Being Spiritually Guided by the Grammar

We believe "All scripture (πᾶσα γραφή - all graphic) is inspired (God breathed) and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness."

If we recognize that the grammar itself is Spirit infused, then there is harmony between "being led by the Spirit" and "living by every word." Being guided into all truth will never contradict the grammar we have on record - the truth is expressed by the grammar.

In other words, there is spiritual guidance in the grammar.
This is why we should be careful to study so as to rightly divide the word of truth. If we do not submit our intellects to the grammar chosen by the biblical writer, we can err and make to ourselves ideas and reasoning that the grammar of the word will not support. In effect, we may be in danger of "adding to" or "taking away from" what is written if we do not conscientiously test our own thoughts by the grammar that biblical writer intentionally chose.

I believe certain threads here on this forum have approached this danger. I do not question the sincerity of the posters, but we must test the accuracy of the posts themselves by the standard of the grammatical record our Lord has preserved for us. We are to "test all things", and the only means given to us whereby to do this is the "God breathed grammar" He has preserved for our posterity.

In this regard we must submit ourselves first and every man or woman we esteem to the same standard. There is danger in "respecting persons" if by doing so we do not hold our opinions of ourselves or our esteem of others to the same rigorous scrutiny in preserving the written word of truth.
This is the spirit and truth behind why Paul wrote - "If I myself or an angel....". Preservation of the truth must trump preference of every person, regardless of how honorable we hold them in our hearts.

If you are still reading, here is a sample, intended only to sound the alarm to the "icebergs" in the area. In the attempt to be brief, we can only mention the danger; it would require too much time and space to exhaust the subject. My hope is that in sounding a warning, all who are concerned for their safety can navigate their course with greater caution than others who perished for not taking heed.

Below is "a sample" found throughout the scriptures(γραφή). A careful study will reveal just how extensive this sample is throughout the scripture.

This sample is a grammatical tool biblical writers frequently chose to underscore personal responsibility.
It is the union of A Present Active Imperative with an Aorist Middle Subjunctive. You likely recognize that an "Imperative" is a form of command. You may also recognize that the "Active" form is an expression of "Voice" that is contrasted with a "Passive" voice.

So we have a writer, sometimes a speaker being recorded, expressing a "command to take action" in the "present tense". The present tense adds the element of "continuation", now and afterward to the command to act.

This grammatical form is joined with the Aorist, Middle, Subjunctive to complete the charge being given. The Aorist directs the reader to the "kind of action" rather than the "time", focusing the reader upon the "way" it is to be done rather than "when". Along with the "Aorist" focus on the "way" the action is to be done, the "Middle Voice" draws the readers attention to "Who" is responsible for doing the action. You might recognize that "Middle" is neither "Active" nor "Passive". Why is there a "Middle Voice"? Scholars believe that the "Middle Voice" is used when the writer intends to train the readers focus upon the subject. It is a way to intensify "who is responsible" for doing the action. When the "Middle Voice" is used, the subject of the action has a primary role in fulfilling the action of the main verb.

There are certain words that only occur in the "Middle Voice" form. "come", "receive", "pray", "work", "lay aside", "agonize", "forbear", "become", "show reverence", "dialogue" etc. The action these words describe is never accomplished without the subject's conscious volition. This became so understood that the words themselves took on the "Middle Voice" form exclusively.

If you are still with me, please allow me to attempt to bring all of this together so that you can benefit from a clear understanding of the sample.

Here is the actual grammar that contains all that I have just attempted to explain.

"Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God."

"Take heed to yourselves" is the Present Tense, Active, Imperative." Moses was saying, was recorded as saying, "Start taking heed and continue to do so."

To this he added "and do not at any time yourselves forget".
This expression adds the dimension of "never do this yourselves", in other words "make sure you never let yourself forget."

This is one example, "a sample" of the "God breathed" grammar found throughout our bibles, both in the Old and the New Testaments. The writers and their record that God has preserved for us, chose to express truths in this particular grammatical form over and over again.

Even as we are called to look to Christ to perfect His work in us, these Active, Subject Focused, expressions are a vital component of fully experiencing all the grace of God.
There are also grammatical expressions in the "Passive Voice", God and Christ are the "initiators" or "source" of the "action", but Greek scholars do not teach "unconscious" passivity. We are always intimately and consciously involved with what God is working in us.

The "iceberg" in the water is "passivity" misunderstood. There is danger zeroing in, or narrowing the focus of God's initiation and working, to the eclipse or exclusion of our own vital participation.

If I have failed in the attempt to express my concern sufficiently for you to understand this, and you are somehow drawn to continue to attempt to grasp it, please contact me and I will do all I can to help clarify what is left unclear.

mak

This is why we should be careful to study so as to rightly divide the word of truth. If we do not submit our intellects to the grammar chosen by the biblical writer, we can err and make to ourselves ideas and reasoning that the grammar of the word will not support. In effect, we may be in danger of "adding to" or "taking away from" what is written if we do not conscientiously test our own thoughts by the grammar that biblical writer intentionally chose.

Not sure I have ever heard it put quite the way you did, but I agree. The words are written that way for a reason, and it takes careful and prayerful study to come to a right conclusion. I have noticed this in the church in general, not just on SI. I would like to add that we have to be very careful about following a particular teacher or denomination. I am not saying that it is wrong to attend a fellowship with the name Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, or A/G over the door, but we must be careful to be students of the word of God and to allow others to question our understanding of doctrine so that we do not allow the "party line" to override what scripture actually says. We must not be so loyal to the "brand" that we lose sight of the fact that we are to study scripture, not study the teachings of Mr. So-and-So.

I love it when I fellowship with people who are from a different flavor then I am and we find common fellowship around absolute Biblical truth. From that point we can begin to discuss scripture and come to a greater understanding of what the Word of God has to say.

The emphasis of the Holy Spirit is to convey the message of the story or the letter. Rather than to dissect a passage. Somehow in doing an inductive analysis of Scripture. You lose the life of the word.

Welcome back to the forum Bear.

I agree that it is the Holy Spirit brings the word to bear in our hearts but I have not found that inductive study causes the word to lose its life, on the contrary, I find it helpful as I experience the joy of personal discovery and a deeper relationship with God as I fall in love with the Author.

The Bible is not a collection of random sayings and stories, it is made of carefully constructed books that show structure, grammatical and literary. Particularly, I have found that reading the Bible with grammar in mind helps me to get more out of a passage. Asking questions like what is the subject of the sentence? What is the object? What is the main verb?

I guess I'm saying that you don't have to check structure at the door in order for the Spirit to breathe life into your Bible reading. Yes, there can be cold structure without the Spirit, but it doesn't have to be that way.

In Christ,

Very well put makrothumia. That's why the commandments were originally written with the finger of God, and the writers were "inspired" (God-breathed, in the Greek).
I have to disagree with you Bear. The ancients were very literate (though not all of them). This is evidenced by the massive libraries unearthed in the ancient cities around the world.

There is really no contradiction in what Bear has put forth. Even when the letters were read to the original audience, the grammar would dictate what was specifically heard. They would have immediately grasped the significance of the grammar, because the written ending guide the oral pronunciation.

The key here is the biblical writer chose a "specific" expression that the first audience would have recognized. We believe that the author deliberately chose what would be read or heard. If we are to grasp the understanding of what the author had written, we must recognize that he expressed it very deliberately by the grammar he had available to him. Grasping the specific of what the writer intended to be understood from what was read or heard, is to receive the understanding that writer was seeking to impart to the reader or hearer.

makrothumia

This grammatical form is joined with the Aorist, Middle, Subjunctive to complete the charge being given. The Aorist directs the reader to the "kind of action" rather than the "time", focusing the reader upon the "way" it is to be done rather than "when". Along with the "Aorist" focus on the "way" the action is to be done, the "Middle Voice" draws the readers attention to "Who" is responsible for doing the action. You might recognize that "Middle" is neither "Active" nor "Passive". Why is there a "Middle Voice"? Scholars believe that the "Middle Voice" is used when the writer intends to train the readers focus upon the subject. It is a way to intensify "who is responsible" for doing the action. When the "Middle Voice" is used, the subject of the action has a primary role in fulfilling the action of the main verb.

I think this is the main point makrothumia was seeking to convey and exhort on:

Even as we are called to look to Christ to perfect His work in us, these Active, Subject Focused, expressions are a vital component of fully experiencing all the grace of God.
There are also grammatical expressions in the "Passive Voice", God and Christ are the "initiators" or "source" of the "action", but Greek scholars do not teach "unconscious" passivity. We are always intimately and consciously involved with what God is working in us.

The "iceberg" in the water is "passivity" misunderstood. There is danger zeroing in, or narrowing the focus of God's initiation and working, to the eclipse or exclusion of our own vital participation.

Once again I have enjoyed Bearmasters comments and see the validity of his thoughts.

So what would be the advantage of trained scholarship in the biblical language? When a question arises about an interpretation, or doctrine being set forth, precise knowledge of the language is the means by which "a test" can be made.
Few of us likely spend our days examining blood or tissue under a microscope, but when serious health concerns arise, we are very grateful that someone has been trained to do so.

Would we entrust ourselves to a doctor who only examined us with his own senses and gave us his or her opinion? Are we not reliant upon the labs that do the precise testing to give the doctor the ability to offer a thorough diagnosis and prognosis. We are greatly helped by such clinical and technical training.

The same is true of the precise grammar of our scriptures. We are very blessed by those who provide their ability to "test all things". Without the ability to know with precision, the exact meaning of any text, we are left to test opinions and doctrines with our own subjective capabilities.

So yes, not everyone needs to be a Greek scholar Himself, but thank God some men have devoted their lives to provide for us the ability to tests our own thoughts against the actual precise expression of the original author.

I often wonder at God about this in a way. Yes, the grammar is crucially, vitally important. We may not be language experts in even English, but we know that words matter. God the Holy Spirit is more than equal to the task of bridging our understanding and the precision of the grammar, and I'm thankful for that.

In another way, I pause, though. I ask God, "Is it right for me to think that we are in the time of the end since knowledge has sped us away from knowing You? Since our general knowledge in the world increasingly is void of the knowledge of Your word? Since your words as given are more twisted than ever as our knowledge increases in volume, content and in its rush to reject You?"

Even the church (American, anyway) rejects the knowledge of the Word of God. Even the church now minimizes the indispensability of the Bible to our lifeline in Christ. The explosion of entertainment churches where the Bible is ignored, the prosperity of programmatic churches where the Bible is a program guide and a prop, and the withering of small churches where there often is just despair and mundane worldliness all testify to this.

I too want to express my amen to bearmasters points. I personally think there's a time and place for both methods as God can and does use both methods to equip His people in the knowledge of His Word.

On the side of the OP, if we have the ability of understanding the original languages, and/or tools accessible to help in that regard, why not take advantage of that? I have found that certain tools such as lexicons have helped at times, especially when there are different views among Christians on the meanings of certain words in certain passages (of course, the context is also key). I think Paul the Apostle is a prime example in Scripture of how God can use a highly educated person and his intellectual talents for His glory. In Acts we see him often using his intellectual skills as he debated in the synagogues with the learned rabbis of his day. But Paul was very balanced in terms of using His intellectual skills and depending on the Holy Spirit; as he writes in 1 Cor. 2:4, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power.”

But on the other hand, if we do not have those types of capabilities or tools available, God is definitely more than able to lead us into all truth by His Spirit; He will still illuminate His Word to our hearts and minds as we seek for understanding from Him with humble hearts. And He will fill us with His Spirit and empower us to carry out His will for our lives. I’m reminded of Acts 4:13, "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”

One of the great Mysteries of the Bible, unlike that of a legal document is that it works like a Rorschach test.

I think he simply meant that the Bible reveals our thoughts and intents of our hearts, which is mysterious. He probably sees the old Rorshach exercise as doing that on a fleshly level and kind. I think he was probably making a bit of a joke, too.

RE:/// "a type of projective test used in psychoanalysis, in which a standard set of symmetrical ink blots of different shapes and colours is presented one by one to the subject, who is asked to describe what they suggest or resemble."///

Depending on the heart set of the subject whom reads the Scripture, what is percieved can greatly vary.

My own experience testifies to that truth as well as the Scriptures themselves one example is 2 cor 3:15

Regarding rhema, at least, it is misused by my pentecostal brethren and the charismatics to mean specifically some unction in real time. It may mean that, but it is exceptional and not the rule. I would share a sermon slash teaching I presented to a very cold audience at the pentecostal church I used to belong to, but it is too long for here.

We have a rhema. It is the instructive word of God that we obey. It exists as Scripture primarily.

I guess what I'm asking is does God always speak to us through the words that are on the page? Or does the Holy Spirit speak in other ways? At this point maybe I don't know what I'm asking. Ok thought I would put this out for discussion. Not trying to hijack the thread. But just trying to think through some of the questions this thread has generated in my mind.

Blaine: Your point is well made. God's word is not a purely intellectual treatise meant to be dissected by the mind of man, but rather a living, spiritual letter meant to be interpreted and impressed upon the soul of man by the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

I have seen two extremes. There are those who treat the word of God as if it were simply a treatise for the intellectual. They study it with their own mind rather than by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and they miss it. I have also seen those to whom the written word is merely a loose framework on which they hang all of the impressions they think they get from the Holy Spirit and ultimately wind up with flakey ideas and doctrine that is not sound.

I like a particular Smith Wigglesworth quote. He said that some men study the word of God in the Holy Ghost.

We are told in scripture to study to show ourselves approved, workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. It is our approach to that study that is critical, I think. I have often opened my Bible, pointed to a passage that I do not understand, and asked the Lord if He would please show me what He meant by writing it. Sometimes I have had an immediate response, and sometimes I have waited months or years and then, as I studied another portion of the word had the meaning of the first quickened to me.

But there is immense value in having some understanding of the original languages and of dissecting the grammar. The same can be said of reading anything written in English, but it is especially so when the Bible was translated from other languages to our own. The same can be said for study of the cultural idiosyncrasies of the people to whom God originally gave the word. They wrote from a perspective that we need to understand.

I guess what I am trying to say is that God created our intellect, and when we use that intellect in subjection to His Holy Spirit, He can work through it to cause us to better understand His word to us.

The "iceberg" in the water is "passivity" misunderstood. There is danger zeroing in, or narrowing the focus of God's initiation and working, to the eclipse or exclusion of our own vital participation.

I just wanted to comment on this portion that I have quoted above because I believe it is the crux of the original post and a point well taken.

I don't believe that God ever demands passivity and this is because He wants us to exercise our own wills actively in cooperation with Him. I think this is shown in verses like, "if any man’s will is to do his will, he shall know...(John 7.17)

It seems that God's way of making us obedient is to work in us through the Holy Spirit in our spirit, He doesn't will in place of us. Is this your understanding of passivity vs vital participation?

In Christ,

"The hearing of faith" by which we receive the Holy Spirit involves both the passive and active dynamic. God speaks and the word comes to us and we hear it in a passive sense (the word acts upon us). We then either respond to the word of hearing with faith or unbelief. This is the active dynamic.

Neither hearing nor believing is "unconscious"! Both the passive side of receiving and the active part of believing involve conscious interaction.

Mak

This is a very good question, may the Lord give us the understanding that we need to have the comprehensive knowledge "epiginosko" that He desires for us.

I believe the scriptures themselves have the best illustration of how God accomplishes this. He stated to the people of Israel that He Himself would drive out the 7 nations of Canaan. He even warned the people of Israel not to think that they had inherited the land by their own strength. Yet, He explained further that "I will give them over into your hands and you must put them to death."

This is similar to how God works in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Through the cross, the body of sin was rendered powerless so that we should no longer serve sin. The Lord did this for us, and yet we are partakers in the finishing work in "putting to death our memebers upon the earth." We could never do this without His help, but He has designed our participation into the finishing process. We "through the Spirit" mortify the practices of the body. The Spirit illumines, convicts, and brings the practice to our attention and we co-operate with the Spirit in putting it to death.

Similarly, God through Christ set us free from slavery to sin. He then guides us, even inspires us, to present ourselves back to Him as those who have been raised from death to life. He calls for us to "present our members as instruments of righteousness. He sets us free, and we in our God given freedom, offer ourselves as bondservants.

God condemned sin in the flesh. God through Christ revoked sin's reign over us, but we through the Spirit "put off the old man" that He placed into our hands. The Spirit is there to guide us every step of the way, but we must "keep in step with the Spirit" since we live by Him.

God does will for us to experience everything He spoke through Ezekiel. Yet, He willed for Israel to experience this also, but many in Israel rejected God's will for their life. Luke 7 makes this very clear that the Pharisees rejected God's purpose for them, because they refused to be baptized by John.

God's will may be resisted, the Holy Spirit can be grieved, His work in us can be hindered by our lack of cooperation. The New Testament letters contain strong admonitions for the hearers and or readers to take action, repent, give diligence. All of these admonitions and exhortations are for believers. Their presence is clear indication that the New Testament writers understood the role of the hearer in the completion of the work of faith.

Faith and works are not enemies. Works is the means for perfecting faith.

mak

Paul had a wonderful apprehension of grace and his expression shows the dynamic of Christ's part and our part, all within a few sentences.

Here is an example:
II Timothy 1:12 - "....for I know Whom I have believed and have been persuaded that He is able to guard what I have deposited into His care."

II Timothy 1:14 - "Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit, the One dwelling in us."

Paul, Peter, and John all used the Greek word "Phulasso" the same word for guard in the two verses in the example. This word is used over and over again in Deuteronomy in combination with "do" - "guard to do". All three of these apostles understood who was guarding them and the importance of the believers guarding what they had been given.

It's not either or - it's both!

Mak

The blood of Christ is the blood that sanctifies and makes atonement for the sins of the whole world. Some trample upon that very blood whereby they were sanctified and they insult the Spirt of grace. The punishment for doing so is more severe than death.

The riches of God's grace that He has made to abound to all men is the very basis upon which they are held responsible for rejecting such a great salvation.

Having been sanctified by the blood of Jesus is not immunity from judgment; in fact it increases the responsibility of willful sin beyond any judgment those who rejected the Law of Moses ever experienced.
Their judgment was physical death without mercy.

Only one punishment can be greater than physical death without mercy..

The evil heart of unbelief is the deadliest disease on earth!

Mak

I apologize if I was not more specific with my reference. I was quoting the writer of Hebrews and assumed that would be understood.

The idea did not originate with me. But I think you know that.

How can any of us explain that Jesus made propitiation for the sins of the whole world, and yet only a few shall be saved? But this is the record we have.

We have a very secure position as believers and yet Peter warns us of the danger of being led astray by the error of lawless men and falling from that "secure position."

Can any of us adequately explain how we can rejoice in our security while remembering what God did in His severity?

But I admit to believing that men can "trample upon the blood whereby the have been sanctified." I take the warning very seriously, for I believe it was given in that same spirit.

mak