unbelievers call it hypocrisy rather than bearing or taking the Lord’s name in vain.  According to Merriam-Webster.com:

The word hypocrite ultimately came into English from the Greek word hypokrites, which means “an actor” or “a stage player”…actors in ancient Greek theater wore large masks to mark which character they were playing…

The Greek word took on an extended meaning to refer to any person who was wearing a figurative mask and pretending to be someone or something they were not.  This sense was taken into medieval French and then into English, where it showed up with its earlier spelling, ypocrite, in 13th-century religious texts to refer to someone who pretends to be morally good or pious in order to deceive others.  (Hypocrite gained its initial h– by the 16th century.)

It took a surprisingly long time for hypocrite to gain its more general meaning that we use today: “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.”  Our first citations for this use are from the early 1700s, nearly 500 years after hypocrite first stepped onto English’s stage.  

On bibleone.net hypocrisy was distinguished from bearing or taking the Lord’s name in vain by ascribing more evil intent to hypocrisy:

The meaning of the words, “hypocrite” and “hypocrisy,” as used in the Bible by our Lord Jesus Christ (primarily directed toward the “religious” leaders of the day) implies more than a “simple pretense” or “acting out as a stage-player.”  It embodies a purposeful intent, which stems from a deep-seated core of evil.  More than this, it suggests a determined effort to enforce a standard of conduct upon others, which conduct the enforcer knowingly and deliberately refuses to apply to himself–hence, action born of full knowledge and evil intent.  It is not merely the failure to live up to a holy standard–a condition applicable to every believer on any given day.  It is the condition of a person who is controlled by the sin nature to the end-desire of having power over other human beings by imposing on them a set of rules, which he himself intentionally disregards.  It is a condition applicable to either an unbeliever or a believer, i.e., a believer who is outside God’s will and under the influence of the sin nature.

I was particularly taken by the words imposing on them a set of rules.  That is acting at its core.  Some rules are imposed by the writer through the script.  Some are imposed by the director who interprets the script and blocks the scenes.  Most are self-imposed by the actor.  Though actors call them choices,[5] they are rules of behavior, what a particular character will or will not say or do in any given scene, derived from observation, research, experimentation and a deeply imaginative identification with the character to be performed.  Actors can win some arguments with both the writer and the director (since both are more focused on the work as a whole) because good actors ultimately know the individual characters they play better, at least more interestingly.

Don’t misunderstand me, I love actors and fully appreciate what they do, especially film actors.  I’ve had more opportunity to see them work up close, no one famous though a few were recognizable.  I sit with a silly grin on my face watching Amy Adams sing and dance her way through New York City in Enchanted, and am just as rapt watching her decipher an alien language in Arrival.  A brief exchange in Arrival between linguist Louise (Amy Adams) and physicist Ian (Jeremy Renner) encapsulates how I feel about studying the Bible.

Ian: You know, I was doing some reading about this idea that if you immerse yourself into a foreign language, that you can actually rewire your brain. 

Louise: Yeah, the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis…It’s the theory that the language you speak determines how you think and…

Ian: Yeah.  It affects how you see everything.

You were taught with reference to your former way of life, Paul wrote believers in Ephesus, to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image – in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.[6]  It’s not a matter of being renewed (ἀνανεοῦσθαι, a form of ἀνανεόω) by learning Greek or Hebrew, but by immersing oneself in how the Holy Spirit thinks and communicates in Greek or Hebrew.  No matter how hard Amy Adams worked to become Giselle or Louise, no matter how many choices she made, she never became a cartoon princess or a xenolinguist in reality.

Stephen J. Cole, in the “The Deadly Sin of Hypocrisy (Acts 4:36-5:11),” wrote:

While Jesus was tender with many notorious sinners, He used scathing language to denounce those guilty of religious hypocrisy.

The story of Ananias and Sapphira warns us of the danger of the sin of hypocrisy.

None of the Greek words for hypocrite or hypocrisy—ὑποκριτής, ὑπόκρισις, ὑποκρίνομαι—occur in, or anywhere near, the story of Ananias and Sapphira.  I assume Pastor Cole took an 18th-century definition of hypocrisy—not living up to professed beliefs—or a 13th-century understanding of ypocrite—deliberate deception—and applied it to the story of Ananias and Sapphira.  Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie (ψεύσασθαι, a form of ψεύδομαι) to the Holy Spirit…”[7]  If we think of hypocrisy as something so evil no believer would dare do it, we miss Jesus’ point about doing righteousness as actors play a role, because we do it all of the time.  It’s how we think.  It’s how we speak to one another:

A Christian wouldn’t do that!   A Christian shouldn’t do that!  Christians should do thus and such.  A real Christian would do this or that!

These are the arguments of actors: observing, researching, experimenting, engaging in deeply imaginative thought about what a Christian might be like and trying to perform that as a series of choices—that is, by obeying rules about how a Christian should or should not behave (Galatians 2:11-14).  It is significantly different from being born from above, possessed (Romans 8:12-17) by his Holy Spirit, filled with God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.[8]

The simplest reason why ὑποκριτής was translated hypocrite in the 16th century is that the Latin derived actor was understood as an agent or doer and may have confused the reader regarding the contrast Paul had created—building on Jesus’ allusion to the Greek theater—between ὑποκριτής and ποιητής, the doers (ποιηταὶ, a form of ποιητής) of the law.

I’ve wasted too much time assuming Jesus was an angry preacher spouting pejoratives rather than patiently communicating the words of eternal life.  So I’ll take forms of ὑποκριτής at face value and remove the exclamation points from the text.  (They are obvious editorial comments added by translators.)  And then hopefully see Jesus again, see the smile on his face and the twinkle of his eyes as He reveals the name of his Father, God is love.

Be on your guard against the teaching (Matthew 16:5-12) of the Pharisees, Jesus told his disciples, which is acting class (ὑπόκρισις).[9]  Actors observe and judge others.  It is part and parcel of their craft as they prepare a role (Matthew 7:1-5 NET):

Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive.  Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own?  You actor (ὑποκριτά, a form of ὑποκριτής), first remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Self promotion is part of the job of being a working actor (Matthew 6:1-4 NET):

Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people.  Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.  Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the actors (ὑποκριταὶ, another form of ὑποκριτής) do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them.  I tell you the truth, they have their reward.  But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift may be in secret.  And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Actors crave an audience and thrive in the limelight (Matthew 6:5, 6, 16-18 NET):

Whenever you pray, do not be like the actors (ὑποκριταί, another form of ὑποκριτής), because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them.  Truly I say to you, they have their reward [Table].  But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.  And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

When you fast, do not look sullen like the actors (ὑποκριταὶ, another form of ὑποκριτής), for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting.  I tell you the truth, they have their reward [Table].  When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret.  And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Actors never actually become the character they perform by acting (Matthew 15:1-9; Luke 13:14-16 NET):

Then Pharisees and experts in the law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and said, “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders?  For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.”  He answered them, “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?  For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’  But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” he does not need to honor his father.’  You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition.  Actors (ὑποκριταί, another form of ὑποκριτής), Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done!  So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.”  Then the Lord answered him, “You actors (ὑποκριταί, another form of ὑποκριτής), does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water?  Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?”

Since those attempting to serve God by acting are not led by his Holy Spirit, they do not share the mind of Christ but pursue their own agendas (Matthew 22:15-22; Luke 12:54-56 NET):

Then the Pharisees went out and planned together to entrap him with his own words.  They sent to him their disciples along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.  You do not court anyone’s favor because you show no partiality.  Tell us then, what do you think?  Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

But Jesus realized their evil intentions and said, “Actors (ὑποκριταί, another form of ὑποκριτής), why are you testing me?  Show me the coin used for the tax.”  So they brought him a denarius.  Jesus said to them, “Whose image is this, and whose inscription?”  They replied, “Caesar’s.”  He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  Now when they heard this they were stunned, and they left him and went away.

Jesus also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A rainstorm is coming,’ and it does.  And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and there is.  You actors (ὑποκριταί, another form of ὑποκριτής), you know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how can you not know how to interpret the present time?”

Jesus described the experts in the law and you Pharisees as actors who keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven.  For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.[10]  You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.[11]  You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness.  You should have done these things without neglecting the others.[12]   You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean too.[13]  You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy (ὑποκρίσεως, a form of ὑπόκρισις) and lawlessness (ἀνομίας, a form of ἀνομία).[14]  You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.[15]

Jesus warned of the consequence of an actor masquerading as a minister of the Gospel (Matthew 24:45-51 NET):

Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their food at the proper time?  Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work when he comes.  I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions.  But if that evil slave should say to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with drunkards, then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the actors (ὑποκριτῶν, another form of ὑποκριτής), where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done (ἔπραξεν, a form of πράσσω) while in the body, whether good or evil.[16]  We do not want to appear before the judgment seat of Christ as actors with nothing to show but works (ἔργων, a form of ἔργον) of righteousness that we have done (ἐποιήσαμεν, a form of ποιέω).[17]  We want to have some pattern of behavior that demonstrates we have not ignored his teaching or rejected his salvation, that we have heeded his admonition—above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness[18]—and that each of us is one who practices (ποιῶν, another form of ποιέω) the truth, one who comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that [our] deeds (ἔργα, another form of ἔργον) have been done (εἰργασμένα, a form of ἐργάζομαι) in God.[19]

I want to consider another film.  Before I Fall didn’t do very well at the box office.  It’s Groundhog Day as straight-up tragedy.  But I thought it was a deeply moving, poignant film with one fatal flaw.  There are spoilers here for those who are bothered by such things.

Sam (Zoey Deutch), a self-absorbed teenage girl (Samantha), wakes up on the day of her death.  She repeats that day until she gets it right.  “For the first time, when I wake up,” her voiceover says on the last iteration of the last day of her life, “I’m not scared or confused or angry.  Because, for the first time, I truly understand what needs to happen.  I truly understand how to live this day.”  Sam’s transformation from self-absorbed teenage girl to loving daughter, sister and friend is truly breathtaking to behold.

The fatal flaw?  It’s not believable.  And I don’t think Ms. Deutch’s acting is to blame.  Christ-likeness apart from Christ isn’t credible.  Sam’s beautiful transformation is credited to her own knowledge, gained through the experience of repeating the same day over and over (not unlike an actor rehearsing), and her own “big heart.”  And none of us gets to do the same day over and over to acquire such knowledge.  Believers are called to live a new day of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control everyday forever.

Hypocrisy, by the way, isn’t the unforgivable sin.  Living an honest life of sin is never preferable to acting like the righteous.  If the fruit of the Spirit seems AWOL and the only way to obey God’s law is in one’s own strength—and that is possible—by all means do that.  Just don’t mistake that for the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe.[20]  Open the Bible and search diligently for his righteousness once the immediate crisis has passed—win, lose or draw.

My own search began (for the purpose of this discussion) with the Ten Promises.  Though hearing the Ten Commandments as promises wasn’t exactly the silver bullet I hoped at the time, it did begin to change my attitude toward God and my relationship to Him.  So as a conclusion to this essay I invite the reader to hear his promise (Jeremiah 31:31-34) to all who believe, all who are led by his Spirit: You shall not bear the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who bears his name in vain.

[1] Exodus 20:7 (NET) [Table]

[2] Table 1, Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 3

[3] Galatians 5:4 (NET)

[4] Philippians 3:9 (NET)

[5] An excerpt from a video transcript of John Walcutt teaching young actors (all female apparently) follows:

…as you start to, you know, get more into grown up acting, you’re going to be expected to be able to make choices and what that means is, what we started talking about last week where you could look at material and go, “Hmm, what if I did this? What if I looked at it from this point of view? What if I decided that she is guilty? What if I decided, she’s lying?” When you make choices, your work gets interesting…
The lines are only ten percent of a scene, right? We talked about that. The other 90%  is what’s underneath, that’s where you have to make choices so here’s how I want you to think about it. Once you read through a scene and you start to get an idea of what it’s about, understand it. The first thing I want you to ask yourself is, “Who am I? Who am I in this scene? and if you just say… if you make a choice like, “Okay, I’m a girl.” Well that might be an interesting choice for me but for most of you, it’s not going to be an interesting choice. It has to be more specific. I’m a girl who has issues with her dad. I’m a girl who wants to drop out of school because I can’t stand my teachers. I’m, I’m competitive. I’m angry. I’m, I’ve low self esteem. I’m happy-go-lucky, cheerful optimist.
You make the most interesting choices you can. We call them Hot Choices so that, so that the scene starts to pop. So never say, “I’m just a girl.” Never say, “I’m just her friend.” Always make it as interesting and developed and complex as you can. So first thing you ask yourself, “Who am I?” Second thing you ask yourself, “What do I want?” What do I want in this scene, what is my objective?” And always make it about getting something from the other person, as simple as possible and it can change from line to line. Objectives change so I want to make you smile. I want to make you cry, I want to scare you, I want to wake you up, I want you to say, ”I love you.” I want you to laugh. Those are all choices and they determine how you’re going to say your lines…

As actors mature choices may become more personal or more commercial.

[6] Ephesians 4:22-24 (NET)

[7] Acts 5:3a (NET)

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

[9] Luke 12:1b (NET)

[10] Matthew 23:13 (NET)

[11] Matthew 23:15 (NET)

[12] Matthew 23:23 (NET)

[13] Matthew 23:25, 26 (NET)

[14] Matthew 23:27, 28 (NET)

[15] Matthew 23:29 (NET)

[16] 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NET)

[17] Titus 3:5a (NET)

[18] Matthew 6:33a (NET)

[19] John 3:21 (NET)

[20] Romans 3:22a (NET)

Romans, Part 72

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In this essay I continue to consider Contribute (κοινωνοῦντες, a form of κοινωνέω) to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality.[1] But  I’m looking at the dark side of contributing (or, sharing in), specifically (2 John 1:9-11 NET):

Everyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God.  The one who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son.  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting, because the person who gives him a greeting shares (κοινωνεῖ, another form of κοινωνέω) in his evil deeds.

My religious mind hears evil deeds in English as some sin, preferably one to which it is not particularly prone—molesting young boys, for instance—and fixates on that as the meaning of evil deeds.  In Greek, however—κοινωνεῖ τοῖς ἔργοις (a form of ἔργον) αὐτοῦ τοῖς πονηροῖς (a form of πονηρός)—is just as likely to mean “shares (or, contributes to) his works full of labours, annoyances, and hardships.”  This is the more likely meaning, in fact, in reference to the New Testament ἐκκλησία.  Religious people tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them.[2]  Jesus said (Matthew 11:28-30 NET):

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (ἀναπαύσω, a form of ἀναπαύω).  Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (ἀνάπαυσιν, a form of ἀνάπαυσις) for your souls (ψυχαῖς, a form of ψυχή).  For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.

As I continue to distinguish the teaching of Christ from that of religious people I consider Love the Lord your God…with all your soul[3] (ψυχῆς, another form of ψυχή).  After Jesus’ Father revealed (Matthew 16:16, 17 NET) to Peter that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, and after Jesus instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ[4] (Matthew 16:21-27 NET):

From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.  So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord!  This must not happen to you!”  But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.”  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life (ψυχὴν, another form of ψυχή) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (ψυχὴν, another form of ψυχή) for my sake will find it.  For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life (ψυχὴν, another form of ψυχή)?  Or what can a person give in exchange for his life (ψυχῆς, another form of ψυχή)?  For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Granted, there is a lot packed into this passage.  First to love yehôvâh with all your soul (or, life), is to become a follower of Jesus, yehôvâh incarnate, made human flesh as a man.  If anyone wants to become my follower, Jesus said, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  I’ll consider deny himself as it is demonstrated here.  It was revealed to Peter that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah.  Peter thought he knew who the Messiah was and what He had come to do.

When the Messiah said that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, Peter said, This must not happen to you.  I assume that Peter didn’t even hear the part about being raised on the third day or his response would have revealed a different confusion.  All Peter heard was that the Messiah he and his people longed for would suffer at the hands of his religious leaders and be killed.

When Jesus called Peter Satan, He did not mean that Satan is the true representative of man’s interests.  He meant that Peter’s words appealed to that fleshly part of Jesus’ own humanity as Satan had tried to do in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12, 13, Luke 4:1-13 NET).  Peter accepted Jesus’ rebuke, picked himself up and followed all the way to what he perceived was a last stand (John 11:7-16 NET; cf verse 16) in the garden of Gethsemane (John 18:10, 11, Matthew 26:51-54, Mark 14:47, Luke 22:49-51 NET), without ever fully understanding what Jesus’ meant until after the resurrection.

Like Peter, I thought I knew what Jesus’ final statement meant: For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.  Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm, Paul warned Timothy.  The Lord will repay him in keeping with his deeds.  You be on guard against him too, because he vehemently opposed our words.[5]

The Lord will repay him in keeping with his deeds, is an allusion to Psalm 28:4 according to a note (19) in the NET.  A comparison of the Greek texts follows.

Paul (NET) Parallel Greek David (NETS)

Septuagint
Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm.

2 Timothy 4:14a

 Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ χαλκεὺς πολλά μοι κακὰ ἐνεδείξατο

2 Timothy 4:14a
The Lord will repay him in keeping with his deeds.

2 Timothy 4:14b

 ἀποδώσει αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ

2 Timothy 4:14b

 Give them according to their works,

Psalm 28:4a

 δὸς αὐτοῖς κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν

Psalm 28:4a
  and according to the wickedness of their practices;

Psalm 28:4b

 καὶ κατὰ τὴν πονηρίαν τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων[6] αὐτῶν

Psalm 28:4b
  according to the works of their hands give them;

Psalm 28:4c

 κατὰ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν δὸς αὐτοῖς

Psalm 28:4c
  render them their due reward.

Psalm 28:4d

 ἀπόδος τὸ ἀνταπόδομα αὐτῶν αὐτοῖς

Psalm 28:4d

“He’s making a list / And checking it twice / Gonna find out Who’s naughty and nice…He sees you when you’re sleeping / He knows when you’re awake / He knows if you’ve been bad or good / So be good for goodness sake!”[7]  No, my parents never tricked me into believing in Santa Claus.  They didn’t even trick me into believing that Jesus was born on December 25th.  Christmas was the arbitrary season the Church chose to celebrate Jesus’ birth.  I made this connection to being repaid in keeping with my deeds, thinking, I suppose, that parents made Santa Claus in Jesus’ image.  But children were never good for goodness’ sake.  They wanted presents, rewards, rather than a lump of coal.

This was essentially my understanding of good works.  They had nothing to do with salvation except that I should want to do them because Jesus did a “good work” for me, dying for my sins.  Good works were done primarily for rewards.  No one knew what these rewards might be but no one wanted to be left out when everyone else was receiving rewards for their good works.  As I got older, good works merited good things happening to or for me here and now, while bad works merited the opposite, karma, in a word.  Fear is the key motivation, whether fear of social embarrassment or literal harm.

And again Paul wrote, But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!  He will reward each one according to his works.[8]  According to a note (16) in the NET this is a quotation from Psalm 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12.  The Greek texts are compared below.

Paul (NET) Parallel Greek David (NETS)

Septuagint
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!

Romans 2:5

 κατὰ δὲ τὴν σκληρότητα σου καὶ ἀμετανόητον καρδίαν θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως δικαιοκρισίας τοῦ θεοῦ

Romans 2:5

 And to you, O Lord, belongs mercy,

Psalm 62:12a

 ὅτι τὸ κράτος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ σοί κύριε τὸ ἔλεος

Psalm 62:12a
He will reward each one according to his works:

Romans 2:6

 ὃς ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ

Romans 2:6

 because you will repay to each according to his works.

Psalm 62:12b

 ὅτι σὺ ἀποδώσεις ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ

Psalm 62:12b

Mercy above is ἔλεος in the Septuagint.  Later in the same letter to the Romans Paul recalled the long name (Exodus 33:19 NET) of yehôvâh: I will have mercy (ἐλεήσω, a form of ἐλεέω) on whom I have mercy (ἐλεῶ, another form of ἐλεέω), and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.  So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy (ἐλεῶντος, another form of ἐλεέω).[9]  For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy (ἐλεήσῃ, another form of ἐλεέω) to them all.[10]  “Go and learn what this saying means,” Jesus said to religious people, “‘I want mercy (ἔλεος) and not sacrifice.’  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”[11]  And, “If you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy (ἔλεος) and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”[12]

Paul (NET)

 Parallel Greek Solomon (NETS)

Septuagint
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!

Romans 2:5

 κατὰ δὲ τὴν σκληρότητα σου καὶ ἀμετανόητον καρδίαν θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως δικαιοκρισίας τοῦ θεοῦ

Romans 2:5

 If you say: “I do not know this person,” be aware that the Lord is familiar with the heart of everyone, and he who formed breath for all, he knows everything,

Proverbs 24:12a [Table]

 ἐὰν δὲ εἴπῃς οὐκ οἶδα τοῦτον γίνωσκε ὅτι κύριος καρδίας πάντων γινώσκει καὶ ὁ πλάσας πνοὴν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς οἶδεν πάντα

Proverbs 24:12a
He will reward each one according to his works:

Romans 2:6

 ὃς ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ

Romans 2:6

 he who will render to each according to his deeds.

Proverbs 24:12b [Table]

 ὃς ἀποδίδωσιν ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ

Proverbs 24:12b

Here, though the familiar fear-of-the-Lord usage is evident, Solomon’s purpose was that His son Rehoboam as a prince and eventually king of Israel would, “Rescue them who are led to death, and buy back those who are to be slaughtered; do not delay!”[13]  In each of these verses the Greek phrase translated according to his deeds (or, works) is κατὰ τὰ ἔργα (a form of ἔργον) αὐτοῦ (according to their works is κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν).  But Jesus made a minor change when speaking this way to his disciples, to those who followed Him, who loved yehôvâh with all their soul or life: ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν (a form of πρᾶξις) αὐτοῦ.  Jesus’ followers will be rewarded according to their practice as opposed to their works.

Do they live by the Spirit (πνεύματι περιπατεῖτε)?  Are they led by the Spirit (πνεύματι ἄγεσθε) or by the flesh?  Their works of the flesh (τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκός) as isolated incidents are already forgiven, condemned in the flesh.  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.[14]  Of course, if they practice the works of the flesh they were never Jesus’ followers to begin with: Those who practice (πράσσοντες, a form of πράσσω) such things will not inherit the kingdom of God![15]

The hope for Jesus’ followers is the Sabbath rest…for the people of God:  For the one who enters God’s rest (κατάπαυσιν, a form of κατάπαυσις) has also rested (κατέπαυσεν, a form of καταπαύω) from his works (ἔργων, another form of ἔργον), just as God did from his own works.  Thus we must make every effort (Σπουδάσωμεν, a form of σπουδάζω) to enter that rest (κατάπαυσιν, a form of κατάπαυσις), so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience (ἀπειθείας, a form of ἀπείθεια).[16]  But the one who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) the truth, Jesus said of his followers, comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds (ἔργα, a form of ἔργον) have been done in [or, by] God[17] (ὅτι ἐν θεῷ ἐστιν εἰργασμένα [a form of ἐργάζομαι]).

Finally, Jesus felt no need to motivate his followers with fear.  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.[18]  Do not leave Jerusalem, He told them after his resurrection, but wait there for what my Father promised, which you heard about from me.  For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.[19]  And 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.  Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.[20]

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets, Jesus cautioned.  I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill (πληρῶσαι, a form of πληρόω) them.[21]  Love (ἀγάπη) does no wrong to a neighbor.  Therefore love (ἀγάπη) is the fulfillment (πλήρωμα) of the law.[22]  And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me, Jesus said.  Whoever finds his life (ψυχὴν, another form of ψυχή) will lose it, and whoever loses his life (ψυχὴν, another form of ψυχή) because of me will find it.[23]

For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return of our Lord Jesus Christ, Peter offered, no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur.[24]  But in the light of these details even those who reject the Gospel as cleverly concocted fables need to pause to appreciate just how cleverly concocted the details are.  Maybe it’s not the devil in the details.

I began this essay with an oblique reference to pedophile priests.  My point is simply this: I don’t believe that Catholic priests who molested children were trusting in their deaths to sin (Romans 6:3-14 NET) through faith in Jesus’ crucifixion as they molested those children.  They weren’t believing their resurrection to new life (Romans 7:4-6 NET) through Jesus’ resurrection.  They weren’t walking or living by his Spirit (Romans 8:1-11 NET), depending on his daily infusion of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:13-6:5 NET).  I believe they relied on their own abilities as Catholic priests to live up to centuries of Catholic rules governing the behavior of Catholic priests.  That is molestation (or an eruption of any other sin) looking for a time and a place to happen, because it is the practice which plays to sin’s strength: the power of sin is the law.[25]

Romans, Part 73

[1] Romans 12:13 (NET)

[2] Matthew 23:4 (NET)

[3] Mark 12:30a (NET)

[4] Matthew 16:20 (NET)

[5] 2 Timothy 4:14, 15 (NET)

[6] http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=e)pithdeuma%2Ftwn&la=greek&prior=tw=n

[7] http://www.41051.com/xmaslyrics/santatown.html

[8] Romans 2:5, 6 (NET)

[9] Romans 9:15, 16 (NET)

[10] Romans 11:32 (NET)

[11] Matthew 9:13 (NET)

[12] Matthew 12:7 (NET)

[13] Proverbs 24:11 (NETS)

[14] Romans 7:20 (NET)

[15] Galatians 5:21b (NET)

[16] Hebrews 4:10, 11 (NET)

[17] John 3:21 (NET)

[18] 1 John 4:18, 19 (NET)

[19] Acts 1:4, 5 (NET)

[20] Galatians 5:22-24 (NET)

[21] Matthew 5:17 (NET)

[22] Romans 13:10 (NET)

[23] Matthew 10:38, 39 (NET)

[24] 2 Peter 1:16 (NET)

[25] 1 Corinthians 15:56b (NET)

Prayer

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Twice in the New Testament Jesus told us what to say when we pray: So pray this way[1] (οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς; literally, “in this manner then pray you”) and When you pray, say[2] (ὅταν προσεύχησθε λέγετε).  I compared them this morning thinking about the rationale for removing For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen[3] from Matthew 6:13 in the NET and other translations.

Matthew (NET) Greek Text Luke (NET) Greek Text
When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard [Table].  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  So pray this way:

Matthew 6:7-9a (NET)

 Προσευχόμενοι δὲ μὴ βατταλογήσητε ὥσπερ οἱ ἐθνικοί, δοκοῦσιν γὰρ ὅτι ἐν τῇ πολυλογίᾳ αὐτῶν εἰσακουσθήσονται.  μὴ οὖν ὁμοιωθῆτε αὐτοῖς· οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὧν χρείαν ἔχετε πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν.  οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς·

Matthew 6:7-9a

 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”  So he said to them, “When you pray, say:

Luke 11:1, 2a (NET)

 Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἐν τόπῳ τινὶ προσευχόμενον, ὡς ἐπαύσατο, εἶπεν τις τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτόν· κύριε, δίδαξον ἡμᾶς προσεύχεσθαι, καθὼς καὶ Ἰωάννης ἐδίδαξεν τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ.  εἶπεν δὲ αὐτοῖς· ὅταν προσεύχησθε λέγετε·

Luke 11:1, 2a

The wording here (especially in Greek) persuaded me that I was dealing with two different instances of instruction, not just one teaching recalled two different ways.  In the sermon on the mount recorded by Matthew Jesus, unbidden, taught his listeners how to pray in distinction to how Gentiles (ἐθνικοί, a form of ἐθνικός) prayed.  On another occasion recorded by Luke a disciple asked Jesus to teach them to pray just as (καθὼς) John the Baptist taught his disciples to pray.  And I assume that means John the Baptist taught his disciples how to pray, not that Jesus’ disciple wanted to learn the words that John taught his disciples to pray from Jesus.

Matthew (NET) Greek Text Luke (NET) Greek Text
Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, may your kingdom come,

Matthew 6:9b, 10a (NET)

 Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομα σου·  ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·

Matthew 6:9b, 10a

 Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come.

Luke 11:2b (NET)

 Πάτερ, ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομα σου· ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·

Luke 11:2b

May your name be honored;may your kingdom come (ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομα σου· ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·)—is identical in both Gospel accounts in Greek.  The difference is Our Father in heaven (Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς) recorded by Matthew and Father (Πάτερ) recorded by Luke.  I don’t assume that Jesus told the larger congregation on the mount to pray to Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς and then turned around and informed the more intimate group of his disciples to pray each to his own biological Πάτερ.  Rather, I assume that Jesus expected the intimate group of his disciples to understand Πάτερ as Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.

Matthew (NET) Greek Text Luke (NET) Greek Text
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10b (NET) Table

 γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημα σου,ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·

Matthew 6:10b

Here Matthew recorded something—may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven—that Luke did not.  I don’t assume that Luke was so opposed to God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven that he discarded it from the text.  Nor do I assume that Matthew made it up.  Rather, I assume again that Jesus expected the intimate group of his disciples to understand the coming of the kingdom of God as God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew (NET) Greek Text Luke (NET) Greek Text
Give us today our daily bread,

Matthew 6:11 (NET)

 τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·

Matthew 6:11

 Give us each day our daily bread,

Luke 11:3 (NET)

 τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δίδου ἡμῖν τὸκαθ᾿ ἡμέραν·

Luke 11:3

Here, what is being given—τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον—is identical (“our bread sufficient for the coming” in classical Greek[4]).  I assume Jesus means the bread of life,[5] that portion of Christ who lives in me,[6] the fruit of the Spirit,[7] the credited righteousness of God,[8] sufficient as far as it depends on me to do the will of God on earth as it is done in heaven to bring forth the kingdom of God to honor his name.  And though I used myself as an example—“as far as it depends on me”—the prayer He taught us to pray is not for me alone, but for all who call or have called or will call on our Father in heaven.

The differences—δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον, and δίδου ἡμῖν τὸ καθ᾿ ἡμέραν—seem inconsequential.  The Greek words δὸς and δίδου are different forms of δίδωμι, to give.  The Greek σήμερον means today, this day; καθ᾿ (a form of κατά) is defined: “1) down from, through out 2) according to, toward, along,” and was translated each, while ἡμέραν (a form of ἡμέρα) means day.  If any difference is worth mentioning it is simply that Jesus counseled the intimate group of his disciples to expect this gift of righteousness each day, every day, all day.

Matthew (NET) Greek Text Luke (NET) Greek Text
and forgive us our debts,

Matthew 6:12a (NET)

 καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν,

Matthew 6:12a

 and forgive us our sins,

Luke 11:4a (NET)

 καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν,

Luke 11:4a

In Matthew’s Gospel account Jesus spoke euphemistically of ὀφειλήματα (a form of ὀφείλημα, debts), but with the more intimate group of his disciples He said ἁμαρτίας (a form of ἁμαρτία, sins).  But after the prayer He taught in Matthew’s Gospel account, Jesus said, For if you forgive others their sins (παραπτώματα, a form of παράπτωμα), your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins (παραπτώματα).[9]  I’ve written elsewhere about the interchangeability of παράπτωμα with ἁμαρτία.  And I think this difference becomes clearer in the comparison of the next statement.

Matthew (NET) Greek Text Luke (NET) Greek Text
as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:12b (NET)

 ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν·

Matthew 6:12b

 for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

Luke 11:4b (NET)

 καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ ἀφίομεν παντὶ ὀφείλοντι ἡμῖν·

Luke 11:4b

Here, in Mathew’s Gospel account Jesus continued with the euphemistic ὀφειλέταις (a form of ὀφειλέτης) ἡμῶν (our debtors).  Though the NET translators chose everyone who sins against us for παντὶ ὀφείλοντι ἡμῖν in Luke’s Gospel account, ὀφείλοντι is a form of ὀφείλω (to owe).  We don’t actually stand in relation to others like God with a law that they might sin against; “for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us” is probably a better translation.  And the more positive for we also forgive makes sense since Jesus did not go on to elaborate—For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins—when teaching the intimate group of his disciples.

Matthew (NET) Greek Text Luke (NET) Greek Text
And do not lead us into temptation,

Matthew 6:13a (NET)

 καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν,

Matthew 6:13a

 And do not lead us into temptation.”

Luke 11:4c (NET)

 καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν.

Luke 11:4c
but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:13b (NET)

 ἀλλὰ ρῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.

Matthew 6:13b

Here, I don’t assume that Luke was partial to evil and rejected being delivered from it.  Neither do I assume that Mathew was so prone to evil he added it to Jesus’ teaching.  I assume again that Jesus expected the intimate group of his disciples to understand that the leading not into temptation (KJV) is deliverance from evil.  I’ve written elsewhere how I am not fond of limiting τοῦ πονηροῦ to the evil one.  In this case it is because I am so prone to evil that I long to be delivered from it in all its forms.

When I come to ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοῦς αἰῶνας ἀμήν (“because yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen”) what am I to assume?  The note in the NET reads:

Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë13 33 Ï sy sa Didache) read (though some with slight variation) ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν (“for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen”) here. The reading without this sentence, though, is attested by generally better witnesses (א B D Z 0170 Ë1 pc lat mae Or). The phrase was probably composed for the liturgy of the early church and most likely was based on 1 Chr 29:11-13; a scribe probably added the phrase at this point in the text for use in public scripture reading (see TCGNT 13-14). Both external and internal evidence argue for the shorter reading.

So, in other words some scribe got hyper-religious one day and decided to make Jesus’ words more holy by adding David’s words to them.  As scenarios go, it’s a possible scenario, probably worth a footnote.  But is it a good enough scenario to stand before God and say, “Oh, yeah, we threw those words right out of the Bible because of this scenario we imagined”?

Here is David’s prayer (1 Chronicles 29:10-19 NET):

David praised the Lord before the entire assembly:

“O Lord God of our father Israel, you deserve praise forevermore!  O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth!  You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all.  You are the source of wealth and honor; you rule over all.  You possess strength and might to magnify and give strength to all.  Now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your majestic name!

“But who am I and who are my people, that we should be in a position to contribute this much?  Indeed, everything comes from you, and we have simply given back to you what is yours.  For we are resident foreigners and nomads in your presence, like all our ancestors; our days are like a shadow on the earth, without security.  O Lord our God, all this wealth, which we have collected to build a temple for you to honor your holy name, comes from you; it all belongs to you.  I know, my God, that you examine thoughts and are pleased with integrity.  With pure motives I contribute all this; and now I look with joy as your people who have gathered here contribute to you.  O Lord God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, maintain the motives of your people and keep them devoted to you.  Make my son Solomon willing to obey your commands, rules, and regulations, and to complete building the palace for which I have made preparations.”

No doubt at all that David’s prayer was in the same Spirit as Jesus’ teaching on prayer:  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.  It is consistent with other teachings:  Why do you call me good?  No one is good except God alone.[10]  “Would any one of you say to your slave who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, ‘Come at once and sit down for a meal’?  Won’t the master instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready to serve me while I eat and drink.  Then you may eat and drink’?  He won’t thank the slave because he did what he was told, will he?  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.’”[11]

The word translated undeserving of special praise is ἀχρεῖοι (a form of ἀχρεῖος).  The note in the NET reads: “Some translations describe the slaves as ‘worthless’ (NRSV) or ‘unworthy’ (NASB, NIV) but that is not Jesus’ point. These disciples have not done anything deserving special commendation or praise (L&N 33.361), but only what would normally be expected of a slave in such a situation (thus the translation ‘we have only done what was our duty’).”  But they did translate ἀχρεῖον (another form of ἀχρεῖος) worthless in “The Parable of the Talents.”

The worthless slave was given a talent, equivalent to 6,000 denarii according to a footnote.  In Matthew 20:2 day laborers agreed to work a day in the field for a denarius.  If I assume a six day work week there are 312 working days in a year, and so 6,000 divided by 312 equals 19.23 years, almost 19 years and three months of a day laborers pay.

The worthless slave did no business with his master’s money, nor did he invest it with others who might have done so.  I was afraid, he said, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.  See, you have what is yours.[12]  So he was fired, as any of us might fire a worthless employee.  But when we have done everything [we] were commanded to do, why should we still consider ourselves worthless slaves?

I think it is because everything we have done has been done in God,[13] for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.[14]  As David prayed, who am I and who are my people, that we should be in a position to contribute this much?  Indeed, everything comes from you, and we have simply given back to you what is yours.[15]  God has granted us our daily bread of life, because the kingdom and the power and the glory belong to Him forever.  Amen.

And I will do well to be reminded of that daily, as long as it is called today.[16]

 

[1] Matthew 6:9a (NET)

[2] Luke 11:2a (NET)

[3] Matthew 6:13b (NET)

[4] http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=epiousion&la=greek

[5] John 6:35, 48-51 (NET)

[6] Galatians 2:20 (NET)

[7] Galatians 5:16-18, 22, 23 (NET)

[8] Romans 4 (NET)

[9] Matthew 6:14, 15 (NET)

[10] Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19 (NET)

[11] Luke 17:7-10 (NET)

[12] Matthew 25:25 (NET)

[13] John 3:21 (NET)

[14] Philippians 2:13 (NET)

[15] 1 Chronicles 29:14 (NET)

[16] Hebrews 3:13 (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)

Romans, Part 26

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Therefore, Paul continued, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey1 (ὑπακούειν, a form of ὑπακούω) its desires (ἐπιθυμίαις, a form of ἐπιθυμία).2  This is clearly Step #2 how to experience the credited righteousness of God apart from the law,3 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) of Jesus Christ for all who believe (πιστεύοντας, a form of πιστεύω).4  I think the next verse amplifies how one goes about not letting sin reign in one’s mortal body, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as5 those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness.6  So I am picturing something like this:

Step #2 to experience the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe.
…do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.

Romans 6:12 (NET)

By…
…not present(ing) your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness…

Romans 6:13a (NET)

 …present(ing) yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness.

Romans 6:13b (NET)

It sounds so simple, but there is no door marked “sin” beside a door marked “God” where I might present myself for service.  This transaction, if you will, takes place in the deepest, darkest places of an individual born from above, born of flesh and born of the Spirit,7 moment by moment.  In fact, Paul described this individual as a house divided, For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.8  So then, Paul concluded in Romans 7, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.9

There is a cartoon image of a human being with a little devil i on one shoulder whispering in one ear and a little angel i whispering in the other.  In the center between them am I, writ large, the Master of My Fate, choosing sin or righteousness.  With this self-image I discounted the value of Step #1—to consider (λογίζεσθε, a form of λογίζομαι) [myself] dead (νεκροὺς, a form of νεκρός) to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus10—as I magnified the importance of Step #2, not to let sin reign in [my] mortal body so that [I] obey[ed] its desires.  So I set out not to break, or to keep, the laws that define sin, and unwittingly played directly into sin’s strength: the power (δύναμις) of sin is the law.11  Had I paid more attention to faith I might have grasped Paul’s next point sooner.  For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law (ὑπὸ νόμον) but12 under grace (ὑπὸ χάριν).13

This personification of sin was not magical thinking on Paul’s part.  What he was writing about actually becomes clearer in Romans 7.  The sin that will not master the one who believes in Jesus is nothing other than the old man that was crucified with him so that the body (σῶμα) of sin would no longer dominate us.14  I am not refereeing a battle of wills between a little devil i and a little angel i.  I am the old man of sin, or I am the new man of the Spirit.  Both are in this body (σῶμα).  Both want control.  The old man was crucified by faith in Jesus Christ.  The new man was created out of nothing through faith in Jesus Christ.  Believing in Jesus Christ is far more important than anything either I, the dead and dying old man or the initially alien new man, might do. [Addendum April 15, 2024: While I don’t want to minimize the importance of faith in Christ, recognizing the union between Christ and this new man causes me to wonder if I have overstated this a bit.] And I am persuaded that the illusion that I am a third something choosing between them is nothing more than the pride of life (1 John 2:15-17 NKJV).

Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but15 is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

What then? Paul continued.  Shall we sin16 because we are not under law (ὑπὸ νόμον) but17 under grace (ὑπὸ χάριν)?  Absolutely not!18  Paul’s reasoning here was a truism, a simple matter of definition.  Do you not know (οἴδατε, a form of εἴδω; i.e., know by seeing) that if you present yourselves as obedient (ὑπακοήν, a form of ὑπακοή) slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey (ὑπακούετε, another form of ὑπακούω), either of sin [the desire of the old man] resulting in death, or obedience (ὑπακοῆς, another form of ὑπακοή) [the desire of the new man] resulting in righteousness?19

I am convinced that words like obey, obedient, and obedience with their insistent emphasis on doing are part of the things of this world, the pride of life where I am the Master of My Fate, choosing to do the good or to do the evil.  In Greek the word translated obey is ὑπακούω, to hear under, in other words to trust.  The word translated obedient or obedience is ὑπακοή, attentive hearkening, in other words to believe.  These are other words, perhaps even better words, for faith and believe than πίστις and πιστεύω, for no one could mistake them for πίστεως μόνον (faith alone), or dead faith.  And again, this makes perfect sense if one is interested in experiencing the righteousness of God…revealed in the gospel from faith (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) to faith (πίστιν, another form of πίστις), just as it is written, “The righteous by faith (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) will live.”20

But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed (ὑπηκούσατε, another form of ὑπακούω) from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to, and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.21  So I ὑπακούω, hear under, trust, the word of God rather than becoming ὑπακοή to, hearkening attentively to, believing, the promptings and desires of the old man, the man of sin created in the image of Adam.  Of course I will do things.  But now those things, rather than being the acts of an actor, will flow naturally from who I hear under (trust, hearken attentively to, believe) through who I am (the new man born of the Spirit in the image and likeness of God) and then out into the world.

The writer of Hebrews described it this way: Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God.  For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works.22  Even the law comes into sharper focus: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,23 not for a day of the week but for the remainder of a lifetime.  And Jesus’ word is fulfilled: But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.24  It also explains Jesus’ rather obstinate insistence on doing good on the Sabbath day, despite the bitterness and resentment it aroused: So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.25

The writer of Hebrews continued with the following warning (Hebrews 4:11-13 NET):

Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience [i.e., fearfully refusing to enter the promised land].  For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart [Table].  And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

Paul realized he had not yet explained what would be explained in the next chapter.  He recognized that his readers may misunderstand his words (Romans 6:19-23 NET).

(I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.)  For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.  So what benefit did you then reap from those things that you are now ashamed of?  For the end of those things is death.  But now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.  For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Addendum: April 15, 2024
Tables comparing Romans 6:12; 6:13; 6:14; 1 John 2:16 and Romans 6:15 in the NET and KJV follow.

Romans 6:12 (NET)

Romans 6:12 (KJV)
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Romans 6:12 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 6:12 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 6:12 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Μὴ οὖν βασιλευέτω ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐν τῷ θνητῷ ὑμῶν σώματι εἰς τὸ ὑπακούειν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις αὐτοῦ μη ουν βασιλευετω η αμαρτια εν τω θνητω υμων σωματι εις το υπακουειν αυτη εν ταις επιθυμιαις αυτου μη ουν βασιλευετω η αμαρτια εν τω θνητω υμων σωματι εις το υπακουειν αυτη εν ταις επιθυμιαις αυτου

Romans 6:13 (NET)

Romans 6:13 (KJV)
and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Romans 6:13 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 6:13 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 6:13 (Byzantine Majority Text)
μηδὲ παριστάνετε τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν ὅπλα ἀδικίας τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἀλλὰ παραστήσατε ἑαυτοὺς τῷ θεῷ ὡσεὶ ἐκ νεκρῶν ζῶντας καὶ τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν ὅπλα δικαιοσύνης τῷ θεῷ μηδε παριστανετε τα μελη υμων οπλα αδικιας τη αμαρτια αλλα παραστησατε εαυτους τω θεω ως εκ νεκρων ζωντας και τα μελη υμων οπλα δικαιοσυνης τω θεω μηδε παριστανετε τα μελη υμων οπλα αδικιας τη αμαρτια αλλα παραστησατε εαυτους τω θεω ως εκ νεκρων ζωντας και τα μελη υμων οπλα δικαιοσυνης τω θεω

Romans 6:14 (NET)

Romans 6:14 (KJV)
For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace. The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

Romans 6:14 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 6:14 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 6:14 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἁμαρτία γὰρ ὑμῶν οὐ κυριεύσει· οὐ γάρ ἐστε ὑπὸ νόμον ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ χάριν αμαρτια γαρ υμων ου κυριευσει ου γαρ εστε υπο νομον αλλ υπο χαριν αμαρτια γαρ υμων ου κυριευσει ου γαρ εστε υπο νομον αλλ υπο χαριν

1 John 2:16 (NET)

1 John 2:16 (KJV)
because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1 John 2:16 (NET Parallel Greek)

1 John 2:16 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

1 John 2:16 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ (ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ ἡ ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου) οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀλλὰ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἐστίν οτι παν το εν τω κοσμω η επιθυμια της σαρκος και η επιθυμια των οφθαλμων και η αλαζονεια του βιου ουκ εστιν εκ του πατρος αλλ εκ του κοσμου εστιν οτι παν το εν τω κοσμω η επιθυμια της σαρκος και η επιθυμια των οφθαλμων και η αλαζονεια του βιου ουκ εστιν εκ του πατρος αλλ εκ του κοσμου εστιν

Romans 6:15 (NET)

Romans 6:15 (KJV)
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Romans 6:15 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 6:15 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 6:15 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Τί οὖν; ἁμαρτήσωμεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἐσμὲν ὑπὸ νόμον ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ χάριν; μὴ γένοιτο τι ουν αμαρτησομεν οτι ουκ εσμεν υπο νομον αλλ υπο χαριν μη γενοιτο τι ουν αμαρτησομεν οτι ουκ εσμεν υπο νομον αλλ υπο χαριν μη γενοιτο

1 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτη εν (KJV: it in) following obey. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

2 Romans 6:12 (NET)

3 Romans 3:21 (NET)

4 Romans 3:22 (NET) Table

6 Romans 6:13 (NET)

8 Galatians 5:17 (NET) Table

9 Romans 7:25b (NKJV) Table

10 Romans 6:11 (NET) Table

11 1 Corinthians 15:56b (NET)

13 Romans 6:14 (NET)

14 Romans 6:6 (NET)

18 Romans 6:15 (NET)

19 Romans 6:16 (NET)

20 Romans 1:17 (NET)

21 Romans 6:17, 18 (NET)

22 Hebrews 4:9-10 (NET)

23 Exodus 20:8 (NKJV) Table

24 John 3:21 (NET)

25 Matthew 12:12b (NET)