Tag: working

Romans 4:4 – Unearned Gift

Posted on by Will

Now to him who is working, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

Truth to Learn

Abraham did not earn his righteousness and neither can we.

 

Behind the Words

The words “who is working” are translated from ergodzomai, which means “to work or labor.”

“Wages” is from the Greek word mythos, meaning “that which is given in exchange for actions done.” It can mean payment, reward, or retribution.

The word translated “counted” is the same as the one translated “accounted” in the previous verse (logidzomai).

“Grace” is translated from charis, which refers to “a favor done without expectation of anything in return.”

The word translated “debt” is opheilēma, meaning “a debt; that which is owed to someone else.”

 

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse Paul told us that according to scripture, Abraham’s belief in God’s promise of a future son was accounted to him as righteousness. Abraham was not declared righteous (justified) by God because of any works, but because of faith. Paul now continues on with his logical argument.

If Abraham was justified by a work of righteousness, then he earned his righteousness. If he earned that righteousness by doing something, then God owed the righteousness to him for doing the righteous act. That is, God owed him a debt. If God owed him that righteousness for doing a righteous act then Abraham earned it; it wasn’t freely given to him.

But that’s not the way it happened according to Paul. Abraham didn’t receive his righteousness because God owed it to him. Abraham received his reckoning of righteousness from God by God’s grace, not because God was obliged to, but because in His great love and by His marvelous grace, God chose to credit it to him.

In yesterday’s study we revealed the background of Abraham’s faith. We noted that Abraham returned to the king of Sodom all his people and all the plunder except the tithe given to the King and Priest of Salem and the portion earned by his two friends. Abraham did not keep any of the “reward.” Notice that it was perfectly lawful for Abraham to keep it because he earned it, but he gave it back to the king of Sodom. In the opening verse of Genesis chapter fifteen, God then said to Abraham:

"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am a shield to you, your exceedingly great reward." (Genesis 15:1b)

Do you see that? God said that He was Abraham’s reward. The Hebrew word translated “reward” has the same meaning as the Greek word mythos, translated as “wages” in this verse. Abraham refused the reward that was due him because he wanted to give God all the credit. Then, when he believed God’s promise, God credited him with the righteousness that he couldn’t possibly have earned. That’s grace!

 

Application

No matter how heroic our actions and no matter how much we give away of what is rightfully ours, we can’t earn our own righteousness. It only comes as a gift from God when we believe His promise.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 2:10 – Peaceful Reward

Posted on by Will

but glory, honor, and peace to everyone working what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Truth to Learn

If we are working for God now, He will reward us later.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “working” is the Greek verb ergodzomai, based on the noun ergon, meaning “work.”  Ergodzomai means “to work or labor at something.” It implies putting effort into doing something. It is expressed here as a participle (working) which implies ongoing action.

The word translated “good” is to agathon, which literally means, “the good.”

 

Meaning Explained

Paul has just declared that the unrighteous will receive tribulation and anguish at the Judgment. In contrast, like in verses 7 and 8, he now declares what the righteous will receive.

Paul says, “to everyone working the good,” The implication is that this is someone who is continually laboring to do good. Doing what is right is not something that comes naturally to any of us because of the sin nature that we all inherited from Adam. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we are even capable of doing anything truly good. And, as we all know, it takes work to continue to do good, especially when it seems that we only get taken advantage of when we do.

There is a beautiful promise to all Christians, however, in this verse. Paul tells us that those of us who continue to labor at doing good, in spite of what the world does to us, will receive glory, honor and peace from the great Judge when we stand face to face with Him.

We are not to go through this life seeking to gain glory for ourselves, and we are not to be seeking our own honor. But, if we are seeking to bring honor and glory to God through our good works, God will one day give us both honor and glory. And, on top of it all, He will give us peace. The unrighteous will not have peace. They will have tribulation and anguish, and they will be separated from the presence of God for all of eternity.

This is one of those verses that I think we all should have committed to memory for those times when we get tired of trying to do what God wants us to do; when we feel like it’s just no use; when life seems to be going downhill with no end in sight. Remember, this promise is not to just anyone! It only applies to those who have been declared righteous by God. That is, it only applies to those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And, according to Paul in the book of Ephesians, the whole reason for us being saved is so we can do good works for God:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

 

Application

We are not saved by our good works; we are saved only by the grace of God. But we are saved and commanded to do good works while we are here on this earth. And when we continuously labor to do those good works, He will reward us for it with glory, honor, and peace!

Do you want glory, honor, and peace? Then, get to work!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

2 Thessalonians 2:9 – Counterfeit Miracles

Posted on by Will

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders,

Truth to Learn

Miracles do not prove that someone is “from God.”

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “coming” is parousia, the same word used in the previous verse in reference to Christ’s second coming.

“According” is translated from kata, which primarily means “down” or “down upon.” However, it is used metaphorically to express a relationship of one thing to another.” In other words, it means “in accordance with,” and in such a case is translated as “according to.”

“Working” is from the Greek noun energeia. It is made up of en, meaning “in” and ergon, meaning “work” or “power.” Therefore, energeia refers to the “operation” or “effective power” of something.

The word “Satan” is transliterated from the Hebrew word sātān, which means “an adversary.” As such, it has become the proper name or our adversary.

The words “signs” and “wonders” are from the Greek words sēmeion and teras. These two words both refer to miraculous events, but teras (wonders) refers to the extraordinary character of the event whereas sēmeion refers to the spiritual significance of the event.

“Lying” is translated from the Greek word pseudon, meaning “a lie” or “a falsehood,” that which is not based on the truth.

The words “of the lawless one” do not appear in the Greek text, but have been added for clarity. A literal translation of the Greek text for this verse begins, “whose coming is according to …” From the grammatical construction of this and the previous verse it is clear that this verse is talking about “the lawless one” mentioned in the previous verse.

 

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse, Paul talked about the revealing of the “lawless one” and parenthetically commented on how he will be destroyed at the second coming of Christ. In typical Pauline fashion, he now contrasts the coming of our Lord and the coming (or appearing) of the antichrist. The antichrist will come on the scene accompanied by miraculous events. These events will display power, signs, and wonders. According to Jesus, these will prove to be a very powerful deception:

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24)

According to Revelation 13:1-18, these miraculous signs and wonders (even calling fire down from heaven) will so convince the “earth dwellers” that the “lawless one” is a god, that these people will worship him as a god and even receive his mark on their hand or forehead.

It is important to note here that not all miracles are of God. The devil and his agents can, do, and will perform supernatural acts that will deceive many.

 

Application

Do not be deceived, my Christian friends, by people performing miraculous feats, even doing so in the name of God. If what these people proclaim is not in complete agreement with God’s Word, do not believe them! Read your Bible; search the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:10).

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2016 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 4:28 – Give or Take

Posted on by Will

The one stealing, let him steal no more, but rather let him labor, working what is good with his own hands, that he may have something to give him who has need.

Truth to Learn

Overcome the problem of stealing by giving to others.

 

Behind the Words

The words “stealing” and “steal” are from kleptō, from which we get our English word, kleptomaniac. It means “to take something that belongs to someone else without permission or legal right.”

“Labor” is translated from the Greek verb kopiatō, which basically means “to feel fatigue, especially from hard labor.”

“Working” is from ergadzomai, meaning “to be engaged in labor.” It usually refers to a specific trade or profession.

“Good” is from agathos, which refers to “the general characteristic of goodness or usefulness.”

The word translated “hands” is cheir, which originally meant the entire arm from the shoulder to the end of the fingers. Later, it referred only to the hand.

 “Give” is translated from metadidōmi, which is made up of two words. The first is meta, indicating accompaniment (being with someone or something). It is different from sun, which implies a joining or a union between people or things, whereas meta implies simply being in the presence of someone or something. The other word is didōmi, meaning “to give.” Thus metadidōmi implies sharing something with those around you.

 

Meaning Explained

Back in verse seventeen Paul began teaching us how we are to behave as members of the body of Christ. First, he told us not to behave like the Gentiles who do not believe in God. Then, in verse twenty-two he began giving us guidelines on what our behavior should look like. We are to take off our sin nature and put on the new nature which God created for us. One of the characteristics of taking off the old man and putting on the new man is to stop lying and to tell the truth instead. Other characteristics of putting on the new man are getting angry for the right reasons and not letting anger last, leading you into sin.

Now he teaches us another characteristic of putting on our new nature. Literally, the Greek reads, “Let the one stealing, steal no more …” Not every Christian has an obvious problem with stealing any more than every Christian has an obvious problem with anger. We all have issues with these things to some degree, but some of us have an especially severe case of one or more of these. Some people have little respect for the property of others and take whatever they can, even though it doesn’t belong to them. Paul is speaking directly to these people, telling us that the solution is to create things ourselves that we can share with those who have greater needs than we do.

There are many excuses for stealing, from feeling like we deserve to have something more than someone else to simply wanting something and believing the owner doesn’t need it or won’t miss it. Whatever the excuse, Paul says, “Stop doing it!”

 

Application

If you have a problem with “borrowing” things from others (with no intention of returning them), you need to develop the habit of giving things to others who have less than you or giving your time to help the less fortunate. Can you do that?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 3:20 – Mighty Prayer Power

Posted on by Will

Now to Him being able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power working in us,

Truth to Learn

God is able to answer the prayers of our greatest and most overpowering needs.

 

Behind the Words

“Now” is translated from the connective particle de, which usually serves to introduce a new thought or idea. It is variously translated as “and, but, now, or moreover.”

“Being able” is translated from the Greek verb dunamai, meaning “to have the ability or power to do something.”

The words “exceedingly abundantly” are translated from the Greek word huperekperissou. This is a double compound word made up of huper (hyper) meaning “above” or “beyond,” ek, used as an intensifier, and a form of perissoteros, meaning “abundantly more.” Thus, you can see that this word expresses the idea of “more than a huge amount.”

“Ask” is from aiteō, which we saw back in verse thirteen, meaning “to ask” or “to beg.” It is expressed here in the middle voice, so it could be interpreted as “ask for ourselves.”

The word “working” is from the verb energeō, which means “to be actively at work.” It is expressed as a participle.

 

Meaning Explained

Before we get to today’s verse, let’s look at something we left out of yesterday’s verse. The second half of that verse contained the fourth in a series of petitions in Paul’s prayer to God the Father. He prayed that we might be filled with all the fullness of God. But, what does he mean by “the fullness of God?” The best way to answer this question is by Scripture itself. In Colossians 2:9 Paul said, “For in Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” So, when Paul prayed that we might be filled with all the fullness of God he was asking that we be completely filled with Christ.

Paul now closes his prayer with a doxology. Translating this doxology is a little tricky, let’s see why. The words “above all” are part of an independent clause associated with the verb translated “do.” The next clause in the Greek text begins with “exceedingly above” and is associated with “all that we ask or think.” Therefore, the first part of this verse should probably be translated as, “Now to Him who has the power to do beyond all, exceedingly above all that we ask for ourselves or think …”

This doxology proclaims the power that the Father has to answer our prayers. Since the word translated “working” is a participle, it indicates a continual working, not an off- and-on thing. Also, God’s power (His ability) is greater than that possessed by any created thing. It is so great, according to Paul, that it exceeds that which is necessary to satisfy anything we could ask for and above all that we could even think of asking.

Paul’s expression “the power working in us” is probably a reference to the Holy Spirit of God, for it is the Holy Spirit that manifests God’s power to mankind.

 

Application

When we pray to God the Father, we should not pray selfishly. Neither should we pray sheepishly; that is, we should not be afraid to ask God to do great and marvelous things. Rather, we should pray boldly, so that when our prayers are answered the credit can go to no one other than our great and powerful God. Answered prayers bring praise to God alone!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 3:7 – Humble Building Block

Posted on by Will

of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me according to the working of His power.

Truth to Learn

God places each of us in the temple of God and gives us the gifts we need to perform the function He has placed us into.

 

Behind the Words

“Minister” is translated from the Greek noun diakonos, from which we get our English word “deacon.” The Greek word is probably derived from the verb diakō, meaning “to run an errand.” Technically, diakonos refers to “an attendant,” “an errand boy,” “someone who waits on tables” or “someone who performs menial duties.” In the New Testament, deacons are seen as those who help or serve the elders and bishops.

The word “gift” is from dōrea, which is derived from the verb didōmi, meaning “to give.” Thus, dōrea refers to “that which is gratuitously given” or “a gift.”

“Working” is translated from energeia. This is the word from which we get our English word “energy.” It refers to “the energetic work, active work, or effective work.”

“Power” is from dunamis, which refers to “ability or power.”

 

Meaning Explained

Today’s verse starts with “of which,” so we need to determine specifically what this is referring to. The previous verse ended with, “and fellow partakers of His promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,” Thus, we see that “of which” refers to the gospel, or good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.

In this verse, Paul tells us that he became an errand boy of the gospel as a gift of grace from God. In our Christian churches today there is much confusion over the titles minister, preacher, pastor, elder, and bishop. Thus, these words are often used interchangeably. However, in the Greek language they are significantly different words. The Greek word most often translated preacher is a form of the word kērussō meaning “to proclaim.” And the word most often translated elder is presbuteros meaning “an older man,” while the word most often translated bishop is episkopos, meaning “an overseer.” In the New Testament these three words describe different functions of the senior pastor of a local church. It’s interesting that Paul did not use any of these three words to describe himself in today’s verse; instead, he calls himself “a minister;” that is, “an errand boy” of the gospel.

This is a characteristic which seems to be common in the apostolic writings. Even though these men were called to an extremely important office in the building of the church (remember, they’re part of the foundation of the building), they often refer to themselves as servants, slaves, or errand boys of the Gospel of Christ.

Paul recognizes that he didn’t put himself into the position he has in the temple of God. God is the one who places each stone. God is the one who places each one of us in the temple. And God gives us the gifts and abilities we need to perform that functions assigned to us in accordance with His will.

 

Application

In the temple of God, the body of Christ, there is no place for pride or arrogance. No matter what function we are performing within the body, we have no reason to consider ourselves any better than anyone else. In fact, we should not be comparing ourselves with each other. We should be comparing ourselves with Christ, and compared to Him, the best we can hope to be is a faithful servant or errand boy. What are you in the temple of God, and are you performing your assigned duties?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 1:19 – Incredible Mighty Power!

Posted on by Will

and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power

Truth to Learn

God has already demonstrated how valuable we are to Him.

 

Behind the Words

“Exceeding” is from the Greek verb huperballō, which is made up of huper (hyper), meaning “above” or “beyond” and ballō, meaning “to throw.” Thus huperballō literally means “to throw beyond;” that is, “to go beyond” or “to exceed.”

The word “greatness” is from megethos, which means “magnitude” or, as in this verse, “greatness.”

The word translated “power” is dunamis (from which we get our English word dynamite). This word refers specifically to having the capability or authority to do something. So “power” is a good translation it as it is used here.

“Believe” is from pisteuō, which we saw back in verse thirteen. It means “to be firmly persuaded regarding some truth” or “to believe.”

The word “working” is translated from energeia (from which we get our English word energy). It refers to “active power” or “power in action.”

“Mighty” is from kratos, which refers to “demonstrated power,” that is, “vigor or might.”

Finally, the word “power” is from ischus. This is made up of is, meaning “strength” and echo, meaning “to have.” Thus, ischus refers to someone “having strength.”

 

Meaning Explained

First of all, notice how many words Paul used in this one verse to express God’s strength and power. Each of these words can have a number of subtle nuances that produce very similar meanings. It is as if Paul is trying to use every word he can think of to describe the exceeding greatness and magnitude of God’s almighty power at work.

One of the difficulties in understanding the Apostle Paul is the fact that he writes such lengthy, complex sentences. This particular sentence takes up seven verses and it contains almost 140 words! He started out this thought in verse fifteen by expressing his thanks for the growing faith and demonstrated love of the Christians in the church in Ephesus. Then he expresses the content of his prayers for these believers and, by extension, for all Christians. He prayed that the Father would have the Holy Spirit impart wisdom and reveal truths to us. The first of these truths is that we might understand the hope and assurance we have in God’s inviting us to have eternal life. The second truth is the magnificence of the inheritance that Jesus will receive from the Father. We, the church, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, are that marvelous inheritance.

In the current verse Paul tells us about the third truth which he prays will be revealed to us. It is the incredible greatness of God’s active and demonstrated power, which is mighty in strength. The greatest part is that His powerful strength is displayed toward us, we who believe in Jesus Christ.

 

Application

Listen, God has demonstrated His incredible power for your sake because He loves you and wants to spend eternity with you. Yes, you! You are incredibly valuable to Him!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Ephesians 4:28 – Give or Take

Posted on by Will

Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.

Truth to Learn

Overcome the problem of stealing by giving to others.

Behind the Words

The words “stole” and “steal” are from kleptō, from which we get our English word, kleptomaniac. It means “to take something that belongs to someone else without permission or legal right.”

“Labor” is translated from the Greek verb kopiatō, which basically means “to feel fatigue, especially from hard labor.”

“Working” is from ergadzomai, meaning “to be engaged in labor.” It usually refers to a specific trade or profession.

The word translated “hands” is cheir, which originally meant the entire arm from the shoulder to the end of the fingers. Later, it referred only to the hand.

“Good” is from agathos, which refers to “the general characteristic of goodness or usefulness.”

“Give” is translated from metadidōmi, which is made up of two words. The first is meta, indicating accompaniment (being with someone or something). It is different from sun, which implies a joining or a union between people or things, whereas meta implies simply being in the presence of someone or something. The other word is didōmi, meaning “to give.” Thus metadidōmi implies sharing something with those around you.

Meaning Explained

Back in verse seventeen Paul began teaching us how we are to behave as members of the body of Christ. First, he told us not to behave like the Gentiles who do not believe in God. Then, in verse twenty-two he began giving us guidelines on what our behavior should look like. We are to take off our sin nature and put on our new nature that God created for us. One of the characteristics of taking off the old man and putting on the new man is to stop lying and tell the truth instead. Other characteristics of putting on the new man are getting angry for the right reasons and not letting anger last, leading you into sin.

Now he teaches us another characteristic of putting on our new nature. Literally, the Greek reads, “Let the one stealing, steal no more …” Not every Christian has an obvious problem with stealing any more than every Christian has an obvious problem with anger. We all have issues with these things to some degree, but some of us have an especially severe case of one or more of these. Some people have little respect for the property of others and take whatever they can, even though it doesn’t belong to them. Paul is speaking directly to these people, telling us that the solution is to create things ourselves that we can share with those who have greater needs than we do.

There are many excuses for stealing, from feeling like we deserve to have something more than someone else to simply wanting something and believing the owner doesn’t need it or won’t miss it. Whatever the excuse, Paul says, “Stop doing it!”

Application

If you have a problem with “borrowing” things from others (with no intention of returning them), you need to develop the habit of giving things to others who have less than you or giving your time to help the less fortunate. Can you do that?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

Ephesians 1:19 – Incredible Mighty Power!

Posted on by Will

Ephesians 1:19  – Incredible Mighty Power!

and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power

Truth to Learn

God has already demonstrated how valuable we are to Him.

Behind the Words

“Exceeding” is from the Greek verb huperballō, which is made up of huper (hyper), meaning “above” or “beyond” and ballō, meaning “to throw.” Thus huperballō literally means “to throw beyond;” that is, “to go beyond” or “to exceed.”

The word “greatness” is from megethos, which means “magnitude” or, as in this verse, “greatness.”

The word translated “power” is dunamis (from which we get our English word dynamite). This word refers specifically to having the capability or authority to do something. So “power” is a good translation it as it is used here.

“Believe” is from pisteuō, which we saw back in verse thirteen. It means “to be firmly persuaded regarding some truth” or “to believe.”

The word “working” is translated from energeia (from which we get our English word energy). It refers to “active power” or “power in action.”

“Mighty” is from kratos, which refers to “demonstrated power,” that is, “vigor or might.”

Finally, the word “power” is from ischus. This is made up of is, meaning “strength” and echo, meaning “to have.” Thus, ischus refers to someone “having strength.”

Meaning Explained

First of all, notice how many words Paul used in this one verse to express God’s strength and power. Each of these words can have a number of subtle nuances that produce very similar meanings. It is as if Paul is trying to use every word he can think of to describe the exceeding greatness and magnitude of God’s almighty power at work.

One of the difficulties in understanding the Apostle Paul is the fact that he writes such lengthy, complex sentences. This particular sentence takes up seven verses and it contains almost 140 words! He started out this thought in verse fifteen by expressing his thanks for the growing faith and demonstrated love of the Christians in the church in Ephesus. Then he expresses the content of his prayers for these believers and, by extension, for all Christians. He prayed that the Father would have the Holy Spirit impart wisdom and reveal truths to us. The first of these truths is that we might understand the hope and assurance we have in God’s inviting us to have eternal life. The second truth is the magnificence of the inheritance that Jesus will receive from the Father. We, the church, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, are that marvelous inheritance.

In the current verse Paul tells us about the third truth which he prays will be revealed to us. It is the incredible greatness of God’s active and demonstrated power, which is mighty in strength. The greatest part is that His powerful strength is displayed toward us, we who believe in Jesus Christ.

Application

Listen, God has demonstrated His incredible power for your sake because He loves you and wants to spend eternity with you. Yes, you! You are incredibly valuable to Him!

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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