mataios – Ministry of Grace Church

Tag: mataios

1 Peter 1:18 – Incorruptible Ransom

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Will

knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,

Truth to Learn

The price of our salvation was of great worth and is eternal.

Behind the Words

The word translated “redeemed” is a form of lutroō. This word means “to pay a ransom for another’s freedom.” It carries the idea of a person being held without the ability to escape and released only when a sufficient ransom price was paid.

“Aimless” is translated from mataios, meaning “to no purpose” or “fruitless.” It is a picture of someone wandering through this life without any purpose or destination in mind.

The phrase “received by tradition from your fathers” is translated from the Greek word patroparadotos. This is made up of pater, meaning “father” and a form of paradidōmi, meaning “to deliver.” It refers to something handed down by tradition from father to son. It is used here in reference to our aimless manner of living.

Meaning Explained

Before coming to faith in Christ, we were captured and in bondage to sin. The only payment that could set us free was life itself. But God, in His infinite mercy, offered the life of His only begotten Son in exchange for our life, as the acceptable ransom payment to set us free.

Peter here reminds us that the price of our salvation, the ransom for deliverance from the punishment of sin, has already been paid. But it was not paid with those things which we consider valuable like gold and silver. In fact, as we saw in verse seven, Peter refers to gold and silver as perishable things because they have no lasting value. But the blood of the sinless Lamb of God has eternal value.

He also tells us here that the life we were living before salvation, living under the bondage of sin, was characterized by wandering without purpose. But now that the ransom has been paid and applied to our account, we can choose to live for God (even though we don’t always do it). We now have a purpose in life!

Peter is telling us that we should do good works, works with lasting value, because we were redeemed with something of lasting value. He goes on further to say that the manner of life we had before we were saved was vain, that is, worthless or empty. We were delivered from a worthless life by something very precious, therefore we should be holy and make our new life worth something by putting works of value into the remainder of our life.

Application

Before salvation we were not free to live as we choose. We were slaves to sin and had no choice but to live for self. Now that we have been ransomed with the blood of Christ, we can choose to live for self or to live for God.

Who do you choose to live for?

In God's service, for His glory,

James 1:26 – Tongue Control

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Will

If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.

Truth to Learn

Controlling what we say and how we say it is a clear indication of the degree to which we are submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Behind the Words

The word translated “thinks” is dokeō. According to The Complete Word Study Dictionary, this word, “expresses the subjective mental estimate or opinion formed by man concerning a matter.” So, this could be translated as “think, imagine, or consider.”

“Religious” is translated from thrēskos, which refers to the ceremonial service of religion. It expresses the external actions of religion whereas the Greek word eusebeia refers to the inward piety of the soul.

The word translated “bridle” is the Greek word chalinagōgeō, which is a compound word made up of chalinos, meaning “a bridle” and agō, which is a verb meaning “to lead or direct.” Hence, this word refers to restraining or controlling something (the tongue).

Finally, “useless” is translated from the Greek word mataios, which means “something which has no purpose” like chasing one’s own shadow.

Meaning Explained

Many of us have heard the saying “religion is man doing what he can to try to earn God’s pleasure.” Christianity, on the other hand, is believing that God loves us enough to have sent His own Son to die on the cross as payment for our sins. Religious activities without faith in Christ are worthless. But, religious activities that spring from faith can be evidence that we have a relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Each of us does things that are religious: we go to church, we read our Bible, we pray, and we do good things for others. As a result, we believe ourselves to be fairly religious. James is cautioning us, however, that if we think of ourselves as being religious and don’t have control of our tongue, then we are deluding ourselves and our religion is worthless and meaningless.

But what does he mean to “bridle the tongue?” Literally, it means to have restraining control of our language, the things that we say. The image here is of a man putting a bridle in his own mouth to have control over his tongue. A person’s ability to bridle his tongue is a reference back to verse 19 where James said:

Know this, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger

If we cannot control our tongue then we are not slow to speak and our witness for Christ as demonstrated through our actions of faith are without purpose or effect.

Application

The things we say and the way we say them are clear evidence of our own submission to and obedience to Christ. If we can control our speech, we are well on our way to being Christ-like.

How is your tongue, is it under control, or do you need to fit yourself with a tongue bridle?

In God's service, for His glory,

1 Corinthians 3:20 – God’s Way, Not the World’s

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Will

and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."

Truth to Learn

God’s way is the only way to present God’s truths.

Behind the Words

The word translated “again” is palin. This is probably derived from pale, which refers to a back-and-forth struggle. Palin means “again” or “once more.”

“Thoughts” is from dialogismos, which is made up of dia, meaning “through” but used here as an intensifier and a form of logidzomai (from which we get our English word logic), meaning “to reason” or “to consider.” Hence, dialogismos refers to the notion of “thinking through a plan or scheme.”

The word “futile” is translated from the Greek word mataios, which refers to activity that has no purpose (it is meaningless) or that is useless or futile.

Meaning Explained

Paul now employs another quotation from the Old Testament. It is Psalms 94:11, which says:

The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

If you look at the context of this quotation, you will see that the writer is talking about the LORD’s vengeance against proud and wicked men. It starts off with:

O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongs— O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth! Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render punishment to the proud. LORD, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph? They utter speech, and speak insolent things; all the workers of iniquity boast in themselves. (Psalms 94:1-4)

This is a very apt description of the teachers in the church in Corinth who had adopted the methods of the sophists in order to attract the admiration of those they were teaching. If you look at the verses immediately following the one Paul quoted here, it says:

Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O LORD, and teach out of Your law, that You may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance. But judgment will return to righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it. (Psalms 94:12-15)

Those people in the Corinthian church who knew their Scriptures would have immediately recognized what Paul was saying. This is a poignant criticism aimed directly at the teachers. It is as if Paul were saying to them, “If you know your Scripture, you will recognize what God says about those who follow the ways of the world. Such methods of teaching are useless and only God’s ways and God’s truth will prevail.”

Application

You who teach God’s word, do not rely on your speaking skills or worldly methods when you teach other Christians. Rely on God’s truth, presented in a plain and simple manner letting God produce the fruit and He will get all the praise and glory.

In God's service, for His glory,