Romans 15:26
Romans 15:26-Paul Must Deliver To The Poor Saints In Jerusalem The Contribution From The Gentile Churches In Macedonia And Achaia
Romans 15:26 continues the fifth paragraph of Romans chapter fifteen, which began in verse 22 and concludes in verse 29. In verse 22, we noted that Paul informs his readers in Rome that as a result of concentrating upon fulfilling the task of proclaiming the gospel to the Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire, he was habitually delayed many times, namely from entering into their company. Romans 15:22, “Consequently, for this reason, I have been habitually delayed these many times, namely, from entering into the company of each and every one of you.” This statement is a result clause and is coordinate with the result clause in Romans 15:19b. Romans 15:19b, “Consequently, from Jerusalem and circuitously, as far as Illyricum, I have fulfilled the task of proclaiming the gospel about the one and only Christ.” Therefore, Paul is saying in Romans 15:22 that he had often been prevented these many times from visiting the Roman believers in the past because he was concentrating on fulfilling the task of proclaiming the gospel about the one and only Christ, from Jerusalem, and circuitously, as far as Illyricum. Romans 15:23 presents a contrast with the result clause in Romans 15:19b, thus, it contrasts Paul’s circumstances in the past when he was busy concentrating upon fulfilling this task of proclaiming the gospel from Jerusalem and circuitously as far as Illyricum with his present circumstances in which he has completed this task. Romans 15:23, “However, now because at the present time I no longer possess an opportunity in these regions and in addition because I possess a passionate desire for a period of many years to enter into the company of each and every one of you.” This verse is connected to Romans 15:24b, “ for I hope to see you in passing ” (NASU) since the verb echo appears twice in Romans 15:23 and in each instance functions as a causal participle modifying the verb elpizo , which appears in Romans 15:24b, “ I hope .” (NASU) Romans 15:23 is thus presenting two reasons why Paul confidently expected to see the Roman believers in passing on his way to Spain. The first reason is that he no longer had an opportunity to plant a church in the provinces of the Roman Empire that stretched from Jerusalem and circuitously as far as Illyricum since he states in Romans 15:19b that he has fulfilled the task of proclaiming the gospel to
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1 the Gentiles in these regions. The second reason that Paul confidently expected to visit the Christians in Rome was that he possessed a great desire for a period of many years to enter into their company. Then, Paul in Romans 15:24a writes that he confidently expects to visit his readers in Rome while passing through whenever he is permitted by the Holy Spirit to travel to Spain. Romans 15:24a, “I in fact am absolutely certain and confidently expect to see each and every one of you for myself while passing through (Rome) whenever I will be permitted to travel to Spain…” This statement in Romans 15:24a is connected to Romans 15:23 since the verb echo appears twice in Romans 15:23 and in each instance functions as a causal participle modifying the verb elpizo , which appears in Romans 15:24b. Many commentators such as Cranfield, Morris, Moo and Dunn all agree that Romans 15:23 is an unfinished or incomplete sentence meaning that the sentence that begins with nuni de is broken off and has no main verb, which expresses what Paul is intending to do. However, the verb echo , which appears twice in verse 23, functions in each instance as a causal participle indicating the cause or the reason or ground of the action of the finite verb. Normally, a causal participle precedes the verb it modifies, which is the case here where in both instances, the verb echo functions as a causal participle and is preceding the verb it modifies, which is the present active indicative form of the verb elpizo that appears in Romans 15:24b. Therefore, elpizo functions as the main verb for these participles in Romans 15:23 and its meaning is completed by the complementary infinitive form of the verb theaomai , “ to see .” The NASU, NET and ESV interpret gar in Romans 15:24b as causal and translate it “ for .” However, it is better to interpret it as emphatic and translate it “in fact.” Therefore, the idea that appears in Romans 15:23-24a is completed in Romans 15:24b as indicated by the fact that the verb echo that appears twice in Romans 15:23 functions in each instance as a causal participle modifying the present active indicative form of elpizo that appears in Romans 15:24b. Thus, Romans 15:23-24a is not an unfinished sentence since it is finished in Romans 15:24b. Thus, Romans 15:23 and 24a form a complete thought and should be read together. Romans 15:23, “However, now because at the present time I no longer possess an opportunity in these regions and in addition because I possess a passionate desire for a period of many years to enter into the company of each and every one of you, 24a, I in fact am absolutely certain and confidently expect to see each and every one of you for myself while passing through (Rome) whenever I will be permitted to travel to Spain.”
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2
In Romans 15:24, “whenever I go to Spain ” (NASU) is an indefinite temporal clause and is connected to the statement “ I hope to see you in passing ” (NASU). It is not connected to the previous causal clause at the end of Romans 15:23 since the statement “ I hope to see you in passing ” is connected to the two causal participial clauses in Romans 15:23 forming a complete thought. The indefinite temporal clause “whenever I go to Spain ” is subordinate to the statement “ I hope to see you in passing ” and modifying it. Thus, we translated Romans 15:24a, “I in fact am absolutely certain and confidently expect to see each and every one of you for myself while passing through (Rome) whenever I will be permitted to travel to Spain.” The indefiniteness of the construction is not due to Paul being uncertain as to whether or not he will visit Rome but rather the uncertainty is due to the fact that he does not know how long it will take him to finish with his task in Jerusalem. Then, in Romans 15:24b, Paul presents two additional reasons Paul wanting to visit the Romans on his projected trip to Spain, namely, to have fellowship with them and to receive assistance from them for this trip. Romans 15:24b, “And in addition to be helped on my journey there by all of you as a corporate unit when I have first temporarily enjoyed your company.” “To be helped on my journey there (Spain) by all of you as a corporate unit ” expresses Paul’s desire to experience the hospitality of the Roman believers in that he wants their assistance for his journey to Spain by providing him with food, money, by arranging for companions and means of travel. “When I have first temporarily enjoyed your company ” speaks of Paul’s desire to have fellowship with the Roman believers before heading to Spain. “To be helped on my journey there by all of you as a corporate unit when I have first temporarily enjoyed your company ” is a third class conditional emphasizes the certain fulfillment of Paul being assisted on his journey to Spain when he first enjoys the company of the Romans believers. It is emphasizing with Paul’s readers in Rome that he values their fellowship and that his trip to Spain can wait until he has first enjoyed their company for a while. This statement emphasizes that fellowship with the Roman believers is his first priority before going to Spain. It also expresses in a polite way his confidence that the Roman Christians will assist him on his journey to Spain. It also emphasizes that his projected visit to Rome will be temporary yet long enough for Paul to enjoy fellowship with the Roman believers and proclaim the gospel in Rome to them and the unsaved in Rome. In Romans 15:25, Paul informs the Roman believers that at the time of writing this epistle the Holy Spirit permitted him to travel to Jerusalem for he was soon
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 going to serve the saints in that city, which stands in contrast with his confident expectation of visiting them on his way to Spain. Romans 15:25, “However, now at the present time I am permitted to travel to Jerusalem for I will soon be going to serve the saints.” This evening we will note verse 26 and in this verse Paul informs the Roman believers that he was going to serve the saints in Jerusalem by delivering to the destitute Jewish believers in that city an offering from the Gentiles in Macedonia and Achaia. This offering was a major focus of Paul’s third missionary journey since each letter he wrote on the journey mentions it (1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8-9) and is mentioned in other passages such Acts 24:17.
The Jerusalem church was destitute undoubtedly because of the persecutions since for a Jewish believer to trust in Jesus of Nazareth as Savior resulted in expulsion from the synagogue. Consequently, this meant being barred from Jewish life, thus many lost homes and businesses, not to mention friendships and being disowned by family members. Undoubtedly, Paul thought this offering to be important because it would serve to build unity among Jewish and Gentile believers and thus it would serve as a symbol of unity among believers. Romans 15:26, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” “For ” is the “explanatory” use of the conjunction gar ( ), which introduces a statement that explains what Paul means when he says in Romans 15:25 that he is
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4 traveling to Jerusalem to serve the saints in that city. We will translate gar , “ for you see .” “Macedonia ” is the nominative feminine singular form of the noun Makedonia ( α α ) (Mak-ah-doe-knee -ah), which in the days of the apostle in the first century was a Roman province located in the region of the Balkan peninsula north of the Roman province of Achaia. Ancient Macedonia lay on the Balkan peninsula north of Greece, south of Illyria and Thrace, and East of Epirus. Its territory included Haliacmon and Axius rivers and their tributaries, which flow southeast to the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. Most of the country is mountainous, cut by great river valleys, and remote from the sea. Unlike peninsular Greece, its climate is much more eastern European than Mediterranean, with summer and winter rains, severe winters, and very hot summers. This makes it suitable for most horses, cattle, sheep, cereals, and European fruits, but not for olives or figs. Ethnologists differ about the origin of the Macedonian race and the degree of its affinity to the Hellenes. But we find a well-marked tradition in ancient times that the race comprised a Hellenic element and a non-Hellenic, though Aryan, element, closely akin to the Phrygian and other Thracian stocks. The dominant race, the Macedonians in the narrower sense of the term, including the royal family, which was acknowledged to be Greek and traced its descent through the Temenids of Argos back to Heracles (Herodotus v.22), settled in the fertile plains about the lower Haliacmon (Karasu or Vistritza) and Axius (Vardar), to the North and Northwest of the Thermaic Gulf. Their capital, which was originally at Edessa or Aegae (Vodhena), was afterward transferred to Pella by Philip II. The other and older element-the Lyncestians, Orestians, Pelagonians and other tribes-were pushed back northward and westward into the highlands, where they struggled for generations to maintain their independence and weakened the Macedonian state by constant risings and by making common cause with the wild hordes of Illyrians and Thracians, with whom we find the Macedonian kings in frequent conflict. In order to maintain their position they entered into a good understanding from time to time with the states of Greece or acknowledged temporarily Persian suzerainty, and thus gradually extended the sphere of their power. Herodotus (viii.137-39) traces the royal line from Perdiccas I through Argaeus, Philip I, Aeropus, Alcetas and Amyntas I to Alexander I, who was king at the time of the Persian invasions of Greece. He and his son and grandson, Perdiccas II and Archelaus, did much to consolidate Macedonian power, but the death of Archelaus (399 BC) was followed by 40 years of disunion and weakness. With the accession of Philip II, son of Amyntas II, in 359 BC, Macedonia came under the rule of a
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 5 man powerful alike in body and in mind, an able general and an astute diplomatist, one, moreover, who started out with a clear perception of the end at which he must aim, the creation of a great national army and a nation-state, and worked consistently and untiringly throughout his reign of 23 years to gain that object. He welded the Macedonian tribes into a single nation, won by force and fraud the important positions of Amphipolis, Pydna, Potidaea, Olynthus, Abdera and Maronea, and secured a plentiful supply of gold by founding Philippi on the site of Crenides. Gradually extending his rule over barbarians and Greeks alike, he finally, after the battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), secured his recognition by the Greeks themselves as captain-general of the Hellenic states and leader of a Graeco- Macedonian crusade against Persia. On the eve of this projected eastern expedition, however, he was assassinated by order of his dishonored wife Olympias (336 BC), whose son, Alexander the Great, succeeded to the throne. After securing his hold on Thrace, Illyria and Greece, Alexander turned eastward and, in a series of brilliant campaigns, overthrew the Persian empire. The battle of the Granicus (334 BC) was followed by the submission or subjugation of most of Asia Minor. By the battle of Issus (333), in which Darius himself was defeated, Alexander's way was opened to Phoenicia and Egypt; Darius' second defeat, at Arbela (331), sealed the fate of the Persian power. Babylon, Susa, Persepolis and Ecbatana were taken in turn, and Alexander then pressed eastward through Hyrcania, Aria, Arachosia, Bactria and Sogdiana to India, which he conquered as far as the Hyphasis (Sutlej): thence he returned through Gedrosia, Carmania and Persis to Babylon, to make preparations for the conquest of Arabia. A sketch of his career is given in 1 Maccabees 1:1-7, where he is spoken of as “Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, who came out of the land of Chittim” (verse 1): his invasion of Persia is also referred to in 1 Macc 6:2, where he is described as "the Macedonian king, who reigned first among the Greeks,” i.e. the first who united in a single empire all the Greek states, except those which lay to the West of the Adriatic. It is the conception of the Macedonian power as the deadly foe of Persia which is responsible for the description of Haman in Ad Esther 16:10 as a Macedonian, “an alien in truth from the Persian blood,” and for the attribution to him of a plot to transfer the Persian empire to the Macedonians (verse 14), and this same thought appears in the Septuagint's rendering of the Hebrew Agagite (` aghaghi ) in Est 9:24 as Macedonian ( Makedon ). Alexander died in June 323 B.C., and his empire fell a prey to the rivalries of his chief generals (1 Maccabees 1:9); after a period of struggle and chaos, three powerful kingdoms were formed, taking their names from Macedonia, Syria and Egypt. Even in Syria, however, Macedonian influences remained strong, and we
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 6 find Macedonian troops in the service of the Seleucid monarchs (2 Maccabees 8:20). In 215 King Philip V, son of Demetrius II and successor of Antigonus Doson (229-220 BC), formed an alliance with Hannibal, who had defeated the Roman forces at Lake Trasimene (217) and at Cannae (216), and set about trying to recover Illyria. After some years of desultory and indecisive warfare, peace was concluded in 205, Philip binding himself to abstain from attacking the Roman possessions on the East of the Adriatic. The Second Macedonian War, caused by a combined attack of Antiochus III of Syria and Philip of Macedon on Egypt, broke out in 200 and ended 3 years later in the crushing defeat of Philip's forces by T. Quinctius Flamininus at Cynoscephalae in Thessaly (compare 1 Maccabees 8:5). By the treaty which followed this battle, Philip surrendered his conquests in Greece, Illyria, Thrace, Asia Minor and the Aegean, gave up his fleet, reduced his army to 5,000 men, and undertook to declare no war and conclude no alliance without Roman consent. In 179 Philip was succeeded by his son Perseus, who at once renewed the Roman alliance, but set to work to consolidate and extend his power. In 172 war again broke out, and after several Roman reverses the consul Lucius Aemilius Paulus decisively defeated the Macedonians at Pydna in 168 BC (compare 1 Maccabees 8:5, where Perseus is called “king of Chittim” OQ). The kingship was abolished and Perseus was banished to Italy. The Macedonians were declared free and autonomous; their land was divided into four regions, with their capitals at Amphipolis, Thessalonica, Pella and Pelagonia respectively, and each of them was governed by its own council; commercium and connubium were forbidden between them and the gold and silver mines were closed. A tribute was to be paid annually to the Roman treasury, amounting to half the land tax hitherto exacted by the Macedonian kings. But this compromise between freedom and subjection could not be of long duration, and after the revolt of Andriscus, the pseudo-Philip, was quelled (148 BC), Macedonia was constituted a Roman province and enlarged by the addition of parts of Illyria, Epirus, the Ionian islands and Thessaly. Each year a governor was dispatched from Rome with supreme military and judicial powers; the partition fell into abeyance and communication within the province was improved by the construction of the Via Egnatia from Dyrrhachium to Thessalonica, whence it was afterward continued eastward to the Nestus and the Hellespont. In 146 the Achaeans, who had declared war on Rome, were crushed by Q. Caecilius Metellus and L. Mummius, Corinth was sacked and destroyed, the Achaean league was dissolved, and Greece, under the name of Achaea, was made a province and placed under the control of the governor of Macedonia.
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 7
In 27 BC, when the administration of the provinces was divided between Augustus and the Senate, Macedonia and Achaea fell to the share of the latter (Strabo, p. 840; Dio Cassius liii.12) and were governed separately by ex-praetors sent out annually with the title of proconsul. In 15 AD, however, senatorial mismanagement had brought the provinces to the verge of ruin, and they were transferred to Tiberius (Tacitus, Annals, i.76), who united them under the government of a legatus Augusti pro praetore until, in 44 AD, Claudius restored them to the Senate (Suetonius, Claudius 25; Dio Cassius lx .24). It is owing to this close historical and geographical connection that we find Macedonia and Achaea frequently mentioned together in the New Testament, Macedonia being always placed first (Acts 19:21; Rom 15:26; 2 Cor 9:2; 1 Thess 1:7-8). Diocletian (284-305 AD) detached from Macedonia Thessaly and the Illyrian coast lands and formed them into two provinces, the latter under the name of Epirus Nova. Toward the end of the fourth century what remained of Macedonia was broken up into two provinces, Macedonia prima and Macedonia secunda or salutaris , and when in 395 the Roman world was divided into the western and eastern empires, Macedonia was included in the latter. During the next few years it was overrun and plundered by the Goths under Alaric, and later, in the latter half of the sixth century, immense numbers of Slavonians settled there. In the tenth century a large part of it was under Bulgarian rule, and afterward colonies of various Asiatic tribes were settled there by the Byzantine emperors. In 1204 it became a Latin kingdom under Boniface, marquis of Monferrat, but 20 years later Theodore, the Greek despot of Epirus, founded a Greek empire of Thessalonica. During the second half of the fourteenth century the greater part of it was part of the Servian dominions, but in 1430 Thessalonica fell before the Ottoman Turks, and from that time down to the year 1913 Macedonia has formed part of the Turkish empire. Its history thus accounts for the very mixed character of its population, which consists chiefly of Turks, Albanians, Greeks and Bulgarians, but has in it a considerable element of Jews, Gypsies, Vlachs, Servians and other races. In the narrative of Paul's journeys as given us in Acts 13-28 and in the Pauline Epistles, Macedonia plays a prominent part. The apostle's relations with the churches of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Beroea will be found discussed under those several headings; here we will merely recount in outline his visits to the province. On his second missionary journey Paul came to Troas, and from there sailed with Silas, Timothy and Luke to Neapolis, the nearest Macedonian seaport, in obedience to the vision of a Macedonian (whom Ramsay identifies with Luke: see under the word “Philippi”) urging him to cross to Macedonia and preach the gospel
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 8 there (Acts 16:9). From Neapolis he journeyed inland to Philippi, which is described as “a city of Macedonia, the first of the district” (verse 12). Then Paul and his two companions (for Luke appears to have remained in Philippi for the next 5 years) traveled along the Egnatian road, passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, to Thessalonica, which, though a “free city,” and therefore technically exempt from the jurisdiction of the Roman governor, was practically the provincial capital. Driven thence by the hostility of the Jews, the evangelists preached in Beroea, where Silas and Timothy remained for a short time after a renewed outbreak of Jewish animosity had forced Paul to leave Macedonia for the neighboring province of Achaia (Acts 17:14). Although he sent a message to his companions to join him with all speed at Athens (verse 15), yet so great was his anxiety for the welfare of the newly founded Macedonian churches that he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica almost immediately (1 Thess 3:1-2), and perhaps Silas to some other part of Macedonia, nor did they again join him until after he had settled for some time in Corinth (Acts 18:5; 1 Thess 3:6). The rapid extension of the Christian faith in Macedonia at this time may be judged from the phrases used by Paul in his first epistle to the Thessalonians., the earliest of his extant letters, written during this visit to Corinth. He there speaks of the Thessalonian converts as being an example “to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia ” (1:7), and he commends their love “toward all the brethren that are in all Macedonia ” (4:10). Still more striking are the words, “ From you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth ” (1:8). On his third missionary journey, the apostle paid two further visits to Macedonia. During the course of a long stay at Ephesus he laid plans for a second journey through Macedonia and Achaia, and dispatched two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia to prepare for his visit (Acts 19:21-22). Some time later, after the uproar at Ephesus raised by Demetrius and his fellow- silversmiths (verses 23-41), Paul himself set out for Macedonia (20:1). Of this visit Luke gives us a very summary account, telling us merely that Paul, “when he had gone through those parts, and had given them much exhortation, .... came into Greece” (verse 2); but from 2 Corinthians, written from Macedonia (probably from Philippi) during the course of this visit, we learn more of the apostle's movements and feelings. While at Ephesus, Paul had changed his plans. His intention at first had been to travel across the Aegean Sea to Corinth, to pay a visit from there to Macedonia and to return to Corinth, so as to sail direct to Syria (2 Corinthians 1:15-16). But by the time at which he wrote the first epistle to the Corinthians, probably near the end of
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 9 his stay at Ephesus, he had made up his mind to go to Corinth by way of Macedonia, as we have seen that he actually did (1 Corinthians 16:5-6). From 2 Corinthians 2:13 we learn that he traveled from Ephesus to Troas, where he expected to find Titus. Titus, however, did not yet arrive, and Paul, who “had no relief for (his) spirit ,” left Troas and sailed to Macedonia. Even here the same restlessness pursued him: “ fightings without, fears within ” oppressed him, till the presence of Titus brought some relief (2 Corinthians 7:5-6). The apostle was also cheered by “the grace of God which had been given in the churches of Macedonia ” (8:1); in the midst of severe persecution, they bore their trials with abounding joy, and their deep poverty did not prevent them begging to be allowed to raise a contribution to send to the Christians in Jerusalem (Rom 15:26; 2 Cor 8:2-4). Liberality was, indeed, from the very outset one of the characteristic virtues of the Macedonian churches. The Philippians had sent money to Paul on two occasions during his first visit to Thessalonica (Philippians 4:16), and again when he had left Macedonia and was staying at Corinth (2 Corinthians 11:9; Philippians 4:15). On the present occasion, however, the Corinthians seem to have taken the lead and to have prepared their bounty in the previous year, on account of which the apostle boasts of them to the Macedonian Christians (2 Corinthians 9:2). He suggests that on his approaching visit to Achaia he may be accompanied by some of these Macedonians (verse 4), but whether this was actually the case we are not told. The third visit of Paul to Macedonia took place some 3 months later and was occasioned by a plot against his life laid by the Jews of Corinth, which led him to alter his plan of sailing from Cenchreae, the eastern seaport of Corinth, to Syria (2 Cor 1:16; Acts 20:3). He returned to Macedonia accompanied as far as Asia by 3 Macedonian Christians-Sopater, Aristarchus and Secundus-and by 4 from Asia Minor. Probably Paul took the familiar route by the Via Egnatia, and reached Philippi immediately before the days of unleavened bread; his companions preceded him to Troas (Acts 20:5), while he himself remained at Philippi until after the Passover (Thursday, April 7, 57 AD, according to Ramsay's chronology), when he sailed from Neapolis together with Luke, and joined his friends in Troas (verse 6). Toward the close of his first imprisonment at Rome Paul planned a fresh visit to Macedonia as soon as he should be released (Phil 1:26; 2:24), and even before that he intended to send Timothy to visit the Philippian church and doubtless those of Beroea and Thessalonica also. Whether Timothy actually went on this mission we cannot say; that Paul himself went back to Macedonia once more we learn from 1 Tim 1:3, and we may infer a 5 the visit from the reference to the apostle's stay at Troas, which in all probability belongs to a later occasion (2 Tim 4:13).
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 10
Gaius is also mentioned as a Macedonian in Acts 19:29, but perhaps the reading of a few manuscripts Makedona is to be preferred to the Textus Receptus of the New Testament Makedonas in which case Aristarchus alone would be a Macedonian, and this Gaius would probably be identical with the Gaius of Derbe mentioned in Acts 20:4 as a companion of Paul (Ramsay, op. cit., 280). The first mention of Macedonia in the Bible is in Acts 16: the description of Paul's “Macedonian call.” In a vision, a man appeared to Paul “and pleaded with him, saying, “ Come over to Macedonia and help us’ ” (Acts 16:9). Paul immediately set sail at Troas for Neapolis (Acts 16:11), a seaport of Philippi in the extreme eastern part of Macedonia. Luke gives a detailed account of Paul's journey through Macedonia (Acts 16:11-17:14). At Neapolis Paul picked up the Egnatian Way-the major road of Macedonia-and came to Philippi, "the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony" (Acts 16:12). At Philippi Paul made his first convert in Europe, “a certain woman named Lydia...[who] was a seller of purple ” (Acts 16:14). After Lydia's baptism and the healing of “a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination ” (Acts 16:16), and his imprisonment (Acts 16:23-24), Paul set out again on the Egnatian Way through Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica (Acts 17:11)-the capital where the proconsul (governor) resided. The final city Paul visited before leaving Macedonia for Athens was Berea (Acts 17:10-14), where he left Silas and Timothy for a short time to assist in the work (Acts 17:15; 18:5). At the close of this, his second missionary journey, Paul went on to Athens and Corinth and then back to Antioch of Syria (Acts 17:15- 18:23). He revisited Macedonia at least once again (Acts 20:1-6), and perhaps twice (2 Cor 2:13; 7:5; Phil 2:24; 1 Tim 1:3). Several of Paul's travel companions and fellow workers were Macedonians: Gaius (Acts 19:29), Aristarchus (Acts 19:29; 27:2), Secundus (Acts 20:4), and Sopater (Acts 20:4). The Macedonian Christians support of the needs of Paul and others is mentioned several times in Paul's letters (Rom 15:26; 2 Cor 8:1-5; Phil 4:15-18). A striking fact is the prominence in them of women, which is probably due to the higher social position held by women in this province than in Asia Minor (Lightfoot, Philippians 4, 55ff). We find only two references to women in connection with Paul's previous missionary work; the women proselytes of high social standing take a share in driving him from Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:50), and Timothy's mother is mentioned as a Jewess who believed (16:1). But in Macedonia all is changed. To women the gospel was first preached at Philippi (verse 13); a woman was the first convert and the hostess of the evangelists (verses 14,15); a slave girl was restored to soundness of mind by the apostle (verse 18), and long afterward Paul mentions two women as having “labored with (him) in the
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 11 gospel ” and as endangering the peace of the church by their rivalry (Phil 4:2-3). At Thessalonica a considerable number of women of the first rank appear among the earliest converts (Acts 17:4), while at Beroea also the church included from the outset numerous Greek women of high position (verse 12). The bond uniting Paul and the Macedonian Christians seems to have been a peculiarly close and affectionate one. Their liberality and open-heartedness, their joyousness and patience in trial and persecution, their activity in spreading the Christian faith, their love of the brethren-these are a few of the characteristics which Paul specially commends in them (1 and 2 Thessalonians; Philippians; 2 Corinthians 8:1-8), while they also seem to have been much freer than the churches of Asia Minor from Judaizing tendencies and from the allurements of “philosophy and vain deceit.” We know the names of a few of the early members of the Macedonian churches-Sopater (Acts 20:4) or Sosipater (Romans 16:21: the identification is a probable, though not a certain, one) of Beroea; Aristarchus (Acts 19:29; 20:4; 27:2; Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24), Jason (Acts 17:5-9; Romans 16:21) and Secundus (Acts 20:4) of Thessalonica; Clement (Philippians 4:3), Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25; 4:18), Euodia (Philippians 4:2; this, not Euodias (the King James Version), is the true form), Syntyche (same place), Lydia (Acts 16:14,40; a native of Thyatira), and possibly Luke (Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller, 201 ff) of Philippi.
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 12
In Romans 15:26, the noun Makedonia contains the figure of metonymy meaning that the Roman province of Macedonia is put for the Gentile believers in that province. The word functions as a nominative subject meaning that it is performing the action of being pleased to make a contribution to the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem. Romans 15:26, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” “And ” is the “adjunctive” use of the conjunction kai ( α ) (keh), which introduces another group of believers that resided in the Roman province of Achaia who “in addition to” the believers in Macedonia contributed to the offering that Paul would be presenting to the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem. We will translate the word “ as well as .” “Achaia ” is the nominative feminine singular form of the noun Achaia ( α α ) (Ah-ha-ee-ah), which refers to a Roman province that was located on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, on the south coast of the gulf of Corinth and is now called Morea and the south of Greece. The term is derived from the designation for the Greeks in Hittite and Egyptian sources (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, page 9). In Homer, the Greeks were called Achaeans. During the period of the Hellenistic kings such as Philip and his son Alexander, the Achaean confederacy brought about the freedom of the republics. In 27 B.C., the Romans divided Greece into the provinces of Achaia (southern Greece) and Macedonia (northern Greece). When Greece was independent, the Achaean League was a political force and contained in this league were the cities of Corinth and Athens. It retained its influence until the Romans destroyed the city of Corinth in 146 B.C. During the Roman occupation it became a Roman province south of Macedonia. The province of Achaia was in the regular senatorial allotment and thus was governed by a proconsul. There were two exceptions however in that from A.D. 15 to 44, it was under the Caesarian legate of Moesia and from A.D. 67 Roman supervision was entirely suspended for several years by Nero’s benevolence and the forty or so republics in the area enjoyed their liberty without even the appearance of permission (The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, page 10). The Romans maintained the old confederacy with its capital at Argos, which was the seat of the imperial cult. However the much larger province was governed from Corinth. Corinth was the proconsular capital of Achaia and one of the major commercial centers of the Roman Empire. It was here that Paul spent eighteen months and met fellow tent makers Aquila and Priscilla who were recently forced to leave Rome by an edict of Claudius banishing the Jews. Achaia was always in connection with Corinth in the New Testament. There was a church at Cenchreae according to Romans 16:1 and believers in Athens according to Acts 17:34. When Paul is
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 13 saying that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia in 1 Corinthians 16:15, he is applying the term to Corinth as having supremacy due to the fact that it was a Roman capital (The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, page 10). Paul visited Achaia on his second and third missionary journeys (Acts 19:21) while Gallio was proconsul of the province (Acts 18:12). The believers in Achaia along with the Macedonian believers sent financial aid to the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem (Romans 15:26; 2 Corinthians 9:2). The church at Thessalonica, in Macedonia, was held up as an example for the churches of Achaia (1 Thessalonians 1:7-8).
In Romans 15:26, the noun Achaia contains the figure of metonymy meaning that the Roman province of Achaia is put for the Gentile believers in that province. The word functions as a nominative subject meaning that it is performing the action of being pleased to make a contribution to the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem. Romans 15:26, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” “Have been pleased ” is the third person plural aorist active indicative form of the verb eudokeo ( ) (ehv-thoe-keh-owe), which is composed of the suffix
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 14 eu , “well, good” and the verb dokeo , “think,” thus the word literally means “to think well or good of,” thus “to take pleasure in or approve of. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature-Third Edition lists the following meanings for the word: (1) to consider something as good and therefore worthy of choice, consent, determine, resolve with infinitive following (2) to take pleasure or find satisfaction in something, be well pleased, take delight in (Page 404). Louw and Nida list the following usages: (1) to be pleased with something or someone, with the implication of resulting pleasure—‘to be pleased with, to take pleasure in’ (25.87). (2) to take pleasure in something in that it fulfills one’s desires—‘to enjoy’ (25.113). (3) to think of something as being good, better, or preferable—‘to choose as better, to prefer, to seem good to’ (30.97). (Greek- English Lexicon of the New Testament Based upon Semantic Domains) Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament lists the following: (1) with en and the dative of person be well-pleased with, take pleasure or delight in, be glad in, especially of God’s approval (2) with an infinitive following consider good, seem good to, consent to (3) with a thing as the object like, prefer, approve of (Page 178). In Romans 15:26, the verb eudokeo means “to decide with pleasure” to provide a contribution on behalf of the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem. This word emphasizes that the Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia of their own accord took pleasure in providing for the needs of their poor Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ. The aorist tense of the verb is a constative aorist describing in summary fashion the period of time in which this contribution for the poor in Jerusalem was put together. It describes in summary fashion this period of time when these Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia willingly took pleasure in providing for the needs of the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem. The active voice means that the Gentile believers in the Roman provinces of Macedonia and Achaia perform the action of willingly taking pleasure in providing contribution for the needs of the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem. The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement. We will translate eudokeo , “ decided with pleasure .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 15:26, “For you see, Macedonia as well as Achaia decided with pleasure…” Romans 15:26, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” “To make ” is the aorist middle infinitive form of the verb poieo ( ι ) (pee- eh-owe), which means “to provide something for somebody out of one’s own
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 15 accord and own resources.” It is used of the actions of the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia in providing of their own accord for the needs of the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem from their own resources. The aorist tense of the verb is a constative aorist tense used to describe in summary fashion the period of time in which this contribution for the poor Jewihs believers in Jerusalem was brought together. It describes in summary fashion the period of time in which the Gentile Christians in Macedonia and Achaia provided of their own accord for the needs of the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem from their own resources. The middle voice of the verb puts special focus on the Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia emphasizing that this contribution was provided by them from their own resources and of their own accord. The verb poieo functions as a complementary infinitive meaning that it is completing the thought of the verb eudokeo , “ decided with pleasure .” We will translate poieo , “ to provide of their own accord and from their own resources .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 15:26, “For you see, Macedonia as well as Achaia decided with pleasure to provide of their own accord and from their own resources…” Romans 15:26, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” “A contribution ” is the accusative feminine singular form of the noun koinonia ( ι α ) (kee-no-knee-ah). In the Greek and Hellenistic world koinonia was a term, which meant the evident, unbroken fellowship between the gods and men. Even Philo spoke of the “sublime fellowship [of Moses] with the Father and Creator of the universe” (Vit. Mos., 1, 158). Koinonia was an important concept both in the secular and religious life of the ancient Greek world. It denoted the close union and brotherly bond between men. It was taken up by the philosophers to denote the ideal to be sought. The word has thus virtually the sense of brotherhood, and is a standing expression for the way social life is constituted. Koinonia , an abstract term from koinonos and koinoneo , denotes “participation, fellowship,” especially with a close bond. It expresses a two-side relation. As with koinoneo , emphasis may be on either the giving or the receiving. It thus means: (1) “Participation” (2) “Impartation” (3) “Fellowship.” It is constructed: (1) In the absolute, “fellowship,” in law of a contract partnership, community of possession or communal possession. (a) With the objective genitive of the thing shared. (b) With the subjective genitive of the person or thing sharing, the recipient being in
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 16 the dative or with preposition. (c) With objective genitive of the person in whom there is sharing. In Platonism koinonia acquires its greatest systematic significance. Koinonia is the basis of soteria , the preservation not merely of individuals, but of the whole cosmos, which includes both men and gods. The idea of an unbroken relationship of fellowship between God and man is thought to be wholly Greek. Greek philosophy (Plato) lifts the thought of divine fellowship above the cultic experience and extols it as the highest and most felicitous form of fellowship. Stoic thinking regards the universe as a dynamic and integrated totality, and on this basis it arrives at the concept of mutual koinonia between men and of their koinonia with God. Koinonia can have the following meanings: (1) “Association, communion, fellowship, close relationship” (2) “Generosity, fellow-feeling, altruism” (3) “Sign of fellowship, proof of brotherly unity, gift, contribution” (4) “Participation, sharing in something.” The group koinon - is important in sacral speech. According to primitive ideas there is an inward reception of mysterious divine power ( mana ) in eating and drinking. This notion of direct union with the deity is at least a basic impulse in later cults as well, e.g., that of Dionysus. On the level of popular polytheism the sacrificial meal then becomes a communion of the deity with men. In Homer sacrifices are cheerful feasts in which the gods take part. Man and god are companions at table. Nor is this true only of the Homeric age for in the Hellenistic period, too, the gods arrange and conduct sacrificial meals. Men are invited as companions ( koinonos ) to the table of the gods. In theozenia , the lectisternia of the Romans, the gods take a lively part in the common festivities through their statues. With union by eating and drinking in the sacred meal we may also mention sexual union with the deity. Greek philosophy (Plato) lifts the thought of divine fellowship above the cultic experience and extols it as the highest and most felicitous form of fellowship. Stoic thinking regards the universe as a dynamic and integrated totality, and on this basis it arrives at the concept of mutual koinonia between men and of their koinonia with God. For Epictetus koinonos is equivalent to fellow man. Hellenistic mysticism conceives of a general koinonia psuchon between gods, men and irrational creatures. By its very nature, however, it seeks union with the deity rather than communion. Koinonia is found 3 times in the LXX, of these only 1 is canonical. The word was not used in the LXX to denote the relationship between God and man. Any theological relationship between God and His people, on the basis of who He is, is
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 17 absent. The word is used in a negative sense in Hosea 4:17 for fellowship with idols, i.e., demons. The most significant point is that neither chaver nor koinon - is used for the relation to God, as so often in the Greek world. Herein is expressed the sense of distance which the righteous Israelite feels from God, as distinct from the Greek. The righteous man of the OT regards himself as in a relationship of dependence upon God and of belonging to Him. This can be deepened into a relationship of trust, but he never regards himself as the chevar , “companion” of God. This he never says. Similarly, in the LXX, even though this is influenced by Greek usage and thinking, we never find koinonia for the relation between God and man. This is a surprising fact. For there can be little doubt that in ancient Israel sacrifice, or the sacrificial meal, was widely regarded as sacral fellowship between God and man. In this respect Israel shares ancient Semitic ideas, which can be proved elsewhere. In Israel, too, the common meal implies a close relationship, which binds the participants to one another. This applies not merely to the men who partake of it; it is equally true of the believed participation of God. The word is found 19 times in the Greek New Testament (Acts 2:42; Rom. 15:26; 1 Cor. 1:9; twice in 1 Cor. 10:16; 2 Cor. 6:14; 8:4; 9:13; 13:14; Gal. 2:9; Eph. 3:9; Phil. 1:5; 2:1; 3:10; Phlm. 1:6; Heb. 13:16; twice in 1 John 1:3, 6, 7). Koinonia is used in the Greek New Testament with reference to following: (1) The fellowship or communion with God through the Filling of the Spirit (Acts 2:42; 2 Cor. 13:14; Phil. 2:1). (2) The fellowship or communion with God by means of the application of the Word of God (1 Cor. 1:9; 2 Cor. 6:14; Eph. 3:9; Phlm. 1:6; 1 John 1:3, 6-7). (3) Grace giving as part of the royal family honor code (Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:13; Gal. 2:9; Phil. 1:5; Heb. 13:16). (4) Undeserved suffering (Phil. 3:10). (5) Lord’s table (1 Cor. 10:16). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature-Third Edition: (1) share, have a share (2) give/contribute a share (3) make (ritually) unclean, defile (Page 552). Thayer’s New Greek-English Lexicon lists the following: (1) Fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse, the share which one in anything, participation (2) Intercourse, fellowship, intimacy (3) A benefaction jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution, as exhibiting an embodiment and proof of fellowship (Page 352). Louw and Nida list the following meanings: (1) An association involving close mutual relations and involvement – close association, fellowship’ (34.5). (2) To share one’s possessions, with the implication of some kind of joint participation and mutual interest - ‘to share’ (57.98). (3) That which is readily shared – ‘willing gift, ready contribution’ (57.101).
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 18
The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised: (1) Fellowship, partnership (2) Participation, communion (3) Aid relief (4) Contribution in aid (Page 235). Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words has the following article, “Koinonia (a) ‘communion, fellowship, sharing in common’ (from koinos, ‘common’), is translated ‘communion’ in (1 Cor. 10:16; Philem. 6), RV, ‘fellowship,’ for KJV, ‘communication’; it is most frequently translated ‘fellowship’; (b) ‘that which is the outcome of fellowship, a contribution,’ e. g., (Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 8:4).” Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament lists the following meanings for the word: (1) as a relationship characterized by sharing in common fellowship, participation (2) as giving so that others can share generosity, fellow feeling; more concretely willing contribution, gift (Page 121). In Romans 15:26, the noun koinonia means “willing contribution” and is used of the contribution that the Gentile believers in the Roman provinces of Macedonia and Achaia provided for the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem of their own accord and from their own resources. The word emphasizes that this contribution was an expression of Christian fellowship. Let’s take a look at our English word “fellowship” from Webster’s English dictionary in order to see what it might add to our understanding. An English dictionary can shed a lot of light on the Bible if we would use it in our Bible study. The translators chose English words according to their real and exact meanings. When we study our Bibles we assume we understand the full significance of a word, but often our ideas are very incomplete and this is particularly true of the word “fellowship.” According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary fellowship means: (1) companionship, company, associate (vb.) (2) the community of interest, activity, feeling or experience, i.e., a unified body of people of equal rank sharing in common interests, goals, and characteristics, etc.; (3) partnership, membership (an obsolete usage but an important one. It shows what has happened to our ideas of fellowship). There are three key ideas that come out of this: (1) Fellowship means being a part of a group, a body of people. It is opposed to isolation, solitude, loneliness, and our present-day independent kind of individualism. (2) Fellowship means having or sharing with others certain things in common such as interest, goals, feelings, beliefs, activities, labor, privileges and responsibilities, experiences, and concerns. (3) Fellowship can mean a partnership that involves working together and caring for one another as a company of people, like a company of soldiers or members of a family. Fellowship has two directions: (1) Vertical: God (2) Horizontal: Royal family of God.
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 19
1 Corinthians 1:9, “”God (the Father) is, as an eternal spiritual truth, faithful, through whom all of you have been elected to the privilege of entering into fellowship (koinonia ) with His (the Father’s) Son, Jesus, who is the Christ, our Lord.” Christian fellowship is a relationship and partnership with God and His royal family and involves sharing His objective of advancing His kingdom on earth by caring for and working together with the royal family in this endeavor. A study of two word groups ( koinonia and metochos ) that are employed in the Greek New Testament to denote the concept of fellowship, express four related and essential elements that describe what fellowship involves. Koinonia comes from koinos , which means “common, mutual, public,” and it refers to that which is held in common. The meaning of these two word groups can be boiled down to two main ideas: (1) “To share together, take part together” in the sense of participation and partnership, and (2) “To share with” in the sense of giving to or receiving from others, sharing what we have with one another. As we will note, there are four critical concepts that are derived from these two meanings according to New Testament usage. The New Testament usage according to sentence construction refers to: (1) the thing shared in common in some way by all parties involved as relationships, blessings or burdens, privileges, or responsibilities (all believers in Christ share many things in common); (2) the person(s) doing the sharing with others; (3) the person(s) with whom there is sharing; and (4) an abstract quality of the concept of fellowship, with no object, used alone as in Acts 2:42. Koinos ( koinov$ ) (adjective), “common, common ownership, common property, partner” (Mk. 7:2, 5; Acts 2:44; 4:32; 10:14, 28; 11:8; Rm. 14:14; Tit. 1:4; Heb. 10:29; Jude 1:3; Rev. 21:27). Acts 2:42-47, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common (koinos ); and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 4:32, “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common (koinos ) property to them.”
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 20
Koinonia ( koinwniva ) (noun), “partnership, participation, fellowship, close relationship, association, communion, expressing a two-sided relation” (Acts 2:42; Rm. 15:26; 1 C. 1:9; 10:16; 2 C. 6:14; 8:4; 9:13; 13:14; Ga. 2:9; Phlp. 1:5; 2:1; 3:10; Phlm. 1:6; Heb. 13:16; 1 Jn. 1:3, 6, 7). 1 John 1:3, “Who, we have witnessed and we have heard, we also are proclaiming (from God) at this particular time for the benefit of all of you in order that all of you without exception might also continue to experience fellowship (koinonia ) and this fellowship (koinonia ) is as an eternal spiritual truth with the Father and with His Son, Jesus who is the Christ.” Koinoneo ( koinwnevw ) (verb), “to share with someone in something which he has, to take part, to partake in, to participate, to possess together” (Rm. 12:13; 15:27; Ga. 6:6; Phlp. 4:15; 1 Tm. 5:22; Heb. 2:14; 1 P. 4:13; 2 Jn. 1:11). Galatians 6:6, “The one who is taught the word is to share (koinoneo ) all good things with the one who teaches him.” Koinonos ( koinwnov$ ) (noun): “partner, associate, companion” (2 Cor. 8:23; Luke 5:10; Phil. 1:7) or “partaker, sharer” (1 Cor. 10:18-20; 2 Cor. 1:7; 1 Pet. 5:1; 2 Pet. 1:4). 2 Peter 1:4, “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers (koinonos ) of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” Koinonikos ( koinwnikov$ ) (adjective): “belonging or appointed to society, generous, liberal in sharing or giving , sharing what is one’s own” (1 Tim. 6:18). 1 Timothy 6:17-19, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share (koinonikos ), storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” Sunkoinonos ( sugkoinwnov$ ) (noun), “partnership, fellow sharer” (Rm. 11:17; 1 C. 9:23; Phlp. 1:7; Rev. 1:9). Philippians 1:1-7, “Paul and Timothy, slaves owned by Christ Jesus, to all the saints in union with Christ who are presently located in Philippi including the overseers and deacons. Grace to all of you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I continue giving thanks to my God (the Father) based upon my entire remembrance of all of you, always by means of my every specific detailed request on behalf of each and every one of you. I make it my habit to offer this specific detailed request with joy because of your fellowship with respect to the proclamation of the gospel from the first day up
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 21 to this present moment. I am confident of this very same thing, namely that, the One (God the Holy Spirit) who began in all of you a good work that is divine in character will bring it to completion up to the day of Christ who is Jesus. Correspondingly, it is appropriate, as far as I am concerned, to continue to possess this attitude concerning each and every one of you because you continue to have me in your heart both in my imprisonment and in the confirmed defense for the gospel. Each and every one of you, all of you without exception as a result continue to be my joint-partners (sunkoinonos ) concerning this grace!” Sunkoinoneo ( sugkoinwnevw ) (verb), “to participate or share in something with somebody” (Eph. 5:11; Phlp. 4:14; Rev. 18:4). Philippians 4:10-19, “Now, I rejoiced greatly because of the Lord that now at last all of you have revived your consideration for me. In fact, before all of you were always considerate but all of you were always lacking an opportunity. Not that I ever speak because of want since I have learned for myself through the application of doctrine to experience how to be in a habitual state of contentment in whatever present circumstance. I have experienced not only poverty but also I have experienced prosperity. By means of every circumstance and by means of all kinds of situations I am intimately acquainted with not only satiation, but also starvation, not only prosperity, but also destitution. I possess the power to overcome all kinds of situations by means of the one whose doctrine empowers me. Nevertheless, all of you acted commendably by sympathizing with (sunkoinoneo ) my hardship. In fact, you, yourselves are also well aware of the fact that at the beginning of your instruction in the Gospel when I departed from Macedonia not even one local assembly shared with me concerning the matter of giving and receiving except you alone because even in Thessalonica, not only once but twice all of you sent a gift to me for my need. Not that I under any circumstances earnestly desire at this particular time your gift itself but rather I earnestly desire at this particular time increasing credit to your account. Now, I have received everything in its entirety and at this moment I am in a state of prosperity. I am fully and completely provided for because I have received from Epaphroditus the various articles from all of you, a fragrant aroma, and an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God the Father. Now, my God, the Father will as a dogmatic statement of fact, fully and completely provide for your every need according to His infinite wealth by means of the glorious power residing in the unique Person of Christ Jesus and thus the glory (adoring praise and worshipful thanksgiving) will be directed to God, yes-even our Father forever and ever. Amen!”
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 22
Metochos ( mevtoxo$ ) (adjective), “sharing, a partner, a companion” (Lk. 5:7; Heb. 1:9; 3:1, 14; 6:4; 12:8). Hebrews 3:1-14, “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers (metochos ) of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house -- whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, 'THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.’ Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers ( metochos ) of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.” Metecho ( metevxw ) (adjective), “sharing, a partner, a companion” (1 C. 9:10, 12; 10:17, 21, 30; Heb. 2:14; 5:13; 7:13). 1 Corinthians 9:1-14, “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. My defense to those who examine me is this: Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock? I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things? For it is written in the Law of Moses, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING.’ God is not concerned about oxen, is He? Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 23 the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing (metecho ) the crops. f we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share (metecho ) the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.” Metoche ( metoxhv) (noun), “partnership, fellowship” (2 C. 6:14). 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship (metoche ) has light with darkness?” Based on the meanings and uses of these words, four key ideas develop that are important if we are to grasp the richness the New Testament’s teaching on “fellowship.” If we understand these four concepts we will begin to have a grasp of the doctrine of fellowship and its implications and demands on our lives. Since fellowship is extremely important and forms an essential foundation for understanding the ministry we are to have with one another, let’s look at these four main concepts of New Testament fellowship. Christian Fellowship denotes the following concepts: (1) Relationship with Christ: We are all permanently united together by the common (eternal) life that we share as a result of regeneration and the Baptism of the Spirit (Acts 2:42; 1 C. 1:9; 1 Jn. 1:3). (2) Partnership: We are to work together for a common purpose to obtain common objectives for the glory of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ (cf. Phil 1:27; Phlp. 1:5; Gal. 2:9; Heb. 1:9). (3) Companionship: We are to communicate with one another and have fellowship with one another sharing with one another the things (viewpoint and thinking) of Christ (Acts. 2:42; Heb. 10:25; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Thess. 5:11; Rom. 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Thess 5:11; Phlm. 6). (4) Stewardship: We must recognize that all we have belongs to the Lord and has been given to us as trusts from God to invest for His purposes. Believers need to be willing to share their material possessions for the promotion of the gospel and to help those in need. Good stewardship stems from recognizing our relationship to Jesus Christ, but it also means recognizing our partnership in Christ’s enterprise on earth. (Rom. 12:13; 15:27; Gal. 6:6; Phil. 4:15; Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:13; Heb. 13:16; 1 Tim. 6:18). In the New Testament, what is shared in common is shared first of all because of a common relationship that we all have together in Christ. Koinonia was an important word to both John and Paul, but it was never used in merely a secular sense and it always had a spiritual significance and base. The idea of an earthly
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 24 fellowship founded upon just common interests, human nature, physical ties like in a family, or from church affiliation was really rather foreign to the apostles. In the New Testament, believers can have fellowship and share together because they first of all have a relationship with Christ and share Him in common (1 Cor. 1:9; 1 John 1:3). First and foremost, fellowship is believers sharing together in a common life with other believers through relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This common life is eternal life, the life of God. One must have the life of God in order to experience fellowship with Him. Believers can experience fellowship with each other because they have eternal life. The believer must possess the eternal life of God in order to experience fellowship and intimacy with God. This has been made possible through the incarnate Word of eternal life, the Lord Jesus Christ and His Finished Work on the Cross of Calvary 2000 years ago. John 1:1-4, “In eternity past the Word has always existed and the Word has always existed face to face with the God (the Father) and the Word has always existed as God. He was in eternity past face to face with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” One of the purposes of the incarnation is that men might have fellowship with God. God wants to have a relationship and fellowship with mankind and this can only be experienced through the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Mediator between God and mankind. The Lord Jesus Christ who is the eternal, incarnate Word God came into the world in order that He might give eternal life to men and He did this so that men could have fellowship with God. 1 John 1:1-3, “Who has always existed from eternity past, who we have heard, who we have witnessed with our eyes, who we observed, even our hands touched concerning the Word who is the life (of God) that is, this One who is the life (of God) was revealed (by the Holy Spirit) and we have witnessed and we testify and we are proclaiming (from God) at this particular time for the benefit of all of you this One who is the eternal life (of God), who indeed by virtue of His divine nature has always existed face to face with the Father and was revealed (by the Holy Spirit) for the benefit of all of us. Who, we have witnessed and we have heard, we also are proclaiming (from God) at this particular time for the benefit of all of you in order that all of you without exception might also continue to experience fellowship and this fellowship is as an eternal spiritual truth with the Father and with His Son, Jesus who is the Christ.”
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 25
Eternal life is an attribute of God. Since each member of the Trinity is co-equal, co-infinite and co-eternal, each member of the Trinity is eternal life: (1) God the Father is eternal life (Jo. 5:26; 6:57; 1 Th. 1:9). (2) The Word of God is eternal life (Jn. 5:26, 6:35 Phlp. 2:16; 1 Jo. 1:1) (3) The Holy Spirit is eternal life (Jn. 6:63; Rm. 8:2). It has no beginning and no end and is the life of God. It transcends time, matter and space. Eternal life is received as a gift at the moment one expresses faith alone in Christ alone. It gives one the capacity to experience a relationship with God, which involves intimacy and fellowship with God. Eternal life is received through faith alone in Christ alone (Jn. 3:1-36) and is appropriated after salvation by being obedient to the Spirit who reveals the Father’s will through the communication of the Word of God. At the moment of regeneration, God the Father imputes eternal life to the human spirit that was created simultaneously at regeneration by the Holy Spirit. This act of regeneration makes the believer a new spiritual species or in other words it gives him a new Christ-nature that can never sin and that is described in Scripture by many phrases such “new self, new man, newness of life, new creation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new spiritual species; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” No one can have a relationship and fellowship with God apart from having the Lord Jesus Christ as one’s Savior. This is clearly stated by our Lord in a famous passage that reports to us our Lord’s encounter with Nicodemus (John 3). This leads us to the study of the second concept that is related to Biblical fellowship, namely, partnership. The two word groups that we studied, koinonia and metochos mean to share together in the sense of a partnership. Believers automatically become a joint- partner of our Lord’s enterprise here on earth to establish His kingdom because they are in union with the Person of Christ and share His life. In secular usage, koinonos (a form of koinonia ) and metochos were both used by Luke to refer to the partnership of Peter with James and John (Luke 5:7, 10). Koinonos stresses the fact of having something in common, metochos , "the fact of sharing"; the latter is less thorough in effect than the former. In the spiritual realm, koinonos was used by Paul of Titus (2 Cor. 8:23). 2 Corinthians 8:23, “As for Titus, he is my partner ( koinonos ) and fellow worker among you; as for our brethren, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ.” It was used of Philemon (Philemon 17). Paul ascribed koinonia to Titus, Philemon and the Philippians because he viewed them as partners in the ministry of the gospel, as co-workers who shared in ministry (cf. Gal. 2:9). Galatians 2:9, “and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 26
Barnabas the right hand of fellowship ( koinonia ), so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” In the spiritual realm, metochos was similarly used by the author of Hebrews to express the concept of our partnership with the Lord because we are also sharers of His life and calling (Heb. 3:1). Hebrews 3:1, “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers (metochos ) of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.” The word “relationship” describes believers as a community, whereas partnership describes them as the principals of an enterprise. A business partnership is always formed in order to attain an objective, such as providing a service to the public at a profit for the partners. In the same way, the concept of a spiritual partnership implies that it is created with the objective of glorifying God. Just as all believers are united together in a community relationship, so we are all united together in a partnership formed to glorify God. Romans 15:1-7, “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME.’ For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.” Philippians 2:1-5, “Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ and there is, if there is any motivation from divine-love, and there is, if there is any fellowship through the Spirit and there is, if there is any compassionate affections and there is. Consummate this happiness of mine, namely that all of you may continue thinking the same by all of you possessing the same divine- love, united in soul. All of you continue thinking the one thing. Never (thinking) according to inordinate ambition nor according to self-deception but with humility. All of you continue regarding each other as better than yourselves. Each stop being occupied with your own interests but rather the interests of others. Everyone continue thinking this (according to humility) within yourselves, which was also in (the mind of) Christ Jesus.” Biblical fellowship, then, incorporates this idea of an active partnership in the promotion of the gospel and the building up of believers.
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 27
Philippians 1:3-7, “I continue thanking my God based upon my entire remembrance of all of you, always by means of my every specific detailed request on behalf of all of you. I make it my habit to offer the prayer with joy because of your participation with regards to the gospel from the first day up to this present moment. I am confident of this very same thing, namely that, the One (God the Holy Spirit) who began in all of you a good work that is divine in quality, will completely finish it up to the day of Christ who is Jesus. Correspondingly, it is appropriate, as far as I am concerned, to continue to possess this attitude concerning each and every one of you because you continue to have me in your heart both in my imprisonment and in the confirmed defense for the gospel. Each and every one of you, all of you without exception as a result continue to be my joint-partners concerning this grace!” We are responsible to share with Him in the work He is now doing on earth so we can share in the blessings of the future by way of rewards (cf. Luke 19:11f; 1 Cor. 3:12f). Perseverance derived from our confidence from our relationship with our and understanding our position in the Lord is essential or we will quit on the plan of God and fail to carry our responsibilities as our Lord’s partners. Philippians 1:27-30, “Single-mindedly, continue conducting yourselves (as citizens of heaven) in a manner worthy of the gospel about the Christ. So that whether having come and having seen all of you or being absent I might continue hearing the things concerning all of you, that all of you are persevering by means of one Spirit, one soul. By all of you fighting together for the Christian faith, namely, the gospel and by not letting yourselves be intimidated in anything by the adversaries, which to their disadvantage is evidence of destruction but on the other hand, (evidence) of your (soul) prosperity. Indeed this (prosperity) originates from God (the Father) because for the benefit of all of you, it has been graciously granted (the privilege) because of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also, to suffer (hardship) because of Him. Since all of you are experiencing the same conflict, which all of you have seen with me and now all of you are hearing through me.” Philippians 4:1-3, “Therefore, my divinely loved and extremely missed brothers, my pride and joy, in the manner spoken of, continue to persevere because of the Lord divinely loved ones. I beg Euodia and Syntyche to make it a habit to think the same because of the Lord. In fact, loyal comrade, I request you also from this moment on, please take it upon yourself to assist them, who are indeed of such character having fought together with me in the proclamation of the gospel along with Clement and with my other co-workers whose names are in the book of life.”
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 28
The next concept related to Christian fellowship that we will note is that of companionship. Companionship deals with the fact that believers are to communicate with one another and have fellowship with one another sharing with one another the things (viewpoint and thinking) of Christ (Acts. 2:42; Heb. 10:25; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Thess. 5:11; Rom. 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Thess. 5:11; Phlm. 6). Companionship is the interchange or communication (communion) that exists among companions, those associated together through a relationship they hold in common. The key ingredient in companionship is communication. Key words that describe companionship are “interchange, communion, sharing.” Communication is the sharing of concepts, feelings, ideas, information, needs, etc. through words or other symbols like body language and actions so that all members of the relationship hold these things in common. In the Christian community, companionship includes communicating on a spiritual level through a mutual sharing of the viewpoint and thinking of Christ: the Word, the filling of the Holy Spirit, and the ministries and gifts of the various members of the body of Christ. Companionship through communication would include: (1) The Vertical: This is our communion and fellowship with the Lord. (2) The Horizontal: This is our communion and fellowship with the body of Christ. The horizontal aspect of fellowship includes assembling together as a whole body (Acts. 2:42; Heb. 10:25). Hebrews 10:25, “Do not forsake our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Acts 2:42, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” There are four essential aspects of a spiritual church: (1) Teaching of the Word of God. (2) Fellowship between believers. (3) Lord’s Supper and taking meals together. (4) Corporate Prayer. Acts 2:43-47, “Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Characteristics of first century apostolic church: (1) Zealous (2) Visible (3) Joyful (4) Unselfish (5) Gracious (6) Unified (7) Powerful.
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 29
The Christians in the early first century church were not content to meet once or even twice a week for “services as usual.” The first century apostolic church in Jerusalem met “daily” and cared for each other “daily” according to Acts 2:46 and 6:1-7. Acts 2:47 reveals that they won souls “daily” and they searched the Scriptures “daily” according to Acts 17:11 and they increased in number “daily” according to Acts 16:5 and Acts 2:47. Proverbs 8:30-34, “Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the world, His earth, and having my delight in the sons of men. Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways. Heed instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts.” Luke 9:23, “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.’” Luke 19:47-48, “And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said.” Acts 17:10-12, “The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men.” Acts 19:8-10, “And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” The horizontal aspect of companionship also involves assembling in smaller groups (Matt. 18:20). Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” It involves meeting together one-on-one (1 Thess. 5:11). 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” Companionship with other believers involves sharing and communicating truth together and building up one another (Rom. 1:11-12; Col. 3:15-16);
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 30
Romans 1:11-12, “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.” It also involves sharing together in worship, i.e., the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 10:16) the singing of hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16), prayer (Acts 2:42; 12; Phlp. 1:19), the ministry of the Word (Luke 19:47-48; Acts 20:20; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Pet. 4:10-11); sharing together in worship involves taking part together in the Lord’s Supper. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread, which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.” Sharing together in worship involves the singing of hymns, psalms and spiritual songs. Ephesians 5:19, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.” Colossians 3:15-16, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Sharing together in worship involves praying together. Acts 1:1-14, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, ‘Which,’ He said, ‘you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.’ And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 31 was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.’ Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer , along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” Acts 2:1, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.” Acts 4:13-37, “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, saying, ‘What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.’ And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.’ When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened; for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, ‘O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM, who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, 'WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE, AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS? THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST. For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 32 servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.’ And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.” Acts 12:1-17, “Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and woke him up, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, ‘Gird yourself and put on your sandals.’ And he did so. And he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.’ And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. When Peter came to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 33 rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’ And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind!’ But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, ‘It is his angel.’ But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, ‘Report these things to James and the brethren.’ Then he left and went to another place.” Companionship with other believers involves sharing together in worship involves the ministry of the Word. Acts 17:10-11, “The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so .” Acts 19:8-10, “And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus . This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks .” Acts 20:17-21, “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, ‘You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials, which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house , solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ .’” 2 Timothy 2:2, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Sharing together as partners in the needs, burdens, concerns, joys, and blessings for the purpose of encouragement, comfort, challenge or exhortation, praise, prayer
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 34 and physical help according to the needs and ability (cf. Phil. 1:5 with 1:19; and 2:4 with 1:27; also 4:3; Rom. 12:15; and 1 Thess. 5:11,14,15; Heb. 10:33). Sharing needs: Ephesians 4:28, “He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.” Sharing burdens: Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” Sharing concerns and joy: Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Sharing together as partners in the needs, burdens, concerns, joys, and blessings is for the purpose of encouragement and challenge: 1 Thessalonians 5:14, “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” Hebrews 10:23-25, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Sharing together as partners in the needs, burdens, concerns, joys, and blessings is for the purpose of prayer. Philippians 1:18-19, “Nevertheless, that by any manner, whether by pretext or by truth, Christ Himself continues being proclaimed everywhere and because of this I am rejoicing, yes indeed, I myself will continue rejoicing! In fact, I know without a doubt that this (situation) will result for my benefit in (soul) prosperity through your supportive prayer by means of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” All of this means we must develop the art of communication. We need to be willing to share our own burdens and aspirations and be available to hear what others are saying so we may minister to needs according to the directives of the Word. The ultimate goal is to build up and enrich others in the things of Christ that we may all together experience the sufficiency of His life and tune our lives into His. We need others for that. As the early church was first devoted to the apostles’ teaching, they were also devoted to caring for one another and to sharing with one another what they were learning and what Christ was meaning to them (Acts. 2:42; Heb. 3:12-14). The fourth and final concept related to Christian fellowship is stewardship. We must recognize that all we have belongs to the Lord and has been given to us as trusts from God to invest for His purposes. Believers need to be willing to share their material possessions for the promotion of the gospel and to help those in need.
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 35
Good stewardship stems from recognizing our relationship to Jesus Christ, but it also means recognizing our partnership in Christ’s enterprise on earth. (Rom. 12:13; 15:27; Gal. 6:6; Phil. 4:15; Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:13; Heb. 13:16; 1 Tim. 6:18). A steward is one who manages the property of another and is not an owner; he is a manager. As stewards we must recognize that all we have belongs to the Lord and has been given to us as trusts from God to invest for His purposes. Believers need to be willing to share their material possessions for the promotion of the gospel and to help those in need. The Scriptures teach that there are at least four areas of stewardship: (1) The stewardship of time—redeeming it for eternity. (2) The stewardship of talents— identifying and developing our spiritual gifts and natural talents for the blessing of others and for God’s glory. (3) The stewardship of God’s truth—multiplying ourselves through evangelism and discipleship. (4) The stewardship of our treasures—laying up treasures in heaven through financial faithfulness. Everything that we are and possess as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, both spiritually and materially, namely, our time, talent and treasure are in fact, trusts given to us by God which we are to invest for God’s kingdom and glory (1 Pet. 1:17; 2:11; 4:10-11; Luke 19:11-26). Good stewardship stems from recognizing our relationship to Jesus Christ, but it also means recognizing our partnership in Christ’s enterprise on earth. In any good partnership, the partners share equally in both privileges and responsibilities, the assets and liabilities, and the blessings and burdens. What kind of partnership would it be if one partner took all the income and enjoyed all the privileges while the other partner did all the work and paid all the bills? No one would enter into a partnership like that, yet that is what goes on in the church today. Partners are to share and share alike in all the aspects of their enterprise. They may not do the same things since there are diverse spiritual gifts distributed to individuals in the body of Christ. In fact, members of any partnership will be much more successful in their enterprise if they work and share according to their abilities, expertise, and training, but still share the load. It is interesting that one of the most prominent uses of the koinonia group of words is its use in connection with sharing material blessings—giving money to meet financial needs. Of the 36 usages of these words, they are used 9 times specifically in connection with giving, and in a couple of other passages giving would be included among other aspects of fellowship (Acts 2:42; Phil. 1:5; Heb. 10:33). The verb koinoneo is used of giving (Rom. 12:13; 15:27; Gal. 6:6; Phil. 4:15). Koinonia is used of giving (Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:13; Heb. 13:16). Koinonikos is also used of giving (1 Tim. 6:18). Metocho is used of giving as well (1 Cor. 9:10-17). The Lord Jesus Christ commanded believers to give and generously (Matt. 5:42; 10:8; Luke 6:30, 38).
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 36
Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure -- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” Therefore as partners in Christ’s enterprise on earth, we need to share with one another, realizing that we are not owners but stewards of the possessions God has entrusted (not given) to us. The concept and application of this partnership/stewardship combination is seen clearly in 2 Corinthians 8:12-15. 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, “Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God, which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also. I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality -- at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality; as it is written, ‘HE WHO gathered MUCH DID NOT HAVE TOO MUCH, AND HE WHO gathered LITTLE HAD NO LACK.’” Paul was asking the Corinthian believers to have fellowship as partners, as fellow sharers in Christ and laborers together in the gospel. As partners, they were to give out of their abundance to other partners, to other believers, even though they had never met. They were to do not only as a demonstration of the love of God but also because they were partners in the Savior’s enterprise on earth. Therefore, in Romans 15:26, the noun koinonia means “willing contribution” and is used of the contribution that the Gentile believers in the Roman provinces of
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 37
Macedonia and Achaia provided for the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem of their own accord and from their own resources. This contribution would include both money and materials such as clothing and any other essentials. The word emphasizes that this contribution was an expression of Christian fellowship. In specifically, it involves the companionship and stewardship aspects of Christian fellowship. By providing for the needs of their poor Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ in Jerusalem, they would be expressing the companionship aspect of Christian fellowship in that they would be sharing together in the needs of their poor brothers and sisters in Christ in Jerusalem. It would also express the stewardship aspect of Christian fellowship in that they would be being good stewards with the finances and resources that God gave them. The noun koinonia functions as an accusative direct object meaning that it is receiving the action of the verb poieo . We will translate the word “ a contribution .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 15:26, “For you see, Macedonia as well as Achaia decided with pleasure to provide of their own accord and from their own resources a contribution…” Romans 15:26, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” “For the poor ” is composed of the preposition eis ( ) (eece), “ for ” and the articular accusative masculine plural form of the adjective ptochos ( ) (peh- toe-hoce), “ the poor .” The adjective ptochos functions as a substantive as indicated by its articular construction and thus means “the poor” or “the destitute.” It describes the Jewish believers in Jerusalem as lacking the means of subsistence and were in utter poverty. It denotes the concept of deprivation, lack or absence of something that is essential or needed. The term functions as the object of the preposition eis , which functions as a marker of persons benefited by an event with the implication of something directed toward them indicating that the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia provided of their own accord and from their own resources a contribution “on behalf of” or “for the benefit of” the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem. Therefore, we will translate this prepositional phrase “ on behalf of the destitute .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 15:26, “For you see, Macedonia as well as Achaia decided with pleasure to provide of their own accord and from their own resources a contribution on behalf of the destitute…” Romans 15:26, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” “Among the saints ” is the articular genitive masculine plural form of the adjective hagios ( ι ), which describes all the members of the body of Christ in
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 38
Jerusalem who have been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of salvation in order to order serve God (See Romans 1:7; 8:27; 12:1). The word functions as a substantive as indicated by its articular construction. The articular construction also indicates that Christians who have been set apart to serve God exclusively as a result of being placed in union with Christ and identified with Him by the Holy Spirit in His crucifixion, deaths, burial, resurrection and session are a unique people on the earth. Hagios functions as a partitive or wholative genitive meaning it denotes the whole of which the head noun is a part, which in our context is ptochos , “ the poor .” This indicates that the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem help to compose part of the body of Christ. It also indicates that not every believer in Jerusalem was poor since the partitive genitive says that a portion of the believers in Jerusalem were destitute. We will translate hagios , “ among the saints .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 15:26, “For you see, Macedonia as well as Achaia decided with pleasure to provide of their own accord and from their own resources a contribution on behalf of the destitute among the saints…” Not translated and following the substantive use of the adjective hagios is the genitive masculine plural form of the definite article ho ( () (owe), which functions as a “substantiver” meaning it nominalizes (i.e. converts to a noun) and conceptualizing the prepositional phrase en Ierousalem ( ε ), “ in Jerusalem .” Therefore, this can be reflected by translating the article with a relative pronoun phrase such as, “ those who are .” The article in the plural is referring to the destitute Jewish believers in Jerusalem. The article functions as a “genitive of simple apposition” meaning that is it appositive to the articular substance form of the adjective hagios , “ among the saints ” which is in the same case. It is introducing a prepositional phrase that is giving a different designation that clarifies and identifies for the reader who benefits from this contribution from the Gentile churches in the Roman provinces of Macedonia and Achaia. Corrected translation thus far of Romans 15:26, “For you see, Macedonia as well as Achaia decided with pleasure to provide of their own accord and from their own resources a contribution on behalf of the destitute among the saints, namely those who are…” Romans 15:26, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” “In Jerusalem ” is composed of the preposition en ( ), “ in ” and the dative feminine singular form of the proper name Ierousalem ( υ α ) (yah-roo-sah- leem), “ Jerusalem .”
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 39
The city of Jerusalem is located along the central mountain ridge of Palestine, 36 miles east of the Mediterranean and 16 miles west of the northern tip of the Dead Sea and is situated 2100-1500 ft. above sea level in a relatively level plateau of the Benjaminite highlands. On the east, is the Kidron valley, which separates it from the Mount of Olives and on the west and south by the Hinnom valley. The proper name Ierousalem functions as the object of the preposition en to denote the geographical location of these destitute believers who were recipients of the contribution from the Gentile churches in the Roman provinces of Macedonia and Achaia. We will translate this prepositional phrase “ in Jerusalem .”
Scale Model of Ancient Jerusalem
Completed corrected translation of Romans 15:26, “For you see, Macedonia as well as Achaia decided with pleasure to provide of their own accord and from their own resources a contribution on behalf of the destitute among the saints, namely those who are in Jerusalem.” To summarize in Romans 15:25, Paul informs the Roman believers that at the time of writing this epistle the Holy Spirit permitted him to travel to Jerusalem for he was soon going to serve the saints in that city, which stands in contrast with his confident expectation of visiting them on his way to Spain. Then, in verse 26 and in this verse Paul informs the Roman believers that he was going to serve the saints
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 40 in Jerusalem by delivering to the destitute Jewish believers in that city an offering from the Gentiles in Macedonia and Achaia. This offering was a major focus of Paul’s third missionary journey since each letter he wrote on the journey mentions it (1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8-9) and is mentioned in other passages such Acts 24:17.
The Jerusalem church was destitute undoubtedly because of the persecutions since for a Jewish believer to trust in Jesus of Nazareth as Savior meant expulsion from the synagogue. Consequently, this meant being barred from Jewish life, thus many lost homes and businesses, not to mention friendships and being disowned by family members. Undoubtedly, Paul thought this offering to be important because it would serve to build unity among Jewish and Gentile believers and thus it would serve as a symbol of unity among believers. The Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia were obeying the command that Paul reminded the Roman church to continue practicing, namely contributing to the needs of the saints. Romans 12:13, “All of you continue to make it your habit to contribute to the saints’ needs . All of you continue to make it your habit to eagerly seek out opportunities to practice hospitality.” In Romans 12:13, “ needs ” is the noun chreia , which refers to that which other Christians were lacking and particularly necessary or essential for proper human
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 41 existence. These “needs” were material ones such as food, shelter and clothing. This word is used in the same manner in other places in the New Testament (Acts 2:45; 4:35; 20:34; 28:10; Ephesians 4:28; Philippians 2:25; 4:16, 19; Titus 3:14; 1 John 3:17). Acts 2:42-45, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need .” Ephesians 4:28, “He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need .” Titus 3:14, “Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs , so that they will not be unfruitful.” 1 John 3:16-18, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” The first century apostolic church practiced providing for the needs of its own (Acts 2:45; 4:32-37; 9:36-41; 11:27-30; Romans 15:25-28; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8:1-4; 9:1-15). There was great poverty in the first century apostolic church due to persecutions. Therefore, it was critical for believers who were prospering or did have the essentials for maintaining a proper human existence to share their prosperity and abundance with those in the royal family of God who were destitute or poverty stricken. When the believer provides for the needs of those who are poverty stricken in the body of Christ whether they are in his or her own periphery or in different parts of the world, it produces thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:1-15, “For it is superfluous for me to write to you about this ministry to the saints; for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, namely, that Achaia has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I have sent the brethren, in order that our boasting about you may not be made empty in this case, so that, as I was saying, you may be prepared; otherwise if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we -- not to speak of you -- will be put to shame by this confidence. So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised bountiful gift, so that the same would be ready as a bountiful gift
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 42 and not affected by covetousness. Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; as it is written, ‘HE SCATTERED ABROAD, HE GAVE TO THE POOR, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER.’ Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” When the believer provides for the needs of those who are poverty stricken in the body of Christ whether they are in his or her own periphery or in different parts of the world, it is an expression of God’s love in their life. 1 John 3:16-18, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” Galatians 6:9-10, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” This word chreia appears in Philippians 4:16-19 in relation to the needs of Paul while under house arrest in Rome while awaiting his appeal before Caesar as well as the needs of the Philippians. Philippians 4:10-19, “Now, I rejoiced greatly because of the Lord that now at last all of you have revived your consideration for me. In fact, before all of you were always considerate but all of you were always lacking an opportunity. Not that I ever speak because of want since I have learned for myself through the application of doctrine to experience how to be in a habitual state of contentment in whatever present circumstance. I have experienced not only poverty but also I have experienced prosperity. By
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 43 means of every circumstance and by means of all kinds of situations I am intimately acquainted with not only satiation, but also starvation, not only prosperity, but also destitution. I possess the power to overcome all kinds of situations by means of the one whose doctrine empowers me. Nevertheless, all of you acted commendably by sympathizing with my hardship. In fact, you, yourselves are also well aware of the fact that at the beginning of your instruction in the Gospel when I departed from Macedonia not even one local assembly shared with me concerning the matter of giving and receiving except you alone because even in Thessalonica, not only once but twice all of you sent a gift to me for my need . Not that I under any circumstances earnestly desire at this particular time your gift itself but rather I earnestly desire at this particular time increasing credit to your account. Now, I have received everything in its entirety and at this moment I am in a state of prosperity. I am fully and completely provided for because I have received from Epaphroditus the various articles from all of you, a fragrant aroma, and an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God the Father. Now, my God, the Father will as a dogmatic statement of fact, fully and completely provide for your every need according to His infinite wealth by means of the glorious power residing in the unique Person of Christ Jesus and thus the glory (adoring praise and worshipful thanksgiving) will be directed to God, yes-even our Father forever and ever. Amen!” In this passage, Paul teaches that because the Philippians provided for him in his need, God will also do the same for them. In fact, the Philippians who resided in the Roman province of Macedonia gave out of the poverty to other believers in need. 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, “Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also. I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 44 might become rich. I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality -- at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality; as it is written, ‘HE WHO gathered MUCH DID NOT HAVE TOO MUCH, AND HE WHO gathered LITTLE HAD NO LACK.’” In divine love, there is to be reciprocation between believers in the sense that there is to be a mutual exchange of care and concern among believers for one another. Divine love involves a reciprocal relationship among believers in the sense of there being a mutual sharing of feelings, actions, responsibilities and attitudes between believers. It involves reciprocation among believers in the sense that believers are to share together as partners in the needs, burdens, concerns, joys, and blessings for the purpose of encouragement, comfort, challenge or exhortation, praise, prayer and physical help according to the needs and ability (cf. Phil. 1:5 with 1:19; and 2:4 with 1:27; also 4:3; Rom. 12:15; and 1 Thess. 5:11,14,15; Heb. 10:33). Divine love involves reciprocation among believers because believers share the same eternal life through regeneration and thus the same eternal “relationship” and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:26-28). It involves reciprocation among believers because they entered into an “active partnership” with each other and through their prayers, friendship and financial support they are to support the communication of the gospel of Christ’s enterprise on earth. Grace giving is a demonstration and expression of the love of God in our lives. God demonstrated His love for us by “giving” His Son. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” God is the greatest giver because He is the greatest lover (Eph. 2:8-9; John 3:16; Rom. 8:32; 1 Tim. 6:13; James 1:5). God gives to mankind on the basis of His grace policy, which means that no one earns or deserves blessing from God, it is on a non-meritorious basis (Eph. 2:8-9). Grace is God giving of Himself and His provision of the Person, Work and Life of His Son Jesus Christ. We are to demonstrate our love by giving as well. If we
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 45 love the Lord we will give to members of the body of Christ, of which Christ is the Head. Remember this principle: We are to love the Lord in our fellow believer. Matthew 25:39-40, “When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’” The Lord Jesus Christ commanded believers to give generously (Matt. 5:42; 10:8; Luke 6:30, 38). The apostle Paul taught that the church age believer is to contribute to the needs of the royal family of God (Rom. 12:13). He reminded pastor-teacher’s at Pastor’s conference to help members of the royal family of God in need and then reminds them of our Lord’s doctrinal teaching on the subject of giving (Acts 20:35). The Macedonians obeyed the command to give generously and therefore, demonstrated their divine love for the Body of Christ and thus for the Lord since He is the Head of the Body (2 Cor. 8:1-6). Robert Rodenmayer said, “There are three kinds of giving: grudge giving, duty giving, and thanksgiving. Grudge giving says, “I hate to,” duty giving says, “I ought to,” thanksgiving says, “I want to.” The first comes from constraint, the second from a sense of obligation, the third from a full heart. Nothing much is conveyed in grudge giving since “the gift without the giver is bare.” Something more happens in duty giving, but there is no song in it. Thanksgiving is an open gate into the love of God.” We are to give purposefully from careful and prayerful planning. “ Let each one do just as he has purposed (planned beforehand) in his heart ” (2 Cor. 9:7). Scripture has a tremendous amount to say about money or material possessions. Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables of Jesus deal with money. One out of every ten verses in the New Testament deals with this subject. Scripture has 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but over 2,000 verses on the subject of money. Money is an extremely important issue because a person’s attitude toward it is so determinative of his relationship with God, on fulfilling his purpose in this life, and on his character. The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:2 instructs the believers in Corinth in the manner in which they were to give. 1 Corinthians 16:2, “On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.” Regularly: “ On the first day of every week ” helps promote diligence and disciplined giving. This creates a consistency and regularity that translates good intentions into actions (1 Cor. 16:2).
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 46
Personally: “ Let each one of you ” brings out the need for every believer to take giving as a personal responsibility for which God holds us each responsible (1 Cor. 16:2). Systematically: “ Put aside and save ” brings out the need to have a method or system whereby money for the Lord’s work is specifically set aside, stored up for giving, so that it is not used for other things (1 Cor. 16:2). Proportionately: In the New Testament, giving is to be in proportion to how God has prospered you (1 Cor. 16:2). Who do we give to so that we can demonstrate the love of God in our lives? The Local Church: “ And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches ” (Gal. 6:6; cf. also 1 Tim. 5:17-18). 1 Corinthians 9:14, “So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.” If the local church is to form a solid home base for other ministries of outreach, it is only logical that it should become a first priority for our giving. This would include missions, para-church groups and individuals who are involved in these ministries (3 John 5-8). It would include one’s fellow believers in need meaning those unable to support themselves or who have faced serious problems are to be helped as we are able. Those who refuse to work are not to be supported (1 John 3:17; Jam. 2:15-16; Gal. 6:10; Heb. 10:33-34; 13:1-3 with 2 Thess. 3:6-10). Our first priority is to those who are of the household of faith, but we are also to reach out to others in need as we are able (Gal. 6:10).
2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 47