This questions comes following a post I did here. My question comes from the second paragraph where I talk about verse 5. Basically, is the NIV justified in rendering the verse “because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.” The underlying Greek is this: ἀκούων σου τὴν ἀγάπην καὶ τὴν πίστιν ἣν ἔχεις πρὸς τὸν κύριονἸησοῦν καὶ εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους. A rather literal translation would be, “I hear about your love and faith(fulness) that you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints.” The basis for translating according to the (T)NIV, as I understand it, is something called chiastic structure. Basically, it’s a literary structure where the pairs go A B B A. If that’s the structure Paul has in mind, then the majority of modern translations are justified in going with pairing faith with Jesus and pairing love with saints. If πιστις is rendered as faith, then I understand how the chiastic structure is necessary. If we go with a broader meaning for πιστις, like faithfulness or loyalty, then it would be perfectly fine to have both πιστις and αγαπη applying to both Jesus and the saints. What is the full justification for rendering it like the NIV? I’ve only seen the chiastic structure assumed, not argued. Are we harmonizing with Colossians 1? Input from more knowledgeable in Greek would be wonderful. :-)
Category: exegesis
Good Works in Titus (Part one)
In this 2-3 part series I want to look at what Paul has to say in Titus about, “good works.” As I’ve noted before, we’re going through Paul’s letters in the bible study I’m a part of, so it’s a perfect time to reflect on this letter. Since the book itself may get split into two weeks, I see no reason to constrain myself to a single post. :-)
Since the reformation, many in the protestant church have been wary of “good works” because they bring back memories of a rather distorted form of catholicism, which indeed did have some elements of earning (or buying at points) your salvation. Much of the protestant rhetoric was framed in this context. It was against these excesses that much of protestant theology was formed. I fear that at times we’ve been so zealous for faith we’ve neglected it’s proper outworking. In this examination of Titus, I’m hoping to get closer to letting Paul’s writing guide us on the topic.
First of all, I don’t think Paul’s teachings on “good works” in anyway contradict his teaching on “justification by faith.” Understood properly, one is a direct result of the other. In fact, throughout Paul’s writings, we see very clearly that one of the reasons God saves us is so that we can do his work on the earth, which goes all the way back to our original vocation as given in Genesis. I want to look at how how this plays out in Titus.
Paul begins the letter with doctrine, which is not strange for him. 1:1-3 give a giant picture of God and his mission for and in his people. After the greeting, he then moves into practical instructions for Titus. He gives qualifications for elders, covering everything from family life to alcohol and business, and finally their doctrine. Next we move into the first passage where works are explicitly mentioned, although the theme arguably started earlier. Here, Paul sharply denounces the heretical groups within the Cretan church, which seem to largely be comprised of some mixture of Judaism and paganism. The “circumcision group” is explicitly named; Paul is thus opposing the claim that gentile converts have to obey torah after coming to faith, especially laws pertaining to circumcision and food. He may have other opponents, but these dominate his thinking.
Paul gives a dense statement in 1:15 that helps explain the matter of works. “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; both their minds and their consciences are defiled.” Here he echoes the teaching of Jesus who communicates a similar point in Luke 6:45, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” The problem with his opponents is that even though they claim to know God, they betray this claim with their actions. They are guilty of all sorts of things, as Paul points out early in 1:10. They are defiled, and thus everything they set out to do is defiled. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit, only a good tree can. Likewise those who are not pure cannot “do purity.” Paul doesn’t remind Titus of how that happens, but the point is clear. Proper good work is impossible for those whose “minds and consciences are defiled.”
A brief aside on the word “work.” For me, when I hear the words, “good works”, I immediately picture in my head small, quite discrete “good deeds.” Giving money to someone in need at an intersection, or helping someone study even though you’re tired, etc. While I think that kind of thing is very important to his message, I think the word here can connote something a little bit broader than a collection of “discrete good deeds.” I think that it can also mean something bigger, like labor, or even the word, “work” in the singular (my life’s work as an example). The greek word for work often shows up in the context of labor. It would be beneficial for us if we melded together the concepts of moral good deeds and solid, hard work/labor back together. I think these ideas are much closer than we imagine in scripture, perhaps even two sides of the same word ;-) (disclaimer: I’m a Greek newbie here).
The Holy Spirit and the Family of God (From Galatians)
[This was composed for and originally posted on my campus ministry’s website: http://xa-ncsu.com/blog/post/38 on August 26, 2009]
A few words are in order before I dive into the text. First, welcome! I’m hoping that this blog will be, among other things, a delightful record of our study of God. More than that, I’m hoping that it will be a challenging record of God’s study of us. As we gaze upon God, we are hopefully challenged, inspired, amazed, and humbled. We feel love and love; receive grace, and give it. What I hope to highlight in this post, primarily through the letter of Galatians, is the familial aspects of the Trinity. More specifically, I want to examine the role the Holy Spirit plays in God’s family. Hopefully this will help us as a group relate better to the person of the Holy Spirit, and better understand his role as a member of the Trinity.
Because I’m drawing mostly from Galatians, a little bit of context for the letter is due. This is one of Paul’s first letters, written to a young and budding group of believers in Galatia, a church which Paul himself had founded. The church was budding, but also had problems. While the church was predominately Gentile (non Jewish), a group of people, presumably Jews, were throwing young Christians into confusion. These people were insisting that faith in Jesus was not enough, that what truly marked God’s family was the Jewish law, especially circumcision. This was causing all sorts of dissension within the church, creating division rather than unity. Paul spent most of his effort addressing this problem.
Paul responds by first establishing his authority. Although he formerly persecuted the church, he had had an experience with the risen Jesus that was separate from those of the 12 apostles. He had received revelation directly from Jesus; he hadn’t made up the gospel or gotten it from someone else. Nevertheless, he was in agreement with the other apostles. He had stayed with them on several occasions.
In chapter 3, Paul launches into a detailed examination of the Old Testament. His goal here is to show that everyone, whether Jew or Gentile, is to be part of God’s family. Nothing more is required. In fact, by going further, one is in danger of separating what God intended to be joined. Paul goes back to Abraham, arguing that the promise given to Abraham is not set aside by the Mosaic law. Rather, the law was “put in charge to lead us to Christ.” His entire is argument is beyond the scope of this post, but I believe his goal in chapter 3 is to get to verse 26: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” He wants the Galatians to realize that they are already members of God’s family. Because of Christ’s work, all of those with faith in Christ Jesus are part of the family. Faith becomes the determining marker of God’s family. It’s not circumcision, gender, or social status: only faith.
Chapter 4 begins by noting that, not only are we children, but we have received an inheritance. This inheritance is the “spirit of his son … by which we call out ‘Daddy! Father!'” By the time he returns to Old Testament discussion in verse 21, he continues to discuss family. This time, he uses the story of Hagar and Sarah to illustrate the fact that they are children of the promise, not the children born into slavery. This in turn launches into a discussion of Christian liberty in chapter 5. Finally, in chapter 6 he exhorts them to keep running the race, to focus on the cross of Christ, to not give up or give in.
And where is the Holy Spirit in this? His activity pervades throughout Paul’s thinking and writing. The aspect I wish to bring light to is the Spirit’s activity in the family of God. For Paul, the Holy Spirit is intimately connected with the becoming a Christian, with becoming part of the family. In chapter 4, he declares that, just as Isaac was born by the power of the Spirit, so were we. Also, the Spirit does what the law cannot, impart life. What strikes me is not only how personal the Holy Spirit is, but how active he is in the family of God. The Eastern Orthodox churches, which have historically had a much fuller view of the Holy Spirit than the West, have sometimes caricatured the Western view of God as “two guys and a bird.” But we see the Holy Spirit birthing us as sons and daughters, imparting our very life in God, our breath in God. We see him bearing witness to this with miracles. We see this all on the basis of faith in the Jesus, and not our background. As we try to walk by the Spirit, may we not view him as a mysterious force, or as somehow less a person that the Father and the Son. Instead, may we walk with him as he is, a vivacious, active God who births, marks, and testifies to our membership in the family of God, who empowers us to overcome the sinful nature, and in whom we eagerly await the judgment day, the day where God will put the whole world to rights and fulfill new creation.
Alex Poulos, PhD 