{"id":2175,"date":"2010-11-17T22:31:01","date_gmt":"2010-11-18T04:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.com\/blog\/?p=2175"},"modified":"2010-11-17T22:31:01","modified_gmt":"2010-11-18T04:31:01","slug":"romans-1120-faith-and-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-1120-faith-and-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 11:20 – Faith and Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 11:20 <\/strong>– Faith and Fear<\/span><\/h2>\n

Well<\/strong><\/span> <\/span>said<\/span>.<\/em> Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Salvation should not produce pride, but reverential fear.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cWell <\/span>said<\/em><\/span>\u201d is translated from the Greek word kal\u014ds<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cwell, justly, or aptly.\u201d It is as if Paul is agreeing with this objection. We could paraphrase this as \u201cVery well then.\u201d<\/p>\n

The words translated \u201cunbelief<\/span>\u201d and \u201cfaith<\/span>\u201d in this verse are closely related. The word translated \u201cunbelief<\/span>\u201d is apistia<\/em><\/span>, which is a compound word made up of a<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cnot or without\u201d and a form of pistis<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cfaith or belief.\u201d It is based on the verb peith\u014d<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cto persuade or to win over.\u201d Hence, pistis<\/em> <\/span>is the condition of having been convinced of a truth so that the person now believes the truth. The word translated \u201cfaith<\/span>\u201d is pistis<\/em><\/span>. So you see Paul is making a contrast between the apistia<\/em> <\/span>(lack of faith) and pistis<\/em> <\/span>(having faith).<\/p>\n

\u201cStand<\/span>\u201d is from hist\u0113mi<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cto stand upright, to stand in place, or to stand firm.\u201d It is expressed here in the perfect tense, which indicates a past completed action with an ongoing effect, but the emphasis is on the ongoing effect. In other words, in the past we stood because of faith and, as a result, we are in an ongoing condition of standing because of faith.<\/p>\n

The word translated \u201chaughty<\/span>\u201d is the Greek word, hups\u0113lophron\u014d<\/em><\/span>, which is a compound word made up of hupselos<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201chigh, in place or character\u201d and a form of phrone\u014d<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cto think\u201d or \u201cto be of a certain mind.\u201d \u201cHaughty<\/span>\u201d would literally be translated as \u201chigh minded.\u201d In today\u2019s English it means \u201chaughty, arrogant, or puffed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Paul starts off this verse with \u201cWell <\/span>said<\/em><\/span>.\u201d It is as if Paul is agreeing with the objection expressed in the previous verse. Now he goes on to state the part that he does agree with, and then he will give a word of caution about this type of thinking.<\/p>\n

Paul agrees that the Jews were rejected for not believing and that we stand because we believe. But he then gives this warning, \u201cDo not be haughty, but fear.<\/span>\u201d His warning is that we should not become arrogant, thinking that we are something special because God chose to graft us into the olive tree; instead, we should be filled with reverential fear. Paul will explain why in the next verse.<\/p>\n

Because we believe that we are sinners and that Jesus Christ gave his perfect, sinless life on our behalf, God has declared us to be as righteous as Christ. Through this righteousness we are seen by God as sinless, He has adopted us as His sons and daughters, and we are guaranteed eternal life instead of eternal damnation in hell, which is what we deserve because of our sinfulness. We would not have believed these truths and we would not be partakers of His holiness had the Jews accepted Jesus as the Messiah when He offered Himself to them.<\/p>\n

Because of our sin nature, we are prone to believe ourselves something special because of God\u2019s free gift of salvation. And, because others rejected God\u2019s truth, we are prone to believe that they are less than we are.<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Let us once again take stock of our own unworthiness and the blessing of God\u2019s grace. Let our gratefulness be shown in giving all we have to and for Him. Let us humble ourselves before our Lord and Master, for He is worthy!<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –<\/p>\n

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to:\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 11:20 – Faith and Fear Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. Truth to Learn Salvation should not produce pride, but reverential fear. Behind the Words \u201cWell said\u201d is translated from the Greek word kal\u014ds, meaning \u201cwell, justly, or aptly.\u201d It […]<\/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":[1341,204,1342,1128,1343,988,1344,196,638,1345],"class_list":["post-2175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-apistia","tag-faith","tag-haughty","tag-histemi","tag-hupselophrono","tag-kalos","tag-pistis","tag-stand","tag-unbelief","tag-well"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-z5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175","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=2175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}