Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long. (Psalm 119)
The longest psalm is a paean to God’s law. It extols God’s decrees, statutes and precepts; all synonyms for His commandments.
Read moreLaw
Eloquence
When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom. (1 Corinthians 2:1)
Eloquence translates not one Greek word, but two, ὑπεροχὴν λόγου huperochen logou, ‘superiority of speech’ or ‘fine words’ (huperoxe being the prominence of a mountain, the pinnacle.)
Read moreTwinkle (of an eye)
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52 ESV)
Many of the believers in Corinth struggled to understand what death held for them. Paul calls the journey to the afterlife a mystery, and it can only be so. But he does not mean they were left clueless, because the prophets and apostles were given revelation, and this is what he means by a mystery, that which is revealed by the Spirit of God through the Word of God.
Read moreJUSTIFY
Apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:21-24)
The word translated ‘justify’ is δικαιόω dikaioo which is word taken from a legal setting, dike is ‘to be proved right’ or ‘to gain judicious approval’. The word translated above as ‘righteousness’ as the noun based on the same root, δικαιοσύνη dikeaiosune.
Read moreEVIL
and deliver us from evil…(Matthew 6:13)
In giving us a pattern for prayer, Jesus tell his followers to pray to be delivered from evil. The Greek word that is translated ‘evil’ is πονηρός poneros, which derives from ponos pain, thus poneros is literally pain-ridden, or more properly that which gives pain.
BAPTISM
The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Luke 3:2-3)
The Greek word translated baptism is βαπτίζω baptizó.
RESPECT
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:15-17)
If evangelism has become tainted with the association with ranting and bigotry then perhaps it is because not enough Christians took to heart what Peter says in his first letter. What should characterise the messenger who brings the good news of Jesus, who gave of himself to redeem humankind, is contained in the two words translated as gentleness and respect; the evangelist should speak gently and respectfully.
WILFUL
For we, wilfully sinning after the receiving the full knowledge of the truth, no more for sins does there remain a sacrifice but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery zeal, about to devour the opposers…(Hebrews 10:26)
This notoriously difficult and controversial passage reads this way in the NIV.
Church
‘…And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.’ (Matthew 16:18)
This much-misunderstood verse follows Simon Peter’s profession of faith in Jesus as God the Son; the rock, the foundation of the church, is faith not Peter, even if Jesus blesses him for his profession. Church then is simply the earthly host of like-minded believers. The Greek word translated ‘church’ is ἐκκλησίᾳ, ekklēsia from the prefix, ek ‘out, from and to’ and kaleo ‘to call’. This was a common, secular word meaning an assembly, specifically that of a political party literally called out of their homes to assemble in the forum or agora, the market square.
Peter describes the church in this way:
(Those of Christ are…) a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9) Read more
Doubt (of the faithful)
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. (Matthew 28:16-17)
Now the Greek word in this passage that is translated as doubt is the verb διστάζω distazo, which means literally two-fold or double stance. To be caught between two positions, to vacillate.
God Breathed Words 