Faith As A Fruit

Faith As A Fruit

Marissa

Faith is a huge topic in the Bible, one that whole books have been written about (I reviewed one of those books just last year). Today, I want to look at faith specifically from the perspective of the fruit of the spirit passage in Galatians. In other words, we’re examining faith as something that’s produced in your life when God’s spirit is inside of you.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23, NET

Last week, I mentioned that I realized I’d never finished my 30-Day Scripture Writing series on the fruit of the spirit. The last two remaining topics are “faith” and “gentleness,” so today we’re focusing on faith. I spent this past week reading through the many Bible verses mentioning faith as well as belief (since they’re such closely related words) and looking into the Greek and Hebrew words behind the English translations. My initial “short list” as I started narrowing down which scriptures to include was 78 passages, which gives you an idea just how many verses on faith there are in the Bible. I did eventually get it down to 30 (you’ll find a link to the finished scripture-writing plan at the end of this post).

Faith and Truth

In the Old Testament, you’ll find the word “faithfulness” more often than “faith.” Usually, it’s talking about God’s faithfulness (Deut. 7:9; Ps. 33:4; 89:1; Is. 25:1; Lam 3:23) or humanity’s faithfulness or unfaithfulness to Him (2 Chr. 29:6; 31:20; Hos. 4:12). In these scriptures, “faith” as a concept takes a backseat to the idea of living a faithful life. It’s clear that faith involves action; a change in your entire way of life because of being in a covenant relationship with God.

You are Yahweh, the God who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, gave him the name of Abraham, found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him … for you are righteous.

Nehemiah 9:7-8 , WEB

In Hebrew, the word “faith” is typically translated from the root word aman (H539) or one of several other words in this word family (e.g. amen, emuna, emet) (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament [TWOT], entry 116). Interestingly, this is the same group of words for “truth.” At it’s most fundamental, the “root idea is firmness or certainty” and it “shows that biblical faith is an assurance, a certainty, in contrast with modern concepts of faith as something possible, hopefully true, but not certain” (TWOT 116). It’s something that’s absolutely dependable; something that gives you stability.

Know therefore that Yahweh your God himself is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with them who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations

Deuteronomy 7:9, WEB

We can rely on our faithful God. This fact is emphasized over and over in scriptures, particularly in the Old Testament. But God also wants to be able to rely on us to act faithfully. It’s a commitment that is supposed to go both ways, as it did with Abraham, David, and Hezekiah (Neh. 9:7-8; 1 Kings 3:6; 2 Chr. 31:20).

Image of four people sitting around a table with their Bibles open overlaid with text from Ps. 101:6, WEB version: "My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he will serve me."
Image by Ben White from Lightstock

A Thing and an Action

Faith in the New Testament also involves action and devotion, but it’s a little harder for us to see that in our modern translations. In Greek, “faith” is translated from the noun pistis (G4102), which implies active loyalty and trust. The verb form pisteuo (G4100) is often translated “believe.” Now, that makes things a bit confusing because in English faith and belief aren’t quite the same. The top definition for “faith” provided by Google and Oxford Languages is “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” For “believe,” the top definition is “accept (something) as true; feel sure of the truth of” and it’s also become synonymous with “think” or “suppose.” So there are overlaps in the definitions, but they don’t have the same connotations.

As I talked about in my newsletter earlier this week, there isn’t a verb (action) form of “faith” in English–it’s always a noun (person, place, or thing)–so translators had to use a different word to translate the action-form of “faith.” We need to keep that in mind when we’re reading the New Testament. When we read “believe” it’s not just an intellectual agreement or an emotional feeling that something is true; it is faith in action. Even when Bible writers use the noun form, they still describe faith as something that you’re supposed to do, not just have.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. 

Matthew 23:23, WEB

We can’t leave faith “undone.” It’s an active thing. When we read that Jesus came preaching, “The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News” (Mark 1:15, WEB), “believe” is a command to engage in the activity of faith.

 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.

John 14:11-12, WEB

We often think of faith as separated from works in modern Christianity, thinking of verses like Paul saying Abraham was justified by faith rather than his works (Rom. 3:27-4:21) while ignoring James using the exact same example to show that faith without works is dead (Jam. 2:14-26). Faith is absolutely connected to works–a faithful life naturally produces certain fruit. (Paul’s point is that salvation is not dependent on works, but on the faithfulness of Jesus and our active belief in Him.)

Image of a woman looking up at the sky overlaid with text from Jude 1:20-22, WEB version: "But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, maintain yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life."
Image by Brightside Creative from Lightstock

Cultivating Active Faith

So what does faith do? In other words, if you have faith, what does it look like to turn that into action? For one thing, it leads to growth as a Christian.

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.  I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he will grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, you will be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you will be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:14-19, NET

Remember, we’re talking about “faith” in the context of the fruit of the spirit. Here in Ephesians, Paul prayed for those in the church that they would be “strengthened with power through His spirit” so “that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith.” God’s spirit inside us enables Christ to dwell in us through faith, and then that leads to major spiritual growth. One result of this growth is that faith shifts our mindset about things.

Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. For most certainly I tell you, whoever may tell this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is happening; he shall have whatever he says. Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them.”

Mark 11:22-24 , WEB

This verse isn’t just about literally picking up mountains (though it certainly isn’t the only verse about faith/believing having tangible effects in the world [Mark 16:15-18; John 14:11-12]). It’s also about actually trusting that God responds when you talk with Him (John 16:24-27). To put it in Old Testament terms, faith on your part means actually trusting that God is faithful to His part of the covenant relationship.

But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I take no pleasure in him. But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.  …

Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 10:38-11:1, 11:6, NET (bold italics mark a quotation from Hab 2:4).

We can’t function as Christians without faith. And we need to make a conscious effort to cultivate that faith in our lives. We need to hold onto faith (1 Tim. 1:18-19), pursue it (1 Tim. 6:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:22), fight for the faith (Jude 1:3; 2 Tim. 4:7-8), and build up our faith (Jude 1:20; Col. 2:6-7). Like the other character traits and inner attitudes described as “fruit of the spirit,” faith isn’t just something we have passively but something we actively cultivate as God works in and with us.

Acting On Faith

Image of a basket of fruit, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "Faith is part of the fruit of God’s spirit, and it influences every aspect of our lives as people who are being transformed by God."
Image by HeVoLi from Pixabay

Many people today think that faith in God means simply believing that He exists. But in biblical terms, that head knowledge only turns into faith when we act on it. If it’s just an intellectual acknowledgement of God’s existence and power, then it’s not any more “faith” than the sort of belief in God that demons have.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that—and tremble with fear.

James 2:14-19, NET

We need to be cautious about counterfeit versions of faith or things that tempt us to fall away from the faith. About 2,000 years ago, Paul warned Timothy, “Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared” (1 Tim. 4:1-2, NET). That’s no less true today than it was then. Somewhat ironically, navigating a world where people desert the faith and try to lure God’s people away from living faithful lives is one of the trials that can strengthen our faith (James 1:2-3).

… you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials. Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold—gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away—and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because you are attaining the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:6-9, NET

Here, Peter reminds us that the end goal of faith is salvation. It’s not a one-time thing where we have a moment of faith, say we love Jesus, and then salvation happens right there. It’s a life-long process. When we enter a relationship with God, we’re making a covenant with Him that includes an agreement to be faithful to Him for the rest of our lives and on into eternal life (Acts 2:38; Rom. 10:10; Phil. 3:8-15) (and, on His part, He agrees to faithfully grant us forgiveness and salvation, share His spirit with us, and enable us to become like Him).

With God’s spirit inside us, faith reshapes our lives. It becomes a central aspect of us and something that we actively do as well as believe. Living in faith involves what we think, the way we conceptualize the world, how we respond to other people, the choices we make every day, and all of our actions. If you’d like to spend more time on this topic, follow this link to download any of my free 30-day scripture writing plans or click here to download the “faith” PDF directly:

faithDownload

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Song Recommendation: “By Faith” by Keith & Kristyn Getty

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Peace

Peace

Marissa

I decided to spend this week studying peace as part of the fruit of God’s spirit. This month in my local church’s lady’s scripture writing group, I shared the topic of “Sing Praise.” When I went to upload it here on my website so all of you could download it if you want, I realized that I never finished my Fruit of the Spirit scripture writing series. I still have “peace,” “faith,” and “gentleness” left to finish.

The Greek word for “peace” is eirene (G1515), a tranquil, blessed state with security and no strife. The Hebrew equivalent is shalom (H7965), wholeness; nothing missing, nothing broken. As I read through the 294 verses containing one of these words, I realized a lot of them aren’t about peace as something we do, or even necessarily as a character attribute that we develop. Most of them (208) are in the Old Testament, and a lot of those verses talk about people asking each other if they have peaceful intentions, or lamenting a lack of peace that’s associated with rebellion against God, or God assuring His people that He can provide them with peace.

I suppose I think of the fruit of the spirit as something we do. When the spirit is in us, then we practice “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23, WEB). But the verses about joy and peace at least make it seem more like something you have inside you because of who you are when transformed by the spirit. I suppose rather than thinking about this fruit as something we do, we should think of them as descriptions of who we become as people transformed by God, which will of course influence our actions.

Image of a man reading the Bible overlaid with text from 2 Cor. 13:11 version: "Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you."
Image by Matt Vasquez from Lightstock

Peace In Relationship With God

Over and over, scriptures on peace link it to our relationship with God. He either promises to “give peace” to those who follow Him, or people following Him speak of the peace that they experience when they love Him and His law.

Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, “This is how you shall bless the children of Israel. You shall tell them, ‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’ So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them.” 

Numbers 6:23-27, WEB

Those who love your law have great peace. Nothing causes them to stumble. 

Psalm 119:165 , WEB

Peace is something intimately associated with God. We’ve talked about it before on this blog, so you might remember that in Hebrew, names are intimately associated with a person’s character and reputation. In one Messianic prophecy, Jesus Christ is called the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). In the book of Judges, Gideon “built an altar … and called it “Yahweh is Peace'” (Jud. 6:24, WEB). Those are the only two places in the Old Testament that “peace” is listed as a name for Yahweh or the Messiah, but peace is consistently described as something He provides.

Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go. Oh that you had listened to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”

Isaiah 48:17 , WEB

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ.  For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition,  having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace;  and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility thereby. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. 

Ephesians 2:13-17, WEB

There’s a lot more to godly peace than simply feeling peaceful or being a peacemaker. Thinking about those Greek and Hebrew words I mentioned in the intro, peace involves tranquility, blessedness, security, and wholeness. There’s peace in God leading us in His way of life, in the redemptive work of the Messiah, and in our covenant relationship with the Father and Son.

Image of a woman reading the Bible overlaid with text from Isaiah 32:17-18, WEB version: "The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in a peaceful habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting places."
Image by Pearl from Lightstock

Peace as Something We Do

In the Old Testament, peace is mostly described as something God gives us or which naturally occurs in our lives when we keep covenant with Him and obey His commandments. A few times, though, peace is something we’re commanded to do.

Depart from evil, and do good. Seek peace, and pursue it. 

Psalm 34:14 , WEB

These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates, and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor, and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate,” says Yahweh.  

Zechariah 8:16 , WEB

These sorts of instructions become more common in the New Testament. Peace is still something God gives us (John 14:27; Rom. 5:1-2; 2 Thes. 3:16), but it’s also more often described as something that we choose to participate in.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people.

Romans 12:17-18, NET

Peace between ourselves and other people is a topic that comes up frequently (Mark 9:50; Rom. 14:19; 2 Cor. 13:11; Eph. 4:1-3). This is especially important to God in our relationships with other people in His church. Unity, peace, and interactions that build each other up are something He repeatedly commands (in contrast to condemning disunity, strife, and tearing each other down).

Flee from youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant questionings, knowing that they generate strife. The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but be gentle towards all, able to teach, patient.

2 Timothy 2:22-24 , WEB

Peace As Part of Our Lives

Image of two people facing each other with their hands clasped overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "Peace is part of the fruit of God’s spirit, a key aspect of who we become as people transformed by God."
Image by Jantanee from Lightstock

As part of the fruit of the spirit, peace is something we choose and something we’re gifted from God. His spirit inside us, which is part of our New Covenant relationship with Him, enables us to have peace inside us and to cultivate peace around us no matter what else is going on.

Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:6-9, NET

When the God of peace is with us and filling us with His spirit, peace should be a natural fruit of our lives. We’re still human, though, and we need to work on living in the spirit rather than the flesh, including choosing to live lives of peace. That involves cultivating peace inside us and making peace with those around us as much as we possibly can.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. 

James 3:17-18 , WEB

As people whose lives are being transformed by God, “peace” should be one of the key characteristics that His spirit produces in us (Gal. 5:22-23). If we lack peace, we can ask God to cultivate it inside us. If we struggle behaving peacefully with other people, and can repent of any associated sins and ask for God’s help to choose peace and make peace. He is the God of peace–Yahweh Shalom–and He is perfectly capable of putting His peace into the lives of people living in relationship with Him.

Click here to download a free 30-Day Scripture Writing Plan on the topic of “Peace.”

Featured image by PhotoGranary from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Benediction (May The Peace Of God)” by Keith and Kristen Getty

Click here to learn more about these books or to order a copy.
Getting A Heart Transplant from God

Getting A Heart Transplant from God

Marissa

One of the many things consistent through the whole Bible, Old and New Testaments, is that God is deeply concerned with the state of His people’s hearts. As early as the flood, “it grieved Him in His heart” to see “that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil” (Gen. 6:5-6, WEB). The heart-state of mankind didn’t get much better as the years went on. Later, of ancient Israel, God said, “Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” (Deut. 5:29,WEB). He’s longed for a heart-level relationship with people since He created us, but for centuries our hearts weren’t in it.

One of the big promises about the New Covenant was that God said to His people, “I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh” (Eze. 36:26, WEB). The author of Hebrews talks about this happening in us today as God writes His laws on our hearts because of Jesus mediating the New Covenant (Heb. 8:6-11; 10:14-16). Interestingly, this discussion of new hearts and new spirits is deeply connected to the change in how New Covenant believers relate to the law of God compared to Old Covenant believers.

Image of an autumn leaf with a heart shapecut out of it overlaid with text from Jer. 31:33-34, WEB version: “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” ... “they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh.
Image by Rebekka D from Pixabay

The Whole Inner Person

We often think of the mind as associated with thought and the heart only being emotion, but in Hebrew the heart symbolized all of a person’s inner workings. While leb has the same concrete meanings that it does in English, it is also “the richest biblical term for the totality of man’s inner or immaterial nature” (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament [TWOT], entry 1071a). This includes the personality and mind, with leb standing for “emotion, thought, or will” (TWOT).

That has some interesting implications for how we interpret key Biblical passages. Take this one, for example: “The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt” (Jer. 17:9, WEB). This does not, as I’ve heard some say, simply mean you can’t trust your emotions or “follow your heart” in the modern sense of the phrase. It means humanity’s whole inner nature–both emotions and thought–is corrupt. At least, it’s that way until our hearts are healed and transformed by God.

“I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”

Ezekiel 11:19-20, WEB

We need a “heart transplant” to make us more like our heavenly father. Remember in Deuteronomy, when God said, “Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always”? When He established the New Covenant, it included a way to fix that heart problem. And because there’s a change in our hearts–our entire internal makeup changing from human and fleshy to godly and spiritual–the way we interact with God and His way of life changes as well.

“It’s one thing to do good because we’re told it’s good and therefore we obey. It’s quite another to do good because we’re good deep down inside and goodness is what naturally flows out. That’s the new heart we’re promised and the new nature we’re given by God’s spirit.”

Chis Tiegreen, One Year Hearing His Voice devotional, Day 29

I came across this quote in my devotional for this year, and it’s what prompted me to write this post. The topic of God working in us and changing us is one we talk about often, but I liked the idea of looking at it from this perspective. It helps us understand a lot of the New Testament writers’ perspectives when we think of this change in heart involving a change in our inner nature. The goal is to become perfect like our “heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48. NET). When that happens, we’ll be good inside the way that God is good.

Image of a heart with light shining out of it overlaid with text from Heb. 10:21-22, NET version: "and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water."
Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay

Paul’s Struggle With the Carnal Heart

Of course, the process of becoming perfect like God doesn’t happen all at once. It doesn’t even fully happen in any human lifetime. Jesus authors or begins our faith and He is in the process of working with us to bring it to completion, but that won’t be fully realized until His return and our change from flesh to spirit (Heb. 12:2; 1 Cor. 15:42-53). But we get to begin that change now, and that’s something Paul talks about in several of his letters, particularly Romans and Galatians.

In Romans, Paul talks about how we needed the law “when we were in the flesh” with active “sinful desires” because the law lets us know what sin is and the grave consequences of it (Rom. 7:1-12). Now, though, we have “died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God” (Rom. 7:4, NET). Now, if we stopped there, we might conclude there’s no law now under the New Covenant because we have Jesus and we don’t need anything else. But Jesus Himself said He wasn’t here to destroy the law but to fulfill it (i.e. to fill it up to its fullest extent). Paul’s actually talking about a struggle here between the flesh, which needs to obey God’s law, and the spirit, which should just be good because it’s like God.

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual—but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate. But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.

Romans 7:12-20, NET

Paul is talking about the same problem that God identified with so many people in the Old Testament. Their hearts are corrupt, they are “unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.” They might even agree that the law is good, but when “nothing good lives in” your “flesh” then you’re not going to be truly good even if you obey the law most of the time. As Paul said earlier in Romans, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23, NET).

So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Romans 7:21-8:4, NET

Now we see Paul discussing God’s solution to the problem. Through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the Lord is transforming us so we can walk “according to the Spirit” instead of “according to the flesh.” In other words, He’s replacing our heart of stone and giving us a heart like His. Circling back to the Tiegreen quote about obeying because we’re told to do good vs obeying because we are good, I think Paul’s statement, “I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” applies. The part of Paul being transformed and made perfect has God’s law written on his heart; he serves God in the spirit and doesn’t need an external law to make him fulfill “the righteous requirement of the law.” But the part of Paul that’s still human needs that “law of sin” (i.e. God’s law that pointed out what sin is and condemns it) to show him the difference between right and wrong.

Working With God to Build Relationship

Image of a crown-of-thorns ring on a Bible casting a heart-shaped shadow, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "God wants a heart-level relationship with people, but our hearts on their own don't want to connect with Him or follow His ways. We need new hearts."
Image by James Chan from Pixabay

Because of the heart-work that God is doing in us, we can choose to “live by the Spirit and … not carry out the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16, NET). In this passage in Galatians, Paul then goes on to detail the “works of the flesh” (sins) and the “fruit of the spirit” (godly character) so we can make sure we’re on the right track (Gal. 5:16-6:8). Remember, we’re still not perfect yet. While we can trust our hearts more and more as they’re transformed by God (see 1 John 3:21), we still need to examine ourselves and ask for God’s perspective on us to make sure we’re not getting off-track (1 Cor. 11:28-32; 2 Cor 13:5-6).

So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God. 

Philippians 2:12-13, NET

God invites us to work with Him on transforming our hearts. We get to work on our salvation as He’s working in us. We even get to participate in purifying our hearts (Jas. 4:8). It’s part of the relationship He longs to build with us. If He just did everything for us–or if we could do everything on our own–we wouldn’t be building relationships with Him. And that’s His ultimate goal: to grow the God-family by welcoming new family members into the oneness that the Father and Jesus already share. The “heart transplant” He offers us is just one step toward that goal.

Featured image by Photo Mix from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “Heartbeat of Heaven” by Jean Watson

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How and Why To Find Your Spiritual Gifts

How and Why To Find Your Spiritual Gifts

Marissa

My husband and I have been moving my office furniture to make a nursery on the first floor of our house (we have steep stairs to the upstairs bedrooms, so baby won’t move up there for a few years). In that process, I’ve been taking all my books off the shelves and, in some cases, being reminded of some that I’d forgotten I had.

One of those is Live Your Calling: A Practical Guide to Finding and Fulfilling Your Mission in Life by Kevin and Kay Marie Brennfleck. The focus of this book is on finding your God-given purpose in life, which they break into six assessments: transferrable skills, core work values, preferred roles, personality type, compelling interests, and spiritual gifts. I mentioned the spiritual gifts assessment briefly in my “Finding Your Gifts” post from 2015, which probably means I first read this book about 10 years ago.

Finding this book on my shelf reminded me how passionate I used to be about spiritual gifts. I’d even had plans for an ambitious interactive seminar (back when I’d given two seminars and thought I might end up doing more) about discovering your spiritual gifts, though I didn’t get much beyond the note taking and idea gathering phase. I still think about it every once in a while, like last year when I heard someone at a church gathering hesitantly say they didn’t think they had any spiritual gifts.

Many of us wonder what our spiritual gifts are. If we don’t know our gift–or don’t think we have a gift–and we hear that everyone with God’s spirit is supposed to have a gift, we might feel discouraged or question if there’s something wrong with us. if we do know our gift and don’t know how to use it–or struggle finding opportunities to use it–that can also be frustrating. Figuring out what our gifts are and how to use them can help strengthen our relationship with God and feel more comfortable or confident in our role within His church.

Image of a young woman standing in a church group reading the Bible, overlaid with text from 1 Cor. 12:1, 4-7, NET version: "With regard to spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ...Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different results, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all."
Image by José Roberto Roquel from Lightstock

How To Find Spiritual Gifts

My interest in my own spiritual gifts started with a Bible study at church when I was in my late teens or early 20s. Our pastor at the time handed out a printed questionnaire that, when you answered honestly and scored it, was supposed to indicate which gift or gifts you’re most likely to have. One of mine was, by quite a high score, identified as prophecy. That was super confusing for me, so I started looking for other assessments and more information (I also wrote about this in a 2014 post). I eventually decided that I had teaching-related gifts, which could be described as prophecy/inspired speaking, instruction, or teaching depending on the assessment and which verses or translations they used as the basis of their resources. This blog is the main output of my spiritual gift.

If you want to learn what your spiritual gift is, an assessment like that can be a good place to start (if you’re curious, a Google search will turn up several options). But tests like that are just a starting place. They guide a self-assessment of what might be your gifts; they don’t provide a definitive answer, but they can give us ideas and insight.

I suspect that often, the gifts that we have are so natural to us–they become so much a part of our nature–that we struggle identifying them. We might not think of them as gifts; it’s just who we are. With that in mind, it can also be helpful to ask people who know us well what they think our spiritual gifts are. For example, I know someone who probably wouldn’t say he has a spiritual gift of service, yet if anyone in the congregation expresses a need he could fill or talks about a project that in anyway aligns with his skillset, he enthusiastically volunteers to show up and help. You might also have a gift that’s obvious to the people around you, but from your perspective is just something you do.

Image of ___ overlaid with text from Phil. 2:2-4, NET version: "Complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose. Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well."
Image by Ben White Pearl from Lightstock

Gifts In Community

One of the key things, which I think is often overlooked in discussions about finding your spiritual gifts, is the importance of community. The gifts are meant to be used within the body of Christ, and I think it’s not too much of a stretch to say that they are best (perhaps only?) discoverable in a community of faith. In the famous passage on spiritual gifts from 1 Corinthians, Paul said, “To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all” (1 Cor. 12:7, NET). They’re individual gifts, but the purpose is to benefit the entire church community.

We’re so individualistic in the Western world; it’s baked into our cultural heritage. But if we approach our spiritual gifts from a perspective of I want to learn my gift so I know how God has blessed me and what He wants me to do, we’re missing a vital “we” aspect to spiritual gifts. As I talked about last year in “Reading Slowly Through 1 Corinthians 12: Contextualizing The Spiritual Gifts,” Paul emphasizes over and over that God is building a unified church led by Jesus Christ (with many groups scattered around the world, all acknowledging Jesus as Head), not merely working with individuals or separate church groups that follow human leaders with showy gifts. We are all in this together.

It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things. For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body—though many—are one body, so too is Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit. For in fact the body is not a single member, but many. …

On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential … God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another. If one member suffers, everyone suffers with it. If a member is honored, all rejoice with it. Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it.

1 Corinthians 12:11-14, 22, 24-27, NET

God is careful about how He puts His church together. Everyone He calls into His family has a place in that family, and they all contribute to the health and unity of the body. All their gifts are essential to the healthy body. Paul reiterates this in another spiritual gifts passage, this one found in Romans. It comes immediately after Paul tells his readers “to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1, NET).

For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another. And we have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith. If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.

Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord.

Romans 12:4-11, NET

The “Why” Helps Us with “What”

Image of two people with clasped hands, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "Perhaps rather than studying ourselves trying to figure out our spiritual gifts, we should simply look for opportunities to serve within the body of Christ."
Image by Jantanee from Lightstock

When we wonder what our spiritual gifts are, I think the “why” of the gifts can help us figure out what God is enabling us to do within His church. The gifts God gives are “the manifestation of the Spirit” and He shares them with us “for the benefit of all” (1 Cor. 12:7, NET). We can’t separate our gifts–or ourselves–from the body of Christ, since “we are members who belong to one another” and our gifts are used in that context (Rom. 12:5, NET).

 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called,  with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. … And he himself gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature.

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13, NET

The specific gifts discussed in this passage are mostly ministerial and teaching ones, but the context is Paul urging everyone in the Ephesian church to “live worthily of the calling” from God, to love others and “put up with” them, and to make “every effort to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.” Pair this with the gifts passage in 1 Corinthians, and it’s not much of a stretch to say we’re all responsible for using our gifts to “build up the body of Christ” and to contribute to “the unity of the faith.”

In relation to faith, we need to move away from thinking of and focusing on ourselves as individuals, and move toward thinking of ourselves as part of the church that Jesus and the Father are actively building. This might be very hard if we’re among the many people who don’t have a church group to fellowship with, whether it’s because there aren’t any nearby or we can’t travel because of personal circumstances (e.g. age, illness). It can also be hard when we have a church group we can attend, but we don’t feel safe, comfortable, or welcomed there. We have a caring and compassionate God, and He is our lifeline to the body of Christ when we genuinely can’t connect with other believers. We can still conceptualize ourselves as part of something bigger even if we can’t physically gather together for some reason.

For those of us who can fellowship with other believers, we might find that our spiritual gifts are easiest to identify when we engage with that community. Perhaps rather than studying ourselves trying to figure out our spiritual gifts, we should simply look for opportunities to serve. If you start asking what needs there are in your church that you could fill, you might find yourself asked or drawn to fill the needs that most match your gifts (for example, someone with a teaching gift could lead a small group, and someone with an administrative gift could help manage finances). You could also ask close friends what they think your gifts are. You might learn that they notice a side of you that you didn’t even realize was there (for example, people might consistently tell you you’re encouraging, and then you could start consciously using that gift more often). The more we seek to build up and benefit the body of Christ–remember, that’s the reason God gives His people gifts–the more likely we are to realize that God really does equip us to fill the roles He’s given us in His family.

Featured image by Claudine Chaussé from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Here I Am Lord” by Chris Bray

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Is There a Golden Calf in My Life?

Is There a Golden Calf in My Life?

Marissa

Do you remember the story of the Exodus? The people of Israel–the nation descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to whom God made great promises–were enslaved in Egypt. They cried out to God for help, and He sent a deliverer. Moses arrived and demanded that Pharaoh let the Israelites go. When Pharaoh refused, God sent 10 plagues that proved His absolute authority. After the final, devastating plague, Pharaoh and the Egyptians were happy to see the people of Israel go. After just a little while, though, Pharaoh angrily pursued them, intending to wipe them out. But God parted a sea for Israel to walk through, then after they’d escaped He used the sea to destroy the whole Egyptian army.

Imagine what it would have been like to see that. To witness all 10 plagues, especially the final ones where there was a clear distinction between God’s people and the Egyptians. Egypt was in darkness for three days, but the Israelites had normal light. All the Egyptian firstborn died, the children of Israel kept the Passover and God spared their lives. You’d have seen an entire sea split in half, walked through on dry land, and then watched as it destroyed the army trying to kill you (Ex. 14). Then, as your travels continued, you saw undrinkable water turn sweet and began gathering manna that appeared miraculously each morning to feed the entire company of people (Ex. 15:22-17:7). And then, your group of former slaves was attacked and you ended up winning the battle (Ex. 17:8-16). Finally, you came to Mount Sinai and literally heard the voice of God thunder down (Ex. 19-20). If you hadn’t been convinced of God’s reality before, you must have been by now!

And yet, after God spoke the 10 Commandments and Moses went up to the mountain to speak with Him more, Israel made a golden calf and started worshipping it. As modern readers, we are often inclined to look back on people of the past and assume that we’re much better than them. How dumb do you have to be, we think, to have witnessed all God’s miracles and then decide a gold statue of a calf is the one you should worship?

Image of Mount Sinai overlaid with text from Exodus 20:1-5, WEB version: God spoke all these words, saying, “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves an idol ... you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God”
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Aaron’s Perspective

Let’s take a closer look at this story. After seeing “that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron” and demanded that he “make us gods, which shall go before us” to replace Moses, “the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 32:1, WEB). The Hebrew word translated “gods” here is elohym, the same word used in Genesis 1:1 when it says, “God created the heavens and the earth.” It is a plural noun, used both generically of gods but also of the one true God (much like the English word today). The people are requesting a visible deity to take the place of Moses. Now, look at Aaron’s response.

All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He received what they handed him, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molded calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.”

Exodus 32:3-5, WEB (NET notes th

At first, Aaron echoes the people’s request for elohym (and the NET translation notes that “these are your gods” could be translated “this is your god”). But once the calf is built and the altar constructed, he proclaims “a feast to Yahweh.” In contrast to the more general elohym, Yahweh is a very specific name. Look how God revealed that name to Moses, when He first called him to go and deliver Israel.

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations

Exodus 3:14-15, WEB

Yahweh is God’s proper name, which He revealed to His people for them to use. God is a description of the type of being He is, Lord is a title, but Yahweh is His name. I think it’s significant that Aaron uses this name here, rather than the name of an Egyptian deity associated with cattle like Apis or Hathor. Aaron didn’t present this as a different god than Israel had followed out of Egypt; he caved to the people’s demands to make a visible representation of a god and then he said worshipping it was worshiping Yahweh.

Image of a path leading into the desert overlaid with text from prov. 14:12, WEB version: "There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Image by Alper Sevinc from Pixabay

God’s Perspective

Aaron’s description of the golden calf as the god who brought Israel out of Egypt is baffling to us. But how often do we do something similar, where we come up with an idea and decide we’re honoring God but in reality it has nothing to do with how He tells us to live and worship him?

Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves! They have turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”

Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

Exodus 32:7-10, WEB

Whatever Aaron might have thought about what He was doing, Yahweh is very clear about how He viewed the golden calf incident. He was ready to kill everyone involved because they “corrupted themselves” and “turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them.” Moses interceded on behalf of the people and God mercifully stayed His hand, but this was still a very serious offense. They had “sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold” (Ex 32:30-31, WEB). Even if some of them had thought they were in the right, it didn’t change the fact that what they did was wrong.

Image of a beautiful sunset over mountains, overlaid with text from 1 cor. 10:11,14, NET version: "These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction... So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry."
Image by Kanenori from Pixabay

What about New Covenant Christians?

I wonder sometimes if there are areas where I’m just as stubborn as the ancient Israelites about doing something I think honors God but which He would tell me not to do (it’s a regular prayer of mine that He would show me if that is the case). We can say for certain that the New Covenant church is not immune to this issue, as demonstrated by Paul’s letters. He frequently corrects mistakes in people’s understanding of what is and is not pleasing in God’s eyes.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul chides the believers in Corinth for what the NET Bible describes as “immaturity and self-deception” (header for chapter 3). They’d broken into factions following different human teachers and they had an inflated opinion of their own wisdom. They’d even decided to allow sexual immorality within the congregation, and then boast about their tolerance! (1 Cor. 5). And there were other issues as well, which you can read the whole letter to learn more about. Eventually, Paul brings his readers back to the example of Israel at Mount Sinai.

 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” …

These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it. So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 

1 Corinthians 10:1-7, 11-14, NET

One of the basic things that we need to accept when we commit to following God is that He’s the one who gets to determine how we ought to follow Him. It’s not a negotiation or something we come up with on our own. He gives us clear guidelines to follow. There are some things we can personalize–for example, we’re told to sing praises, but the style of music or the number of songs per church service isn’t specified. However, we aren’t given the option to change things completely–for example, eliminate music from worship or replace songs of praise in church services with songs that have nothing to do with God.

Examining Ourselves for Idolatry

AI generated artistic rendering of Israel at Mount Sinai with the golden calf, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "We might think ancient Israel was stupid for worshipping a calf statue after seeing God’s miracles, but how often do we do something similar?"
Image AI generated with NightCafe

Music is a relatively simple example. While it can generate sharp controversy and very definite opinions, most reasonable people will admit that music tastes are subjective and there isn’t anything wrong with different styles (i.e. traditional hymns vs. contemporary Christian) provided the lyrics are Biblically sound. Many of the other topics can get more controversial. For example, I think the question of Biblical holy days (e.g. Passover, Pentecost, Sukkot) vs. more recently “Christianized” holidays (e.g. Easter, Christmas) falls into this category. I struggle to wrap my head around why people would keep days God doesn’t tell them to while ignoring the ones that He does.

When we think of idolatry, we usually think of making statues and worshiping them instead of the true God. But it’s more insidious than that and it’s still dangerous today. Paul warned us to “flee from idolatry” (1 Cor. 7:15, NET). John’s final instruction in his first epistle is, “guard yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21, NET). The ending of Revelation makes clear that idolaters will not be in God’s kingdom (Rev. 21:8; 22:15). It’s a very serious thing, and it’s something we all need to examine ourselves for and make sure we’re not replacing God with some other priority, or trying to worship Him in a way that seems okay to us but that He would say is not the way He commanded.

Now that we’ve started a new year on the Gregorian calendar, I start thinking about the new year that will start in the spring on God’s calendar. This year, the first day of the first month on the Hebrew calendar lines up with April 9th. That gives us about three months now before we’ll be keeping Passover. Traditionally, the time leading up to Passover is a season of self-examination because that’s what Paul tells the Corinthians to do shortly after he gives them the warnings from Israel’s past (1 Cor. 11:17-34). Now is an excellent time to start taking a look at ourselves, and prayerfully asking God to share His perspective on our choices. Personally, I like to pray Jeremiah’s prayer: “Yahweh, correct me, but gently” (Jer. 10:24, WEB). We need His correction, and we also need His mercy when we’re asking for His aid to identify and overcome idolatry or any other sin.

Featured image by ian kelsall from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “Here I Am Anyway” by Josh Wilson

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How Should We Speak With Other People in the Church?

How Should We Speak With Other People in the Church?

Marissa

Earlier this week, my dad mentioned to me that he noticed the word “debate” is never used in a positive light in the Bible and yet people in the church sometimes argue that debate is healthy. Dad’s observation matched what I’ve heard, and I wondered where the line is between healthy discussions of scripture and unfruitful, even sinful, debating. I wanted to study it more.

Though we’ll spend quite a bit of this post on definitions and examples from scripture that highlight things we should not do when speaking with other people in the church, I think the take-away message is positive. There are so many things that God and His writers tell us that we should be focusing on in our interactions that there’s no need to dwell on the negative things. We need to know what we shouldn’t be doing so we can avoid them, but the bulk of our attention should be on building up, encouraging, teaching, growing, loving, and cultivating peace and unity in the church.

Some Background Definitions

In English, the word “debate” either refers to “a formal discussion on a particular topic in a public meeting” or to the action of arguing “about (a subject), especially in a formal manner.” Originally, the word came into English from “Latin dis- (expressing reversal) + battere ‘to fight’” (definition from Oxford Languages via Google). Arguing and fighting certainly doesn’t sound like something a Christian ought to be doing, particularly in light of how often God expresses His intention for there to be peace in His church.

In the Bible, use of the word “debate” depends on the translation. For example, forms of this word show up 11 times in the NET (Isa. 41:1; 43:26; Mark 12:28; Luke 6:11; 24:15; Acts 9:29; 15:2; 15:7; 18:28; 1 Cor. 1:20; Jud. 1:9) but only 5 times in the KJV (Prov. 25:9; Isa. 27:8; 58:4; Rom. 1:29; 2 Cor. 12:20), and the different translations use “debate” in completely different verses. The WEB version only uses “debate” once (Prov. 25:9). With so many different translations, it will be more useful to look at synonyms and at the Hebrew and Greek words that could be translated “debate,” “argue,” “discuss,” etc.

Hebrew words translated “debate” include rı̂yb (H7378) “to strive, contend” either verbally or physically. This one is used of human quarrels, but also of God’s legal right to “chide” or “reprove” people” (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament [TWOT] 2159). The word medan (H4090) or madon (H4066) is another word with a root that has judicial connections, and it means “strife, contention” (TWOT 426c). Another word used is matstsâh (H4683), which also means “strife, contention” and comes from a root that means “to struggle” (Brown, Driver, Brigs (BDB) definitions). Here are some of the verses where these words refer to human activity.

The beginning of strife (madon) is like breaching a dam,
    therefore stop contention (riyb) before quarreling breaks out.

Proverbs 17:4, WEB

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see?
    Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’ …

Behold, you fast for strife (riyb) and contention (matstsah),
    and to strike with the fist of wickedness.
    You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high.

Isaiah 58:3-4, WEB

There are six things which Yahweh hates;
    yes, seven which are an abomination to him:
arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
    hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
    feet that are swift in running to mischief,
a false witness who utters lies,
    and he who sows discord (medan) among brothers.

Proverbs 6:16-19, WEB

Clearly, discord strife, and contention are not good things for humans to engage in. In fact, God says that He absolutely hates people who go around spreading discord/strife/contention among other people. Strife and contention can even block our voice from being heard by Him.

Image of two men sitting across a table from each other, overlaid with text from 2 Cor. 12:20, NET version: "For I am afraid that somehow when I come I will not find you what I wish, and you will find me not what you wish. I am afraid that somehow there may be quarreling, jealousy, intense anger, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder."
Image by Claudine Chaussé from Lightstock

Ways of Speaking Together

It’s a similar situation in the New Testament as in the Old, with strong warnings against strife and contention. The Greek words that could be translated “debate” can be grouped roughly into two groups (based on synonyms listed by Zodhiates in The Complete WordStudy Dictionary: New Testament).

On the one hand we have eris (G2054), “strife, contention, wrangling.” Synonyms include “eritheia (2052,) contention, rivalry; antilogia (485), verbal dispute; mache (3163), fighting; philoneikia (5379), love of quarreling or contention; logomachia (3055), strife of words; paroxusmos (3948), paroxysm, incitement” (Zodhiates, entry G2054). Eris is the word that the KJV translates “debate,” and it’s not a good thing. This word and its synonyms have to do with fighting, contention, and strife. All together, eris and its synonyms appear 28 times in the New Testament. The only time one is used positively is Hebrews 10:24 (“provoke,” G3948). All the others are negative, as demonstrated by these verses:

For since there is still jealousy and dissension (eris) among you, are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people?

1 Corinthians 3:3, NET

 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife (eris), jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries (eritheia), dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

Galatians 5:19-21, NET

But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, quarrels (eris), and fights (mache) about the law, because they are useless and empty. Reject a divisive person after one or two warnings. You know that such a person is twisted by sin and is conscious of it himself.

Titus 3:9-11, NET

On the other hand, we have suzeteo (G4802) and its derivatives, which means “to seek or examine together” or to “discuss, dispute, question” (Thayer). In general, it means “to question, reason, dispute with someone” (Zodhiates), and the NET sometimes translates it “debate” because “this term implies emotional dialogue” (NET footnote to Luke 24:15). Synonyms listed by Zodhiates include “dialegomai (1256), to question, argue, dispute; dialogizomai (1260), to reason, discuss; eperotao (1905), to ask, to question” (entry on G4802). As we read these definitions, I think we can see that if someone’s trying to argue that debate is a good thing, they probably mean it in the sense of question, reason, or discuss. But are these words used in a positive light in the New Testament?

Image of people holding hands to pray overlaid with text from Rom. 14:13, 19, NET version: "Therefore we must not pass judgment on one another, but rather determine never to place an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister. ... So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another."
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Discussions: Accepted but Not Commanded

Suzeteo and its synonyms appear 103 times in the New Testament. 60 of those are eperatoa (G1905), which is used simply for asking questions and whether it’s positive or negative depends on the question and the motive. For example, its used of Jesus’s disciples asking Him questions, but also of people questioning Him in an attempt to trap Him (Matt. 16:1; 17:10). Paul even tells women they “should ask” their husbands if they have questions about something going on at church rather than disrupt the service to ask (1 Cor. 14:35). Whether or not a question is positive depends on the motives of the person asking.

Dialegomai (G1256) and dialogizomai (G1260) appear 29 times. These are used of “reasoning together” with other people or of pondering something in your heart. Often it’s negative or has negative consequences (Matt. 16:7-8; 21:25; Mark 2:6-8; 9:33-34), but occasionally it’s positive or neutral (Luke 1:29; 3:15). Outside of the gospels, dialegomai is most often used of Paul’s preaching style in the book of Acts (Acts 17:2, 17; 18:4, 19; 19:8-9; 20:7-9; 24:12, 25). Much as with eperatoa, the how and why of how you’re reasoning with other people determines whether such reasoning is good or bad. It is worth noting, though, that I find no instructions saying that God’s people should engage is such reasoning/disputing. Paul did it and it was okay in that setting, but that doesn’t mean we should all teach or interact with people like this, particularly not all the time.

Suzeteo (G4802) and its derivatives (G4803 and G4804) are used in a similar way. It’s used in the gospels of people questioning and reasoning together, sometimes innocently and sometimes with bad motives (Mark 8:11; Luke 24:14-15). It also appears several times in Acts, sometimes of people outside the church debating with Jesus’s followers, but also of Paul disputing with Jews and even with other apostles (Acts 6:9; 9:29; 15:2, 7; 28:29). Such disputes are not really framed positively, and the words are never used in the New Testament epistles as something we should be doing (though they’re not expressly forbidden, as the eris-type words are).

How Should We Talk With Each Other?

Image of 4 people walking into a church building, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "Rather than engaging in pointless debates, we should be the kind of people who engage in and create the opportunity for positive, peaceful interactions at church."
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If contention, strife, and disagreements are prohibited and reasoning, discussion, and disputes are not framed positively in most cases, then how should we be talking with one another?

You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it would give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. You must put away all bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and slanderous talk—indeed all malice. Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.

Ephesians 4:29-32, NET

Our focus shouldn’t be on questioning or disputing with one another, but on finding ways to strengthen each others’ faith. For some people, discussing questions of doctrine in a peaceful way may be beneficial so long as it does not stray into the realm of unprofitable disputations or foolish questions (1 Tim. 6:3-4; 2 Tim. 2:23; Tit. 3:9). But our focus should be on building up each other, being kind in our communication, and forgiving quickly when that’s needed.

Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any affection or mercy, complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose. Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had

Philippians 2:1-5, NET

There are so many verses telling us to focus on peace in the church, strengthen the brethren, speak encouraging or joyful things, and submit to each other humbly (Rom. 14:19;15:2; 1 Cor. 14:12; Eph. 5:18-21; Phil. 2:14; Col. 3:16; 1 Thes. 5:11; Heb. 10:24-25; 1 Pet. 5:5). We’re even told to “put up with one another in love,” since sometimes that is what’s needed to maintain unity and peace (Rom. 15:1; Eph. 4:1-3; Col. 3:12-13).

I can only speak for myself, but I always feel encouraged and motivated coming home from church if I’ve had positive, uplifting conversations about God’s goodness, His great work in our lives, and the depth of understanding to be found in His scriptures. Asking questions of other believers and turning to scriptures to find answers can also be uplifting, provided the interaction is focused on learning together rather than lecture or debate. In contrast, it can be upsetting, confusing, and discouraging to be ambushed by someone who wants to debate things that really have no clear answer (e.g. some finer points of prophecy) or which have already been settled to most people’s satisfaction (e.g. the divinity of Jesus Christ).

If I do have the opportunity to get into a debate, I often find myself eager to show-off my scripture knowledge or defend my beliefs, but based on Paul’s instructions to the Romans, Timothy, and Titus that’s the wrong response. The best thing to do is avoid such arguments. After one or two attempts to warn or correct a person who consistently starts this kind of contentious debates, we’re even instructed to avoid them (Rom. 16:17; 1 Tim. 6:3-5; 2 Tim. 2:23; 3:1-5; Tit. 3:9-11). Rather than engaging in pointless debates, we should take the higher ground and model a more excellent way. We should seek to be the kind of people who engage in, start, and create the opportunity for positive, peaceful interactions at church.

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Song Recommendation: “Let There Be Peace On Earth” by Vince Gill

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