Son – Ministry of Grace Church

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1 Thessalonians 5:5 – Spiritual Enlightenment

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Will

You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.

Truth to Learn

Christians have spiritual understanding given to us by the Holy Spirit.

Behind the Words

“You” is from humeis, the second person plural pronoun.

The word translated “sons” is huios, which means “a male descendant.” However, it is often used in the New Testament to refer to a child, male or female.

Pas is the root word translated here as “all.” It carries the idea of “oneness” or “the totality of something.” Therefore, pas refers to “all of something without anything being left out.”

“Light” is from the Greek word phōs (or phōtos), which is derived from the verb phaō, meaning “to shine” or “to make visible.” This, phōs refers to “that which shines” or “that which makes visible.” In other words, it refers to light. It is used both of physical light or spiritual light (enlightenment).

The word “day” is from the Greek word hēmera, which can refer to a complete twenty-four hour period or to that portion of the day in which the sun is shining (daytime).

Meaning Explained

In order to completely understand Paul’s teaching here we need to understand that Paul was brought up as a Hebrew. The Hebrew language, like most other languages, has idiomatic expressions that don’t always translate easily into other languages. For instance, the Hebrew expression “with four eyes,” as in “the two men met with four eyes,” means that the two men met face to face without anyone else present. Paul often uses such Hebrew idioms (called Hebraisms) in his writing, even though he is writing in Greek.

The expression in the previous verse, “you are not in darkness” is a Hebraism meaning “you are not ignorant, unaware, or unenlightened.” Likewise, the expression “sons of light” is a Hebraism meaning “children of God, the heavenly Father, who is light and in whom is no darkness at all.” Throughout the Bible, the metaphor of light (with respect to God) is a reference to His holiness, righteousness, and sinlessness. As His adopted children, we have been given the righteousness of Christ. In Genesis 15:6 we read that Abraham was credited with righteousness because of his faith. Similarly, a Christian, one who has faith in the saving blood of Christ, is seen by God as completely righteous. In God’s record book we are sinless, righteous, and holy. Hence, we are children of light.

And – because we are righteous children of light, our minds are illuminated by the Spirit of God so that we can understand spiritual things like God’s coming judgment of the world of sinners. “We are not of the night nor of darkness” is another Hebraism meaning that we are not ignorant sinners marching mindlessly towards God’s judgment and destruction.

Finally, note that Paul starts off this verse with “you,” speaking directly to those to whom he is teaching, but then says “we,” indicating that all Christians are in the same category.

Application

Unsaved people cannot understand the Bible because they are not spiritually enlightened like we are (see 1 Corinthians 2:10, 11). We, on the other hand, are taught by the Holy Spirit, and we can know future things as taught to us in Scripture.

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 9:9 – The Promise Keeper

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Will

Romans 9:9 – The Promise Keeper

For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”

Truth to Learn

God always keeps His promises to us.

Behind the Words

“At this time” is translated from kata ton kairon touton. The word kata means “down” but metaphorically it is used to express the relationship one thing has toward another. In this use it is often translated “according to.” The word kairon expresses “a period of opportunity.” It really has no English equivalent but can loosely be translated here as “an opportune time” or “a season.” Hence, a literal translation of this phrase could be, “according to this opportune time” or “according to this season.” We can interpret this to mean “at about this time next year.”

Meaning Explained

Paul is explaining that even though the Jews had all the special privileges as the children of Israel (Jacob), they were not all righteous. This is because that righteousness does not come from lineage but from the imputation of righteousness by God’s own choosing. The children of the flesh are not the children of God, the children of the promise are.

Paul now reminds his countrymen of the promise that was made to Abraham. A more literal translation of the open phrase of this verse is “this word is one of promise.” In other words, this is not THE promise made to Abraham, but it is one example of a promise that God made to him and it certainly ties into the earlier promise:

Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:1-2)

In keeping with the promise to make the name of Abraham great and to make him a blessing, God later promised Abraham a son. That son, however, was not to come for nearly twenty-five years. After twenty-four years, God again told Abraham that he would have a son (in addition to Ishmael) and Paul quotes this promise from Genesis 18:10 which says;

And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

It was about a year later that Sarah gave birth to Isaac. A living son brought forth from a dead womb. As a result we see that the child of Sarah (conceived through faith), not the child of Hagar (conceived through works), was the one God promised Abraham he would have. Abraham was about one hundred years old when this promise was made and Sarah about ninety. She was past the age of childbearing and he was too old to produce offspring himself. God is able to fulfill his promises to us even when it seems physically impossible. He can do the impossible, like saving condemned sinners like you and me.

Application

God has made many promises to us in the New Testament such as: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”(Romans 10:9) and “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b). Like Abraham, we can trust His word because God keeps His promises. Always!

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 8:3 – Righteous Through Him

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Will

Romans 8:3

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,

Truth to Learn

Jesus Christ perfectly kept the law, thus demonstrating His righteousness, and God grants us His righteousness through faith in His sacrificial death.

Behind the Words

The words “could not do” are translated from a single Greek word. It is adunatos, which is a compound word made up of the privative a, meaning “without” or “not” and dunatos, meaning “powerful, able, or capable.” Hence, adunatos means “without power” or “unable.”

“Weak” is from the verb astheneō, which is made up of the privative a, meaning “without” and sthenos, meaning “strength.” Thus, it means “without strength” or “weak.”

The Greek word homoiōma is translated here as “likeness.” This word is derived from homos, which means “one and the same.” Homoiōma means “having the same form.”

The word translated “condemned” is the Greek word katakrino, which is the verb form of a word we looked at just two verses back. It means “to proclaim a judgment of condemnation against someone or something.”

Meaning Explained

This is another potentially very confusing verse so let’s look at it one phrase at a time. “For what the Law could not do” is a reference to what Paul has said in the seventh chapter of this letter. The Law cannot produce righteousness in man. Why? “In that it was weak through the flesh” says that the reason the law could not produce righteousness is because man tried to produce righteousness through acts of the flesh. But the flesh is weak because of the sin nature and cannot satisfy the law; therefore, the law could not produce this righteousness.

But, what the Law could not do, Paul says God sent his son to do for us: “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” In other words, even though Christ took on human flesh, he did not take on sinful human flesh. He had the appearance of sinful flesh (that form which every member of the human race has), but He was not sinful human flesh. For emphasis, let me restate that this passage says that Christ took on human flesh, but he did not take on sinful human flesh.

God the Father sent Jesus in the form of sinful human flesh, “on account of sin;” that is, Christ came to earth and took on human flesh in order to deal with sin. He dealt with sin by living a sinless life that was then freely offered for sinful lives. Because he perfectly fulfilled the Law and committed no sin, He “condemned sin in the flesh.” In other words, in human flesh Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Law and therefore made a judgment of condemnation against sin.

Application

Paul has been teaching us that a person cannot be justified by trying to obey the law. We have a sin nature that causes us to sin, and with a single sin we lose the righteousness that perfectly keeping the law would have provided. As a result, God had to create a way for sinful man to receive His righteousness, which can only come by faith in the blood of Christ. Thank you, God, for giving me your righteousness through faith in the sacrifice of Your perfect Son.

In God’s service, for His glory,

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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