Home » Posts tagged 'pisteuo'

Tag Archives: pisteuo

INDEX FOR WHAT IS TRUTH

Entire Index (Click for Whole Index)

Topical — Alphabetical

TOPICAL INDEX, A to E
TOPICAL INDEX, F to J
TOPICAL INDEX, K to O
TOPICAL INDEX, P to T
TOPICAL INDEX, U to Z

Topical  — Specific

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: BAPTISTS AND CHURCH

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: BEAUTY, MUSIC, WORLDLINESS, AND WORSHIP

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: CERTAINTY, CULTURE, EPISTEMOLOGY, MEANING, TRUTH, WORLDVIEW

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: CONTINUATIONISM AND CESSATIONISM, HOLY SPIRIT, AND SPIRITUALITY

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: DIVORCE, GENDER OR SEX, MARRIAGE, COMPLEMENTARIANISM

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: DRESS OR APPEARANCE

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: EVANGELICALISM AND FUNDAMENTALISM

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: EVANGELISM AND PREACHING

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: OBTAINING A LIFE’S PARTNER

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: PRAYER

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: PRESERVATION OF SCRIPTURE AND VERSIONS

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: SALVATION

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: SANCTIFICATION

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: SCRIPTURE

INDEX BY SPECIFIC TOPIC: SEPARATION OR UNITY

Scriptural

GENESIS to REVELATION (In Order)

How Does Someone Receive the Gift of Faith That Saves? (part three)

January 24, 2025 / 9 Comments on How Does Someone Receive the Gift of Faith That Saves? (part three)

Part One     Part Two

Saving Grace Appearing to All Men

Paul writes to Titus in a letter, an epistle, a Gentile man converted through evangelism in the Gentile region of Crete, a pagan island in the Mediterranean Sea, in Titus 2:11:

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.

What was this grace of God that appeared to all men?  What appears to all men?  Does the message of Jesus Christ appear to all men?

We know from scripture what appears to all men.   It is general revelation.  How does general revelation though bring salvation?  Only the gospel, a message of special revelation, will save someone.  General revelation falls short of being a gospel message.

Paul in Romans

Chapter 2

God intends to do more than condemn through general revelation.  It is a vehicle toward special revelation by which God will save men.  The Apostle Paul in Romans 2 in dealing with pagan Gentiles, who never heard of God’s law, which was a schoolmaster toward faith, says in verses 14-15:

14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

The law of God in their hearts in accompaniment with their consciences bear witness to Gentiles.  These uncircumcised pagans can and do become circumcised inwardly by faith.  It is a circumcision (verse 29) of “the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”  God receives praise for this work of grace in the hearts of Gentiles, even as no human explanation for this working exists.

Chapters 3 and 4

Pagan Gentiles without the special revelation of God are proven under sin before God (3:9) by means of the law in their hearts and their consciences.  This law in their hearts stops their mouths that they might be guilty before God (3:19).  He is not the God merely of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles and He justifies not just the circumcision but also the uncircumcision by faith.  God operates in the hearts of those not through physical tables of the law but through inward tables in their hearts, also working toward justification by faith.

Like with the pagan Gentiles, God imputed righteousness to Abraham by faith in his uncircumcision (4:10).  Abraham became the Father of them who believe, who are not of the circumcision (4:12).  This is how Abraham is a Father of many nations (4:18).

Paul as Missionary in Crete and in Athens

The work toward Gentile salvation came without the written law and yet with the law in their hearts.  That was the grace of God appearing to all men, that brings salvation.  Salvation does require conviction of sin through God’s gracious means.  This occurs with everybody.  When God saves Gentiles in remote regions where a missionary brings the gospel for the first time, God already started working in those persons’ hearts.  Paul under the inspiration of God reveals that in the first three chapters of Romans.  This is what Paul wrote to Titus for such a people as those on the isle of Crete.

When God condemns a Gentile, he rightly condemns one for rejecting Jesus Christ, even if he never heard of Jesus.  Every person possesses the possibility of receiving Christ, which is why Paul says he is without excuse.  When the Apostle Paul went to Athens, he preached to them Jesus.  Paul said that they ignorantly worshiped Jesus, when they worshiped “the unknown God” (Acts 17:22).  It was not true worship, because it lacked sufficient truth, but Paul says that some kind of revelation occurred with them, albeit ignorant.  Paul sprang off that foundation, that was already there, to preach to them.

Then Paul revealed the true identity of the unknown God, showing them that man God ordained, whom He raised from the dead, would judge them in righteousness.  God had a basis to judge them even though they did not perfectly know Him.  They knew Him enough because of the grace of God that appeared to them.  That same grace brings salvation.  Some of the Athenians mocked Paul, but others said, “We will hear thee again in this matter” (17:32).  Certain men clave unto him and believed, and others with them (17:34).

The Story of Receiving the Gift of Faith that Saves

Do the stories of the Cretians on Crete and the Athenians in Athens reveal the work of God toward receiving the gift of faith?  Yes.  In the way toward saving faith comes someone with enough reception of the unknown God for the Apostle Paul to piggy back off of it to preach Jesus Christ.  Missionaries going to godless pagans take this as an optimistic example and a model for how to do the work there.

My major purpose of writing this series is explaining how someone receives saving faith.  At least some of the time, if not most of the time, someone will not receive saving faith until he receives a lesser faith based on general revelation.  As a stronger position, I believe that everyone that receives special revelation first receives general revelation.  This leads to large numbers of heathen conversions.  Scripture and then history shows these examples.

Born Again of Special Revelation

The Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:21 and 23-25:

21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. . . . . 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.  24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

When you look at those verses, you see something to what Paul wrote in Romans 10:17 and what James wrote in James 1:18:

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Someone must hear the word of God for salvation.  This is akin to Paul in Romans 1:16:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Is the gospel the word of God?  It is, but it is not the word of God in general.  It is part of the word of God that deals with true salvation.  These verses themselves explain that in the original language.

Word and Word

Peter uses two different Greek words for “word” in 1 Peter 1:23 and 25.  The “word of God” in verse 23 is logos, the word of God in general.  However, in verse 25 Peter uses the word, rhema, twice.  This speaks of a specific passage or passages with the gospel in it.  There is special revelation and then there is the special message within the special revelation.  Someone must receive that.  That is “the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”  “Word of God” in Romans 10:17 is also rhema.  Logos is in James 1:18.

When God begets, meaning someone is born again unto salvation, through the Word of God (logos), someone preaches a particular word of God (rhema) with the gospel in it.  People use scripture to preach a false gospel, so it isn’t the Word of God in general that saves.  It is the true message of the Word of God, the rightly divided Word of truth that saves.

More to Come

John 3:36, the Second “Believeth” (Apeitheo), and English Translation of the Bible

October 12, 2021 / 1 Comment on John 3:36, the Second “Believeth” (Apeitheo), and English Translation of the Bible

The King James Version (KJV) of John 3:36 reads:

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

The English Standard Version (ESV) reads:

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

When you read the two, you see a few differences, one major one that may or may not affect or change doctrine, that being “he that believeth not the Son” versus “whoever does not obey the Son.”  Which is the better translation or right?  Or are they both right?
When you read the English of the KJV, you might think that the first “believeth” and the second “believeth” are the same Greek words translated into the same English word.  That makes sense.  However, they are not the same Greek words.  The first “believeth” translates pisteuo and the second, “believeth not,” translates apeitheo.  For that reason, the ESV and the NASV translate it “does not obey” and the NIV translates it “rejects.”
Can apeitheo be translated “believeth not”?  Why would the KJV translators not translate apeitheo differently than pisteuo?  How much does this translational difference matter?
In a very, very long post in which he mocks those who use the King James only, Mark Ward treats the difference very seriously, like a good reason to change the King James translation.  You can know with great certainty that the King James translators knew that these were two different words in John 3:36.  They, however, still translated them the same, “believeth.”
The modern version translators also sometimes translate apeitheo with “believe” and not “obey.”  The next example of its usage is Acts 14:2 and all the modern versions translate it “unbelieving,” “disbelieve,” and “refused to believe,” the same as the KJV, “unbelieving.”  They do not translate, “not obey” or “disobey.”   The very next usage is Acts 19:9.  The ESV translates the imperfect, “continued in unbelief,” the NIV, “refused to believe,” the KJV, “believed not,” and the NASV alone, “disobedient.”
In Romans 2:8, like all the modern versions, the KJV translates it, “do not obey.”  I give you this last example because, it shows that the KJV translators knew they could translate apeitheo, “do not obey,” rather than, “believeth not.”  In 1 Peter 3:1, the KJV and the modern versions translate apeitheo, “obey not,” but the NIV translates it, “believe not.”
Here’s what Friberg Lexicon, a modern lexicon, says apeitheo means:

(1) in relation to God disobey, be disobedient (RO 11.30); (2) of the most severe form of disobedience, in relation to the gospel message disbelieve, refuse to believe, be an unbeliever.

Thayer writes in his lexicon:

not to allow oneself to be persuaded; not to comply with; a. to refuse or withhold belief

The typical or normal Greek word translated “obey” in the New Testament is hupakouo.  akouo is normally translated, “to hear,” but with the addition of the prefix hupo, it means “to obey.”  Forms of that word are translated 21 times in the New Testament.  It is the word used in Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents.”  It is always translated, “obey.”
The Greek word peitho without the “a” prefix of apeitheo is translated “persuaded” in Matthew 27:20, the first usage in the New Testament, and the KJV and the modern versions all translate it, “persuaded.”  If persuasion is negated, it would be “not persuaded.”  If someone is persuaded, he believes.  In Matthew 27:43, all the versions translate peitho, “trusts.”  “Persuaded,” “convinced,” and “trusted” are normal understanding of peitho.  You can see this in the translation in all the versions in its 55 usages in the New Testament.
When apeitheo appears in the Septuagint, the Hebrew word is translated a majority of the times “rebelled” or “rebellious” (Dt 1:26, 9:7, 23, 24, 21:20; Josh 1:18; Ps 68:18; Is 1:23, 36:5, 50:5, 63:10, 65:2; Ez 3:27), which is compatible with “unbelief.”
In the near context of John 3:36, John the Baptist preaches the superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples, so they’ll follow Jesus and not John.  In verse 28, John says, “I am not the Christ.”  The gospel of John testifies that Jesus is the Christ.  Why?  So that people will believe that Jesus is the Christ and have eternal life (John 20:30-31).  “The Christ” is the Messiah, a Kingly figure.  John’s disciples needed to believe in Jesus Christ, that is, submit to Him, follow Him, or obey Him as the Christ.  This is the same as believing in Jesus Christ and not being rebellious against Christ.  Louw-Nida Lexicon, another modern lexicon, says concerning apeitheo:  “unwillingness or refusal to comply with the demands of some authority.”  This is not the same as “not obey.”  It is a description of unbelief, especially referring to Jesus as Messiah, the Christ, in the context.
Jesus gives testimony or witness as to why He is the Messiah.  John argues for this. He wants people to be persuaded by the testimony or witness of Jesus and his own testimony or witness.  The greatest reason is that someone is granted everlasting life if he believes or is persuaded by the evidence or testimony or witness.  In the near context, apeitheo means, “believeth not.”  It is an example of a good translation.
The greater context of John presents the plan of salvation, the gospel.  In the context of the gospel, apeitheo means, “believeth not.”  Lexicons make note of this.  Those not persuaded that Jesus was the Christ by the evidence and the testimony were not believing He was the Son, Who had come from heaven.  The Son points back to many Old Testament Messianic allusions, including Genesis 3:16, Genesis 12:1-3, 2 Samuel 7:12-14, Isaiah 7:14, and Isaiah 9:6.
When preaching, I believe it is good to let people know that the second “believeth” of John 3:36 is a different Greek word.  It expands on the understanding of the English word “believeth,” which is more than intellectual, but also volitional.  Someone cannot remain rebellious against the Son, not be submitting himself to the Son, the Christ, and have everlasting life.
If the translators had translated apeitheo, “obeyeth not,” that would have resulted in a lot more necessary explaining.  Today, it would be regularly used to argue for works salvation by those who teach that.  They would say, “You’re saved by obeying the Son. So, if you don’t obey Him, you won’t have eternal life.”  On the other hand, “believing” is not in contradiction to “obeying.”  Unsaved people are said to “obey not the gospel of God” (1 Pet 4:17), and “obey not” translated apeitheo.
I was thinking about translators translating two different Greek words with the same English word in the same verse.  One came to mind, James 1:17:  “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”  The two words translated “gift” are two different Greek words, dosis and dorema.  They have two different nuances of meaning.  The ESV translates it identically to the KJV.  The NIV doesn’t even translate the first “gift, so it’s translation is “every good and perfect gift,” as if there weren’t even two words used.  The NASV seems to take in the difference, “every good thing given and every perfect gift.”
The difference between the two Greek words is that dosis puts an emphasis on the giving of the thing and dorema on the thing given.  The use of both words elevates the praise to the giving and gifts of and from God the Father.  The NASV tries to show that difference, but I think very few people would catch the difference in the mere reading.  There are two different adjectives used too, “good” and “perfect.”  I know that this occurs elsewhere in the New Testament, two different Greek words translated with the same English word.  I believe someone should rely on the original language understanding to define them.  It’s very difficult for the meaning to show up in an English word.  This will happen.
Ward strains so much to argue for modern versions from John 3:36, that I’m concerned he could pull or tear a muscle.  It’s not worth 9 pages and over 4,500 words, like he uses.  Let us rejoice that by the grace and providence of God the King James translators knew what they were doing in John 3:36 for the evangelism and then edification of English speaking people.  May you be edified by reading this post in contrast to the fear and unbelief caused by that of Ward.

AUTHORS OF THE BLOG

  • Kent Brandenburg
  • Thomas Ross

Archives