Tag: aphorme

Romans 7:11 – Deception and Confession

Posted on by Will

For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.

Truth to Learn

Sin is deceptive and causes separation between us and God.

 

Behind the Words

“Taking occasion” is translated from aphormē. This is a compound word made up of apo, meaning “from” or “away from” and hormē, meaning “an onset or an impetus.” When put together we get a word that means “an opportunity or casual circumstance producing a tendency toward something else.”

The word translated “deceived” is a form of the Greek word exapataō, which is another compound word. This one is made up of ek, used as an intensifier and apataō, meaning “to seduce or deceive.” Hence exapataō means “to deceive completely, to beguile, to seduce” or “to lead out of the right way into error.” This is translated from the same word used in 2Corinthians 11:3 where it is rendered “beguiled” in reference to Satan,

But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness ….

 

Meaning Explained

This verse is almost a repeat of verse eight but with a slight variation. Whereas in verse eight Paul said that sin completely produced in him all kinds of lust, in this verse he says that it deceived him.

What Paul is saying is that his corrupt and rebellious tendencies being excited by the Law, led him astray causing him to sin in spite of himself. As a result of his sin, as he said before, he was killed spiritually; that is, he became spiritually separated from God.

Do you find that you sometimes feel deceived by your own inner tendencies? Do you find that you do things that you know are wrong but you do them anyway? In just a few verses we will see that Paul faced this same struggle and the resulting frustration at his inability to control his sinfulness.

The bottom line is that we all sin in this way. But thanks be to God, the Apostle John has told us what to do about it:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8,9)

Faithful means that God will always do it (forgive us), and just means that His righteousness requires Him to do it. When we sin, we turn away from God and walk another direction. When we confess our sins and repent, we turn around and begin walking with Him again.

 

Application

Are you struggling right now with, as the writer of Hebrews put it in Hebrews 12:1, that sin which so easily ensnares you? You are not alone, my friend. When sin deceives you and you realize it, simply confess it and get back in the race. Remember that God casts our sins away as far as the east is from the west, so each time we sin it is as if it is the first time to God. The only one who knows your sin history is you.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 7:8 – A Sinful Product

Posted on by Will

But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all covetousness. For apart from the law sin is dead.

Truth to Learn

The Law does not prevent sin, it produces sin.

 

Behind the Words

The Greek word translated “taking opportunity” is aphormē, which means “an occasion, an opportunity, or casual circumstance producing a tendency toward something else.” In this verse it means that sin took the opportunity to produce lust. This word, aphormē, is an aorist participle which means the action took place before the main verb (produced). Or, to put it another way, sin used the commandment as an opportunity to then produce covetousness in Paul.

The word translated as “produced” is katergadzomai, which means not just simply to work on something but, “to carry out a task until it is completely finished.”

 

Meaning Explained

What Paul is telling us is that before the Law was declared, there was no sinful covetousness. Then the Tenth Commandment was declared:

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's

As soon as the Tenth Commandment took effect, sin took this commandment and accomplished sinful covetousness in man’s heart, and he suddenly coveted after the very things that the law said we should not covet.

Paul goes on to say that “apart from the law,” in other words, when the law and sin were separated from each other, “sin was dead.” It’s very much like two siblings who are constantly fighting but as soon as you separate them from each other the fighting stops, it dies. Thus, Paul says that before the law was declared, it and sin were separated and sin was dead. But as soon as the law was declared, sin took the occasion of the presence of the law to completely work out sinful desires within man.

Adam and Eve are a good example of this. When they were first put in the garden, it was not wrong for them to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and they apparently had no particular desire for the fruit of that tree. But, as soon as God told Adam that they were not to eat of that tree, that’s when they both desired to eat of it, and their satisfying of that desire produced sin.

Did you ever wonder why, as a child when your mother baked cookies and put them in the cookie jar saying not to touch them until after dinner, all you could think about was sneaking into the kitchen to steal a cookie from the cookie jar?

That’s precisely the process that this verse is talking about!

 

Application

Now we can begin to see why obedience to the Law does not produce righteousness. The very declaration of the Law produces the desire to break it, and so we do!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 7:11 – Deception and Confession

Posted on by Will

Romans 7:11

For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.

Truth to Learn

Sin is deceptive and causes separation between us and God.

Behind the Words

“Taking occasion” is translated from aphormē. This is a compound word made up of apo, meaning “from” or “away from” and hormē, meaning “an onset or an impetus.” When put together we get a word that means “an opportunity or casual circumstance producing a tendency toward something else.”

The word translated “deceived” is a form of the Greek word exapataō, which is another compound word. This one is made up of ek, used as an intensifier and apataō, meaning “to seduce or deceive.” Hence exapataō means “to deceive completely, to beguile, to seduce” or “to lead out of the right way into error.” This is translated from the same word used in 2Corinthians 11:3 where it is rendered “beguiled” in reference to Satan,

But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness ….

Meaning Explained

This verse is almost a repeat of verse eight but with a slight variation. Whereas in verse eight Paul said that sin completely produced in him all kinds of lust, in this verse he says that it deceived him.

What Paul is saying is that his corrupt and rebellious tendencies being excited by the Law, led him astray causing him to sin in spite of himself. As a result of his sin, as he said before, he was killed spiritually; that is, he became spiritually separated from God.

Do you find that you sometimes feel deceived by your own inner tendencies? Do you find that you do things that you know are wrong but you do them anyway? In just a few verses we will see that Paul faced this same struggle and the resulting frustration at his inability to control his sinfulness.

The bottom line is that we all sin in this way. But thanks be to God, the Apostle John has told us what to do about it:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8,9)

Faithful means that God will always do it (forgive us), and just means that His righteousness requires Him to do it. When we sin, we turn away from God and walk another direction. When we confess our sins and repent, we turn around and begin walking with Him again.

Application

Are you struggling right now with, as the writer of Hebrews put it in Hebrews 12:1, that sin that so easily ensnares you? You are not alone, my friend. When sin deceives you and you realize it, simply confess it and get back in the race. Remember that God casts our sins away as far as the east is from the west, so each time we sin it is as if it is the first time to God. The only one who knows your sin history is you.

In God’s service, for His glory,

signature

Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone (618) 614-3070 and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:e-mail address

Romans 7:8 – A Sinful Product

Posted on by Will

Romans 7:8

But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.

Truth to Learn

The Law does not prevent sin, it produces sin.

Behind the Words

The Greek word translated “taking opportunity” is aphormē, which means “an occasion, an opportunity, or casual circumstance producing a tendency toward something else.” In this verse it means that sin took the opportunity to produce lust. This word, aphormē, is an aorist participle which means the action took place before the main verb (produced). Or, to put it another way, sin used the commandment as an opportunity to then produce lust in Paul.

The word translated as “produced” is katergadzomai, which means not just simply to work on something but, “to carry out a task until it is completely finished.”

Meaning Explained

What Paul is telling us is that before the Law was declared, there was no sinful lust. Then the Tenth Commandment was declared:

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s

As soon as the Tenth Commandment took effect, sin took this commandment and accomplished sinful lust in man’s heart, and he suddenly lusted after the very things that the law said we should not lust after.

Paul goes on to say that “apart from the law,” in other words, when the law and sin were separated from each other, “sin was dead.” It’s very much like two siblings who are constantly fighting but as soon as you separate them from each other the fighting stops, it dies. Thus, Paul says that before the law was declared, it and sin were separated and sin was dead. But as soon as the law was declared, sin took the occasion of the presence of the law to completely work out sinful desires within man.

Adam and Eve are a good example of this. When they were first put in the garden, it was not wrong for them to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and they apparently had no particular desire for the fruit of that tree. But, as soon as God told Adam that they were not to eat of that tree, that’s when they both desired to eat of it, and their satisfying of that desire produced sin.

Did you ever wonder why, as a child when your mother baked cookies and put them in the cookie jar saying not to touch them until after dinner, all you could think about was sneaking into the kitchen to steal a cookie from the cookie jar?

That’s precisely the process that this verse is talking about!

Application

Now we can begin to see why obedience to the Law does not produce righteousness. The very declaration of the Law produces the desire to break it, and so we do!

In God’s service, for His glory,

signature

Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone (618) 614-3070 and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:e-mail address