Tag: put to shame

Romans 10:11 – Unashamed Christians

Posted on by Will

For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

Truth to Learn

There is no shame in being called a Christian, and there is no shame in sharing the glorious news of salvation through faith.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “Scripture” is graphē, which is the noun form of graphō, properly meaning “to engrave” but by interpretation it means “to write.” Graphē, then refers to that which has been written. It was common practice among the people of the first century to refer to Holy Scripture with this word.

“Put to shame” is from the Greek word kataischunō, which is made up of kata, used as a negative intensifier and aischunō, meaning “to be ashamed of oneself.” Thus we see that this word means “to put to shame” or “to humiliate.”

 

Meaning Explained

In the previous two verses Paul stated one of the most blessed truths that mankind has ever heard, namely that a heartfelt belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and a verbal confession that He is Lord results in a person receiving the righteousness of God and the promise of salvation from the penalty of his or her sins.

Paul now quotes a portion of a passage from Isaiah 28:16 which says,

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I lay a foundation stone in Zion — a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily.”

You will notice, however, that the ending of this verse in Isaiah is different from what Paul says in Romans. That is because Paul, as is normally his practice, is quoting from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of what we call the Old Testament. And, in reality, the two are saying the same thing, for what Isaiah means by “whoever believes will not act hastily” is that he will not make haste to run away from the sufferings he meets with in the way of his duty. That is, he will not be ashamed of his religion even though he and it are despised by others.

One of the things that Paul is doing by quoting this verse from Isaiah is demonstrating to the Jewish Christians in Rome that there really is no difference between how the Jews are saved and how Christians are saved. We will say more about this in the next verse.

Paul’s point in the current verse is that anyone who truly believes in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and confesses him as Lord will never be ashamed to declare Jesus Christ as Lord. As we said in the previous verse, anyone who is truly saved wants to confess it to others and, as a result, wants to tell others how to be saved.

 

Application

Have you confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? If so, you should be unashamed, even eager, to share the gospel message with those around you.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

1 Corinthians 1:27 – God’s “Foolish” Choice

Posted on by Will

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

Truth to Learn

God purposely choose weak and foolish sinners to be His.

Behind the Words

The words “has chosen” are from the Greek verb eklegō. This word is made up of ek, meaning “out” or “out of” and legō, meaning “to select” or “to choose.” Thus, eklegō means “to choose out” or “to select out.” It is expressed in the aorist tense, indicating action that was completed at a point in time in the past. It is also expressed in the middle voice, indicating something that the subject (God) has done to or for Himself.

“Put to shame” is translated from the verb kataischunō, which is made up of kata, meaning “down” (used here as an intensifier) and aischunō meaning “to put to shame.” Kataischunō literally means “to shame down, to disgrace, or completely put to shame.”

Asthenēs is the Greek word translated “weak things.” It is composed of the privative a, meaning “without” and sthenos, which refers to “physical strength.”

Ischuros it the word translated “things which are mighty.” It literally means “strong, mighty, or powerful things.”

Meaning Explained

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul has put together an exquisite rhetorical argument against those who put their faith in the world system. It started back in verse eighteen where he said, “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” He then went on to show how foolish the supposed “wisdom” of the world is compared to God’s wisdom and how weak the “strength” of the world is compared to God’s strength. He further declared that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” In yesterday’s verse, he pointed his finger directly at the Corinthians (and at us) declaring that very few of us who have been called into His family are worldly wise, powerful, or of noble birth.

Now, in this verse and the two that follow, Paul spotlights the true wisdom in God’s plan. Here he says that God intentionally chose people for Himself who are foolish in the eyes of the world and people who are weak in the eyes of the world. Notice that God had purpose in His choosing. For those who don’t accept the doctrine of election, preferring to believe that God’s choice was based on who would eventually believe the gospel, such thinking contradicts what Paul is teaching here. If God's choice was based upon who would believe the good news, then there would have been a more random cross section of humanity chosen. Instead, God purposely focused His selection primarily on those of us who are weak and foolish.

Why would He do such a thing? Paul says that His purpose has always been to demonstrate to the wise and powerful that they are the real fools. One day they will stand before the wise and powerful Judge and their shame will be overwhelming.

Application

These truths should once again drive us to our knees in thankfulness that He chose us weak, foolish, undeserving sinners to be His children. And God gets all the glory!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2013 Will Krause. All rights reserved

 

Romans 10:11 – Unashamed Christians

Posted on by Will

Romans 10:11 – Unashamed Christians

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

Truth to Learn

There is no shame in being called a Christian, and there is no shame in sharing the glorious news of salvation through faith.

Behind the Words

The word translated “Scripture” is graphē, which is the noun form of graphō, properly meaning “to engrave” but by interpretation it means “to write.” Graphē, then refers to that which has been written. It was common practice among the people of the first century to refer to Holy Scripture with this word.

“Put to shame” is from the Greek word kataischunō, which is made up of kata, used as a negative intensifier and aischunō, meaning “to be ashamed of oneself.” Thus we see that this word means “to put to shame” or “to humiliate.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous two verses Paul stated one of the most blessed truths that mankind has ever heard, namely that a heartfelt belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and a verbal confession that He is Lord. This results in a person receiving the righteousness of God and the promise of salvation from the penalty of his or her sins.

Paul now quotes a portion of a passage from Isaiah 28:16 which says,

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.”

You will notice, however, that the ending of this verse in Isaiah is different from what Paul says in Romans. That is because Paul, as is normally his practice, is quoting from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of what we call the Old Testament. And, in reality, the two are saying the same thing, for what Isaiah means by “Whoever believes will not act hastily” is that he will not make haste to run away from the sufferings he meets with in the way of his duty. That is, he will not be ashamed of his religion even though he and it are despised by others.

One of the things that Paul is doing by quoting this verse from Isaiah is demonstrating to the Jewish Christians in Rome that there really is no difference between how the Jews are saved and how Christians are saved. We will say more about this in the next verse.

Paul’s point in the current verse is that anyone who truly believes in the resurrection of Christ and confesses Jesus as Lord will never be ashamed to declare Jesus Christ as Lord. As we said in the previous verse, anyone who is truly saved wants to confess it to others and, as a result, wants to tell others how to be saved.

Application

Have you confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? If so, you should be unashamed, even eager, to share the gospel message with those around you.

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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