Lesson Goal
To preach a sermon explaining the ins and outs and application for us today of a Greek New Testament word.
Lesson Intro
The New Testament was written in Koiné Greek, the Greek of the market place, street language, not the highfalutin Classical Greek of scholars. Yet so often, the Bible is translated into anything but Koiné English, if you care, street English. It is sometimes translated to sound so "religious" that people on the street don't think that it is relevant. It is one of the jobs of preaching to translate the Bible into everyday English. A number of Greek words are traditionally poorly translated in the New Testament, because we have attached a certain religiosity to them that did not exist in the common language of its writers. For example, in ancient Greek culture, words like apostle and repent were everyday words. Yet, we have translated them into English words that only religious people use, rather than using everyday words with similar meanings such as messenger and a change of heart. Occasional preaching on a Greek word can really help to bring God's message to average people, in everyday language.
Lesson Plan
This chapter expands upon the idea in chapter 15 but applies it to a Greek word. We will look at the Greek alphabet for those who have not yet studied it. We will also look at the origin, dictionary meaning and usage of a word in the New Testament.
Lesson Body
The Greek Alphabet
As students of Hebrew and Greek will tell you, learning Greek starts off easier because the letters are easier to learn than Hebrew letters, but gets harder because the grammar is much harder than Hebrew grammar. However, God chose Greek for the New Testament. He could have chosen any language on earth. Greek does have certain advantages in explaining the Gospel over other choices, and even over modern English. That is why scholars really love the New Testament in Greek.
[[insert Greek alphabet]]
Learning the Greek alphabet is the first and most important thing that any preacher ought to learn. If you don't do any more with Greek than that, at least do that. For those of you who have learned a little Greek, can you still write the alphabet out including lower case and capital letters? The table usually includes both, and for sigma, its final form is included second. A rough English equivalent is usually included. However, most English speaking people do not always use the exact modern Greek pronunciation because, for instance pi (pie) is pronounced "pea" by Greeks, which can be confused with our letter p.
Analyzing a Greek word involves a detailed analysis in three steps: -
1. Etymology (Origins)
It is important, when studying a Greek word to discover its etymology, what it used to mean. For instance, the word apostle actually was originally an everyday word meaning official messenger. In pre-Christian times it also meant a fleet or embassy and carries with it the sense of the official authorization of an individual.
2. Lexicography (Dictionary Meaning)
A lexicon is merely a dictionary between two languages, but usually contains the morphemes or ways that words morph in that language. For instance, our English word talk morphs into talked, talking, talks, etc. If we look up the word apostle, we see that it comes from a verb meaning to send away, so an apostle was someone sent. The Friberg Greek Lexicon says that apostolos means one who is sent on a mission with full authority, apostle, messenger, and envoy. The UBS Greek Dictionary simply says apostle, messenger. The Louw-Nida Lexicon says that apostolos means one who fulfills the role of being a special messenger.
3. Usage
In order to more fully understand how a word is used in the Bible we also need to examine how it was used in ancient society. This is why some Bible scholars study Plato, Aristotle and other Greek Classics. It's not because they want to mix a syncretism with ancient Greek philosophy or are liberal pinkos as some people claim, wanting to water down the truth, but because they want to understand how Greek words were used in archaic culture.
A word may have been used in a certain way in ancient society, but if a Bible author uses the word in a more specific sense, then we need to understand what that writer meant in context, when he used the term. That is the case with many New Testament words. The word apostolos occurs 97 times in the New Testament and refers to those witnesses of the resurrection who were appointed to a special task, commissioned and empowered directly by Christ to proclaim the Gospel to all nations.
No modern missionaries, church envoys, great preachers, church planters, or great leaders of church movements have that same special status. Hence, any use of the word apostle for people today, although etymologically and by definition correct, is in a very much secondary sense, and can sound like pure arrogance. Biblical usage of the term seems to limit the word apostle in a sense that moderns cannot claim. They may be apostles (with a small a) in a generalized linguistic sense, but only the authorized witnesses to Christ's resurrection were Apostles (with a capital A).
Further to the usage of a word in the New Testament, we need to examine every verse using that word. In many cases that may involve hundreds of verses, which may not be practical. So we must be selective and we can also look the word up in a better commentary that analyzes Greek words in their context. For instance, in Romans 1:1, Paul explains that his apostleship means he was set apart to the gospel of God. In 1 Corinthians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1, Colossians 1:1 and 2 Timothy 1:1 he explains that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God.
Example Sermon
The following example gives another way to do a word study as a sermon: -
Title: "Repentance"
Goal
To understand what the word repent means in normal English.
Intro
Maybe you have heard the taunt: "If you had really repented, you wouldn't have done it again!” Is that true? Let’s look at penance and repentance a little more closely.
Plan
We will examine two awkward words that Christians have used: penance and repentance. We will see what the original Greek word means today in street English, that is actually a concept that begins in the mind, that it has a lot to do with faith, and that it produces outward evidence or fruit that people can see.
Body
1. Penance
The church taught penance for centuries before the Reformation. The Latin Fathers translated the New Testament with the word “penance” which involves two things: repentance plus, as far as possible seeking reconciliation or making reparation for sins. Penance has its roots in what Jesus told the Pharisees to “bear fruit worthy of repentance” (Mat 3:8). Paul also taught people to “repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance.” (Acts 26:20) However, the Protestant Reformers did not believe that penance (change of heart plus deeds) was necessary for forgiveness and taught repentance instead. The only problem is that we Protestants have been inconsistent in defining what repentance means.
2. Repentance
The Latin Fathers translated the Greek word metanoia as "penance" which some people misunderstand as outward works alone. However, most Protestant Bibles use another awkward word “repent.” Neither word is used in everyday English. Both words are easily misunderstood. Repent or metanoia in Koiné (market place) Greek meant "a change of mind." It was not a particularly religious sounding word, like penance or repentance, but more like the modern expressions "have change of heart" or have you "changed your mind."
3. Repentance and Faith
Luke in Luke-Acts emphasizes repentance more than any other New Testament author. Nearly one half of the main terms for repentance occur in Luke-Acts. There is one condition of eternal salvation: a living faith in Christ. Have we repented or changed our minds about unbelief? Have we changed our hearts from opposition to God to cooperation with him? Repentance and faith really go hand in hand.
4. The Dilemma of Works
Some Protestants are really inconsistent when it comes to defining repentance. They will often say out of one side of their mouths that repentance means to turn around 180° and go the opposite direction, yet out of the other side of their mouths that salvation is not by works. A cause of this confusion and inconsistency is really a misunderstanding between what repentance is and what the fruit of repentance is.
Repentance is a change of heart, pure and simple. Good works are outward evidence or fruit of repentance. Remember that Jesus told the Pharisees to go and bear fruit worthy of repentance (Matthew 3:8). What's going on in the heart is invisible. Fruit is outward evidence of what is going on in the heart.
A similar dilemma exists over the argument between Catholics and Protestants over works. My attempted harmony between historic Christianity in Catholic teaching and that taught by Protestants since the Reformation is to say that they are not really that far apart. Our Catholic friends would say that saving faith is a living faith not a dead faith. It is a faith that is alive with works to paraphrase James. Protestants actually believe something similar, but word it slightly differently. Protestants believe that a saved person bears the fruit of good works. Yet, a repentant person also bears such fruit or outward evidence of an inner change of heart.
We are told over and over again of the link between salvation and faith (John 3:16; 6:47; 11:25; 20:31; Luke 8:12; Acts 16:31; Matthew 18:3; Mark 16:16). It is faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-24). Faith is righteousness (Romans 4:5; Galatians 2:16; 3:6-7). It is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9) and makes us born of God (1 John 5:1).
Outro
So does repent mean that we never do the same bad thing ever again? As Paul said, we sometimes do things that we really don't want to. We have changed our minds about sin, don't want to do it again, but occasionally we all trip up and make a mistake (Romans 7:15). So those legalistic and judgmental people who say that if a person had really repented, they wouldn't have done the same thing again have a problem with Paul.
Repentance does not mean that we never make the same mistakes again. It means we changed of mind about faith in Christ and the Gospel and it also means we changed our minds about our sinful behavior. Changing our minds also means that there is an obvious change in our behavior, we do begin to do good works, but it does not mean that we never make a mistake again. Thank God for his mercy!
Suggested Assignment
Choose a concept that analysis of a Greek word would really support. Analyze its etymology, lexicography and its usage. Then apply it to the audience in their everyday lives.
Lesson Outro
We have reviewed the Greek alphabet, looked at the origin, dictionary meaning and usage of a word in the New Testament and how that can really help clarify some important concepts that Christians use in their everyday life.
