A. First records the early church at Jerusalem ~ cont.
6. Growth of church under Peter's ministry ~ cont.
c. Church established at Antioch
(1) Early days - Acts 11:19-24
(2) Paul visits - Acts 11:25-30
d. James killed (son of Zebedee) - Acts 12:1-2
B. Book of James (brother of Jesus)
1. Temptations try faith - James 1:1-27
2. True faith will perform good works - James 2:1-26; 3:1-18
"And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord." (Acts 11:21)
believed - G4100 - From G4102; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), that is, credit; by implication to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well being to Christ).
turned - G1994 - From G1909 and G4762; to revert (literally, figuratively or morally).
Gill's commentary: and a great number believed; not the Gospel only, but in Christ preached in it, Acts 11:20 which was not owing to the force of moral persuasion in the ministers, nor to the power of free will in the people, but to the hand or power of the Lord; for the work of faith is not a work of man's will, but of God's almighty power and grace; and when that is displayed, multitudes believe in Christ for righteousness and life: and turned to the Lord; and obeyed his commands; see Psa_119:59 as a fruit, effect, and consequence of believing in Christ; for not first conversion is here intended, which is not man's work, but God's, and in which God is the agent, and man is passive; but obedience to the ordinances of Christ, as the fruit of faith, is meant.
Because this believed/baptized issue is tickling my mind...I went back to some of the scriptures which specifically stated believed and/or baptized.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth (G4100) and (G2532) is baptized (G907) shall be saved; (G4982) but (G1161) he that believeth not (G569) shall be damned. (G2632)
Acts 8:12- believed and baptized
Gill's commentary: they were baptized, both men and women: that is, when, they heard Philip preach the Gospel, and believed in Christ, the sum and substance of it, and made a profession of faith, they were of each sex, both men and women, baptized by immersion, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Believe? believeth? believed? What is the difference? Is there any difference? How many different words are there that are translated believe (or some variation)?
Quite a few - :-)
G544 - From G545; to disbelieve (wilfully and perversely). - Used 16x - translated as: not believing, believe not, disobedient, unbelieving, not obey, obey not.
G569 - From G571; to be unbelieving, that is, (transitively) disbelieve, or (by implication) disobey. - Used 7x - translated as: believed not, not believed.
G571 - From G1 (as a negative particle) and G4103; (actively) disbelieving, that is, without Christian faith (specifically a heathen); (passively) untrustworthy (person), or incredible (thing). - Used 23x - translated as: faithless, unbelievers, incredible (thing), believeth not, unbelieving, believe not, infidel.
G3982 - A primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means); reflexively or passively to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty). - Used 55x - (Strong's word list) - agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be (wax) content, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield.
G4100 - From G4102; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), that is, credit; by implication to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well being to Christ). Used 248x - (Strong's word list) - believe (-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.
G4102 - From G3982; persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself. - Used 244x - (Strong's word list) - assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
G4103 - From G3982; objectively trustworthy; subjectively trustful. - Used 68x (Strong's word list) - believe (-ing, -r), faithful (-ly), sure, true.
G4135 - From G4134 and G5409; to carry out fully (in evidence), that is, completely assure (or convince), entirely accomplish. - Used 5x - translated as: believed, persuaded, proof, fully known.
G4168 - Neuter of a presumed derivative of G4167; a flock, that is, (figuratively) group (of believers). - Used 5x - translated as: flock.
I (laughing at myself) thought, prior to searching, that I would include all the Scriptural references...obviously there are quite a few. There are numerous resources online that allow you to search for words, phrases, definitions, etc. My favorite program is E-Sword, which you can download for free here. I enjoy this program primarily because it is 'on' my computer which means I don't need internet access. One site that I have used to link to commentaries and is liked by many is Blue Letter Bible. I think I have used either this one, Bible Study Tools or this one, Bible Com as well.
I encourage all to avail yourselves of any and all study resources that are available. A Strong's concordance is a MUST - especially if you want to know what the words mean, where they are used, etc. etc. Next would be some sound commentaries - I tend to prefer Matthew Poole, John Gill and Matthew Henry.
The main exhortation - read the Word, be instant in season and out, search the Scriptures daily, study to show yourself approved. We all want to hear, well done thou good and faithful servant when we stand before our Lord. How will we know what HE wants if we spend not time with Him?
No comments:
Post a Comment