I wanted to avoid so badly writing about this.
But I ended up giving into my desire to document a bit of my thoughts.
First, I totally agree with Mike’s presentation in the following post. It seems so simple and so many of these passages are precious to our understanding of our salvation. So read this first.
I can hardly believe how much reading the last few paragraphs reminds me of what John Bunyan wrote in Pilgrim’s Progress 350 years ago….and how so much the demands of those who want to be let end echo today’s culture. Also note Bunyan had a little book on the subject.
Having noted that here are some random observations I wanted to keep track of. But don’t miss the main focus.
Mike make the point that it’s not our works that bring Salvation. Read this paragraph again:
The Greek word translated in v24 as “strive” is ἀγωνίζεσθε. This verb is in present tense, imperative mood, and active voice, therefore, this is a command to do something in the future which involves continuous or repeated action. This word defines action of contention or struggle for victory. Is our Lord contradicting what the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8,9? No! Salvation cannot be according to merit so this striving to enter the narrow door is not in any way a suggestion that salvation could be earned or deserved through it. So, what is our Lord telling us? Salvation is solely by grace, not by works. However, those who are saved because they are justified by faith must also strive to enter the narrow gate, which is very difficult. The entering it is not what saves them, but all who are truly saved must, nevertheless, enter this difficult way. This is another description of the cost of discipleship. Entering the narrow gate is difficult because of its high cost in terms of human pride, the demand of walking in repentance, and because to do so puts believers in opposition to the world and its ways. Therefore, what is our Lord commanding us to do? All genuine believers are commanded to undertake a life of walking in repentance as they submit to the Lordship of Christ in all parts of their lives. This is why this is difficult and why so few respond to the real Gospel. Oh, the easy-believism versions of the gospel may fill up church pews or church rolls or evangelism success stories, but if the demands of Christ’s narrow door is laid before them, only a few would be willing to undertake it. This is why He also said that only those who take up their crosses and follow Him are really His disciples.
Old John Gill wrote:
“Strive to enter in at the strait gate,…. What is meant by the strait gate, and by entering in at it; see Gill on Mat 7:13. To “strive”, is to be diligent in the use of means; to search the Scriptures with care; to attend on the preaching of the word with constancy, neglecting no opportunity; to pray earnestly for spiritual light, knowledge, and grace; to contend with every enemy that opposes the salvation of the soul, as sin, Satan, and the world; to bear all reproaches and persecutions, and press through all difficulties, for the prize of the incorruptible crown: the metaphor seems to be taken from the striving, wrestling, and combat in the Olympic games, for a corruptible crown:”
I really should not dabble in Greek as it’s above my job description. But. One of the points I’ve noted is that even with out having studied, it I have resources online or in my Bible Apps to help me to understand a bit.
I wondered at the phrase: I know you not whence ye are
Luke 13:25-27 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Again Gill makes a credible interpretation.
I know you not, whence you are: not but that Christ being the omniscient God, will know who they are, from whence they come, of what country and place they be, and to whom they belong; but the sense is, that he will not own them, and express any approbation of them, as his; but will treat them as strangers, that come, it is not known, from whence; he will reject them, as not being born from above, as not being the sheep of his fold, or members of his true church: they did not come from heaven, they were not heaven born souls, or partakers of the heavenly calling, and therefore shall not be received there; they belonged to the men of the world, and were of their father the devil, and shall be sent to him: so the foolish virgins, or formal professors of religion, and such as have been preachers of the Gospel, will entreat Christ at the last day, and shall have such an answer as this returned to them, which will be very awful and startling; See Gill on Mat 7:23, Mat 25:12.
This includes not just a few but all and many he has chosen, yet it is still not all that many, not everybody, that is a tough call.
John 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Revelation 19:6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Gill wrote:
Revelation 19:6
And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude,…. Even of all the servants of the Lord, and them that fear him, small and great; a vast multitude of converted Jews and Gentiles, in the several parts of the world, who in answer to the voice out of the throne, which came with great power and energy, lift up their voices in praise to God, both for their own conversion, and for the downfall of Babylon:
and as the voice of many waters: falling down in a descent, or in rough and rocky places, which make a great noise, and is heard afar off; and such must be the united voice of so great a multitude of converts as will be gathered together everywhere at this time: the same metaphor is used of the voice of Christ in Rev 1:15
and as the voice of mighty thunderings; violent claps of it, which are sometimes so loud that they rend the very heavens, and strike the inhabitants of the earth with the utmost consternation: these are the same voices which will be heard in the church when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, Rev 11:15
saying, Alleluia; or praise ye the Lord; they will call upon one another to celebrate the praises of God, on account of the above things, in the same manner, and using the same word the people in heaven, and the four and twenty elders and four living creatures, do; and this is the fourth time the word is used in this context, and confirms the observation that has been made, that this vision refers to the conversion of the Jews, which will quickly follow the destruction of Rome: and the Jews themselves have a notion, that when Rome is destroyed the Messiah will come; and so he will in his spiritual reign. They say (o),
“our redemption will be immediately upon the destruction of Rome.”
And again (p),
“the root of our redemption depends upon the destruction of Rome.”
The reason for their saying “hallelujah” follows,
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth; by whom is meant the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, and God over all, blessed for ever, and is the Almighty; and though he was set up as King over the holy hill of Zion, and has reigned over the church in every age, and came as King into this world, though his kingdom was not of it, and at his resurrection was declared Lord and Christ, and his kingdom was then more manifest, and he has ever since displayed his kingly power in defending his church, and defeating the enemies of it; yet now will he reign more visibly and gloriously, his kingdom will be enlarged from one end of the earth to the other, and he will be King over all the earth, which will occasion great joy to Jews and Gentiles; see Psa 47:1 and See Gill on Rev 11:17.
(o) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 148. 1. (p) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 163. 4.
By Grace Through Faith
Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ok on to final thoughts I have work to do…
Mike, made the statement:
“The Greek word translated in v24 as “strive” is ἀγωνίζεσθε. This verb is in present tense, imperative mood, and active voice, therefore, this is a command to do something in the future which involves continuous or repeated action. This word defines action of contention or struggle for victory.”
When I looked that up I read that it was a different voice…
V-PNM-2P (RMAC)
Part of Speech: Verb
Tense: Present
Voice: middle or passive depoNent
Mood: iMperative
Person: second [you+]
Number: Plural
So I tried to reconcile that and found the definition on AI of that Voice, so Mike was actually right in saying it was Active….
AI Overview
In Ancient Greek, deponent verbs are verbs that have no active voice but only middle or passive voice forms. They are often translated into English using active voice verbs, even though the underlying meaning in Greek is more accurately expressed by the middle or passive. Deponents can be further categorized as middle deponents (using a middle form of the aorist) or passive deponents (using a passive form of the aorist).
Here’s a more detailed explanation:
- Middle Voice: The middle voice indicates that the subject is both the agent and the receiver of the action, or that the action is performed for the subject’s benefit.
- Passive Voice: The passive voice indicates that the subject is receiving the action.
- Deponent Verbs: These verbs are characterized by having only middle or passive forms, with no active forms.
- Middle Deponent: A deponent verb where the aorist form is a middle form.
- Passive Deponent: A deponent verb where the aorist form is a passive form.
- Translation: When translating deponent verbs into English, they are often rendered as active verbs, even though the underlying Greek form may be middle or passive.
- Examples:
ἔρχομαι(I come/go) is a deponent verb, and while it is a middle form, it is often translated as an active verb in English.ἐνθυμέομαι(I reflect on) is a passive deponent, and while it is a passive form, it is often translated as an active verb in English.
Ok with that aside the other big observation and maybe to elephant in the room is what I’ve been studying about the underlying Greek Texts, the history the past 150+ years of the development of the Critical Text Mike uses.
Some unresolved issues in my mind are:
The Majority vs the Limited Greek Texts, which are actually older and why? What influence did the Gnostic Alexandrian have? Why would God hid his text for 1800 years? What’s with all the changes and corrections. A simple example is how the Byzantine and Textus Receptus included the word Christ in describing the gospel, in Romans 1:16.
That seems so clearly useful today (as it was in NT times) to clarify just which gospel we are talking about.
Χριστός
Christos
Thayer Definition:
Christ = “anointed”
1) Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God
2) anointed
Other points are the history of how the Greek text was brought to us…The Muslim influence in the fall of Constantinople and the fleeing Greek scholars, the role “lost/hidden” Vatican text. There is a fascinating video series by Chris Pinto on the subject. It starts here, you can buy or rent it from Amazon or his own site. Free with Prime.
In the video series there are a number of very credible contributors making the case about the Bible’s history.
BTW the KJV version plays a significant part in the later videos as it is about the only remaining one based on the Majority Greek Texts.
I personally grew up in my faith on a stream of English versions from the RSV, NASB, NIV, ESB and various paraphrasing in between. My Grandmother’s old tattered Black KJV sad safely on my shelf….until about 12 years ago, when I was encouraged to read the KJV. I’ve never gone back. I am not a KJV only person, since I experience coming to faith with all those other versions. But I do see the KJV is very accurate if not perfect. And usefully linked to my Old John Gill commentary where I often read about other translations he used before the modern era of Higher Criticism. As well as it’s easy linking to the Greek Lexicon.
Anyway I encourage you the reader to give it a try.
As for modern version, I really don’t like the NIV, it’s to messy with the dynamic readings, my wife still uses it and it’s hard for each of us to follow reading together.
The newer version of the NASB called the LSB that Mike uses besides his own translation reads very well. It seems a good translation, but is based on the Minority Greek Texts.
You can decide about that after watching the Pinto videos. You might even listen to this clip about the NASB.
Logsdon full audio is on this site:
I end with this positive note:
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Rainbow Trout 