Tag: echthra

Romans 8:7 – Submission or Rebellion?

Posted on by Will

Because the carnal mind is enmity toward God; for it is not submitted to the law of God, indeed it can’t be.

Truth to Learn

When we’re controlled by our flesh, we’re not submitted to God, we’re in open rebellion to Him.

 

Behind the Words

This current verse starts off with the Greek word dioti, which is a compound word made up of dia, meaning “through” and hoti, meaning “that.” So, literally it means, “through that” or “because of the fact that.” In other words, this verse explains why it is true that “to be carnally minded is death.”

The word translated “enmity” is the Greek word echthra, which means “the hatred and hostility openly displayed against one’s enemy.” It is most often translated as “enmity,” although in Galatians 5:20 it is translated as “hatred.”

“Submitted” is from the Greek word hupotassō, which is made up of hupo (or hypo), meaning “under” and tassō, meaning “to arrange in an orderly manner” or “to rank.” It is a military term meaning to place in rank under someone else’s authority.

 

Meaning Explained

The current verse answers the first half of the previous verse:

For to be carnally minded is death

The reason, according to Paul, is:

Because the carnal mind is enmity toward God

The reason that being fleshly minded is death is because it is in open hostility to God. Therefore, it cannot be in submission to God or His law. When we place ourselves in a position of submission to another, we are by definition at peace with them and recognize their authority over us. When we refuse to be in submission, we rise up in revolt and are by definition in open hostility and rebellion against their authority. They are opposite ends of the spectrum and are mutually exclusive. That is, you can’t be both in submission and in rebellion. You are either one or the other. In fact, Paul goes on to tell us that when we are being controlled by our flesh, we cannot place ourselves in submission to God. It’s impossible!

When we are being carnally minded, when we are allowing our fleshly lusts to control our thoughts and actions, we are not being submissive to God and we are, in fact, in open rebellion to His will. When we are in open rebellion to God, we have separated ourselves from Him. This, by definition, means that we are dead to God; we have broken fellowship with Him and we are not at peace.

 

Application

Do you have those times when you feel lifeless and totally separated from God? That’s the effect of sin. It breaks our fellowship with God. Were it not for the grace of God through the blood of Christ, we could never restore that fellowship. But because of what Christ did for us, we can come to the throne of grace, confessing our sins and having our fellowship restored because God has declared us righteous.

Do you feel lifeless and separated from God right now? Do you? Be honest with yourself!

If you do, get down on your knees and do something about it!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 2:15 – No Distinction

Posted on by Will

in His flesh having done away with the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, making peace,

Truth to Learn

In the church there is no distinction between races or sexes.

 

Behind the Words

The word “flesh” is from sarx, which refers to “the flesh of a living creature in distinction from that of a dead one.” This word is often used metaphorically in reference to the sensual part of a person’s being. However, in today’s verse it is used to refer to the physical portion of Christ’s body which was sacrificed as payment for our sins.

“Having done away with” is translated from the Greek verb katargeō. This is made up of kata, used as an intensifier and the verb argeō, meaning “to be inactive” or “to be idle.” Thus, katargeō means “to make something completely inactive,” “to abolish,” or “to do away with.”

The word “enmity” is from echthra, which refers to “hatred” or “hostility.” It is also used metaphorically, as it is here, to refer to the cause for such hatred or hostility.

“Commandments” comes from the Greek noun entolē. This is derived from the verb entellomai, meaning “to charge” or “to command.” It refers to “a charge” or “an edict” as from a public or religious authority.

Dogma is the Greek word translated “ordinances.” It is derived from the verb dokeō, meaning “to think.” Dogma actually refers to “an opinion, proposition, or conclusion,” not to “a firmly fixed religious truth” as it is frequently used today.

 

Meaning Explained

In yesterday’s verse Paul introduced us to the idea that Christ is the one who made peace between the Jews and the Gentiles. He did so by destroying the partitioning wall between us. In the Greek text the word translated enmity (echthra) immediately follows the words translated “the middle wall of separation.” Being placed in apposition (side by side) like this indicates that enmity further defines “the middle wall of separation” not “the law of commandments.” So, an alternate translation of verses fourteen and fifteen might be:

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, even the enmity, by having deactivated in His flesh the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, making peace,

Now, what we learn here is that Christ completely fulfilled the Law, and then He offered up His sinless life as the sacrificial lamb (completing the fulfillment of the law). In so doing, His righteousness can now be credited to all who believe. Therefore, the enmity between Jews and Gentiles, like the wall that separated us in the Temple court, has been destroyed. And, by fully satisfying the law and offering Himself as the sacrificial lamb, He has deactivated the Law of Moses.

In the book of Romans, Paul goes to great lengths to show that we are no longer bound by the law, as slaves to it like the Jews were. Instead, we have a new master, God, who has purchased our redemption and has adopted us as His children. Now that the enmity has been destroyed, we are at peace with our Jewish brothers in Christ. Together we all make up the body of Christ and we work together in serving God.

 

Application

In the church, the body of Christ, there is no distinction between the races or the sexes as there was in the Jewish faith. We are all one in Christ, co-equal servants of Almighty God.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

James 4:4 – The World, or God?

Posted on by Will

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Truth to Learn

Buying into the world system, its values, ideals, and desires is a sure way to alienate yourself from God.

Behind the Words

The oldest manuscripts do not have “Adulterers and,” starting out the verse simply with “Adulteresses!”

The expression “Do you not know,” translated from ouk oidate, is difficult to translate into English with its full meaning. Ouk represents the absolute negative in Greek and the word oidate means “to see or perceive.” This verb is expressed in the perfect tense indicating a past, completed action with an ongoing result with the emphasis being on the result. So James is saying “Have you not recognized and now understand?”

Exhthra is the Greek word translated “enmity.” It refers specifically to hostility or hatred.

The word translated “wants” is boulomai, which expresses the desirous will. It is written here in the subjunctive mood indicating that it is likely not happening currently but possibly could. It might be translated as “Whoever might want …”

The words “makes himself” are translated from the verb kathistēmi. This is made up of kata, meaning “down” and histēmi, meaning “to stand” or “to be placed.” Hence, it refers to something that is firmly standing or firmly placed. It appears here in the middle voice indicating action that is done to or for the subject, by the subject.

Meaning Explained

Why does James call us adulteresses? Is he only talking to women? No. Does he think that none of us can remain faithful to our spouse? Certainly not! James is using the term in a spiritual sense. As Christians, our relationship to Christ is likened to a marriage relationship. The church is rightfully called “The Bride of Christ.” We are engaged to him now, the marriage will take place after the rapture, and will be followed by the wedding feast and a heavenly honeymoon! If we are spiritually unfaithful, meaning we place greater importance in something else than in our relationship to God, then we have committed idolatry, which is spiritual adultery.

James says that friendship with the world is idolatrous. The word translated “world” is kosmos. It does not refer to the physical earth, but to the world system. Christians need to be different than the unsaved inhabitants of this world. We need to guard against being caught up in all the trappings of the world system. And, in spite of what many are preaching today, we do not want to be world friendly! Otherwise, James says, we place ourselves in the position of being God’s enemies! We should be friends with those who are caught up in the world so we can be witnesses to them, but we must not buy in to their values, ideals, or goals.

Application

Christians should be distinctly different from those who are caught up in the world. We don’t need to be weirdly different. Instead, we should be delightfully different. Now, that’s something to think about!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 2:15 – No Distinction

Posted on by Will

Ephesians 2:15  – No Distinction

having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,

Truth to Learn

In the church there is no distinction between races or sexes.

Behind the Words

“Having abolished” is translated from the Greek verb katargeō. This is made up of kata, used as an intensifier and the verb argeō, meaning “to be inactive” or “to be idle.” Thus, katargeō means “to make something completely inactive.”

The word “enmity” is from echthra, which refers to “hatred” or “hostility.” It is also used metaphorically, as it is here, to refer to the cause for such hatred or hostility.

“Commandments” comes from the Greek noun entolē. This is derived from the verb entellomai, meaning “to charge” or “to command.” It refers to “a charge” or “an edict” as from a public or religious authority.

Dogma is the Greek word translated “ordinances.” It is derived from the verb dokeō, meaning “to think.” Dogma actually refers to “an opinion, proposition, or conclusion,” not to “a firmly fixed religious truth” as it is frequently used today.

Meaning Explained

In yesterday’s verse Paul introduced us to the idea that Christ is the one who made peace between the Jews and the Gentiles. He did so by destroying the partitioning wall between us. In the Greek text the word translated enmity (echthra) immediately follows the words translated “the middle wall of separation.” Being placed in apposition (side by side) like this indicates that enmity further defines “the middle wall of separation” not “the law of commandments.” So, a better translation of verses fourteen and fifteen might be:

For He is our peace, who made both one and destroyed the middle wall of separation, even the enmity, by having deactivated in His flesh the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, making peace,

Now, what we learn here is that Christ completely fulfilled the Law, and then He offered up His sinless life as the sacrificial lamb (completing the fulfillment of the law). In so doing, His righteousness can now be credited to all who believe. Therefore, the enmity between Jews and Gentiles, like the wall that separated us in the Temple court, has been destroyed. And, by fully satisfying the law and offering Himself as the sacrificial lamb, He has deactivated the Law of Moses.

In the book of Romans, Paul goes to great lengths to show that we are no longer bound by the law as slaves to it like the Jews were. Instead, we have a new master, God, who has purchased our redemption and has adopted us as His children. Now that the enmity has been destroyed, we are at peace with our Jewish brothers in Christ. Together we all make up the body of Christ and we work together in serving God.

Application

In the church, the body of Christ, there is no distinction between the races or the sexes as there was in the Jewish faith. We are all one in Christ, co-equal servants of Almighty God.

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 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, send an e-mail to:

Romans 8:7 – Submission or Rebellion?

Posted on by Will

Romans 8:7

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

Truth to Learn

When we’re controlled by our flesh, we’re not submitted to God, we’re in open rebellion to Him.

Behind the Words

This current verse starts off with the Greek word dioti, which is a compound word made up of dia, meaning “through” and hoti, meaning “that.” So, literally it means, “through that” or “because of the fact that.” In other words, this verse explains why it is true that “to be carnally minded is death.”

The word translated “enmity” is the Greek word echthra, which means “the hatred and hostility openly displayed against one’s enemy.” It is most often translated as “enmity,” although in Galatians 5:20 it is translated as “hatred.”

“Subject” is from the Greek word hupotassō, which is made up of hupo (or hypo), meaning “under” and tassō, meaning “to arrange in an orderly manner” or “to rank.” It is a military term meaning to place in rank under someone else’s authority.

Meaning Explained

The current verse answers the first half of the previous verse:

For to be carnally minded is death

The reason, according to Paul, is:

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God

The reason that being fleshly minded is death is because it is in open hostility to God. Therefore, it cannot be in submission to God or His law. When we place ourselves in a position of submission to another, we are by definition at peace with them and recognize their authority over us. When we refuse to be in submission, we rise up in revolt and are by definition in open hostility and rebellion against their authority. They are opposite ends of the spectrum and are mutually exclusive. That is, you can’t be both in submission and in rebellion. You are either one or the other. In fact, Paul goes on to tell us that when we are being controlled by our flesh, we cannot place ourselves in submission to God. It’s impossible!

When we are being carnally minded, when we are allowing our fleshly lusts to control our thoughts and actions, we are not being submissive to God and we are, in fact, in open rebellion to His will. When we are in open rebellion to God, we have separated ourselves from Him. This, by definition, means that we are dead to God; we have broken fellowship with Him and we are not at peace.

Application

Do you have those times when you feel lifeless and totally separated from God? That’s the effect of sin. It breaks our fellowship with God. Were it not for the grace of God through the blood of Christ, we could never restore that fellowship. But because of what Christ did for us, we can come to the throne of grace, confessing our sins and having our fellowship restored because God has declared us righteous.

Do you feel lifeless and separated from God right now? Do you? Be honest with yourself!

If you do, get down on your knees and do something about it!

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, send an e-mail to:e-mail address