Power... to Become
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The Church that I attend recently went
through a series of messages where they talked about some words in the Bible
and their Greek background. This
reminded me of some Greek words that I have learned about over the years that I
dearly love! As you may or may not know,
the New Testament was originally written in Greek and Aramaic. From what I understand – the Greek language
is a very descriptive language, and it can be challenging to try and
translate a Greek thought into just one English word. Sometimes the Greek word can even represent a
small story. That is why I like to read
the Bible using various versions. I feel
like the versions of the Bible are like looking at a large diamond. As you turn the diamond, you see the light glistening
from different angles. As I read the
various versions of the Bible (King James Version, New International Version,
New Living Translation, Amplified Bible, Living Bible, or The Message) just to
name a few, I love seeing different sides of that diamond. I would love to share some of those Greek words
that I have learned about, with you.
One of the first Greek words is from one of my
favorite verses in the Bible. It is John
1:11 and 12.
He came unto
his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave
he power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe on his name.
(KJV)
There are a number of reasons why I love
this verse so much. I have used this
verse when I am talking to someone about coming to Christ and being born again
and they say to me… “oh yeah, I believe in Jesus.” I want to make sure that they are a true
Christian, so I will ask them if they have ever “received” Jesus into their
life. I tell them that it is like believing
that a chair will hold you, but never actually sitting in it. It is important to believe in Jesus, but it is
also important to act upon that belief by praying and asking Him to come into
your life. Another wonderful thing about
this verse that is so important is that Jesus offers people things that no
other religion offers you! Jesus was
willing to die on a cross to pay the penalty for your sin (which no other
religious leaders claim to have done), but Jesus also offers to come into your
life and give you the ability to do what He asks you to do. This is so awesome! Can you imagine? Not only did Jesus live an incredibly awesome,
loving, caring, forgiving, godly life, but He will give you the ability to do
the same. Other religious leaders may
have taught their people to do some good things, but only Jesus offers to give
you the actual ability to do them.
The Greek word in this passage is the word
EXOUSIA. The word means “ability,
privilege, force, capacity, competency, freedom, influence, authority, liberty,
power, right and strength.” Since most
of the versions of the Bible try to just translate the Greek word into just one
English word, you may not have caught the overall meaning, but this is a very
powerful word. We have the right, the
ability, the authority, the power, and the strength to become a child of God. This is an awesome truth. I know enough about the Christian life to
know that our success as a Christian is almost purely dependent on our ability
to deny ourselves and let the Spirit of Christ live through us. He
gives us all we need.
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I was watching a video of Jeff Foxworthy and
his Blue-Collar Comedy Tour, and I heard one of the comedians tell a story that
I thought was an illustration of this Greek word. Ron White was talking about a time that he
had gone to New York City and had gone out and was drinking and his
drinking was causing him to be disruptive and he was asked to leave. They had called the cops
on him, and they were going to arrest him for being drunk in public. He made the comment
that “he had the right to remain silent… but he didn’t have the ability!”
Sorry to have used this type of
illustration, and I do follow the exhortation of the Bible to not get drunk, I
just thought that this was a funny way to remember that in the Lord, we have
the right… and we have the ability.
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The Lord is telling us that if we come to
Him and rely on Him, then He will give us everything we need to live for Him. It seems to me that one of the most important
things that we need to learn how to do is to relax and rely on Him. So many times, we try to do difficult things
in our own strength. It is only after we
fail a time or two that we realize that we need to stop and ask the Lord to
give us the power, strength, and ability to live the life that He wants us
to live. He patiently waits for us to do
just that.
Do and live the law commands But gives me neither feet nor
hands.
A better word the gospel brings, It bids me fly…
but gives me wings!
- attributed to John Bunyan
Written by Lee Malden 2022
For more information: email lmalden@hotmail.com
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