Tag: which

Ephesians 1:23 – Spiritual Body Life

Posted on by Will

which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Truth to Learn

All Christians are part of the body of Christ. As members of that body we each have a function to perform in the church.

 

Behind the Words

The word “which” is translated from hostis, a double relative pronoun that most literally translates to “which some.” In this case the meaning seems to be “seeing it is.”

“Body” is translated from the Greek noun soma, which refers to “the body” as a whole. It is used both literally and figuratively in the New Testament. Here it refers to the church, the spiritual body of the resurrected Jesus.

The word “fullness” is from plēroma, a derivative of the verb plēroō, meaning “to fill full” or “to cram full.” It means to fill so completely that there is no room left to add any more. Plēroma refers to “the condition of fullness or completion.”

“Fills” is from the verb plēroō, which we just looked at. It is expressed here as a participle in the middle voice (the subject acting on himself).

 

Meaning Explained

Back in verse nineteen we learned that one of the things the Apostle Paul prays for is for all believers to understand the exceeding greatness of God’s power. Through that power, the Father raised Jesus from the dead and elevated Him to the highest position of honor and authority. And in yesterday’s verse he told us that the Father made Jesus to be the head over all things with regard to the church. Now, to get the full impact of the current verse, let’s look at it along with the previous verse.

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

God the Father made the risen Jesus to be the head of the church, which Paul tells us here is His body. The church universal is the body of Christ. It serves as His arms, hands, eyes, ears, nose, and feet. In his first letter to the Corinthian church and his letter to the Roman church, Paul explained a little more about the functioning of the body of Christ.

For even as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ … But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body even as He desired. (1Cointhians 12:12, 22)

so we, the many, are one body in Christ, and each one members of one another, but having different gifts according to the grace that was given to us … (Romans 12:5-6a)

All Christians have a part to play in the body of Christ. We each have abilities and spiritual gifts given specifically to each one of us by God. We need to be using those gifts to build up the body.

 

Application

Do you know what your gifts are? Are there abilities that you have that others don’t? Are you using your talents and spiritual gifts to make your fellow Christians stronger in their faith?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

1 Corinthians 3:17 – Destruction Equals Destruction

Posted on by Will

If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Truth to Learn

Destroying a church has dire consequences.

Behind the Words

“Anyone” is translated from the indefinite pronoun tis, which means “someone,” “a certain one,” or “anyone.”

The words “defiles” and “destroy” are both translated from the same Greek verb. It is phtheirō, which means “to corrupt, spoil, or destroy, in a moral or spiritual sense.” In classical Greek it nearly always means “to destroy.”

“Temple” is again translated from naon, which refers to the most sacred part of the temple, where God dwells.

Hagios is the word translated “holy.” It is based on hagos, meaning “that which inspires awe.” The basic meaning of hagios is “that which is set apart from common use to be used in the service of God.” Therefore, hagios is sometimes translated “holy” or “sanctified.” All Christians have been set-apart from the world and set-apart to God.

The word “which” is from the Greek indefinite, relative pronoun hostis. It is made up of hos, meaning “he” or “who” and tis, meaning “anyone” or “someone” Thus, hostis means “someone who.” Grammatically, it refers to “holy,” not “temple.”

“You” is from humeis, meaning “you (plural).” And the verb “are” is from the second person plural form of eimi, meaning “you (plural) are.”

Meaning Explained

In order to get the correct meaning from this verse we have to keep in mind that Paul is talking to the Christians in Corinth about the divisions that had been caused in the church there. Groups of people (cliques) had formed to follow different teachers within the church. Paul has been using the metaphor of constructing a building in reference to the building up of the body of Christ. Back in verse ten of this chapter, he cautioned us that we need to be mindful of the way we build on the foundation (the person and work of Jesus Christ). When people are working at odds with each other, instead of working together for a common goal, the building is weakened and may be destroyed.

Here Paul warns us that anyone who destroys the temple (the body of Christ, the local church in this case), God will destroy him or her. This does not mean that a Christian will lose his or her salvation as a result of destroying the church, because Paul teaches elsewhere that there is nothing that we can do to lose our salvation (see study on Romans 4:24). Therefore, the destruction that he is talking about is either a reference to physical death or it is a reference to unsaved people who destroy the church.

Paul further emphasizes the seriousness of destroying the temple (the local body of Christ), by declaring that we who make up the temple are holy. We have been set apart “from the world” and set apart “to God for His use.”

Application

Be careful how you work on building up the body of Christ. Good work will result in a reward, poor work will go up in smoke, and destructive work will result in your own destruction. Let’s all focus on good construction work.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2013 Will Krause. All rights reserved

 

Ephesians 1:23 – Spiritual Body Life

Posted on by Will

Ephesians 1:23  – Spiritual Body Life

which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Truth to Learn

All Christians are part of the body of Christ. As members of that body we each have a function to perform in the church.

Behind the Words

The word “which” is translated from hostis, a double relative pronoun that most literally translates to “which some.” In this case the meaning seems to be “seeing it is.”

“Body” is translated from the Greek noun soma, which refers to “the body” as a whole. It is used both literally and figuratively in the New Testament. Here it refers to the spiritual body of the resurrected Jesus.

The word “fullness” is from plēroma, a derivative of the verb plēroō, meaning “to fill full” or “to cram full.” It means to fill so completely that there is no room left to add any more. Plēroma refers to “the condition of fullness or completion.”

“Fills” is from the verb plēroō, which we just looked at. It is expressed here as a participle in the middle voice (the subject acting on himself).

Meaning Explained

Back in verse nineteen we learned that one of the things the Apostle Paul prays for is for all believers to understand the exceeding greatness of God’s power. Through that power, the Father raised Jesus from the dead and elevated Him to the highest position of honor and authority. And in yesterday’s verse he told us that the Father made Jesus to be the head over all things with regard to the church. Now, to get the full impact of the current verse, let’s look at it along with the previous verse.

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

God the Father made the risen Jesus to be the head of the church, which Paul tells us here is His body. The church universal is the body of Christ. It serves as His arms, hands, eyes, ears, nose, and feet. In his first letters to the Corinthian church and his letter to the Roman church, Paul explained a little more about the functioning of the body of Christ.

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ … But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. (1Cointhians 12:12, 22)

so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: (Romans 12:5-6a)

All Christians have a part to play in the body of Christ. We each have abilities and spiritual gifts given specifically to us by God. We need to be using those gifts to build up the body.

Application

Do you know what your gifts are? Are there abilities that you have that others don’t? Are you using your talents and spiritual gifts to make your fellow Christians stronger in their faith?

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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