Tag: charidzomai

Romans 8:32 – All Things Given

Posted on by Will

Indeed, He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?

Truth to Learn

God has freely given us the payment for our sins and has also freely given us everything we need to be godly people.

 

Behind the Words

The word “spare” is translated from pheidomai, which means “to spare” or “to treat leniently.” God was not lenient toward His Son, but gave Him to suffer for you and me.

“Delivered” is translated from paradidōmi, which is made up of para, meaning “beside, to the side of, or over to” and didōmi, meaning “to give.” Hence, it means “to give over to” or “to surrender to.”

The word translated “freely give” is charidzomai, which means “to willingly bestow an undeserved favor.” This same word is translated “having forgiven you” in Colossians 2:13.

 

Meaning Explained

Paul has just declared, “If God is for us, who is against us?” We know from other passages of Scripture that God is Almighty, that is, All Powerful. No one is more powerful than God (our father is stronger than their father). But, just because He can do anything to protect us and defend us doesn’t mean that He will make our lives one of ease and prosperity. In fact, because He is an all-knowing God, He knows what things will make us most Christ-like. He knows that times of trial and difficulties in our lives will make us stronger. That’s precisely the issue that Paul is addressing in this verse.

God the Father, did not spare His only Son, Jesus. In fact, God the Father, sent His only Son to live a perfect life and then freely offered that life as a substitutionary sacrifice to pay for your sins and mine. He permitted His precious Son to be subjected to one of the most cruel and painful tortures ever invented by the sin-sick minds of man. Then, once our sins were paid for, He then declared us to be righteous and adopted us as His children. That has been His plan since before time began and nothing can alter that plan.

So, Paul’s point in this verse is very simple; if God is willing to offer up His only Son so that He could adopt us as His children as well, He must really love us. And if He loves us this much, surely He will freely give us all that we need, or as Paul put it; “how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?”

But what does Paul mean by “all things?” The Apostle Peter gives us the answer to that question in his second general epistle to the church:

His divine power has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the full knowledge of him who called us through glory and worthiness. (2Peter 1:3)

Thus we see that in addition to giving the life of His Son to pay the penalty that we can’t pay ourselves, God gives us everything we need to live full lives as godly people.

 

Application

Not only is our Father the strongest around, He loves us more than we can comprehend! And, now that you know that you have everything you need to live a godly life, what are you going to do about it?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 4:32 – Kindness, Compassion, and Forgiveness

Posted on by Will

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Truth to Learn

Kindness, compassion, and forgiveness are of vital importance within the church.

 

Behind the Words

The verb “be” is translated from ginomai, meaning “to cause to be” or “to become.” It is expressed here in the imperative mood indicating a command for us to “become kind and tenderhearted!”

“Kind” is the translation of chrēstos, which is derived from the verb chraomai, meaning “to furnish what is needed” or “to treat well.” Chrēstos, when used of people, means “useful toward others, that is, good-natured, gentle, or kind.”

The word “tenderhearted” is translated from eusplagchnos. This word is made up of eu, meaning “good” or “well” and splagchnon, meaning “intestine” or “bowel.” The Greeks believed that the intestines were the source of emotions. Thus, “good intestined,” as eusplagchnos literally means, refers to the characteristic of having good feelings, especially compassion, for others.

“Forgiving” is from charidzomai, which is derived from charis, meaning “grace” or “a favor freely given.” Charidzomai means “to be gracious or to forgive someone.”

The first occurrence of “one another” is from allēlōn, meaning “one another” or “each other.” The second occurrence of “one another” is translated from heautou, meaning “yourselves.”

 

Meaning Explained

Back in verse twenty-two the Apostle Paul told us to “put off … the old man,” that is “quit living under the influence of your sin nature.” Then, in verse twenty-four he told us to “put on the new man,” the new nature that God created for us. Since then, Paul has been telling us what it means to live under the influence of this new nature. Yesterday, he instructed us to do away with bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, and all badness.

Earlier we learned that we all should be using our spiritual gifts in the building up of the body of Christ. In today’s verse, Paul is not talking about specific gifts, but general attitudes that should replace those things he told us to stop doing yesterday. The first thing he tells us is that we should be kind, gentle, or useful to each other. The second thing is to be tenderhearted to each other; that is, we should demonstrate compassionate care for each other. If every church member were to regularly demonstrate kindness and compassion to everyone else in the church, no one would ever want to leave.

The third thing Paul tells us in today’s verse is that we should be forgiving. After all, he says, each one of us has been forgiven so much by God through the blood of Christ that we should willingly forgive others for what they have done to us. But notice that Paul used the pronoun heautou (yourselves) in reference to forgiveness. We need to be freely forgiving of others in the church, but we also need to be freely forgiving of ourselves. God has forgiven us, so we should too.

Keep in mind that forgiveness, as God defines it, does not simply mean saying “That’s OK” or “I forgive you” to the one asking forgiveness. It means to “throw away” the offense (as far as the East is from the West), which means you can no longer hold on to it. It is discarded and forgotten – completely!

 

Application

Of the three attitudes that Paul admonishes us to exhibit in today’s verse, forgiveness may be the most important. Let’s all commit to be completely forgiving of others this week, and let’s be forgiving of ourselves as well.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

1 Corinthians 2:12 – Free and Undeserved

Posted on by Will

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

Truth to Learn

God freely reveals Himself to Christians through His Spirit.

Behind the Words

Lambanō is the Greek word translated “we have received.” It means “to take.” However, it is sometimes used in the sense of “to receive that which is given.” This seems to be the meaning that Paul is expressing here. It is written here in the aorist tense, indicating past completed action.

The words “we might know” are from the Greek verb eidō, which we saw in yesterday’s verse, meaning “to know” or “to understand.” It is written here in the subjunctive mood indicating the possibility or probability of it happening.

“Have been freely given” is the translation of the verb charidzomai. It is derived from charis, meaning “a favor done without pre-condition or expectation of anything in return.” Therefore, charidzomai means “to give freely, not under any obligation and without expectation.” It is expressed here in the passive voice, indicating something done to or for us.

Meaning Explained

Paul has been talking about the mystery of God’s wisdom in His plan of salvation. He told us that this mystery is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit . Also, he has been comparing God’s wisdom with the “wisdom” of the world system around us. He now says that the Spirit which we have received from God is distinctly different from the spirit of the world because, as we learned in yesterday's verse, only the Spirit of God knows the deep things of God.

If we look carefully at this section of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, we will see that he talks about three aspects of the working of the Holy Spirit. In verses ten and eleven he talked about the work of revelation of the things of God. In this verse and the next he talks about the work of inspiration in our knowing and communicating the things of God. And, in verses fourteen through sixteen he will talk about the work of illumination regarding the things of God.

There has been some discussion over the centuries as to specifically who Paul is referring to as “we” in the first part of this verse. Some believe that he is only referring to the apostles to whom these truths were initially revealed and who wrote them down for our edification. This seems to be the main emphasis in what Paul is saying here. However, it is equally true that the Holy Spirit performs these works in every Christian in revealing God’s truth to us, in inspiring us with the right words to say as we share these truths to others, and in illuminating our minds and the minds of those to whom we communicate God’s word.

In whatever manner we interpret these works of the Holy Spirit; it is clear that the revelation of the mystery of the gospel message is yet another gift to us from God. More importantly, this gift is given, not because we have done anything to earn it, but because He chose to do so.

Application

When was the last time you thanked God for making Himself known to you? He didn’t have to and we certainly haven’t done anything to deserve it. Let’s give Him thanks right now!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2013 Will Krause. All rights reserved

 

Ephesians 4:32 – Kindness, Compassion, and Forgiveness

Posted on by Will

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Truth to Learn

Kindness, compassion, and forgiveness are of vital importance within the church.

Behind the Words

The verb “be” is translated from ginomai, meaning “to cause to be” or “to become.” It is expressed here in the imperative mood indicating a command for us to “become kind and tenderhearted!”

“Kind” is the translation of chrēstos, which is derived from the verb chraomai, meaning “to furnish what is needed” or “to treat well.” Chrēstos, when used of people, means “useful toward others, that is, good-natured, gentle, or kind.”

The word “tenderhearted” is translated from eusplagchnos. This word is made up of eu, meaning “good” or “well” and splagchnon, meaning “intestine” or “bowel.” The Greeks believed that the intestines were the source of emotions. Thus, “good intestined,” as eusplagchnos literally means, refers to the characteristic of having good feelings, especially compassion for others.

“Forgiving” is from charidzomai, which is derived from charis, meaning “grace” or “a favor freely given.” Charidzomai means “to be gracious or to forgive someone.”

The first occurrence of “one another” is from allēlōn, meaning “one another” or “each other.” The second occurrence of “one another” is translated from heautou, meaning “yourselves.”

Meaning Explained

Back in verse twenty-two the Apostle Paul told us to “put off … the old man,” that is “quit living under the influence of your sin nature.” Then in verse twenty-four he told us to “put on the new man,” the new nature that God created for us. Since then, Paul has told us what it means to live under the influence of this new nature. Yesterday, he instructed us to do away with bitterness, anger, wrath, clamor, blasphemy, and all badness.

Earlier we learned that we all should be using our spiritual gifts in the building up of the body of Christ. In today’s verse, Paul is not talking about specific gifts, but general attitudes that should replace those things he told us to stop doing yesterday. The first thing he tells us is that we should be kind, gentle, or useful to each other. The second thing is to be tenderhearted to each other; that is, we should demonstrate compassionate care for each other. If every church member were to regularly demonstrate kindness and compassion to everyone else in the church, no one would ever want to leave.

The third thing Paul tells us in today’s verse is that we should be forgiving. After all, he says, each one of us has been forgiven so much by God through the blood of Christ that we should willingly forgive others for what they have done to us. But notice that Paul used the pronoun heautou (yourselves) in reference to forgiveness. We need to be freely forgiving of others in the church, but we also need to be freely forgiving of ourselves. God has forgiven us, so we should too.

Application

Of the three attitudes that Paul admonishes us to exhibit in today’s verse, forgiveness may be the most important. Let’s all commit to be completely forgiving of others this week, and let’s be forgiving of ourselves as well.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

Romans 8:32 – All Things Given

Posted on by Will

Romans 8:32 – All Things Given

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Truth to Learn

God has freely given us the payment for our sins and has also freely given us everything we need to be godly people.

Behind the Words

The word “spare” is translated from pheidomai, which means “to spare” or “to treat leniently.” God was not lenient toward His Son, but gave Him to suffer for you and me.

“Delivered” is translated from paradidōmi, which is made up of para, meaning “beside, to the side of, or over to” and didōmi, meaning “to give.” Hence, it means “to give over to” or “to surrender to.”

The word translated “freely give” is charidzomai, which means “to willingly bestow an undeserved favor.” This same word is translated “having forgiven you” in Colossians 2:13.

Meaning Explained

Paul has just declared, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” We know from other passages of Scripture that God is Almighty, that is, All Powerful. No one is more powerful than God (our father is stronger than their father). But, just because He can do anything to protect us and defend us doesn’t mean that He will make our lives one of ease and prosperity. In fact, because He is an all-knowing God, He knows what things will make us most Christ-like. He knows that times of trial and difficulties in our lives will make us stronger. That’s precisely the issue that Paul is addressing in this verse.

God the Father, did not spare His only Son, Jesus. In fact, God the Father, sent His only Son to live a perfect life and then freely offered that life as a substitutionary sacrifice to pay for your sins and mine. He permitted His precious Son to be subjected to one of the most cruel and painful tortures ever invented by the sin-sick minds of man. Then, once our sins were paid for, He then declared us to be righteous and adopted us as His children. That has been His plan since before time began and nothing can alter that plan.

So, Paul’s point in this verse is very simple; if God is willing to offer up His only Son so that He could adopt us as His children as well, He must really love us. And if He loves us this much, surely He will freely give us all that we need, or as Paul put it; “how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

But what does Paul mean by “all things?” The Apostle Peter gives us the answer to that question in his second general epistle to the church:

as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, (2Peter 1:3)

Thus we see that in addition to giving the life of His Son to pay the penalty that we can’t pay ourselves, God gives us everything we need to live full lives as godly people.

Application

Not only is our Father the strongest around, He loves us more than we can comprehend! And, now that you know that you have everything you need to live a godly life, what are you going to do about it?

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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