Chapter 13
Outline: Christian responsibility.
1. Christian responsibility to government, verses 1-7.
2. Christian responsibility to others, verses 8-10.
3. Christian responsibility to self, verses 11-14.
Verse 1 – Christian recognition of establishment.[1] “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers” is incorrect. It begins with the vocative feminine singular from the adjective paj which means all. Also a vocative feminine singular subject yuxh which has three meanings. It means soul, but it also means life since the soul is the residence of human life forever. And it has a third meaning. When God imputes life to the human soul at birth you have a human being, and that is what it means here—“All human beings.” Then the present middle imperative of the verb u(potassw, a military word, the most basic orientation to life. It means to subordinate yourself to authority, and it is translated “be subordinating yourself.” You cannot have freedom, use freedom, enjoy freedom until you recognise the authority that enforces freedom/provides freedom. All freedom depends upon authority. There is no freedom where there is no duly constituted authority. The progressive present indicates a state of persistence, linear aktionsart. The middle voice is the direct middle, it refers the action directly to the agent with reflexive force. It emphasises self-discipline, that you must have cognisance of establishment and of your own free will live under its authority. The imperative mood: this is a command for the entire human race. Next is the dative plural indirect object from the present active participle, used as an adjective, u(perexw, and it means “governing.” It refers to duly constituted authority under divine institution #4. Plus the dative plural indirect object from e)cousia—“authority.” It is in the plural so it means “authorities.” Translation: “All human beings be subordinating yourselves to governing authorities.”
1. Being a Christian does not exclude the believer from the responsibility to authority under the laws of divine establishment.
2. Neither anarchy nor revolution is ever condoned or sanctioned by the Word of God.
3. In A.D. 51 the Emperor Claudius banished Jews from Rome because of their distortion of the Messianic eschatology. It had been distorted into rejection of the fundamental authority in the Roman empire. The governmental authority had provided protection for the Jews. They were free in their homeland to function under their laws and customs. They were free to travel throughout the Roman empire and pursue any course of action which would bring them profit or whatever they wanted in their way of life. It was the Roman empire who sponsored them and protected them. However, they distorted Biblical eschatology. For Messiah was truly coming—and had come, actually—but they were saying that because of the messianic implications of eschatology they had no responsibility to the government which provided them freedom. Therefore they rejected Roman government and even criticised it as non-participants.
4. These Jews assumed that each succeeding Caesar was the Antichrist. They justified their revolt against Claudius, then Nero, this authority which gave them their freedom and protection.
5. This same distortion of Judaism would eventuate in the Jewish revolution of 66 A.D. during the reign of Nero. It resulted in the administration of the 5th cycle of discipline to the southern kingdom of Judea. The Jews resorted to violence and they died by violence.
6. In the meantime (prior to A.D. 66) the spirit of revolution was abroad in Judaism, and their rejection of Roman authority placed them on a disaster course.
7. When Paul wrote the words of Romans 13 a degenerate ruler by the name of Nero sat on the throne. Yet, in Romans 13, Paul does not advocate revolution against Nero who would be the instrument for the administration of his own martyrdom.
8. In other words, revolutionary fanaticism is forbidden by the Word of God. What doctrine cannot solve is not solvable!
9. Even slaves in the Roman empire were commanded not to revolt because the gospel and doctrine provided the freedom necessary to live out their lives to the glory of Jesus Christ. God’s plan for Christian slaves in the Roman empire was not hindered by their status of slavery.
10. Another application is obvious. Assassination of a ruler or the violent overthrow of government is not the prerogative of the believer in Jesus Christ. Christianity should never be involved in such activity.
11. As with individuals, so with nations. Leave judgment, punitive action, discipline to the Lord.
12. Revolution is just as much an intrusion on the prerogative of the justice of God as is gossip, maligning, judging, backbiting, etc.
13. There is one difference, however. Revolution is collective presumption, collective blasphemy; gossip, maligning and judging is personal presumption, personal blasphemy.
14. Today many believers understanding and discerning the current imbecility of bureaucratic government are tempted to enter into conspiracy against it. Such believers have lost many freedoms in the name of common good, but they have not lost their freedom to worship, to take in doctrine, to gather to honour the Lord. Their freedom to express positive volition toward doctrine is intact.
15. While many of the tenets of Marxist communism have been accepted by a nations leadership the believer is still under the authority of God, the Word of God, and specifically this command in Romans 13:1—“All human beings be subordinating yourselves to governing authorities.”
16. Civil government is necessary under the laws of divine establishment, while revolt and anarchy is both anti-God, inhuman and devilish.
17. The principle respects the authority and the office but never the person or the personality.
18. Like everything else in life where authority is an issue neither the personality nor the character of that authority can simultaneously be the issue.
19. The personality and character of the husband is not the issue, for his authority resides in the fact that he is the husband.
20. The personality and character of the parents is not the issue [children], for their authority resides in the fact that they are your parents.
21. The personality and character of the boss is not the issue, for his authority resides in the fact that he is the boss.
22. The personality and character of the coach is not the issue, for his authority resides in the fact that he is coach.
23. The personality and character of the pastor is not the issue, for his authority resides in the fact that he has the gift of pastor-teacher.
24. The personality of the leader of a country is not the issue, for his authority resides in the fact that he is the leader.
25. The personality and character of the tax collector is not the issue, for his authority resides in the fact that he is the tax collector.
26. The personality and character of the police officer is not the issue, for his authority resides in the fact that he is a police officer.
“For there is no power but of God” – the explanatory use of the postpositive
conjunctive particle gar, plus the present active indicative of e)imi and the negative o)u. The present tense is a static present, it represents a condition which is assumed as perpetually existing under the laws of divine establishment. The active voice: divine authority is delegated under the laws of establishment and produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of doctrine. Then the predicate nominative e)cousia which means authority, and specifically delegated authority from God—“For there is no authority.” Plus e)i mh which form an idiom, and it means “except.” The prepositional phrase is u(po plus the ablative of qeoj. When u(po takes the ablative case it indicates origin or source—“except delegated by God.” God is the origin and source of the laws of divine establishment.
“the powers that be are ordained of God” – the transitional use of the conjunction de
is used to insert an explanation, and the translation should be, “that is.” Then the nominative feminine plural from the articular present active participle of the verb e)imi, the verb to be which here means to exist. The nominative plural definite article is used to denote a previous reference to the authority. Hence, it is used as an immediate demonstrative pronoun and is translated “those authorities”—“those authorities which exist.” The present tense of e)imi is a historical when the past function of divine establishment is used as a present occurrence. The active voice: delegated authority from God under the laws of divine establishment produces the action of the verb. The participle is circumstantial. There is a periphrastic here composed of a present active indicative with the previous present active participle. Then the verb e)imi again, present active indicative. The present tense is a progressive present for action in the state of persistence. The active voice: delegated authority produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of fact, i.e. “those which exist are.” This participle, “are,” is a part of the perfect periphrastic, the rest of it being a perfect passive participle from the verb tassw, which means here to put someone in charge, to delegate authority, to delegate responsibility—“have been delegated.” The intensive perfect tense emphasises the existing results in the function of the laws of divine establishment in human history. The passive voice: the delegated authority under establishment receives the action of the verb. The participle is a part of the perfect periphrastic. Then the last two words: u(po plus the ablative of qeoj—“by God.” The ablative of means is used when origin is implied in the means. God is the origin of the laws of divine establishment for the entire human race.
Translation: “All human beings subordinate yourselves to governing authorities. For there is no authority except delegated by God: that is, those which do exist have been delegated by God.”
1. Governmental authority does not derive its power from the people. The power is derived from God.
2. Whether hereditary kings or rulers in a republic their authority has been one source: the justice of God.
3. What God has ordained the believer has no right to contradict.
4. All rulers at all levels are responsible to God for any abuse of their authority.
5. This is why God permitted the Russian revolution of 1917—because the Romanov rulers abused their God-given authority.
6. God does not sponsor revolution, but God permits revolution as the natural historical result where authority is abused without check. The only reason revolution does not occur is because there is a pivot large enough to offset such a catastrophe.
7. The rise of Adolf Hitler combines an abuse of authority in Germany plus the false usurpation of authority and a false use of authority in the part of the League of Nations.
8. However, when civil power contradicts the Word of God it subverts and denies the very source of its own authority.
9. Human arrogance and rejection of authority leads to anarchy. Human power in anarchy leads to despotism and tyranny. Christian obedience to the defacto authority inevitably leads to true civil and spiritual freedom.
10. Civil freedom, including respect for authority, makes the individual truly free.
11. While military victory provides freedom, establishment authority in obedience to the laws of divine establishment maintains that freedom so that evangelisation and spiritual growth is possible within the national entity.
12. The elevation of establishment and morality in compliance with the laws of divine establishment will accomplish more than revolution ever could, not matter how justifiable the revolution appears to be.
1. The actual existence of civil authority with delegated civil power is an ordinance of divine establishment. It is not a social contract and it is not designed to solve social problems. It is designed to enforce those laws which deal with freedom, privacy, property, prosperity.
2. Vox populi, vox dei (The voice of the people is the voice of God) is a farce. The voice of the people is not the voice of God. The voice of the people is the sum total of the function of their old sin natures in the field of arrogance, self-centredness and selfishness, plus that vicious evil called self-righteousness.
3. Hence, the ideal form of government is the existence of civil power compatible with human freedom in the divine institutions, free also from social opposition of good and evil.
4. Power and authority must reside in the divine institutions and not seized by an administrator for personal aggrandisement.
5. The royal family honour code includes duty to state or nation, patriotism as opposed to internationalism.
6. Paul himself was protected by Roman authority from Jewish legalism.
7. Two erroneous extremes of Christianity: a) The state should be subordinated to the church. That is wrong, the state should not be subordinated to the church; b) The church should be subordinated to the state. That is wrong. The right principle as far as the Word is concerned is separation of church and state.
8. However, the government’s responsibility is to protect the church in its civil rights, while the church sustains the state by the formation of a pivot of mature believers.
1. Church and state must be kept separate, and the authorities of church and state must always be separated.
2. The authority of state is found in the laws of divine establishment, while the authority of the church is delegated through spiritual gifts sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit. So the very source of the authority for each group demands separation.
3. Christian duty toward the church can be summarised by the phrase “the daily function of GAP,” while the Christian duty to the state can be summarised by obedience to civil authority, and military authority when the occasion arises.
4. Worldly power is designed for collective temporal peace, while spiritual power is designed for individual eternal peace/prosperity.
5. Separation of church and state is absolutely necessary for personal freedom.
6. Obedience to authority and payment of taxes protects the law-abiding citizen from loss of freedom from enemies within as well as enemies without.
7. Tax money should be used for law enforcement and military establishment but never for socialism and the welfare state. This does not preclude charity.
8. When a leader governs by the country’s constitution and at the same time is governed by the laws of divine establishment he becomes a double blessing to that nation.
9. When a leader governs according to the Marxist theory of greater good, and at the same time is ruled by reversionism and evil, he is a double curse to the nation.
Verse 2 – “Whosoever therefore resisteth the power” begins with the conjunction
w(ste which introduces an independent clause with an inference. It is translation with the inferential conjunction “therefore” – in view of what was studied in verse 1. Then the articular present active participle from a)ntitassw, a military term which means to form a battle line against the opposition. It is translated “resist” here and it connotes opposition to divine institution #4 specifically, but generally opposition to delegated authority in establishment. “Therefore those who resist.” The definite article is used as a demonstrative pronoun which emphasises the believer in opposition to the laws of divine establishment. The present tense is a descriptive present denoting what was going on in the Roman church which was opposed to the Roman government. This is a customary present for what habitually occurs among reversionistic believers, i.e. the one who rejects establishment, the very basis by which he was evangelised and the only hope he has of advancing to maturity under the intake of Bible doctrine. The middle voice is used here, and while the active voice emphasises the action the middle voice emphasises the agent producing the action. Generally in the middle voice the agent acts with a view toward participating in the outcome. Here is the indirect middle in which the agent simply produces the action of the verb. The participle is circumstantial for the function of the reversionistic believer resisting establishment principles. Next comes the dative of indirect object from e)cousia which means authority. It has a definite article, used here to make reference to its previous use as establishment authority in context—“the authority,” i.e. the laws of divine establishment.
“resisteth the ordinance of God” – the perfect active indicative of a)nqisthmi means to oppose. This is slightly different from resisting. Resisting means that your soul is organised, you are making a decision on the basis of what you think, and it is opposed to establishment principles. Such a person makes decisions out of the organised part of his life. So when you are talking about the soul making wrong decisions you use a)ntitassw—thinking. As a result of that thinking application is made, so a)nqisthmi is used by God the Holy Spirit for application of wrong thinking. If your thinking is wrong the application is wrong. “Therefore those who resist the authority have opposed.” The consummative perfect tense emphasises the completed action of the verb. Here it is not the existing state which is emphasised but a consummated process of opposition to establishment. The consummated perfect is not merely the rejection of authority denoted but a consummated process which implies the result of opposition to the laws of divine establishment. The active voice: the reversionistic believer produces the action of the verb living in the devil’s triangle. The dative singular from the noun diatagh means a divine institution and ordinance. They have opposed the divine institution thereby neutralising the divine institution, therefore a dative of disadvantage to the people involved—“the ordinance.” Plus the possessive genitive from qeoj, “of God.” These are believers who are doing this because they are ignorant of doctrine.
1. Every believer should be a paladin for establishment.
2. This is why every believer with doctrine resident in his soul is politically a conservative.
3. A true conservative understands and champions the laws of divine establishment against all Satanic and apostate attacks of liberalism.
4. Anticipating the last phrase of this verse, all believers who oppose establishment ordinances and institutions of God receive two categories of divine discipline: direct discipline from God for reversionism and apostasy; and historical discipline from God as those who oppose authority and sponsor revolution, conspiracy and violent overthrow of government.
5. All apostate believers, both reversionistic and liberal, are in opposition to God.
6. In effect, they are the enemies of God who has saved them and has provided a perfect plan for their lives, but they are destroying the very principle upon which that plan operates—freedom, privacy, property.
7. The ingratitude of the reversionistic believer often exists from ignorance of doctrine.
8. God is not the author of confusion. There must be order and authority in the human race for its survival.
9. The survival of the human race is the basis for concluding the angelic conflict.
10. Divine institution #4, nationalism, protects the freedom of the human race and guarantees local evangelism plus strong missionary effort in other geographical areas.
1. Governmental authorities are seen here not from the standpoint of their individual personalities and character but as officers of divine institution with authority from God
2. Human government is a permanent divine institution as a guarantee of individual privacy, property and freedom, and as a safeguard against internationalism which is the tyranny of Satan to control the human race in the angelic conflict.
3. All internal organizations--such as communism in Russia or China, or Cuba, there is nothing but tyranny and anti-establishment—are political internationalism, along with the former League of Nations and the present United Nations.
4. There is also religious internationalism such as the Word Council of Churches. The WCC today sponsors revolution and advocates violence to solves social problems. It is anti-Christian to the core.
5. All forms of internationalism expose Satanic conspiracy and they oppose the divine ordinance of nationalism.
6. Civil authority, law and order to protect human freedom, is an ordinance from God.
7. The Bible does not condone the Christian becoming involved in revolutionary movements. That is trying to solve problems by violence. Christian duty is to established power and authority, not to revolutionary power and authority.
8. Therefore Christian responsibility to the national entity includes obedience to the laws of the land: paying taxes even though they are confiscatory, participation in the military establishment, and whatever additional duties which may be assigned such as jury duty, voting, and even holding office.
9. This means that lawful means should always be employed in rescinding unlawful and unjust laws.
“and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” – this begins with the postpositive conjunctive particle de which is used here as a transitional conjunction. It is used to insert an explanation, so it has to be translated “in fact.” Next is the nominative plural definite article used for the personal pronoun to describe apostate believers, reversionistic believers, anti-establishment believers, believers who are involved in what has been called “Christian socialism.” Plus the perfect active participle from the verb a)nqisthmi which means to oppose—“in fact they who oppose.” The dramatic perfect tense is a rhetorical use of the intensive perfect, emphasising the existing state of apostate individuals—believers. The active voice: the reversionistic believer, the liberal believer in his theology and in his politics, the revolutionary believer, the anti-establishment believer, produces the action of the verb. The participle is circumstantial. With it is a future middle indicative of the verb lambanw—“shall receive.” The gnomic future is for a fact of judgment from God which can be expected in circumstances of being anti-establishment. The middle voice is a direct middle, it refers the results of the action directly to the agent with reflexive force. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of fact. The word “themselves” is the dative plural of disadvantage from the reflexive pronoun e(autou. When the action expressed by the verb is referred back to its own subject the construction is called reflexive. The next word in the KJV is not quite correct. It is the accusative singular direct object from the noun krima which is not judgment or “damnation” because that has the connotation of the eternal lake of fire. It means “punishment” or “punitive action” or “discipline.” So the corrected translation would read, “in fact they who oppose shall receive punishment.” The word “judgment” can be used if it is understood that it means discipline in time and not related to eternity.
This generally means that whatever divine punishment comes to those anti-establishment believers who are revolutionary, who are liberal, receive punishment in two categories. First, they receive individual discipline for their reversionism—including warning discipline, intensive discipline, and dying discipline. But they are also a part of the collective discipline which God meets out to a nation through various historical disasters and catastrophes, and results in the fourth and fifth cycles of discipline.
1. Antagonism to authority leads to anarchy.
2. It is the Christian duty to obtain by lawful means the rescinding or alteration of any unjust law, but never to resort to violence or revolution.
3. When tyranny destroys the freedom of religion, the freedom to evangelise, the freedom to assemble at a local church and learn doctrine, if the Lord does not destroy that tyranny opposition of other than peaceful means might be employed.
4. By ‘might be employed’ the word ‘might’ is very doubtful because even Paul persecuted by the Roman government did not waver on this principle of doctrine. He went to his death still submissive to the authority of Caesar.
5. The extent of obedience is determined by the nature of doctrine.
6. There is relatively little authorisation for the doctrine of passive obedience, e.g. the right of striking. It is active obedience which is commanded.
7. No matter how great the erosion of freedoms may be in a national entity, as long as you have freedom to witness for Christ, to evangelise and to take in doctrine, you have no right to oppose the authority of government.
Translation: “Therefore those who resist the authority have opposed the ordinance of God: if fact, they who oppose shall receive discipline [judgment] to themselves.”
Verse 3 – “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.” The explanatory use of the postpositive conjunctive particle gar is translated “For.” The nominative plural subject from the noun a)rxon, a word for “ruler” or “authority,” or someone who has received delegated responsibility from God to exercise governmental power—“For the governing authorities.” The nominative plural of the definite article here denotes a specific class of individual, i.e. those who have the responsibility and authority to enforce the principles of freedom, privacy and property within the national entity. Then the present active indicative of the verb e)imi, plus the negative o)u. The present tense is a present of duration for the principle of establishment begun in the past and continuing to the present time. The active voice: the legitimate state officials or government authorities produce the action of the verb. In this case it is negative action, due to the negative o)u. This is a declarative indicative with the negative indicating that what government officials do not do under the laws of establishment. The predicate nominative of foboj is in the singular—“fear.” This must be regarded in its context—free enterprise and the function of the laws of divine establishment. Under communism government authorities are a source of terror, a source of fear, no matter what your works are. But under the laws of divine establishment the purpose of having authority is to protect freedom, privacy, and property. They are all connected. Then the dative of advantage from the adjective a)gaqoj, good of intrinsic value, plus e)rgon—“good works,” plus the generic use of the definite article, and it represents good in the sense of freedom, privacy, property; good in the sense of not violating these things. In other words, it is observance of the laws of divine establishment. We can use the word “function” for e)rgon, it means the deeds of men exhibiting a consistent moral character, work or occupation. It must be understood that ‘good’ or ‘moral’ here refers to the laws of divine establishment. Then we have “but,” the adversative conjunction a)lla which sets up a contrast; “for evil” – the dative of disadvantage from the adjective kakoj, a reference to crime. Crime is the violation of freedom, privacy and property.
1. The predicate nominative of foboj refers to fear of punishment. We begin to see why establishment demands capital punishment. The only restraint of the criminal mind is fear of reprisal.
2. The Bible and the laws of divine establishment demand that punishment for anti-establishment violence should be death.
3. Therefore this passage teaches that very important principle: Restraint in society demands law enforcement.
4. In society are X number of OSNs, and some are restrained by respect; others have to be restrained by fear. Only fear can overcome the vile tendencies of the OSN in the function of crime, conspiracy, revolution, and the use of violence in anarchy.
5. This is why the bible advocates capital punishment as the means of controlling the criminal, the revolutionist, the anarchist, the communist. Genesis 9:6; Romans 13:4.
6. Capital punishment is the highest power in human government.
7. Only with capital punishment can human government function to guarantee the freedom, the privacy, and the property of its constituents.
8. Legislation and law enforcement are useless without teeth. The bite is capital punishment.
9. Fear of capital punishment is a basic principle in the orderly function of the laws of divine establishment.
10. Capital punishment is administered by the judicial authorities of the government, regardless of the form of government, whether monarchy or republic. It is a legitimate government as long as the sword of capital punishment is directed toward evil function and not the function of good.
“Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?” The emphatic use of the postpositive
conjunctive particle de can be translated one of two ways: “In fact,” but here there is a little bit of sanctified sarcasm involved and the best translation is “Really.” This is sarcasm because Paul under the ministry of the Holy Spirit is going to refer to your personal desires, the present active indicative of the verb qelw—“Really, do you desire?” This is a customary present tense for a normal mental attitude of a believer toward government. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is an interrogative indicative assuming that there is an actual fact which may be stated in answer to the question. This is the sarcastic interrogative. Then the present middle infinitive from the verb fobew plus the negative mh which is used because of the infinitive. The present tense is a perfective present, it denotes the continuation of existing results. It refers to a fact which has come to be in the past but is emphasised as a present reality. The middle voice is the indirect middle in which the believer as the agent produces the action rather than participating in the results of the action. The infinitive is the intended result, fulfilling a deliberate objective, hence a blending of purpose and result. “Really, do you desire not to fear?” Next is the accusative singular direct object from e)cousia, plus the generic use of the definite article—“the authority.”
“do that which is good” – the present active imperative of the verb poiew. This is a progressive present, present linear aktionsart, “keep on doing” or “keep doing.” The active voice: this passage is addressed to the believer. Our job is to advance spiritually. This is an imperative mood, a command to all believers. With it is the direct object of the verb, the accusative singular from a)gaqoj plus the generic use of the definite article. This is understanding and doing the plan of God. A)gaqoj is Christian duty to God and country.
“and thou shalt have praise of the same” – the connective kai, “and.” The thought is
not completed, it is continued. Plus the future active indicative of the verb e)xw, meaning to have—“and you will have.” The future tense is predictive, it denotes an idea in progress in future time. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb in the fulfilment of Christian duty to the state. The indicative mood is declarative viewing the action of the verb from the standpoint of reality. Then the accusative singular direct object from e)paoinoj, meaning legitimate praise. Perhaps the best translation would be “recognition.” It means praise, approval, recognition. With it is a prepositional phrase, e)k plus the ablative singular of the intensive pronoun a)utoj—“from it.” A)utoj is used here as a third person singular feminine pronoun. It is in the feminine gender because it is referring to the noun e)cousia which means authority.
Translation: “For government authorities are not a cause of fear for moral function, but for evil function. Really, do you desire not to fear the authority? Keep on doing the good, and you will have recognition from it.”
Verse 4 – the principle of authority and punishment under the laws of divine establishment. “For he is the minister of God to thee for good.” The postpositive conjunctive particle gar—an explanation is needed, plus the present active indicative of the verb e)imi—“For he is.” The customary present tense denotes what habitually occurs under the laws of divine establishment. The active voice: government officials, rulers, or anyone who has the authority under the laws of establishment produce the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality. Then the word “minister,” the predicate nominative from diakonoj. It means a servant of someone, a helper. It is used for an administrative official in a local church, also for a pastor, and it always means a servant in the sense that the authority is delegated. It has a political connotation within the framework of the laws of divine establishment. Here is the minister of diakonoj as the ruler of state or the authorities in a national entity. It is an establishment connotation. They are the servants of God in the execution of the laws of divine establishment. God has delegated the responsibility of making them referees of freedom, but remember that freedom includes privacy and property. Government officials are the umpires, the referees with regard to freedom. With this is a genitive singular of relationship from the noun qeoj—“of God.” This means first of all that authority resides in the word diakonoj. Government rulers, civil authorities, have responsibility to God to enforce establishment.
“to thee for good” emphasises encapsulation. We must remember that no matter how disastrous things appear to be in history, or really are, God still has a purpose for our life and historical catastrophe must not hinder our advance to maturity. God will continue to provide doctrine, the means of advance, even prosperity in times of catastrophe as an imputation, and He will provide the right death at the right time not matter how unjust it appears, as illustrated by the apostle Paul. We have here the dative of advantage plural from the personal pronoun su, referring to all believers. The Roman government of the empire was good for Christianity (it would have been stamped out under the republic). It was under the empire that the fullness of time occurred. Then the prepositional phrase e)ij plus the accusative singular of a)gaqoj, a reference to Romans 8:28, plus the generic use of the definite article—“for the purpose of [the] good.” The purpose of good is the advance to maturity under plan of God.
1. Order in the human race through delegated authority and the function of the laws of divine establishment makes it possible for both evangelism and maturity adjustment to the justice of God.
2. Civil authority is the servant of God designed for the purpose of freedom, privacy, property, evangelism, spiritual advance to maturity as the tactical victory of the angelic conflict.
3. The issue in the political realm is not whether the authority is saved or unsaved, whether the authority is believer or unbeliever, but whether the individual follows the laws of divine establishment.
4. Many unbelievers understand freedom better than believers do, hence many unbelievers are better guardians of freedom than born again believers.
5. Reversionistic Christians are prone to be brainwashed by Marxist principles, such as ‘the greater good for the greater number’, principles of evil which erode and eventually destroy human freedom.
6. It is Christian duty and a part of the royal family honour code to respect civil authority and obey the ruler or rulers of the nation.
7. Christians, therefore, are no exception to the rule and are not excluded from this responsibility under the laws of divine establishment. Remember that the laws of divine establishment encapsulate the plan of God for the human race.
1. Without civil authority the believer could not advance to maturity.
2. For just as the filling of the Spirit and Bible doctrine perceived are necessary for maturity adjustment to the justice of God, so also freedom is necessary for the function of GAP.
3. An attack on freedom in one place is an attack on freedom in every place.
“But if thou do that which is evil” – the postpositive conjunctive particle de is used
to connect one clause with another where a contrast is contended. Here it is correctly translated “but.” This is addressed to believers, for it is believers who become involved in evil so readily without Bible doctrine to check them. The word “if” is the conditional conjunction e)an which introduces the protasis of a third class condition, a more probable future condition. The subjunctive mood in the verb is used in the protasis to imply uncertainty—maybe you will do evil and maybe you will not do evil, but if you do this is what you can expect. Then the present active subjunctive of the verb poiew which means to do or to produce. The iterative present describes what is conceived of in successive periods. The active voice: Christian potentiality for the production of evil is so stated. The subjunctive mood is potential. If the believer is positive toward doctrine and is advancing toward maturity he will not produce evil. But if he is negative toward doctrine and in reversionism then he will produce evil. Next is the accusative singular direct object from kakoj, which with the generic use of the definite article is used to indicate evil as a category—“but if you do the evil.” This is not referring to the unbeliever who obviously does evil, this is referring to the believer who does evil. Cf. Romans 12:21.
What is the criminal mind? It is the thinking of any individual who seeks to gain his objectives in life by violence. It rejects the concept of freedom as taught in the Word of God—freedom, privacy and property. The criminal wants to commit crime by stealing someone else’s property, by invading someone else’s property, and if necessary by destroying someone else’s freedom through murder. He is only impressed with violence and instead of recognising the authority of establishment he recognises only the authority of violence. He can only be restrained by violence.
“be afraid” – present middle imperative of the verb fobew. The criminal mind only respects authority where they fear that authority. This is a progressive present signifying the action in a state of persistence or linear aktionsart: “keep on fearing.” This is a command to the believer and unbeliever who is of criminal thinking. The middle voice is the indirect middle in which the agent produces the action rather than participating in the results of the action. This could be called a dynamic middle to emphasise the part taken by the agent in the action of the verb. The agent is the person who thinks like a criminal, not that he has to commit a crime to do it, he thinks in terms of crime. The imperative mood is for a command. The greatest restraint under the laws of divine establishment is fear of punishment for violation of law through criminal activity. “But if you do evil, keep on being afraid.” This anticipates the fact that capital punishment is ordained of God to restrain the criminal and the evil tendencies of the old sin nature.
“for he beareth not the sword in vain” – a reference to capital punishment. This is the explanatory use of the conjunction gar, followed by the present active indicative dorew which has the connotation of authority, authority having the right to execute. It means to wear or to bear. With the negative we have “for he does not wear.” The customary present denotes what habitually occurs in the function of the laws of divine establishment under many forms of government. Wearing the sword denotes the authority of jurisprudence in that government, it represents the punitive action of capital punishment. The active voice: the government, the judicial authority, produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality. The accusative singular direct object maxaira is the symbol for execution here. Then the adverb e)ikh which actually means “without a cause”—“for he does not wear the sword for nothing.” Capital punishment puts teeth into the law.
1. Capital punishment is the maximum use of jurisprudence under the laws of divine establishment. It must be preceded by a trial authorised from the judicial function of government using evidence of guilt.
2. In the Roman empire there were two forms of capital punishment practiced: for the non-citizen, crucifixion; for the citizen, decapitation.
3. This presents the principle of capital punishment as a part of the function of government under the laws of divine establishment.
4. The most fundamental principle of human government in a national entity is the possession of a common law and a common language, but not necessarily a common race. All trials should occur in that common language and should all be related to the laws of that land.
5. In its simplest form the divine institution of human government demands a police officer on the corner and a judge on the bench, plus capital punishment to put teeth into the law—Genesis 9:5,6.
6. Man’s right to slaughter animals is stated in the same context—Genesis 9:3,4 does not give man the right to slaughter people as he slaughters animals.
7. The two exceptions to killing [murder] are capital punishment which is the function of legal justice, and killing in warfare as a representative of one’s country. Joshua 6:21; 8:24.
8. In the context of Genesis 9:5 capital punishment also extends to animals who kill human beings, as well as human beings who murder human beings.
9. God has placed the sword in the hands of civil government. The laws of divine establishment prohibits anyone seeking revenge, but rather lays the foundation for judicial modus operandi.
10. The person is innocent under the law until proven guilty in a courtroom. But once proven guilty, such a person should be executed—Exodus 21:12.
11. Capital punishment of animals, without human culpability, is found in Exodus 21:28.
12. Capital punishment for animals with human culpability is also found—Exodus 21:29.
13. Capital punishment must be the result of a legal trial. No lynch mobs. Numbers 35:30, where the word “evidence” is used twice, referring to the laws of evidence, not hearsay.
14. Homicide must be punished by death—Numbers 35:16-18.
15. Leviticus 24:17. The national entity is a barrier against both crime and the supremacy of good and evil as the policy of Satan who is the ruler of this world at the present time.
“for he is the minister of God” – the word “minister” is used for government in this
particular case. The postpositive conjunctive particle gar expresses an inference in a self-evident conclusion. It is translated “for” but a much better translation is “certainly.” The present active indicative of e)imi is linear aktionart—“certainly he keeps on being.” This refers to authority in government. Then comes the predicate nominative from diakonoj, the word “minister” used here for a civil servant, a person who has the authority delegated from God under the laws of divine establishment, plus the genitive singular of relationship from qeoj—“minister of God.”
“a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” – the nominative singular subject e)kdikoj, meaning a punisher. Authority punishes. Only authority has that right. Then the prepositional phrase, e)ij plus the accusative singular of o)rgh—“for the purpose of divine wrath.” “Upon him” is the dative singular of disadvantage from the definite article used as a personal pronoun—“to him.” The verb is the present active participle of prassw, meaning to do, to accomplish, to practice, to commit. Here it means to practice. The retroactive progressive present denotes a habitual criminal who has begun a life of crime in the past and continues into the present time. He is a criminal, not because of his acts but because of what he thinks. He thinks in terms of solving problems through acts of violence, by stealing, by raping, etc. The active voice: the criminal, the traitor, the revolutionist, produces the action of the verb. The participle is circumstantial. With this is the accusative singular direct object from kakoj with the generic use of the definite article, meaning that evil has been previously defined.
Translation: “For he is the minister of God to you for the purpose of good. But if you do evil, keep on being afraid; for he does not wear the sword for nothing: for you see he is a minister of God for the purpose of divine wrath to him who practices evil.”
1. Where civil authority is evil revolution is not the answer.
2. For the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ the answer is found in Romans 12:21. This means that Jesus Christ controls history. We are not here to be upset or to be crusading about the circumstances of life, we are here to advance to maturity. This can only occur through the intake of doctrine. Establishment is designed to encapsulate our advance to maturity.
3. The answer to a bad government which does not fulfil the laws of divine establishment is for the believer to keep on taking in doctrine and advance to maturity.
4. Remember that Jesus Christ controls history. A large pivot of mature believer changes both internal and external history of a nation.
5. Again note that the apostle Paul did not try to assassinate Nero, nor did he advocate the overthrow of Nero’s administration, nor the change in the form of government in the Roman empire. Paul had the ability to distinguish between the principle of authority and the person who exercised the authority.
6. Paul, the human writer, was not a revolutionist. He was not a conspirator.
7. Getting rid of an evil administration through violence and revolution only paves the way for something worse.
8. Divinely-ordained civil government comes in several forms: absolute monarchy, limited monarchy, oligarchy, republic. Not democracy which is the veneer of anarchy, a dangerous form of government because it functions so closely to anarchy that anarchy is just around the corner.
9. Freedom always demands authority. Civil authority is ordained by God, not by the will of the people.
10. Civil power and authority is a divine ordinance of the will, the plan, the purpose of God so that the human race can survive in the angelic conflict and fulfil the purpose of the angelic conflict.
11. There are differences of political forms of government but one principle of establishment for all of these types of government. Christianity can function under any form of government except democracy.
12. That one principle of establishment demands that the one or ones possessing civil authority under the divine institutions fulfil the divinely ordained purpose of that power: to establish and guarantee freedom, privacy, property.
13. In addition there must be a military establishment to defend the nation from its foreign enemies and encroachments, and to protect the national freedom from international busybodies and trouble-makers.
Verse 5 – “Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath” begins with the
conjunction dio, denoting that the inference is self-evident. It is translated correctly, “For this reason.” Then a noun of compulsion, a noun of necessity, a)nagkh, “it is necessary.” What is the necessity of life? If we are all going to live, follow our destiny, function under the plan of God, live and let live, enjoy freedom, fulfil ambitions, there must be authority for freedom to exist. No one can be oriented to life without being oriented to establishment authority. The verb is the present middle infinitive of u(potassw which means to be subordinate to governing authorities. It means to recognise authority, to obey authority. The retroactive progressive present denotes what has begun in the past in subordination to governing authorities and continues into the present in the time of Nero. The middle voice is the direct middle in which the subject acts with a view toward participating in the outcome. When you subordinate yourself to authority it means that you participate in the outcome. The outcome is freedom, privacy, property, the pursuit of a course of life resulting often in great prosperity. The infinitive is intended result, it fulfils a deliberate objective; it blends purpose and result. With this is the negative o)u plus the adverb monon—“not only.” Plus the prepositional phrase, dia plus the accusative of o)rgh, used here for divine wrath or punishment delegated from God to those in authority, plus the generic use of the definite article—“because of the wrath [punishment].”
1. Fear of punishment from the law is the primary restraint of crime. The old sin nature is restrained by fear of punishment.
2. Fear of punishment is one of the basic restraints in the function of the old sin nature—fear of punishment from God, fear of punishment from civil government, fear of reprisal.
3. The criminal mind is often given great credit for being smart. It is the wrong word. Criminals are often clever, but basically the criminal mind is so stupid and so prone to violence that he must be restrained by a greater threat of violence in order to be restrained from evil.
4. This principle also applies to nations. Communist nations, for example, are criminal nations. Every nation in Africa ruled by blacks is a criminal nation. These nations are only impressed by a greater violence capability than their own.
5. In this connection thew military is ordained of God to meet violence with a greater violence, but always a professional violence.
6. Maximum punishment fro crime is capital punishment. Without capital punishment there is no greater threat of violence to the criminal and crime becomes unrestrained in society.
7. No society can survive without capital punishment as a maximum penalty for crime.
8. The criminal, by reason of the fact that he is unrestrained in homicide, rape, pillage, must forfeit his own life and his right to live in a free society.
9. Failure to punish the guilty, and failure to execute the habitual criminal, results in unrestrained crime which destroys not only the free society but civilisation in general. It turns society and civilisation into a jungle of anarchy and violence.
“but also for conscience sake” – the adversative conjunction a)lla sets up a preferential principle for subordination to establishment authority ordained by God. It is translated “but” and with the kai that follows, “also.” The preposition dia plus the accusative from suneidhsij—“because of the conscience.” The conscience is the residence for every norm and standard you have ever had or ever will have. It is the area of the soul by which you aggressively function in life.[2]
Translation: “For this reason it is necessary to be subordinate to governing authorities, not only because of the punishment, but also because of the conscience.”
Verse 6 – “For for this cause cause pay ye tribute also” begins with the inferential use of the postpositive conjunctive particle gar where a self-evident truth is concerned. It should be obvious to every believer that if he is free to take in doctrine on a daily basis, if he was free to be evangelised in the first place, no matter how terrible the system of taxation he still should pay. The word gar is translated here “so.” Then the prepositional phrase dia plus the accusative from the near demonstrative pronoun o(utoj. It is translated literally, “Because of this,” but it is an idiom meaning, “For this reason.” This is a reference to verse 5. The adjunctive use of kai comes next, it is an adverb “also.” Then the present active imperative of the verb telew, which ordinarily means to finish but means here to carry out, to put into full operation, hence to pay taxes with the plural of foroj. The present tense is a progressive present, it refers to linear aktionsart—“keep on paying taxes.” The active voice: this applies originally to the Jewish believers in Rome who are paying taxes to the Roman government, thereby recognising the authority of the Roman administration. The imperative mood is a command, not only to the Christians in Rome but to all believers in all periods of time in the Church Age.
1. By paying taxes the Christian himself is participating in the laws of divine establishment. He is doing the will of God with regard to this matter.
2. He is supporting law and order as over against revolution, violence, anarchy; all of that which is evil.
3. He is supporting a system in which the highest sense of authority is the servant of government and the servant of God at the same time.
4. The believer with the use of national currency supports the authority which provides him privacy, property, profit, prosperity, and protection of government from crime.
5. Furthermore, he is paying for the administration of freedom which is necessary for both evangelism and the believer’s spiritual advance to maturity.
6. Both taxation here and prayer in 1 Timothy 2:2 support the principle of establishment.
7. In the time of Paul there were certain Jews who were members of an organization called the Zealots, revolutionary terrorists who refused to pay taxes and were in opposition to the Roman government. So we have 1 Peter 2:23,24, as well as this passage.
8. The principle was previously enucleated at a transitional point of history – going from the Age of Israel to the Age of the Church. The sponsorer was SPQR, the empire. Matthew 22:21.
9. Therefore the payment of taxes is a Christian duty to the national entity. They support and sustain the authority necessary for a specific freedom: the freedom to evangelise, the freedom to advance to maturity, the freedom to send out missionaries, and that freedom which provides a haven for the Jews who are scattered until the second advent under the fifth cycle of discipline.
“for they are God’s ministers” – the explanatory use of the postpositive conjunctive
particle gar, “for you see.” Plus the present active indicative of the verb e)imi—“are.” The customary present tense denotes what habitually occurs under the laws if divine establishment. Then the predicate nominative plural of leitourgoj. It means “minister” but it means more than that, it means a public servant—“for they are public servants.” Plus the genitive singular of relationship from qeoj—“of God.” Government is ordained of God to encapsulate human freedom, human privacy, human property. This means that the human race is protected and perpetuated through the laws of divine establishment.
“attending continually upon this very things” – the present active participle of proskarterew means to persist in something, to adhere to something, to spend full time in something. The progressive present tense is linear aktionsart, they do this day in and day out. The active voice: public officials make a career out of public service, and they are the ones who produce the action. The participle is a modal participle, it signifies the manner in which the action of the main verb is accomplished. This is followed by a prepositional phrase, e)ij plus the accusative singular of the near demonstrative o(utoj—“to this same.” Then with a)utoj the intensive pronoun, “thing.” The function of the intensive pronoun is to identify the identity of public service as a legitimate function in life. Career public officials are necessary for effective national and governmental administration. This includes from mayor all of the way down to garbage man.
Translation: “And so for this reason also keep on paying taxes: for they are public servants of God who make a career out of this same thing.”
Verse 7 – a general statement with regard to Christian responsibility to civil government. “Render therefore to all their dues” – the inferential conjunction o)un denotes that what it introduces is an inference from what has preceded.[3] This is followed by the aorist active imperative from the verb a)podidomi which means to render or to discharge an obligation. Actually, it means to fulfil one’s duty to something or to someone, to give back in return. Here it means to discharge an obligation. The ingressive aorist tense denotes entrance into a state or condition. The ingressive aorist means that the ones to whom Paul was writing this epistle in Rome were not fulfilling their obligation to civil government. The active voice: believers are commanded to produce the action of the verb by complying with the laws of divine establishment as they relate to the national entity. The dative plural indirect object from the adjective paj used as a substantive is correctly translated “to all.” The dative of indirect object indicates the ones for whom the act is performed. This is any system of authority in your life, with special emphasis on authority in government. “Therefore discharge an obligation” or “render the obligation to all.” The word for “obligation” is the accusative plural direct object from o)feilh, it means duty from obligation.
Four categories of obligation are listed as far as civil government is concerned. There are many others, these are merely representative and the start us thinking in terms of detail.
“tribute to whom tribute is due” – dative singular indirect object from the definite article used as a relative pronoun and translated “to whom.” Plus the accusative of direct object from the verb foroj repeated twice. It has been translated “tribute” but it actually means taxes, and this is simply to connect verse 7 with the previous verse where taxation was the specific obligation in view. Secondly, we have a slightly different word, “custom.” There is again the dative singular indirect object from the definite article used as a relative pronoun, plus the accusative of teloj repeated twice. Here it refers to indirect taxation in a nation and specifically to custom duty.
“fear to whom fear” – this goes from the specific of taxes. Again, the dative singular indirect object from the definite article, used as a relative pronoun. Plus the accusative of foboj. Foboj has two different meanings: the connotation of fear or respect. In this case it means respect. It has a double meaning here. It means respect for the law, but if you are a criminal you have no respect for the law and the only thing that restrains you is fear; therefore fear if you are a criminal but respect if you are a law-abiding citizen.
“honour to whom honour” – the dative singular indirect object from the definite article used as a relative pronoun, followed by the accusative singular from timh which means honour.
Translation: “Therefore discharge your obligations to all: to whom taxes, taxes; to whom indirect taxes, indirect taxes; to whom respect, respect; to whom honour, honour.”
The second paragraph in this chapter, verses 8-13, deals with Christian responsibility to others.
Verse 8 – the principle of obligation and indebtedness. “Owe no man anything, but to love one another.” The present active imperative of o)feilw which means to owe. The present tense is the aoristic present for punctiliar action in present time. The active voice: the believer produces the action as a part of the royal family honour code. The imperative is a command. Then the accusative neuter singular direct object from mhdeij—“nothing.” “Owe nothing.” Next is the dative masculine singular indirect object from the same adjective mhdeij (but this time in the masculine gender), so the corrected translation is “Owe nothing to anyone.” Now there is nothing wrong with borrowing provided that you regard that as an obligation. In the time in which this was written Roman believers were incurring debts and not paying back the money they owed. Being a believer does not give one the right to welsh on an obligation. There must always be a sense of responsibility with regard to obligation. The royal family honour code includes human integrity, and human integrity means where obligation exists you fulfil that obligation. Next comes the words e)i mh—“except.” Literally, “if not.” But it is an idiom. Plus the present active infinitive of a)gapaw—“to love.” What is your basic obligation to other believers? This is not love from your freedom toward God, category #1; or love toward a woman, category #2; or love toward friends, category #3. Those are not obligations; those are functions of freedom. This is an obligation to believers—all believers. This love is in the tendencial present and it is used as the action which is the standard but is not actually taking place at the moment, at least in Rome. It represents the idea of what is intended. The active voice: the believer is commanded to produce the action of the verb because we have an infinitive of intended result when the result is indicated as fulfilling a deliberate objective. Hence, we have a blending of purpose and result. This also becomes the imperative infinitive as a command. There is also the accusative plural direct object from a reciprocal pronoun, a)llhlon. When a plural subject is represented as affected by interchange of action signified by the verb, it is simply called a reciprocal relationship. A)llhlon is a reciprocal pronoun of same category. It means to love one another of the same kind and it is referring to loving the believer. Positively, love is respect for +R wherever it is found; it is respect for the privacy of the royal priesthood.
1. Love is the only perpetual debt in the Christian death—because we always have the means of paying: Bible doctrine, spiritual advance, the filling of the Spirit.
2. The debt of love denotes the duty of love. Love is a duty, a responsibility on the part of all the royal family of God.
3. Remember that love also includes a relaxed mental attitude: no arrogance directed toward another believer, no jealousy, bitterness, etc.
4. The privacy of the royal priesthood is absolutely necessary for every believer to live his life as unto the Lord without distraction or interference from others.
5. Hence, love is a freedom from mental attitude and verbal sins which destroy the privacy of the priesthood.
6. While the believer is to pay his monetary debts he is to perpetuate his obligation of love, which is respect for the righteousness of God resident in other believers.
7. This legitimate indebtedness recognises every believer as a creditor.
8. Loving the believer is a debt, an obligation, a duty to all members of the royal family of God as a part of the royal family honour code related to privacy.
9. Love for the believer is a perpetual debt on which the believer is always paying instalments, but never retires the instalments until he retires from this life.
“for he that loveth another” – the explanatory use of the conjunctive particle gar
(further explanation now needed), “for.” The articular present active participle of a)gapaw. The definite article is used as a personal pronoun, indicating the fulfilment of this aspect of the honour code during phase two. The present tense is a progressive present, linear aktionsart. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb as the fulfilment of the royal family honour code. The participle is a temporal participle forming a temporal clause and should be translated “for when he loves.” Then the accusative singular definite article, plus the accusative singular direct object from e(teroj. The adjective indicates another believer with a different personality, a different opinion. Love is toleration of those hundreds of non-essentials where we disagree.
“hath fulfilled the law” – perfect active indicative of plhrow which means here to fill up a deficiency. The law has a deficiency in that it is limited in its design and function. The law told what you could eat and could not eat, what was a crime and what was not a crime, etc. It was a specific; we are dealing with non-specifics. The law was an essential; we are dealing with non-essentials. The law forbids what intrudes on the freedom and privacy of others without specifically commanding live and let live; we are dealing with the issue of live and let live, the privacy of the royal priesthood. “He has fulfilled” is the perfect tense of existing state in which past completion is dropped from the thought and the existing results are emphasised. Hence, the mature believer who functions under the royal family honour code by respecting the imputed righteousness of God in another, and who gives others believers their privacy and tolerates differences of opinion in non-essentials; this person has fulfilled en toto the Mosaic law which forbids certain functions in the area of human freedom. The indicative mood is declarative, viewing the action from the standpoint of reality. The accusative singular direct object nomoj refers to the Mosaic law where it sets up negative principles.
Translation: “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another of the same kind: for when he loves the other believer of a different personality he has fulfilled the law.”
Verse 9 – this is a criminal passage. There is a vast difference between fornication and adultery. Fornication (illicit sex) is a sin; adultery is also a sin, but it is also criminal activity because it is stealing. Adultery can only be committed by a male – when he steals the wife of another male. The object of adultery is always a married woman.
“For this” – the explanatory use of the postpositive conjunctive particle gar means here “For instance.” Then a nominative neuter singular from the definite article used as a demonstrative pronoun. In fact, the immediate demonstrative refers to that part of the Decalogue in the Mosaic law which is pertinent to crime—“For instance this.” Then we have the quotation of five out of the ten commandments in the Decalogue. Each one is a presentation of crime as an attack upon freedom.
“Thou shalt not commit adultery” – the present active indicative of moixeuw plus the negative o)u. The future tense is the imperative future used to express a command. The active voice: the human race is commanded to cease and desist from this crime, so the human race produces the action. In this passage the emphasis is on a certain part of the human race, the born again believer. The cohortative indicative with the negative expresses a negative command.
“Thou shalt not kill” – this is not a correct translation. Again, the future active indicative of foneuw which means to murder, not to kill. The negative o)u indicates we have the indicative. “Thou shalt not murder” is the 6th commandment of Exodus 20:13. The order of presentation of the commandments does not follow the Old Testament order, but rather it follows the order found in both Luke 18:20 and James 2:11. The order is related to the subject which is both human freedom under establishment and the function of the honour code of the royal family of God. The imperative future is used to express a direct command. This idiom is not a Hebraism but is a carry over from Attic Greek. The active voice: this is a requirement for the entire human race under the laws of divine establishment; this is a believer functioning under the honour code. Principle: Murder is the unlawful killing of another human being with malice of forethought expressed or implied. A person defending himself from a criminal may kill that criminal, but that is not murder, he has merely defended his life. Or, a soldier who kills the enemy is honourable in defence of human freedom.
1. The sixth commandment of the Decalogue emphasises the establishment principle of live and let live. Obviously, murder is a violation of that principle.
2. Note that the command is not to murder. The command “Thou shalt not kill” is wrong, it is “Thou shalt not murder.”
3. The divine prohibition of murder protects human freedom under the laws of divine establishment, but is added here as a part of the royal family honour code.
4. Therefore Christian integrity, which is an advance over establishment morality, also includes the morality of establishment.
5. Therefore antinomianism is not grace function but a distortion of reversionism.
6. While morality is not the Christian way of life, morality is included in the Christian way of life as a part of the royal family honour code and the modus operandi of Christian integrity.
7. Not only is the quotation of the 6th commandment the prohibition of murder to the Christian but it also emphasises another factor, namely character assassination.
“Thou shalt not steal” – this is the eighth commandment, Exodus 20:15. It is
distinguished from the adultery commandment by the fact that there are two different kinds of property. There is property animate—a man’s wife; there is property inanimate. This is the future active indicative of the verb kleptw and it takes us to inanimate property. Human freedom includes the right to own and possess inanimate property under the laws of divine establishment.
“Thou shalt not bear false witness” – the future active indicative of yeudomarturia [yseudo = false; marturew = give testimony in court] which can be translated “Thou shalt not commit perjury” or “You will not give false testimony in a trial.”
“Thou shalt not covet” – this is motivation in crime. It should be translated, “You will not lust,” the future active indicative of e)piqumew. This is the 10th commandment of Exodus 20:17 which protects human freedom from the lust pattern of the old sin nature.
1. The ten commandments define morality in terms of the laws of divine establishment. Human morality is necessary for the function of human freedom. So the ten commandments define freedom in terms of sin and crime. There are certain sins and certain crimes which are a direct attack upon human freedom.
2. Morality (which is distilled from establishment function) is required from the entire human race.
3. The quotation of these five commandments has additional significance. It means that every born again believer functioning under grace is still obligated to the laws of establishment.
4. This verse reveals that antinomianism is a distortion of grace. Grace itself is for the law and the function of the law. Reversionism distorts grace into antinomianism. Since sin, good and evil are an attack upon establishment morality, obviously then establishment morality is the antidote for this attack.
5. While morality is not Christianity, morality is required of all believers.
6. All believers are required by God to observe the laws of divine establishment.
7. While Christianity is not a morality but a relationship with God through Christ, Christianity still observes morality.
8. Christianity commands morality for all believers in Christ as a part of the royal family honour code.
9. For evangelism and spiritual advance freedom is required. The source of freedom: the laws of divine establishment.
10. Morality protects human freedom, and the ten commandments is the magna carta of human freedom.
11. Christina dynamics, then, include morality, but at the same time exceed morality.
12. The objectives of the Christian life include the filling of the Holy Spirit. Obviously a moral unbeliever cannot be filled with the Spirit. The rich young ruler was moral as an unbeliever. So obviously as believers we can keep the morality of the law but we go beyond it with the filling of the Holy Spirit plus doctrine resident in the soul.
13. Spiritual maturity is the next objective after salvation. Therefore spiritual maturity is a part of the second hope. Keeping this in mind you never turn against the means by which you advance—freedom.
14. After spiritual maturity is achieved through maximum doctrine resident in the soul, and the 6th imputation (blessing in time), the second hope is replaced by the 3rd hope. Hope always is a concentration on a true doctrine rather than seeking to gain something by violence and crime.
“and if there be any other commandment” – i.e. any other commandment pertinent to the subject of crime as a violation of human freedom. What command covers everything just considered in a negative way? What could we now have by way of a positive command to cover all of these five commands that are given? This begins with the connective use of the conjunction kai, translated here “and.” Then the conditional particle e)i which introduces the protasis of a first class condition—if and it is true that there is a commandment that covers all of the negatives. In other words, is there a nicer way of putting it? Next is a present active indicative of e)imi—“and if there is.” This is the static present tense which means not only is there a positive command to cover this but this positive command has always existed and always will exist. That is the static present of e)imi. Plus a predicate nominative tij, “any,” and the predicate nominative of e(teroj meaning something of a different kind—in other words, a positive command instead of a negative: “and if there is any other commandment,” i.e. some commandment which is different. To the unbeliever there is not such a command, he must go with the negative five. Those are the laws of divine establishment related to human freedom. But for the believer there is a positive approach: “and if there is any other commandment (and there is).”
“it is briefly comprehended in this saying” – the present passive indicative from the compound verb a)nakefalaiow. It means to bring together several things under one head. Kefaloj is the word for head. It means to reduce under one head. To sum up is what it finally means, to take a whole lot of different thoughts and put them into one head. In other words, to summarize what has been previously taught. The different thoughts are the five negative commandments. The aoristic present tense is for punctiliar action in present time. The passive voice: the positive commandment to a part of the royal family honour code receives the action of the verb. The indicative mood is potential because this is an obligation in the royal family honour code which you may or may not be aware of, which to may or may not be observing. Then come three words in a prepositional phrase, e)n plus the locative of the demonstrative o(utoj plus logoj. It should be translated “in this principle.”
“namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” – obviously everyone has a different standard of love toward himself. It may be conscious and it may be unconscious. If it is conscious it is usually arrogance; if it is unconscious it is usually the ability to take one’s self-consciousness of the soul and relate it to things in life. We call that composure. So that there is a wrong and a right thing, even in this. Obviously this does not mean that your standards for loving others is your standard for loving yourself, because if you hate yourself then the standard breaks down. God does not give us standards that break down by analogy. So what it appears to mean on the surface is exactly what it does not mean. The word “namely” is correct—e)n plus the locative of the definite article is translated literally “in this,” but it is an idiom meaning “namely.” Then the future active indicative of the verb a)gapaw. The future tense is the imperative future, it expresses a command which obviously involves the future. The active voice: the believer in the royal family functioning under the honour code produces the action. This is a cohortative indicative, it is used here to express a command with the future tense—“namely, Thou shalt love.”
The basic difference between personal and impersonal love: Personal love always has an object; impersonal love does not have an object. Impersonal love emphasises your own inner character; it is what you are. Personal love is the object of your love.
“thy neighbour as thyself” – accusative singular direct object from plhsion, and adjective used as a substantive. It doesn’t really mean neighbour, it means someone near you. The genitive of relationship from the personal pronoun su means that we all have people around us and are associated with people here and there. A ‘neighbour’ is an old English word for someone near you. Then comes a comparative particle w(j used as a comparative conjunction, plus seautou which is a reflexive pronoun in the second person—“namely, Thou shalt love your neighbour as yourself,” i.e. on the basis of your standards. Impersonal love emphasises the subject.
The reflexive pronoun which is used in the phrase, “your neighbour as yourself”: w(j seauton, this is a composition of the personal pronoun plus the intensive pronoun and is in the accusative case. This is what is called an adverbial accusative of manner. It indicates that love of self is not the norm or standard, even in the comparison. This means, very simply then, that the norm here is not to love people as you have a love for yourself. If there is anything that is unstable it is love for self, lack of love for self, hatred of self, and all of the variations in between. God does not even in a comparative clause use an unstable norm or standard. To love your neighbour is to do so on the basis of your own standard and not their standards.
Translation: “For instance this: Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not commit murder, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not give false testimony in a court room, Thou shalt not lust; and if there is any other commandment, it is epitomised in this principle, that is, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
1. Loving another means giving them their privacy and their freedom to respond to you, or not.
2. This passage, then, speaks not only of impersonal love but impersonal love, strangely enough, becomes reciprocal love. We must tolerate each other.
3. Reciprocal love demands respect for the freedom, the privacy and the property of your neighbour.
4. You cannot smother with love another person and fulfil this passage.
5. You are commanded to have impersonal love for all believers; you are not commanded personal love.
6. Lack of doctrine means that norms and standards of the conscience are formed from background and environment rather than doctrine in the soul. If your standards are formed from your background you cannot love the brethren impersonally. So God has given us a collection of standards from one source only: Bible doctrine. Only Bible doctrine can do it.
Verse 10 – “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour.” The nominative singular subject from a)gaph, with is a relaxed mental attitude (mental attitude sins are not functioning), impersonal love. Literally we have “The love” because there is the generic use of the definite article, this is the love required by the royal family honour code—impersonal love. This is the love of the honour code which gives privacy to others, along with that relaxed mental attitude which tolerates their different opinions and erroneous conclusions, and at the same time respects the righteousness of God in the other believer. Next is the present middle indicative of the verb e)rgazomai which means to practice, to work out, to produce, to accomplish, to do; plus the negative o)u with the indicative: “The love does not produce.” The present tense is a customary present denoting what habitually occurs when the believer under the royal family honour code has doctrinal standards. The middle voice: this is a deponent verb, middle in form and active in meaning. The believer who is advancing to maturity through the intake of doctrine, the believer who is a mature believer, the believer who functions under the royal family honour code, produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the reality of the situation. Then the accusative singular direct object from kakoj. When kakoj teams up with sin this is generally an area of crime, but when it teams up with human good this is an area which is the most vicious. “The love does not produce evil.” In other words, “the love” comes from maximum doctrine resident in the soul. Your standards are based on doctrine, so you don’t run around destroying someone’s freedom in the name of human good. Evil is caused by the practice of sin and the function of human good. Hence. This phrase emphasises giving privacy to others in order that they might function under establishment principles of freedom or the spiritual principles of the royal family honour code. This is the true function of freedom. This must always be related to two other principles. Freedom is not an entity in itself, it must be related to privacy and it must be related to property. Next, “to his neighbour” – the dative singular from the definite article used as a personal pronoun is translated “his.” Plus the dative singular indirect object from the adverb plhsion, meaning “near,” and it is used as a substantive and means “neighbour” or those with whom you have contact, those in your periphery. “The love does not produce evil to his neighbour.”
1. “You shall love the one near you [your neighbour] as yourself” does not imply that your love for yourself is the standard, but doctrine resident in your soul becomes both your capacity and your standard for this impersonal love.
2. It further means that you do not lower your standards to those who are antagonistic toward you by emulating them in a controversy or in strife or in personality conflict.
3. When you are the victim of gossip, maligning, judging, a grudge, retaliation, revenge, you do not reciprocate if you operate on your high standards. You do if you operate on the low standards of the antagonist.
4. This means you cannot lower your standards and still be a lover.
5. Every time you hold a grudge or retaliate, seek revenge, express hatred, vindictiveness, implacability, jealousy or arrogance in reprisal you have abandoned your standards of impersonal love for the lower, evil standards of your antagonist.
6. Retribution violates the royal family honour code.
8. You must, of course, distinguish between personal and impersonal love.
9. Personal love uses your standards and your capacity in the direction of an object—such as God, right man and right woman, friends and family.
10. Impersonal love emphasises the subject rather than the object, and therefore the standards are applied to yourself rather than the object.
11. Impersonal love observes establishment principles in recognising the freedom, privacy and property of the unbeliever, and observes the royal family honour code in recognising the imputed righteousness, privacy of the priesthood, and non-essential opinions of other believers.
Translation: “The love does not produce evil to the one near him: therefore the love is a fulfilment of the law.”
Verse 11 – the Christian responsibility to learn doctrine. “And that, knowing the
time.” This begins with the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai, with the independent nominative singular from the immediate demonstrative pronoun o(utoj. When an idea is conceived independent of any particular verbal relationship the expression of it may be left standing alone. It stands alone in the nominative case. Thus the nominative names an idea rather than an object. That is called an independent nominative in the Greek. This can also be called the parenthetic nominative or the nominative absolute. The correct translation, instead of “And that,” is “This do also.” That is the correct way to translate an idiom, which this is. “Also” means in addition to our responsibility to the government—laws of divine establishment, in addition to our responsibility to believers—royal family honour code. This “also” is covered in verses 11-14. Next comes the nominative plural perfect active participle from o)ida, literally translated “having known.” The perfect tense is the intensive perfect, or the perfect of existing state, in which the past completed action is dropped from the thought and the attention is focussed on an existing status quo. The existing state is knowledge of pertinent doctrine. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb by being himself personally and individually positive toward doctrine. The participle is the instrumental participle indicating the means by which the inserted main verb in the idiom (to do, aorist active imperative of poiew) is accomplished. “This do also, by having known.” In this case we have something specific to know: “the time” – accusative singular direct object from kairoj which means a period of time, not the time on your watch (xronoj), plus the generic use of the definite article referring to a specific period of time, not any period of time. It is a reference to the Church Age, the dispensation of the royal family of God.
“that now it is high time to awake out of sleep” – the conjunction o(ti which is used after verbs that denote perception to indicate what kind of perception. It is translated “that” to indicate the content of perception from o)ida. Insert the present active indicative of e)imi, the verb to be, plus the temporal adverb h)dh, meaning “already”—“that it is already.” The believer must orient doctrine he has learned to the time in which he lives. Next is the predicate nominative singular from w(ra, plus the accusative plural of general reference from the personal pronoun su—“from you.” The accusative is used with the infinitive. It is really not the subject of the infinitive but always translated as the subject of the infinitive because of a very fine point. It describes the person or persons connected with the action of the infinitive. Hence, we simply say subject of the infinitive. So we have “that it is already time for you.” Then comes the aorist passive infinitive of e)geirw, which means to wake up. The constative aorist gathers into one entirety the events necessary to orient to the reality of the Church Age. The passive voice: the believer receives the action of the verb through cognisance of pertinent doctrine. This is the infinitive of intended result in which the result fulfils a deliberate objective, the blending of purpose and result. Then the prepositional phrase, e)k plus the ablative of u(pnoj, “sleep.” This is the sleep of apathy, the sleep of ignorance, the sleep of indifference, of disorientation to history and the reality of contemporary events. It is generally a sleep associated with reversionism and apostasy. Therefore sleep becomes an analogy to apostasy or Christian reversionism in this passage. “This do also by having known the period of time, that is, it is already time for you to wake up from sleep.”[4]
1. Sleep is the status of reversionism in this context.
2. Waking up from sleep here is not resurrection but perception of Bible doctrine, the daily function of GAP, reversion recovery. Romans 13:11; Ephesians 5:14.
3. Waking up or inculcation of doctrine is necessary because the time of the Rapture is imminent..
4. No one knows the time of the Rapture, but no unfulfilled Scripture exists. So that the Rapture is imminent. 1 Cor. 1:17; Titus 2:13.
5. The more we understand the doctrine of the Rapture the greater the motivation to learn doctrine today, tomorrow, the next day.
6. Each day is the opportunity to learn Bible doctrine and advance to maturity.
“for now is our salvation [deliverance: Rapture] nearer than when we believed.” This
begins with the explanatory use of the postpositive conjunctive particle gar—“for you see.” Then the adverb of time nun, plus the nominative singular from the noun swthria, translated “salvation” in the KJV but it means “deliverance.” It is a reference to the Rapture of the Church. Next is the possessive plural from the personal pronoun e)gw—“our deliverance.” The Rapture is the deliverance for the entire royal family. “For now our deliverance [Rapture of the Church] is nearer.” Then a comparative particle h), plus the temporal particle o(te which is used as a conjunction, translated “when.” Plus the aorist active indicative of the verb pisteuw. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it refers to an instantaneous, momentary action—when you became born again. The active voice: the believers produced the action when he believed in Christ. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of dogmatic reality, the only way of salvation is to believe in Christ.
Translation: “This do also, by having known the period of time [Church Age], that it
is already time for you to wake up from sleep: for now our deliverance is nearer than when we believed.”
Verse 12 – “The night is far spent.” The nominative singular subject from the noun
nuc with the generic use of the definite article used as a metaphor for the duration of the Church Age. The latter part of the Church Age is called “night” in contrast to day. It is a metaphor. How long the night exists is strictly up to the decision of the sovereignty of God. Night is used in the sense of non-alertness in contrast to alertness. So the noun refers to the life of the believer on earth in phase two as a part of the Christian way of life. The aorist active indicative of prokoptw means to cut a passage forward, to advance, to make progress. When it is used for time it means that the time is going. So “the night is far gone” refers not only to the progress of the Church Age but more than that it refers to our life on this earth. Doctrine gives us an alertness with regard to life. It is imperative, therefore, that we understand that we only have a limited amount of time in this life. The constative aorist is for a fact or action expended over a period of time. The constative aorist gathers up into one entirety the individual believer’s allotted time on this earth. The active voice: the Church Age and the believer’s time spent on this earth in the Church Age produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of the imminency of the Rapture or the imminency of death. As long as wee are on this earth there is a purpose, and that purpose is the advance to maturity.
“the day is at hand” – The transitional use of the conjunctive particle de, instead of setting up a contrast as usual, is used here as a transitional particle. While it is transitional it does show mild antithesis, i.e. between night (life on this earth) and day (life in eternity). The subject is the nominative singular from h(mera, used for your life in eternity. It is correctly translated “day” but is used here to represent either death or the Rapture, whichever occurs first in the life of the Church Age believer. We have only a short time on this earth and we ruin our short time by the wrong priorities. Next is the perfect active indicative of e)ggizw, meaning the approach [of time]. The intensive perfect emphasises the existing results. When emphasis is directed to the results of the action stress on the existing fact is intensified. This is called the emphatic method in the Greek of presenting a fact or a condition. It is a strong way of stating that a thing is, and therefore it is often translated in the English by the present tense. The active voice: your death or resurrection produces the action of the verb as the subject. The day is approaching: phase three. The indicative mood is declarative for a basic fact of doctrine. The principle: God has assigned to each believer X number of days in the Church Age to fulfil the plan of X + Y + Z.
“The night is far gone, and the day is approaching.” It is obvious that this particular phrase is designed to alert us to the proper use of our time. It means that in our scale of values, in the norms and standards of our conscience, something is first; and that is the one that receives the most attention every day. The day is long enough for us to have time for sleep, time for work, time for pleasure; all of which eventually become meaningless unless we have doctrine and the norms and standards of doctrine in the soul.
“let us therefore cast off the works of darkness” – this doesn’t say sin; it doesn’t even imply sin. It begins with an inferential conjunction, o)un, and it means the previous statement demands a conclusion. It is an inference from the previous statement: aorist middle subjunctive of a)potiqhmi. It means to cast off, but here it really means to put away, to lay aside something. It doesn’t mean to reject it but to lay it aside. In other words, this is a priority principle. You are not commanded as a Christian to quit things, to stop having pleasures, to stop business, to stop whatever you are doing in life; but there must be something more important than what you are doing in life, i.e. Bible doctrine. So we are commanded to give first place to the most important thing. First things first is what it means here. This is the ingressive aorist in which the action is contemplated in its beginning, it denotes an entrance into a state of condition. The middle voice is the direct middle which describes the subject participating in the results of the action. You change your priorities to make doctrine first and you begin to notice some wonderful things in life. The subjunctive mood is the hortatory subjunctive which is tantamount to a command but different from the imperative mood in that it recognises your human volition. Taking cognisance of human volition means that it is up to you. Next is the accusative plural direct object from e)rgon which means works or production, but it does not refer to sin. Plus the descriptive genitive singular skotoj for darkness. What are the works of darkness? They are good and evil. Our involvement in these is what we are throwing off here. This is a reference to the function of good and evil in the devil’s triangle.
“and let us put on the armour of light” – the postpositive conjunctive particle de is a
transitional conjunction translated “and,” but it sets up a mild contrast, the contrast between the works of darkness and the function of the armour of light. This is not related to production, it is related to the intake of doctrine and the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. The aorist middle subjunctive of e)ndunw means to put on your armour. It refers actually to the conflicts of life in the analogy. Putting on armour is simply gearing the mentality of your soul to face the exigencies of life as well as the prosperity of life. So when it says “let us put on”, the constative aorist gathers up into one entirety the perception of doctrine which executes the command. The middle voice is the direct middle in which the believer participates in the results by attaining maturity, by having great capacity for life, great happiness in life, great prosperity in life—occupation with the person of Christ, historical impact, etc. The hortatory subjunctive, again, is tantamount to a command but differs from the imperative mood in that it takes cognisance of human volition. The accusative plural direct object of o(plon refers to the various parts of Roman armour. The word was originally used for Greek armour but in the time of writing it referred to Romans armour. The descriptive genitive singular of fwj refers to light in darkness, and that means Bible doctrine. It is a reference by analogy to doctrine because it is not like daylight, it is light in darkness. We are in the night here: “the night is far gone.”
Translation: “The night is far gone, the day is approaching: therefore let us lay aside the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”
The completion of putting on the armour of light is the point of reaching maturity adjustment to the justice of God through maximum doctrine resident in the soul.
Verse 13 – “Let us walk honestly as in the day” is an incorrect translation. It begins
with the aorist middle subjunctive of the verb peripatew which means to walk in the sense of the royal family honour code. The culminative aorist views the function of establishment morality plus the royal family honour code in its entirety but emphasises it from the standpoint of having to go from one to the other. The laws of divine establishment guarantee freedom for believer and believer, and the authority to guarantee that freedom. When that breaks down the Christian has the only answer to that, and that is found in the royal family honour code which also guarantees freedom, privacy and property. The middle voice is the direct middle describing the subject as participating in the results of the action. The subjunctive mood is hortatory, used for a command where personal volition is involved. Next comes the adverb e)usxhmonoj which does not to be honest, it means honourably. This is higher than establishment; this is honour. It is a reference to the believer’s function under the royal family honour code.[5] The command is accomplished through the filling of the Spirit and maximum doctrine resident in the soul. Then e)n plus the locative of h(mera—“in daytime.” This simply means that we walk in the light of eternity and what God has dictated from eternity.
“not in rioting and drunkenness” – the honour code is not in these. The negative mh is used here because of the subjunctive mood. With it is the locative plural of kwmoj. Kwmoj comes to mean a riot, a bunch of drunks in a procession where there is no authority. Freedom without authority is not freedom. You cannot be a Christian living under the honour code and reject authority. Rioting is rejection of authority—someone else’s authority. Plus meqh – “drunkenness.” People get drunk because they do not use their own volition as an authority. Rioting and drunkenness are both related to self-discipline and group discipline, failure to recognise one’s own authority and failure to recognise the authority that has been duly constituted by God in either establishment or in the spiritual realm.
“not in chambering and wantonness” – koith is illicit sex and this should be translated here “fornication.” It refers to several kinds, normal or abnormal are both included. This is a failure to use volition to regulate one’s own life. Then the word a)selgeia which is probably best translated licentiousness—“not in fornication and licentiousness.”
“not in strife and envying” – e)rij means discord and contention. What causes discord? When you reject the legitimate authority of life. Discord and contention comes from mental attitude sins. You cannot control your thinking, and when you cannot you are jealous, vindictive, petty, implacable. Plus the locative singular of zhloj—“jealousy.” If you are jealous of someone else it is lack of self-discipline. This lack of self-discipline producing this sin causes you to attack the object of your jealousy—instead of that object being the object of your impersonal love.
Translation: “Let us walk honourably as in the daytime; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in fornication and licentiousness, not in strife and jealousy.”
Verse 14 – “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.” The adversative conjunction a)lla, “But,” sets up a contrast between the negative command of the previous verse and the positive command here. Then the aorist middle imperative of e)nduw—“put on.” Adam and Eve put on something but it was the wrong thing—fig leaves. They tried to solve their problem by getting dressed. They thought that by putting on fig leaves and being correctly and socially adjusted to each other, and getting acquainted all over again, that somehow this made them right with God and this justified their existence on planet earth after they had so miserably failed. But it didn’t, and it doesn’t. When you start to see life in its true reality as a believer, and when you begin to understand what life is all about, you put on the Lord Jesus Christ and that is why you are here. You are here to put on something that solves the problems of life, i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t try to put on fig leaves; don’t try to adjust yourselves with other members of the human race; do not try to enter into a Millennial rapport with other people, that isn’t the issue. The issue is the Lord Jesus Christ. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views the advance to maturity in its entirety, for that is what it means to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. It views the daily function of GAP, advancing to maturity today, tomorrow and the next day. The culminative aorist gathers into one entirety the function of GAP but emphasises its results. You put on the Lord Jesus Christ by taking in doctrine. Doctrine is the issue. The middle voice is the direct middle in which the believer participates in the results of the action of the verb by attaining maturity adjustment to the justice of God. The imperative mood: this is a command which is an appeal to the will or volition of the individual believer to advance to maturity. Then the accusative singular three direct objects from kurioj I)hsouj Xristoj. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is not to be confused with the baptism of the Spirit which occurs at the moment of salvation. This is the command to the believer in phase two. Maturity is characterised by occupation with the person of Christ.
“and make not provision for the flesh” – the word flesh/sarc refers to the old sin nature. It doesn’t say eliminate the old sin nature but instead it means rebound, the filling of the Spirit. Plus the present middle imperative of poiew which means to work, to manufacture, to produce, to act, to do, to function. Here it means making provision. The negative mh with the imperative is translated, “and stop making provision for.” The word “provision” is pronoia which meant originally “foresight, forethought,” and that is why it comes to mean provision. The present tense is a descriptive present indicating what is now going on, the direct middle in which the believer participates in the results of the action in a negative way: by avoiding carnality and having the filling of the Spirit to advance to maturity. The imperative mood plus the negative mh is the imperative of prohibition: stop doing this or you will never put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Plus the objective genitive singular from the noun sarc, referring to the OSN. The definite article is used as a possessive pronoun and it should be translated “for your flesh” or “your old sin nature.”
“to fulfil the lusts thereof” – the prepositional phrase, e)ij plus the accusative plural of e)piqumia. It is in the plural because lusts here are simply your distractions from doctrine. Lusts can be a crusade, your desire to straighten out the world, the country, or whatever it is you are trying to straighten out. It can be a person, a business deal, or a lot of things in life; anything that would distract from doctrine when it is time for doctrine. So it should be translated “because of lusts.” All of us are tempted to be distracted.
Translation: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and stop making provision for your flesh [OSN], because of its lusts.”
The lusts are not simply sins, the lusts are good and evil. Christianity is adaptable to any human society, under all conditions of life. Christianity is not hostile to any specific form of government, therefore it does not sponsor or recommend any specific form of government. Christianity is opposed to all evil in government or society, since evil destroys freedom, privacy, authority, property, evangelism and spiritual growth. But we are not here to correct evil, we are here to grow in grace. Only the Lord can correct evil in any generation. Christianity teaches orientation to life through respect for authority ordained by God in either the laws of divine establishment or the modus operandi of the local church. A society saturated with turbulence and anarchy should welcome Christianity as the stabilizer of that society. In addition to the pivot of mature believers Christianity introduces honour and integrity into the life blood of the nation. Christianity is the source of divine blessing and prosperity for a nation. Without Christianity there would be no client nation to provide missionaries and evangelists for those areas of heathenism where positive volition exists. Without the free function of the local church in society life would be a jungle of anarchy and destruction, for the believer is the salt of the land. The royal family honour code is inflexible in its doctrine but flexible in its adaptation and application to life.