Real Hope

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.


13 Οὐ θέλομεν δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, περὶ τῶν κοιμωμένων, ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε καθὼς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα.

I think it is pretty obvious that Paul uses "asleep" as a euphemism for "dead." Paul uses the subjunctive mood with the phrase ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε. This is the mood of possibility. It is not something that has happened yet, but it might happen. That is why it is translated as "may not grieve." This is one of the instances where it has a weak imperatival force to it. Paul is telling them not to grieve. He contrasts them with οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα. This could be thought of as "the remaining." In other words, this is everyone else. Everyone who is not a Christian goes through life μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα. Note that ἔχοντες is a participle. This gives a continuous force to it. He is saying that everyone who is not a believer goes through life in a continuous state of hopelessness.

Of course, hope is big business. That concept got someone elected president. But if our hope is in any person then we are closer to this.I don't care if that person is a Republican or Democrat. There is no hope is a person apart from Christ.

This is a truth that we need to believe deeply. We say we do, but the way we live indicates otherwise. How zealous are we for evangelism? If our zeal is weak then it is because we do not believe this deeply. Do we despair when a brother or sister in Christ dies? We should be sad and miss them, but we should never despair because if they are in Christ then they have real hope. It's the same hope we have if we are in Christ.

But where this gets really tricky is the other side. Every funeral I've ever attended has promised that the deceased is in heaven. But how can someone say that unless he is sure that the person trusted Christ for his salvation? Otherwise, that person was living in hopelessness and will continue to do so for eternity.

It all begins and ends with Christ. He also is everything in between. You want real hope? It's in Christ and nowhere else.

Not to Lie

1 John 1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

10 

ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι οὐχ ἡμαρτήκαμεν, ψεύστην ποιοῦμεν αὐτὸν καὶ ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἡμῖν.

This ends one of the more confusing chapters for the English Bible reader. It looks like it is contradicting itself because previously John told us that if we go on sinning then we are not Christians. Now here we see that if we say that we have not sinned then His word is not in us. What do we do with this?

The answer comes from the verbs. Here the verb is ἡμαρτήκαμεν which is in the indicative perfect. However, the word in verse 8 is περιπατῶμεν, which is in the subjunctive. In other words, what John is getting at here is that if we are living in a continual state of habitual sin then we should not call ourselves Christians. However, if we say that we never have times of sin then we are lying. Confessing sin is at the heart of the Christian life. We can't call ourselves Christians and say that we do not sin.


This is a passage that really puzzled me until I learned Greek. I'm not saying that you need to know Greek to read 1 John, but if you don't know Greek this is where a good commentary really comes in handy.

True Forgiveness

Acts 7:60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.



60 θεὶς δὲ τὰ γόνατα ἔκραξεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ· κύριε, μὴ στήσῃς αὐτοῖς ταύτην τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ἐκοιμήθη.

This is the end of Stephen. We meet him in Acts 6 and by the end of Acts 7 he is dead. He lived to preach a very powerful sermon against the Jews regarding Christ. He explained through their history how things were leading up to Christ and then how they had rejected the prophets. Apparently they didn't take too kindly to being called stiff-necked and being associated with killing the prophets. The truth does hurt.

This is how Stephen reacted. He called out in a φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, which literally is a "great voice" or a "large voice." In other words, he was yelling. He addresses the Lord with the vocative case and says κύριε, μὴ στήσῃς. It's interesting to me that this is a subjunctive (a prohibitive subjunctive according to Wallace) rather than an imperative. That is a known usage of the subjunctive when giving a negative command, which is what Stephen was doing here. In other words, there is nothing particularly insightful to glean from the Greek compared to the ESV.

What is insightful to me is the grace that Stephen showed with his last breath. You don't have to look very far in Foxe's Book of Martyrs to find examples of men who used their last breath to forgive their executioners. I suspect that many a martyr died with this passage on his mind. Stephen shows us how to die here.

More importantly, he shows us how to live. Here was a man who could have cursed the men stoning him and I don't think that we would think too badly of him. We would know what he should have done, but we would put ourselves in his sandals and realize that we would likely do no better and therefore cut him some slack. But we don't have to because he did the right thing right up to the end. He demonstrated grace. He loved those who were persecuting him. In other words, he lived like he really believed that Jesus' commands were binding.

Do we do that? How do we treat those who curse us? Do we bless or curse them? Do we petition the Lord for their pardon because of their ignorance? Or do we start finding imprecatory psalms to pray against them? Stephen's story leaves us without excuse in how we go out this in our lives.

We Are Family

Mark 3:34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."


34 καὶ περιβλεψάμενος τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν κύκλῳ καθημένους λέγει· ἴδε ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί μου. 35  ὃς [γὰρ] ἂν ποιήσῃ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, οὗτος ἀδελφός μου καὶ ἀδελφὴ καὶ μήτηρ ἐστίν.

This is Jesus' response to the statement that His mother and brothers were outside and looking for Him.  One would think that a good son would simply go out and see His mother and His family, even if they were trying to have Him committed.  Instead He does something surprising.  He asks a rhetorical question in verse 33 wondering who are His mother and brothers.  Then He answers it here.

This is one of those Greek constructs that does not translate perfectly.  Jesus tells them ὃς [γὰρ] ἂν ποιήσῃ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ.  It would read terribly, but very woodenly this would be, "If there is a person who does the will of God."  The verb ποιήσῃ is in the aorist subjunctive.  The aorist tense gives it an undefined aspect.  Basically, Jesus is saying something to the effect of, "Find me someone who does the will of God and I will call that person family."

This has two applications I can think of right away.  The first is doctrinal.  This passage and its parallels in the synoptics tell us that Jesus' mother and family held no special sway over Him, despite what Roman Catholics teach.  He takes care of His mother at the end of John's gospel and He does obey her in John 2, but otherwise she seems to have no special place in His ministry.  I don't think that having her ear gains us any special favor with Jesus.

The other is that doing God's will is something that we really should be doing.  We do not do God's will to earn favor with the Lord.  Rather, we do God's will as a result of our salvation.  This helps me in the area of assurance.  My salvation is not contingent on doing God's will, but if I am doing God's will I have a deeper sense of assurance.

How do we know God's will?  We read His Word and apply it.  This really is not very complicated.  It's easier to write about at 6:30 in the morning than it will be to live at 2:30 this afternoon, but this is the heart of the matter.  How am I living?  Do I act like part of Jesus' family or don't I?

Abide in Him

1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

28 Καὶ νῦν, τεκνία, μένετε ἐν αὐτῷ, ἵνα ἐὰν φανερωθῇ σχῶμεν παρρησίαν καὶ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶμεν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ. 29  ἐὰν εἰδῆτε ὅτι δίκαιός ἐστιν, γινώσκετε ὅτι καὶ πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγέννηται.

This concludes an incredible chapter where John lays out what I would consider to be a strong argument for what is sometimes called "Lordship Salvation."  Basically, John is saying that those who know Jesus will obey Him.  Those who don't obey Him don't know Him.  Just like in yesterday's passage John uses a third-class condition to sum up his point.  It hinges on the question of ἐὰν εἰδῆτε.

Of course, we know that Jesus is righteous.  Therefore, we know that  ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην or the ones doing righteousness are from Him.  Keep in mind that this is addressed to saints.  Therefore, he is referring to those in the Church (note the big C).  I don't mean that body which has its head in Rome, but those who are part of the body of Christ.  We know that those who make professions of faith are truly saved based on their lives.

It is important to keep this straight.  We do not practice righteousness to merit favor.  Rather, we practice righteousness because we are born again.  In other words, we can look at our lives to get an indicator of our spiritual states.  If we don't bear any fruit then we should question whether or not we really know Him.

We also have to balance this with other statements made by John.  We all still sin.  But what is the direction of our lives?  What are the deepest desires of our hearts?  We all fight the "old man" as Paul called his sin nature, but do we operate out of a mindset of loving and serving the Lord?  What motivates your heart?

Confession

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

9 ἐὰν ὁμολογῶμεν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, πιστός ἐστιν καὶ δίκαιος, ἵνα ἀφῇ ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας καὶ καθαρίσῃ ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀδικίας.

This is one of those verses that just about every Christian either has memorized or is very familiar with.  If he isn't, he should be.  I remember that this is one of the first verses I ever memorized.  It's one of those great verses which summarizes the gospel beautifully.

What is John telling us here?  It seems absurdly simple, doesn't it?  We confess our sins and He forgives us.  I don't think that he has the sacrament of penance in mind here either.  I don't think that this is an ongoing process either.  When God saves us He cleans us from all unrighteousness.  We become white as snow as we are washed in the blood of the Lamb.  It all starts with admitting our guilt before God.

Note that all the verbs are in the subjunctive.  The construct with ἐὰν ὁμολογῶμεν is a third-class condition.  This means that the fulfillment is uncertain, but likely.  John is saying that he doesn't know if the reader is necessarily going to confess his sins, but he does know that if we confess our sins we can be sure that God will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  This is because He is both faithful to His promise and He is just in not putting us under double jeopardy for the crimes for which Jesus was already convicted.

Where are you?  Are you trying to live life as a good person?  Do you hope that someday your good works will outweigh your bad on some divine scales of justice?  If so, admit that you are a sinner before God because all it takes is one bad work to tip the scale.  Once you've sinned you can never make up the lost ground.  But Jesus came to offer Himself as a ransom for the penalty we deserve.  Confess to God that you need His salvation.  He is faithful and just and will forgive you.

OT Perspicuity

Luke 16:31
(31)  He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"

(31)  εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ, Εἰ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν οὐκ ἀκούουσιν, οὐδ' ἐάν τις ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῇ πεισθήσονται.

This is quite a condemning statement.  It's also rather prophetic and helps to build our theology a little bit.  We see that the Jews had all they needed to know the Messiah.  We call it the Old Testament, but they called it the Tanak.  The point is that one can see Christ in the Old Testament.  You don't even have to resort to crazy allegories like making every reference to wood into a reference to the cross.  He's right there in passages like Isaiah 6:1-7, for example.

I find it interesting that this also comes at the end of a parable where he uses the name Lazarus as the righteous, but poor man who ended up in paradise with Abraham.  Of course, that is also the name of a man that Jesus did raise from the dead.  I don't think that is a coincidence.  Lazarus is someone who was raised from the dead.  As Jesus told this parable He was also someone who would rise from the dead, thereby fulfilling the subjunctive mood used with ἀναστῇ.  As we can see today, that did not convince many of the Jews, but if they had read their Tanak correctly they would not have missed Him.

On a side note, this parable also seems to give credence to the idea of hell as a place of perpetual torment.  It doesn't provide an ironclad argument since it is a parable, but it is just one more brick in the foundation of our theology of eternal punishment for the unrighteous.  It is something to consider at any rate.

The Power of Prayer

Mark 11:22-25
(22)  And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God.
(23)  Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.
(24)  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
(25)  And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."

(22)  καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς, Ἔχετε πίστιν θεοῦ, 

(23)  ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ὃς ἂν εἴπῃ τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ, Ἄρθητι καὶ βλήθητι εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ μὴ διακριθῇ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἀλλὰ πιστεύῃ ὅτι ὃ λαλεῖ γίνεται, ἔσται αὐτῷ. 

(24)  διὰ τοῦτο λέγω ὑμῖν, πάντα ὅσα προσεύχεσθε καὶ αἰτεῖσθε, πιστεύετε ὅτι ἐλάβετε, καὶ ἔσται ὑμῖν. 

(25)  καὶ ὅταν στήκετε προσευχόμενοι, ἀφίετε εἴ τι ἔχετε κατά τινος, ἵνα καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἀφῇ ὑμῖν τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν.

This is Jesus' explanation for the withered fig tree. It is also perhaps one of the more abused passages in Scripture here in America. Is Jesus' advocating a prosperity theology here?  I don't think so, but I'm not entirely sure how to take this.  One thing I am sure of is that prayer does not change God's mind in the way we think of minds being changed.  When I read Ephesians 1:10 I see that God has a plan for the fullness of time.  I don't see how that plan is going to change by my desire to have more stuff or even to see suffering alleviated in the world.

What I do know is that verse 25 has got in the way of many a prayer.  It certainly has interfered with some of mine.  It seems that forgiveness is expected of us as well.  The word ἀφῇ is in the subjunctive.  That is the mood of possibility.  In other words, we must extend grace for this to be possible.

This is a tough post to write and I feel like I should have picked something easier.  However, I do welcome comments.