Tag Archives: Romans 6:4

A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 6

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Another statement of sabbath law in Exodus follows:

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Exodus 31:12, 13 (Tanakh) Exodus 31:12, 13 (NET) Exodus 31:12, 13 (NETS)

Exodus 31:12, 13 (English Elpenor)
And HaShem spoke unto Moses, saying: The Lord (Yehovah, יהוה) said to Moses, And the Lord (κύριος) spoke to Moyses, saying: And the Lord (Κύριος) spoke to Moses, saying,
‘Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying: Verily ye shall keep My sabbaths (שַׁבְּתֹתַ֖י), for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am HaShem (יְהֹוָ֖ה) who sanctify you. “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths (shabbath, שבתתי), for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord (Yehovah, יהוה) who sanctifies you. And you, instruct the sons of Israel, saying, “Observe and keep my sabbaths (σάββατά)!  For it is a sign with me and among  you for your generations in order that you may know that I am the Lord (κύριος) who consecrates you. Do thou also charge the children of Israel, saying, Take heed and keep my sabbaths (σάββατά); [for] they are a sign with me and among you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord (Κύριος) that sanctifies you.

Yehovah (יְהֹוָ֖ה) was explicit about the purpose of the sabbaths He made for people: that you may know that I am the Lord (Yehovah, יהוה) who sanctifies you.[1]  Paul wrote to believers in Colossae (Colossians 2:6-17 NET):

Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord (κύριον, a form of κύριος), continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith just as you were taught, and overflowing[2] with thankfulness.  Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.  For in him all the fullness (πλήρωμα) of deity lives in bodily form, and you have been filled (πεπληρωμένοι, a form of πληρόω) in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.  In him you also were circumcised—not, however, with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal of the fleshly[3] body, that is, through the circumcision done by Christ.  Having been buried with him in baptism,[4] you also have been raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the[5] dead.  And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you[6] alive[7] with him, having forgiven all your transgressions.  He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us.  He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.  Disarming the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days (σαββάτων, a form of σάββατον)—these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ [Table]!

The Greek word translated reality above was σῶμα (KJV: body): Christ is the body which cast the shadow.

I rely now on the Holy Spirit and his continuous infusion of God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to quash any impulse to rush out and indulge my favorite sin after reading: He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us.  He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.[8]

It is extremely interesting to me that where the NET described a believer’s circumcision as the removal of the fleshly body because the NA28 proposed τοῦ σώματος τῆς σαρκός as the more original text, the KJV described it as putting off the body of the sins of the flesh because the Stephanus Textus Receptus had του σωματος των αμαρτιων της σαρκος.  Even if των αμαρτιων was added by a scribe, I doubt that Paul would take offense at this amplification.

He wrote to believers in Rome (Romans 6:1-4 NET):

What shall we say then?  Are we to remain[9] in sin so that grace may increase?  Absolutely not!  How can we who died to sin still live in it?  Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  Therefore we 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 we too may live a new life.

The NET translators chose live above for two different Greek words.  In—so we too may live a new life[10]—live was περιπατήσωμεν (a form of περιπατέω) in Greek.  And in—How can we who died to sin still live in it?[11]—it was ζήσομεν (a form of ζάω).  I don’t have any particular quarrel with translating περιπατήσωμεν live.  But perhaps ζήσομεν in such close proximity could have been translated something like fester to capture the tone better: How can we who died to sin still fester in it?

What appears to be hung out there as a rhetorical question or lament in Paul’s letter to the Romans was actually answered quite succinctly in his letter to the Galatians: One will continue to fester in sin if one does not live (περιπατεῖτε, another form of περιπατέω) by the Spirit: But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.[12]

The English translation—you will not carry out—is weaker here than the Greek: οὐ μὴ τελέσητε.  The second person plural verb τελέσητε is an aorist subjunctive form of τελέω.  So οὐ μὴ makes this clause a “Subjunctive of Emphatic Negation…the absolute and unequivocal denial of the probability of an event EVER OCCURING at any moment or time in the future.”[13]  So if I ever bring the sinful desires of the flesh to maturity or carry them out, I am not at that moment living by the Spirit.

It’s not a time to debate a point but to recalibrate my senses to become more accustomed and attuned to the Spirit of God (Romans 7:18-20 NET).

For I know that nothing good lives (οἰκεῖ, a form of οἰκέω) in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I want to do the good, but I cannot[14] do it.  For I do not do the good I want, but[15] 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[16] sin that lives (οἰκοῦσα, another form of οἰκέω) in me.

Paul’s command—κρινέτω, translated do…let…judge, is an imperative form of κρίνω—do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days[17] makes no sense to me on its surface.  I don’t know how to stop religious people from making religious judgments about religious things.  But if I understand κρινέτω here as rule, things begin to fall into place.

I have sinned.  I have lived, walked, been led by the sin that lives in me rather than the Holy Spirit.  That very moment when I need most of all to get back to living, walking, being led by Christ’s Spirit is the very moment religious people descend with their judgments.  Should they refrain my own religious mind jabbers away at me with similar judgments.  If I turn then to live, walk or be led by the judgments of religious people or my own religious mind, I have still not returned to live, walk, be led by the Spirit of God.  I have refused to enter his rest.

The regulations in the law regarding food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days…are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ![18]  A believer must be certain of this.  The sabbath laws continued:

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Exodus 31:14, 15 (Tanakh) Exodus 31:14, 15 (NET) Exodus 31:14, 15 (NETS)

Exodus 31:12, 13 (English Elpenor)
Ye shall keep the sabbath (הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת) therefore, for it is holy unto you; every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. So you must keep the Sabbath (shabbath, השבת), for it is holy for you.  Everyone who defiles it must surely be put to death; indeed, if anyone does any work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his people. And you shall keep the sabbaths (σάββατα), because this is holy for you. The one who profanes it shall with death be put to death. Everyone who will do work in it, that soul shall be destroyed from among his people. And ye shall keep the sabbaths (σάββατα), because this is holy to the Lord for you; he that profanes it shall surely be put to death: every one who shall do a work on it, that soul shall be destroyed from the midst of his people.
Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a sabbath (שַׁבַּ֧ת) of solemn rest (שַׁבָּת֛וֹן), holy to HaShem; whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath (הַשַּׁבָּ֖ת) day, he shall surely be put to death. Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath (shabbath, שבת) of complete rest (shabbathown, שבתון), holy to the Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath (shabbath, השבת) day must surely be put to death. For six days you shall do works, but on the seventh day there is sabbata (σάββατα), a rest (ἀνάπαυσις) holy to the Lord.  Everyone who does work on the seventh day (τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ) shall be put to death. Six days thou shalt do works, but the seventh day is the sabbath (σάββατα), a holy rest (ἀνάπαυσις) to the Lord; every one who shall do a work on the seventh day (τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ) shall be put to death.

A believer bullied by the fear of death into living by these sabbath regulations rather than the Holy Spirit not only exchanges the reality of Christ for a shadow but frustrates the purpose of the sabbath as revealed in the law: that ye may know that I am the Lord that sanctifies (ἁγιάζων, a form of ἁγιάζω) you.[19]  For indeed he who makes holy (ἁγιάζων, a form of ἁγιάζω) and those being made holy (ἁγιαζόμενοι, another form of ἁγιάζω) all have the same origin (ἐξ ἑνὸς πάντες; KJV: are all of one), and so he is not ashamed to call them brothers…[20]

Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person as long as he lives? Paul wrote believers in Rome (Romans 7:1-6 NET):

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law 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, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress.  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.  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.

In the Septuagint the Greek word translated rest in the description of the sabbath as a holy rest to the Lord was ἀνάπαυσις.  I’ll conclude this essay with Jesus’ promise of ἀνάπαυσις (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 [Table].  For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.

Tables comparing Exodus 31:12; 31:13; 31:14 and 31:15 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and Exodus 31:12; 31:13; 31:14 and 31:15 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.  Following those are tables comparing Colossians 2:7; 2:11-13; Romans 6:1 and 7:18-20 in the NET and KJV.

Exodus 31:12 (Tanakh)

 Exodus 31:12 (KJV)

Exodus 31:12 (NET)
And HaShem spoke unto Moses, saying: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, The Lord said to Moses,

Exodus 31:12 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 31:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων

Exodus 31:12 (NETS)

Exodus 31:12 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord spoke to Moyses, saying: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Exodus 31:13 (Tanakh)

 Exodus 31:13 (KJV)

Exodus 31:13 (NET)
‘Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying: Verily ye shall keep My sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am HaShem who sanctify you. Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

Exodus 31:13 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 31:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ σὺ σύνταξον τοῗς υἱοῗς Ισραηλ λέγων ὁρᾶτε καὶ τὰ σάββατά μου φυλάξεσθε σημεῗόν ἐστιν παρ᾽ ἐμοὶ καὶ ἐν ὑμῗν εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν ἵνα γνῶτε ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων ὑμᾶς καὶ σὺ σύνταξον τοῖς υἱοῖς ᾿Ισραὴλ λέγων· ὁρᾶτε, καὶ τὰ σάββατά μου φυλάξεσθε· σημεῖόν ἐστι παρ᾿ ἐμοὶ καὶ ἐν ἐμοὶ εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν, ἵνα γνῶτε ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων ὑμᾶς

Exodus 31:13 (NETS)

Exodus 31:13 (English Elpenor)
And you, instruct the sons of Israel, saying, “Observe and keep my sabbaths!  For it is a sign with me and among  you for your generations in order that you may know that I am the Lord who consecrates you. Do thou also charge the children of Israel, saying, Take heed and keep my sabbaths; [for] they are a sign with me and among you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that sanctifies you.

Exodus 31:14 (Tanakh)

 Exodus 31:14 (KJV)

Exodus 31:14 (NET)
Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you; every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you.  Everyone who defiles it must surely be put to death; indeed, if anyone does any work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his people.

Exodus 31:14 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 31:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ φυλάξεσθε τὰ σάββατα ὅτι ἅγιον τοῦτό ἐστιν κυρίου ὑμῗν ὁ βεβηλῶν αὐτὸ θανάτῳ θανατωθήσεται πᾶς ὃς ποιήσει ἐν αὐτῷ ἔργον ἐξολεθρευθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνη ἐκ μέσου τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ φυλάξεσθε τὰ σάββατα, ὅτι ἅγιον τοῦτό ἐστι Κυρίῳ ὑμῖν· ὁ βεβηλῶν αὐτὸ θανάτῳ θανατωθήσεται· πᾶς ὃς ποιήσει ἐν αὐτῷ ἔργον, ἐξολοθρευθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνη ἐκ μέσου τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ

Exodus 31:14 (NETS)

Exodus 31:14 (English Elpenor)
And you shall keep the sabbaths, because this is holy for you. The one who profanes it shall with death be put to death. Everyone who will do work in it, that soul shall be destroyed from among his people. And ye shall keep the sabbaths, because this is holy to the Lord for you; he that profanes it shall surely be put to death: every one who shall do a work on it, that soul shall be destroyed from the midst of his people.

Exodus 31:15 (Tanakh)

 Exodus 31:15 (KJV)

Exodus 31:15 (NET)
Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to HaShem; whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.

Exodus 31:15 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 31:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἓξ ἡμέρας ποιήσεις ἔργα τῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ σάββατα ἀνάπαυσις ἁγία τῷ κυρίῳ πᾶς ὃς ποιήσει ἔργον τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ θανάτῳ θανατωθήσεται ἓξ ἡμέρας ποιήσεις ἔργα, τῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ σάββατα, ἀνάπαυσις ἁγία τῷ Κυρίῳ· πᾶς ὃς ποιήσει ἔργον τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ, θανατωθήσεται

Exodus 31:15 (NETS)

Exodus 31:15 (English Elpenor)
For six days you shall do works, but on the seventh day there is sabbata, a rest holy to the Lord.  Everyone who does work on the seventh day shall be put to death. Six days thou shalt do works, but the seventh day is the sabbath, a holy rest to the Lord; every one who shall do a work on the seventh day shall be put to death.

Colossians 2:7 (NET)

Colossians 2:7 (KJV)
rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ ἐποικοδομούμενοι ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ βεβαιούμενοι τῇ πίστει καθὼς ἐδιδάχθητε, περισσεύοντες  ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ ερριζωμενοι και εποικοδομουμενοι εν αυτω και βεβαιουμενοι εν τη πιστει καθως εδιδαχθητε περισσευοντες εν αυτη εν ευχαριστια ερριζωμενοι και εποικοδομουμενοι εν αυτω και βεβαιουμενοι εν τη πιστει καθως εδιδαχθητε περισσευοντες εν αυτη εν ευχαριστια

Colossians 2:11-13 (NET)

Colossians 2:11-13 (KJV)
In him you also were circumcised—not, however, with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal of the fleshly body, that is, through the circumcision done by Christ. In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Ἐν ᾧ καὶ περιετμήθητε περιτομῇ ἀχειροποιήτῳ ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ σώματος τῆς σαρκός, ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ εν ω και περιετμηθητε περιτομη αχειροποιητω εν τη απεκδυσει του σωματος των αμαρτιων της σαρκος εν τη περιτομη του χριστου εν ω και περιετμηθητε περιτομη αχειροποιητω εν τη απεκδυσει του σωματος των αμαρτιων της σαρκος εν τη περιτομη του χριστου
Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
συνταφέντες αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ |βαπτισμῷ|, ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε διὰ τῆς πίστεως τῆς ἐνεργείας τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν συνταφεντες αυτω εν τω βαπτισματι εν ω και συνηγερθητε δια της πιστεως της ενεργειας του θεου του εγειραντος αυτον εκ των νεκρων συνταφεντες αυτω εν τω βαπτισματι εν ω και συνηγερθητε δια της πιστεως της ενεργειας του θεου του εγειραντος αυτον εκ των νεκρων
And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ὑμᾶς νεκροὺς ὄντας [ἐν] τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν, συνεζωοποίησεν ὑμᾶς σὺν αὐτῷ, χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν πάντα τὰ παραπτώματα. και υμας νεκρους οντας εν τοις παραπτωμασιν και τη ακροβυστια της σαρκος υμων συνεζωποιησεν συν αυτω χαρισαμενος ημιν παντα τα παραπτωματα και υμας νεκρους οντας εν τοις παραπτωμασιν και τη ακροβυστια της σαρκος υμων συνεζωοποιησεν υμας συν αυτω χαρισαμενος ημιν παντα τα παραπτωματα

Romans 6:1 (NET)

Romans 6:1 (KJV)
What shall we say then?  Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase? What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν; ἐπιμένωμεν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἵνα ἡ χάρις πλεονάσῃ τι ουν ερουμεν επιμενουμεν τη αμαρτια ινα η χαρις πλεοναση τι ουν ερουμεν επιμενομεν τη αμαρτια ινα η χαρις πλεοναση

Romans 7:18-20 (NET)

Romans 7:18-20 (KJV)
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.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω ποιῶ ἀγαθόν, ἀλλὰ ὃ οὐ θέλω κακὸν τοῦτο πράσσω ου γαρ ο θελω ποιω αγαθον αλλ ο ου θελω κακον τουτο πρασσω ου γαρ ο θελω ποιω αγαθον αλλ ο ου θελω κακον τουτο πρασσω
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.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ θέλω [ἐγὼ] τοῦτο ποιῶ, οὐκέτι ἐγὼ κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ ἀλλὰ ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία ει δε ο ου θελω εγω τουτο ποιω ουκετι εγω κατεργαζομαι αυτο αλλ η οικουσα εν εμοι αμαρτια ει δε ο ου θελω εγω τουτο ποιω ουκετι εγω κατεργαζομαι αυτο αλλ η οικουσα εν εμοι αμαρτια

[1] Exodus 31:13b (NET)

[2] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εν αυτη (KJV: therein) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[3] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had των αμαρτιων (KJV: of the sins) between the body and the flesh.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[4] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had βαπτισμῷ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had βαπτισματι.

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

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

[7] The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had συνεζωοποίησεν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had συνεζωποιησεν (KJV: hath he quickened).

[8] Colossians 2:14 (NET)

[9] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐπιμένωμεν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had επιμενουμεν (KJV: Shall we continue) and the Byzantine Majority Text had επιμενομεν.

[10] Romans 6:4b (NET)

[11] Romans 6:2b (NET)

[12] Galatians 5:16 (NET)

[13] Justin Alfred, “EMPHATIC NEGATIONS IN BIBLICAL GREEK,” BLB Blog

[14] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had οὔ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουχ ευρισκω (KJV: I find not).

[15] The NET parallel Greek text had ἀλλὰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA28 had ἀλλ’.

[16] The NET parallel Greek text had ἀλλὰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA28 had ἀλλ’.

[17] Colossians 2:16 (NET)

[18] Colossians 2:16-17 (NET)

[19] Exodus 31:13 (English Elpenor)

[20] Hebrews 2:11 (NET)

Romans, Part 71

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This is a continuation of my consideration of Contribute (κοινωνοῦντες, a form of κοινωνέω) to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality.[1]  I’ll begin with the dark side of contributing (or, sharing in): Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, Paul warned a young preacher, and so identify (κοινώνει, another form of κοινωνέω) with the sins of others.  Keep yourself pure.[2]  John mirrored this admonition to a leader ordaining elders (1 Timothy 5:17-22 NET) with one addressed to followers receiving leaders (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.

To begin to understand the teaching (διδαχῇ, a form of διδαχή) of Christ I turn to the Gospel according to Mark.  When asked by one of the experts in the law—Which commandment is the most important of all—Jesus replied with the love (ἀγάπη) [that] is the fulfillment (πλήρωμα) of the law[3] (Mark 12:29-31 NET):

“The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love (ἀγαπήσεις, a form of ἀγαπάω) the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’  The second is: ‘Love (ἀγαπήσεις, a form of ἀγαπάω) your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.”

That is true, Teacher, the expert in the law said, you are right to say that he is one, and there is no one else besides him.  And to love (ἀγαπᾶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength and to love (ἀγαπᾶν, another form of ἀγαπάω) your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.[4]  The concept of love as the fulfillment of the law was not foreign to him.  When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, he said to him, “You are not far (μακρὰν) from the kingdom of God.”[5]  And in this narrow distance I hope to find how the teaching of Christ differs from the teaching of religious people.

Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, Jesus said to religious people who accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul.  But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.  Make a tree good and its fruit (καρπὸν, a form of καρπός) will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit (καρπὸν, a form of καρπός) will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit (καρπὸν, a form of καρπός).[6]  Though religious people may know this as it pertains to horticulture, in religious culture the religious mind hopes to make the tree good by making the fruit good.  If I do good things I will be good, rather than if I am good I do good.  Why make this reversal?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart[7] (καρδίας, a form of καρδία) is a quotation from Deuteronomy 6:5—Love the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) your God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהיך) with all your heart.  Here is what Jesus said about the heart with which we are to love yehôvâh.

Offspring of vipers, He said, speaking still to religious people.  How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil?  For the mouth speaks from what fills (περισσεύματος, a form of περίσσευμα) the heart (καρδίας, a form of καρδία).[8]  The word translated fills here is not πλήρωμα but carries the idea of filled to overflowing.  At the present time, Paul wrote the Corinthians, your abundance (περίσσευμα) will meet their need, so that one day their abundance (περίσσευμα) may also meet your need…[9]  So I take the mouth speaks from the abundance (or, overflow) of the heart as a psychological truth from the mouth of the Creator of the human psyche.

Now if I disallow that Jesus’ intent was to be as rude and insulting as possible to some of the world’s most accomplished religious people, what can I make of his statement?  I don’t think He expressed literal ignorance of how religious people say anything good.  He knew He had given them his word.  He quoted it, too: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.[10]  That is the key, I think, to recall what Jesus knew.

He knew what was in man.  But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart (καρδίας, a form of καρδία),[11] Jesus reiterated this basic knowledge of the human psyche.  For out of the heart (καρδίας, a form of καρδία) come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.[12]  He knew he had not yet been crucified or resurrected.  He knew that the religious people before Him had not yet 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 life.[13]

He knew their old man was [not yet] crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate [them], so that [they] would no longer be enslaved to sin.[14]  He knew He had not yet sent the Holy Spirit to fill them with his love (ἀγάπη), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.[15]  Do not leave Jerusalem, He told his disciples 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.[16]  You will receive power, He promised them, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.[17]

Given this knowledge Jesus’ words sound more like wonder and perhaps even a grudging admiration at how near to the kingdom of God these particular religious people had come on their own.  Though I called the distance narrow and recognize that the difference between the teaching of Christ and that of religious people is subtle, the gap is unbridgeable apart from yehovah’s incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection.  Not only is it impossible to love Him with all our evil hearts, our hard hearts love our religious rules more than our fellow human beings (Mark 3:1-6 NET):

Then Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.  They watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him.  So he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up among all these people.”  Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?”  But they were silent.  After looking around at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts (καρδίας, a form of καρδία), he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”  He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.  So the Pharisees went out immediately[18] and began plotting with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him [Table].

We think our religious works merit special privilege or indulgence relative to those sinners who don’t even try to do good (Ezekiel 18:26-29 NET):

When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it; because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die.  When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life.  Because he considered and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die.  Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’  Is my conduct unjust, O house of Israel?  Is it not your conduct that is unjust?

Actually, our continued rejection of Jesus’ salvation (whether in whole or in part) opens the door of mercy to more sinners (Romans 11:11, 12, 15, 22, 23 NET)

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

For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

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 – will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

For this reason I tell you, Jesus said to religious people, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit (καρποὺς, another form of καρπός).[19]  But the fruit (καρπὸς) of the Spirit, Paul wrote the Galatians, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.[20]  So religious people, actors at heart, reverse Jesus’ dictum, Make a tree good and its fruit (καρπὸν, a form of καρπός) will be good.  This, in a word, is our unbelief.

Religious people do not believe they need to be baptized by Jesus in the Holy Spirit.  We do not believe that his Father knows our needs before we ask Him—or that He is willing to supply our needs.  We don’t accept that our most pressing need is to sit at Jesus’ feet, to listen and to live by every word that comes from the mouth of God.  True, our unbelief is a continuum from ignorance of Jesus’ salvation to the selfish preference for some other way—“My way.”  But all lead to the same outcome: the vain attempt to make ourselves good by doing good deeds.  You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, Jesus said to religious people, but God knows your hearts (καρδίας, a form of καρδία).[21]

But I say, live by the Spirit, Paul wrote the Galatians, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.  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.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things.  I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice (πράσσοντες, a form of πράσσω) such things will not inherit the kingdom of God![22]

The good person brings good things out of his good treasury, Jesus concluded, and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury.  I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak [the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart].  For by your words you will be justified (δικαιωθήσῃ, a form of δικαιόω), and by your words you will be condemned (καταδικασθήσῃ, a form of καταδικάζω).[23]

“Therefore I will judge (shâphaṭ, אשפט; Septuagint: κρινῶ, a form of κρίνω) you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord (ʼădônây, אדני) GOD (yehôvâh, יהוה).  Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.  Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!  Why will you die, O house of Israel?  For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord (ʼădônây, אדני) GOD (yehôvâh, יהוה); so turn, and live.”[24]

[1] Romans 12:13 (NET)

[2] 1 Timothy 5:22 (NET)

[3] Romans 13:10b (NET)

[4] Mark 12:32, 33 (NET)

[5] Mark 12:34a (NET)

[6] Matthew 12:32, 33 (NET)

[7] Mark 12:30a (NET)

[8] Matthew 12:34 (NET)

[9] 2 Corinthians 8:14a (NET)

[10] Matthew 4:4b (NET)

[11] Matthew 15:18a (NET)

[12] Matthew 15:19 (NET)

[13] Romans 6:4b (NET)

[14] Romans 6:6b (NET)

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

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

[17] Acts 1:8a (NET) Table

[18] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had εὐθὺς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ευθεως (KJV: straightway).

[19] Matthew 21:43 (NET)

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

[21] Luke 16:15a (NET)

[22] Galatians 5:16-21 (NET)

[23] Matthew 12:35-37 (NET)

[24] Ezekiel 18:30-32 (ESV)

Antichrist, Part 4

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Back at Eden in Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” she explained an incident that happened the past summer.  She heard her son Nic crying.  She searched everywhere for him.  When she found him, he was playing contentedly, but the crying persisted for a time in the air in Eden.

“What you’re experiencing is panic, nothing more,” he said.  “The screaming wasn’t real.”

She took that in as he walked away.  Then she jumped him and started hitting him.  He wrestled her to the ground.

“You’re just so damn arrogant,” she said.

Later she shared her own conclusion about hearing Nic cry:  “Now I could hear what I couldn’t hear before,” she said, “the cry of all things that are to die.”

“That’s all very touching,” he said, “if it was a children’s book….That’s what fear is.  Your thoughts distort reality, not the other way around.”  But he had already experienced some of the “reality” distortion of Eden, and his words had begun to ring hollow.

“Satan’s church,” she said later.

“Satan!? Jesus!” the rationalist psychologist, who believed in neither, exclaimed.

“Nature is Satan’s church,” she asserted.

The earth was ruined in the sight of God, the book of Genesis reads, the earth was filled with violence.  God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful.[1]  We accept the violence of animals (and even that of human beings sometimes) as “natural,” because fallen nature is natural to us.  But the Creator did not: God said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.  Now I am about to destroy them and the earth.”[2]

In “Antichrist” her husband couldn’t tolerate her conclusion about fallen nature being Satan’s church.  He began to talk to her about nature.

“The kind of nature that causes people to do evil things against women?” she asked.  He agreed.

If you continue to follow my teaching, Jesus said to those who had believed him, you are really my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.[3]

We are descendants of Abraham, they protested, and have never been anyone’s slaves![4]

I tell you the solemn truth, Jesus answered, everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin.[5]  I know that you are Abraham’s descendants.[6]  But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth I heard from God.  Abraham did not do this!  You people are doing the deeds of your father.[7]

We were not born as a result of immorality (πορνείας, a form of πορνεία)! They protested again.  We have only one Father, God himself.[8]

If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here.[9]  You people are from your father the devil, Jesus continued, and you want to do what your father desires.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.[10]  The one who belongs to God listens and responds to God’s words.  You don’t listen and respond, because you don’t belong to God.[11]

“That kind of nature interested me a lot when I was up here,” she continued.  “That kind of nature was the subject of my thesis.  But you shouldn’t underestimate Eden….I discovered something else in my material than I expected.  If human nature is evil then that goes as well for the nature of…”

“…of the women,” he finished her thought, “female nature.”

“The nature of all the sisters,” she agreed.  “Women do not control their own bodies.  Nature does.  I have it in writing in my books.”

“The literature that you used in your research was about evil things committed against women,” he clarified for her.  “But you read it as proof of the evil of women?  You were supposed to be critical of those texts.  That was your thesis.  Instead you’re embracing it.  Do you know what you’re saying?”

“Forget it,” she said.  “I don’t know why I said it.”

Later he attempted to drive his point home.  But by that moment in the film it seemed like he was trying to persuade himself, more than her, that the strange visions and dreams he was having in Eden weren’t real.

“Good and evil have nothing to do with therapy,” he assured her.  “Do you know how many innocent women were killed in the 16th century alone just for being women?  I’m sure you do—many—and not because they were evil.”

“I know.  It’s just sometimes I forget,” she said without conviction.

“The evil you talk about is an obsession.  Obsessions never materialize.  It’s a scientific fact.”

She caught up with him in the shed later and attacked him.  She feared that he would leave her.  As he wrestled with her and fended off her blows he protested that he loved her.  Just as it seemed that their fighting would become fucking, she hit him in the groin with a heavy object (a toolbox, I think, by the sound of it; I winced both times I saw it).  Though he lost consciousness from the pain, he still had an erection.  She massaged it to a bloody ejaculation.  Nature, it seems, also controlled his body.

I, too, have nothing but a woman’s word for the way my body responded when I was unconscious from driving all night to get home to her.  I awoke refreshed and whole.  In “Antichrist” he awoke to find a whole drilled through his calf and a heavy grinding stone bolted to his leg.  While she was outside disposing of the wrench under the shed, he attempted to escape, dragging his hobbled leg.

She found him hiding in a fox’s lair and dug him out.  She dragged him back to the shed.  She grabbed scissors and hid them from him as she began to masturbate with his hand.  I expected that he was about to be emasculated.  But she exposed and put her own clitoris in between the scissor’s blades instead.

I remember the Sunday afternoon during my first divorce when I considered cutting off my penis according to Jesus’ command.  He said, “You would need to cut off your head.”  It was the way He knew my thoughts from afar that persuaded me He was speaking.  I had gotten well beyond the act to its aftermath in my mind.  There was no way I would call for help and have to explain why I cut off my own penis.  I had considered cauterizing the wound because stitching seemed out of the question.  I wasn’t sure if I could stop the blood flow or not.

“That will kill me for sure,” I said.

His answer was “precisely” or “exactly,” something to that effect.  I had been studying Romans.  At that moment I began to take Jesus’ command to cut off my penis (literally, a hand or a foot)[12] more figuratively, and Paul’s insight—we have been buried with [Christ] through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life[13]—more literally.

“Antichrist” is a horror movie.  She was not studying Paul’s letter to the Romans.  No still small voice intervened to enlighten her.  She snipped off her clitoris with the scissors.  As she writhed in pain, he recovered the wrench and freed himself from the grinding stone.  And though he didn’t believe in Satan’s church, he joined her in worship.  He choked her to death with his bare hands, after he silenced her voice by crushing her larynx.

As he limped away, the last man standing, he had a vision.  He was surrounded by women, the victims of gynocide, I think.  When asked at Cannes to account for “Antichrist,” Lars Von Trier resisted.  But if the featurette on the DVD was edited honestly, eventually he said something to the effect that it was the hand of God.

Though Trier claimed not to know, the closing scene of “Antichrist” reminded me of a scene Jesus described: The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them – and now, something greater than Jonah is here!  The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, something greater than Solomon is here![14]  The people of Ninevah and the queen of the South were portrayed by the victims of gynocide, while he, the rationalist psychologist, was this generation.

[1] Genesis 6:11, 12 (NET)

[2] Genesis 6:13 (NET)

[3] John 8:31, 32 (NET)

[4] John 8:33 (NET)

[5] John 8:34 (NET)

[6] John 8:37a (NET)

[7] John 8:40, 41a (NET)

[8] John 8:41b (NET)

[9] John 8:42a (NET)

[10] John 8:44 (NET)

[11] John 8:47 (NET)

[13] Romans 6:4 (NET)

[14] Matthew 12:41, 42 (NET)

Romans, Part 32

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For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear (φόβον, a form of φόβος),[1] Paul continued, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”[2]  Human beings have been afraid of God ever since Adam died and hid from Him, saying, and I was afraid because I was naked.[3]  That is καὶ ἐφοβήθην (a form of φοβέω) ὅτι γυμνός εἰμι[4] in the Septuagint, literally, and I was afraid because naked I am   And naked we still are, because no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked (γυμνὰ, a form of γυμνός)[5] and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account (λόγος).[6]  It is fitting that the fear that came upon us when Adam sinned is banished in Christ.

The word Abba is the childish word for father.  It reminds me of the picture of John John Kennedy peeking out from under his father’s desk in the oval office at the White House.  In October of 1962 President Kennedy was the most feared man on the planet, with the power to plunge the world into nuclear war.  But to John John, he was Daddy.  The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children.  And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) – if indeed we suffer with (συμπάσχομεν, a form of συμπάσχω)[7] him so we may also be glorified with (συνδοξασθῶμεν, a form of συνδοξάζω)[8] him.[9]

There are many things someone might suffer, but this linkage of suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him leads me back to chapter 6: Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory (δόξης, a form of δόξα)[10] of the Father, so we too may live a new life.[11]  Once Jesus’ disciples knew that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God[12] he instructed them not to tell anyone.[13]

From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer (παθεῖν, a form of πάθω)[14] 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.[15]

So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord!  This must not happen to you!”[16]  Mark emphasized that Jesus spoke openly about this.  So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.[17]  But [Jesus] 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.[18]  And Paul wrote, For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.[19]

So the suffering Paul had in mind I think was primarily the frustration and inner confusion associated with this death and resurrection experience, particularly that neither I (old man born of the flesh nor new man born of the Spirit) can do what I want:  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.[20]  I’ve written in another essay in more detail that I think the essence of taking up one’s cross to follow Jesus in this death is not my will but yours be done,[21] and a few more ideas about this suffering of death in another.  For I consider that our present sufferings (παθήματα, a form of πάθημα)[22] cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us,[23] Paul continued (Romans 8:19-21 NET).

For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God [e.g., all who are led by the Spirit of God[24]].  For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly but because of God who subjected it – in hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage (δουλείας, a form of δουλεία)[25] of decay (φθορᾶς, a form of φθορά)[26] into the glorious freedom of God’s children.

In school I learned about evolution, that marvelous creative force that made everything we see today.  In my real life I travel from medical conference to medical conference where I hear about genetic defects and diseases, the bondage of decay, the actual observable results of evolution.  The palliation of genetic defects and diseases is one of our last locally produced products and a mainspring of our economy.  While medical researchers may intend to find “cures” for genetic defects and diseases good economic sense would argue against that.  But there is another more pressing problem to consider, more long range and more far reaching.

Those who are faithful to their creator evolution, what I will call the evolutionary mind, face a daunting problem when it comes to “cures” for the products of evolution.  To my mind a cure would be found along the lines of investigation leading to an understanding of God’s original design of the genetic code for humankind.  This would not be conceivable to the evolutionary mind.  There was no grand design, no right way for the code to be written.  It was all happenstance that happened to produce life-forms that survived under given conditions.  For the evolutionary mind a “cure” must come from one’s own mind, evaluating the conditions people must thrive under and “Imagineering” so to speak how the code should read to accommodate those conditions.

Just as an aside, it occurs to me that back-breeding (e.g., inter-racial marriage) is still quite effective to overcoming some of the genetic burden that continues to accumulate over time.  When I was young such marriage was a curiosity.  Now inter-racial marriage seems to be a positive symptom of enlightened thinking among many young people.  If that trend continues and becomes standard practice it may well alleviate the necessity for any more Draconian measures forbidding intra-racial marriage.  And to my way of thinking it is the religious mind that would stand in the way of inter-racial marriage much like it would have bridled at God’s decrees against intra-familial marriage when genetic burden made that necessary.

Paul’s point, however, was that those who trust in Christ, or more specifically those led by the Spirit of God, wait for God’s solution, that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.  While the children don’t know exactly how this will take place, they assume it is along the lines of death and resurrection that they are experiencing, a destruction by fire and a creation of new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:8-13 NET).  Ultimately, the children trust that Abba, Daddy has everything under control.  The scorn and ridicule that elicits from those with an evolutionary mind may also be part of the suffering Paul wrote about.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together (συνωδίνει, a form of συνωδίνω)[27] until now.  Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.  For in hope we were saved.  Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?[28]

This is what convinced me that for Paul, So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin,[29] and, 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,[30] were normative for the believer’s experience here on earth.  They are the suffering to which he referred.  Even being led by the Spirit is but a foretaste of the glory that will be revealed to us.  It is the foretaste that prompts us to pray, Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.[31]

But if we hope for what we do not see, Paul concluded, we eagerly wait for it with endurance (ὑπομονῆς, a form of ὑπομονή).[32]

Romans, Part 33

Fear – Genesis, Part 1

Twilight Revisited 

Back to Fear – Genesis, Part 2

Back to You Must Be Gentle, Part 3

[2] Romans 8:15 (NET)

[3] Genesis 3:10 (NET)

[6] Hebrews 4:13 (NET)

[9] Romans 8:16, 17 (NET)

[11] Romans 6:4 (NET)

[15] Matthew 16:21 (NET)

[16] Matthew 16:22 (NET)

[17] Mark 8:32 (NET)

[18] Matthew 16:23, 24 (NET)

[19] Romans 6:5 (NET)

[20] Galatians 5:17 (NET)

[21] Luke 22:42b (NET)

[23] Romans 8:18 (NET)

[28] Romans 8:22-24 (NET)

[29] Romans 7:25b (NKJV)

[30] Galatians 5:17 (NET)

[31] Matthew 6:9, 10 (NET)

[32] Romans 8:25 (NET)

The Soul

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In Romans, Part 31 I related Paul’s statement—if you live according to the flesh, you will die[1]—to Jesus’ saying to his disciples, The one who loves his life [i.e., in this world] destroys [or, loses] it.[2]  The word translated life here is ψυχὴν (a form of ψυχή).[3]  Two verses later Jesus is recorded as saying, Now my soul (ψυχή) is greatly distressed.[4]  This is the life of keeping body and soul together as opposed to the new life of the Spirit.  Though this connection was not as new to me as Jesus’ saying to Martha,[5] it too deserved some further study.

I am the good shepherd, Jesus said.  I know my own and my own know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for the sheep.[6]  This was a fairly clear statement of Jesus’ death on our behalf, for us, in our place.  It becomes even clearer as a reference to an actual loss of soul-life as Jesus continued.  This is why the Father loves me – because I lay down my life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή), so that I may take it back again.  No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will.  I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again.  This commandment I received from my Father.[7]  This is how Peter understood it (John 13:36-38 NET):

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.”  Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?  I will lay down my life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for you!”  Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for me?  I tell you the solemn truth, the rooster will not crow until you have denied (ἀρνήσῃ, a form of ἀρνέομαι)[8] me three times!

Later that same night when Jesus was arrested Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his right ear.[9]  Peter was moments away from making good on his pledge to lay down his life for Jesus, in the terms that he in his soul-life understood at that moment.  But Jesus intervened.  What Peter had missed was the other meaning of being a good shepherd.

I am the good shepherd, Jesus also said.  The good shepherd lays down his life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for the sheep.[10]  Then Jesus contrasted the laying down of life of the good shepherd to the hired hand.  The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons (ἀφίησιν, a form of ἀφίημι)[11] the sheep and runs away (φεύγει, a form of φεύγω).[12]  Notice that the word translated abandons here is the same word as forgive, in the sense of sending away someone else’s sins.

“Flee for your lives,” the hired hand screams as he runs for his life.  So the wolf attacks (ἁρπάζει, a form of ἁρπάζω)[13] the sheep and scatters (σκορπίζει, a form of σκορπίζω)[14] them.  Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep…[15]  The good shepherd by contrast lays down his life, or puts his life on the line, to defend the sheep, the living as opposed to the dying sacrifice.  After his resurrection Jesus made this point quite poignantly for Peter (John 21:15-17 NET). Table

Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?”  He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”  Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.”  Jesus said a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”  Jesus told him, “Shepherd my sheep.”  Jesus said a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  Peter was distressed that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, “Lord, you know everything.  You know that I love you.”  Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep.

Jesus had a different kind of laying down his life in mind for Peter.  And still He promised him that he would also be crucified.  I tell you the solemn truth, when you were young, you tied your clothes around you and went wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will tie you up and bring you where you do not want to go.  (Now Jesus said this to indicate clearly by what kind of death Peter was going to glorify God.)[16]  In my imagination I can see the crucified and risen Lord, standing, looking Peter in the eyes, smiling and nodding as he whispers, Follow me.[17]

I think both understandings need to be grasped as I hear Jesus command:  My commandment is this – to love one another just as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.[18]  And so I think both must be brought to bear when considering, The one who loves his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) destroys (ἀπολλύει, a form of ἀπόλλυμι)[19] it, and the one who hates (μισῶν, a form of μισέω)[20] his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) in this world guards it for eternal life (ζωὴν, a form of ζωή).[21]  The one who loves his life is like one who does not lay down his life, one who does not believe we have been buried with [Christ] through baptism into death (thanatos, θάνατος),[22] or attempts to live as if it were not true.

Perhaps the Spirit will lead one to martyrdom, perhaps not.  After the resurrected Jesus prophesied that he would be crucified in his old age Peter asked about John.  Jesus replied, “If I want him to live until I come back, what concern is that of yours?  You follow me!”[23]  In Revelation John heard a loud voice in heaven speak of the brothers and sisters who overcame (ἐνίκησαν, a form of νικάω) [the one who accuses them day and night before our God][24] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) so much that they were afraid to (ἄχρι)[25] die (θανάτου, another form of θάνατος),[26] whether through martyrdom or feeding and protecting others.

There is more to this soul life (ψυχή) they did not love so much than food as there is more to the body (σῶμα)[27] than clothing.  And so Jesus said, do not worry about your life (ψυχῇ, another form of ψυχή), what you will eat or drink, or about your body (σώματι, a form of σῶμα), what you will wear.[28]  For the unconverted (ἔθνη, a form of ἔθνος)[29] pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.[30]

If anyone wants to become my follower, Jesus said, he must deny (ἀρνησάσθω, another form of ἀρνέομαι) himself (ἑαυτὸν, a form of ἑαυτοῦ),[31] take up his cross daily, and follow me.  For whoever wants to save (σῶσαι, a form of σώζω)[32] his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) will lose (ἀπολέσει, a form of ἀπόλλυμι) it, but whoever loses (ἀπολέσῃ, another form of ἀπόλλυμι) his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) for my sake will save (σώσει, another form of σώζω) it.  For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but loses (ἀπολέσας, another form of ἀπόλλυμι) or forfeits (ζημιωθείς, a form of ζημιόω)[33] himself (ἑαυτὸν, a form of ἑαυτοῦ)?  For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.[34]

Jesus said, I tell you the solemn truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone.  But if it dies, it produces much grain (καρπὸν, a form of καρπός; literally fruit).[35]  The one who loves his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) destroys (ἀπολλύει, another form of ἀπόλλυμι) it, and the one who hates (μισῶν, a form of μισέω) his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) in this world guards it for eternal life (ζωὴν, a form of ζωή).  If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow me, and where I am, my servant will be too.  If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.  Now my soul (ψυχή) is greatly distressed.  And what should I say? ‘Father, deliver (σῶσον, another form of σώζω) me from this hour’?  No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour.[36]  And so has each of us who know and love and want to follow Him.

[1] Romans 8:13a (NET)

[2] John 12:25a (NET)

[4] John 12:27 (NET)

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

[7] John 10:17, 18 (NET)

[9] John 18:10 (NET) Table

[10] John 10:11 (NET)

[12] John 10:12a (NET)

[15] John 10:12b-13 (NET)

[16] John 21:18, 19a (NET)

[18] John 15:12-14 (NET)

[21] John 12:25 (NET)

[23] John 21:22 (NET)

[24] Revelation 12:10 (NET)

[26] Revelation 12:11 (NET)

[28] Matthew 6:25 (NET)

[30] Matthew 6:32, 33 (NET)

[34] Luke 9:23-26 (NET)

[36] John 12:24-27 (NET)

Romans, Part 27

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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

1 Romans 7:1 (NET)

3 Romans 6:4 (NET)

4 Romans 7:5, 6 (NET)

5 Romans 7:7a (NET)

6 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ξυρήσονται here, a form of ξυράω in the future tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ξυρησωνται (KJV: they may shave) in the aorist tense. Both are clearly describing an event that has not yet happened.

7 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had γνώσονται here, a form of γινώσκω in the future tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had γνωσιν (KJV: may know) in the aorist tense. Both are clearly describing an event that has not yet happened.

8 Romans 10:1 (NET) Table

9 Acts 21:27, 28a (NET) Table

10 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had αὐτοῦ following name, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had του κυριου (KJV: of the Lord).

12 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τη αναιρεσει αυτου (KJV: unto his death) following approving (KJV: consenting). The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

14 Acts 22:22 (NET)

16 Exodus 20:14 (NET) Table

17 Romans 7:7a (NET)

18 Romans 7:7b (NET) Table comparing the Greek of Paul’s OT quote to the Septuagint.

19 Romans 7:8a (NET)

20 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article του preceding not (KJV: to forbear). The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

22 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had εἰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ει και (KJV: though).

24 Romans 7:8b (NET)

25 Romans 7:9-11 (NET)

26 Romans 6:6 (NET)

27 Romans 7:12 (NET)

Romans, Part 25

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What shall we say then? Paul continued.  Are we to remain (ἐπιμένωμεν, a form of ἐπιμένω) in sin so that grace (χάρις) may increase (πλεονάσῃ, a form of πλεονάζω)?1 This is a reasonable question considering what Paul wrote earlier: Now the law (νόμος) came in so that the transgression (παράπτωμα) may increase (πλεονάσῃ, a form of πλεονάζω), but where sin (ἁμαρτία) increased (ἐπλεόνασεν, another form of πλεονάζω), grace multiplied (ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν, a form of ὑπερπερισσεύω) all the more…2 If grace rose to meet the challenge posed by the law (increased transgression and a superabundance of sin), is remaining or continuing in sin the new way of grace?

Absolutely not! Paul continued.  How can we who died (ἀπεθάνομεν, a form of ἀποθνήσκω) to sin still live in it?3  Death still has a value and necessity to it, just not the value and necessity I learned in science, history or government classes in school.  Or do you not know (ἀγνοεῖτε, a form of ἀγνοέω) that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος)?4  I spent some time calling Paul, and by extension Jesus who called him, a liar over this, because I didn’t find anything in myself at first that I recognized as dead to sin.  I didn’t get anywhere until I turned around and was willing to believe.

Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος), in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead (νεκρῶν, a form of νεκρός) through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life.5  So I see the first value of this death, perhaps even a necessity.  Then Paul made a couple of comparisons of the believer’s relationship to Christ’s death and resurrection.

Christ’s death

Christ’s resurrection
For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death…

Romans 6:5a (NET)

 …we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.

Romans 6:5b (NET)

The word translated united in Romans 6:5a above is σύμφυτοι (a form of σύμφυτος).  It is only used once in the Bible, but is a compound of a form of σύν (a primary preposition denoting union) and φύω (to germinate or grow).  I am reminded of Jesus when He was told that Greeks wanted to see him (John 12:23-28 NET).

Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified [Table].  I tell you the solemn truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone (μόνος).  But if it dies, it produces much grain (καρπὸν, a form of καρπός; literally “fruit”).  The one who loves his life destroys it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards it for eternal life [Table].  If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow me, and where I am, my servant will be too.  If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him [Table].  Now my soul is greatly distressed.  And what should I say? ‘Father, deliver me from this hour’?  No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour.  Father, glorify your name.”

These are encouraging words to follow Jesus in this death, where following is simply believing.  For what can a kernel of wheat buried in the dirt do, but believe?  It doesn’t know how to germinate or grow.  We know (γινώσκοντες, a form of γινώσκω) that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, Paul continued, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  (For someone who has died [ἀποθανὼν, another form of ἀποθνήσκω] has been freed from sin.)6  Here is a second value for this death, and perhaps even a necessity.  But I only knew this at first by faith.  This particular kernel of wheat buried in the dirt was still walking around, still working,7 that is to say still doing some (perhaps many) of the sinful things he did before he was a dead kernel of wheat buried in the dirt.

Christ’s death

Christ’s resurrection
Now if we died (ἀπεθάνομεν, a form of ἀποθνήσκω) with Christ…

Romans 6:8a (NET)

 …we believe (πιστεύομεν, a form of πιστεύω) that we will also live with him.

Romans 6:8b (NET)

We know (εἰδότες, a form of εἴδω), Paul continued, that since Christ has been raised from the dead (νεκρῶν, a form of νεκρός), he is never going to die (ἀποθνῄσκει, another form of ἀποθνήσκω) again; death (θάνατος) no longer has mastery (κυριεύει, a form of κυριεύω) over him.  For the death he died (ἀπέθανεν, another form of ἀποθνήσκω), he died (ἀπέθανεν, another form of ἀποθνήσκω) to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.8  I could see that in regard to Jesus.  So you too consider (λογίζεσθε, a form of λογίζομαι) yourselves9 dead (νεκροὺς, another form of νεκρός) to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.10

This for me is where Romans becomes a how-to book, how to experience the credited righteousness of God apart from the law,11 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) of Jesus Christ for all who believe (πιστεύοντας, another form of πιστεύω).12  Step #1 is to believe something, not entirely unexpected if one remembers that this is 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.”13  So no matter how I appear to others, or how I appear to myself, I consider (reason, count, credit) myself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  As Paul said (Galatians 2:20, 21 NET):

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 (πίστει, another form of πίστις) of the Son of God, who loved (ἀγαπήσαντος, a form of ἀγαπάω) me and gave (παραδόντος, a form of παραδίδωμι) himself for me.  I do not set aside (ἀθετῶ, a form of ἀθετέω) God’s grace (χάριν, a form of χάρις), because if righteousness could come through the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), then Christ died (ἀπέθανεν, another form of ἀποθνήσκω) for nothing!

 

Addendum: April 4, 2024
A table comparing the Greek of Romans 6:11 in the NET and KJV follow.

Romans 6:11 (NET)

Romans 6:11 (KJV)
So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:11 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 6:11 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 6:11 (Byzantine Majority Text)
οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς λογίζεσθε ἑαυτοὺς νεκροὺς μὲν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ζῶντας δὲ τῷ θεῷ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ουτως και υμεις λογιζεσθε εαυτους νεκρους μεν ειναι τη αμαρτια ζωντας δε τω θεω εν χριστω ιησου τω κυριω ημων ουτως και υμεις λογιζεσθε εαυτους νεκρους μεν ειναι τη αμαρτια ζωντας δε τω θεω εν χριστω ιησου τω κυριω ημων

1 Romans 6:1 (NET) Table

2 Romans 5:20 (NET)

3 Romans 6:2 (NET)

4 Romans 6:3 (NET)

5 Romans 6:4 (NET)

6 Romans 6:6, 7 (NET)

8 Romans 6:9, 10 (NET)

9 The Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA28 had the verb εἶναι (KJV: to be) here. The NET parallel Greek text did not.

10 Romans 6:11 (NET) The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τω κυριω ημων (KJV: our Lord) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

12 Romans 3:22 (NET) Table

13 Romans 1:17 (NET)