Chapter 6

 

            Verse 1 — we have now come to the result of Bible doctrine in the soul, the result to the family. “Children” is the vocative plural teknon, correctly translated ‘children’ although the word can be used for students or for someone under the authority of someone. The definite article follows the Attic Greek style of being used for a pronoun and it should be translated “You children.”

 

            Principle

            1. Under the laws of divine establishment the parents are the authority in divine institution # 3, i.e. the home.

            2. The parents are the most basic authority in human life and have been since Adam and Eve were the first parents. As goes your attitudes toward your parents, often so goes your attitude toward authority.

            3. Parents are responsible to train the children in both the functions and the principles of life. That means the parents must train both the body and the soul of their children.

            4. Therefore parents are not only responsible for food shelter, clothing, and health of their children but parents are responsible foe the thinking, the attitudes, the poise, the manners, the self-discipline of their children.

            5. All children must be inculcated in both the fundamentals of freedom as well as the principles of authority in life, and how the two have been merged into the divine establishment for blessing.

            6. Children must be trained and taught to respect the freedom, the privacy, the property and the rights of others. (Some adults are never thoughtful of others because they were never taught thoughtfulness in the home)

            7. Add to the laws of divine establishment respect for law and the police officer.

            8. In addition, Christian parents have the responsibility of evangelising their own children through the communication of the gospel.

            9. Once the children are saved by faith in Christ the parents must provide doctrinal teaching for their children under the command of Deuteronomy 6:6-9; 7:9.

            10. As children become oriented to the concept of the local church they must be taught to recognise the authority of the pastor-teacher, and they must be trained to concentrate on his message — Hebrews 13:7,17.

 

            “obey” — present active imperative from the verb u(pakouw. This verb connotes both obedience to authority and in the case of communication authority concentration on what is communicated. The present tense is a customary present which denotes that which habitually occurs or may be reasonably expected to occur. The active voice: the children produce the action of the verb during their minority until they leave home. As long as they live at home they are under the authority of the parents. Principle: Basic authority in life and respect for authority comes from the home. As goes the home, so goes any generation. Each generation determines its own role in history on the basis of parental discipline and respect for authority which is taught in the home. Disorientation to life begins when the child either rejects parental authority or is able to overcome it by emotionalism, i.e. you must love the child or he will grow up to be some sort of a misfit. Nothing is more destructive to the individual than to go through life rejecting authority because of the ingrained habit from childhood.

            “your parents” — goneuj plus the personal pronoun in the genitive. The dative is dative of indirect object. The genitive of the personal pronoun su is genitive of relationship.

            1) The dative of indirect object indicates the one for whom the action is performed. That is, obedience is performed for the sake of the parents training the children, orienting the children to life.

            2) This is also dative of advantage. It is to the advantage of children to have one of more parents and to be under the discipline and the authority of parent or parents.

            3) Since parents are the original teachers and authority for children obedience, respect and concentration must be demanded by them.

            4) The dative of advantage indicates also that parents are God’s gift to the children to act as their protectors, teachers, drill instructors, their discernment, until they reach maturity.

            5) Children begin helpless and stupid. Parents must provide the training, teaching, and discipline for them.

            6) Grooming, manners, poise, decorum, character, are moulded by the parents.

           

            A woman rearing a male child

            1. Many male children have been dominated by their mothers through erroneous systems of coercion used to replace normal family discipline.

            2. The result is that the male has the tendency to succumb to various types of female domination in marriage.

            3. Women in marriage who have no influence over their husbands through love response, category #2 rapport, often resort to divisiveness to control their husbands, or to handle their husbands.

            4. These devises include nagging, tantrums, pouting, abnormal and embarrassing public behaviour, designed to force the husband into line and control him.

            5. The use of these devises constitutes a female conspiracy against the biblical principle of category #2 love and forms and attempted coup de tat over the husband’s authority.

            6. Many a husband has been denied sex, bullied, nagged, or brought into a desired pattern by a divisive female who uses a variety of wiles to control the male.

            7. Such female activity elicits the reaction of bitterness in the man. This bitterness becomes the reactor factor leading often to reversionism. And many a mother, following the same pattern that she used on her husband, cannot understand why her son becomes reversionistic. By the time he is a teenager he is often reversionistic because she has used the same tactic to control him that she used upon her husband.

            8. From here the steps of reversionism follow quickly. It starts with bitterness, a serious handicap in the function of divine institution #2, and children becoming bitter is destructive in preparing them for life as well as for the spiritual realm.

 

            “in the Lord” — e)n plus the locative of kurioj minus the definite article. The absence of the definite article in the Greek emphasises the quality of the noun. Regardless of how unreasonable or how unfair the parental policy appears to be the child must obey his parents as part of his full time Christian service.

            “for” is an explanatory use of gar and should be translated ‘because’; “this is” — present active indicative of e)imi. This is a static present, it means this is always true.

            “right” is the predicate nominative dikaioj, it is right and just.

            Translation: “You children, be obeying your parents in the Lord: because it is right [fair, just].”

            Verse 2 — this is still addressed to the children. “honour” is a present active imperative of the verb timaw which means to respect or to honour — honour in the sense of respect. The customary present denotes what habitually occurs when parents do their job as unto the Lord, when parents are fair, when parents have some wisdom and common sense instead of self-righteousness and legalism. Fair administration of discipline in the common sense policies of the home always gain the respect of the children. Active voice: as the child moves into adolescence the teenager produces the action of the verb. We have the present tense of duration indicating that the child who honours or respects his parents as a teenager will also do that when he is an adult. The imperative mood is the mood of command. Good discipline and fair treatment in childhood results in that adolescent love or respect.

            “thy father and mother” — accusative singular direct object of pathr plus the accusative singular direct object of mhter. In both case there is also a personal pronoun. In the absence of the father the mother has exactly the same authority as if she were both parents, therefore mother is included.

            “which” — nominative singular feminine of the relative pronoun o(stij meaning “for such.” This means “for such is.” “Such” refers to the principle or doctrine or concept of establishment; “is” — present active indicative of e)imi, and we have the static present which represents a commandment perpetually existing. The active voice: this is a reference to the fifth commandment of the decalogue which produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative of a dogmatic assertion, namely the fifth commandment.

            “the first commandment with promise” — in other words, you have four commandments before you get one with a promise hooked on to it. The word for ‘commandment’ is a predicate nominative of e)ntolh; “with promise” is e)n plus the instrumental of e)paggelia which means a promise of blessing. The specific promise of blessing is stated in the next verse.

            Verse 3 — the promise is actually twofold, it includes prosperity and long life. Three principles:

                        a) This verse is a demonstration that no matter how unfair parents could be or may be, God is fair. God’s fairness manifests itself in that if a child is abused under this system where the parents are grossly unfair, the parents being tyrants, and yet the child still respects their authority, in the fairness of God he gets all of his suffering while he is a teenager and from then on he has a life of great blessing and prosperity. This does not exclude other types of suffering from time to time in his life but his life is characterised by great prosperity.

                        b) The promise of blessing is attached to the fifth commandment of the decalogue. The blessing is both prosperity and long life. Long life is not always a blessing but when it is associated with prosperity long life is a blessing.

                        c) Parents may be unfair, they may be tyrants, but the children who are amenable to discipline will have a long and prosperous life on this earth. So what this verse is saying is that not only is God fair but it is better to endure hardship in youth and learn discipline so that in later years there might be blessing and long life.

            “That” — the conjunction i(na which introduces a purpose clause; “it may be” — a summary of the principle of the promise related to the child’s obedience to parental authority, the aorist middle subjunctive of ginomai. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it gathers into a single whole the adult life of a person who in childhood and adolescence respected the authority of his parents. In other words, this constative aorist is the adult life. The aorist contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. In other words, the general characteristic of the adult life is one of prosperity and long life. The middle voice, this being a deponent verb: the form is middle but the meaning is active. So the person who in childhood and adolescence obeys parents, respects the authority of parents, will be happy and well adjusted in life. The subjunctive mood goes with the purpose clause and does not indicate potentiality here. “That is may come to be.”

            “well with thee” — this is an idiom and it means “that you may prosper.” Ginomai + you = prosperity; “with thee” is the dative of indirect object from the personal pronoun su. It is also the dative of advantage. This is a principle in the laws of establishment. “That you may prosper” refers to a life of prosperity and happiness based on the principle of respect for authority plus the inculcation of self-discipline in childhood. When a generation of children are reared under permissiveness, without discipline and without respect for authority, that generation suffers intensely and often comes to disaster. This is taught in Judges chapters 19-21; Romans 1:18-32; 2 Timothy 3:1-7.

            “and” is the continuative use of the conjunction kai; “thou mayest live long” — future middle indicative of e)imi which doesn’t mean to live, it should be translated “and you shall be.” The future tense is a gnomic future, a statement of fact or performance which is rightfully expected under normal conditions. The middle voice is the indirect middle which emphasises the agent as producing the action of the verb rather than participating in the results. The declarative indicative represents the verbal idea from the viewpoint of reality. The word ‘long’ is where the problem is — the predicate adjective makroxronioj [xronoj = time; makro = long], so it is “long-lived” or “long life” — “and you shall have long life” is the best way to translate it.

            “on the earth” — e)pi plus the genitive of gh. It means to be a long time on the earth.

            Translation: “That is may come to be well with you [that you may prosper], and you shall have long life on the earth.”

            When you prosper and have long life this means that there is a third factor involved — health, vigour, strength. It is possible for a person to live 100 years and be sick 99 years out of the 100. But here is prosperity and not only long life but health. All of this adds up to a system of blessing for anyone, believer or unbeliever, who in childhood and adolescence fulfills the principle stated under the laws of establishment.

            Verse 4 — “And” is the continuative use of the conjunction kai; “you fathers” — the vocative plural of pathr plus the definite article used as a personal pronoun — “And you fathers.”

            “provoke not” — the present active imperative of parorgizw which with the negative means to stop doing something which a lot of the parents had been doing. This is the retroactive progressive present, it denotes what is begun in the past and continues into the present time. The negative is mh. The word here connotes Christian parents. The active voice: “fathers” in the plural means father and mother, parents, both parents. It should be translated “you parents.” Christian parents produce the action of the verb. The imperative mood with the negative mh is an imperative of prohibition and should be translated “stop.” Stop causing anger.

            “to wrath” — how does a parent cause anger or exasperate the children? The answer is very simple: unjust treatment, abusive authority, taking your frustrations out on your children. Parents have no right to abuse the authority given to them. When there is conflict in the home between the two authorities it reflects itself in exasperating children by abuse of authority.

            “but” is the adversative conjunction a)lla and it sets up a contrast. Here is what you should be doing.

            “bring them up” — the present active imperative of e)ktrepw. This means “be training them.” It is a day by day thing. If you train people you have to train them daily. The present tense is a customary present denoting what habitually occurs or what may be reasonably expected to occur. The active voice: the parents produce the action of the verb, and they produce it by having a category #2 love relationship.

            “in the nurture” — e)n plus the locative of paideia means “in the discipline.”

            “and admonition” — nouqesia is academic instruction; “of the Lord” is ablative of source and should be translated “from the Lord.”

            “And, you parents, stop causing your children to become angry: but be training them to maturity and in the discipline and academic instruction from the Lord.”

           

            Areas of parental training

            The physical realm, providing food, shelter, and clothing. The training comes through teaching them how to properly eat food, teaching them basic systems of grooming, provide recreation, provide training in the principles of health and hygiene. In the mental realm, providing a vocabulary with which to think. Training in the field of self discipline and concentration. Training in the realm of freedom and respect for privacy, respect for property, respect for the rights of others, thoughtfulness. In the spiritual realm evangelisation of children followed by initial doctrinal communication. Academic instruction from the Lord, emphasising the instruction from the local church. Parents that always select a church where doctrine is taught, rather than one that offers young people’s programs.

            In the paragraph, verses 5-9, we find both the responsibility of labour and the responsibility of management in the field of business enterprise. To the believer whether he is in management or on the labour side it makes no difference. His job, whatever it is, is a part of full time Christian service. Every believer is a member of the royal family of God in the palace forever and no matter what he does in life it is a part of full time Christian service to do the job as unto the Lord.

            Verse 5 — “Servants” is the vocative plural of douloj [slave] plus the definite article. With the definite article used as a personal pronoun it is translated “You servants [slaves].” Originally it applied to slaves in the Roman empire. While slavery was a great social evil at this time Paul never became diverted to condemn it or to seek to rectify the problem by social action. He told the slaves that when they received Christ not to seek to be free but to stay as they were and honour the Lord. Should the Lord provide their freedom then and only then they were to use their freedom to glorify the Lord. He never says one word against slavery. But as this applies to us today, it should be “You workers.” The application applies to believers of the royal family who work for someone else — employees.

            “be obedient” — present active imperative of u(pakouw. Remembering that those to whom this was originally addressed — slaves — notice what the Word of God commands those who find themselves in slavery. Obedience! The slave is not concerned with the rights or wrongs of his circumstances, he is concerned to do his job as unto the Lord. He is concerned to grow in grace. His job is to take in Bible doctrine as a believer and to reach super-grace, and to leave his circumstances in the hands of the Lord. The customary present here denotes what habitually occurs, or under doctrine that which is reasonably expected to occur. The active voice: the believer today, by application, is an employee producing the action of the verb. In the original use of this passage it was a slave producing the action of the verb. This is a command from God to those in the Roman empire who were slaves, just as today it is a command from God to those who are working for someone else.

 

            Principles

            1. Authority exists and must exist under divine establishment in the industrial business world.

            2. Believers, members of the royal family, who are employees or labour must recognise the authority of management.

            3. This means that your job is a part of your full time Christian service. It means obedience to the authority of management.

            4. This means working under the policy of the business organisation from which you draw your pay.

            5. Prosperity in the economy and the effectiveness of industry demands recognition of the authority of management.

            6. Management is the brains and the key to industry, and given freedom to use their ingenuity management will be able to provide more jobs and better jobs for labour.

            7. Bad management is no excuse for becoming a loafer on the job.

 

            “to them that are” is not found in the original. All that is there is toij kurioij. In each case the dative plural of the definite article, the dative of indirect object. The principle of the indirect object is to indicate the one for whom this particular command is given. This is given for the sake of labour, for employees, to honour the Lord and to benefit others — the economy, the whole structure of society — by doing the job as unto the Lord.

            “according to the flesh” — this is authority in the economic world only. Management has no authority in the local church where the pastor-teacher is the authority. This is kata plus the accusative of sarc. This refers to the principle of authority found in the laws of divine establishment in the area of business enterprise and the economy.

            “with fear” — the preposition meta plus the genitive of foboj which means respect; “and trembling” — the genitive of tromoj which means maximum exertion, effort.

            “in singleness” — e)n plus the instrumental of a)plothj and it means integrity, probity. The noun connotes the virtue of the believer who is free from pretense, free from dissimulation, free from hypocrisy.

            “of your hearts” — the ablative of source of kardia which means the right lobe: “ … by means of integrity from your right lobe.” With Bible doctrine in the soul no matter how humble your job if you are employed by someone else you are going to do your job as unto the Lord. God is going to be glorified by the way you do your job.

            “as” is a relative adverb used as a comparative particle; “unto Christ” — do your job as unto the Lord Jesus Christ. The definite article is used as a personal pronoun and so it should be translated “as to your Christ.”

            Translation: “You slaves [employees], be obeying your lords [management] according to the standard of the flesh [laws of establishment], with respect for authority and maximum effort, by means of integrity from your right lobe, as to your Christ.”

 

            Summary

            1. Your job is your full-time Christian service.

            2. Therefore do your job as unto the Lord.

            3. Capacity for life comes from Bible doctrine in your right lobe.

            4. Capacity for life in one fields overflows to other areas. Because you have doctrine in your soul you should have integrity in your soul.

            5. A person who does his job as unto the Lord will also be a wonderful friend, a wonderful lover, a wonderful person in time of disaster, He will make permanent lifetime friends.

            6. This command in the verse does not include catering to your boss off the job.

            7. To respect management’s authority on the job does not mean that you have to be nice to him off the job.

            8. Nor does this verse imply that you must become involved with anyone in extracurricular activities to hold your job. All you have to do is respect the authority of those over you and do your job as unto the Lord.

 

            Verse 6 — “Not with eyeservice.” The negative mh is the subjective negative, it recognises that the door can be open by the volition plus the old sin nature of the individual. It is followed by the preposition kata plus the accusative which usually indicates some norm or standard. In this case it is a negative norm or standard. Then we have a compound noun, o)fqalmodoulia [o)fqalmo = an eye; doulia = slave] which means eye slavery, service which is performed only to attract attention, hypocritical function on the job. Literally, this should be translated “Not according to the standard of eye slavery as menpleasers.”

            “menpleasers” is a coined word, it did not exist in any previous form of Greek, it is simply a combination of a)nqrwpoj and the verb a)reskw which means to please — a)nqrwpareskoj. It refers to someone who tries to please people or butter up people at the expense of principle, someone who holds their job by flattery and fawning. Every believer must do his job as unto the Lord, not whether he is supervised or not, and he does not make up for lack of ability by becoming a sycophant.

            “but” is an adversative conjunction a)lla which sets up the positive side; “as the servants” — the word ‘servant’ is not servant at all, douloj means slaves.

            “of Christ” — accept your circumstances, use them to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. If the Lord wants to change your circumstances, that’s fine. The dynamics of Bible doctrine comes from utilising your own circumstances assigned to you by God. The possessive genitive of Xristoj says that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. The possessive genitive means that every believer, regardless of his circumstances, belongs to the Lord. Not only does he belong to the Lord but he is a member of the royal family of God forever.

            “doing” — the present active participle of poiew. This is a progressive present of description which indicates what is now going on. It is often called a pictorial present tense since its distinctive force is to present to the mind a picture of the events in the process of occurrence. At the time that Paul wrote this he addressed this to believers who were slaves, whose circumstances were very difficult in many cases. But in spite of that he says, “Do your job as unto the Lord.” The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb. This is a telic participle which denotes a purpose.

            “the will of God” — the accusative singular direct object from qelhma, which means the will, the plan, the purpose, the design. God has placed believers in every aspect of life. God can bless a believer in any circumstances of life; “of God” is a possessive genitive of qeoj — “of your God.” The definite article is used as a possessive pronoun.

            “from the heart” — e)k plus the ablative singular of yuxh which means “from the soul.”

            Translation: “Not according to the standard of eyeslavery, as menpleasers; but as slaves [workers, employees] belonging to Christ, constantly doing the will of your God from the soul.” This requires Bible doctrine in the soul.

            Verse 7 — “With good will” — meta plus the genitive of e)unoia which does not mean ‘good will,’ it is a combination of two words, e)u meaning ‘good’ and noia meaning ‘thinking.’ It meant originally ‘good thinking’ but it finally came to be used for loyal enthusiasm. “With loyal enthusiasm.”

            “doing service” is the present active participle of the verb douluw meaning ‘doing slavery.’ This was originally addressed to slaves or anyone performing a menial task in life. The retroactive progressive present denotes that the recipients had been doing this in the past and had continued serving as slaves up to the present. The active voice: slaves in the Roman empire produced the action of the verb by interpretation. However, today by application is refers to labour on the job.

            “as to the Lord” — dative of advantage. It is to our advantage to be owned by the Lord, to be members of the royal family of God; “and not to men” means that the most menial task or job is a part of our full-time Christian service as members of the royal family of God. The believer with doctrine in his soul, the super-grace believer, does the most menial task with loyal enthusiasm as to the Lord.

            Translation: “With loyal enthusiasm performing the duties of a slave, as to the Lord, and not to men.”

 

            Summary

            1. Notice the approach of the Word of God. The first approach of the Word of God is the fact that revolution and manumission are not recommended.

            2. No social action is enjoined either here or to the Corinthians or to the Colossians where slavery was an issue. Doctrine changes things from the soul, not from the function of people seeking change and improvement of environment.

            3. Regeneration, not legislation, is the answer to social problems like slavery.

            4. After regeneration slavery becomes full-time Christian service to be accomplished through occupation with the person of Christ. This principle turns the world upside down.

           

            Verse 8 — “Knowing that” is the perfect active participle of o)ida used as a present tense for doctrine on the launching pad of the right lobe, doctrine ready to be applied.

            “whatsoever” — the nominative singular e(kastoj means “each one.” We are treated as individuals by the Word of God, we are never treated as a mass of people.

            Not found in the English text but coming next is the word “if” e)an; “good thing any man doeth” — the aorist active subjunctive of poiew is a part of a 3rd class condition. The constative aorist contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety, it gathers the production of diving good on the job into a single whole. The working believer produces the action of the verb today just as the slave produced the action of the verb in the time of the Roman empire. The subjunctive mood merely indicates a third class condition. The word for ‘good’ is good of intrinsic value or divine good.

            “the same” — the same production of divine good. Divine good is produced on the job by the filling of the Spirit through Bible doctrine moulding the mental attitude.

            “shall he receive” — the future middle indicative komizw means to receive back wages in the sense of blessing for long-time faithfulness. The future tense here is a predictive future signifying an event expected to occur in future time, in this case the judgement seat of Christ. The middle voice is the indirect middle emphasising the agent producing the action.

            “of the Lord” should be “from the source of the Lord.”

            “whether he be bond or free” — whether he is a slave or a free man. The reward for living your life as a slave or a free man must be under the ministry of the Spirit, and it must fulfil Colossians 3:16, doing your job as unto the Lord.

            Translation: “Knowing that each one, if he has done anything good, he himself shall receive with interest this same production from the source of the Lord, whether he is a slave or a free man.”

            Verse 9 — “And, ye masters” is the vocative plural of kurioj which means “lords.” That is, those who employ or are in management.

            “do the same things” — the present active imperative of poiew should be translated “keep doing,” the present tense being a customary present. This is expected to occur under normal circumstances. The active voice: Christian management now produces the action. The imperative mood is a command.

            “unto them” is ‘toward them’ — proj plus the accusative of a)utoj. That is, toward labour. This further demands that Christian management be fair and just in the treatment of employees or labour under his jurisdiction.

            “forbearing” is a present active participle, the verb is a)nihmi which means to suspend or cease from, to desist. The retroactive progressive present denotes something begun in the past and continuing into the present time, which means that Christian management must be consistent in desisting from threatening, bullying or unfair treatment. Literally, “be desisting from bullying.”

            “knowing that” — perfect active participle of o)ida indicating something that every believer in management should understand. It is the application of doctrine to management.

            “your Master” — literally, “your Lord.” This is a possessive pronoun, u(mwn. Every person in management is responsible to the Lord Jesus Christ.

            “in heaven” — the static present, always will be; “and there is not respect of persons” — the Greek word means partiality ; “with him.”

            Translation: “Also, you lords [management], be doing the same things toward them [labour], be desisting from bullying: knowing that both their Lord and yours is in heaven; and there is no partiality with Him.”

 

            Principle

            1. God is fair, He does not show partiality.

            2. He is not impressed with personality of an individual or his ability to enter into flattery.

            3. He treats us on the basis of His character.

            4. Therefore His integrity is beyond reproach.

            5. God plays no favourites, He is fair to all.

            6. Therefore, so it should be with Christian management.

            7. The super-grace believer in management or authority should emulate his Lord.

 

            The Roman imperial army was the earliest of the world’s standing armies in which soldiers were regularly recruited and provided for in training and equipment. The ancient world, outside of Assyria, did not use national armies. They recruited various nationalities. The Romans recruited their own people only, it also recruited born-again believers from Roman provinces.

 

            Outline of the passage 6:10-24

            1. The estimate of the situation — vv. 10-12.

            2. The equipment for the conflict — 13-17

            3. The royal family responsibility — 18-24

 

            Verse 10 — “Finally” is the adverbial use of a genitive phrase, tou loipou for the adjective loipoj. It means “From now on” or “In the future.” In other words, you are still alive so obviously God still has a plan for your life. This is a “from now on” passage. So you have made a mess of it, so you have fouled it up, but from now on things are going to be different. The apostle Paul foresees the impact of Ephesians on the royal family of God. He sees Ephesians as turning people around and moving them in the right direction. He sees Ephesians as the summary basis for anyone getting oriented to the plan of God and entering into the tactical victory of the angelic conflict. Ephesians demands growth. From the time that you start the first chapter and begin to see that you are in the plan of God, and that you are special in the plan of God, and that you live in a special age, from that moment on Ephesians becomes extremely important.

               “my brethren” — not found in this verse, it is not in the Greek; “be strong” — in the future be strong, the present passive imperative of e)ndunamow means “keep on becoming strong.” The present tense is a customary present, it denotes what customarily occurs or what may be expected to occur under the daily function of GAP. The passive voice: the royal family believer receives the action of the verb through taking in doctrine consistently. The imperative mood is the mood of command.

                “in the Lord” is the preposition e)n plus the locative of kurioj reminds us of the fact that we are royal family of God, that we have a higher honour and privilege, that we have greater doctrine, that we have greater opportunity, greater horizons than any group of believers that have ever lived.

                “and” is the ascensive use of the conjunction kai which means “even.”

                “in the power” — e)n plus the instrumental of kratoj which means ruling power — “by means of ruling power.” That is the power that runs inside and the ruling power inside is the dictator of your soul, Bible doctrine resident there. The only way that you can get this dictator in your soul is to take in doctrine on a daily basis.

                “of his might” — that dictator inside has might. This is a descriptive genitive singular of the noun i)sxuj, it refers to endowed power. It is a very strong word for inner ability. Plus the possessive genitive singular of the intensive pronoun a)utoj. This intensive pronoun places great emphasis on the power of God inside of you becoming the dictator of your soul. It places great emphasis on the fact that you must become spiritually self-sustaining. To the extent that you have a dictator in your soul, an altar in your soul, you are going to have a great life.

                 Translation: “But from now on, keep on becoming strong in the Lord, even by means of his endowed power.”

 

            The importance of Bible doctrine

            1. Bible doctrine is the content of the Word of God. It is the communication of the Word of God. Doctrine is the communication of Bible subjects on the basis of the exegesis of the original languages or an analysis and classification of the English text. Doctrine simply means what is taught or Bible teaching. Doctrine therefore refers to the transfer of Bible subjects from the passage of the Word of God by the pastor-teacher to your individual soul as a member of the royal family of God.

            2. The word doctrine does occur as a part of Bible nomenclature. We have both Hebrew and Greek words to indicate this fact. A popular word in the Hebrew is the noun emeth which means doctrine and is generally translated that way, though sometimes it is translated simply “truth” — Psalm 31:5. It emphasises true doctrine in contrast to false doctrine if Proverbs 22:21; Psalm 25:5; 26:3; 86:11. Probably one of the most important words is Bible doctrine in the soul under the Hebrew word chakmah. It is the same as the Greek e)pignwsij and it refers to doctrine which is in the soul and therefore usable — Psalm 8:1. A third word is the word shemuah which also means doctrine or what is heard. It emphasises doctrine from the standpoint of concentration — Isaiah 28:9. It refers to the function of GAP with emphasis on the concentration of the believer. A fourth noun in the Hebrew is leqach which is translated ‘doctrine’ but it really means the poise, the self-discipline which is necessary to consistently assimilate doctrine and to fulfill the tactical objective of victory in the spiritual life — Deuteronomy 32:2; Job 11:4; Proverbs 4:2; Isaiah 29:24. Then there is musar which has the connotation of the communication of doctrine with emphasis on the disciplinary aspect of learning.

            In the Greek there are basically four words or derivative systems which present the concept of doctrine. The derivatives of the verb ginwskw, which means to learn or to know, to comprehend, are quite a number. It means intelligent comprehension of an object or matter, therefore it means perception. Gnosis is taken from that verb — Bible doctrine taken into the left lobe, the objective understanding of the doctrine. When it is transferred into the human spirit and then up into the right lobe or the heart it is called e)pignwsij. There are other words like prognwsij which refers to doctrine in the mind or to doctrine understood by the omniscient God in eternity past. It is doctrine which existed before time. It is the concept that doctrine has always existed whether it was written or not, for doctrine is the thinking of God, there never was a time when doctrine did not exist. There is an adjective which emphasises the potentiality of learning doctrine — gnostoj. It is also a word which means “doctrinal” in the adjective form — Romans 1:19. Then there is a word in Acts 26:3, gnosthj, which means an expert in doctrine.

            A second area of Greek words is logoj which means speech, word, thinking, and doctrine. In Hebrews 6:1 logoj means doctrine.

            A third Greek area is didaxh which means the act of teaching or what is taught — Matthew 7:28; 22:33; Mark 1:22; 1 Corinthians 14:6; 2 Timothy 4:2; Hebrews 6:2; Revelation 2:14.

            There is another word, didaskalia, which is used for what is taught or doctrinal teaching — Matthew 15:9; Titus 1:9; 2:7,10,11.

            3. Bible doctrine is the heritage or the legacy of the royal family of God — Psalm 138:2. The word “worship” here is the hithpael [reflexive] imperfect of shachah, and the reflexive concept means your own individual relationship with the Lord expressed in terms of worship, and it demands Bible doctrine in the soul. It should be translated “I myself will worship.”

            “toward the temple of your holiness” — this refers to heaven as the real holy of holies; the word “praise” is in the hiphil stem of jadah and it has the concept of celebration because of real appreciation; the word “for” is a causal waw meaning “because”; and the word “loving-kindness” is chesedh meaning ‘grace.’ It should be translated “and celebrate your person because of your grace.” Grace is the basis for true celebration.

            “and for thy truth” — the word emeth means doctrine. So there are two reasons for celebration: grace and doctrine.

            “because you have magnified” — the hiphil perfect of gadal which means to magnify to the utmost; “thy word” — doctrinal teaching; “above your reputation” — more important than the reputation of God is the doctrine of God is what this passage is saying.

            Translation: “I myself will worship toward the temple of your holiness [heaven], and celebrate your person [the super-grace believer occupied with Christ] because of your grace and because of your doctrine; because you have magnified your doctrinal teaching over your reputation.”

            Doctrinal communication is the means of glorifying God, has always been the means of tactical victory in the angelic conflict. Doctrinal teaching is the means of establishing residency of doctrine in the soul. Maximum resident doctrine means not only super-grace status but the normal function of the royal priesthood of the believer in this dispensation.

            4. Our heritage of doctrine was perpetuated by the Lord Jesus Christ in His dying words on the cross. The seventh and last recorded utterance of the Lord was mentioned in His dying breath where He made doctrine the spiritual legacy of the royal family. By comparing Luke 23:46 with Psalm 31:5 we have exactly what our Lord said: “Into your hands, O Father, I deposit my spirit; for you have delivered me, O Jehovah, God of doctrine.” The last phrase indicates that He was delivered in His humanity buy the doctrine resident in His own soul.

            5. Bible doctrine preexisted the human race. Proverbs 8 records how Bible doctrine was with God in eternity past before the creation of the universe.

            6. Therefore attitude toward doctrine determines whether the believer is blessed or disciplined in time — Proverbs 8:33-36.

            7. Therefore doctrine is the basis for the distribution of super-grace blessings. The daily function of GAP means maximum doctrine in the soul. This is following the colours to the high ground of super-grace, and is the subject of Isaiah 53:12. The plunder of victory is paragraph SG2, super-grace blessings in time. “The many” anticipates the royal family of God in time; “the great ones” are the super-grace believers of the royal family.

            8. Doctrine is the basis for the distribution of surpassing grace blessings in eternity. This is determined by comparing Hebrews 11:9,10 with verse 13, or James 1:25 with 2:12,13.

            9. There is a principle that comes out of this. For the believer who reaches super-grace Bible doctrine is more real than empirical knowledge — 2 Peter 2:12-21. If there is a conflict between what you see, what you hear, what you smell, what you taste, or what you think and what Bible doctrine says, Bible doctrine is more real and Bible doctrine is right. Bible doctrine is the criterion for the royal family of God.

            10. Lack of Bible doctrine destroys a nation — Hosea 4:1-6.

            11. Bible doctrine is part of the principle of living grace for phase two. Under living grace God provides spiritual and temporal factors to keep you alive in time.

            12. The plan of God is both advanced and vindicated through Bible doctrine. Psalm 51:4.

            13. The pastor or communicator of doctrine establishes the balance of residency in the soul of the believer.

            14. Therefore the importance of the consistency in the function of GAP — Hebrews 10:25. A warning about negative volition is given in Hebrews 10:35. Perseverance of positive volition is taught in Hebrews 10:36; Colossians 2:6,7.

            15. The results of doctrine resident in the soul are several:

                        a) Doctrine produces confidence in life — Job 5:24-27; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Hebrews 10:35.

                        b) Doctrine produces the divine viewpoint of life and therefore mental attitude dynamics — Isaiah 55:7-9; 2 Corinthians 10:5.

                        c) Bible doctrine orients the believer to the plan of God — Isaiah 26:3,4; Romans 8:28.

                        d) Bible Doctrine produces stability of soul — James 1:8.

                        e) Bible doctrine is the basis for divine guidance and the execution of the will of God — Romans 12:2,3.

                        f) Bible doctrine leads to occupation with Christ and maximum capacity for category #1 love — Philippians 3:10; Ephesians 3:19; Hebrews 12:2,3.

                        g) Bible doctrine attains and holds the super-grace status — Philippians 3:12-14.

                        h) Bible doctrine attains surpassing grace blessing for eternity — Hebrews 11:9,10,13; James 1:25 cf. 2:12,13.

            16. The synonyms for Bible doctrine resident in the soul.

                        a) The central control synonym — Ephesians 6:10. “Be strong in the Lord by means of the inner rule [resident doctrine] of his endowed power.”

                        b) The crucifixion synonym — Matthew 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; 14:27: “Take up your cross and follow me.” To pick up or take up your cross means to run counter to what people are usually doing in your day, to run counter to what your family thinks, etc.

                        c) The priestly synonym — Hebrews 13:10, the construction of the altar in the soul.

                        d) The building synonym — Ephesians 4:12,16, the construction of the ECS.

                        e) The theological synonym — James 4:6, super-grace.

                        f) The military synonym — Ephesians 6:11.

                        g) Language synonyms (see point 2).

                        h) The time synonym — redeeming the time, Ephesians 5:16-18.

                        i) The salt synonym — Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:50; Luke 14:34; Colossians 4:6.

 

                        Verse 11 — “Put on” is the aorist middle imperative of the verb e)nduw, used here for a military type putting on his equipment. It means to wear something. The aorist tense is a constative aorist which gathers into one entirety the action of the verb — wearing the full armour of God. The middle voice is a permissive middle in which the agent, the royal priest, voluntarily yields himself to the results of the action, seeking to secure the action in his own interest. The imperative mood is a mood of command.

            “the whole armour of God” — the accusative singular direct object from the noun panoplia which means complete field equipment; plus the balative of source from qeoj which is “from God.” So far we have: “Wear for yourselves the full armour from our God” — a definite article used as a possessive pronoun. We are commanded as believers to use this equipment.

            “that” introduces the concept of a purpose clause but it is really not a conjunction. This is a prepositional phrase proj plus the present active infinitive of the verb dunamai is used to express purpose; plus a definite article and this actually becomes a purpose clause. The definite article makes the infinitive more adaptable to be used with prepositions. For example, proj could means several things depending on the case and the object. The definite article indicates what case and therefore how to translate. Altogether this is “that you might continue to be able.” The present tense of the infinitive is a present tense of the continuation of existing results, referring it to what has come to be in the past but emphasising the present reality of it. It is translated like the perfect tense, it has linear aktionsart. The active voice: the believer in the angelic conflict produces the action. We are all in the angelic conflict, therefore this equipment must be worn. The infinitive plus the preposition plus the definite article plus the accusative of general reference constitutes a purpose clause — “that you might continue to be able to stand.”

            “that ye may be able to stand” is the aorist active infinitive of the verb i(sthmi which means to stand, to stand firm. It is used in the military sense of holding your ground. That is the concept here — “that you might be able to hold your ground.” The aorist tense is a constative aorist which gathers into one entirety the action of the verb — holding the high ground of super-grace. The active voice: the royal priest as a soldier is the one who holds the ground. The infinitive expresses our purpose during the angelic conflict. We must put on this armour and hold our ground. Putting on the armour is reaching super-grace. Once you have the armour you must seize and hold.

            “against the wiles of the devil” — a prepositional phrase, proj plus the accusative plural of the noun meqodeia which means strategy or tactics, either one depending on the context; plus a possessive genitive singular of the noun diaboloj which means here the devil, it also means enemy — “against the tactics of the devil” really is more in keeping with the context.

            Translation: “Wear for yourselves the full armour from God that you might be able to hold your ground against the tactics of the devil.”

 

            The tactics of the devil (the devil’s seven)

            1. Knowing the person of the devil means understanding his strategy and tactics. The devil is the highest of all angelic creatures and is the ruler of all fallen angels — Matthew 8:28; 9:34; 12:26; Luke 11:8,19. The devil is a prehistoric super creature — Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19. The three falls of the devil: Two are described in Isaiah 14 as well as in Ezekiel 28; the third fall comes in Revelation chapters 12 & 20. The devil also has two advents: the first advent to the human race — Genesis 3; the second advent — Revelation 20. The devil is the central antagonist in the angelic conflict — Hebrews chapters 1 & 2; Genesis 6; 1 Peter 3:18-22. The devil has a phenomenal organisation. He is a murderer and a liar from the beginning — John 8:44. He is the chief opponent of Bible doctrine — Matthew 13:9,39. The devil is the enemy of the Church, the royal family of God — Revelation 2:9,13,24. The devil is smarter than any of us, he has more power, ability, capability, more organisational ability. He has more of everything.

            2. The power of the devil. The devil is the ruler of this world, he has total power — Luke 4:5-7; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2. He has the power to destroy us, to remove us, to discredit us; and only the grace of God offsets all of the tremendous power. Furthermore, he is unseen.

            3. Therefore as the ruler of this world the devil has policy and strategy regarding the nations of the world. We see his policies in the function of the United National, in the National Council of Churches, the Word Council of Churches, in the Communist parties of the world, in function under all international types of organisation. We see his policies manifest in liberalism. His policies are anti-Christian and antiestablishment. So we must understand that Satan has policy, strategy and tactics by which he puts his policies into operation — Revelation 12:9; 20:3,8.

            4. Therefore the devil has strategy regarding unbelievers in the world. His strategy runs the gamut from blinding the minds of the unbelievers who are exposed to the gospel, to every form of unbeliever reversionism, as in 2 Peter 2. The devil’s strategy regarding the unbeliever — Luke 8:12; 2 Corinthians 4:3,4; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-10; Colossians 2:8; Revelation 17. Religion is the devil’s ace trump in this area of his policy and strategy.

            5. The devil has strategy also regarding believers, the royal family of God.

                        a) He accuses the believers in heaven — 2 Corinthians 2:11; Job 1:6-11; Zechariah 3:1,2; Revelation 12:9,10; 1 John 2:1,2.

                        b) He is the sponsorer of reversionism — 1 Corinthians 10:19-21; 11:3,13-15.

                        c) He frustrates the will of God in three areas: the mental will of God — Ephesians 4:14; the geographical will of God — 1 Thessalonians 2:18; the operational will of God — James 4:7,8.

                        d) To neutralise doctrinal application. Satan does everything he can to have malfunction in our application of Bible doctrine. He does this through worry, anxiety, mental attitude sins — 1 Peter 5:7-9.

                        e) To destroy the believer’s focus — getting the eyes on people, Jeremiah 17:5; or he turns you into an arrogant person — getting eyes on self, 1 Kings 19:10.

                        f) He gets the believer to become involved in improving the devil’s world. This means he gets the reversionistic believer in humanistic activities, occupation with temporal solutions, getting involved, social gospel, etc.

                        g) The inculcation regarding physical death or fear regarding things, adversities, and situations in life — Hebrews 2:14,15.

            6. Religion is a part of the devil’s strategy. Basically religion was created by Satan to counterfeit the plan of God. Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with God through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But religion, by way of contrast, is man seeking to gain the approbation of God by his own efforts, his plans, his merits, his systems. Religion is the principal representative of the evil genius of Satan.

           

            Verse 12 — “For is the causal use of the conjunction o(ti and it should be translated “Because.”

            “we wrestle not” — o)uk e)stin h(min h( palh is an entirely different translation. O)uk = not; e)stin = is; h(min = to us; h( palh = a combat situation, battle. Literally, from the Greek, “there is not to us the combat.” It should be translated “our combat is not.”

            “against flesh and blood” — proj plus the accusative of a(ima plus sarc. Proj plus the accusative can mean against but it is first of all a(ima and then sarc. So far it should read literally, “Because our combat is not against blood and flesh.” We are not fighting blood and flesh. That is why we must be prepared. We are fighting a great demon army.

            “but” — the adversative conjunction a)lla which sets up a contrast between the human enemies which you can always see, and therefore kill, and the invisible enemies which are unseen and therefore demand a different system for eliminating them. So we have a contrast between human, visible enemies and the invisible enemies of the angelic army. This is an army of fallen angels under the command of Satan. It is a large, well organised and well trained army, and it is also a very desperate army. It is an army fighting for its life and losing every step of the way.

            Next we have the demon table of organisation of this army. It begins with the phrase, “against principalities.” This is the preposition proj plus the accusative plural of a)rxh. Proj plus the accusative can be translated ‘face to face with’ or ‘against.’ Both are correct. We can leave it as it stands or we can change it to ‘our combat is face to face with.’ The word a)rxh refers to the highest rank in the demon army. The word comes from a very ancient participle. It started with Athens and Classical Greek — a)rxonthj. It means being in the highest command. From this the armies of Athens were always commanded by a five-star general, or several of them, called a)rxon. Ancient Athens was actually ruled by nine of these archons. The first one was in the singular, o( a)rxon, the preeminent ruler. Next to him was a second ruler who had the title of basileuj which meant king in Classical Greek. The third ruler was the military chief and he was called polemarxoj. The remaining six archons were simply called qesmoqhtai, they were the political type leaders. Satan has top rulers and the names are taken from the same concept of Classical Greek times: a)rxai were the top officers, the highest and most powerful angels under the command of Satan, and they are the equivalent of the archangels in the elect angel organisation. This can be translated “against the rulers” or even “against the top generals.” It is against the highest ranking fallen angels.

            “against powers” — the preposition proj plus the accusative plural of e)cousia. These are the commissioned officers in the angelic army. Satan understands the importance of discipline, of authority. His army is highly effective and one reason for it is that they are much better disciplined than ‘fundies.’ These officers command the millions and millions of demons in the armies of Satan.

            “against the rulers of darkness of this world” — incorrectly translated. This is paj plus the accusative of kosmokrator [krator = ruler; kosmo = world] which means world ruler: “against world rulers.” It refers to a special corps of demons who might be classified as Satan’s ambassadors. He has these in all of the ruling places of the world. These are special ambassador demons whose job is to influence the rulers so that Satan can control history. He has never succeeded in doing so but he never stops trying either. One kosmokrator is found in Daniel 10:13-20, he is called the prince of Persia. At the time of Daniel his job was to represent Satan on the court of the king of Persia. Gabriel was so busy fighting this angel at the court of Persia that there was a three week delay in the answer of Daniel’s prayer. Another kosmokrator is called the prince of Grecia in Daniel 10:20. His job was to control Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great. The descriptive genitive which goes with this is skotoj which means darkness, very thick darkness or gloom. It connotes religious and moral darkness as well as instruments of darkness. It should be translated, “against world rulers of this darkness.” The word “this” is the demonstrative pronoun which emphasises the fact that these are evil. This describes the policy and the function of Satan which is a policy of darkness or evil.

            Finally, we have in the table of organisation, “against spiritual wickedness in high places.” This is, again, proj plus the accusative of pneumatikoj. It actually means ‘spirit forces.’ With this we have a descriptive genitive from ponhria and that should be translated “evil” — ‘against spirit forces of evil in the heavenlies.’

            Translation: “Because our combat is not against blood and flesh [human beings], but against demon generals, against demon commissioned officers, against demon ambassadors of darkness, against the spirit forces of evil in the heavenlies.”

            Verse 13 — the necessity for the full armour from God. “Wherefore” — the preposition dia plus accusative neuter of the demonstrative pronoun o(utoj. It means literally, “Because of this.” That is, because of the previous verse in which it was pointed out that our combat in this dispensation of the intensified stage of the angelic conflict is not against human beings but against the entire demon organisation under the command of Satan. Inasmuch as we fight against an unseen enemy, the demons and fallen angels, we need to use special equipment to enter into the tactical victory God has provided in grace.

            “take” — the aorist active imperative of the verb a(nalambanw which means to pick up equipment and put it on. The constative aorist gathers into one entirety the action of the verb. In other words, one moment you see a Roman soldier stripped and the next moment he is in full uniform. The full equipment is in view here and the Roman soldier was trained to put it on very rapidly. The active voice: each believer must also be ready to put on his equipment in a moment’s notice. This implies that we must have Bible doctrine resident in the soul. The imperative mood is the mood of command and it should be translated, “Because of this pick up your equipment.”

            “unto you” is not found in the original.

            “the whole armour of God” — panoplia. Literally, “the full armour from God.” Picking up the full armour from God is your daily intake of the Word until you reach the high ground.

              The word “that” is the very strong conjunction i(na which introduces a final clause. “In order that” is the best translation.

            “ye may be able” is the aorist passive subjunctive of the verb dunamai. This is very important this verb because it says we have the ability to fight these demons, we have the ability to be successful in the angelic conflict. The culminative aorist views the event in its entirety (putting on the full armour) but it regards the action from the viewpoint of its existing results. So the result of maximum doctrine in the soul is the ability to enter into this tremendous conflict. The passive voice: this is a deponent verb which is passive in form but active in meaning. The royal priest, the member of the royal family in this age, produces the action of the verb. Because of doctrine resident in the soul the super-grace believer is able to oppose demons and gain the tactical objective. This resident doctrine is called here panoplia or ‘full armour.’ It is called in Hebrews 13:10 ‘the altar.’ The altar is the inner residency of Bible doctrine. The subjunctive mood is the potential subjunctive. It implies future reference as the element of contingency, and the element of contingency is the believer’s attitude toward doctrine.

            “to withstand” — aorist active infinitive from a)ntisthmi which means to hold your ground. It means to be able to resist a very difficult tactical situation. We translate it ‘to resist.’ The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it gathers up into one entirety the action of this verb which is the believer’s successful opposition against the demon forces. The active voice: only the super-grace believer can produce the action of the verb, he is the only one with the full armour on. The infinitive is the infinitive of intended result. It should be translated “to resist in the evil day.”

            The “evil day” refers to the time when you are attacked. Sooner or later the believer will be under demon attack and when that time comes it is no problem at all provided he has the full armour. Fallen angels or demons are not only invisible but they are much more powerful than human beings. The royal believer must possess the inner resources of resident Bible doctrine to resist the attacks of the unseen forces.

            “and having done all” — aorist active participle of katergazomai. The word means to accomplish, to achieve, and we have here “even after having achieved.” This is a temporal participle and it indicates the accomplishment of super-grace. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action. This is a culminative aorist which views GAPing it daily to the point of super-grace from the standpoint of its results.

            “to stand” — aorist active infinitive of the verb i(sthmi. The constative aorist gathers into one entirety the opposition of the unseen forces. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action of the verb in the full armour of God. The infinitive expresses the purpose of God for each one of us: “even after having achieved everything, to oppose.”

            Translation: “Because of this [the angelic conflict] pick up and put on the full armour from God, in order that you might have the ability to resist in the evil day, even after having achieved everything, to oppose [the forces of Satan].”

            Verse 14 — body equipment. “Stand” is the aorist active imperative of i(sthmi which means here to resist, to stand fast, to oppose. It was used in the Roman world for a Roman soldier standing fast in ranks under attack from the enemy. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it gathers into one entirety the action of the verb. In other words, it takes the believer under pressure, understood or misunderstood, calculated or miscalculated, and he is able to stand up under this pressure regardless of not understanding the source of it. It takes the action of standing fast under attack, regardless of its duration, of its intensity, and gathers it up into a single whole of success. The believer can only stand fast or resist under attack when he utilises the grace equipment from God. The active voice: the royal family fulfills the action of the verb. The imperative mood is a command. The point is that no one can stand fast unless he has achieved super-grace status.

            “therefore” — the post positive use of the conjunction o)un, in view of what has already been said, the estimate of the situation, all has been pulled together by this conjunction.

            “having your loins girt about” — aorist middle participle of perizwnnumi which means to fasten a belt around the body, but we say in modern English, “buckle on”; plus “loins” — the accusative singular of the direct object of o)sfuj which is the waist. The aorist tense is the constative aorist gathering up into one entirety the action of the verb which is a the constant function of GAP until you reach the high ground of super-grace. The middle voice is the permissive middle in which the agent [the believer] voluntarily yields to the results of the action in his own interest and for his own benefit.

            “with truth” — e)n plus the instrumental of a)lhqeia. This is the same as the Hebrew chakmah or emeth. It refers to doctrine and it should be translated “by means of doctrine” or “by doctrine.” The instrumental can also be translated “with doctrine.”

            “and having on” — the aorist middle participle of e)nduw means putting these on at the same time, they went on together.

            “the breastplate” — the same word we have for ‘door” in the Greek, qorac. Because of the shape of the Roman shield they called it the door; “of righteousness” — dikaiosunh which means righteousness in the sense of fulfilling divine standards from the inside out. So it is not self-righteousness, not legalism, it is a genuine relaxed inner righteousness that accompanies super-grace. The breastplate is held in place by the belt and it becomes obvious that this righteousness it totally dependent upon Bible doctrine in the soul. It is the righteousness, therefore, of the royal family of God. This type of righteousness is very important because it stands anywhere on its own. It is not an evil type of righteousness. So virtue is probably a key word — inner virtue. In refers to the integrity and inner virtue of the individual believer with maximum doctrine resident in his soul.

            Translation: “Stand fast, therefore, after having buckled around your waste the belt with doctrine [doctrine in the soul], also having put on the body armour of righteousness.”

            Verse 15 — “And your feet shod.” This is the adjunctive use of kai which means here “Also,” plus the aorist middle participle from the verb u(podew which simply means to tie on or bind on the combat shoes. This can be translated, “Also put combat boots on your feet.”

            “with the preparation” — e)n plus the instrumental e)toimasia which means “with the equipment.”

            “of the gospel” — the word for gospel here means good news, e)uaggelion; “of peace” — literally, “even peace” which is the doctrine of reconciliation.

           

            Witnessing

            1. Witnessing is the royal family communicating the gospel to the unbeliever on a personal basis. It is personal evangelism. Therefore witnessing is providing good news, not bad news. You must deal in terms of solution and you must do so without intruding upon the privacy of the individual. He needs information, he doesn’t have to be told what he is and isn’t, he needs to know who and what Christ is. Witnessing is not salesmanship, it isn’t selling soap, it isn’t pressure, begging and pleading. The character of witnessing — 1 Thessalonians 1:4,5.

            2. The Holy Spirit is the sovereign executive in witnessing. The unbeliever is minus his human spirit, he has no frame of reference for the gospel, the gospel is spiritual phenomena. Therefore only God the Holy Spirit can take up the slack. When we are born into this world we are born minus the human spirit, the frame of reference for spiritual phenomena. Because we are all born with an old sin nature we are born spiritually dead. The spiritually dead person cannot comprehend spiritual phenomena. This means that he cannot comprehend the gospel and that the only possibility for comprehension is for God the Holy Spirit to act as the human spirit in order that gospel information might be understood. The good news that we have to tell sinners is not the fact that they are sinners but that their sins were judged on the cross.

            What does the Holy Spirit emphasise? The answer is in John 16:8-11. When the Holy Spirit comes he will “convince the world” (doctrine of common grace) of three things: “concerning sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement.”

            What sin? “Concerning sin, because they do not believe on me.” The only sin that sends a man to hell is unbelief in Christ/rejection of Christ as saviour. No one is ever going to hell because he is a sinner, the reason that people go to hell is because they reject Jesus Christ as saviour. Anyone who rejects Christ as saviour inevitably depends upon his own human good or his own human ability. But Jesus Christ did not die for human good, that is reserved for the last judgement where is becomes the basis of the indictment. At the last judgement sins will not be mentioned, expect one: the sin of rejection of Jesus Christ as saviour. John 3:36. God the Holy Spirit does not preach personal sin to the unbeliever, only the fact that he is a sinner and Christ was judged for his sins.

            “Concerning righteousness” — this is talking about +R. God credits to our account His righteousness.

            “of judgement because the ruler of this world is judged” — the ruler of this world is Satan and the lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. Certain people are going to join Satan and his angels — all unbelievers.

            Why does the Holy Spirit have to do this? — 1 Corinthians 2:14. The unbeliever is called the soulish man. He does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness to him. He is not able to understand information concerning the gospel because it is discerned by means of the human spirit. He has no frame of reference, there is no way he can understand it. So God the Holy Spirit acts as a human spirit taking whatever of the gospel is true and making it a reality in the soul.

            3. Pertinent Bible doctrine, which is the gospel, is the weapon of witnessing. It is always important to use the Bible. You don’t have to quote scripture but you must present Biblical truth.

                        a) The gospel is the power of God unto salvation — Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18.

                        b) The Bible is the absolute norm for truth — 2 Peter 1:12-21.

                        c) The source of the gospel is the Bible — Luke 16:28-31; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4.

                        d) The Bible is the mind/thinking of Christ — 1 Corinthians 2:16.

                        e) The Bible is the divine power of God — Hebrews 4:12.

                        f) The Bible never returns void — Isaiah 55:11.

                        g) The Bible endures forever — Luke 21:33; 1 Peter 1:25.

            4. Every believer priest is God’s agent for witnessing. Witnessing is the responsibility of every member of the royal family of God — Acts 1:8; Ephesians 6:15,20; 2 Timothy 4:5. This means that at some time in your life you are going to have the opportunity and the privilege of communicating Bible doctrine. The two areas of responsibility for this witnessing are generally the witness of your life — 2 Corinthians 3:3; 6:3. This isn’t always pertinent but there are times when it will be. Also there is the witness of the lips which is verbalising of the gospel — 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; 6:2. Knowledge of pertinent doctrine is necessary for effective witnessing, the believer has to witness in wisdom. This means the use of doctrine. He must be filled with the Spirit. He must make the issue clear and avoid human persuasiveness and salesmanship. The believer’s ability to witness depends upon a number of things. His emphasis on the gospel, especially reconciliation — Ephesians 2:14-17. He must have correct and accurate gospel information from Bible doctrine — 1 Peter 1:18; Hebrews 4:12. He must be filled with the Spirit, therefore current on rebound. He must have the right mental attitude. Witnessing is paying a debt to the unbeliever — Romans 1:14. “I am ready” — Romans 1:15, preparation means a maximum understanding of doctrine in the soul. Verse 16 explains the attitude of the super-grace believer, “I am not ashamed.” Witnessing, therefore, belongs to the royal priesthood and is an extension of our ambassadorship. Every believer is an ambassador, you are born again and ambassador — 2 Corinthians 5:18-20.

              5. The principle of making the issue clear. John 3:18 and 3:36 are two perfect illustrations of how easy it is to make the issue clear. You must give the unbeliever pertinent information regarding salvation. Christ is the issue; attitude toward Christ is the issue. Therefore avoid any false issues of legalism, salvation by works, jumping through psychological hoops, and so on.

              6. The effectiveness of witnessing therefore depends upon the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. The ministry of the Holy Spirit directed toward the believer is spirituality, like Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 3:3; toward the unbeliever it is convincing — 1 Corinthians 2:14; John 16:8-11.

            7. The clarity of witnessing depends upon the believer’s understanding of the judgement of human good. Human good was rejected at the cross. It will be judged for the believer at the judgement seat of Christ — 1 Corinthians 3:11-16; for the unbeliever at the last judgement — Revelation 20:12-15.

            8. Summary.

                             a) The prerequisites for witnessing: knowledge of pertinent doctrine.

                             b) Effectiveness of witnessing depends upon the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

                             c) The responsibility for witnessing belongs to every member of the royal family of God.

                             d) Dynamics of witnessing depend upon the believer’s mental attitude related to his spiritual growth and the inner residency of Bible doctrine.

                             e) Clarity of witnessing depends on the believer’s accurate understanding of certain doctrines, especially the catchy ones like the two deaths of Christ on the cross, the judgement of Christ on the cross.

                             f) Areas of witnessing include the life and the verbalising of the gospel.

                             g) The challenge for witnessing comes from the doctrine of unlimited atonement. We are challenged to witness to the entire world because Christ died for every person who ever lived.

               9. The reward for witnessing is included in the believer’s paragraph SG3, his surpassing grace paragraph.

            10. The biblical pattern for witnessing is found in great detail in 1 Thessalonians 2.

            11. The postulates of pitfalls in witnessing. When a pitfall is defined it means avoid it.

                        a) Avoid argumentation. You are not trying to win a debate, you are trying to win a soul for Jesus Christ.

                        b) Do not be sidetracked by false issues, i.e. Is the Bible the Word of God? What about the heathen who have never heard? What about social problems?

                        c) Deal with the individual alone where possible. Witnessing in front of other people may create embarrassment and loss of prestige and the person won’t even listen.

                        d) Avoid getting into a rut and using the same approach in every case. Never get into a stereotyped way of witnessing. Flexibility comes with maturity.

                        e) Avoid the false concept that you must speak to a certain number of people every day about Jesus Christ or you are not spiritual. Witnessing is not spirituality, it is the result of the balance of residency in the soul.

                        f) Motivation for witnessing must come from doctrine resident in the soul, not human pressure, spiritual bullying, or approbation lust.

                        g) Avoid bragging about your experiences in witnessing.

                        h) Do not judge other believers for their apparent failure to witness. This is a matter between them and the Lord. Such judging is maligning and can only bring divine discipline on yourself.

            12. An analogy to witnessing. Matthew 4:19.

                        a) A fisherman must have a desire to fish.

                        b) A fisherman always goes equipped to fish.

                        c) A fisherman goes where the fish are.

                        d) A fisherman must also keep out of sight.

                        e) The fisherman must be patient.

            13. The principle of prayer in witnessing. You can’t pray for their salvation but you can pray that they will get the message. Romans 10:1.

            14. Effective witnessing always belongs to the mature or super-grace believer — Proverbs 11:30.

 

            Verse 16 — the defensive equipment for the Roman infantry. “Above all” is a prepositional phrase, e)n plus the locative of paj. This is actually a Greek idiom which means “in addition to these.”

            “taking” is the aorist active participle of the verb a)nalambanw which means to pick up and put on. The aorist tense is a constative aorist which views the action of the verb in its entirety. It takes the accumulation of doctrine resident in the soul and relates to the function of the faith-rest technique. The active voice: the Christian soldier prepares the action by picking up his own shield. We must carry our own shield, and in contact with the enemy we must use our own shield. The participle is circumstantial, it also has antecedent action to the main verb which is to “hold our ground” in verse 14.

            “the shield of faith” — accusative singular direct object of the noun qureoj which means a door-shaped shield; plus the descriptive genitive singular from the noun pistij. Ordinarily pistij can mean one of two things. It can mean faith or doctrine, what is believed or active faith. Here it refers to the principle of faith in itself. Under the principle of faith, faith is a system of thinking. Faith = thinking. It is the system of thinking by which we learn. Someone tells you something and you believe it. Rationalism and empiricism are the only other two systems of thinking. Rationalism always, makes what you think in your mind the criterion; empiricism is what you see, smell, taste; and when you put it all together you accept as reality your conclusions. Faith has always been the basic system of thinking.

            The classification of objects of faith is very important to the believer. The first object of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is salvation — Acts 16:31. After salvation the Word of God becomes the object of faith. All the faith in the world secures nothing but condemnation. However, a tiny little bit of faith in Jesus Christ secures eternal salvation. So the efficacy of faith always lies in its object. We learn this through salvation and we apply it in our spiritual lives. All efficacy of faith is related to either the written Word or the living Word.

 

            The doctrine of faith-rest

            1. Faith-rest is that function of the believer in which he utilises Bible doctrine, Bible principles, Bible promises — everything he has ever learned about the Bible. Faith-rest is not only claiming God’s promises, claiming doctrines and principles but it is, at the same time, thinking divine viewpoint. Faith-rest, therefore, is everything by which a believer utilises Bible doctrine.

            2. The mechanics of faith-rest are found in Hebrews 4:1-3. That is the part where we claim certain promises, utilise certain doctrines, and mix them with our faith to launch them. Faith is the launcher and doctrine in the launching pad is actually fired by means of faith.

            3. Faith-rest was the basic system for spirituality in the Old Testament among believers — Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 4:17-21; Hebrews chapter 11. The indwelling ministry of God the Holy Spirit is the basis for spirituality in the royal family but this did not occur in Old Testament times and therefore there is a contrast.

            4. The inner dynamics of faith-rest. Faith-rest produces in the believer both a relaxed mental attitude and freedom from mental attitude sins — Isaiah 26:3,4 which says literally, “A sustained purpose you will guard in perfect prosperity, because he trusts in you [The believer who is advancing, who has doctrine resident in his soul sustains the purpose and the will of God, and he does so in perfect prosperity — SG2]. Trust in Jehovah forever; for in Jehovah is a rock of ages.” The sustained purpose in this context is the daily function of GAP producing the ammunition that is fired from the right lobe of the heart in the believer.

            5. The production dynamics of faith-rest is described in numerous passages. For example, faith-rest is absolutely necessary for dynamics in prayer — Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24. Everyone will face in their lifetime fear, fear of adversity, of danger, of death. There are many types of fear but faith-rest overcomes all of them — Psalm 56:3. This is the faith-rest technique overcoming a mental attitude sin called fear. The overcoming of worry is the function of faith-rest — 1 Peter 5:7. Benefit to others is related to the faith-rest technique — Matthew 8:13, the centurion who came to Jesus asking Him to heal his son.

            6. Faith-rest is related to super-grace and occupation with the person of Christ — Psalm 37:4,5. The desires of the right lobe are based upon reaching super-grace. You will have not only the capacity for life, not only all of the blessings necessary in the spiritual realm, but you will also have desires compatible with your station.

            7. Faith-rest is the modus operandi of the royal priesthood — 1 Corinthians 2:5; 2 Corinthians 5:7.

            8. Faith-rest is related to the function of GAP — Colossians 2:6,7.

            9. Faith-rest is related to the victory of the angelic conflict — 1 John 5:4, “ … this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” This is the faith-rest technique related to Bible doctrine under conditions of residency of doctrine in the soul.

 

            How do you pick up the shield of faith and carry it? The answer is found under the principle of Galatians 5:22 — the filling of the Spirit produces faith. Romans 10:17, the function of GAP produces faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God. The picking up the shield of faith would be the function of faith-rest in the various circumstances of life — Hebrews 4:1-3; 1 Peter 1:7,8; Hebrews 12:2. One way or another it is all related to Bible doctrine.

            “wherewith” is a prepositional phrase — en plus the instrumental of the relative pronoun o(j is literally “in which.” The antecedent to the relative pronoun is the word “shield” and we can translate it, therefore, “with which shield.”

            “ye shall be able” — future active indicative of the verb dunamai, the verb for ability. The future tense is a progressive future denoting progress in future time. The active voice: the believer with the shield produces the action of the verb. Many times soldiers were killed when they were caught without their shield, and many times believers become casualties in the angelic conflict because they do not have their shield. They have no doctrine in their soul, they have no build-up of faith by which they launch their doctrinal missiles throughout their life on this earth. The indicative mood is the cohortative indicative, it is used with the future tense to express a command — “with which you shall have the ability.” This is really a command.

            “to quench” is the aorist active infinitive of the verb sbennumi which means to extinguish or destroy rather than to quench. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views the action of the verb in its entirety. When the demon armies start throwing these fiery darts at you, you have had enough doctrine through the function of GAP, you have accumulated doctrine in the soul, you have built an altar in the soul, you have put on the full armour from God, and the result is that you are able to meet all of the attacks of the unseen enemy, the demon army. The culminative aorist is the result of the accumulation of doctrine resident in the soul. And who does the quenching? The super-grace believer who has grown in grace and who is now a mature individual. The infinitive is the infinitive of actual result from the use of the shield of faith.

            “all” — the accusative neuter plural of paj means everything that Satan fires at you; “the fiery darts” or literally, “flaming missiles.” The word “fiery” is a perfect passive participle of the verb purow which means to burn, and in the perfect passive participle used as an ascriptive adjective it means “flaming.” The word “darts” was used for all kinds of missiles — beloj. This word was used for rocks that could be fired a half mile but it is used here primarily in the sense of an arrow, a flaming arrow or a flaming missile.

            “of the wicked” — the ablative of source in the singular of the noun ponhroj. Although the noun means “wicked” it means more than that here, it is a reference to a specific evil person, Satan himself. It should be translated “from the evil one.”

            Translation: “In addition to all these, having picked up and carried the shield of faith, which [shield] you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.”

            In other words, the combination of Bible doctrine plus that firing pin of faith that we have in our souls becomes the basis of protecting us against Satan’s super weapons. The great overall principle of this verse: there is no power which belongs to Satan which is great enough to destroy any believer who is holding the shield of faith. You must carry doctrine with you wherever you go.

            Verse 17 — “And” is the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai and it should be “also.” The word “take” is the aorist active imperative of dexomai means to receive it or to welcome it.

            “the helmet” — if you are going to move forward offensively you must have a helmet that protects the head, that is the location of the soul and where you do your thinking. We have the word dexomai in connection with this instead of a)nalambanw. Man has traditionally despised something heavy on his head in combat until he becomes to appreciate it, but the light equipment for going into combat has always been considered great. In the ancient world the helmets on most ancient armies were very light, made of cloth, heavy leather. The aorist tense of dexomai is a constative aorist which contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. It takes the occurrence of salvation and gathers it up into one entirety. Under the constative principle you have the helmet of salvation in which you have 36+ things which you receive at the moment of salvation. They are all in view at this point. It takes the occurrence of salvation which is a momentary action and it gathers it up into a single whole. The active voice: the human race produces the action of the verb resulting in becoming a member of the royal family of God, a royal priest, an ambassador for Jesus Christ. You put on the helmet first because all believers at the point of salvation are in full time Christian service. The imperative mood is the imperative of entreaty, this is not an order or a command. It does not convey the finality of a command but the force of urgency. You can’t command a person to believe in Christ, this is the concept of entreaty which expresses an appeal to the free will of mankind to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. No member of the human race can assume the offensive against the ruler of this world, Satan, and against his mighty demon army, apart from becoming a member of the royal family of God forever. “Also welcome the helmet.” The accusative singular direct object of the nun perikefalia which means something put around the head.

            “of salvation” — the descriptive genitive of swthrioj referring to being saved. Only the believer in Christ is involved in this great spiritual conflict against Satan. The unbeliever is inevitably on the side of Satan.

            “and is the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai and it should be translated “also.”

            “the sword” — the accusative singular direct object from the noun maxaira. There were many kinds of swords in the ancient world. People were often impressed by the size of swords or by the strength of swords. The sword was the basic weapon of the ancient world for close combat. The Roman sword was the greatest of all weapons and it had a number of things going for it. First of all it was short, only 18 inches long. It also had two sides, both edges were very sharp as well as a very sharp point. It also had a good hand guard so that the hand didn’t slip off. This sword was quite in contrast to the four, five, and even six-foot swords used by the barbarians.

            “of the Spirit” — the ablative singular of source from pneuma and should be translated “the sword from the Spirit.”

            “which” is the nominative neuter singular from the relative pronoun o(j; “is” — present active indicative of e)imi, the static present indicating the fact that Bible doctrine is perpetually existing. The active voice: the sword from the Spirit produces the action of the verb, and the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of fact.

            “the word” — r(ema is used here because of the importance of getting the Word of God out of its place in the scripture and into the soul. R(ema means “word” but it means the Word sent forth.” The word “doctrine” is a good translation for it here, doctrine which must become resident in the soul.

            “of God” — the ablative of source from qeoj should be translated “from God.”

            Translation: “Also receive the helmet which refers to being saved, also the sword from the Spirit, which is the doctrine from God.”

 

            Principles

            1. Since the sword is the offensive weapon at this particular point the sword from the Spirit is doctrine from God, and this obviously must be transferred to the soul. The sword is the offensive weapon but only as it resides in the soul.

            2. The believer cannot take the offensive until he actually possesses maximum doctrine in his soul.

            3. Bible doctrine becomes resident through the daily function of GAP. Therefore the ablative of source, pneuma [translated “from the Spirit”] refers to the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in the function of GAP.

            4. Only doctrine in the soul of the believer takes the offensive against the demon forces.

            5. Only by means of offensive action can victory be gained while we are on the earth.

            6. The tactical victory of the angelic conflict is maximum doctrine in the soul resulting in super-grace status. In other words, super-grace believers handle the sword the best. With doctrine in the soul you are never off-balance and you are consistently putting pressure on Satan in this condition. The only effective way to fight the enemy is always to take the offensive. The believer takes the offensive by daily positive volition toward Bible doctrine. The defensive is no good for combat. The best thing the defensive can do is to avoid defeat and the royal family was not designed for defeat.

 

            When a Roman fell in for duty he was always shaved. Shaving in analogous to rebound. When the believer falls in for duty he must always rebound and be cleansed, be back in fellowship. Everything that is accomplished for the Lord must be accomplished in fellowship.

 

            Verses 18-24, the royal family responsibility.

            Verse 18 — the importance of prayer. Prayer represents everything that is involved in self-discipline. “Praying” is the present middle participle from the verb proseuxomai. The present tense is the linear aktionsart of the retroactive progressive present. The middle voice: it is reflexive [you do it]. The participle is used as an imperative, it is a command.

            “always” is literally “on every occasion” — e)n plus the locative of kairoj. This means that practically every occasion has some opportunity for prayer. But that isn’t the way it is in the Greek which has dia pashj proseuxhj kai dehsewj proseuxomenoi. You advance six words into the Greek text before you come to this verb. All of that adds up to the fact that literally from the Greek this verse begins, “By means of every prayer and petition be praying on every occasion in the Spirit.” ‘By means of every prayer and every petition’ means that there will be some type of prayer apropos for almost every occasion. The words “be praying” is a customary present with all the strength of linear aktionsart, it means this is what you should do. The middle voice: you do it yourself. But you can’t do it yourself unless you have doctrine in the soul.

            “in the Spirit” — in the filling of the Spirit.

            “and watching” — kai is “also,” plus a present active participle of a)grupnew which means to be on alert. This alertness comes from doctrine in the soul and expresses itself in that doctrine being functioned in effective prayer. The retroactive progressive present of this participle denotes what you have begun to do in the past and now do much more effectively because you have much more doctrine in your soul. The active voice: the royal priest produces the action. Prayer is prerogative and privilege of the royal priest. The participle is the imperative use for a command.

            “with all perseverance” — e)n plus the instrumental of proskarterhsij which means determination, persistence determination. The instrumental with proj — “with all persistent determination.”

            Then we have the word “supplication” or “petition,” followed by the first scope for prayer, “for all saints” — peri plus paj, plus the genitive of a(gioj which means “royal family.”

            Translation: “By means of every prayer and petition be praying on every occasion of prayer in the filling of the Spirit, also with reference to this prayer, be on the alert with all persistent determination and petition on behalf of all saints.”

 

            Principle

            1. The effectiveness of the believer’s intercessory prayer is based on being attired in full armour. The sooner you get to super-grace the better things will be.

            2. The super-grace believer should be most effective in the priestly function of prayer.

            3. Prayer is the responsibility of every royal priest during the course of the Church Age. And prayer is a test of your alertness.

            4. The believer is constant red alert in the field of prayer.

            5. Persistence or perseverance in prayer is one of the greatest ministries of the royal priest in phase two.

           

            Verse 19, the responsibility for witnessing. “And for me” — the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai, correctly translated “also,” plus the prepositional phrase u(per plus the ablative singular of the personal pronoun e)gw in the ablative form. It means, “Also on behalf of me.” Paul is now requesting prayer for himself during those last days when he will spend in Rome before his release from the Roman imprisonment. Next he gives some reason for this.

            “that” is the conjunction i(na. This introduces a final clause denoting purpose, aim, or some sort of a goal.

            “utterance” is the nominative singular of logoj, not always easy to translate as it has so many different connotations. They are all related to speech’ The word means “word, speech, doctrine, even thought.” Here it means doctrine.

            “may be given” — aorist passive subjunctive of the verb didomi. The aorist tense here is a culminative aorist viewing the possession of doctrine in the soul in its entirety. It regards all of the doctrine that you have resident in your soul but it regards it from the viewpoint of existing results, namely using pertinent doctrines of salvation with freedom and boldness. The passive voice: doctrine which is the subject receives the action of the verb. The subjunctive mood merely indicates the purpose clause.

            “unto me” is the dative of indirect object from the personal pronoun e)gw and indicates the one in whose interest the act is performed.

            “that I may open my mouth” is incorrect. It is e)n a)noicei tou stomatoj mou. All this means is “in the opening of my mouth with confidence and courage.” So we have e)n plus the locative of a)noiceij which doesn’t mean to have your mouth open. It means to be uttering something, saying something — something significant, something important.

            “boldly” — e)n plus the instrumental of the noun parrhsia: “with confidence.”

            “to make known” — aorist active infinitive of gnwrizw. The constative aorist gathers into one entirety the action of the verb. It takes the occurrence of witnessing and regardless of how long it takes it gathers it up into one entirety, emphasising the objective of witnessing which is making the issue clear. The active voice: Paul produces the action of the verb. The infinitive is the infinitive of intended result, and the result is indicated as fulfilling a deliberate divine objective. Therefore it is a blending of purpose and result. Both the purpose and the result is so declared to communicate the gospel by making the issue clear.

            Translation: “Also [prayer] on behalf of me, in order that doctrine might be given to me in the opening of my mouth with confidence, to communicate the mystery of the gospel.”

            The gospel is called the mystery because it was hidden from the unbeliever. The unbeliever does not understand the gospel because the gospel is spiritual phenomena. Furthermore, he is incapable of understanding the gospel — 1 Corinthians 2:14. So the word musthrion is used in the sense of something that the believer should understand thoroughly, but the unbeliever does not understand at all.

            Verse 20 — “For which” is the preposition u(per plus the ablative of the relative pronoun o(j, is “for the sake of which [gospel].”

            “I am an ambassador” — present active indicative from the verb presbeuw. The retroactive progressive present denotes what has begun in the past at the point of salvation and continues throughout our time on this earth. As we live on this earth we are an ambassador. As long as the believer lives on this earth he represents the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore he is just as much in full time Christian service as any clergyman, missionary, or any other activity. The active voice: this refers to you. You are an ambassador for Jesus Christ. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic and absolute statement of reality. This is final, you are in full time Christian service. Therefore you don’t ever ‘dedicate’ yourself to full time Christian unless you are ignorant. There is no reason to do so because you’ve always been in full time Christian service.

            “in bonds” — the preposition e)n plus the locative of the noun a(lusij. This is a locative singular which means “a chain,” not bonds.” “For the sake of this [gospel] I am an ambassador on a chain” — one single chain. Regardless of circumstances you and I are also ambassadors, we just don’t happen to be on a chain.

 

 

 

            The doctrine of ambassadorship

            1. An ambassador is a high-ranking minister of state or a member of royalty or nobility sent to another state to represent his sovereign. This definition fits perfectly into the spiritual realm and into our ambassadorship. We represent the Lord Jesus Christ, we are royal family of God forever. The Church Age believer is an ambassador to this world. He is sent by the Lord Jesus Christ to the world to represent the King of kings and Lord of lords. Each ambassador is nobility. Ambassadorship is used to emphasise the fact that each believer is in full time Christian service.

            2. The profile of the ambassador.

                        a) He does not appoint himself. We were appointed by God at the point of salvation.

                        b) He does not support himself. The support for the royal ambassador is the grace provision of God for each one of us in our own circumstances.

                        c) An ambassador’s instructions are in written form. So it is with us, ours are in written form which must be mastered and therefore transferred to the soul. An ambassador always learns his instructions in written form and transfers them to his own soul.

                        d) He does not belong to the country to which he was sent or where he serves. We are a heavenly people and we belong to heaven forever and therefore we only have temporary residence on this earth. This does not imply that we are not citizens of our own country under the laws of establishment; we are.

                        e) Therefore the ambassador does not live in the country for his own personal interest.

                        f) The ambassador for Christ does not treat any insult to himself as personal. Because we are the Lord’s representatives we often get a lot of flack from the Satanic hosts; this is a part of the angelic conflict.

                        g) His recall is tantamount to a declaration of war. The recall of the ambassadors will take place at the Rapture. The moment we are removed there is going to be warfare on the earth such as never was from the beginning of the earth. That is why the period of called Tribulation.

            3. Ambassadorship is related to a number of functions. It is related to witnessing — 2 Corinthians 5:20. The doctrine of reconciliation is the key to witnessing and the most important doctrine in understanding the function of witnessing and in the clear presentation of the gospel. Ephesians 6:20.

            4. Not all ambassadors are effective. The principle is brought out in Proverbs 13:16,17 — “Every wise man [believer] acts with doctrine, but a fool spreads foolishness. A wicked witness falls into adversity [discipline of reversionism], but a faithful ambassador brings healing [reconciliation].” Effective witnessing always includes making the doctrine of reconciliation very clear. Effectiveness in the royal family of God on earth depends on whether the believer is positive or negative toward doctrine and whether he understands reconciliation, and whether under the power of the Spirit he communicates it in witnessing situations.

            5. The perspective of the royal ambassador includes the fact that the believer is the personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. This means that every believer is in the plan of God and lives under the concept of full time Christian service.

            6. The weeping ambassador, Isaiah 33:6,7 — “And wisdom [Jesus Christ] shall be the stability of your times [Jesus Christ controls history], a wealth of salvation; a wisdom of knowledge.” Jesus Christ will be the stability of your times means that any time in history, if there is any blessing in history, it always comes because who and what Christ is. “Behold, their brave men cry in the streets” — the crybaby ambassador is the reversionistic believer. They were the ambassadors of peace and “the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.” Who is a crybaby ambassador? It is the born again believer who has become “involved.” He is involved in the social gospel, social action, more interested in helping the downtrodden than doing his job as an ambassador.

            7. The successful ambassador is the super-grace believer. He follows the colours to the high ground of super-grace, he constructs an altar of doctrine in his soul, he puts on the full armour from God, he picks up his cross and follows Jesus Christ. Therefore he becomes a successful ambassador. All of these synonyms reflect reaching or attaining Christian maturity. Under Christian maturity the believer is effective in the production of divine good.

 

            “that” introduces a purpose clause — the conjunction i(na, “in order that.”

            “therein” is incorrect, it is the preposition e)n plus the locative of the intensive pronoun a)utoj used as a demonstrative pronoun to emphasise something: “in order that in this [sphere of ambassadorship].”   

            “I may speak boldly” — aorist middle subjunctive of parphsiazomai which means to speak with fearlessness and confidence. The constative aorist gathers up into one entirety witnessing with confidence and boldness. The middle voice: this is a deponent verb, middle in form but active in meaning. The subjunctive mood introduces a purpose clause, it goes with i(na the conjunction.

            “as I ought” — the apostle Paul recognises that up until now he has been in reversionism. He has spent his time in reversion recovery and has not been fully effective. This is what the comparative particle o(j plus the present active indicative of the personal verb of obligation, dei, means. By using the comparative particle o(j he also recognises that with their prayers plus his own reversion recovery he is now going to be effective in witnessing for the Lord.

            “to speak” — aorist active infinitive of the verb lalew which in this context means to communicate.

            Translation: “For the sake of which [gospel] I am an ambassador on a chain: in order that in this sphere [of ambassadorship: witnessing] I might speak with confidence, as I ought to communicate [the gospel].”

            Verse 21 — the responsibility for faithfulness. “But” is the post positive conjunction de which is mistranslated, it means here “now.” It is transitional, not adversative. Then comes the conjunction i(na which denotes a purpose clause — “Now in order that.”

            “ye also may know” — ‘also’ is the correct translation of the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai; plus the perfect active subjunctive of the verb o)ida. The perfect tense is an intensive perfect for completed action with existing results. The active voice: the Ephesian believers and other believers in the Roman province of Asia Minor produce the action of the verb by learning from the verbal report of what Paul is doing in Rome. The subjunctive mood goes with i(na to indicate a purpose clause. “Now in order that you also might come to know.”

            “my affairs” is the Greek idiom ta kat e)me — ta is “the things,” accusative neuter plural; kata with the accusative singular pronoun of the personal pronoun e)gw. It means literally, “the things pertaining to me,” but it is an idiom for one’s circumstances in life.

            “how I do” — the nominative neuter singular of the interrogative pronoun tij means “what” here, fulfilling the concept of cognisance; plus the present active indicative of the verb for doing or practicing, prassw. The retroactive progressive present denotes what has happened from the time of the first Roman imprisonment right up to the time that Paul writes. The active voice: Paul in Rome produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for the reality of a report on what is going on in the life of Paul.

            “Tychicus” — the bearer, both of the Ephesian and the Colossian epistles. He is a member of Paul’s team obviously, from Colossians 4:7,8.

            “a beloved brother” — this means worthy of love or esteemed, or even admired. The word is a)gaphtoj plus a)delfoj. It doesn’t mean love in the sense of an emotional connotation, it means to truly admire someone. It is love which includes admiration and respect. It could actually be translated, “esteemed member of the royal family.” That is exactly what Tychicus was.

            “a faithful minister” — kai pistoj diakonoj. Kai = “and, also, even.” Here it means “even.” Pistoj = faithful. There is the secret, the stability, the thing that counts. Diakonoj has so many meanings. It is sometimes transliterated and when it is, it is called “deacon.” Sometimes it is translated and is then called “minister.” So just what is this?

 

            Diakonoj

            1. Diakonoj is used in a political sense. When used in this connotation it refers to a head of state, a political ruler, one who has the authority to administer capital punishment — Romans 13:3,4.

            2. The universal ministry of the believer. In this sense every member of the royal family in the Church Age is a minister and in full time Christian service. Therefore it emphasises the Church Age believer as a royal priest and as an ambassador — 2 Corinthians 3:6; 4:1;6:1,3.

            3. The administrative use of diakonoj. In this case the Greek word is generally transliterated “deacon.” This is helpful because it helps to distinguish between the administrative use and the universal ministry of every believer. It is used here for the ministry of administration in the local church and refers to male believers only. There is no such thing as a deaconess. Philippians 1:1.

            4. The pastoral use of diakonoj. The same noun is used for pastor-teachers in the sense of being the servant of the congregation. The pastor is the waiter, his job is to bring the food — after he has cooked it. The control room or the command post of your life is constructed through the food that the pastor serves — 1 Corinthians 3:5; Ephesians 3:7. Communication gifts always connote the concept of the minister of the minister or the pastor-teacher. Colossians 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 3:2; 1 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 6:10.

            5. The evil use. Diakonoj is used in the Satanic concept as well — 2 Corinthians 11:13-15. Even Satan has his own ministers.

 

            Tychicus is more than just a minister, he is pistoj diakonoj, a “faithful minister.” There is nothing more important than to be faithful, plugging away, doing what the Word of God requires.

            Why plod along?

            a) Self-discipline is the key to capacity for life.

            b) Anything that the believer does it should be mastered. It should be practiced.

            c) The combination of these leads to stability in life. Stability is more precious than diamonds or gold.

           

            The plodding principle is the only one compatible with grace. God doesn’t use self-made men, talented people, smart people, or dumb people. The name of God’s plan is grace and that means that God will do the providing. God requires faithfulness to Him in the function of the responsibility. Where faithfulness exists God honours it. Those who are faithful in this responsibility are eventually going to get a hearing. God provides the hearing.

            “shall make known” is the future active indicative of the verb gnwrizw which means to communicate. The gnomic future states the fact of a report and Bible teaching from Tychicus which may be rightfully expected when he arrives. They will want to hear about Paul and they will want to hear doctrine. The active voice: Tychicus is faithful, and as a faithful pastor he will make the verbal report and teach doctrine.

            “to you” is the dative plural of advantage from the personal pronoun su — “to you all.”

            “all things” covers the entire realm of doctrine which will be taught.

            Translation: “Now in order that you might come to know about my circumstances, what I am doing, Tychicus, an esteemed member of the royal family and faithful minister, will make all things known to you.”

            Verse 23 — “Peace” is e)irhnh and here means “prosperity,” prosperity which comes from the super-grace life, paragraph SG2.

            “to the brethren” means that this belongs to the royal family only, the dative plural indirect object from the noun a)delfoj. This is dative of advantage, and also the dative of indirect object indicates that it is to the interest and blessing of super-grace believers of the royal family to have this prosperity.

            “and love” — the relaxed mental attitude of a)gaph; “with faith” — meta plus the genitive of pistij which here means doctrine — “and love with doctrine resident in the soul.” It refers to the balance of residency. The balance of residency is composed of three different principles: a) Indwelling of the Holy Spirit [indwelling of the body] — 1 Corinthians 6:19,20p; b) The filling of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit fills the soul of the believer — Galatians 5:16,22. This produces a)gaph type love; c) Maximum residency of Bible doctrine in the soul creating a balance or stability of the soul — Ephesians 3:14-22.

            “from God the Father” is a)po, the preposition of ultimate source, plus the ablative of qeoj referring to God; “and the Lord Jesus Christ” — God the Son. Notice that we have the first and second persons of the Trinity mentioned. The second person of the Trinity is the object of our glorification in super-grace. God the Father is the provider of all of these things. Jesus Christ is mentioned not only as our saviour, our high priest, the head of the Church, the King of kings and Lord of Lords, and the manifest person of the Godhead — according to John 1:18; 6:46; 1 Timothy 6:12. The Holy Spirit is not mentioned according to the policy of John 16:14. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ in this dispensation.

            Translation: “Prosperity to those members of the royal family [super-grace believers], and love with doctrine resident in the soul, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

            Verse 24 — “Grace” is actually h( Xarij, “The Grace.” This is the title for the plan of God as well as God’s policy to fulfill all of these things.

            “with all them” — meta plus the genitive plural of paj which refers specifically to super-grace believers. Plus the definite article used as a demonstrative pronoun for the super-grace believer.

            “that love” is the present active participle of a)gapaw, mental attitude love used here for the mental attitude dynamics of the super-grace believer. The present tense is a retroactive progressive present, it denotes what has happened in the past and continues into the present time — super-grace. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action. The participle is circumstantial for the super-grace status of occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ.

            “our Lord Jesus Christ” — ton kurion, the accusative of direct object from kurioj; h(mwn I)hsoun Xriston. “Our” is a possessive genitive of the personal pronoun. In other words, Jesus Christ belongs to us as of the moment of salvation.

            “in sincerity” — this does not occur. Sincerity is never a virtue in the Christian way of life, it is a shallow hypocritical facade to whitewash the old sin nature and the functions of evil in the Satanic system. We have here the preposition e)n plus the instrumental singular of a)fqarsia which means incorruptibility — “with incorruptibility.”

            Translation: “The grace with all those who constantly love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptibility.”

            To love with incorruptibility is the super-grace status. It is maximum category #1 love based on maximum doctrine in the soul.

            “Amen” is the Hebrew form for “I believe it.”