Tag: ascend

Ephesians 4:8 – Moving Day

Posted on by Will

Therefore He says: "Having ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."

Truth to Learn

Jesus Christ moved Paradise and gave all Christians gifts.

 

Behind the Words

The word “says” is from the Greek verb legō, which literally means “to lay forth,” that is, “to express something in words.” There is no subject given in the Greek text, so scholars are split between “He [God] says” and “it [Scripture] says.”

“Having ascended” is translated from anabaino, which means “to go up.” It is expressed as an aorist participle, so it could be translated “having gone up.”

“On high” is from eis hupsos. A literal translation of these two words would be “into elevation,” or “into the heights.”

The words “he led … captive” are translated from the verb aichmalōteuō, which is based on aichmalōtos, meaning “a captive of war.” The verb form, aichmalōteuō literally means “to captivate” or “to lead away captive.”

“Captivity” is from the noun aichmalōsia, which is also based on aichmalōtos. This form of the word refers to “the condition, or state, of being a captive.”

 

Meaning Explained

Paul has been talking about all of us fulfilling our calling with special attention to maintaining the unity of the church. He is now going to talk about some of the gifts that God gives to us which enable us to perform our function within the body of Christ. In today’s verse Paul tells us when those gifts were bestowed by God.

In order to fully understand, however, we need to do a quick mini-lesson about Hell. In the Old Testament it is most often referred to as sheol, the place of the departed dead. In the New Testament it is referred to as hades. From Numbers 16:33 we learn that sheol is in the center of the earth. And, from Luke 16:22, 23 we learn that there are two different areas of hades, the place of torment (where the rich man was) and a place of rest (where Lazarus was). In the Old Testament, the unrighteous people went to the place of torments and the righteous (like Abraham and Lazarus) went to the place of rest.

Hang-in with me now. On the cross, Jesus told one of the thieves crucified beside Him that on that very day they would both be in Paradise, that is, the place of rest where Abraham was. However, in 2Corinthians 12:4 Paul tells us that he was caught up into Paradise. In fact, a close reading will show us that in this verse Paradise is up at the third heaven (God’s throne room). So, at some point in time Paradise moved.

That movement of Paradise is what Paul is describing in today’s verse. When Christ died, he went down to sheol (hades). However, when He rose from the dead he “led captivity captive.” In other words, Christ took Paradise out of sheol (hades) and took it and all the righteous dead “up to” the third heaven (2Corinthians 2:2).

At that same time, Paul tells us here, Christ gave gifts to men.

 

Application

You and I have special gifts (spiritual gifts or abilities) given to us by Jesus Christ. These gifts are what enable us to serve Him effectively in the local church.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 10:6 – Righteousness Speaks

Posted on by Will

Romans 10:6 – Righteousness Speaks

But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, “who will ascend into heaven?” ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above)

Truth to Learn

Even the greatest of works does not produce righteousness.

Behind the Words

“The righteousness of faith” is from hē ek pisteōs dikaiosunē, which literally means “the out of faith righteousness.” It refers to the true righteousness, that which can only come by faith, and Paul uses a personification of that faith here to let it speak for itself.

The expression “say in your heart” is a Hebraism (a Hebrew expression) which means “to think or say to oneself.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verses Paul talked about the Jews who have a zeal for God but who try to obtain the righteousness of God by keeping the Law. He then quoted a passage from Leviticus 18:5 which says, You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.

Now, since Paul is contrasting the righteousness which comes from obeying the Law with the righteousness which is a result of faith, he makes a statement about the righteousness of faith. This is roughly taken from the book of Deuteronomy.

For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

In this passage from Deuteronomy, Moses has just warned the Israelites what will happen to them if they turn from Jehovah and serve other gods. He then tells them that if they turn back to Jehovah, even while they are in the land of their captivity, He will once again bless them. The message Moses is giving is not one of “obedience produces life and disobedience produces death,” it is a message of “faithfulness produces life, leading to works of obedience and unfaithfulness produces death (spiritual), leading to works of disobedience.” As Moses continues in Deuteronomy 30:15, he says: See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. He does not say “goodness and life” because goodness does not produce life, he says “life and good” because only spiritual life produces good.

The Israelites were confused. They thought that obedience could produce righteousness. Moses, on the other hand taught that faith produces righteousness. In today’s verse, what the righteousness of faith is telling us is that works, even works as great as ascending into heaven to bring Christ’s righteousness down to us, don’t produce righteousness.

Application

The Apostle Paul tends to hammer on a subject from every possible angle until there is absolutely no wiggle room for the critics to argue against him. That’s what he has been doing with regard to righteousness. We cannot earn it; we can only receive it by faith.

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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