Established Hope: 1 Timothy 4:7-10

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul writes to Timothy telling him to “discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers” (1 Timothy 4:7-10 NASB). This passage tells us two important things regarding the hope we have in God. The first is that our hope ought to be established hope. When using the Greek verb “to hope,” Paul uses it in its perfect tense. The perfect tense refers to a past action whose state, condition, or effect is still felt today. In this passage, the perfect tense refers to an established hope. It is a hope that, once established, continues to motivate, encourage, and strengthen us even into our present. This kind of hope is based upon a decision to trust God, regardless of what may come our way.  Do you have this kind of hope? Have you made the decision to once-and-for-all place your hope and trust in God? Or do you continue to waffle between hope in God and hope in a job, a relationship, money, and so forth? God is calling us to make a decision, a decision to trust and hope in him.

The second thing about hope that this passage reveals to us is that hope, true established hope, ought to motivate us to action. Paul says that, because of the hope we have in God, and the promise that godliness has great reward both in the present and the age to come, we ought to work hard to discipline ourselves for godliness. The Greek word translated here as “struggle” means to labor to the point of exhaustion, and the Greek word translated here as “strive” means to compete in a battle or a contest. Our hope ought to cause us to labor and fight, to the point of exhaustion, for the promises of God, especially for those promises attached to godliness. Hope is more than a passive emotion. Hope is a decision, a decision that not only sets the course of our lives but also strengthens, motivates, and empowers us to continue in that path no matter what may come our way. This is true hope. This is saving hope.

David Robison

Being out-of-place: 2 Thessalonians 3:2

In his second letter to the church at Thessalonica, Paul asks them to pray for him and his team that they might be “rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith” (2 Thessalonians 3:2 NASB). A couple of things are of interest when reading this verse in the original Greek. First, in referencing the perverse and evil men, Paul includes the definite article. This verse could be rendered “from the perverse and evil men.” This may possibly indicate that Paul had certain perverse and evil men in mind when he wrote his letter. The second thing of interest is the word translated here as “perverse.” The various English translations of this verse have translated this word as unreasonable, wicked, inappropriate, worthless, bad, importunate, crooked, and so forth. In the Greek text, this word is a compound of the negative article and the Greek word for place. It means “no place” or, in this context, “out-of-place.”

In America, we are facing a cultural war where social norms and mores are being redefined. We speak of “being on the right side of history,” “being woke,” and “being in” as it pertains to the new morality of the emerging culture. Often, Christians, and those who hold to conservative or traditional values, are seen as being outsiders, as being “out-of-place” or outside of modern culture, ethics, and morality. However, it is not the believer who is “out-of-place” but those who are evil in their thoughts and actions. It is the unbeliever who is truly out-of-place when it comes to the Kingdom of God. They may fit well into the kingdom of this world, but they have no place in the Kingdom of God. As believers, and those who desire goodness in both mind and deed, we are those who are in-place, who stand on the right side of history, who are truly woke to the reality of life around them. It matters little what the world may think of us, for God has already seen fit to approve us and welcome us into his Kingdom. We must not let the world, and those who are out-of-place, define us. Rather, we must stand secure in our place as we invite others to join us and to find their place in the Kingdom of God.

David Robison

Perplexed, but not despairing - 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

In his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul enumerates both the similarities and differences between those who are believers and those who are in the world. In noting the differences, Paul reminds us that it is the Lord who enables us to live differently from the rest of the world. Paul writes, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10 NASB). Of particular interest is the phrase “perplexed, but not despairing.” In this phrase, Paul uses a play on words to highlight an important truth about our life in Christ.

The Greek word for “perplexed” is a compound word containing the negative particle and the Greek verb “to go.” This word could also be translated, “nowhere to go” or “no way out.” In this sense, “perplexed” is a good translation. However, the Greek word for “despairing” is also a compound word containing the preposition for “from,” “out of,” or simply “of,” and the same Greek word that was translated as “perplexed.” This word could be translated as “from nowhere to go” or “of nowhere to go.” Paul is saying that, while at times we may face challenges where we may find ourselves with “nowhere to go,” we are not “of nowhere to go.” In other words, our identity is not in our circumstances, nor do we live our life out of that place. Instead, our identity is in Christ, and we live our lives centered in his love and presence in our lives. We are of his kingdom, not of our circumstances. This is the reason why, as believers, we can have great hope. Because no matter how great our trials and tribulations are, no matter how often we feel we have “nowhere to go” or “no way out,” we realize that these things do not define us nor control the arc of our lives. We may experience these things, but they do not control us. Our hope is not in our circumstances but in a God who loves us and who has redeemed us from the power of our circumstances. In whatever we face, the source of our life is in God, not in the world or our circumstances. What great hope this is to our lives, even in the face of difficult circumstances.

David Robison

God is raising the dead: 2 Corinthians 1:9-10

In the opening of his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul writes of the persecution and affliction he experienced as he traveled and shared the Gospel in Asia. Paul writes that he and his fellow apostolic workers were “burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8 NASB). However, Paul understood that, in part, this affliction was part of the will of God for them to keep them humble and trusting in the Lord. Paul writes, “indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope.” (2 Corinthians 1:9-10 NASB). One of the things that are interesting in Paul’s confession is the central role that the hope for a resurrection played in his faith. Paul’s faith was a faith that believed in a resurrection from the dead. Jürgen Moltmann writes in his book, Theology of Hope, “A Christian faith that is not resurrection faith can therefore be called neither Christian nor faith.” There is no Christianity without a resurrection, and there can be no resurrection hope without faith in the resurrection of Jesus.

The second thing that is interesting in Paul’s phrase “who raises the dead” is that the verb “raises,” in the original Greek text, is a present active verb. In Greek, present active verbs are verbs of continual activity. They speak of an action that is presently happening and continuing to happen. It is interesting that Paul does not say that God will raise the dead someday, but that he is presently, and continually, raising the dead. This verse could be translated, “in God who is raising the dead.”

God is actively raising the dead right here and right now. Our participation in the resurrection of Jesus is not some future participation that we must hope for. To be sure, there is a physical resurrection from the dead that, as believers, we will all one day experience. But we also experience this resurrection in our lives every day as we live with Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this (John 11:25-26 NASB)?” Jesus did not say that, someday, he would be the resurrection, but that he is, here and now, the resurrection and the life. God’s resurrection power is presently working within us, raising us up from the deadness that still lies within us. Every day we live is another day to experience the reality of his resurrection in our lives. What hope this gives us for our today as it also does for our tomorrow.

David Robison.

Hearing for yourself: 1 Corinthians 14:21

In the fourteenth chapter of his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul addresses the issue of speaking in tongues. This phenomenon was first recorded in the scriptures in the book of Acts. On the day of Pentecost, after the Holy Spirit had come upon those present, Luke records that “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance” (Acts 2:4 NASB). Towards the end of his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul gives some instructions about the use of the gift of tongues in the church at Corinth. Paul even writes, “I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all” (1 Corinthians 14:18 NASB). Paul believed that the gift of speaking in other tongues was prophesied in the Law by Isaiah when he wrote, “By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to me” (1 Corinthians 14:21 NASB). In reading this in the original Greek language, this final phrase is interesting, “they will not listen to me.”

In Greek, a verb can be spoken using one of three voices. There is the active voice where the subject is doing the action, such as “the professor is teaching the students.” The professor is the subject, and he is doing the teaching. In the passive voice, the action is being done to the subject. For example, “the students are being taught by the professor.” The students are the subject, and the action is being done to them. However, in the Greek language, there is a third voice, the middle voice. In the middle voice, the subject does the action, but they do it for themselves. This is the voice that the future verb “will hear” is spoken in this passage. Paul says that, even with the sign of speaking in tongues, people will not listen to God for themselves.

Not everyone who hears the word of God is changed, healed, and saved by the word of God. Some hear the word of God only to criticize it, judge it, and mock it. Some listen only that they might use the word of God to judge others by it, all the while justifying their own actions. However, in doing so, they never hear the word of God for themselves. They never listen with the intent of obeying or applying the word of God to their own lives. They may hear the word of God, but they never listen for themselves. For such people, Paul writes that “tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers” (1 Corinthians 14:22 NASB) Tongues are a sign for such people because it demonstrates what is happening in their hearts. Because they refuse to listen to God for themselves, the word of God has become as unfruitful and impotent as listening to a message in a language one does not understand. Only when we listen for ourselves, with the intent to obey and apply the word of God to our lives, will the word of God change us and cause us to grow in the grace and love of God.

David Robison

Giving forethought to what is good: Romans 12:17

In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes to them regarding how they ought to live out their Christian lives. For example, in the seventeenth chapter of his letter, Paul writes, “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.  Respect what is right in the sight of all men” (Romans 12:17 NASB). Two things are interesting in this passage. First is the Greek word translated here as “respect.” This is a compound word that literally means to “think before” or to have “forethought” towards something. This word is also written in the middle voice, which implies that the thinker is as much affected by their forethought as those upon whom they are thinking. Secondly, the Greek word translated here as “right” is actually the opposite of the Greek word translated as “evil.” This word can also be translated as “good” or even “beautiful.” Both these sentences, to never pay back evil for evil and to give forethought to what is good in the sight of all people, deal with how we perceive and behave towards others. However, the key to doing both is to give forethought to what is good and acceptable to all people. There are many themes that resonate as being good and beautiful in the hearts of people. For example, the themes of justice, mercy, sacrifice, duty, honor, and selfless love. Most, if not all, would agree that these things are important and that the one who models these themes in their life is one who leads an exemplary life. However, none of these things are guaranteed to be automatic in one’s life. Often, they require intentional consideration and a determined will to live one’s life in accordance with these ideals. Repaying evil for evil requires no forethought and is often done by impulse and reaction. However, the doing of good usually requires giving forethought to what is good and considering how one can practice that good they seek. So, my question to you is, how much time have you given to what is good, and how you can practice that good in your life? If left to chance, we may never end up practicing the good we wish to do. However, if we intentionally give it the forethought it deserves, then our will and actions will follow along, and we will find the good we desire being accomplished in our lives.

David Robison

Pursue Hospitality: Romans 12:9-13

In the twelfth chapter of Romans, Paul lists a number of things that ought to be a part of every believer’s life. Each of these is presented as an active present participle which represents a present ongoing activity. Paul writes, 

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality” (Romans 12:9-13 NASB).

It is this last item that caught my interest. The Greek word, which is translated here as “practicing,” is the same word that Paul uses in the very next verse for persecuting, “Bless those who persecute you” (Romans 12:14 NASB). This Greek word can mean both to pursue and to persecute. It speaks of an intentional, deliberate, and intense act of pursuing something. There is nothing passive or half-hearted about this word. This is the same word Paul uses when he speaks of his pressing towards the things that lie ahead, “but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14 NASB). Paul was certainly not going to leave his future to chance. Rather, he was going to press on towards the future with all the grace and strength Christ had supplied to him.

To me, what I find most interesting, is that Paul applies this same active and intentional word to our pursuit of hospitality. Hospitality is not something that should be left as an afterthought, something we do once we have done everything else, assuming we then still have time for hospitality. Rather, Paul raises hospitality almost to the level of a divine obligation. Hospitality is something we should pursue as being of chief importance in our lives, even before much of what we might consider to be religious or urgent. Furthermore, we ought not to leave hospitality to happenchance. We must be intentional in our pursuit of hospitality, purposing, and planning for its inclusion in our lives. For the believer, hospitality is a holy obligation and one that comes with a unique promise from God, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2 NASB). As we press forward into the things of the Kingdom of God, let us not forget to also press forward to show hospitality.

David Robison