Tag: seek

Romans 11:7 – Chosen or Hardened

Posted on by Will

What then? Israel did not obtain what it seeks; but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened.

Truth to Learn

God chooses some and hardens the rest.

 

Behind the Words

The word “obtain” is translated from the Greek word epitugchanō. This word is made up of epi, used as an intensifier, and tugchanō, meaning “to obtain.” It is used here in an absolute sense meaning that Israel did not acquire, or obtain, the righteousness they were seeking through the law of Moses.

“Seeks” is from epidzēteō, made up of epi, used as an intensifier and dzēteō, meaning “to seek.” Thus, we see it means “to intensely seek” or “to strive for.”

“Chosen ones” is translated from the word eklogē, which we have looked at before. It refers to something that was specifically chosen.

The word translated “hardened” is pōroō, meaning “to make hard as stone” hence, “calloused or insensitive.” Applied to the mind, it means “hardened, insensitive, or not comprehending.”

 

Meaning Explained

Paul is now drawing a conclusion regarding the statements that he has just made. That is, God has not abandoned His people, but neither has Israel obtained the righteousness that they tried to obtain for themselves. Those whom God has chosen have obtained this righteousness (because God imputed it to them) but the rest, those who are not elect, were hardened.

We see here, then, two things at work with regards to the righteousness of the elect (Jews in this case). The first is that it is not earned. There is no amount of works that will save them (or us). There is absolutely no single thing or combination of things that can be done which will save them (or us) and give them (or us) the righteousness of God. It is, as Paul says in Ephesians 1:5, “according to the good pleasure of His will” that they (and we) were chosen.

The second thing that we see here regarding election, and the righteousness that comes with it, is that those who were not chosen were hardened. But the obvious question is, “Who is responsible for this hardness or blindness?” Let’s see what Jesus, Isaiah, and Paul have to say about it:

Jesus – He (God, the Father) has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts, and turn, so that I should heal them. (John 12:40)

Isaiah – For the LORD has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, the seers. (Isaiah 29:10)

Paul – Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. (Romans 9:18)

Paul – whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

It is God who chooses and it is also God (through various means, including Satan) who blinds or hardens those whom He has not chosen, so that they cannot believe. And even now I can hear some saying, “But that’s not fair!”

In the next few verses Paul will continue with this statement of God’s hardening by quoting a couple of Old Testament passages which affirm what he has just said.

 

Application

We may not want to believe that God chooses some and hardens others, but that’s precisely what Paul teaches. Your church may teach something different, and you may believe that teaching. We want to believe that we are the ones in control of our own eternal destiny, but Paul teaches that God chooses whom He wants to choose and He hardens the rest. That’s what the Bible teaches; therefore, I believe it.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 11:3 – Feelings or Faith

Posted on by Will

"LORD, they killed your prophets and destroyed your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life"?

Truth to Learn

Don’t let circumstances control your feelings, let faith do it.

 

Behind the Words

“Killed” is translated from apokteinō. This is a compound word made up of apo, meaning “away from,” used as an intensifier and kteinō, meaning “to kill.” This word implies killing with intention.

The word “destroyed” is from the Greek word kataskaptō, which is made up of kata, meaning “down” and skaptō, meaning “to dig.” Hence, we see that this word literally means “to dig down.” In other words, it means “to tear down” or “to destroy.”

“Seek” is from dzēteō, which means “to seek after, to pursue, or to try to find.”

 

Meaning Explained

In order to get the full impact of the current verse we have to look at it along with the second half of the previous verse.

Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, "LORD, they killed your prophets and destroyed your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life"?

This is a paraphrase by Paul of I Kings 19:10 (for it is neither a quotation from the Hebrew Bible nor from the Septuagint) but it expresses the gist of what Elijah said to God. The surprising thing is that Elijah said it in a cave to which he had fled from Jezebel after having defeated and killed all of her prophets of Ba’al. At a time when Elijah should have been strongest and most confident (after a great spiritual victory), he was weak. Even after God had performed a miracle by sending fire from heaven to consume not only Elijah’s soaking wet sacrifice but the entire altar as well, Elijah was now afraid. In the heat of the victory, Elijah had boldly commanded the people to kill all of the false prophets of Jezebel. But when she had retaliated by threatening his life, instead of standing up to her in the name of The Lord, Elijah fled south heading into the wilderness until he came to a cave in Mount Horeb (possibly the same mountain where God met with Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments). It is here where Elijah, one of the greatest of God’s prophets, filled with fear and doubt, poured out his lament before God.

With a broken Elijah humbled before God, Paul is going to demonstrate God’s willingness and ability to choose a few to be faithful to His name out of many who are not. We will cover this more in the next verse.

 

Application

Even in the aftermath of spiritual victory we sometimes feel weak and vulnerable. But as Elijah discovered, it is not our feelings that God is concerned about, it is our faith. Faith in our all-powerful God is what enables us to reach out in prayer, not seeking our own glory, but giving the glory to Him.

Are you feeling under attack from our spiritual enemy? What is your response? Will you selfishly cry out in despair? Or will you humble yourself before God, seek His face, and confidently pray for His will to be done and for Him to give you the strength and will to endure this trial, for His sake?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

1 Peter 3:11 – In Pursuit of Peace

Posted on by Will

Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

Truth to Learn

Peter commands us to turn completely away from evil, doing good instead. He also admonishes us to pursue peace with a vengeance.

 

Behind the Words

The words “turn away” are from ekklinō, which is made up of ek, meaning “out” and klinō meaning “turn aside” or “turn away.” If Peter had used klinō by itself it would indicate turning away from something but ekklinō implies turning completely out of the way of it. It is a picture of one who is walking down a path and they turn completely off the path.

In the Greek text this is followed by the preposition apo, meaning “from” or “away from.” The repetition serves to emphasize that we are to completely turn off the path of evil and move completely away from it. To add even more emphasis to the statement, Peter uses the imperative mood of ekklinō, implying a command, not a suggestion. Hence, we could translate the first part of this verse as, “He must turn completely away from evil …”

The words translated as “evil” and “good” are kakos and agathos which are polar opposites, the first meaning general badness or worthlessness and the second meaning general goodness.

“Seek” is translated from the Greek word dzēteō, meaning “to look for” or “to try to find.” This verb is also expressed in the imperative mood, indicating a command.

The word translated “pursue” is diōkō, meaning “to pursue” or “to persecute.” It implies much more than simply looking for something. It indicates determination and tenacity. This verb, like the others in this verse, is in the imperative mood.

 

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse we were told,

For the one determined to love life and to see good days, let him stop his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile

This verse is a continuation of that thought. If you have determined to love life and to see good days then not only must you be very careful about what you say and how you say it, you must do several other things as well.

Before we get to those things, though, let’s look at the expression, “Let him …” On the surface it appears that Peter is saying, “allow him …” but that is not what he is saying. In fact, in English the use of the word “let,” when used with verbs, is an expression of the imperative, or command, form of the Greek verb. So “Let him …” doesn’t mean “Allow him …”, rather it means “It is imperative for him to …” or “He must …”

If we have determined to love life and to see good days then we must control our language and we must turn completely away from evil. In their place we must do good and, not only seek peace, but pursue it diligently.

 

Application

It’s easy to talk about doing good and it’s easy to talk about peace. The real challenge is to pursue peace and good deeds with the same fervor that we pursue our favorite activities.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

1 Corinthians 1:22 – Signs and Wisdom

Posted on by Will

For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;

Truth to Learn

God is not found in miraculous signs or worldly wisdom.

Behind the Words

The word translated “since” is epeidē, which is made up of epei, meaning “as” or “because” and dē, a particle of affirmation or emphasis meaning “indeed.” Therefore, we could translate epeidē as “as indeed” or “whereas.”

“Request” is from aiteō, meaning “to ask, to request, or to beg.” It is a word that is used of a person of inferior rank requesting something from a person of superior rank.

Sēmion is the Greek word translated “sign.” It refers to “a mark, a token, or a miracle with a spiritual significance.”

“Seek” is translated from dzēteō, which means “to look for” or “to seek for.” As used here, it carries the idea of an earnest and eager attempt to find something.

Meaning Explained

In order to drive home his point, in the past few verses Paul has been making a play on words between “wisdom” and “foolishness.” He has contrasted the foolishness of worldly intellect and attainment of the revered wise men of Greek culture (the philosophers) and the revered scholars of the Jewish culture (the scribes) with the true wisdom of God. These “wise” men of the world and of religion believe in their own wisdom and think that faith in God is foolishness. In reality, it is the other way around; their wisdom is foolishness and God’s foolishness is great wisdom.

He now gets even more specific regarding those who are religiously wise and those who are worldly wise. As a representative of the religiously wise, he talks here about “the Jews.” From the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel), the Israelites have been followers of the One True God; however, over the years they perverted true worship by including man-made rules and ordinances. By the time of Christ there were so many rules that they had to have men who had studied the laws all their life interpret the law for them. These were the intellectual giants of Jewish culture. In fact, it became so difficult for the average Jew to understand their own religion that they didn’t even recognize their own Messiah when he came. And, when He did come, they demanded miraculous signs from Him to prove that He was the Messiah. By the middle of the first century, the Jews were still demanding signs instead of simply believing.

The Greeks, however, believed that wisdom was the ultimate accomplishment of man. They gave great reverence and honor to the philosophers of their time. These men studied science, mathematics, literature, and culture. Their ultimate quest was to obtain wisdom, to know the meaning and purpose of life.

Today, man seeks after riches and power. Some do so through religion while most do so through education and politics. Many “religious” leaders today employ miraculous signs as an indication of their spirituality. The “wise” men of our time use their power and position to get what they want.

Application

Things haven’t changed very much in the past two thousand years. Instead of seeking God through faith, people seek after riches and power as their God, trying to prove to themselves that they don’t need God or His “foolish” system of faith.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2013 Will Krause. All rights reserved

 

1 Thessalonians 2:6 – It’s Not About Us

Posted on by Will

Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ.

Truth to Learn

Paul didn’t make personal demands, even when he could have.

Behind the Words

The words “did we seek” are from the Greek verb dzēteō, which means “to seek after” or “to try to find.”

“Glory” is translated from doxa, which is derived from the verb dokeō, meaning “to think” or “to recognize.” Doxa refers to favorable thought or opinion. In a secondary sense it means “reputation, praise, honor, or splendor.”

The first occurrence of the word “from” is translated from ex, meaning “out of.” What Paul is saying is that he and his associates did not try to extract praise out of others; they did not manipulate the thoughts of others to receive recognition.

The words “when we might have” are translated from dunamai, meaning “to have the ability or power."

“Made demands” is the translation of baros, which refers to “a weight, a load, or a burden.” So, a literal translation of this portion of the current verse would be, “having the ability to be burdensome.”

Meaning Explained

This is now a third defense given against the accusations that apparently had been leveled against Paul and his co-workers. The first two were that they didn’t minister to the Thessalonians simply to make people feel good, and they didn’t use flattering words and false praises to endear people to themselves or their message.

In today’s verse he says that they didn’t try to manipulate people to draw praise out of them. Their ministry was not about personal glory or recognition. Paul’s ever present goal in his life was to bring praise to God. In fact, later in verse thirteen, he tells them that it wasn’t his own message that he delivered to them, it was the word of God.

He now makes an interesting comment to the Christians in Thessalonica. He says, in effect, “We had every right to be a burden to you, to make demands of you, because we are apostles of Christ, but we didn’t do so.” There are some who think this is a reference to the fact that the apostles didn’t expect financial support from the Thessalonians while they were ministering there. Verse nine seems to support this belief. Others, including Calvin, believed he is saying that the apostles could have used their authority to demand unqualified obedience from those to whom they ministered, but they didn’t. Paul had similar things to say to the Corinthian Christians in 1Corinthians 9:8-15.

One final note on this verse, notice that Paul uses the word apostles (plural). This implies that Paul believed that at least Silvanus and possibly Timothy were also apostles of Christ.

Application

Some people within the church seem to expect to receive recognition or praise for the work they do. That’s not why Paul worked as hard as he did, and we shouldn’t either. We should all put as much effort into our ministries as we possibly can, not expecting anything in return. Instead, let’s serve Him so that God will get all the glory and all the praise.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 11:3 – Feelings or Faith

Posted on by Will

Romans 11:3 – Feelings or Faith

“LORD, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”?

Truth to Learn

Don’t let circumstances control your feelings, let faith do it.

Behind the Words

“Killed” is translated from apokteinō. This is a compound word made up of apo, meaning “away from,” used as an intensifier and kteinō, meaning “to kill.” This word implies killing with intention.

The words “torn down” are from the Greek word kataskaptō, which is made up of kata, meaning “down” and skaptō, meaning “to dig.” Hence, we see that this word literally means “to dig down.” In other words, it means “to tear down” or “to destroy.”

“Seek” is from dzēteō, which means “to seek after, to pursue, or to try to find.”

Meaning Explained

In order to get the full impact of the current verse we have to look at it along with the second half of the previous verse.

Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, “LORD, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”?

This is a paraphrase by Paul of I Kings 19:10 (for it is neither a quotation from the Hebrew Bible nor from the Septuagint) but it expresses the gist of what Elijah said to God. The surprising thing is that Elijah said it in a cave to which he had fled from Jezebel after having defeated and killed all of her prophets of ba’al. At a time when Elijah should have been strongest and most confident (after a great spiritual victory), he was weak. Even after God had performed a miracle by sending fire from heaven to consume not only Elijah’s soaking wet sacrifice but the entire altar as well, Elijah was now afraid. In the heat of the victory, Elijah had boldly commanded the people to kill all of the false prophets of Jezebel. But when she had retaliated by threatening his life, instead of standing up to her in the name of The Lord, Elijah fled south heading into the wilderness until he came to a cave in Mount Horeb (possibly the same mountain where God met with Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments). It is here where Elijah, one of the greatest of God’s prophets, filled with fear and doubt, poured out his lament before God.

With a broken Elijah humbled before God, Paul is going to demonstrate God’s willingness and ability to choose a few to be faithful to His name out of many who are not. We will cover this more in the next verse.

Application

Even in the aftermath of spiritual victory we sometimes feel weak and vulnerable. But as Elijah discovered, it is not our feelings that God is concerned about, it is our faith. Faith in our all-powerful God is what enables us to reach out in prayer, not seeking our own glory, but giving the glory to Him.

Are you feeling under attack from our spiritual enemy? What is your response? Will you selfishly cry out in despair? Or will you humble yourself before God, seek His face, and confidently pray for His will to be done and for Him to give you the strength and will to endure this trial, for His sake?

In God’s service, for His glory,

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:

Romans 10:20 – Bold Proclamation

Posted on by Will

Romans 10:20 – Bold Proclamation

But Isaiah is very bold and says: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

Truth to Learn

Be bold in proclaiming the truth!

Behind the Words

The Greek word translated “very bold” is apotolmaō, which is a compound word made up of apo, used as an intensifier and tolmaō, which means “to be bold, or confident, or daring.”

“Found” is translated from heuriskō, which means “to find or discover, whether by searching or not.”

The word “seek” is from dzēteō, which means “to look for or search for something.”

“Made manifest” is from emphanēs, which is made up of en, meaning “in” or “into” and phainō, meaning “to shine” or “to make apparent.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse Paul quoted Moses in the book of Deuteronomy as evidence that the Jews should have well known that the Gentiles would come to know God even though they weren’t seeking after God in Moses’ time. Therefore, it should have been obvious to the Christian Jews in Rome that God had indeed turned to the Gentiles after the Jews rejected the Messiah.

Paul now quotes Isaiah to show that he, too, had proclaimed the same message hundreds of years after Moses did. This quotation is from the opening portion of Isaiah chapter 65:

I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by My name. I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts; a people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; who sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense on altars of brick; who sit among the graves, and spend the night in the tombs; who eat swine’s flesh, and the broth of abominable things is in their vessels; who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am holier than you!” These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. (Isaiah 65:1-5)

Clearly, this is a scathing rebuke upon the Israelites who would not pay attention to Moses and to those who did not listen to Isaiah. In fact, when Paul introduced this quotation he stated that Isaiah is very bold in saying this. Why was it so daring for him to deliver this message? Remember what he said in Isaiah 53:1? “Lord, who has believed our report?” It was bold of Isaiah to proclaim this because he knew that his fellow Jews would not believe him and would, in fact, attack him for being so negative to them.

Application

Doesn’t that sound like many Christians today? If you confront them about their liberal, watered-down theology, their blatant sinfulness, or their legalism, they deny what you say and attack you for not being more forgiving and loving or for not being more “inclusive” in your theology.

I would rather be thought a “fundamental fanatic” when confronting ungodliness than to be well liked because of being willing to compromise on what the Bible says. How about you?

In God’s service, for His glory,

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: