Tag: martureo

Romans 3:21 – Righteousness Without Works

Posted on by Will

But now a righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

Truth to Learn

There is a righteousness, which the Old Testament declared, that does not result from obeying all the rules.

 

Behind the Words

“Righteousness” is from the Greek word dikaiosunē, a form of dikaios, which we looked at back in verse ten. Dikaios refers to “meeting God’s standard of behavior.” The sunē ending means that this is the characteristic of someone who has met that standard. That is, someone who has obtained “righteousness.”

The word translated “revealed” is phaneroō, which is derived from the verb phainō, meaning “to shine the light on” or “to cause to appear.” Therefore, phaneroō means “to make something apparent” or, as it is translated here, “to reveal.” It is expressed here in the perfect tense, indicating an action that occurred in the past, but with an ongoing effect, the emphasis being on the ongoing effect.

“Being witnessed” is translated from a form of martureō, from which we get our English word “martyr.” This word means “to be a witness.” Throughout the history of the church, during times of persecution many people have forfeited their lives because of their faith in Christ. We refer to these people as martyrs because their death was the witness of their faith.

 

Meaning Explained

In the last verse we said that no one is righteous before God by obeying a set of rules, period. This would have come as a major affront to any devout Jew whether they had become a Christian or not. To them, obeying the Law was how anyone became acceptable to God.

Now Paul is about to introduce the doctrine of justification by faith, but he had to show first that justification couldn’t come any other way. He says that the only true righteousness, the righteousness of God (or from God), a righteousness not resulting from obeying the Law, has already been revealed. Not only has it already been revealed but it has been witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets.

Paul is telling these Jewish Christians that their own Scriptures have testified against them and declared them all to be sinners. Also, he is telling them that the Scriptures have testified about a true type of righteousness which only comes from God.

In the next verse Paul is going to tell us that righteousness can only come by faith. He will also show that it’s not just any kind of faith and not faith in just anything.

And in the coming chapters of this letter, Paul will illustrate how the Old Testament declared and witnessed to this saving faith apart from the Law. He will use Abraham as his primary example and will show how Abraham was not justified (declared righteous) by God because he was obedient, rather he was declared righteous because he believed the message that God gave to him. Here’s one verse that Paul will quote from:

And he believed in the LORD, and He credited it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)

Abraham was not righteous because of any works he did. He was righteous because God declared him to be so.

 

Application

Do you want to stand before God as a righteous person? If so, then God must declare you to be righteous. He will only do that if you believe the truth about Jesus Christ; He is the Son of God and He died on the cross to pay for your sins.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

1 Thessalonians 2:11 – Father Paul

Posted on by Will

as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children,

Truth to Learn

We all need some comfort, encouragement, and challenge.

Behind the Words

“You know” is translated from the verb eidō, which means “to see with perception.” As in English, this verb can refer to visibly seeing something and perceiving what it is, or it can mean “to see with the mind,” that is, “to know.”

The word “exhorted” is from parakaleō. It is made up of para, meaning “to the side of” and kaleō, meaning “to call.” It is a picture of someone being “called alongside” for the purpose of coaching, encouraging, challenging, and comforting.

“Comforted” is translated from paramutheomai, which is made up of para, meaning “to the side of” and mutheomai, meaning “to make a speech” or “to tell a tale.” Paramutheomai means “to speak soothingly” or “to console.”

The word “charged” is from martureō, which literally means “to be a witness” or “to give a testimony.” As used here it probably means that Paul instructed and challenged them by using examples from his own life.

Meaning Explained

Back in verses six through eight, Paul used the metaphor of a mother caring for her infant children to show how tenderly he and his companions ministered to the Christians in Thessalonica. Now he changes his metaphor to that of a father. At the time this letter was written it was the mother’s responsibility to feed and care for the children. The father’s responsibility was to help the children mature, to challenge them, to encourage them, and to comfort them.

First of all, notice in the previous verse that Paul called the Thessalonians as witnesses of his behavior among them. Now he says that they know from observation how he raised them in the faith. These two facts further indicate the close relationship he had with the people who were under his spiritual care. He wasn’t some demagogue, preaching fire and brimstone from the pulpit while keeping his distance from his congregation. He was directly involved with them daily, on a personal level.

When the spiritual battles and hardships of life caused them to become discouraged, he encouraged them. When they experienced set-backs and failures, he comforted them. However, he didn’t let them wallow in their self-pity and he certainly didn’t coddle them. Instead, he challenged them to grow in their faith walk. He taught them the difficult aspects of walking closely with their God. He used examples from his own life to show them that we all have difficulties in this life, but we don’t give up. When our sin nature or life’s problems knock us down, we get back up and get back into the race. It’s this kind of discipline that makes us stronger. The writer of Hebrews said a similar thing about staying in the race:

… let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1b)

Application

Are you going through difficult times? Has life, or sin, knocked you down? If so, get back up, fix your eyes on God, get back in the race, and “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13).

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved