In last week’s Vision, I gave definitions for five key
New Testament words. Here are five more:
Euangelion: This word
means gospel or “good news.” It is made up of two words. The prefix -eu means “good,” so a “utopia” is a good place, a “euphemism” is a
good alternative way to say something, and “euthanasia” supposedly means a good
death. The second part of the word is angelion, which means message or
news. It is close to the Greek word angelos which means angel or
messenger. The gospel is the good news
of what God has done in Jesus Christ. By
his death on the cross and his resurrection we have the hope of eternal life
when we repent of our sin and believe in Jesus.
In Romans 1:16 Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:
for it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the
Greek.” This word is the root of English
words like evangelism (preaching the gospel) and evangelist (one who proclaims
the gospel).
Koinonia: This word means
fellowship or partnership. This does not
merely refer to sharing potluck meals together and having friendly
conversations. It does refer to the
close bond that believers share with one another but also to their mutual
covenant to be engaged in supporting and encouraging gospel ministry. In Acts 2:42 Luke lists fellowship as one of
four things the first believers continued in steadfastly (the others
being: the apostles’ doctrine, the
breaking of bread, and prayers). In
Philippians 1:5 Paul expresses thanks to God for the believers in Philippi,
“for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.”
Martus: This word means witness. A witness is one who gives evidence or
testimony to the truth. In Acts 1:8
Jesus told his disciples, “and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of
the earth.” This term is also the root
of the English word martyr. A martyr is
one who gives witness to faith in Christ by the sacrifice of his life. Stephen was the first Christian martyr (see
Acts 7).
Parousia: This word means
“coming.” In secular Greek it would
refer to the arrival or visit of a royal figure or an important political
dignitary. It also had the simple common
meaning of an arrival or visit of a special guest (see it used in this way to
refer to the “coming” of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus to Paul in 1
Corinthians 16:7 and the “coming” of Titus to Paul in 2 Corinthians 7:6). For
the first Christians this word became a technical term for the second advent of
Jesus in glory at the end of history to judge the world. In 1 Corinthians 15:23 Paul says that all
will be made alive at Christ’s “coming.”
In 1 Thessalonians 4:15 Paul speaks of those who are alive “at the
coming of Lord” not preceding in the resurrection those who have already fallen
asleep (died) as believers. Christ
second advent is “the blessed hope” of Christians (Titus 2;13).
Theopneustos: This word literally
means “God breathed.” In the KJV it is translated as “inspired by God.” The word is made of two parts. The first comes from theos, the Greek word for God and the root for words like theology
(the study of God). The second pneustos refers to the process of
breathing. Paul uses this term in 2
Timothy 3:16 to describe the special nature of Scripture when he says, “All
scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
It literally reads, “All scripture is theopneustos.” In 1 Thessalonians 2:13 Paul commended the
Thessalonians, because they received the word of God “not as the word of men,
but as it is in truth, the word of God.”
Grace and peace, Pastor
Jeff Riddle
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