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philologos
Member



Joined: 2003/7/18
Posts: 6566
Reading, UK

 Re: The Faith of Abraham

aeryck
I wouldn't put myself among the 'big guns' but some months ago I did a series of written devotionals on Abraham and spent several weeks examining the nature of Abraham's faith as we see it in Genesis. If we meditate patiently in these scriptures we can see that Abraham's 'justifying faith' is very carefully expressed.

The relevant weekly sections begin [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=3348]here[/url] and you will need to read from week 24 to week 30 to pick up all the bits and pieces. Abraham's faith has to be reproduced in us and the scriptures give us some wonderful insights into Abraham's faith.

[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=3348]Abraham, My Friend Week 24[/url]
[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=3349]Abraham, My Friend Week 25[/url]
[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=3350]Abraham, My Friend Week 26[/url]
[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=13784]Abraham, My Friend Week 27[/url]
[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=3358]Abraham, My Friend Week 28[/url]
[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=13657]Abraham, My Friend Week 29[/url]
[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=13658]Abraham, My Friend Week 30[/url]


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Ron Bailey

 2005/6/15 14:57Profile
RobertW
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Joined: 2004/2/12
Posts: 4636
St. Joseph, Missouri

 Re:

Bro. Ron,

Do you have that entire series in one big pdf file by chance?

Thanks,

-Robert


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Robert Wurtz II

 2005/6/15 15:09Profile
aeryck
Member



Joined: 2005/1/11
Posts: 234
United Kingdom

 Re: Believe means what, exactly?

Thanks Philologus,

Thanks for the links, I hope to get there when I have time, this is a simple meditation and I do not want to get tied up. As you might guess working on a book envolves much research. [I have three outstanding..lol]

'But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.'

my quote: 'It is evident that man has changed the Gospel.........' So just what does believe really mean?

In Jesus
.A.
8-)
ps. Easy enough, just click on the left hand side of the top bar.
:-P


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Eric John Sawyer

 2005/6/15 15:30Profile
philologos
Member



Joined: 2003/7/18
Posts: 6566
Reading, UK

 Re:

Quote:
Do you have that entire series in one big pdf file by chance?


sorry, I don't.


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Ron Bailey

 2005/6/15 15:50Profile
philologos
Member



Joined: 2003/7/18
Posts: 6566
Reading, UK

 Re:

Quote:
'But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.'

my quote: 'It is evident that man has changed the Gospel.........' So just what does believe really mean?



We are discussing something very relevant on this thread..[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=5477&forum=36]what does believe mean?[/url]
Abraham [u]is[/u] the Bible's definition of faith. Bible words don't have definitions, they have histories and Abraham is the Bible's potted history on the topic of faith. We have to have 'the faith of Abraham' (Rom 4:16) There is no short cut, to understand 'faith' we must understand Abraham.


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Ron Bailey

 2005/6/15 16:00Profile
aeryck
Member



Joined: 2005/1/11
Posts: 234
United Kingdom

 Re: Believe means what, exactly?

Philologus:

I am looking simply at the meaning of the word in context*.

So either stay with it or don't.

In Jesus
:-P
+++

The flow:-

*John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

'It is evident that though man changes the Gospel, God does not change his standard.'


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Eric John Sawyer

 2005/6/15 16:19Profile
philologos
Member



Joined: 2003/7/18
Posts: 6566
Reading, UK

 Re:

Quote:
I am looking simply at the meaning of the word in context*.


It refers to 'the believing ones'; those who are in a constant state of believing and whose life is characterised by their constant believing. 'believe' here, in its grammar, is not an 'act' but a 'disposition'. The 'believing ones' that John has in mind, are continually disposed to put all their trust Christwards; this is the force of the Greek preposition 'eis' which in this verse is translated 'on'. In Hebrew thought the Name is the Person. These continually believing ones are constantly orientated Christwards in their trust. These continually-disposed-to-believe-towards-Christ persons are able to do so because they have been 'born of God'. These were they who when they 'received' Christ's witness personally where given the right to become children (not sons) of God. That is the meaning of the word in the narrow context of a single verse.


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Ron Bailey

 2005/6/15 18:06Profile
aeryck
Member



Joined: 2005/1/11
Posts: 234
United Kingdom

 Re: Believe means what, exactly?

Yo Bob !

Like the fragrant smell of C.S. Lewis's tabakee,
You have caused the Daystar to rise in this old pilgrim heart.

Thank-you brother.

In Jesus,
.A.
:-P


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Eric John Sawyer

 2005/6/15 19:04Profile
aeryck
Member



Joined: 2005/1/11
Posts: 234
United Kingdom

 Re: MAJESTY !

Dear Robert,

I was not entirely happy with my response to what you said. You really brought up an extremly valid focus on the Majesty of God. It was amazing how as I was looking up the Scripture about 'the day star' this morning, that I noticed 'majesty' ~ it was then I remembered your comment, and here it is again:

Your quote on 2005/6/15 17:38:29

Quote:
Could it be that because Christ is not set forth evidently among the people that the whole message has to be altered and manipulated in order to get folks to 'respond.' For example; to present God as a God of holiness without some sort of demonstration of His majesty would yield 'pharisee' converts. There are not many people n that line in this generation- so the message gets watered down because there is no demonstration of God's majesty in order to encounter the one whom they are being asked to come into covenant with. What happens? The terms of the covenant are watered down in direct proportion to the absence of His majesty. And we wonder why there are so few converts?



Here is the Scripture :- [2Peter 1:16 - 21]

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

In Jesus,
.A.
:-P

This is the meaning of the word 'believe' in the simple context, of John 1:12 :- courtesy of Philologos:

Quote:
It refers to 'the believing ones'; those who are in a constant state of believing and whose life is characterised by their constant believing. 'believe' here, in its grammar, is not an 'act' but a 'disposition'. The 'believing ones' that John has in mind, are continually disposed to put all their trust Christwards; this is the force of the Greek preposition 'eis' which in this verse is translated 'on'. In Hebrew thought the Name is the Person. These continually believing ones are constantly orientated Christwards in their trust. These continually-disposed-to-believe-towards-Christ persons are able to do so because they have been 'born of God'. These were they who when they 'received' Christ's witness personally where given the right to become children (not sons) of God. That is the meaning of the word in the narrow context of a single verse.



This is the commentary from Bible.org by W.Hall Harris III Th. M Ph. D [ John 1:12 ]

toi'" pisteuvousin eij" toV o[noma aujtou' A note on John’s use of the pisteuvw + eij" construction: the verb pisteuvw occurs 98 times in John (compared to 11 times in Matthew, 14 times in Mark [including the longer ending], and 9 times in Luke). One of the unsolved mysteries is why the corresponding noun form pivsti" is never used at all. Many have held the noun was in use in some pre-Gnostic sects and this rendered it suspect for John. It might also be that for John, faith was an activity, something that men do.41

In any event, John uses pisteuvw in 4 major ways:

1. of believing facts, reports, etc., 12 times;

2. of believing people (or the Scriptures), 19 times;

3. of believing “in” Christ” (pisteuvw + eij" + acc.), 36 times;

4. used absolutely without any person or object specified, 30 times (the one remaining passage is 2:24, where Jesus refused to “trust” himself to certain men).

Of these, the most significant is the use of pisteuvw with eij" + accusative. It is not unlike the Pauline ejn Cristw'/ formula. It also appears to be a literal translation of the Hebrew ‘ b /ymah (see BDB s.v. /ma). Some have argued that this points to a Hebrew (more likely Aramaic) original behind the Fourth Gospel. But it probably indicates something else, as C. H. Dodd has observed: “pisteuvein with the dative so inevitably connoted simple credence, in the sense of an intellectual judgment, that the moral element of personal trust or reliance inherent in the Hebrew or Aramaic phrase—an element integral to the primitive Christian conception of faith in Christ—needed to be otherwise expressed.”


For a detailed study follow this link: here

W. Hall Harris III is Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and is also the Project Director and General Editor for the NET Bible (New English Translation).

For over twenty-five years Hall has taught at Dallas Seminary courses in intermediate level Greek grammar and syntax, exegetical method, and various courses in the Gospel and Epistles of John. He received a Th.M. from Dallas Seminary and a Ph.D. the University of Sheffield, England

Wow! where did the time go...?

:-P


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Eric John Sawyer

 2005/6/16 3:23Profile
Nasher
Member



Joined: 2003/7/28
Posts: 404
Watford, UK

 Re:

Quote:
Do you have that entire series in one big pdf file by chance?



I have it all in a word doc or pdf, e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll send it to you or anyone else who wants it.

I have it with page breaks (at the end of each devotional) or with no page breaks.

Let me know if you want it zipped up as well.


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Mark Nash

 2005/6/16 7:45Profile





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