One Word That The Church Needs To Learn Again

Our rendition of a 5th Century Byzantine Church

Do you ever wonder why the Church is in the state that it is in today? Do you ever read the Word of God and wonder why the Modern Church seems have so little in common with that of the New Testament?

There are a number of reasons for this, for example, in our desire to see people saved, we have become too seeker friendly. We want the unsaved to feel comfortable around us so we use different language, we arrange "non-threatening" events and we do our best to be culturally relevant. Now all of these things of themselves are not necessarily "evil", however, when they become the "norm" then we are at risk of losing our "flavour". We need to heed Jesus' warning in Matthew 5:13
"You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless".

Now if we accept Jesus' warning about "remaining salty", we can not only perhaps avoid God's discipline in this area (Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Revelation 3:19) but we can also avoid having another's blood on our hands (When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself. Ezekiel 33:8-9).

So what is the word the Church needs to learn again? What is the word that we have an obligation to share with the unsaved, even at the risk of  being shunned by them; even at the risk of having fewer people in our buildings; even at the risk of being misunderstood or condemned by the Post-Modern Church? Have you deduced by the Bible verses I have offered so far that the word is "repent"?

What does repent mean? In a literal sense it means to "change one's mind". It also means turning about, feeling remorse (with regard to sin) and it means to be converted.
We need to once again add this word to our vocabulary. When we are sharing the Gospel with seekers, it is absolutely not good enough to preach forgiveness without warning about repentance. We need to follow the example of our Lord & Master Jesus Christ who early in his ministry demonstrated for us how it is to be done (Matthew 4:17).

When we are sharing the Gospel, we need to keep in mind that telling people their sins are forgiven goes hand in hand with their need to repent of them, that is to turn from them and be converted, ie. stop sinning. Only when a person truly has a change of heart and lifestyle can we rejoice like they do in Heaven.

"I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Luke 15:7).

Koine Greek Spot 4 Romans 12:2 Part 2 Transformers

Welcome to another Greek Spot. We will continue our brief look at Romans 12:2. If you haven't yet seen our earlier post on this topic please go back and read it here: http://likeflint.blogspot.com/2011/09/koine-greek-spot-3-romans-122-be.html

Lets take another look at the verse: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2).

So Paul is telling the Romans not to be molded into the fashion of this age, but change form by renewing their minds. Now, I would like to focus your attention to just one word represented in English by the term "by the renewing". At its root in Greek, this word is "anakainosis"" (See the graphic above for the highlighted word as it appears in Greek in Romans 12:2). This word simply means "renewal". The Greek-English Lexicon (BDAG) says it can refer to the "spiritual rebirth". Interestingly, I found another reference which states that this is also a word that can be used in terms of renovation, like when one renovates their home.

So we could say that part of the new life in Christ involves renovating your mind like you might "reno" your house. Why? So you can test and approve what the will of God is, that which is good, pleasing and perfect. For me, this says we have an active role to perform in our new life. It's not a matter of "set & forget" it's a matter of running the race to win (1 Corinthians 9:24). I hope this might encourage you to dig further into His Word. It is full of wondrous blessings for us as we renew our minds and strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:14).

Koine Greek Spot 3 Romans 12:2 Be A Transformer

We often hear among Christians, discussions concerning the new life we have in Christ. These discussions usually send me searching God's Word for information as to what this might mean. Romans 12:2 can help us with part of our enquiry (this is not the whole picture so be sure to be a Good Berean [Acts 17:11] and search the Scriptures for yourself). Lets take a look.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2).

 

I would like to pull just two words out of this verse for us to examine further (and as per usual, I have to say there is so much more we could examine with just one word here, let alone a verse/chapter/book so this will only be a part of what is possible to learn from a word) . The Greek used for "be conformed" is from the root "suschametizo"  (highlighted in green above). It means to form according to a pattern or mold. The way Paul uses the word here (those with an understanding of the Koine will know this is  most likely a Passive, Imperitive) it is with the power of a command, not a suggestion. So do not be formed in the pattern of this world. I think another aspect of this part of this verse is that it highlights the fact that we can be molded in a worldly fashion. I would suggest some of us have not been aware of this conformity. We are now.

The next term I would like to examine is "be transformed", from the Greek root "metamorphoo" (see the  word highlighted in yellow above"). It means "be transformed" "transform; change in form" It is the same word that is used in the report of the transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:2) so the word can be used both literally or figuratively. So I think Paul is saying do not be conformed to the things of this age, the worldy/fleshly life, but become something new (think of the metamorphosis of a tadpole to a frog) by renewing your mind.

This change we are being told to make is what I believe to be a part of our new life in Christ. It is something we must do, it is not done for us. I would suggest that if we have been a believer for sometime, and there is no visible change in our lives, we need to examine ourselves as suggested by Paul who says ^"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Take sometime to examine your Christian walk. Has there been change in your life (for the better) from when you first believed? Do you need to renew your mind further or will you allow this present age to fashion you? The choice is yours.

I think we will revisit this verse in our next Koine spot. There is just way too much here to skip over. Check back soon. I think you'll be interested to see where we go with this next.

New Testament Warnings About False Teachers & Prophets



2 Peter Chapter 2

I recently read that every book of the New Testament (except Philemon) contains warnings about false teachers and false prophets. So I thought I would investigate it for myself. I will share my results shortly but before I do, I'd like to make a point. For me, if the Bible says something once I try to take notice. If it says something twice I sit up and take notice. What do we do if it says it more than twice? As watchmen, we sound the alarm. Read on and see if this point is appropriate.

Over the course of a couple of days we searched the scriptures to see if this assertion (about false teachers/prophets) was so (Acts 17:11). Below is a list we have put together. It is by no means exhaustive, we were just looking to see if we could find just one mention or allusion to false teachers in each book of the NT. There are some books who have a great deal to say on the subject and our list is not indicative of the "best" verses available. In fact we confess we only attempted a cursory examination due to time constraints in our lives but I think this point adds weight to the argument that it's time for us to sound the alarm, because if what we found in a very brief survey is an indicator of what the Bible says on the topic, I for one consider myself warned.

So now to our list. Here's where we need your help. We haven't yet found relevant verses in 1 Corinthians, James or 1 Peter (keep in mind we are excluding Philemon). Please search these books and send us your findings, if any.

• Matt 7:15 24:24
• Mark 13:6
• Luke 11
• John 10:11-13
• Acts 20:29-31
• Rom 16:17-18
• 1 Cor
• 2 Cor 11:13-15
• Gal 1:6-9
• Eph 4:14
• Phil 1:15-17 &  3:2-3
• Col 2:8
• 1 Thes Chapter 1 & 5:1-3
• 2 Thes 2:8-10
• 1 Tim 1:3-7 4:1
• 2 Tim 3:6-9 4:3-4
• Titus 1:10-11
• Philemon
• Heb 13:9
• James
• 1 Pet
• 2 Pet 2:1-3
• 1 John 4:1
• 2 John 1:7-9
• 3 John 1:9-11
• Jude 1:4
• Rev 13:13-14