Tag Archives: Greek

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That They May Have “Life”

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That They May Have “Life”

James R. Aist

“The thief does not come, except to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

In John 10:10, Jesus was speaking to Jews in Jerusalem who were taking Him to task for healing people. I used to wonder why Jesus would say to people who were obviously living, breathing beings, that He came that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. Don’t they already have life? Jesus seemed to be saying that He came to give them something that they already have. It just didn’t make sense to me.

But, I discovered recently the solution to this seeming contradiction. It all has to do with the translation from the original Greek to the English language. In the New Testament, there are mainly two Greek words having different meanings that are both translated “life” in the English versions. Sometimes “life” refers to our biological life (“psuche” or “biotikos” in the Greek) here on earth; at other times, it refers to the new or “eternal” life (“zoe” in the Greek) in Jesus. In John 10:10, Jesus was referring to the latter kind of life, “eternal life”, not our present, biological life. To help you more fully appreciate the significance of this distinction, here are some pertinent verses from the Apostle John, beginning with John’s definition of “eternal life”: “This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent (John 17:3); “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11); and “In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind (John 1:4). In all three verses, the Greek word translated “life” is “zoe.” So, now we can see that everyone has “psuche”, or biological life, but only those who believe in the One who was sent by the Father (John 5:24 and 38; John 6:29 and 40) have “zoe”, or eternal life. This is the life to which the angel was referring when he commanded Paul to “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life” (Acts 5:20).

So, now the question becomes, “In what way did Jesus come that they may have eternal life more abundantly?” I believe that it is in actually knowing Jesus Christ, the long awaited Jewish Messiah, and in knowing that they now possess the “eternal life” that He won for them on the cross. Moreover, this life with God in Christ (eternal life realized) will be far more glorious than the eternal life they may have imagined before Christ appeared. The Apostle Paul described it this way, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him”(Corinthians 2:9; see also Isaiah 64:4). That, my friends, is indeed, “life more abundantly”, and it will be yours if you put your faith and trust in Jesus!

(To read more of my articles on biblical topics, click HERE)

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An Easy, Do-It-Yourself Bible Study on Homosexuality

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An Easy, Do-It-Yourself Bible Study on Homosexuality

James R. Aist

Introduction

If you’ve been paying attention to the “gay agenda’s” assault on the Christian church lately, you’re familiar with their attacks on the reliability and veracity of English translations of the Bible. Proponents of the recently invented “gay theology” (click HERE) and the “gay gospel” (click HERE) claim, for example, that the Bible doesn’t really condemn homosexuality, that the English translations have wrongly portrayed what the ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts really say about the matter and that the references to homosexuality in the Bible do not apply to modern homosexual couples in long-term, committed, exclusive and loving relationships. The latter claim is used in an attempt to validate, justify and rationalize so-called “gay marriage.”

Historically, the common, ordinary Christian has had to leave the study of the Hebrew and Greek used in the ancient manuscripts of the Bible to highly trained Bible scholars and translators. But, in recent years, user-friendly computer software has been developed that enables the computer literate to study the Bible at this level without first becoming Hebrew and Greek scholars themselves. So, here’s how to do your own study of the Hebrew and Greek root words used in the Bible to express God’s views on homosexuality, using authoritative and reliable Hebrew and Greek lexicons. “It’s so easy, a cave man can do it.”

The “Cook Book” Procedure

To conduct your own, personal study: 1) find online, and open, “Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance” at “biblestudytools.com” (click HERE); 2) follow the instructions given in the introductory pane; 3) enter, in turn, the following Bible passages  — Genesis 19:1-11 with Jude 1:7; Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; I Corinthians 6:9-10; and I Timothy 1:10 – and then; 4) for each Bible passage, click on the respective highlighted words (hyperlinks) to access the appropriate lexicon and read the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek words, given in English. You can toggle between the King James Version (KJV) and the New American Standard (NAS) version and still retain the Strong’s Numbers; or, you can choose from a dozen or more other English translations and read the passage without Strong’s Numbers. You will find, as expected, that wherever homosexual behavior is mentioned in the Bible, it is consistently condemned as sin, abomination, perversion, etc. And understand that translators of later English versions of the Bible, such as the NIV and NAS, consulted the ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, rather than simply putting the KJV into modern English.

You may also find it helpful to read the following, most excellent and enlightening, short articles concerning the Bible and homosexuality, as part of your study:

Allen, J. 2014. The Apostle Paul and Homosexuality—Answering Homosexual Objections (Part 1) (click HERE)

Allen, J. 2014. The Apostle Paul and Homosexuality—Answering Homosexual Objections (Part 2) (Click HERE)

Conclusions

The claims of gay activists — that the Bible doesn’t really condemn homosexuality as sin, that the English translations have wrongly portrayed what the ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts really say about the matter and that the references to homosexuality in the Bible do not apply to modern homosexual couples in long-term, committed, exclusive and loving relationships — is nothing but pure fantasy and wishful thinking, as you can see for yourself. Therefore, the Bible cannot be used with honesty, accuracy and integrity to justify and rationalize so-called “gay marriage.”

(For more articles on HOMOSEXUALITY, click HERE)