He will do what He thinks is good

18 So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, "He is the Lord. He will do what He thinks is good." (1 Sam. 3:18)



The night before Samuel had received a message from God telling him what God was going to do to Eli and his family for defiling God's temple. The verse above is Eli's response to that message.

At first glance the response seems strange. Here Eli had been told that God was going to destroy his house forever and nothing could stop it. Eli's response gives us a glimpse of a man who, after living in sin and allowing his sons to live in sin, for so long is not capable of repentance. Compare that to David's response when confronted with his sin of adultery (2Sam. 12:13). We see, here, a contrast between repentance and resignation. Eli's response was not an acknowledgement of God's sovereignty; it was a resignation to his fate. It was also his last chance to choose God over sin.

In both cases God's judgment was pronounced against believers who had sinned. Each sinner responded differently to that pronouncement. And God's judgment was carried out against each of them. God's punishment of David humbled him and was turned into suffering for blessing. Because of it we now have certain Psalms and Proverbs and Israel as a nation received Salomon as king. God's punishment of Eli resulted in the death of Eli and his sons and Israel's loss of the Ark of the Covenant in battle.

Two different men each facing the sin unto death, each responded differently. One's response turned cursing into blessing, the other's response led to judgment and death. Both outcomes did not happen overnight, it took time for the results of sin to work its way out. In one case the discipline intensified, in the other case discipline was not intensified, but the natural results of sin had to run its course. In other words it was self-induced misery, a reaping of what was sowed. God, who is faithful, turned that misery into blessing and David grew. Not only was he blessed but generations after him were blessed because of his repentance.

Lessons

For His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.

(2 Peter 1:3, HCSB).

Things are kind of tuff just now, and like Peter, I took my eyes off Christ and was sinking in the sea.  Like Peter all I can say is “Lord, save me!”

The omnipotence of God has provided everything required, not everything wanted or desired, for:

1. Life, (ζωἠ. G2222) that is physical and spiritual life
2. Godliness, (εὐσἐνεια, G2150) The word eusébeia literally means well–directed reverence, but does not imply an inward, inherent holiness. It is actually an externalized piety. (TCWSDNT) In other words Godly or right living as expressed to those around you.

This can only be accomplished “through” the knowledge of God.  Knowledge here is the word ἐπιγνωσις (G1922) and means full knowledge.  It also implies an intimate participation of the one acquiring the knowledge.  This results in a change in the person acquiring the knowledge.    This knowledge is only offered to those who are believers.  One cannot know intimately one who they have never met. 

We were called by “His own glory and goodness”, and this is how we grow to know Him.  This is also the reason for His providing the means to have life and godliness.  Our lives ether show others (both humans and angels) that God’s grace can change us, or that God’s grace is able to keep us in spite of our rebellion.   In other words it is not all about us.  It is about God. 

The end for awhile

We have had a family emergency that has not left me with not much time to write, or anything else lately.  Please be in prayer for my family as I do not know when I will be able to write again.  We need grace, strength and hope.  And a lot of prayer. 

God has promised not to test us beyond what we can endure.  We are at the point of maximum testing and it is hard to endure.  I guess that what we need is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I honestly do not know if  I can make it. 

It is true that God is faithful  and that is what I cling to.  But from my view point, all I see is darkness with no inkling of light. 

in your knowledge self-control

in your knowledge self-control

ἐν δὲ τῇ γνώσει τὴν ἐγκράτειαν  

               Like a city that is broken into and without walls

Is a man who has no control over his spirit. (Proverbs 25:28)

               He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city. (Proverbs 16:32)

            The word that we have here for self-control is ἐγκράτεια, enkráteia (G1467; LN88.83) and means to exercise complete control over one’s desires and actions—‘to control oneself, to exercise self- control, self-control.^[1]  It is only used four times in the New Testament.  (Acts 24:25; Galatians 5:23; 2^nd Peter 1:6_x2) While this term is used sparingly in the New Testament it was used extensively by Greek philosophers, the Stoics and the Essenes.  The sparse use of this ethical term is due to three things: (1) for Christians life is directed by God’s command, so that there is no place for autonomous self-mastery; (2) belief in creation excludes dualism, for all things are good as they come from God; and (3) salvation in Christ leaves no place for meriting salvation by asceticism.^[2]  

             ἐγκράτεια, as it relates to Christian teaching, is an act of submitting ones will to that of God’s will.  It is not a list of do’s and don’ts.  The areas that we may need to exercise self-control in are not necessarily areas of sin.  For example I know that God wants me to study His Word.  (His Will)  There are times that I do not want to.  (My will)  Self-control is when I submit my will to His Will and study when I should, not when I want to. 

            Self-control depends on the others in this list, faith, knowledge etc. just as much as they depend on self-control.  One who lacks self-control will not grow in faith, or knowledge.  On the other hand as my faith and knowledge grows my self-control will increase. 

             

---

^[1] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (750). New York: United Bible societies.

^[2] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1995). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (196). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

confessions

When I was younger, much younger, I loved heavy metal rock.  To a certain extent I still do.  I have a tendency to obsess on things, though.  (I’ve seen “Howard The Duck” over one hundred times) (That is probably an understatement)  And when I was in high school  I liked to listen to Alice Cooper.  I bought every album that he ever made and listened to him almost exclusively for almost a year.  Maybe longer. 

His music fed my teenage angst, what ever that is.  Perhaps that is just another name for rebellion.  

To say that the things that Alice sang about were unhealthy is an understatement.  But I drank it in and wore it like an old comfortable coat.  By doing so I broke my mind and my spirit scaring my soul in the process. 

Some where along the way I got saved.  Alice had to go, but he would pop back up over the years when things got rough.  When I would plow looking over my shoulder or with my eyes shut.  Old things have passed away but I have a shovel and I know how to use it. 

 

Recently I have learned that Alice Cooper became a Christian somewhere along the way also.  It does me good to think that someone who had such a negative impact on my life is someone that I will have the chance to meet in heaven. 

γνοσις as related to Christian living

If I were to place a bible passage here that detailed the knowledge that we need it would be Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21.

We are commanded to “study to show ourselves approved” and this study comes in many forms. We should read, just sit down in a quiet place and read. We should study; this is a careful consideration of what is written down comparing scripture with scripture. As part of this study we should search the scripture carefully to see if what we are taught in church is true. We should also, read and listen to what is taught by bible teachers and our pastor. In Isaiah 1:18 God says “Come let us reason together”. Christianity is not a blind faith kind of thing, it is to be however a carefully thought out faith; a beyond a reasonable doubt kind of faith.

When we receive teaching there are three things that we can do with it:

1. Accept it.

2. Reject it.

3. Consider it while gathering more information.

If I hear teaching about it is wrong to murder someone, I can accept that because it lines up with the bible and other teaching that I have had. Or I can reject it because is really do not like that guy and I want to snuff him out. Or maybe I hear teaching that it is ok to murder someone. Once again I can accept it because it lines up with something that I want to do or I can reject it because it does not line up with the bible. Whether or not I accept it or reject it depends on my level of maturity. Do I go with what is accurate or do I go with what I want to do? I know this is a simplistic example and sometimes it can be a lot more difficult than that so let us consider option three.

Suppose I hear “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26), but I also hear “God cannot lie” (Titus 1:2) How can this be? God can do anything, can there be things that God cannot do? Maybe I need to think and pray about this before I can come to a conclusion. Maybe I need more teaching to try and understand this. Maybe after considering this and getting more teaching and praying I never really understand it, but maybe in the process of trying to come to a conclusion about this I learn so much more and become even closer to God.

Well

I am feeling much better now, and I will continue the study shortly.  God has proven faithful in both providing the sickness and the healing.  I once again have energy and the dizziness has almost stopped.  Thank you for your prayers.

 What I am in need of most now is to be able to catch up with all of the work in my college classes, and I have a lot to catch up on.   And I need to catch up on the Second Peter study as I have forgotten where I left off. 

Sick

I have not posted in a while due to an illness that will not go away.  I will continue the study once I get better.  (God Willing)

in your moral excellence, knowledge Part 2

γνοσις as related to salvation

    What knowledge must one possess to be saved? This is a complex question, and the answer is both simple and complex at the same time. First of all let me state that one is not saved by the acquisition of facts. One is also not saved by faith in facts; facts can be wrong. Salvation comes to us through belief in Christ.

Romans 10:14 may help us understand the roll that knowledge plays. "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?" The very core of this verse is that you cannot believe unless you have heard about it, you cannot hear about it unless someone tells you.

God's general revelation can only take you so far. It can let you know that he is there, but it cannot tell you anything specific about the person of God. The specificity about God comes from the bible. You may be able to say to one person that the bible is the word of God, and that person will believe you. Another person may say "how do I know that it is the word of God?" And at this point you would have to provide them with more information to bring them to a "beyond a reasonable doubt" conclusion. This is true for anything relating to God and salvation.

What I am trying to say is that depending upon the person who is doing the hearing is the amount of knowledge that will be required. You may be able to say to one person "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." And they will, but another person may have to be shown that first there is a God, then that there is a Christ, and so on, before they will believe; if they ever do believe.

One person's hearing begins with another person's telling. Even before Christ began his ministry John the Baptist came to prepare His way. This was spelled out in Luke 1:77 where it states: "To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins." That was John the Baptists' ministry. Just as he told of the coming messiah we are to tell of the messiah who came.

in your moral excellence, knowledge Part 1

in your moral excellence, knowledge

ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀρετῇ τὴν γνῶσιν

The knowledge word that we have here is γνο͂σις (gnosis, G1108) and can be defined as: to know. Knowledge. Present and fragmentary knowledge as contrasted with epígnōsis (G1922), clear and exact knowledge…

I know that E=MC². I have no understanding of what that means; therefore I cannot apply that knowledge. I know that 1 + 1 = 2 and I understand what that means. I can even apply that knowledge. γνοσις is knowledge without necessarily understanding how to use that knowledge.

γνοσις is used 29 times in the new testament and all but six uses are by Paul. Two are by Luke and four are by Peter. The order that we will examine the verses in is as follows: γνοσις as related to God, γνοσις as related to salvation, and finally, γνοσις as related to the Christians life.

γνοσις as related to God

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" Romans 11:33

Knowledge begins with God. It would be correct to state that God is knowledge. Or another way of saying it would be that God is omniscience. Omniscience means that: "God knows everything- past, present and future. He knows the actual and the possible; only the impossible (the contradictory) is outside the knowledge of God." Because of this God is able to say: "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning," (Isa. 46:9-10) God knows what has happened, what will happen, and all of the what ifs. (Matthew 11:21-23) Since God is the embodiment of all knowledge if we are to know anything God must reveal it. This does not just apply to spiritual things but also to earthly things. (Dan. 2:20-23) Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us that the secret things belong to God but that things revealed belong to us and our descendants.

God reveals things to us through natural revelation and through specific revelation. God uses natural revelation to not only point out that He is there but also to make life on earth possible. We are able to eat, and build things because God has revealed His laws that govern how those things and others work. What we call mathematics and science is just our understanding of knowledge revealed by God and put to use by us. Knowledge gained by natural revelation works whether we acknowledge God or not. Another term for this is common grace.

Specific revelation is what God has revealed to us through His Word and can only be understood by spiritual means. (1 Cor. 2:14-16) In this passage the word translated natural man is ψυχικὸς (psychikos, G5591) and means soul. And is contrasted with "he who is spiritual" (vs. 15) Spiritual is the word πνευματικὸς (pneumatikos, G4152) and refers to the third part of what makes up a human. As humans we are tri-part creatures. We are body, soul and spirit. Depending upon how you interpret scripture, in the unbeliever either they do not have a human spirit (they get this at salvation) or they have a human spirit that is dead (it becomes alive at salvation). Either way you believe (my mind is not made up on this matter) the unbeliever has no way to discern spiritual things. (vs. 14) Once a person becomes a believer in Christ then that person is able to discern spiritual things. (vs. 15) This discernment begins with learning (knowledge) the bible. We do this through both personal bible study (2 Tim. 2:15) and through bible class (church) (Heb. 1:23-25). As we gain knowledge we will gain understanding that will lead to "full knowledge" which will be discussed latter in full detail.

One final thought if you want to know God the only way to do so is to know Christ, this is because of Col. 2:2-3 as compared with John 14:9.

I will deliver you

Psalm 50:14-15

"Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."


 
This is the verse of the day that came up on a web site that I go to. When I first read it I found it very exciting. Here the God of the universe has promised to deliver us and that when that happens we will glorify Him. I was so excited that I immediately prayed and clamed this promise on something that I have been struggling with for a long time.

God immediately answered my prayer, by impressing on me to re-read the verses. It seems that I missed the preconditions.

Precondition one: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving. While I had given God praise and thanksgiving for victories that gained in this struggle, I have never thanked Him for the testing in the first place. You see God has designed the test for me in order that I might grow and so that I could help others facing a similar struggle. I just wanted the test to be gone. God just wanted me to depend on Him.

Precondition two: Preform your vows. I think that in a new testament context this could be stated as use your gift as well as preform your vows. I know that God wants me to teach, but I also know that I cannot teach what I do not know. And for the past several months I have been remiss in my studies. And as for teaching, I have my blog but while that is ok that is not what God has for me. I am to be conducting face to face teaching and I have been avoiding that. It is time that I was about my Father's business.

Precondition three: Call upon Me in the day of trouble. I'm hit and miss on this one. Sometimes I do sometimes I don't. Sometimes when I do I don't mean it or don't expect it to help. How sad.

So now I guess I have something to work on.

in your faith supply moral excellence

    in your faith supply moral excellence

ἐπιχορηγήσατε ἐν τῇ πίστει ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρετήν
 

So far we have seen that faith allows us to perceive and interact with reality that we cannot fully see based upon varying amounts of evidence leading to a beyond a reasonable doubt conclusion about that reality.

The next word that we come to is ἐπιχορηγήσατε (epichoregesate, G2023, LN59.74) to provide something in addition to what already exists. The word is used only 5 times in the New Testament. (2 Cor. 9:10; Gal. 3:5; Col. 2:19; 2 Peter 1:5, 11) And it carries with it the thought of an additional supply. So we see that moral excellence as well as everything else listed in this passage is added on to faith. Another way of looking at it is because one has faith the result will be the addition of moral excellence and so on.

Moral excellence in the Greek is the word ἀρετήν (areten, G703) and it is used only five times in the New Testament. Four of the five uses are by Peter (1 Peter 2:9; 2 Peter 1:3; 2:5) the fifth use is by Paul in Philippians (Phl. 4:8). Basically it means "the quality of moral excellence—'outstanding goodness, virtue". 1 Peter 1:3 and 2 Peter 2:9 apply ἀρετήν to God. In the first reference we read "so that you may proclaim the excellences of Him who has called you…" "Excellences" is our word and it is applied to God. ἀρετήν as applied to God is in the absolute sense and flows from His possession of absolute holiness. A believer or an unbeliever can be good in the sense that they are a "good" person when compared to other people. But that kind of "goodness" is not what is in view here. When a person's goodness in the human realm is compared to God's absolute perfect holiness; God's view of our goodness is that: "all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment" (Is. 64:6). How then can we ever be "morally excellent"?

In Systematic Theology Volume Two, Dr. Geisler states "…God is holy; He is perfect in and of Himself; all else is perfect by participation in His perfection." If we look back just a few verses here in 2 Peter 1 we read "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature…" God has made provision for us to "become partakers of the divine nature".

How do we do this?

    In Ephesians 4:20-24 we get an outline of what is to be done. First we must learn Christ, second we must lay aside the old self and finally we must "… be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

    As we learn Christ old thought patterns and standards that we have had will begin to conform to His standards. We learn Christ through bible study, "we have the mind of Christ." (1 Cor. 2:16) And by studying His mind (the bible) our mind is renewed. As our mind is renewed we will lay aside our old self and will be "conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29). It all starts with learning Christ as we do this the old self is left behind and our mind is renewed and only then can the new self be put on. This is not an all at once process, it takes a life time. As we grow in one area we will become aware of other areas that need changing.

    In Philippians 4:8-9 we have a blueprint for renewing our minds. The key words in those verses are "dwell on these things". λογίζεσθε (logizomai, G3049) is our word dwell and it means: to put together with one's mind, to count, to occupy oneself with reckonings or calculations. The list of things that we are to dwell on encompasses three aspects of thought. The first aspect is how those things relate to Gods nature. The second is how those things relate to Gods word and lastly is how those things relate to the world around us. My study of God's word should bring me to an understanding of God's truthfulness, purity, and reputation, just to name a few items from the list. Understanding these things will help us to understand who God is. That in turn will deepen our love and trust for Him. Studying His word will orient us to thinking about things the way God sees them, this in turn will enable us to seek out things in the world around us that will bring honor to Him.

    This is not an easy process. The way that we think about things actually causes physical changes to our brains. Our responses to things in the world around us create pathways in our brains and these responses become ingrained there. It takes time to rewire our brain to change these responses. That does not mean that we do not chose our reactions things, it only means that we are not only fighting our thoughts but also our bodies conditioned reactions to thinking. The renewing of our minds takes place on both a spiritual and a physical level. As the thought patterns change the physical paths alter to make the new thought response the default.

    Finally in verse 8 Paul tells us "The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Notice that we are to practice what we have learned, received, heard and seen in Paul. Every believer is a role model for every other believer, either good or bad, and lessons are to be gleaned from each. Either what to do or what not to do.

Bibles

I am some strange in that the only thing that my cell phone can do is make phone calls, and that is all I want to do with it.  But I came across this today while reading about IT missionaries.  It is a free bible app that is being made available for anyone to download.  Any way if you are one who does more with their phone than just make calls you may want to give it a try.

Faith

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NASB

Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. Hebrews 11:1 HCSB

Ἔστιν δὲ πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις, πραγμάτων ἔλεγχος οὐ βλεπομένων. Hebrews 11:1 NA 27 


It is always best to let the bible define the terms that are used in it and in the case of faith Hebrews provides a clear definition.

Faith is the reality: ὑπόστασις, (hupostasis, G5287) In general, that which underlies the apparent, hence, reality, essence, substance; that which is the basis of something, hence, assurance guarantee, confidence. The proof: ἐλεγχος (elegchos, G1650) Conviction. Metonymically, meaning certain persuasion (Heb. 11:1).

I believe that the world is round. I have read about it being round, I have seen pictures of it being round, I even have a very old and out of date globe (it has a country called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on it). In my travels I have flown half way around it and visited other countries, but I have never flown out into space far enough to personally see that the earth is round. Until I am able to do that I will just have to take it as a matter of faith that the earth is round.

One thousand years ago it would have been a leap of faith to believe that the world is round, because there was very little evidence to support that belief. Now there is tons of evidence to support that belief. Although there are some who do not share this faith, such as the Flat Earth Society. My point in bringing them up is that a firm belief in something does not make it true, just as a firm disbelief in something does not make it untrue. Faith is just our trust in the trueness of something and the only value is in the object of that faith, not in the act of believing.

I have been told the perception is reality, I am not sure that I completely agree with that. I would agree, however, that perception is how we interact with reality. My hope is in Jesus Christ and His claim to be the Son of God. This hope is not me wishing something is true, but this hope is based on evidence that I have seen that indicate that Christ's claims are true. The amount of evidence needed for each person is different, some need more than others, and some will never believe no matter how much evidence is presented to them. But no matter how much evidence that I have Jesus will not walk up to me in a physical body, show me some scars from the crucifixion and do a few miracles for me. So at some point I have to say based upon the evidence that I do have I chose to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and I believe in Him for eternal life. Faith is the convincing beyond a reasonable doubt and faith allows me to believe the evidence that I cannot see.

Why does God chose to work through faith? Why not just show Himself plainly to us in a way that removes all doubt? I suspect that it has to do free will. God gives us enough evidence to believe in Him while leaving just enough lacking so that anyone who does not want to believe in Him can chose not to. In the words of C. S. Lewis "God cannot ravish, He can only woo".


 

Second Peter Two Five through Nine

The side trip begins. The study of knowledge words brought me to this passage, and while it does contain both of the last two knowledge words (γνωσις and επιγνωσις) that we will be looking at in this study it also contains a path that leads from γνωσις (knowledge) to επιγνωσις (full knowledge). And so the study begins 2 Peter 1:5-9.

For this very reason

    Verse five begins with a look back to verses three and four, so before we can understand verses five through nine we must take a look at the reason supplied in the previous verses.

    The first thing that we see is that God the Son by means of His "divine power" has given us everything needed for life and godliness. The word translated "pertaining to" is προς (pros) (G4314) and brings with it the idea of movement toward something. Christ has given us, as believers, life; but He has also given us the means to live life. That includes physical needs such as food, clothing, health needs and the like. That also includes sustaining power, such as the ability to stand in times of testing. Godliness describes our lives activities. Verses five through seven are the expansion upon "life and godliness" that is mentioned here. The last part of verse three explains the method of delivery for His (Christ) divine power. The word for power used here is δυνάμεως (dynameos) (G1411) and it relates to ability to accomplish something. Another way of thinking about this is that Jesus has the ability to live a sinless life and overcome and because of that He supplies us with that ability. The conduit of the ability supplied is the "true knowledge" of God the Father. True knowledge will be discussed later in this development. Christ came to do the will of the Father, and to reveal the Father to us. In John 14:7 and following we learn that to know Christ is to know the Father.

    In verse four we see that God the Father has given us promises by means of His own "glory and excellence". (Vs. 3) The reason for this is that we may become "partakers" of Gods nature. The word translated as "partakers" is κοινωνοι (koinonoi) (G2844) and encompasses the idea of companionship. Finally we see that we are able to become companions of the divine nature because we have escaped the world's corruption that comes from its lust.

    Now that we have established the reason brought up in the first part of verse five we see a series of interconnected aspects of the Christian way of life. Faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love; each of these represent parts of the Christian way of life. Each of these lead to the development of the next, but at the same time they are all aspects of each other and the development in one area develops all areas at the same time. For example faith grows as our knowledge of God increases, knowledge increases through perseverance in study and so on. For the purpose of the study we shall consider each aspect in the order it was written in the verses.

Before we begin to consider each term we need to understand the phrase "applying all diligence". σπουδὴν πᾶσαν παρεισενέγκαντες, (spouden, G4710, pasan, G3956, pareisenenkantes, G3923) The phrase means to do your best. (LN 68.64) In the HCSB it is rendered as "make every effort to". Our primary concern in life should be the development of these areas of our Christian walk; in doing so we will develop our nature to conform to God's divine nature.

In the Land of Believers

"In the Land of Believers: An Outsider's Extraordinary Journey into the Heart of the Evangelical Church" this is the title of a book that I came across in an article from Christianity Today. The premise of the book is that an atheist went "undercover" for two years at Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church.

I have not read the book, but I may. I find it intriguing that an atheist would feel the need to "go undercover" in order to find out about Christians. If I wanted to find out about atheist I would go to a meeting of the Free Thinkers Society or some such group as that and just set in. I do not believe that I would need to hide who I am or what I believe. I also think that if I was not honest about myself then I would never be able to understand them. I would not be able to accurately question them if I was pretending to be one of them. I do, however understand that she may have thought that they would have put on a "religious show" for her had she told them that she was an atheist. She was there for two years, though and any show would have fallen flat rather quickly.

The most interesting question though is this: Are Christians so out of touch with the rest of the world that we have no impact?

A slight side trip

Life happens.  It has been awhile sense I have posted from the study that I am doing on knowledge words and there are two reasons for this; one life happens and lately it has been happening a lot.  Two, the study has taken me to 2 Peter 1:5-9.  There are lessons in this passage that I have not been too keen on learning.  It is really overwhelming to try to understand, but I am working through that understanding, very slowly, and soon the post will resume.

Bible Maps

Every day I receive email updates from the Kim Komando Show.  If you don't know who that is, well, she does a radio show on the weekends about all things related to computers. Today her Cool Site of the day is the bible map overlay provided by Open Bible.  This site provides an overlay that works with Google Earth and will display every place mentioned in the bible. 

Three blind men and an elephant.

There is a story used to describe how all religions lead to God; it is something like this:  There are three blind men who are trying to describe an elephant, one is holding its tail, one its trunk and one its leg.  The first man says that an elephant is like a rope, the second says it is like a snake and the third says that it is like a tree.  because they are all describing different parts of the same thing they are said to all be right.  Applied to religions, it is said that all religions are describing the same thing so all religions are right.

As Christians we can learn some things from this story.

1. An elephant is not a snake, a tree or a rope.  
2. No matter how sincerely each man believes that an elephant is a tree, a snake or a rope the elephant will not become any of those things.
3. All three of the men were wrong, although they believed that they were right.
4. People can never discover God through our own efforts.
5. Any effort to understand God apart from His revelation will result in sincerely held, but mistaken beliefs.  
6. Only someone who can see can correct the error of the blind men.

 

Knowledge Words Part 2

συνοιδα is closely related to συνειδω.  In “The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament” they are even listed under the same number: G4894.  Like οἰδα it means to be aware or conscious of something.  This is a deeper awareness, though.  συνειδω is often associated with self-consciousness or self-awareness.  συνοιδα is only used twice in the New Testament (Acts 5:2; 1Cor. 4:4); it is also used twice in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Lev 5:1; Job 27:6). 

and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.  (Acts 5:2)  Full knowledge is our word συνοιδα, and here it means that she was privy to the plan and agreed with it.  Another way that it could be translated is collusion.  It also indicates a level of knowledge that imparts responsibility.  This can be seen in Acts 5:7-9 when Sapphira also died the sin unto death.  By the way they died because they lied to God not because they kept the money (Acts 5:3-4). 

For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. (1Cor. 4:4)  Here we see συνοιδα used to describe an awareness of one’s own actions, or thoughts.  This verse speaks to a life that has been examined by God’s standards and found in compliance with those standards.  Note though Paul does not acquit himself but leaves that to God alone. 

‘Now if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt.  (Lev 5:1)   συνοιδα is used here to translate the Hebrew word יָדַע (H3045); this word has several meanings but basically means to know.  And we can see here that like in Acts it is a knowledge that brings with it a responsibility.  In this case a legal responsibility. 

I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go.  My heart does not reproach any of my days. (Job 27:6) I almost did not include this in the study, because συνοιδα in a helper word included in the Septuagint and does not directly translate the Hebrew.  I decided to include it because it does convey the point of being aware of oneself; an awareness that leads Job to have a lack of reproach for his life. 

οιδα and συνοιδα both describe knowledge as a level of awareness and in the case of συνοιδα that awareness brings with it a level of responsibility. 

Knowledge Words

            There are four Greek words for knowledge and five for ignorance.  It is the intention of this study to examine all nine of these words to gain a better understanding of what God expects of us as believers who have been commanded to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”.  

The words for knowledge that we shall look at are: γνῶσις, επιγνωσις, οὐνοιδα, and οιδα.  The words for ignorance that we will look at are: ἀγνοια, ἀγνοεω, ἀγνωσια, ἀγνοημα, and ἀναιδευτος.   

            οιδα:  (G368a), related to εἰδω (G1492 II): generally meaning to know intuitively or instinctively.^[1]  A search of the New Testament shows that οιδα is used 318 times in 294 verses.  We will only consider a few examples of these verses.

“So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.  In Matthew 6:8 we are instructed not to pray like those of false religions because they use meaningless repetition.  Think of that as chanting or repeating a petition over and over in order to be heard.  (This verse is not speaking of consistently bring a request before the Lord, only of repeating the same words over and over during one prayer).  The reason for this it that God already knows (οἰδα) what we need.  εἰδο is a word for seeing, that is how it is related to οἰδα this knowledge is self-evident.  As plain as the nose on your face, one could say.  It is obvious; it did not have to be learned. 

“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. In Matthew 6:32 we see that our understanding of God the Father’s intuitive knowledge of our needs allows us to relax about the circumstances and details of life (verse 34) and get on with our business of seeking “His Kingdom and His righteousness” the result of this is God taking care of our daily needs. 

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.  Matthew 20:25 is an example of humans intuitively knowing something.  As we continue reading though we see that this knowledge is not to be imitated by us, but is instead contrasted with how we are to behave to other believers. 

saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”  In Mark 1:24 we learn a very important lesson about οἰδα, “knowledge of” does not equate salvation.  Also notice that “knowledge of” does not equate a “relationship with”.  I know who Terry Pratchett is, (he writes some of my favorite books) and while I may be able to pick him out of a lineup that knowledge would not entitle me to have tea with him. 

And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?  Here in Mark 4:13 we have understand twice but it is two different words in the Greek.  The first is οἰδα (οἰδατε) and the second is γινωσκω (γνωσεσθε) and they have slightly different meanings.  A way to paraphrase this would be “Isn’t this obvious to you?  How will you comprehend what the other parables teach?”  While this is not a word for word translation I think that it helps us understand what Jesus is trying to bring across.  By the way the word for not here is ουκ and is a definite negation meaning that they do not have the ability to do the thing being negated (understand) and in the following verses Christ provides them with the understanding.   

But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  In Mark 5:33 οἰδα is translated as aware.  Aware is a good word, especially when applying οἰδα to humans; knowledge but not necessarily understanding.   She knew something had happened to her, she knew who accomplished what had happened to her, and she knew that as a result of what happened to her she had changed.  And the best part of this is that she did not have to fully understand what had happened to reap the benefits of the change. 

To sum up οἰδα, it is an awareness of or recognition of a situation.  It does not necessarily represent full understanding of that situation or teaching.  In John chapter four we see Jesus speaking with the woman at the well.  In this story we find out the she was aware of the coming Christ (John 4:25) but she did not understand enough to recognize who the Messiah would be (John 4:10).  When she received the needed information (John 4:26) she acted on that information (John 4:28).  

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^[1] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.