This week the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting was held in the city of Phoenix. Since I was in town, James White invited me onto the Dividing Line to discuss the G3 Conference, our upcoming Reformation tour, and SBC issues. It also happened to be my 40th birthday, and in typical James White style—I was served my very first Muscle Milk birthday cake.
Joni Eareckson Tada’s Advice for When You Don’t Wake Up Feeling Happy — Randy Alcorn writes, “In an interview with World Magazine, one of my heroes of the faith, Joni Eareckson Tada, shares this advice for what we can do on days when we don’t wake up feeling happy.”
Video: “Do Not Give the Devil a Foothold” by Alistair Begg — In this short video, Alistair Begg provides some good advice.
The Good News of Christianity: Do You Know How to Be Saved? — John Piper explains an important text.
My Observations from 2017 SBC in Phoenix — H.B. Charles Jr. provides some observations from the recent SBC in Phoenix. One of my observations is that we should all be grateful that he was elected as the president of the pastors’ conference for 2018.
God Desires Your Heart, Not Your Degree — We too often place emphasis on things that are not exactly necessary in the service of the Lord. Although degrees and education is helpful for preparation, it’s not specifically necessary. What is necessary is true knowledge of God and preparation to rightly handle God’s Word.
Theology Word of the Week: Truth
ἀλήθεια, (ας, ἡ (ἀληθής) (from Homer down), verity, truth.
I. objectively;
1. universally, what is true in any matter under consideration (opposed to what is feigned, fictitious, false): James 3:14; ἀλήθειανλέγειν, έ᾿ρειν, John 8:45; John 16:7; Romans 9:1; 1 Corinthians 12:6; 1 Timothy 2:7; εἶπεν αὐτῷ πᾶσαν τήν ἀλήθειαν, everything as it really was, Mark 5:33 (so in classics); μαρτυρεῖν τῇ ἀλήθεια to testify according to the true state of the case, John 5:33; in a broader sense, λαλεῖν ἀλήθειαν, to speak always according to truth, Ephesians 4:25; (ἀληθείας ῤήματα ἀποφθέγγομαι, as opposed to the vagaries of madness, Acts 26:25); ἀλήθεια ἐγένετο, was shown to be true by the event, 2 Corinthians 7:14. ἐν ἀλήθεια, in truth, truly, as the case is, according to fact: Matthew 22:16; John 4:23f (as accords with the divine nature); 2 Corinthians 7:14; Colossians 1:6; ἐπ’ ἀληθείας a. truly, in truth, according to truth: Mark 12:32; Luke 4:25 (Job 9:2 the Sept.; Philo, vit. Moys. i., § 1).
b. of a truth, in reality, in fact, certainly: Mark 12:14; Luke 20:21; (); Acts 4:27; Acts 10:34 (Clement of Rome, 1 Cor. 23, 5 [ET] and 47, 3 [ET]); (cf. Winers Grammar, § 51, 2 f.; Buttmann, 336 (289)); κατ’ἀλήθειαν in accordance with fact, i. e. (according to the context) justly, without partiality: Romans 2:2; εἴτε προφάσει, εἴτε ἀλήθεια, Philippians 1:18; ἐν ἔργῳ καί ἀλήθεια, 1 John 3:18 (Rec. omits ἐν; so Ephesians 4:21 WH marginal reading).
2. In reference to religion, the word denotes what is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man, (`moral and religions truth’); and that a. with the greatest latitude, in the sceptical question τίἐστιν ἀλήθεια, John 18:38;
b. the true notions of God which are open to human reason without his supernatural intervention: Romans 1:18; also ἡ ἀλήθεια Θεοῦ the truth of which God is the author, Romans 1:25, cf. 19 (ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦΧριστοῦ, Ev. Nicod., c. 5, 2; accordingly, it is not, as many interpret the phrase, the true nature of God (yet see Meyer at the passage)); truth, the embodiment of which the Jews sought in the Mosaic law, Romans 2:20.
c. “the truth, as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man,” opposed alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and to the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians: ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ εὐαγγελίου the truth which is the gospel or which the gospel presents, Galatians 2:5, 14 (cf. Winer‘s Grammar, § 34, 3 a.); and absolutely ἡ ἀλήθεια and ἀλήθεια: John 1:14, 17; John 8:32, 40; (); ; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 2:4, 21; 2 John 1:1-3; Galatians 3:1 (Rec.); Galatians 5:7; 2 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 13:8; Ephesians 4:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 12; 1 Timothy 2:7 (ἐν πίστει καί ἀλήθεια in faith and truth, of which I became a partaker through faith); ; 2 Timothy 2:18; 2 Timothy 3:8; 2 Timothy 4:4; Titus 1:14; 2 Peter 1:12; (3 John 1:8, 12); ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀληθείας, Colossians 1:5; Ephesians 1:13; 2 Timothy 2:15; λόγος ἀληθείας, 2 Corinthians 6:7; James 1:18; ὁδός τῆς ἀληθείας, 2 Peter 2:2; πίστιςἀληθείας, 2 Thessalonians 2:13 (Winer‘s Grammar, 186 (175)); ὑπακοὴ τῆς ἀληθείας, 1 Peter 1:22; ἐπίγνωσις τῆς ἀληθείας, Hebrews 10:26; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Timothy 2:25; 2 Timothy 3:7; (Titus 1:1); πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας the Spirit (of God) which is truth (1 John 5:6) and imbues men with the knowledge of the truth, John 14:17; (); ; 1 John 4:6; ἐγώ εἰμί ἡ ἀλήθεια, I am he in whom the truth is summed up and impersonated, John 14:6; ἡ ἀλήθεια σου (Rec.) (i. e. Θεοῦ) the truth which is in thee and proceeds from thee, John 17:17; (ἐστιν ἀλήθειαΧριστοῦ ἐν ἐμοί, i. e., controls, actuates, me, 2 Corinthians 11:10); εἶναι ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας to be eager to know the truth, John 18:37 (seeἐκ, II. 7, and εἰμί, V. 3 d.); to proceed from the truth, 1 John 2:21; to be prompted and controlled by the truth, 1 John 3:19; μαρτυρεῖν τῇἀληθ., to give testimony in favor of the truth in order to establish its authority among men, John 18:37; ἀλήθειαν ποιεῖν to exemplify truth in the life, to express the form of truth in one’s habits of thought and modes of living, John 3:21; 1 John 1:6 (Tobit 13:6 Tobit 4:6; cf. Nehemiah 9:33; ὁδόν ἀληθείας αἰρετίζεσθαι, Psalm 118:30 ()); so also περιπατεῖν ἐν τῇ ἀλήθεια. 2 John 1:4; 3 John 1:3f; ἀπειθεῖν τῇἀλήθεια is just the opposite, Romans 2:8; so also πλανηθῆναι ἀπότῆς ἀληθείας, James 5:19.
II. (subjectively) “truth as a personal excellence; that candor of mind which is free from affectation, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit”: John 8:44; sincerity of mind and integrity of character, or a mode of life in harmony with divine truth: 1 Corinthians 5:8; 1 Corinthians 13:6 (opposed to ἀδικία); Ephesians 4:21 (see I. 1 b. above); ; (); σουἀλήθεια the truth as it is discerned in thee, thy habit of thinking and acting in congruity with truth, 3 John 1:3; ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ Θεοῦ which belongs to God, i. e., his holiness (but cf. περισσεύω, 1 b. at the end), Romans 3:7; specifically, veracity (of God in keeping his promises), Romans 15:8; ἐν ἀλήθεια sincerely and truthfully, 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1. The word is not found in Revelation 1nor in 1 Thessalonians, Philemon, Jude. Cf. Holemann, Bibelstudien (Lpz. 1859) 1te Abth., p. 8ff; (Wendt in Studien und Kritiken, 1883, p. 511ff.) [1]
- THAYER’S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
References
| 1 | nor in 1 Thessalonians, Philemon, Jude |
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