Tag: sunistemi

Romans 16:1 – Phoebe the Deaconess

Posted on by Will

I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea,

Truth to Learn

Women who serve in formal positions in a church perform an important service to God and His church.

 

Behind the Words

“Commend” is translated from the Greek verb sunistēmi, a compound word made up of sun, meaning “together with” and histēmi, meaning “to stand or to set in place.” Thus, the literal interpretation of this word is “to stand together.” When used of persons it generally means “to introduce or present to one's acquaintance for favorable notice.” Thus, it means to commend or present as worthy. This is the word which was commonly used in letters of commendation.

The word translated “sister” is adelphē. This is the feminine form of adelphos, which is made up of a, implying togetherness or unity and delphus, meaning “the womb.” Thus, adelphē means a female who has come out of the same womb. Both adelphos and adelphē are frequently used metaphorically to refer to a brother or sister in Christ.

“Servant” is from the Greek word diakonos, meaning “a minister, a servant, or a deacon.” In this verse it most likely refers to the formal position of deaconess within the church.

“Cenchrea” was a port city just nine miles east of the city of Corinth. Some believe that this was where the church of Corinth actually met, though there is some dispute on this matter.

 

Meaning Explained

Having finished his doctrinal teaching, Paul now closes the letter with a series of salutations. In doing so he demonstrates his intimate knowledge of members of the church in Rome even though he had not yet been to Rome. This is a sign of a good minister of the Gospel, knowing personal details about the people to whom and with whom he ministers.

He starts off this verse with a formal commendation of a woman named Phoebe, who was probably the messenger carrying this letter from Corinth (where Paul was when it was written) to Rome. Phoebe is referred to as a deaconess. Though this could be interpreted as simply “a minister” or “a servant,” the fact that Paul refers to her as a diakonos “of the church in Cenchrea” indicates that it probably was her formal position in the church. In the first century of the Christian church, it was not uncommon to have deaconesses whose primary responsibilities were to minister to and care for other women in the church. Elsewhere in the New Testament, references are made to a class of females whose duty it was to teach other females and to take the general superintendence of that part of the church. Also, various letters of ecclesiastical history (not included in the Bible) give evidence to this class of females within the church. The strict separation of the sexes in the early church made the services of deaconesses necessary for baptism, visiting the women, and teaching women’s study groups.

 

Application

Though there is sound Biblical evidence that the position of pastoring a church is to be strictly limited to men, that doesn’t mean that women are to be excluded from serving in formal positions. Women are needed to perform much needed duties in the church and are commended by God for doing so.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 5:8 – Death for Sinners

Posted on by Will

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Truth to Learn

Christ died for sinners. That means you and me!

 

Behind the Words

The word translated, “demonstrates” is from the Greek word sunistēmi, which is a compound word made up of sun, meaning “together” or “with” and histēmi, meaning “to set or place something.” Therefore, in its root meaning, sunistēmi means “to place things together.” But figuratively it means “to set something before someone.” That is to say, “to declare, show, or to make known and conspicuous.” Hence, we see the translation here being “demonstrates.”

There are two different words translated “love” in the New Testament. The first is phileō and the other is agapaō. The verb phileō is based on the word philos, meaning “a friend or someone you are endeared to.” Therefore, phileō refers to a feeling of endearment as you would feel toward a special friend. Agapaō, the word used in the current verse, refers to an act of the will in which one places the welfare of another of greater importance than one’s one welfare. It is a self-sacrificing love like God showed to us.

The words “we were still sinners” are translated from the Greek expression eti hamartōlōn ontōn hēmōn, which literally translates to, “we still being sinners.” The verb tense indicates that it is present continuous action. It is not something that ceased happening in the past.

 

Meaning Explained

In the last verse Paul said that it is unlikely that anyone would be willing to die for a person who is outwardly religious. But, he said that it is possible that someone would be willing to die for someone else who in not only outwardly religious but kind, benevolent, and generous.  However, he implied that it is highly unlikely that anyone would be willing to die for unrighteous and undeserving sinners like you and me. Now he tells us how God’s love operates.

God, with His agape love, is willing to sacrifice for us. No one else would be willing to die for sinners like you and me. But God demonstrates how marvelous his self-sacrificing love for us is; even though we are still sinners, Christ died for us! He didn’t wait for us to become righteous by ourselves because we are without the ability to do so! And though we may have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, we are still sinners. However because of our faith, as we saw in the previous chapter, God has declared us righteous. We didn’t actually stop being sinners when we got saved, but God stopped seeing us as sinners. He now sees us having the righteousness of Jesus Christ because the death of His Son paid the penalty for our sins, and He credited righteousness to us in His record book.

The Apostle John puts the capstone on this and offers up a challenge to us:

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:11)

 

Application

Thank you God, for loving a sinner like me and for giving the precious life of your only begotten Son to pay for my sinfulness! Because I am so undeserving, I am eternally grateful!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 3:5 – Righteous Wrath

Posted on by Will

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.)

Truth to Learn

God is righteous and must judge unrighteousness.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “demonstrates” is sunistēmi, a compound word made up of sun, meaning “together” and histēmi, meaning “to stand.” Hence, it literally means “to stand together.” Usually, when this word is used with inanimate things it means “to prove, or establish.” When used of a person, however, this word means “to introduce or to present to one's acquaintance for favorable notice.” Therefore, in this context it means “to establish or to demonstrate.”

“Inflicts” is from the Greek word epipherō, which is made up of epi, meaning “upon” or “over” and pherō, which means “to bring” or “to carry.” Therefore, epipherō literally means “to bring against.”

The word “wrath” is translated from orgē, which is based on a word that means “excitement of the mind” or “violent passion.” Orgē is nearly always translated as “wrath.” It is a word that shows the action which results from anger. In God’s case it is always righteous anger and, therefore, righteous wrath.

 

Meaning Explained

This can be very confusing so follow me carefully. Paul has just stated two rhetorical questions that would be objections by Jews to his current discourse. The Jewish Christians in Rome would be following his logic to this point. They might well concede that some (even many) Jews had not believed. They would also concede that God was true to his promises and His character, thereby judging sin. As a result of this, the character of God, as a just being, would shine out illustriously.

A careful follower of this reasoning might then argue that Paul was saying that God is glorified by man’s sin. In anticipation of this argument, Paul asks another rhetorical question which we could paraphrase as:

 But if our unrighteousness shows the worthiness of God’s righteousness, what can we say against Him? Is God unrighteous who brings forth His wrath against unrighteousness?

Obviously, we can’t condemn God for displaying His righteous wrath against sin. That is the very character of God. He is holy and just. He abhors sin and must judge it because He is a righteous God (He always does what is right).

But Paul is not through with his reasoning against the pride of the Jewish Christians in Rome. In the following verses he will continue his stern discourse.

These past few verses and the ones to follow comprise a difficult passage of scripture to understand. However, if we hang in there I’m sure we will all get a much better understanding of what Paul is teaching us.

 

Application

When we realize that we are sinners and that God is a righteous God who must judge sin, we recognize that we are deserving of God’s judgment and wrath. But because of the shed blood of Christ, when we confess our sin God cleanses us of all unrighteousness (see 1John 1:9). Praise God!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 16:1 – Phoebe the Deaconess

Posted on by Will

Romans 16:1 – Phoebe the Deaconess

I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea,

Truth to Learn

Women who serve in formal positions in a church perform an important service to God and His church.

Behind the Words

“Commend” is translated from the Greek verb sunistēmi, a compound word made up of sun, meaning “together with” and histēmi, meaning “to stand or to set in place.” Thus, the literal interpretation of this word is “to stand together.” When used of persons it generally means “to introduce or present to one’s acquaintance for favorable notice.” Thus, it means to commend or present as worthy. This is the word which was commonly used in letters of commendation.

The word translated “sister” is adelphē. This is the feminine form of adelphos, which is made up of a, implying togetherness or unity and delphus, meaning “the womb.” Thus, adelphē means a female who has come out of the same womb. Both adelphos and adelphē are frequently used metaphorically to refer to a brother or sister in Christ.

“Servant” is from the Greek word diakonos, meaning “a minister, a servant, or a deacon.” In this verse it most likely refers to the formal position of deaconess within the church.

“Cenchrea” was a port city just nine miles east of the city of Corinth. Some believe that this was where the church of Corinth actually met, though there is some dispute on this matter.

Meaning Explained

Having finished his doctrinal teaching, Paul now closes the letter with a series of salutations. In doing so he demonstrates his intimate knowledge of members of the church in Rome even though he had not yet been to Rome. This is a sign of a good minister of the Gospel, knowing personal details about the people to whom and with whom he ministers.

He starts off this verse with a formal commendation of a woman named Phoebe, who was probably the messenger carrying this letter from Corinth (where Paul was when it was written) to Rome. Phoebe is referred to as a deaconess. Though this could be interpreted as simply “a minister” or “a servant,” the fact that Paul refers to her as a diakonos “of the church in Cenchrea” indicates that it probably was her formal position in the church. In the first century of the Christian church, it was not uncommon to have deaconesses whose primary responsibilities were to minister to and care for other women in the church. Elsewhere in the New Testament, references are made to a class of females whose duty it was to teach other females and to take the general superintendence of that part of the church. Also, various letters of ecclesiastical history (not included in the Bible) give evidence to this class of females within the church. The strict separation of the sexes in the early church made the services of deaconesses necessary for baptism, visiting the women, and teaching women’s study groups.

Application

Though there is sound Biblical evidence that the position of pastoring a church is to be strictly limited to men, that doesn’t mean that women are to be excluded from serving in formal positions. Women are needed to perform much needed duties in the church and are commended by God for doing so.

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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