Complete Word Study New Testament

All right, for this time we're going to practice 1 John 3, 1 and 2. And it's one I specifically remember translating in a translation class because we had like four Greek classes and then the two translation classes. And so this was one of the passages. And as I was going through this, as soon as I got done translating it, I burst into tears. I couldn't see the screen because of the significance that I had seen in here. And a part of that was cultural.

In the Roman Empire, it was legal for a father, not the mother, but for the father to have any of his kids killed, to abandon like babies out in the woods. It was legal for a father to kill his adult son even. He could leave orders with the wife who was about to deliver. He could leave orders, if it's a girl, kill it.

And she was supposed to go along with that. Really, you see a lot of that still in other countries. You know, China, not one of girls. Other countries have that same issue. Now, there were a couple of legal procedures that would change that. If a father filed papers that he had accepted this child, then he could not kill it. Or, what the Bible refers to in the New Testament, adoption of sons. By adoption of sons, you could not kill an adopted son. I have a question. I've heard this so many times. Is this stated in the Bible because it's an example of who we are or was this a real issue? What do you mean this?

The killing or adopting and killing other sons. It's giving the cultural background that gives sense and meaning to the text. Because they really did kill their sons or daughters. They really did disown them and they really did have this legal procedure to accept their son, to have adoption of sons so that Then they had inheritance and they never feared being killed.

My question is just kind of dumb, but was this a real issue back in the day or was this just a real... Yes, it was. We have a written instance. A father came up to his son who was standing around with a bunch of other men and friends. And the father came up and killed his son right in front of his friends and friends just kind of turned away and that's the way it was so so yeah it was a real issue and and uh you know making sure you pleased the father all the way along right uh because you know you were at risk so um Now, while that was legal in the Roman Empire, that was not practiced among the Jews.

So, with this one, let me go back a little bit more. So what we want to look at is what is the meaning of the words, but also in the cultural context. If I say, and you don't have the background, oh, you're pulling my leg. What do we mean by that? He's not pulling your leg. Or I could say, that guy's driving me up a wall. And you know what I mean. But somebody coming in from outside the culture, translating that, what? He's not pulling anybody's leg and driving you up a wall? What's that? You know, so we have expressions that just, you know, raw translation doesn't explain it. One of them that we point out going through Philippians, the Philippian church sent Paul, who was under house arrest in Rome, they sent Paul Epaphroditus, who was there to help Paul and some money to help support Paul. So they sent both of those.

So why didn't Paul write back a thank you letter? Because in the culture, if you thanked a person, it would make the God angry. Yes, in other words, saying thank you directly to someone was like the worst curse you could give them. Isn't that puzzling? And we teach our kids to say, you know, please and thank you. But if you thank somebody directly, they would be furious with you, and you would definitely alienate them. So because the idea is you should be thanking the gods for different things, but if you thank somebody directly then the gods will be jealous and will strike that person with some curse. So saying thank you directly to somebody is the same as cursing them. Putting a curse on them where the gods are out to get them.

So what does Paul do? He writes multiple times, I thank my God for you. So that's the way you'll see it repeatedly in the New Testament. You'll never see a thank you, but you'll see repeatedly, I thank my God for you. Because that's the way in the culture that he can write that and it will be taken well.

So, in this one, 1 John 3, 1 and 2, the New American Standard has it as, See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God, and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know him. We are the children of God and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. So we get down to the complete Word Study New Testament version of this and here what we've done is take what's in the book and scan it and put it on the page. So this is the book version.

If you have the software version, it will respond differently. You won't see all those numbers and grammar codes in the software. But if you put your cursor over it, the little hand comes up and you can click on it. Click on it and get more information. Apparently, Ruth, yours is behaving oddly on one machine. Yes. So, on the computer, but on the iPad it seems to be working fine. So, my dad has been communicating with all three. Well, it would be good to get that one solved, because that's the purpose for having the software.

So, when it comes up on my screen, on my laptop, which is Word, or DOS, or whatever that is, The Greek word is at the top, and then it gives the strongest number, then it gives the parsing, that is all of the whatever, and then if you scroll down, because it's a small box in the screen, you can view the full definition at the bottom, and you click on that, and you can enlarge the page, and it fills up the whole page.

For those using the print, one of the things that we point out last week is those numbers that are bolded are included in the back of this book. If it is not bolded, for example, the number above behold is bolded, what manner is not bolded in the Strong's number? And so in those cases, you'll have to look it up in the dictionary, this large book. What's the term parsing mean that needs to be used? Ah, good. In other words, when we parse something, we look at what's the particular information that's built into the word. Here's a for instance.

In English, If I say you without a context, you don't know whether I mean plural or singular. It's a pronoun, therefore we know by context if we mean you and you all, or y'all as they would say in Texas, and then all y'all. So that would be the plural way of doing it. Or I might point to Nancy and say, you, right? You are using the laptop. So in English, we don't have it except by context.

But in Greek, and in some other languages, plural and singular is built into the form of the word. And other things, we'll talk about like present tense. We'll have different ways of saying the past tense. That's the form of the word built into the verbs. When we say parsing, that's unpacking the meaning built into the words. In English, we tend to have less of that, where it's built into the word. And we tend to use more extra words outside or we use context in order to make those things clear.

Does that make sense now? Yes, I understand. All right, so we said that the bold Strong's numbers in the print, like you see in the handout, like the one over Behold, that you'll have to look up in this dictionary. If it's not bolded, you can look it up in the dictionary in the back, back of the book.

Here's a recommendation that I have. I actually gave away my copy because I got other resources that I used, but the sections in the back, I recommend doing some kind of tabs or something like that. They're not expensive, but it helps you find the parts easily, and I'd recommend that if you're using the print version, that you go to the sections in the back and make it easy on yourself. Get the tabs there instead of looking for it every single time.

So anyway, I'd recommend that. If you're going to use it very much, it'll be a lot more efficient, and you'll be able to look at things quickly. And even with these, you can put labels in them and that kind of thing. And it works pretty good. So on things that I refer to frequently, I like to put those tabs in to quickly get to the different places I need to go. So those are some keys.

Now let's look at Behold. That is $14.92. It's the same year that Columbus sailed the ocean. What does John mean when he says behold? Observe or see. Take a look at it. So in one of the ways I try to put it in the modern vernacular, they wouldn't use it this way, but take a mental picture, right? So take a mental picture, remember this, this is significant, right? And so John will use it, and he uses it also in Book of Revelation a number of times.

So should we be looking in this section where the numbers are folded, or is it that section? If the number's folded, it's in the back of your complete Word Study Bible. This just gives all the different references. It's here, it's here. And that's one reason for having these things with tabs, is that you put tabs on there, you just find what you want real quick. And so that's giving you contextual definition.

Now the prints, you know what I do, is if I'm going to use this thing, I always go there, because the print's pretty small in there, right? And they don't have all the words. And here the print's larger and I know I can always find it. So that's how I do it. If I'm using the book, I'll just go there. But it's up to you. Some people like to just carry around the one book. So personal choice.

So this Behold, he's talking about this is something you really need to let sink in. You really need to give it some thought, not just run your eyes over it and run past. Before he even starts, he's telling you, take a mental picture of this. In the Word Study book, it has references of where it's used in a particular way. Is there an easy way to find that reference?

In other words, an easy way for me to find 1 John 3.1 in all of these references? Or do I just have to read through...

I wish that there was an easier way. There is not. There isn't. It would be something that they could put into the software probably. So if there is a way, I'm not aware of it yet. We should suggest that. Yeah. In other words, what you're looking at is you're looking at that particular verse and all the other stuff, you just have to kind of weed it out. So what I've done here in this part is to chop off the part that's irrelevant so it's easier to find.

But sometimes the definitions can be long. Take a word like flesh. The Apostle Paul and the other authors of scripture, they've used the word flesh, sarx in the Greek, so many different ways. And so you get this long, long, long definition, and you try to find your specific meaning and passage does take a little bit of work. And this one here, Potapas, is 4217, that's what manner, what manner of love here, and it's usually what kind or sort And what I particularly chose, you know, what manner of stones, what buildings. So it has 1 John 3, 1 there.

So I wouldn't cut out a lot of the extra stuff. But essentially, when I hear the word manner, I always think of, you know, bad manners and good manners and that kind of thing. I don't automatically think of that. So what I actually, when I was translating, Behold what quality of love the Father has bestowed on us. So I went with that because to my mind the word manner just all too easily goes in the wrong direction. I'm thinking of bad manners and good manners.

So at any rate, and you'll find the word quality in there, in that sense. So, behold, stop and take a mental picture. What quality, now how about this word love? What is the word? And that you have on your second page of your handout. And the way I did it this time was to pull it up on the software and then to a print screen and paste it in here. So what's the number 26 which is on the top of page 2, what's the word that he's talking about this translated love? Agape. Agape. So this is Agape love. What's different about agape love versus the other kinds of love?

One is that it's unconditional. Looking at what the dictionary says here, really cool, it says, with reference to God's love, it is God's willful direction toward man. It involves God doing what he knows is best for man, and not necessarily what man desires. Isn't that something? Yeah, it isn't a, what do they want? Now let's give it to them. But, God knowing all things, This is a love that says what's best for them, not what do people long for. So that's a key thing here.

This is out of the same set of words here, John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave. And matter of fact, that loved and gave thing is four times, same word, same sequence in the New Testament.

John 3.16, agape love, Right? God so loved that he got their love.

And then Galatians 2.20 and Ephesians 5.2 and Ephesians 5.25. He loved and he gave. He loved and he gave. He loved and he gave. He loved and he gave. He loved and he gave. So what are the Ephesians references again? 5.2 and 5.25. So he loved and he gave. He loved and he gave. And it's this kind of love. So why did he give? Because he loved. Because he loved. Right?

Every single time. And was it because we were begging for it? Were people, well, please send your son and have him die for us because there's no other way we're going to pull this off. People weren't begging for it, were they? Okay, so he loved and he gave, and it's this kind of love.

And also, under the definition C, 1 John 3, 1, It's effect or proof of love, benevolence, benefit conferred. In other words, it's practiced. It's not just a, you know, I know you don't know it and I'm not going to do anything about it, but I love you. But it's taken into action. It's practical. It's practical. So it's not just saying I love you, but it's doing something practical about it.

So this is a rich word and what we have here is in the context of the Bible and God's love and how that works. Did they use agape love and it didn't have to do with God? Yes they did and so that's another thing to look at is in the context it means these things where God's involved. There are other Greek words for different kinds of love, brotherly love, phileo, and the philia family of words. But this is agape love, and in the context of God, it's unconditional, it's practical, it's God doing everything that He can that we can't, in the context of God carrying it out. So behold what quality of this unconditional practical love is what John is saying here. And who has bestowed it on us? Who gets credit?

The Father. And so it's interesting, you know, if you will look at like in major Bible themes that the ladies are going through on Tuesday, They'll have like one chapter on the Father and seven chapters on the Son, right? But you look at what the Father does.

The Father is the one who bestows this love on us. And who gets the credit for blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places? the Father, right? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so you think about it, this Father is amazing. And also, to whom do we have access as believers? We have access to the Father, right? Through the Son, by means of the Holy Spirit. So all three persons of the Trinity, but our access is to the Father, right? So here, this is the father that has bestowed. So how about this word bestowed. What's the strongest number? Father bestowed?

1325. So that's on the bottom of page 2. So that's to give of one's own accord and with good will. That's the basic meaning of the word, to give or bestow upon. But there's something else. What is the Greek verb form for bestowed? You can either look it up or it's right above the dictionary reference. Bestowed is a perfect active indicative. Do you see that on page two? So what does that mean? He bestowed it, it's perfect tense, that's a completed past action, ongoing results on into the future, implying permanence. Unless the context says otherwise. The other thing is, it's bestowed. Did we earn it? Did we do anything to deserve it? No. And it's active. God didn't just sort of let it happen. He actively gave it to us. And then it's indicative, which is a statement. It's really happened. It's reality.

So putting this together, the way I translated it is, behold, stop and take a mental picture, what quality of unconditional love the Father has grace given permanently. So is he going to say, you know, I used to love you, but that's all over now? Is He going to do that? No. Behold what quality, and so that's why John is saying behold. Behold what is the quality of this permanent love that the Father has grace given to us.

We didn't deserve it. We didn't ask for it. But He's given it to us and it's permanent and it's the best thing He could do for us. that we should be called the sons of God. So he made a declaration. Remember with the people living in the Roman Empire, the pagans, that this was going to. Could they count on their father to give them permanent love? No, but he has declared it. It's like he's got a formal declaration to call us sons of God.

And so in the context of the culture, this is like, wow, my father never did that for me. But this one, my heavenly father has permanently grace given this awesome quality of love. And do I understand this correctly, looking at the definition on here? To call someone in order that he may come or go somewhere. So this doesn't mean he named us his sons. It means he called us to himself.

Yes. Yeah. To be his sons. Right. Yeah. Now, here's something else. And this is something you can take to the bank. It's an expression. Wherever son or child or even daughter, but particularly son or child of anything is used in the Bible, unless it's a biological son or daughter, it means like in character and close in relationship. Like in character and close in relationship. So for example, Paul will talk about the sons of disobedience. What does he mean? He means like in character to that disobedience and close in relationship to the disobedience.

So that's something you can use again and again and again as you're studying the Bible. That's what's meant by that figure of speech if you will. Because a lot of people will say, well what does that mean? Especially if I'm a What if you're a woman and you read that? What am I going to do with that? But it means like in character and close in relationship.

So what is God doing with the believer? You're being conformed into what? Into who? You're being conformed into the image of his son. So you're being made more and more like in character. And Hebrews puts it this way, you're also Christ's brother. You're in the family. Like in character, close in relationship. That's exactly what God's doing. That's exactly what God had in mind. that we should be called, and that's called out, not just put a label on it, but called out, the sons of God.

Now let's ask this question, does sons have the definite article? In other words, English has the definite article. Well, but you've got a grammar code there. Remember, if it's A-R-T, you've got a definite article. If it's A-N, it has no definite article, even if it's in the English. So it's put in there for smooth English. But here's the thing. If the article is there, if the article is there, it points to the specificity of something.

If the article is not there, then it points to the character. that we should be called, by character, sons of God. By character, sons of God. And then it says, therefore the world, and does it have the definite article in the Greek, the world. Is that present actually in the Greek?

Right, there's A-R-T right above it, right? So you look for that. And so, the world, that's pointing to specifics. The world. Now what is the world? Does he mean this big giant globe that we're, you know, sitting and standing on? So what does he mean? The created humans who inhabit it.

Yeah, there's this and there's that. is the earth, as it's full of people, doesn't know us, knoweth us not, as it says in the King James, because it knew not him. Now let's ask this question. It doesn't know us because it, the world, didn't know him. Is it the same word for know in both cases? The world doesn't, those people out there in the world don't know us. Because they don't know him.

The same word? Yes it is. It's the same word. And with that, on page 3, at 1097, so it's gnosko, is the particular word, to know in a beginning sense, that is, to come to know, to gain or receive knowledge of, where again the perfect implies a completed action, often to be taken in the present sense, to know. All right, so this is know or begin to know, to gain a knowledge of, right?

So the world has not begun to know us, because it has not begun to know him. So that's one thing that's key, is to recognize that we don't fall in the same spiritual category as the rest of the world. As a matter of fact, when Christ died on the cross, what did he do to the relationship between us and the rest of the world? Remember there are three things that we died to. One is the nature. Two is the principle of law. Certainly the law of Moses. And three is the world. That's out of Galatians chapter six.

We died to the world. So that makes sense here. It doesn't know us. Christ died to actually make a separation between ourselves and the evil influence of the world. It doesn't mean that we're all in a monastery. But it does mean that there's a spiritual distinction and difference between the rest of the world and us. And if they don't understand us, that's to be expected. That's to be expected.

In verse 2, Beloved, now we are the sons of God. Now let's ask about this word Beloved. Which word is that? The love that we saw in verse 1 was Strong's number 26, right? This one What's the number right above Beloved? 27. And the reason that's the very next number is because it's related to the Agape Love. It's related to the Agape Love. And so 27. Let's look at page 4. Agape Tas.

So it is from Agapao, so it's a related word and it's part of that same family of words and so you're beloved or dear. Who are you beloved by and dear to? The father. You're beloved by and dear to the father. So that's what he's pointing out here because the father is the one who gave the love. So when he addresses them he doesn't say, or just people, hey you, right? He doesn't say that, he refers to them as you're the recipients of God's love and dear to Him. Dear to Him. Now you are, you're not just called to be, you are sons of God.

And we ask the question again, is the definite article in front of sons? Is the definite article in front? Nope, it's not there. And so, we are, remember if the definite article is there, it points to the specificity of something. If it's not, then what that points to is the character. Beloved of the Father, right? Now, we are, by character, sons, like in character, close in relationship, of God. So we're called sons of God and then we are the statement. We are sons of God.

And it does not yet appear what we shall be. Why would he say that? It doesn't appear what we shall be. I mean, I've been Vernon for more than 60 years now. Is it revealed? Yes, it's not revealed and if you look, it does not appear now as we will appear then. It does not appear now as it will appear then.

We know that when he shall appear, and what time is that referring to? This is the rapture that he is talking about. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Why doesn't it say, for we'll see Ah, he's the same yesterday, today and forever and so we'll see him as he is right now because that's the way he's going to be in the future. So that's why I can say that.

So this is all making really good sense and when you start looking at all this, do you feel love? You feel massively love, and he even starts off verse 2, Beloved, and I've just told you about the character of that love. Beloved, with everything that's built into it.

That's why I do these expanded and explained, because then they'll start looking and seeing, behold, stop and take a mental picture, and what quality of permanent love the Father is this phenomenal love that isn't anything that we even knew we needed, but he knew we needed. And then you have two statements about the sons of God, which we know is like in character and close in relationship to, with the focus on that character because there's no definite article in the Greek, in front of either And we know that though we are in the process of spiritually being made like him, that that will be complete at the day of the rapture and we will be like him. We will see him as he is now and forever will be. So why is John doing this? Is he trying to manipulate their feelings?

Why is he telling them these things? He's telling them who they are. Yeah. He's telling them who they are. And so you get that real clear. Tell them who they are. And what else is he telling them? That they're loved. That they're loved. He tells them, he talks about the quality of love. He talks about where the love comes from. The fact that it's permanent. It's not going away.

And in fact, we are now beloved dear ones. And so he underscores that even in what he calls them. And in both you see clearly we're called to be sons of God. And then additionally, we are. So we find out God's character, we find out about God's love, we find out about the character of that love, we find out that that love now translates into something we're called, and that's beloved, dear, dear ones. And then the next part has to do with we're going to be elected. We're being made like Him and we will be like Him. As a matter of fact, the way we put it is we will be like Him in every respect except His deity. So what does that make you? It makes you feel loved. What else does it make you feel? Hopeful? Very hopeful, right?

Imagine the pagans who first heard this kind of message. Did the gods love them? The gods didn't love them. In fact, if you do something wrong, they'll just torch you, right? Put a curse on you. The gods didn't love anybody? Did the gods ever bless anybody? Nope.

Did the gods say, hey, I know what's going to be best for them? And then the gods might favor you one time, and then change next time. Is this God going to do that? So this was a quality in sharp contrast with the pagan gods. People were just astounded at this message. What do you mean? God's not going to take it away? I don't have to keep doing everything right just to make sure he doesn't torch me and scorch me? Do you mean That's amazing.

One of the reasons that people celebrate New Year's was the old tradition, was that New Year's, the gods were getting together to make plans for the next year. You wanted to do things to get their attention and get their favor, so they'd make good plans for you. That's what's behind a lot of our New Year's celebrations, is trying to keep those gods happy. If I don't have to do all that, I can count my blessings, I can realize how loved I am, I can look at the relationship that I have with the Lord, the fact that He counts me as beloved, and I'm not doing a New Year's celebration just to try to win the favor of the gods and get their attention.

We all make lots of noise, people do that. This changes everything. It changes everything. And to have an immense sense of love and to be exceedingly hopeful. Roger pointed out a few weeks ago that when we're called beloved, It's the same word that the father uses about Jesus.

Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty precious. Yes, it is. So anyway, I just it's a powerful pair of verses. And as you can see, being able to look just some into the word meaning into the grammar, And just with that, you get more than just simply reading the English. And so that's the value in doing this. In this particular set of tools, I'm going to say this, you're not climbing some steep hill.

Folks out there are doing it. And so we'll meet for two more times. We'll try to make sure everybody's all set up with all the books and the software and all that. And then we'll rejoin the other group. And we'll be just fine with that. The next thing we're going to do after this is the Greek Old Testament.

And with that, it's an interlinear that I'll make two and it's got a Strong's number, okay? You're used to using a Strong's number. It's got a Strong's number, and then the Greek, and then the English. So you'd be like, okay, there's the English word, there's the Strong's number, I can look that up, and I can look it up in here. You know the separate Strong's book?

Yes. Does that plug into this anyway, or is that kind of redundant to this? No, it's not redundant. The problem is, that it doesn't give enough explanation and it doesn't really give it by context. The Strong's numbers, what they'll do is they'll, if it's got five definitions, they'll just give you five definitions, you know, five words, and that's it. That's all you get. And if you don't know which one it is and there's no explanation, how do I figure out which one it is? There's no way to know.

So yes, it does plug into it. This is a much better reference, which is why Spyro Zodiades, as far as I know, he's still alive, put this thing together about 1992 for the Old and New Testament. And then following that, then they started making software. Some of the older software doesn't run anymore, but this latest one from Olive Tree does. You will see other references, like Strong's Concordance and all that. It's just that it doesn't give you lots of information, and if you have multiple words, how do I know which one's which? Which one's the right one? Any other questions? No, but can I tell you a very short story? Sure. It's how amazing our God is. Last night, my daughter-in-law has no idea about the relationship with God whatsoever. She wasn't raised with it.

So last night, we're sitting at the dinner table and she goes, you know, I started watching this new show. It's Pastors in Atlanta. Yeah, I've seen that. Every now and again she just throws this stuff out at me. Like, John you don't know if we'll ever go to church or not. And I'm just like thrown aback by it. So last night it was just God, how God is leading her. Because if I say anything, I'm in trouble. I can't say anything to the kids or anything else.

And so she's getting interested. I mean, why would somebody who has no clue be interested in something like that? Which is all goofy, but... Yeah, it is all goofy and I understand that, but still it's leading to... Because she'll come to you now and ask questions.

Yeah. Yeah. So, anyway, I just thought, I just had to chuckle because God alone knows what he's doing. And I'm glad because I had no idea how We pray for her regularly. I do too. We do. I have a friend who, when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer, I said, where are you at with God? I was just picking her brain. She said, oh, we're all going to get to heaven. There's just different levels. We're all here to learn as much as we can. That's the way it was. Then she went on her world trip around the world. came back about six months later and she says, Ruthie, we're all messed up. And I said, I told my mom and my mom's like, the Holy Hound is after her. That's awesome. Anyway, I just wanted to share that because I just thought it was exciting. Yeah. Well, it's exciting, but it's also another point that it's not us.

There's nothing that we can do. I know, it's all with the Lord to deal with that. We talked about, you know, the world doesn't know us, it doesn't know Him. We talked about, we've died to the world, but it's John 3, 16, for God so agape, He loves the world. that he gave his only son. So, again, you see, alright, I looked up this Word of God thing and got some insight into it and now, oh wait a minute, that means over here, he loves us and knows what we need. and loves us on that basis, and takes practical action in sending Christ to die on the cross, so that we may be able to rise again. It's practical action based on that love and care. Dying for the sins of the whole world.

So that's really cool. Alright. We'll call it good. We'll meet. What's that? Yeah. We'll meet two more times in here, and then we'll give Sue her office back. So anyway, twice more, and we'll do what we can to practice the tradition. Make sure everybody ends up with the book or software that they want. Lord, we do thank you for your faithfulness, and thank you for this very special passage. Tells us how much you love us, tells us what relationship we have with you, and what an immense hope we have. We just pray, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.