To Make Holy, Part 5

Posted on June 26, 2018 by admin

The next form of ἁγιάζω I want to consider is found in Jesus’ prayer to his Father: Set them apart (ἁγίασον, a form of ἁγιάζω) in the truth; your word is truth.^[1] But I’m making a slow pilgrimage through his prayer because I believe I can know his holiness here. I have revealed your name, Jesus prayed, to the [people] you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed (τετήρηκαν, a form of τηρέω) your word.^[2]

Jesus came into the world to be despised and rejected by people.^[3] And though the Greek word κόσμου (a form of κόσμος), translated of the world, does not exclude the larger Gentile world necessarily, at this particular time He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel^[4] rather than Gentile sinners. You people are from your father the devil,^[5] Jesus said of Israel’s religious leaders. A disciple is not greater than his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher^[6] serves as a fair assessment of those who followed Israel’s teachers. 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^[7] is certainly more explicit. This gives me some context, how precious the people you gave me out of the world were to Jesus.

He came to what was his own (ἴδια, a form of ἴδιος), but his own people (ἴδιοι, another form of ἴδιος) did not receive him.^[8] He knew this would happen. Isaiah prophesied it: He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.^[9] And in a very real sense their rejection was part of the plan and purpose of salvation (Romans 11:11-33 NET).

I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles (ἔθνεσιν, a form of ἔθνος), to make Israel jealous. Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles (ἐθνῶν, another form of ἔθνος), how much more will their full restoration bring?

Now I am speaking to you Gentiles (ἔθνεσιν, a form of ἔθνος). Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles (ἐθνῶν, another form of ἔθνος), I magnify my ministry, if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the first portion of the dough offered is holy (ἁγία, a form of ἅγιος), then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy (ἁγία, a form of ἅγιος), so too are the branches.

Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in the richness of the olive root, do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted! They were broken off because of their unbelief (ἀπιστίᾳ), but you stand by faith (πίστει, a form of πίστις). Do not be arrogant, but fear! For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God – harshness toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And even they – if they do not continue in their unbelief (ἀπιστίᾳ)– will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?

For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles (ἐθνῶν, another form of ἔθνος) has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”

In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you were formerly disobedient (ἠπειθήσατε, a form of ἀπειθέω) to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience (ἀπειθείᾳ), so they too have now been disobedient (ἠπείθησαν, another form of ἀπειθέω) in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all people to disobedience (ἀπείθειαν, a form of ἀπείθεια) so that he may show mercy to them all.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!

I’m ignoring for the moment the more traditional interpretation of this verse, the importance and instrumentality of the eleven apostles carrying on Jesus’ message and building the church, in favor of the comfort God the Father gave to Jesus on a mission of rejection. My current focus is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. She comforted Him in a way the apostles could not.

She has kept it for the day of my burial,^[10] Jesus said of the three quarters of a pound of expensive aromatic oil from pure nard^[11] she had “wasted” on his feet. She had sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said^[12] and apparently believed Him while the eleven (all twelve, in fact) were still full of their own understanding, hoping for (or fearing) the overthrow of the Roman government and their own domination of the world. Taking Jesus at his word is still a great comfort in a world full of rejection as He draws all to Himself.

They belonged to you (KJV: thine they were), Jesus’ prayer continued. I don’t want to speculate too much about this beyond Jesus’ own words: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.^[13] Most translators have understood the next clause καμοὶ αὐτοὺς ἔδωκας as a reiteration of people the Father gave to Jesus. But consider the following table:

King James Version	Darby Bible Translation	American King James Version
…and thou gavest them me…	…and thou gavest them me…	…and you gave them me…

Here it sounds reciprocal: the Father also gave Jesus to them. But I admit it is possible, probably likely, that this is just King James’ English for a reiteration of the Father gave them to Jesus. You gave them to Me, the NKJV reads. The Greek word καμοὶ (and me, me also) is a dative pronoun according to the Koine Greek Lexicon as is μοι (me) in the phrase you gave me out of the world:

Dative Case
The dative is the case of the indirect object, or may also indicate the means by which something is done. The dative case also has a wide variety of uses, with the root idea being that of “personal interest” or “reference”. It is used most often in one of three general categories: Indirect object, Instrument (means), or Location. Most commonly it is used as the indirect object of a sentence. It may also indicate the means by which something is done or accomplished. Used as a dative of location, it can show the “place”, “time”, or “sphere” in which something may happen.
For example: (Indirect object): “Jesus said to them“, or “he will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask” (Luke 11:13).
(Instrument or Means): “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by (by means of) prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). In this sentence, there is a single Greek word translated into the phrase “by prayer” showing the means by which to let our requests be made known to God.
(Location): “… and on the third day He will be raised up” (Matt 20:19). The phrase “the third day” is in the dative case, showing the time in which Jesus will be raised. In this sentence, there is no Greek word present that is translated into the English word “on”; it is added to show the meaning of the dative of location.

The Greek word αὐτοὺς (them) is an accusative pronoun as is οὓς the untranslated relative pronoun which precedes you gave in the prior phrase:

Accusative Case
The accusative case is the case of the direct object, receiving the action of the verb. Like the other cases, the accusative has a wide variety of uses, but its main function is as the direct object of a transitive verb. The direct object will most often be in the accusative case.
For example: “As newborn babes, long for the guiless milk of the word” (1 Peter 2:2). The word “milk” is in the accusative case and is functioning as the direct object of the transitive verb “long for” (or “desire”).

The only reason I want this giving to be reciprocal is to make it clearer that God the Father gave them Jesus and thus they have kept^[14] his word, rather than too appear as if they obeyed his word so God the Father gave them to Jesus.

Now they understand, Jesus’ continued, that everything you have given me comes from you.^[15] In other words, Jesus relied on his Father’s supply, not his own godliness. And those who had been given to Him knew (ἔγνωκαν, a form of γινώσκω; translated understand) this. The verb ἔγνωκαν is in the perfect tense: “The basic thought of the perfect tense is that the progress of an action has been completed and the results of the action are continuing on, in full effect. In other words, the progress of the action has reached its culmination and the finished results are now in existence.”^[16] And though it is obvious to me here and now that everything you have given me comes from you means that Jesus relied on his Father’s supply rather than his own godliness, it just became obvious to me here and now.

“It’s axiomatic to me,” I wrote in another essay, “that Jesus didn’t utilize his own godliness, but trusted the Holy Spirit that descended like a dove from heaven, and…remained on him.^[11] Otherwise, Jesus’ invitation and command, Follow me,^[12] is little more than a cruel joke.”

“As I’ve written before it is axiomatic to me that the way Jesus loved us,” I wrote in another essay, “was through that same love He received from the Holy Spirit that descended like a dove from heaven, and…remained on him.^[43] He prayed as much to his Father if one has ears to hear: I made known your name to them, and I will continue to make it known, so that the love (ἀγάπη) you have loved (ἠγάπησας, a form of ἀγαπάω) me with may be in them, and I may be in them.”^[44]

“As I’ve written before,^[20] it is axiomatic to me that Jesus’ holiness was from the Holy Spirit rather than his own divine nature” I wrote elsewhere. “Otherwise, his command and invitation, Follow me, would be meaningless to sinful human beings.”

I acknowledged that my axiom in the beginning was little more than a confidence that “Jesus wasn’t commanding us to follow Him somewhere we couldn’t go…Over time,” I confessed, “my ‘axiom’ has come to mean so much more: When I am anything less than Christlike I no longer think: ‘Oh, He is God and I am not.’ Instead, I know that I am living according to the flesh (Romans 8:5-11), that I’ve fallen away from grace. One would think I would know better by now but apparently I do not. It alerts me that it is time to stop relying on myself and get back to trusting Jesus, relying on his Spirit. But that weight deserves something weightier than an axiom.”^[17] But when did it become axiomatic? It wasn’t axiomatic when I turned again to obey his rules in my own strength.

I asked a friend I knew from church to sing this prayer as a demo after I had set it to music. It was beyond his vocal ability. Twice in the piece Jesus strikes a dissonant pedal tone until the rest of the music resolves and conforms to that note. My friend recommended a better trained singer, a younger man nearer my age. And he did this without criticizing my living arrangements or commenting on my unworthiness to write an opera about Jesus.

As this younger more skilful singer and I rehearsed we talked. I acknowledged the trouble I was having not sinning. He said that whatever was too difficult for him became easy when he “turned it over to the Lord.” It was apparent to me that he was describing actual experience, but I failed to ask what he meant by turning it over to the Lord. I assumed he meant prayer. When I prayed for Jesus’ help to overcome my sin I got nothing. (Or I got everything one reads about in these essays.) At the time I assumed I wasn’t holy enough to merit God’s help.

So I strove with all my might to make myself holy enough to earn his blessing, by which I meant becoming a famous (and hopefully rich) composer. I clearly didn’t grasp that since Jesus is holy everyone who abides (John 15:1-8) in Him is holy (Romans 11:16-24). I saw my task as one of becoming holy rather than one of allowing Jesus’ holiness to shine through me; namely, the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that is the fruit of his Holy Spirit.^[18] And I didn’t understand that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit.

In my ignorance I attempted to use Him as my personal demon to achieve my own purposes. I was a lot like Nikolai (Adam Brody), the lead singer of the band Low Shoulder, in Jason Reitman’s and Diablo Cody’s movie Jennifer’s Body. “Do you know how hard it is to make it as an indie band these days?” he asked Jennifer (Megan Fox). “There’s so many of us, and we’re all so cute, and it’s like, if you don’t get on Letterman or some retarded soundtrack, you’re screwed, okay? Satan is our only hope. We’re in league with the beast now, and we have to make a really big impression on him. And to do that, we’re going to have to butcher you and bleed you.” And he does.

Granted, I tried to make an impression on Jesus by attempting to obey his laws in my own strength, laws that included not butchering or bleeding young women. So what would I say to myself now about overcoming sin by turning it over to the Lord?

It was a bit like being caught in Devil’s Snare from the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Hermione (Emma Watson), who “pays attention in Herbology” at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, recognizes the plant and knows how to escape it. “Stop moving, both of you,” she yells to Ron (Rupert Grint) and Harry (Daniel Radcliffe). “You have to relax. If you don’t, it will only kill you faster.”

For when we were in the flesh, (as opposed to being led by the Holy Spirit) Paul wrote believers in Rome, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.^[19] My striving to obey rules only strengthened sin’s hold on me: the power of sin is the law.^[20] Rather than living in the flesh, striving to obey laws, I should have given more heed to Paul’s explanation: So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God.^[21]

In the movie Ron doesn’t respond well to Hermione’s words: “Kill us faster?” he exclaims. “Oh, now I can relax.” But Hermione relaxes and falls through the bottom of the plant. Harry is able to follow her example and disappears as well. Poor Ron is left alone, struggling, thinking his friends have been swallowed whole by the Devil’s Snare.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen (gôy, בגוים; Septuagint: ἔθνεσιν, a form of ἔθνος), I will be exalted in the earth.^[22] In that quiet place of trust I began to find that seemingly inexhaustible supply of God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control like a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.^[23] Ironically, even my striving to obey laws was fueled by his Holy Spirit channeled through my own ignorance of Him, my ignorance of the Bible which reveals Him to all who have ears to hear.

To Make Holy, Part 6

^[1] John 17:17 (NET)

^[2] John 17:6 (NET)

^[3] Isaiah 53:3a (NET)

^[4] Matthew 15:24 (NET)

^[5] John 8:44a (NET)

^[6] Luke 6:40 (NET)

^[7] Matthew 23:15b (NET)

^[8] John 1:11 (NET)

^[9] Isaiah 53:3 (Tanakh)

^[10] John 12:7b (NET)

^[11] John 12:3 (NET)

^[12] Luke 10:39b (NET)

^[13] John 6:44 (NET)

^[14] I have written enough about forms of τηρέω (τετήρηκαν is a form of τηρέω) elsewhere: Everyone Fathered by God Does Not Sin; Antichrist, Part 2; Son of God – 1 John, Part 3; Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 3; My Deeds, Part 1; My Deeds, Part 2; My Deeds, Part 3

^[15] John 17:7 (NET)

^[16] https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/verbs1.htm#TENSE

^[17] Who Am I? Part 6

^[18] Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)

^[19] Romans 7:5, 6 (NET)

^[20] 1 Corinthians 15:56b (NET)

^[21] Romans 7:4 (NET)

^[22] Psalm 46:10 (Tanakh)

^[23] John4:14b (NET)

Romans, Part 61

Posted on September 21, 2015 by admin

I’m continuing to look at Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer,^[1] as a description of love rather than as rules to obey. I’m still focusing on the injustice (ἀδικίᾳ, a form of ἀδικία) love is not glad (or, does not rejoice)^[2] about. Two different things are revealed (ἀποκαλύπτεται, a form of ἀποκαλύπτω) in the first chapter of Romans.

Two Revelations

For the righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) of God is revealed in the gospel…

Romans 1:17a (NET)

For the wrath (ὀργὴ, a form of ὀργή) of God is revealed from heaven…

Romans 1:18a (NET)

…from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous (δίκαιος) by faith will live.”

Romans 1:17b (NET)

…against all ungodliness and unrighteousness (ἀδικίαν, a form of ἀδικία) of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness (ἀδικίᾳ, a form of ἀδικία)…

Romans 1:18b (NET)

But I didn’t always think of these as two different things. As I became an atheist, though I doubt that I actually thought through these particular verses, I believed that God’s righteousness was God’s wrath, at least it was the nexus where his righteousness impacted human beings.

I returned from atheism to a semblance of faith believing that the wrath (e.g., God’s righteousness) I had not experienced had been deferred to a later time, the end, the Revelation (Ἀποκάλυψις, a form of ἀποκάλυψις). With this idea in mind I thought the wrath of God…revealed from heaven was some unspecified vengeance against every kind of unrighteousness (ἀδικίᾳ), wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips [Table], slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless [Table].^[3]

No matter what the Scripture said I wouldn’t or couldn’t hear that God’s wrath revealed from heaven was that God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.^[4] It was beyond my powers of comprehension that He did this so that they are filled with every kind of unrighteousness (ἀδικίᾳ), wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless.

As long as I refused to believe that it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy,^[5] I couldn’t fathom the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God;^[6] namely, that God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.^[7] I couldn’t reason that if in his wrath He hands people over to every kind of ἀδικίᾳ, in his non-wrathful state he keeps us from that same ἀδικίᾳ. And I didn’t perceive that the true nexus of the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel is his love in us,^[8] the love that is the fulfillment of the law,^[9] the fruit of his Spirit.^[10]

Half a millennium or so before Paul penned his letter to the Romans ἀδικίᾳ was a Greek goddess. “There is also a chest made of cedar, Pausanias wrote, “with figures on it, some of ivory, some of gold, others carved out of the cedar-wood itself. It was in this chest that Cypselus, the tyrant of Corinth, was hidden by his mother when the Bacchidae were anxious to discover him after his birth. In gratitude for the saving of Cypselus, his descendants, Cypselids as they are called, dedicated the chest at Olympia.”^[11] Carved on the chest are the figures of a “beautiful woman…punishing an ugly one, choking her with one hand and with the other striking her with a staff. It is Justice [δίκη] who thus treats Injustice [ἀδικίᾳ].”^[12]

I’ll explore some sayings about δίκη (Dike) as a revelation of the religious mind, making no attempt to distinguish the creative reasoning of human beings from lying spirits.^[13] “Next he [Zeus] led away bright Themis (Divine Law),” Hesiod wrote, “who bare the Horai (Horae, Seasons), and Eunomia (Good Order), Dike (Justice), and blooming Eirene (Peace), who mind the works of mortal men.”^[14] “[S]he sits beside her father, Zeus the son of Kronos (Cronus), and tells him of men’s wicked heart, until the people pay for the mad folly of their princes who, evilly minded, pervert judgement and give sentence crookedly.”^[15]

The latter saying sounds more like Satan the accuser than justice (Revelation 12:7-10 NET):

Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels. So that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan (Σατανᾶς), who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth,^[16] and his angels along with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the ruling authority of his Christ, have now come, because the accuser (κατήγωρ, a form of κατηγορέω) of our brothers and sisters, the one who accuses (κατηγορῶν, another form of κατηγορέω) them day and night before our God, has been thrown down.”

Perhaps δίκη gives a glimpse into how Satan perceives himself. It certainly gives me a different impression of Plato’s eulogy: “With [Zeus],” Plato wrote in Laws, “followeth Dike (Justice), as avenger of them that fall short of the divine law; and she, again, is followed by every man who would fain be happy, cleaving to her with lowly and orderly behavior…”^[17] It sounds like a revelation of Satan’s own longing and ambition. “To thee revenge the punishment belong, chastising every deed unjust and wrong” says the Orphic Hymn 62 to Dike.^[18] This is essentially the meaning of δίκη in the New Testament (Acts 28:3, 4 NET).

When Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. When the local people saw the creature hanging from Paul’s hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice (δίκη; KJV: vengeance) herself has not allowed him to live!”

Even when the goddess is forgotten the noun δίκη retains her meaning and purpose (2 Thessalonians 1:8-10a; Jude 1:6, 7 NET).

With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will undergo the penalty (δίκην, a form of δίκη; KJV: punished) of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that day among all who have believed…

You also know that the angels who did not keep within their proper domain but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of the great Day. So also Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, since they indulged in sexual immorality (ἐκπορνεύσασαι, a form of ἐκπορνεύω) and pursued unnatural desire in a way similar to these angels, are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment (δίκην, a form of δίκη; KJV: vengeance) of eternal fire.

Philostratus tired of δίκη or the inability of vengeance to produce righteousness in, or secure justice among, human beings: “I am sure that Dike (Justice) will appear in a very ridiculous light; for having been appointed by Zeus and by the Moirai (Fates) to prevent men being unjust to one another, she has never been able to defend herself against injustice.” In the New Testament δίκη has nothing to do with overcoming ἀδικία in human beings. Rather, God’s mercy and his love in us through faith in Jesus’ faithfulness crucifies our ἀδικίαν (a form of ἀδικία) and resurrects our new lives into his righteousness through the death and resurrection of Jesus (Romans 7:5, 6 NET).

For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.

For this reason we also, Paul wrote the Colossians, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves…^[19]

The word translated righteousness in—the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel—is δικαιοσύνη (Dikaiosyne), not a goddess but a daimona (δαίμων ^[20]). “In the ancient Greek religion, daimon designates not a specific class of divine beings, but a peculiar mode of activity: it is an occult power that drives humans forward or acts against them: since daimon is the veiled countenance of divine activity, every deity can act as daimon…”^[21] The Orphic Hymn 63 says, “O blessed Dikaiosyne, mankind’s delight, the eternal friend of conduct just and right: abundant, venerable, honoured maid, to judgements pure dispensing constant aid, and conscience stable, and an upright mind…”^[22]

To the religious mind Dikaiosyne merely dispenses “aid.” Of course in the New Testament the daimon does not merely “aid” but possesses and takes control, not for anything resembling righteousness: two demon-possessed (δαιμονιζόμενοι, a form of δαιμονίζομαι) men coming from the tombs met [Jesus]. They were extremely violent, so that no one was able to pass by that way.^[23] As Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man from the town met him who was possessed^[24] by demons (δαιμόνια, a form of δαιμόνιον). For a long time this man had worn no clothes and had not lived in a house, but among the tombs.^[25]

Ancient Greeks were not unaware of these phenomena, they attributed them to κακοδαίμων: “The Hellenistic Greeks divided daemons into good and evil categories: agathodaimōn (ἀγαθοδαίμων “noble spirit”), from agathós (ἀγαθός “good, brave, noble, moral, lucky, useful”), and kakódaimōn (κακοδαίμων “malevolent spirit”), from kakós (κακός “bad, evil”).”^[26] I assume this determination was made according to how well the daemons’ activities corresponded to the determiner’s own desires: the κακοδαίμων thwarted as the ἀγαθοδαίμων aided those desires. The derivation of δαίμων is “From δαίω daiō (to distribute fortunes)” according to Strong’s Concordance.

To the religious mind Dikaiosyne dispenses “aid” to those who make pure judgments. I’m reminded of Peter’s surprise that Cornelius summoned him because an angel appeared and told him to do so: I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism in dealing with people, but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is welcomed before him.^[27] That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,^[28] –I have not come to call the righteous (δικαίους, a form of δίκαιος), but sinners to repentance,^[29] –is a difficult truth for the religious mind to accept.

It is the truth suppressed by unrighteousness (ἀδικίᾳ). The religious mind jealously guards its own righteousness as its own peculiar possession. In my opinion Paul experienced a theological crisis^[30] over this trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance, and we read the Holy Spirit’s solution to that crisis when we read his letter to the Romans (Romans 3:5-9 NKJV).

But if our unrighteousness (ἀδικία) demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust (ἄδικος) who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world? For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

All unrighteousness (ἀδικίᾳ) is sin…^[31] God will reward each one according to his works…wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness (ἀδικίᾳ).^[32] The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, and with every kind of evil (ἀδικίας, another form of ἀδικία) deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved. Consequently God sends on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. And so all of them who have not believed the truth but have delighted in evil (ἀδικίᾳ) will be condemned.^[33]

What shall we say then? Is there injustice (ἀδικία) with God? Absolutely not! For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, 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.^[34]

For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.^[35]

This gives me a fairly extensive idea of the truth love rejoices about and the ἀδικία it does not. Love is not glad about injustice (ἀδικίᾳ), but rejoices in the truth.^[36] Do not extinguish the Spirit,^[37] Paul wrote the Thessalonians. I will suggest that the quickest way to extinguish the Spirit is to take credit for his fruit or to believe that his fruit is anything but the gift of righteousness.^[38] [W]hen the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 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, whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior.^[39]

I’ll continue in the next essay.

Romans, Part 62

Back to Romans, Part 65

^[1] Romans 12:12 (NET)

^[2] 1 Corinthians 13:6 (NASB)

^[3] Romans 1:29-31 (NET)

^[4] Romans 1:28b (NET)

^[5] Romans 9:16 (NET) Table

^[6] Romans 11:33a (NET)

^[7] Romans 11:32 (NET)

^[8] John 17:26 (NET)

^[9] Romans 13:10b (NET)

^[10] Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)

^[11] Pausanias’ description of the Chest of Kypselos and other items at Olympia

^[12] Pausanias’ description of the Chest of Kypselos and other items at Olympia

^[13] 1 Kings 22:19-23; 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4; Ephesians 2:1-3 (NET)

^[14] http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/HoraDike.html

^[15] ibid

^[16] I am very confused whether this is still future are already past: Then the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!” So he said to them, “I saw Satan (σατανᾶν, a form of Σατανᾶς) fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:17, 18 NET)

^[17] http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/HoraDike.html

^[18] ibid

^[19] Colossians 1:9-13 (NET)

^[20] Then the demons (δαίμονες, a form of δαίμων) begged him, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” (Matthew 8:31 NET)

^[21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemon_(classical_mythology)

^[22] http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Dikaiosyne.html

^[23] Matthew 8:28 (NET)

^[24] ἔχων [2192] δαιμόνια (literally, “had demons”)

^[25] Luke 8:27 (NET)

^[26] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemon_(classical_mythology)

^[27] Acts 10:34, 35 (NET)

^[28] 1 Timothy 1:15 (NET)

^[29] Luke 5:32 (NET)

^[30] https://religiousmind.net/2012/10/07/romans-part-23/; https://religiousmind.net/2012/08/04/romans-part-7/; https://religiousmind.net/2012/06/12/pauls-religious-mind/; https://religiousmind.net/2013/04/17/romans-part-42/

^[31] 1 John 5:17a (NET)

^[32] Romans 2:6, 8 (NET)

^[33] 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NET)

^[34] Romans 9:14-16 (NET)

^[35] Romans 11:29-32 (NET)

^[36] 1 Corinthians 13:6 (NET)

^[37] 1 Thessalonians 5:19 (NET)

^[38] Romans 5:17 (NET)

^[39] Titus 3:4-6 (NET)

Romans, Part 27

Posted on October 17, 2012 by admin

Or do you not know, brothers and sisters, Paul continued, (for I am speaking to those who know the law [νόμον, a form of νόμος]), that the law (νόμος) is lord over a person as long as he lives?¹ Thus Paul introduced another value of the death of those who were baptized into Christ Jesus’ death.² Then he used a metaphor to describe the life of those who have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so [they] too may live a new life³ (Romans 7:2-4 NET).

For a married woman is bound by law (νόμῳ, another form of νόμος) to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος) of the marriage. So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress. So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law (νόμῳ, another form of νόμος) through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit (καρποφορήσωμεν, a form of καρποφορέω to God.

I have unpacked this metaphor elsewhere and won’t do it again. In the context of this metaphor then the new man born of the Spirit is a new woman bringing forth righteousness, the fruit of the Spirit, as a wife bears her husband’s children. There is a time lag between conception, coming to term and giving birth. But that time lag is no excuse, and certainly not a valid reason, for avoiding intimate relations with the Lord Jesus. On the contrary, the time one spends waiting and hoping for righteousness to come forth is best spent trusting Him, believing things like, For when we were in the flesh, the sinful (παθήματα, a form of πάθημα) desires (ἁμαρτιῶν, a form of ἁμαρτία), aroused by the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), were active in the members of our body to bear fruit (καρποφορῆσαι, another form of καρποφορέω) for death. But now we have been released from the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.⁴

What shall we say then? Paul continued. Is the law (νόμος) sin?⁵ Paul had a bad reputation over his comments about the law. When he journeyed back to Jerusalem even the elders of the church said to him (Acts 21:20b-24 NET):

You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers of the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος). They have been informed about you – that you teach all the Jews now living among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What then should we do? They will no doubt hear that you have come [Table]. So do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may have their heads shaved.⁶ Then everyone will know⁷ there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with the law (νόμον, a form of νόμος).

Paul, who wrote my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation,⁸ complied with their request. But it didn’t work. Jews from the province of Asia who had seen [Paul] in the temple area stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), and this sanctuary!”⁹ The mob would have killed Paul if not for the intervention of the Roman commander of a cohort, his centurions and soldiers. Paul asked permission to speak to the crowd (Acts 22:1-21 NET):

“Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense that I now make to you” [Table]. (When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic [Ἑβραΐδι, a form of Ἑβραΐς], they became even quieter.) Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος) of our ancestors, and was zealous for God just as all of you are today [Table]. I persecuted this Way even to the point of death, tying up both men and women and putting them in prison, as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to make arrests there and bring the prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. As I was en route and near Damascus, about noon a very bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. Then I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ [Table] I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ Those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me [Table]. So I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told about everything that you have been designated to do.’ Since I could not see because of the brilliance of that light, I came to Damascus led by the hand of those who were with me. A man named Ananias, a devout man according to the law (νόμον, a form of νόμος), well spoken of by all the Jews who live there [Table], came to me and stood beside me and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ And at that very moment I looked up and saw him. Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has already chosen you to know his will (θέλημα), to see the Righteous One, and to hear a command from his mouth, because you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his¹⁰ name.’ When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me’ [Table] I replied, ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues who believed in you. And when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed,¹¹ I myself was standing nearby, approving,¹² and guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ Then he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

The crowd was listening to him until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Away with this man from the earth! For he should not be allowed¹³ to live!”¹⁴

Despite all this calumny, Paul found no fault with the law except that it was weakened through the flesh.¹⁵ If we all were born only of the Spirit, and heard God say, You shall not commit adultery,¹⁶ we would all say, “Thank you, Lord, that’s what I didn’t want to do anyway!” In answer to the question then, Is the law (νόμος) sin? Paul said, Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος).¹⁷

I might feel in myself that it is wrong for you to commit adultery with my wife. But I may not feel that it is wrong for me to commit adultery with your wife apart from the law. After all, I have good reasons. Your wife wants me and loves me, and I her. And she is beautiful, far more beautiful than you can possibly deserve. Look at you. Look at the way you treat her. Would she have any interest in me at all if you deserved her and treated her right? I’m doing you a favor, Pal. Face it! She’s just more woman than you can handle.

For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else, Paul continued, if the law (νόμος) had not said, “Do not covet.”¹⁸ There is a darker side to the flesh born of Adam that hears of God’s law, You shall not commit adultery, and denies that there is a god to say such things, or if there is He doesn’t know his place or He wouldn’t dare say such things, or even more directly, “Oh, yeah! Watch this!” But sin, Paul wrote, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires.¹⁹ I have a fairly good idea of at least some of the things Paul coveted (1 Corinthians 9:4-7; 2 Corinthians 12:11, 15 NET).

Do we not have the right to financial support? Do we not have the right to the company of a believing wife, like the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I lack the right not²⁰ to work? Who ever serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit?²¹ Who tends a flock and does not consume its milk?

I have become a fool. You yourselves forced me to do it, for I should have been commended by you. For I lack nothing in comparison to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing [Table]...Now I will most gladly spend and be spent for your lives! If²² I love you more, am I to be loved less?²³

For apart from the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), sin is dead,²⁴ Paul continued. Then he expounded on that theme from his own experience. And I was once alive apart from the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died.²⁵ And again, I think this personification of sin is a reference to the old man that was crucified with Christ.²⁶ This all becomes clearer a bit later in Romans 7.

So then, the law (νόμος) is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good,²⁷ Paul concluded.

Addendum: April 23, 2024
Tables comparing Acts 21:24; 22:16; 22:20; 22:22; 1 Corinthians 9:6, 7 and 2 Corinthians 12:15 in the KJV and NET follow.

Acts 21:24 (NET)	Acts 21:24 (KJV)
take them and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with the law.	Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

Acts 21:24 (NET Parallel Greek)	Acts 21:24 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Acts 21:24 (Byzantine Majority Text)
τούτους παραλαβὼν ἁγνίσθητι σὺν αὐτοῖς καὶ δαπάνησον ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς ἵνα ξυρήσονται τὴν κεφαλήν, καὶ γνώσονται πάντες ὅτι ὧν κατήχηνται περὶ σοῦ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀλλὰ στοιχεῖς καὶ αὐτὸς φυλάσσων τὸν νόμον	τουτους παραλαβων αγνισθητι συν αυτοις και δαπανησον επ αυτοις ινα ξυρησωνται την κεφαλην και γνωσιν παντες οτι ων κατηχηνται περι σου ουδεν εστιν αλλα στοιχεις και αυτος τον νομον φυλασσων	τουτους παραλαβων αγνισθητι συν αυτοις και δαπανησον επ αυτοις ινα ξυρησωνται την κεφαλην και γνωσιν παντες οτι ων κατηχηνται περι σου ουδεν εστιν αλλα στοιχεις και αυτος τον νομον φυλασσων

Acts 22:16 (NET)	Acts 22:16 (KJV)
And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’	And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Acts 22:16 (NET Parallel Greek)	Acts 22:16 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Acts 22:16 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ νῦν τί μέλλεις; ἀναστὰς βάπτισαι καὶ ἀπόλουσαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου ἐπικαλεσάμενος τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ	και νυν τι μελλεις αναστας βαπτισαι και απολουσαι τας αμαρτιας σου επικαλεσαμενος το ονομα του κυριου	και νυν τι μελλεις αναστας βαπτισαι και απολουσαι τας αμαρτιας σου επικαλεσαμενος το ονομα του κυριου

Acts 22:20 (NET)	Acts 22:20 (KJV)
And when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing nearby, approving, and guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.’	And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

Acts 22:20 (NET Parallel Greek)	Acts 22:20 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Acts 22:20 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ ὅτε ἐξεχύννετο τὸ αἷμα Στεφάνου τοῦ μάρτυρος σου, καὶ αὐτὸς ἤμην ἐφεστὼς καὶ συνευδοκῶν καὶ φυλάσσων τὰ ἱμάτια τῶν ἀναιρούντων αὐτόν	και οτε εξεχειτο το αιμα στεφανου του μαρτυρος σου και αυτος ημην εφεστως και συνευδοκων τη αναιρεσει αυτου και φυλασσων τα ιματια των αναιρουντων αυτον	και οτε εξεχειτο το αιμα στεφανου του μαρτυρος σου και αυτος ημην εφεστως και συνευδοκων τη αναιρεσει αυτου και φυλασσων τα ιματια των αναιρουντων αυτον

Acts 22:22 (NET)	Acts 22:22 (KJV)
The crowd was listening to him until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Away with this man from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live!”	And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.

Acts 22:22 (NET Parallel Greek)	Acts 22:22 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Acts 22:22 (Byzantine Majority Text)
῎Ηκουον δὲ αὐτοῦ ἄχρι τούτου τοῦ λόγου καὶ ἐπῆραν τὴν φωνὴν αὐτῶν λέγοντες· αἶρε ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς τὸν τοιοῦτον, οὐ γὰρ καθῆκεν αὐτὸν ζῆν	ηκουον δε αυτου αχρι τουτου του λογου και επηραν την φωνην αυτων λεγοντες αιρε απο της γης τον τοιουτον ου γαρ καθηκον αυτον ζην	ηκουον δε αυτου αχρι τουτου του λογου και επηραν την φωνην αυτων λεγοντες αιρε απο της γης τον τοιουτον ου γαρ καθηκεν αυτον ζην

1 Corinthians 9:6, 7 (NET)	1 Corinthians 9:6, 7 (KJV)
Or do only Barnabas and I lack the right not to work?	Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?

1 Corinthians 9:6 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 Corinthians 9:6 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 Corinthians 9:6 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἢ μόνος ἐγὼ καὶ Βαρναβᾶς οὐκ ἔχομεν ἐξουσίαν μὴ ἐργάζεσθαι	η μονος εγω και βαρναβας ουκ εχομεν εξουσιαν του μη εργαζεσθαι	η μονος εγω και βαρναβας ουκ εχομεν εξουσιαν του μη εργαζεσθαι

Who ever serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not consume its milk?

Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

1 Corinthians 9:7 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 Corinthians 9:7 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 Corinthians 9:7 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Τίς στρατεύεται ἰδίοις ὀψωνίοις ποτέ; τίς φυτεύει ἀμπελῶνα καὶ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐσθίει; \|ἢ\| τίς ποιμαίνει ποίμνην καὶ ἐκ τοῦ γάλακτος τῆς ποίμνης οὐκ ἐσθίει	τις στρατευεται ιδιοις οψωνιοις ποτε τις φυτευει αμπελωνα και εκ του καρπου αυτου ουκ εσθιει η τις ποιμαινει ποιμνην και εκ του γαλακτος της ποιμνης ουκ εσθιει	τις στρατευεται ιδιοις οψωνιοις ποτε τις φυτευει αμπελωνα και εκ του καρπου αυτου ουκ εσθιει η τις ποιμαινει ποιμνην και εκ του γαλακτος της ποιμνης ουκ εσθιει

2 Corinthians 12:15 (NET)	2 Corinthians 12:15 (KJV)
Now I will most gladly spend and be spent for your lives! If I love you more, am I to be loved less?	And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.

2 Corinthians 12:15 (NET Parallel Greek)	2 Corinthians 12:15 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	2 Corinthians 12:15 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἐγὼ δὲ ἥδιστα δαπανήσω καὶ ἐκδαπανηθήσομαι ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν. εἰ περισσοτέρως ὑμᾶς \|ἀγαπῶ[ν]\|, ἧσσον ἀγαπῶμαι	εγω δε ηδιστα δαπανησω και εκδαπανηθησομαι υπερ των ψυχων υμων ει και περισσοτερως υμας αγαπων ηττον αγαπωμαι	εγω δε ηδιστα δαπανησω και εκδαπανηθησομαι υπερ των ψυχων υμων ει και περισσοτερως υμας αγαπων ηττον αγαπωμαι