{"id":1469,"date":"2010-01-20T20:22:39","date_gmt":"2010-01-21T02:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1469"},"modified":"2010-01-20T20:22:39","modified_gmt":"2010-01-21T02:22:39","slug":"romans-421-timeless-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-421-timeless-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 4:21 – Timeless Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 4:21<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

God\u2019s ability to keep His promises never changes.<\/p>\n

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

The Greek word translated \u201cbeing fully convinced<\/span>\u201d is pl\u0113rophore\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which is a compound made up of pler\u0113s<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cfull,\u201d and a form of phore\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which means \u201cto fill.\u201d Hence, in its root meaning this word implies that something is \u201cfully filled\u201d or \u201ccompletely full.\u201d By implication it means \u201cto fulfill, to thoroughly accomplish, or to be completely convinced.\u201d In this case it means that Abraham\u2019s faith was as complete and solid as humanly possible. There was no room for doubt.<\/p>\n

\u201cAble<\/span>\u201d is translated from dunatos<\/span><\/em>, which is the noun form of the verb dunamai<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto be strong\u201d or \u201cto be able;\u201d that is, to have the power to do something. Hence, dunatos<\/span><\/em> means \u201chaving the power or ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The word translated \u201cis<\/span>\u201d is the verb eimi<\/span><\/em>, which is the verb of being (\u201cto be\u201d). It is expressed here in the present tense, active voice, indicative mood which implies current action. In other words, it should be translated \u201cHe is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPerform<\/span>\u201d is from the Greek verb poie\u014d<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto make\u201d or \u201cto do.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

You will recall that in the previous verse we noted Abraham\u2019s faith was consistent and strong (not wavering at all) and his faith glorified God. This verse adds some further definition to that faith which Abraham had. The first thing that Paul says in this verse is that Abraham was fully convinced. This is another way of saying that he had no doubts at all. This may sound like a repetition of what was said in the previous verse, but there is a subtle difference. Not only was Abraham\u2019s faith not wavering (growing stronger and weaker over time), but it was as fully filled-up as it could possibly be.<\/p>\n

The thing that Abraham was fully convinced about was that God is able to do what He had promised (that Abraham would be the father of many nations). You will notice that I said \u201cis able to do\u201d not \u201cwas able to do.\u201d As noted in \u201cBehind the Words,\u201d the form of this verb indicates current action (He is able to do). So what\u2019s the significance of this? It is as significant as what Jesus said when He was discussing with the Jews about what it really means to be a son of Abraham. When the Jews asked Him if He was greater than Abraham, He said:<\/p>\n

Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I AM! <\/span>(John 8:58<\/span><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

He did not say \u201cbefore Abraham was, I was<\/span>\u201d because Jesus, being God, is eternal. He never ceases to exist and, in fact, He exists simultaneously at all points in time past, present, and future. Likewise in the verse we are looking at today, the Apostle Paul says, \u201cwhat He had promised, He is<\/strong> also able to perform.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n

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

God\u2019s ability to perform his promise to Abraham, and His ability to fulfill the promises that He makes to us today through his Word, never ceases to exist. He is always able to fulfill them. In other words, His power and His commitment to us are eternal and they never change. Hallelujah!<\/p>\n

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

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

Copyright \u00a9 2010 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 4:21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. Truth to Learn God\u2019s ability to keep His promises never changes. Behind the Words The Greek word translated \u201cbeing fully convinced\u201d is pl\u0113rophore\u014d, which is a compound made up of pler\u0113s, meaning \u201cfull,\u201d and a form of phore\u014d, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"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":[640,641,642,330,643],"class_list":["post-1469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-able","tag-convinced","tag-perform","tag-promise","tag-timeless"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-nH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}