Tag: kindness

Romans 11:22 – Goodness and Severity

Posted on by Will

Therefore consider the kindness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, kindness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

Truth to Learn

God demonstrates both His goodness and His severity!

 

Behind the Words

“Kindness” is translated from the Greek word chrēstotēs, which is based on the noun chrēstos, meaning “employed” or “useful.” Chrēstotēs refers to “goodness, kindness, usefulness, or moral excellence.” It is part of the natural character of God’s being.

In light of the metaphor that Paul has been using, that of an olive tree with branches being cut-off and others being grafted in, his use of the word “severity” here is quite intriguing. This is translated from the Greek word apotomia, which is made up of apo, meaning “from” or “away from” and a form of temnō, meaning “to cut.” So, you see, even though it is commonly translated as “severity” it literally means “cut-off-ness.” This is also part of God’s character and an apt description of Him, given the metaphor of olive branch cutting and engrafting.

 

Meaning Explained

Paul has just issued a warning to us Gentiles not to be arrogant regarding the fact that God cut-off the Jews as a people and grafted us in. He is now showing two of the qualities of God; on the one hand, kindness, and on the other hand, severity. We all want to think of God’s kindness and the fact that “God is love,” but we tend to overlook His severity and the fact that He is holy (perfectly righteous and without sin). His holiness also means that He must judge sin and separate the sinner from Himself. That’s very severe!

Keep in mind that Paul is portraying God as the holy gardener. A good gardener knows that useless and dying branches must be cut off and other branches engrafted if the tree is going to continue to flourish. In a typical olive grove, trees are often hundreds of years old due to proper cutting (severity) and careful in-grafting (goodness).

Let me pause to clarify who Paul is talking to in these verses. Beginning back in verse seventeen, the use of the second person personal pronoun “you” is “you singular,” not “you plural.” In the King James Version you will notice the use of “thee” or “thou,” not “you.” Therefore, some might interpret this part of Romans eleven as a warning that a person can lose his or her salvation if he or she stops believing. However, notice that throughout this passage Paul is contrasting Jews and Gentiles, not believers and unbelievers. In the Bible, individual nations are often referred to in the second person singular. Therefore, these warnings are to individual Gentiles or individual Gentile nations, not individual believers.

Paul is telling us that God has shown severity (cut-off-ness) to those who have fallen (Jews, plural, who refused to believe), but He has shown kindness  to individual Gentiles or Gentile nations. This goodness is in the form of “the fatness of the root” as he told us in verse seventeen. Paul now restates his warning to the Gentile nations that if we don’t continue in His goodness, we as a people or a nation, will also be cut-off.

 

Application

There are many nations today that receive the blessing of God’s goodness, but there is coming a day when the church will be removed and the Gentile nations will receive God’s severity (cut-off-ness) because of their lack of belief. They will be cut-off, and God will once again engraft the Jewish people.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 2:4 – God’s Goodness, Not Ours

Posted on by Will

Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

Truth to Learn

Our salvation is a result of God’s goodness, not ours.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “despise” is kataphroneō, which is made up of kata, meaning “against” or denoting evil and phroneō, meaning “to think.” Hence, kataphroneō means “to think evil of.”

 “Riches” is translated from ploutos, based on a root meaning “fullness.” It refers to the fullness of possessions.

The word “kindness” is from krēstotēs, meaning “moral excellence, kindness, or goodness.”

“Forbearance” is from anochēs, which is based on the word anechō, made up of ana, meaning “up” and echō, meaning “to have or hold.” Anochēs means “forbearance, self-restraint, or patience.”

The word “longsuffering” is from macrothumia, which is composed of macros, meaning “long” and thumos, which refers to “anger, fierceness or wrath.” This word refers to God’s ability to hold back His fierce wrath for a long time.

“Repentance” is translated from a form of metanoeō, made up of meta indicating “a change of place or condition” and noeō, meaning “to think or comprehend.” Hence we see that this word refers to a change in the way we think about something.

 

Meaning Explained

Now, putting this all together we find that Paul is asking, “Do you think evil of the great value of God’s moral excellence, His self-restraint, and His holding back His wrath, ignoring the fact that God’s moral excellence is what leads you to repentance?” What Paul is saying is, “God is very patient and suffers the pain of our sin against Him. And because He is so good, instead of squashing us like ants, He actually takes us by the hand and leads us to an attitude of repentance!”

The picture is like that of a loving father who, when his son or daughter has done something wrong, takes the time and effort to lovingly explain the effect of their wrongful action so that they realize they have done wrong and tell their father they’re sorry, asking for forgiveness. The real beauty of this is the fact that without God’s longsuffering and patience and His loving, leading way, we would not repent. For, as Paul says, “the kindness of God leads you to repentance.”

Our sin nature is ever present and it is powerful. Without the greater power of God through His kindness and without His willingness to hold back His righteous anger against our sins, we would not repent of our sinfulness. And without this repentance we would not be saved from our sins.

Praise be to God for His kindness!

 

Application

If this doesn’t cause you to fall to your knees with a prayer of thankfulness to God for His kindness, then you don’t underestimate the effect of your sinfulness in the presence of a holy God. God must judge sin, but He loves you as His precious child.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 2:7 – Priceless Grace

Posted on by Will

that in the ages coming He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Truth to Learn

God’s grace is priceless.

 

Behind the Words

The word “ages” is from aiōn, which refers to a duration or continuance of time. As used here, it refers to “an indefinitely long period of time.”

“Coming” is translated from eperchomai, which is composed or epi, meaning “on, upon, to, over, or above” and erchomai, meaning “to come.” It is expressed as a present participle, so we could translate this as “coming upon us.”

The Greek word translated “He might show” is endeiknumi, which is made up of en, meaning “in” or “to” and deiknumi, meaning “to point out” or “to present for viewing.” We might translate this word as “to showcase.” It is expressed here in the middle voice (action done by the subject to the subject), so it could be translated as “He might showcase for himself.”

“Exceeding” is from the Greek verb huperballō, which is made up of huper (hyper), meaning “above” or “beyond” and ballō, meaning “to throw.” Thus huperballō literally means “to throw beyond,” that is, “to go beyond” or “to exceed.”

“Riches” is the translation of the Greek word ploutos, which refers to “wealth composed of valuable things.”

The Greek word translated “kindness” is chrēstotēs, which is based on chrēstos, meaning “usefulness” or “moral excellence.” Hence, chrēstotēs refers to “goodness” or “kindness.”

 

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse we learned that our merciful God did three things for us: He made us alive, He raised us up (resurrected us), and He caused us to sit in the heavenlies. Today’s verse explains why God decided to do this for us. Well, actually He didn’t do it for us. He did it for His own glory. Let me say that a little differently. God did not give us eternal life, raise us from the dead, and seat us in His presence for our sake. He did it for Himself to showcase His glorious grace.

According to the Apostle Paul, God did these things so that He could showcase, for Himself, the exceedingly great value of His grace, so that He would receive glory and praise. What is the value of grace? A couple of verses back we learned that God’s grace to us is undeserved “favor, good will, or kindness, especially that which causes joy and gratification.” Why is it undeserved? We are all sinners; that is, we are not righteous. And we know that the penalty for not being righteous is God’s wrath and eternity in hell. But, as a result of God’s grace, we who have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior will not experience hell because we have been made alive, resurrected, and seated in His presence.

So, let me ask again, “What is the value of grace?” There is not enough money in all the earth to purchase eternal life, resurrection, and a seat in God’s presence. God’s grace is more valuable than all we have or could ever possess. It is exceedingly valuable, and we can’t afford it.

 

Application

No, we can’t afford God’s grace. That’s why He freely gives it to us, not because we deserve it, but because we don’t. If we deserved it, it wouldn’t be grace; it would be something He owes us. God doesn’t owe us anything, but He gave it to us anyway, simply because He wanted to show how gracious and glorious He is!

I think it’s time once again to fall on our knees and thank God for His priceless grace. Thank you Lord!

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 2:7 – Priceless Grace

Posted on by Will

Ephesians 2:7  – Priceless Grace

that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Truth to Learn

God’s grace is priceless.

Behind the Words

The word “ages” is from aiōn, which refers to “an indefinitely long period of time.”

“To come” is translated from eperchomai, which is composed or epi, meaning “on, upon, to, over, or above” and erchomai, meaning “to come.” It is expressed as a present participle, so we could translate this as “coming upon us.”

The Greek word translated “He might show” is endeiknumi, which is made up of en, meaning “in” or “to” and deiknumi, meaning “to point out” or “to present for viewing.” We might translate this word as “to showcase.” It is expressed here in the middle voice (action done by the subject to the subject), so it could be translated as “He might showcase for himself.”

“Exceeding” is from the Greek verb huperballō, which is made up of huper (hyper), meaning “above” or “beyond” and ballō, meaning “to throw.” Thus huperballō literally means “to throw beyond,” that is, “to go beyond” or “to exceed.”

“Riches” is the translation of the Greek word ploutos, which refers to “wealth composed of valuable things.”

The Greek word translated “kindness” is chrēstotēs, which is based on chrēstos, meaning “usefulness” or “moral excellence.” Hence, chrēstotēs refers to “goodness” or “kindness.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse we learned that our merciful God did three things for us: He made us alive, He raised us up (resurrected us), and He caused us to sit in the heavenlies. Today’s verse explains why God decided to do this for us. Well, actually He didn’t do it for us. He did it for His own glory. Let me say that a little differently. God did not give us eternal life, raise us from the dead, and seat us in His presence for our sake.

According to the Apostle Paul, God did these things so that He could showcase, for Himself, the exceedingly great value of His grace, so that He would receive glory and praise. What is the value of grace? A couple of verses back we learned that God’s grace to us is undeserved “favor, good will, or kindness, especially that which causes joy and gratification.” Why is it undeserved? We are all sinners; that is, we are not righteous. And we know that the penalty for not being righteous is God’s wrath and eternity in hell. But, as a result of God’s grace, we who have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior will not experience hell because we have been made alive, resurrected, and seated in His presence.

So, let me ask again, “What is the value of grace?” There is not enough money in all the earth to purchase eternal life, resurrection, and a seat in God’s presence. God’s grace is more valuable than all we have or could ever possess. It is exceedingly valuable, and we can’t afford it.

Application

No, we can’t afford God’s grace. That’s why He freely gives it to us, not because we deserve it, but because we don’t. I think it’s time once again to fall on our knees and thank God for His priceless grace. Thank you Lord!

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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