Tag: sincere

Romans 12:9 – Sacrificial Evidence

Posted on by Will

Let love be sincere. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

Truth to Learn

Here is the evidence of a living sacrifice.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “sincere” is the Greek word anupokritos, which is a compound word made up of a, meaning “without” and a form of hupokrinomai (from which we get our English word, hypocrite), meaning “to pretend” or “to put on a false front.” This word originally referred to the art of acting on a stage. An actor portrays someone other than who he or she truly is and that is the salient meaning of the word hypocrite.

The Greek word translated “abhor” is apostugeō. This is another compound word made up of apo, meaning “from” but often used as an intensifier, and stugeō, which means “to hate, abhor, or detest with horror.” It expresses an extremely strong hatred for something.

“Evil” is from ponēros, which refers to “that which is bad or evil in effect or influence.” There is a similar Greek word, kakos, which refers to “that which is bad or evil in character.”

“Cling” is from kollaō, meaning “to be glued to something.” And the word translated “good” is agathos, meaning “that which is good or beneficial.”

 

Meaning Explained

Paul started out this chapter telling us that we need to completely surrender ourselves to God as living sacrifices to be used in His service as He chooses. He then told us that we should have a humble opinion of ourselves because we are all members of the body of Christ (the church) and that we each have gifts which we are to be using as members of that body. Having talked about some of the gifts, he now goes on to tell us what a living sacrifice should look like to others.

He says, “Let love be sincere.” Our love should be sincere and not done as an act to try to convince people that we are different than we really are.

Paul also says that we should “abhor what is evil.” In other words, we should hate that which has an evil effect or that which produces evil with as much emotion and force as that with which we love God.

This is a verse that all Christians would do well to follow. It seems that we have become soft and we tend to tolerate evil without saying much about it. When we see someone do something evil, we should not turn around and forget about it, we should be filled with indignation and absolutely hate the evil act. Incidentally, even though we should hate the sin, we need to love the sinner.

Finally, Paul says that we should be “glued to that which is good.”  When two things are glued together, they are inseparable. That’s how we should be – inseparable from things which are good.

 

Application

These are three key characteristics of Christians who are committed to God, who have placed themselves on the altar as living sacrifices. Their love is genuine, they absolutely hate that which is evil, and they are good through and through.

Is that how others see you?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

2 Peter 3:1 – Forward, or Reverse?

Posted on by Will

Beloved, I now write to you this second letter, in which I am stirring up your sincere thinking by way of a reminder,

Truth to Learn

We all need to be reminded of Biblical truths.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “sincere” is the Greek word eilikrinēs, which is made up of eile, meaning “the shining or splendor of the sun” and krinō, meaning “to judge, discern, or examine.” So, eilikrinēs literally means “judged or examined in the sunlight.”

The word translated as “thinking” is the Greek word dianoia, which is a compound word made up of dia, meaning “through” and a form of noeō, which means “to think over.” Hence, dianoia means “to thoroughly think over or to think completely through.”

 

Meaning Explained

Peter starts off this third section of his letter with an explanation of why he is writing. He says this is the second letter that he has written to these people and that the reason for writing both letters was that they might be “reminders to stimulate you to sincere thinking.”

Peter wants to remind these people that they have thoroughly thought about the previous truths taught to them by Peter and others. They have taken the words of Scripture and have given them careful examination under the most illuminating conditions. They have not just accepted teachings on face value, especially those teachings of the Old Testament and of Christ himself (as we will see in the next verse). They have thoroughly examined them and thought about them extensively.

So how is this different from the “full knowledge” possessed by the deceived ones in the verses we studied in the last chapter? Those people possessed a “full knowledge” of salvation. That is, they tried to intellectualize their way into Christianity instead of believing their way in. The act of salvation is not an act of our intellect; it is an act of our will. It means a submission of our will to His in accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as complete payment for our sins. To understand it intellectually and to believe it are two distinctly different things. What Peter is talking about in today’s verse is the thorough investigation of the teachings after salvation has taken place.

Peter is now reminding them again of the things that they have believed in the past and that they have examined and discovered to be true but which they are likely to forget if they are not occasionally reminded of them. This is one of the reasons that it is important for us to be reading and studying our Bibles day after day, going over things we have learned previously to remind us of what God is trying to teach us.

 

Application

I am reminded of a powerful sermon that I heard as a very new Christian in which the preacher proclaimed that the Christian life is never standing still, “You’re either moving forward!” he bellowed with a grandiose gesture of the arm pointing in the forward direction, “Or you’re moving back!” proclaimed with an equally grandiose gesture of the arm pointing to the rear.”

Which direction is your Christian life moving today?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

1 Peter 1:22 – Purified Evidence

Posted on by Will

having purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly with a pure heart,

Truth to Learn

There should be evidence of our salvation if it is real.

 

Behind the Words

“Purified” is the translation of a form of hagnidzō, which means “to make clean” or “to purify.” Figuratively, it means “to set apart” or “to sanctify.” In this context it is a reference to our having cleansed our souls from sin. It is expressed here in the perfect tense indicating past completed action with an ongoing effect; we have been cleansed, therefore we are forever pure.

The word translated “obeying” is hupakoē, which is made up of hupo, meaning “under” and a form of akouō, meaning “to hear.” It refers to someone who not only hears instruction, but also submits to it and obeys it.

“Brotherly love” is from the Greek philadelphia, which is made up of a form of philos, meaning “a friend” and adelphos, meaning “a brother.” Hence, this word literally refers to brotherly friendship or brotherly love.

The word translated “sincere” is the Greek anupokritos, which literally means “without acting” or “without hypocrisy.”

The word “love” in the latter half of this verse is translated from the Greek, agapaō, which refers to Godly, self-sacrificing love. It is expressed here in the imperative mood, indicating that it is a command, not a suggestion.

 

 

Meaning Explained

A more literal translation of this verse might be, “Having purified your souls in obedience to the truth through the Spirit, resulting in sincere brotherly love, fervently love one another out of a pure heart.”

What Peter is saying is that one of the evidences of obedience to God’s truth is a purification of our souls. That is, when we submit to the knowledge that we are sinners, that God demands purity, and we accept the blood of Christ as payment for our sins, we are saved and we are spiritually purified. The evidence of that salvation is displayed by our brotherly love for others. Now that we have attained that level of purity, Peter commands us to take the next step by fervently loving other Christians self-sacrificingly, and to do so sincerely, out of a pure heart.

When asked which is the greatest commandment, Jesus responded to the questioning lawyer,

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)

This is the same message Peter is trying to get across to us in today’s verse.

 

Application

Is your salvation evident by the way you treat others? Do your unsaved friends now see you as different? Kinder? Do you place the welfare of your brothers and sisters in Christ above your own?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2016 Will Krause. All rights reserved

1 Peter 2:2 – Spiritual Craving

Posted on by Will

as newborn babies, desire the reasonable, sincere milk of the word, that you may grow in it,

Truth to Learn

The moment we became a Christian we started craving spiritual food.

 

Behind the Words

“Newborn” is translated from the Greek word artigennētos, which is made up of arti, meaning “just now” or “just recently” and gennētos, meaning “to be born.” Hence it means “just born” or “new born.”

The word “babies” is from brephos, meaning “an infant.”

The word translated “desire” is epipotheo, which doesn’t simply mean to desire but “to earnestly desire” or “to crave” something.

The word translated “sincere” is the Greek word adolon, which literally means “not deceitful.” Notice the play on words since the things we are commanded to lay aside are all deceitful types of things but the nourishment of the Word is just the opposite.

 

Meaning Explained

As with most cases in the Bible, when we are commanded to remove or lay aside something we are also told to put on, or start doing, something else. In the previous verse Peter told us to lay aside a number of unholy actions, each of which is associated with self-will. In exchange for laying aside such things we are to crave the sincere milk of the word like newborn babies.

One of the characteristics of a little baby is that he or she is always hungry. Likewise young Christians should always be craving the nourishment of the Word of God. Personally, I question the salvation of any Christian who isn’t hungry for the Word.

Now, let me carry this one step further. Unfortunately, today there are many Christians who, though they have been saved for many years, are still drinking from a bottle when it comes to feeding on the Word of God. The writer of Hebrews put it this way:

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14)

The only way we will continue to grow as Christians is to have consistent time in the Word and to expose ourselves to preaching and teaching that will provide us spiritual meat.

 

Application

Is it your constant desire to become more Christ-like? Do you have a craving to learn more about the truths of God’s Word? Are you getting that spiritual meat?

If you did not answer a resounding “Yes!” to all of these questions, perhaps a time of prayerful discussion with your heavenly Father is in order!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2016 Will Krause. All rights reserved