Tag: blindness

Romans 11:25 – The Wondrous Mystery

Posted on by Will

For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, lest you should think yourselves to be wise, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

Truth to Learn

God has secrets (mysteries) and He reveals them to whomever He wishes at a time of His own choosing. We who know the secret of the gospel message need to share it freely with others.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “ignorant” is the Greek word agnoein. It is a compound word made up of a, meaning “not” or “without” and the infinitive form of noeō, meaning “to perceive, to understand, or to know.” So agnoein refers to a lack of knowledge or understanding.

“Mystery” is a transliteration of musterion. This word is derived either from muō, meaning “shut,” like a mouth that is shut, or it is from mueō, which means “to initiate or to learn a secret.” So, musterion refers to information that has been kept a secret, but which is now being revealed.

The word translated “blindness” is the Greek word pōrōsis, which refers to something that has become hardened or petrified. It is often used to refer to physical blindness, but here it refers to the insensitivity of perception or spiritual blindness.

“In part” is from the Greek word meros, which means “a division, a share, or a portion.”

The word “fullness” is from plērōma, which refers to “completeness or fullness.”

 

Meaning Explained

This verse starts off with a classic Paul-ism; “For I do not want you to be ignorant.” What he means is, “You currently are ignorant of something and I am going to inform you so that you will no longer be ignorant.” Ignorance has nothing to do with a person’s intelligence or ability to think, it simply refers to a lack of knowledge. Invariably, when Paul uses this expression, he includes the familiar adelphoi or “brothers,” probably to soften the blow of telling them that they are ignorant.

What is it that these Roman Christians are ignorant of? It is “this mystery.” This thing previously unknown is that blindness has happened to part of Israel. So the mystery that Paul is revealing is that part of Israel (a large part) has become mentally hardened so as not to perceive the truth of the gospel until the fullness (or completion) of the Gentiles has come in.

What Paul is telling us is that the sovereign hand of God has prevented many of the Jews from believing in the Messiah during His first advent, so that the gospel message could be spread abroad to the Gentile nations. At some point in the future (very near, perhaps) all of the elect Gentiles will have been gathered in by God and He will once again turn to the Jews. This will happen during Daniel’s 70th week, the time of the Tribulation.

 

Application

Do you recall what the Great Commission says? Go into the whole world and preach the gospel. Why? We need to share the gospel message so that all of the Gentile nations will have an opportunity to hear it, to believe it, and be saved. It is our responsibility to spread the gospel. If we are not witnessing to the unsaved, we are not spreading the gospel.

Are you fulfilling your commission from God?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 4:18 – Darkened, Alienated, and Ignorant

Posted on by Will

having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;

Truth to Learn

The unsaved are the way they are because of unbelief.

Behind the Words

“Understanding” is translated from the Greek word dianoia, which is derived from dia, meaning “through and a form of noeō, meaning “to exercise the mind,” that is, “to think, to consider, or to understand.” Dianoia refers to a person’s intellect or understanding.

The word “darkened” is from the verb skotidzō, meaning “to deprive of light,” that is, “to darken.” In today’s verse it is used figuratively to mean “deprived of the light of understanding.” It is expressed here in the perfect tense indicating past completed action with an ongoing effect, the emphasis being on the effect. In other words, Paul is saying that at some time in the past they were deprived of the light of understanding and as a result they are now in a condition of not understanding.

“Alienated” is from the verb apallotrioō, which is made up of apo, meaning “from or away from” and allotrioō, meaning “to make a stranger,” “to separate from,” or “to make a non-participant.” This word is also expressed in the perfect tense.

The word “ignorance” is translated from agnoeō, which literally means “lacking knowledge.”

The word “blindness” is from pōrōsis, a form of pōroō, meaning “to harden, to petrify, or to make insensitive.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse Paul instructed us not to live our lives like unbelievers do. He said that they live their lives intellectually instead of spiritually. He also said that their intellect is worthless. Now he explains why their thinking is so bad. He tells us that the intellectual understanding of the unsaved has been darkened, deprived of the light of understanding. As we discussed in Behind the Words, the tense of this verb indicates that the darkening occurred at some point in time in the past. That point in time referred to is when Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit. From that time onward mankind has been alienated from God with a mind that is deprived of the light of knowledge, the knowledge of God.

That enlightenment can be regained, however. It is given by God through His Holy Spirit. It can be gained by learning the teaching of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, as Paul will tell us later. Here we are told that one of the results of the intellectual darkening is separation from the life (spiritual life) that is in God. We are also told here that one of the reasons that the unsaved don’t have spiritual life is because they lack knowledge (the knowledge of what Christ did for them on the cross). And finally, Paul tells us that they lack knowledge of the work of salvation because of the hardness of their hearts.

So, we can summarize this by saying that sin leads to a hardening of the heart, which prevents the acknowledgement of God’s gift of salvation, which produces alienation from the spiritual life that God offers us all.

Application

If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save you from your sins, your heart is not hardened, you are not ignorant of God’s truth, and you have eternal life. Hallelujah!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

Romans 11:25 – The Wondrous Mystery

Posted on by Will

Romans 11:25 – The Wondrous Mystery

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

Truth to Learn

God has secrets (mysteries) and He reveals them to whomever He wishes at a time of His own choosing. We who know the secret of the gospel message need to share it freely with others.

Behind the Words

The word translated “ignorant” is the Greek word agnoein. It is a compound word made up of a, meaning “not” or “without” and the infinitive form of noeō, meaning “to perceive, to understand, or to know.” So agnoein refers to a lack of knowledge or understanding.

“Mystery” is a transliteration of musterion. This word is derived either from muō, meaning “shut,” like a mouth that is shut, or it is from mueō, which means “to initiate or to learn a secret.” So, musterion refers to information that has been kept a secret, but which is now being revealed.

The word translated “blindness” is the Greek word pōrōsis, which refers to something that has become hardened or petrified. It is often used to refer to physical blindness, but here it refers to the insensitivity of perception.

“In part” is from the Greek word meros, which means “a division, a share, or a portion.”

The word “fullness” is from plērōma, which refers to “completeness or fullness.”

Meaning Explained

This verse starts off with a classic Paul-ism; “For I do not desire … that you should be ignorant.” What he means is, “You currently are ignorant of something and I am going to inform you so that you will no longer be ignorant.” Ignorance has nothing to do with a person’s intelligence or ability to think, it simply refers to a lack of knowledge. Invariably, when Paul uses this expression, he includes the familiar adelphoi or “brothers,” probably to soften the blow of telling them that they are ignorant.

What is it that these Roman Christians are ignorant of? It is “this mystery.” This thing previously unknown is that blindness has happened to part of Israel. So the mystery that Paul is revealing is that part of Israel (a large part) has become mentally hardened so as not to perceive the truth of the gospel until the fullness (or completion) of the Gentiles has come in.

What Paul is telling us is that the sovereign hand of God has prevented many of the Jews from believing in the Messiah during His first advent, so that the gospel message could be spread abroad to the Gentile nations. At some point in the future (very near, perhaps) all of the elect Gentiles will have been gathered in by God and He will once again turn to the Jews. This will happen during Daniel’s 70th week.

Application

Do you recall what the Great Commission says? Go into the whole world and preach the gospel. Why? We need to share the gospel message so that all of the Gentile nations will have an opportunity to hear it, to believe it, and be saved. It is our responsibility to spread the gospel. If we are not witnessing to the unsaved, we are not spreading the gospel.

Are you fulfilling your commission from God?

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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