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<td valign="top" ><p><span style="font-size: large;">"If the Apostles taught anything contrary to the authenticated revelation of God, they were to be rejected." Charles Hodge, <em>Syst. Theology</em> (1871) at 763.</span></p></td>
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<h3>Recommendations</h3>
<p><a href="/recommendedreading/401-music-store-manager.html">Only Jesus</a> (great song by Big Daddy)</p>
<p><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/jwoogm-20?node=1&amp;page=2">What Did Jesus Say?</a> (2012) - 7 topics&nbsp;</p>
<p>None above affiliated with me</p> </div>
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<h1><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Chapter 26 John 3:16 Obeying Unto Christ Saves? &nbsp;(Part One)</span></h1>
<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Introduction</strong></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">When the English translations of the Greek New Testament were made in the 1526-1611 period, the &ldquo;difficult Greek in which the New Testament is written...still held mysteries for&rdquo; English scholars. (Nicolson: 224.) One of those mysteries was the Greek word <em>pisteuo</em> in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A16&amp;version=ESV">John 3:16</a>. In over 200 instances of <em>pisteuo</em> in the New Testament, not once did the King James Bible render it as <em>obey</em>. (See <em>Strong&rsquo;s Concordance</em>.) However, scholars now realize<em> obey</em> was a common meaning of <em>pisteuo</em> in ancient Greek. <em>Obe</em>y certainly was the meaning of <em>pisteuo</em> in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A36&amp;version=ESV">John 3:36</a> (See Part 2, JWOS: <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=4V8tMJ75bnwC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;dq=jesus%20words%20on%20salvation&amp;pg=PA448">448</a>). Yet, this obedience-salvation formula is identically repeated in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A16&amp;version=ESV">John 3:16</a>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Besides John 3:36 helping, one can more easily accept <em>pisteuo</em> means <em>obeys</em> in John 3:16 when one looks at Apostle John&rsquo;s many quotes of Jesus about obedience. Jesus in<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A51&amp;version=AMP"> John&nbsp;8:51</a> says &ldquo;whoever keeps on obeying (<em>tereo</em>) My Teaching&nbsp;should never ever die.&rdquo;<sup><strong>1</strong></sup> In <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A1-10&amp;version=AMP">John 15:1-10</a>, Jesus says a &ldquo;branch in me&rdquo; that does not &ldquo;bear fruit&rdquo; is &ldquo;taken away,&rdquo; &ldquo;cut off from the vine,&rdquo; thrown &ldquo;outside and burned.&rdquo;<sup><strong> 2</strong></sup></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">John likewise quoted Jesus saying in total accord:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good [things], unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil [things], unto the resurrection of damnation. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+5%3A28-29&amp;version=AMP">John&nbsp;5:28-29</a> KJV).<sup><strong>3</strong></sup></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">See also &nbsp;&ldquo;John 8:51: Obedience Should Save&rdquo; on page 367 et seq.&nbsp;See &ldquo;Metaphor Of The Vine&rdquo; on page 343 et seq.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">We saw again that Apostle John was told that those who obey the commandments (plural) have the right to the tree of life. (Rev. 22:14.) John writes:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Happy [are] the ones doing His commandments, so that their right will be to the tree of life, and they shall enter by the gates into the&nbsp;city. (Rev 22:14)(ALT)(<span style="background-color: #ffff00;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation+22%3A14&amp;version=GNV"><span style="background-color: #ffff00;">GSB</span></a></span>)<sup><strong>4</strong></sup></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">We also saw Apostle John writing Jesus&rsquo; words to the Sardisian Christians. They are dead due to having &ldquo;incomplete works.&rdquo; They can prevent the Spirit leaving by repenting and obeying. Through John&rsquo;s pen, Jesus tells them:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: &lsquo;These [things] says the One having the seven spirits of God and the seven stars [i.e., Jesus is speaking]: I know your<em><strong> works</strong></em>, that you have a name that you live, and<strong><em> you are dead</em></strong>.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">(2) &lsquo;Become watching [fig., Wake up], and strengthen the rest which you were about to be throwing out, for I have <em><strong>not found your works having been completed</strong></em> before My God. (3) Therefore, be remembering how you have received, and be keeping [tereo, obey] it, and repent. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you like a thief, and you shall by no means know what hour I will come upon you.&rdquo;&nbsp;(Rev 3:1-3 ALT)(<span style="background-color: #ffff00;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation+3%3A1-3&amp;version=WYC"><span style="background-color: #ffff00;">Wycliff "works...full"</span></a></span>)<sup><strong>5</strong></sup></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">John another time relays Jesus as saying that lukewarm works by Christians at Laodicea will cause Jesus to spew them out of His mouth.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">I know thy <strong><em>works, that thou art neither cold nor hot</em></strong>: I would thou wert cold or hot. (16) So&nbsp;then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, <strong><em>I will spue thee out of my mouth</em></strong>. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation+3%3A15-16&amp;version=KJV">Rev 3:15-16 KJV</a>.)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Finally, we saw among the many verses that tied eternal life (zoe ainon) to obedience and works was the following words of Jesus recorded by Apostle John:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that<strong><em> hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal</em></strong>. (26) If any man serve me, let him <strong><em>follow me</em></strong>; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will the Father honor. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+12%3A25-26&amp;version=KJV">John 12:25-26 ASV</a>.)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">These passages from the writings of John quoting Jesus are but echoes of what we find in Matthew, Luke and Mark. John is repeatedly emphasizing themes of obedience.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Hence, besides John 3:36, these passages from John make the proposed translation of John 3:16 as about <em>obedience</em> appear far more sensible than translation tradition would suggest. This change, incidentally, will unite what scholars call the Synoptic-Jesus with the Johannine Jesus. It turns out there are no separate portrayals of Jesus in the mind of Matthew-Mark-Luke versus the mind of John. Rather, the translators have<strong><em> improperly given Jesus two doctrines and two personalities</em></strong> by erroneously translating John 3:16 in a manner which suits cheap grace doctrine to leave uncorrected.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">However, we shall see that the leading evangelical scholars who dared write on this question begrudgingly admit <strong><em>pisteuo</em></strong> means<strong><em> obey</em></strong> in John 3:16. It is only the translators who, for some inexplicable reason, continue to hesitate to make this now compellingly-obvious correction.</span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="color: #000080;">Three Interpretive Issues</span></strong></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">John 3:16 is the most commonly cited passage from Jesus to prove one is saved by faith alone. This faith is usually described as believing that Jesus is Lord and Savior. Or sometimes it is said that you must simply believe that Jesus died for your sins. (Stanley, Spurgeon.) Sometimes it is said you must also believe that Jesus resurrected.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Whatever is the belief one must hold to be saved, typically it is also claimed John 3:16 conveys the idea of a onetime belief. In fact, Charles Stanley in <em>Eternal Security</em> (1995) at 95 says the verb <strong>believes</strong> in the standard translation implies a one-time <strong>belief</strong> (that Christ died for your sins, <em>id</em>., at 33-34). Hence, such a one-time belief is supposedly all that you need to be saved. Therefore, it is allegedly irrelevant whether one repents from sin or not. Stanley says it is a good idea to change, but it only improves your fellowship with God. The Lord will supposedly save the disobedient believer anyway based on faith alone.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">In fact, Stanley says your salvation is such a foregone conclusion once you sincerely believe Christ died for your sins that even if you for all practical purposes were later an unbeliever in thought and deed, your salvation is never in jeopardy: &ldquo;Even if a believer for all practical purposes <strong><em>becomes an unbeliever</em></strong>, his <strong><em>salvation is not in jeopardy</em></strong>.&rdquo; (Stanley, <em>Eternal Security, supra</em>, at 93.) Salvation is supposedly by faith alone, from start to finish.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">However, there are three defects in the popular English translation of the original Greek which in turn feed these interpretations of the verse. (These defects also appear in the German Luther Bible of 1522.) The correction of these defects turn on answering these three questions:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Does the verb <em>pisteuo</em> translated in English as <em>believes</em> in the KJV mean<em> believe</em> or instead <em><strong>obey</strong></em>, comply, trust, etc.?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Is it <em>pisteuo</em> &ldquo;in&rdquo; Jesus or &ldquo;for (unto)&rdquo; Jesus&rdquo; in the original Greek?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Is the verb form taken for <em>pisteousin </em>translated in the KJV as <em>believes</em> (the English simple present tense) instead in Greek a continuous tense meaning? In other words, is the meaning<em> keeps on</em> or <em>continues to </em>in front of whatever the verb means for<em> pisteuo</em>,<em> i.e</em>., <em>keeps on obeying</em>, etc., or<em> keeps on believing</em>?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Two of these three issues are readily apparent if you compare common translations of John 3:16, in particular the bolded portions below, on the left with those on the right.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><img src="/images/stories/Salvation/table1john316.jpg" alt="" /></span></p>
<h3><span style="color: #000080; font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Does It Matter If John 3:16 Is About Obedience Not Belief?</strong></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">There is a huge difference theologically between obey, comply, trust on one side and belief on the other.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Jesus discussed once this distinction. Jesus said it is incongruous to think you can say you believe in Him as Lord but feel free to disobey Him. Jesus said: &ldquo;Why do you call me &lsquo;Lord, Lord,&rsquo; and do not do what I tell you?&rdquo; (Luke 6:46.) Jesus therefore declares it is unfathomable that one thinks it is enough to believe in Him but not obey Him.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Another proof of a large chasm of difference between mere belief and obedience comes from the gospel accounts about demons.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Demons believe Jesus is Lord and Savior. (<a href="http://biblehub.com/mark/1-24.htm">Mark 1:24</a>; <a href="http://biblehub.com/luke/4-34.htm">Luke 4:34</a>. See also, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=james+2:19">James 2:19</a>.) The demons, however, do not obey Jesus as Lord. They do not act in compliance with their acknowledgment of the fact of who Jesus is. They do not trust Him. They do not obey Him.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Pastor Stedman, an evangelical scholar who believes in &lsquo;faith alone,&rsquo; unwittingly admits this distinction:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Remember that back in the Gospel accounts there were demons that acknowledged the deity of the Lord Jesus? When he appeared before them they said, &lsquo;We know who you are, the Holy One of God.&rsquo; (cf, <a href="http://biblehub.com/mark/1-24.htm">Mark 1:24</a>, <a href="http://biblehub.com/luke/4-34.htm">Luke 4:34</a>.) They acknowledged what the Jews were too blind to see, the full deity of Jesus Christ, as well as his humanity. But, though demons acknowledged this, they never confessed it. They never trusted him. <em><strong>They did not commit&nbsp;themselves to him</strong></em>, they did not live by this truth.<a href="http://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/1-john/when-unbelief-is-right"><sup><strong>6</strong></sup></a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Yet, we are told that John 3:16 proves that if you believe Jesus is Lord, Messiah, died for your sins, etc., then you shall have eternal life. If this were true, then the<em><strong> demons should be saved</strong></em> because they believe and know these things are true. (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34.) James made a similar point in James 2:19. He says the demons believe the facts about God, but they are not saved thereby.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Hence, when we consider Jesus&rsquo; dismay that people think they can call Him Lord but that obedience is optional, we are justified questioning John 3:16 in standard translation because it licenses that doctrine for so many.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="color: #000080;">Reliable Dictionary Meanings Of Pisteuo In John 3:16 As Obey</span></strong></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The most exhaustive dictionary of ancient Greek is Liddell-Scott&rsquo;s Lexicon. It is by far the most reliable.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">There are six meanings offered in Liddell-Scott&rsquo;s Lexicon of the Greek verb <em>pisteuo</em> at issue in John 3:16.7</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">One meaning in Liddell-Scott for the verb <em>pisteuo</em> is<strong><em> comply</em></strong>. A synonym is <strong><em>obey</em></strong>. (See Footnote 7, page <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=4V8tMJ75bnwC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;dq=jesus%20words%20on%20salvation&amp;pg=PA423">423</a>.)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_NIV_Theological_Dictionary_of_New_Te.html?id=4msAAAAACAAJ&amp;redir_esc=y"><em>NIV Theological Dictionary of New Testament Words</em></a> (Zondervan: 2000) at 1027 --&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">scan page viewable at this&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><a href="https://airtable.com/shrxOOQF46Q2Tv0EM">link</a>&nbsp;--</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">has this likewise to say of <em>pisteuo</em>:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times; background-color: #ffff00;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Similarly, <em>pisteuo</em> means to trust something or someone; it can refer to and confirm legendary tales and mythical ideas. With<strong><em> reference to people</em></strong>, </span><strong><em><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">pisteuo means to obey</span></em></strong></span><span style="background-color: #ffff00;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><strong><em> (Soph. OT 625) [i.e.,&nbsp;</em></strong></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">Sophocles, <em>Oedipus Tyrannus</em>, 625]</span></strong>;&nbsp;</span></span><span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">the pass[ive] Means to enjoy trust....</span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">[NOTE #1 2014: yellow highlight is from later 2014 edition, renamed and expanded as&nbsp;</span></span><span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis&nbsp;</strong></span></span><span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">(2014) -&nbsp;</span></span><span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">NIDNTT, quoted at this link of&nbsp;</span></span><a href="https://www.preceptaustin.org/1thessalonians_213"><span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">Precept Austin.&nbsp;</span></span></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">NOTE #2 2014: The NITD and NIDNTT are not alone. Grimm's 1894&nbsp;</span></span><strong><span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">A Greek-English Lexicon&nbsp;</span></span></strong><span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">at <a href="https://airtable.com/shr57J3sp6BWSbkSl">511 </a>states that "pisteuo" when used about Jesus meant two co-existing things: trust that Jesus was Messiah "conjoined with <strong>obedience</strong> to Christ." </span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">Importantly, later on page <a href="https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=I89BAQAAIAAJ&amp;hl=en&amp;pg=GBS.PA512">512 </a>within the same definition-usage list, Grimm contrasts specifically how "Paul's conception" uses the verb to be "predominantly about grace" by laying one's faith in Jesus, particularly in "his death and resurrection [cites omitted] but in John's conception, it is the metaphysical relationship of Christ with God and&nbsp;</span></span><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">close ethical intimacy with him,&nbsp;</span></strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">as well as the&nbsp;</span><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">true life to be derived from Christ as its source.&nbsp;</span></strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">[Cites omitted.]" (For our Airtable link on Grimm, see this <a href="https://airtable.com/shr57J3sp6BWSbkSl">link</a>.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">Even in 2014, the words "pisteuo means obey" still brings up in a google search the 2011 reprint edition of Grimm Wilke's&nbsp;</span><em style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">Clavis Novi Testamenti</em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">, a famous Greek to Latin Lexicon of the 1800s revised by the famous Joseph Thayer &amp; others. See </span><span data-mce-mark="1">our google search</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;"> of those exact words pulling up this 2011 edition. </span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">NOTE #3 2014: In Sophocles,&nbsp;</span></span><span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;"><span data-mce-mark="1">Oedipus Tyrannus 625</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">where this classic Greek usage is referenced, Creon in the online Perseus translation asks "are you willing to </span><em style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>yield</strong> </em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">or believe?" (where 'yield' is pisteuo meaning&nbsp;</span><em style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>obey = yield).</strong></em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">&nbsp;Oedipus responds: "no, for you persuade me you are unworthy of trust." </span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span data-mce-mark="1"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/oedipus.html">Storr</a>&nbsp;</span></span><span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">agrees on the </span><em style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">yield (obey)</em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;"> translation as the correct choice over "believe." Other translations render Creon's pisteuo synonymously as&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><span data-mce-mark="1"></span></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">"listen to me," again pointing to an obedience-meaning. See </span><span data-mce-mark="1">Johnston</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">. Also, we find Liddell Scott, one of today's most authoritative Lexicons, that pisteuo means "to believe, trust, comply, </span><em style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>obey.</strong></em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">" See, </span><em style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">A Lexicon Abridged from Liddell &amp; Scott's Greek-English Lexicon</em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;"> (24th Ed.) (ed. Rev. James A. Whiton, Ph.D.) (N.Y.: Harper &amp; Brothers, 1891) at </span>561<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 14pt;">, Def. 1.2.)</span></span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times; background-color: #ffffff;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">NOTE #4 2014. Similarly, the related adjective term "pistos" -- which some prefer to render as "faithful" to suit one's auditory senses - is clearly used by Jesus in Matthew 25:21 to mean "obedient." It can have a synonymous meaning of "trustworthy." However, 'faithful' is apparently chosen in translations solely to placate faith-alone doctrine because then some suggest "faithful" means "full of faith" when it simply means "trustworthy" -- a synonymn for "obedient." Rarely does it mean someone is "full of faith." </span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times; background-color: #ffffff;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">This is explained in </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">Murray J. Harris'&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><em style="color: #001320; font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: large; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;">Slave of Christ: A &nbsp;New Testament Metaphor for Total Devotion to Christ</em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">&nbsp;(Intervarsity Press, 2001) at page&nbsp;</span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=vgsLnWuRWakC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;dq=Murray%20J.%20Harris%27%20Slave%20of%20Christ%3A%20A%20%20New%20Testament%20Metaphor%20for%20Total%20Devotion%20to%20Christ&amp;pg=PA96#v=onepage&amp;q=pistos&amp;f=false" style="color: #517291; text-decoration: underline; font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: large; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">96&nbsp;</span></a><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">including footnote 16&nbsp;-- "a <em><strong>perfectly obedient</strong></em> slave was a completely <em><strong>faithful slave</strong></em>", and Bultman says "in classical Greek&nbsp;</span><strong style="color: #001320; font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: large; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><em>pistos</em></strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">&nbsp;had the nuance of <strong><em>obedient</em></strong> and <strong><em>pisteuin</em></strong> [</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><em>i.e.</em>, the verb translated often as 'believe] had&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">the nuance <em><strong>'to obey.</strong></em>'" </span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times; background-color: #ffffff;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><em>Cf. </em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><em>Daniel J. Harrington, Ed. The Gospel of Matthew</em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"> &nbsp;at<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=bNf13S3k2w0C&amp;lpg=PA343&amp;ots=8CRs2TyV_l&amp;dq=pistos%20gospel%20matthew&amp;pg=PA343#v=onepage&amp;q=pistos%20gospel%20matthew&amp;f=false" style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"> 343</span></a>&nbsp;("The idea of&nbsp;<em>pistos&nbsp;</em>is more 'reliable, trustworthy' than 'believing.'"See also Matthew 23:23, where Jesus says the Pharisees taught tithing but omitted justice, mercy and the noun&nbsp;<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"><strong><em>pistin</em></strong>. Previously, this used to be rendered as "faith," but now, with scholarship, it is rendered as "faithfulness" (meaning sincere obedience).</span>]</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">This is likewise mentioned in the highly authoritative <em>Theological Dictionary of the New Testament</em> (TDNT) 6 (1968): 4-7, in an entry by Bultmann (1884-1976) &mdash; the eminent Lutheran scholar &mdash; in which he says the verb &ldquo;pisteuo means&rdquo; (among other things) &ldquo;&lsquo;to trust&rsquo;&rdquo; and &ldquo;also &lsquo;to <strong>obey</strong>.&rsquo;&rdquo; (It is both enlightening and disturbing to watch how &lsquo;cheap grace adherents battle vigorously against this dictionary entry despite the TDNT being one of the most authoritative and scholarly dictionary references within Protestantism.)<sup><strong>8</strong></sup></span></p>
<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="color: #000080;">What If It Only Looks Like A Dictionary? It Still Is Not One</span></strong></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Yet, do not be surprised when you go to the evangelical bookstore, and you open up a Greek word study on <em>pisteuo</em>, and you find &ldquo;obey&rdquo; and &ldquo;comply&rdquo; are not even identified as possible meanings. For example, in Spiros Zodhiates, <em>The Complete Word Study &mdash; New Testament</em> (Chatanooga, TN: AMG, 1993) at 1160-62 &mdash; on my local Christian bookstore shelf in 2007 &mdash; you will see what appears to be a comprehensive entry on<em> pisteuo</em>. Yet, not once does it&nbsp;mention &ldquo;obey&rdquo; or &ldquo;comply&rdquo; as a definition. It is obvious what is happening. Zodhiates never calls his word study a dictionary, and thus you cannot accuse him of misleading anyone. He called it a word study, not a dictionary. Unfortunately, the average Christian does not know the fine distinction.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The same problem holds true of the <em>Strong&rsquo;s Concordance</em>. Its title &mdash; a concordance &mdash; means it is only a reference to how the King James Bible translated every Greek word listed. It does not purport to be a dictionary. However, most Christians think because it is laid out as a dictionary, that in fact it is a dictionary. However, Strong&rsquo;s is not a dictionary, and never purports to be one. Yet, if you rely upon its &lsquo;entries&rsquo; under <em>pisteuo</em>, you never once see the meaning <em>obey</em> or <em>comply</em>. Don&rsquo;t be fooled. If it does not say it is a dictionary, it is not purporting to be one.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="color: #000080;">How Negative Prefixes Aid Translation</span></strong></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">One can further confirm <em>pisteuo</em>&rsquo;s meaning by adding a negative prefix in front of <em>pisteuo</em> &mdash; the letter <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">a</span></em>, and then see what are the word meanings of the Greek word formed thereby &mdash; <em>apisteo</em>. Liddell-Scott points out that <em>apisteo</em> means, among other things, &ldquo;to<em><strong> disobey...refuse to comply</strong></em>.&rdquo; (Liddell-Scott, <em>Greek Lexicon</em>.)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><em>Apisteo</em> is clearly used in this way in 1 Peter 2:7. See KJV-Geneva &ldquo;disobey.&rdquo; See also 2 Tim 2:13 (&ldquo;if we are <em>apisteo</em> disobeying&rdquo; is antithesis to God&rsquo;s <em>pistos</em> or<em> faithfulness</em>). In the Septuagint of 247 B.C., <em>apisteo</em> &ldquo;several times answers to the Hebrew [word for] rebellious.&rdquo; (Parkhurst, 1829:71.)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Of course, <em>apisteo</em> can still mean <em>disbelieve</em>, just as <em>pisteuo</em> can still mean<em> believe in a fact or truth</em>. Nevertheless, the point is that to a Greek the idea of a belief alone is not necessarily the correct meaning. A competing and valid meaning of <em>pisteuo</em> is <em>obey</em> or <em>comply</em>. This is demonstrable not only from the dictionary meaning of pisteuo, but also from the definition of its opposite &mdash; <em>apisteo</em>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="color: #000080;"><a href="/recommendedreading/162-chapter-26-2jwos.html"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #000080;">Continue to Part 2.</span></a></span></strong></span></p>
<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="color: #000080;">FOOTNOTES TO PART 1.</span></strong></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">1. See John 8:51, Obedience Saves at&nbsp;<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=4V8tMJ75bnwC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;dq=jesus%20words%20on%20salvation&amp;pg=PA367">367</a> et seq.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">2. See Metaphor of the Vine at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=4V8tMJ75bnwC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;dq=jesus%20words%20on%20salvation&amp;pg=PA343">363</a> et seq.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">3. See Those who have Done Good things are Resurrected at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=4V8tMJ75bnwC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;dq=jesus%20words%20on%20salvation&amp;pg=PA395">395</a> et seq .</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">4. See Right to the Tree of Life at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=4V8tMJ75bnwC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;dq=jesus%20words%20on%20salvation&amp;pg=PA373">373</a> et seq.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">5. See Incomplete &amp; Lukewarm Works at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=4V8tMJ75bnwC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;dq=jesus%20words%20on%20salvation&amp;pg=PA401">401</a> et seq.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">6. Ray C. Stedman, <em>When Unbelief is Right</em> (1967), reprinted at<span style="background-color: #ffff00;">&nbsp;<a href="http://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/1-john/when-unbelief-is-right"><span style="background-color: #ffff00;">http://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/1-john/when-unbelief-is-right</span></a></span>&nbsp;(2014)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">7. Liddel Scott defines<em> pisteuo</em> as:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">"1. trust, put faith in, rely on a person, thing, or statement,</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">2. Pass[ive], to be trusted or believed</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">3. <span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff;">comply.</span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">4. c. infinitive., believe that, feel confident that a thing is, will be, has been</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">5. c. dat. and inf., toisi episteue sigan to whom he trusted that they would keep silence</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">6. have faith II. (1) p. tini ti entrust something to another (2) Pass., pisteuesthai ti to be entrusted with a thing, have it committed to one." This is available online or in a library in the Liddell &amp; Scott <em>Greek Lexicon</em> (Oxford: 1869) at 1273.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">8. Bing is critical of translating<em> pisteuo</em> as <em>obey</em>. Rather than deal properly with the issue, he barely mentions the authoritative sources that directly define <em>pisteuo</em> as sometimes meaning<em> obey</em>. When he discusses Bultmann's entry in the TDNT, Bing claims <em>obey</em> is merely a "suggestion." Bing then says Bultmann's theology is driving this "suggestion" rather than Greek. Bing then makes it sound like Bultmann is relying on weak lexical aids. What Bing never does is explore what Greek dictionaries (not concordances or word studies) include among the definitions of <em>pisteuo</em>. On that score, Bultmann would have been a poor scholar had he omitted <em>obey</em> as one definition. See Charles C. Bing,<em> Lordship Salvation -- A Biblical Evaluation and Response</em> (Ph.D. Dissertation) (Dallas Theological Seminary, 1991), reprinted at <a href="http://www.forerunner.org/bing/LS-chap2.htm">http://www.forerunner.org/bing/LS-chap2.htm</a> (accessed 7-21-07).</span></p>
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