1 often misunderstood terms virgin, christian, flesh
TRANSCRIPT
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Often Misunderstood
Terms
Often Misunderstood
Terms
Virgin, Christian, FleshVirgin, Christian, Flesh
22
Often Misunderstood
Terms
Often Misunderstood
Terms
Virgin, Christian, FleshVirgin, Christian, Flesh
33Often Misunderstood Terms
Often Misunderstood Terms
In order to understand any passage of scripture we must understand the terms being used in the passage
Often the context provides more insight to meaning than a dictionary
44“Behold a virgin shall conceive”“Behold a virgin shall conceive”
“14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, a young woman shall conceive
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanu-
el.”Isaiah 7:14 (RSV)
1414 “Therefore the “Therefore the Lord Himself will Lord Himself will give you a sign: give you a sign: Behold, a virgin Behold, a virgin will be with child will be with child and bear a son, and bear a son, and she will call and she will call
His name His name Immanuel.Immanuel.Isaiah 7:14 Isaiah 7:14 (NASB95)(NASB95)
55“Behold a virgin shall conceive”“Behold a virgin shall conceive”
“Virgin” or
“Young Woman
”
The Argument
“bethulah” - assumed to be the more precise term for virgin
There are at least two Hebrew terms translated “virgin” in Scripture
“almah” - assumed to mean young maiden
66“Behold a virgin shall conceive”“Behold a virgin shall conceive”
“Virgin” or
“Young Woman
”
The Lexicons - “Almah”
“virgin; maiden” (Vines)
“virgin, young woman. 1a of marriageable age. 1b maid or newly married.” (Strong’s)
“young woman (...maid or newly married) Brown-Driver-Briggs
“a girl of marriageable age” (Gesenius)
77“Behold a virgin shall conceive”“Behold a virgin shall conceive”
“Virgin” or
“Young Woman
”
The Lexicons - “Almah”
In Genesis 24, “bethulah” and “almah” are used interchangeably
The term is used seven times in scripture and not once can it be demonstrated to mean anything but virgin
88“Behold a virgin shall conceive”“Behold a virgin shall conceive”
16 The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and
filled her jar and came up.Genesis 24:16 (NASB95)
43 behold, I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who
comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “Please let me drink a little water from
your jar”;Genesis 24:43 (NASB95)
99“Behold a virgin shall conceive”“Behold a virgin shall conceive”
16 The girl was very beautiful, a bethulah, and no man had had relations
with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.
Genesis 24:16 (NASB95)43 behold, I am standing by the spring,
and may it be that the almah who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar”;
Genesis 24:43 (NASB95)
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“Behold a virgin shall conceive”“Behold a virgin shall conceive”
“Virgin” or
“Young Woman
”
The Lexicons - “Almah”
In Genesis 24 “bethulah” and “almah” are used interchangeably
The term is used seven times in scripture and not once can it be demonstrated to mean anything but virgin
The LLX translates “almah” with “parthenos” a Greek term meaning “one who has never engaged in sexual intercourse”
1111
“Behold a virgin shall conceive”“Behold a virgin shall conceive”
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear
a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means,
“God with us.”Matthew 1:23
(NASB95)
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and
they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And
Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son;
and he called His name Jesus.Matthew 1:23–25 (NASB95)
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“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an
entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were
first called Christians in Antioch.Acts 11:26 (NASB95)
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God or
Pagans
The ArgumentThe term “Christian” was a derisive term coined by the pagans in Antioch
“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
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God or
Pagans
The Argument
“The name was evidently given to the followers of Christ by the Gentiles to distinguish them from the Jews since
they were Greeks, not Grecian Jews. The Jews would not call them Christians
because of their own use of Χριστος [Christos] the Messiah. The Jews termed
them Galileans or Nazarenes. The followers of Christ called themselves
disciples (learners), believers, brethren, saints, those of the Way.”
(A.T. Robertson)
“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
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God or
Pagans
The Argument“The name was probably not assumed by the
disciples themselves; for they were in the habit of styling each other believers,
disciples, saints, brethren, those of the way. It, doubtless, was bestowed by the Gentiles. Some suppose that it was applied as a term of ridicule, and cite the witty and sarcastic
character of the people of Antioch, and their notoriety for inventing names of derision; but
this is doubtful. The name may have been given simply as a distinctive title, naturally chosen from the recognized and avowed
devotion of the disciples to Christ as their leader.”
(M.R. Vincent)
“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
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1616
God or
Pagans
The Argument
“This name originated not within, but without, the Church; not with their Jewish enemies, by whom
they were styled “Nazarenes” (Ac 24:5), but with the heathen in
Antioch, and (as the form of the word shows) with the Romans,
not the Greeks there” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)
“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
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God or
Pagans
Called - chrematizo
The name “Christian” was not pagan slang but the name of prophecy which God called His people
“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
chrematizo - “impart a divine message, make known a divine injunction/warning” (BDAG)
Every use of this term in the New Testament refers to a Divine proclamation
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“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
12 And having been warned (chrematizo) by God in a
dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.Matthew 2:12 (NASB95)
1919
“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea
in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after
being warned (chrematizo) by God in a dream, he left for the
regions of Galilee,Matthew 2:22 (NASB95)
2020
“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
22 They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-
fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was
divinely directed (chrematizo) by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message
from you.”Acts 10:22 (NASB95)
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“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called (chrematizo) an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is
joined to another man.Romans 7:3 (NASB95)
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12 That they may possess the
remnant of Edom And all the nations who are called by
My name,” Declares the Lord who does
this.Amos 9:11–12
(NASB95)
Amos tells of a time after the Jewish economy falls in which God raises up a people “called by My Name”
“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
This new kingdom would never be uprooted - it cannot be Judah
“called by My Name” - the name of the one who builds the kingdom
Amos clearly describes the downfall of Israel
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5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better
than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not
be cut off.Isaiah 56:5 (NASB95)
God’s people will be called by a new and everlasting name
“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
Those previously excluded would be a part of this people
If righteous the “foreigner” and the “eunuch” would be welcome
The passage encourages people to righteousness, because “my salvation is about to come”
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20 But there were some of them, men
of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came
to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also,
preaching the Lord Jesus.
Acts 11:20 (NASB95)
In Acts 11:19, we find that the Dispersion had only preached to Jews
“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
In Antioch they began to reach out to the Gentiles
This is fitting with the Isaiah prophecy
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20 But there were some of them, men
of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came
to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also,
preaching the Lord Jesus.
Acts 11:20 (NASB95)
“To the Hellenists. This word usually denotes in the New Testament those Jews
residing in foreign lands, who spoke the Greek language. See Notes on ch. 6:1.
But to them the gospel had been already preached; and yet in this place it is
evidently the intention of Luke to affirm that the men of Cyprus and Cyrene
preached to those who were not Jews, and that thus their conduct was
distinguished from those (ver. 19) who preached to the Jews only. It is thus manifest that we are here required to understand the Gentiles as those who
were addressed by the men of Cyprus and Cyrene.”
(Barnes, Notes on the New Testament)
“the Disciples were first called Christian”“the Disciples were first called Christian”
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“flesh”“flesh”
5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful
passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.
Romans 7:5 (NIV)
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“flesh”“flesh”
5 For when we were controlled by the sinful
nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that
we bore fruit for death.Romans 7:5 (NIV84)
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5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature,
the sinful passions aroused by the law
were at work in our bodies, so that
we bore fruit for death.
Romans 7:5 (NIV84)
flesh - “sarx”
“flesh”“flesh”
“the material that covers the bones of a human or animal body, flesh” (BDAG)
“flesh (the soft substance of the living body, which covers the bones and is permeated with blood) of both man and beasts. 2 the body. 2a the body of a man.” (Strong’s)
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5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature,
the sinful passions aroused by the law
were at work in our bodies, so that
we bore fruit for death.
Romans 7:5 (NIV84)
“flesh” in Romans
“flesh”“flesh”
Throughout the book Paul contrasts the Gospel and the works of the Law
The Gospel is the power of salvation while the Law merely points out the evil of sin (Rom 1:16, Rom 7:13)
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5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature,
the sinful passions aroused by the law
were at work in our bodies, so that
we bore fruit for death.
Romans 7:5 (NIV84)
“flesh” in Romans
“flesh”“flesh”
Salvation cannot be based on “works” but comes through the “righteousness of faith” (Rom 4:1-5; Rom 4:13-16)
In Romans 7, we see “in the flesh” contrasted with “in newness of the Spirit”
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5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature,
the sinful passions aroused by the law
were at work in our bodies, so that
we bore fruit for death.
Romans 7:5 (NIV84)
“flesh” in Romans
“flesh”“flesh”
In Romans 7, Paul is describing the futility of attempting to be justified by perfect law keeping
In verses, 14-25 Paul describes the Jew under the Law, futilely, rather than through the Gospel
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