{"id":1247,"date":"2009-09-29T20:34:36","date_gmt":"2009-09-30T02:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2009-09-29T20:34:36","modified_gmt":"2009-09-30T02:34:36","slug":"romans-219-shine-the-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-219-shine-the-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 2:19 – Shine the Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 2:19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Biblical truth is a light to those in darkness. We must share it.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The word translated \u201cconfident<\/span>\u201d is peith\u014d<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto convince.\u201d It is expressed here in the perfect tense, implying past completed action with an ongoing effect with the emphasis on the effect. Hence, these Christians are convinced that they are guides to the blind and a light to those who are in darkness.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuide<\/span>\u201d is from the Greek word hod\u0113gos<\/span><\/em>, which is made up of hodos<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201ca way or a path\u201d and a form of h\u0113geomai<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto lead.\u201d Therefore, you can see that this word refers to one who leads the way.<\/p>\n

The word \u201cblind<\/span>\u201d is translated from the noun form of the verb tuphlo\u014d<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto envelop with smoke\u201d or \u201cto be unable to see clearly.\u201d This word is used to describe someone who cannot see but it is also used metaphorically to refer to someone who does not understand some truth.<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Not only were these Christians in Rome proud of their Jewish heritage and the fact that they had the Law as their guide into spiritual truths, they also believed themselves to be the only ones possessing God\u2019s truth. Because of this, they believed that they were better informed with regard to spiritual truths and, therefore, were the only ones truly able to provide spiritual insight to the Gentiles. <\/span><\/p>\n

Boy, talk about arrogance! Unfortunately, there are a number of people in Bible believing churches today that have that same attitude. Just because we have the truth in the Bible and have been instructed by great Biblical teachers does not mean that we are any better than anyone else. Let us guard against this sinful arrogance. An interesting thing to note is that the message of salvation was first given to the Jews, according to Jesus. Here\u2019s what He said to a Samaritan woman:<\/span><\/p>\n

You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. <\/span> <\/span>(John 4:22<\/span><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

However, the Jews forgot that their purpose was to share the good news of salvation, not hoard it to themselves. <\/span><\/p>\n

The apostle Paul realized that he had a precious message (the truth of the gospel) and that he needed to share it with everyone. However he did not consider himself as better than others or even as more important. On the contrary, he felt that he had an obligation to preach the gospel and that he would be judged if he did not preach it. Here\u2019s what he said in his first letter to the Christians at Corinth:<\/span><\/p>\n

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!<\/span> <\/span>(1 Corinthians 9:16<\/span><\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n

He knew that the truth he had learned about God was precious, but he did not let himself get arrogant about it. Instead, he shared the gospel message to anyone who would listen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t hoard the truth. Let\u2019s all share the gospel and other truths in the Bible, but let\u2019s do it with a humble heart, submitted to the God of the Bible and giving Him the glory.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s what we all have been commanded to do!<\/span><\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"signature\"<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

<\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone \"\"(618) 614-3070<\/span><\/span><\/span> and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:\"e-mail<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 2:19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, Truth to Learn Biblical truth is a light to those in darkness. We must share it. Behind the Words The word translated \u201cconfident\u201d is peith\u014d, meaning \u201cto convince.\u201d It is expressed here in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[225,526,319,527,480,528],"class_list":["post-1247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blind","tag-confident","tag-darkness","tag-guide","tag-light","tag-shine"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-k7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}