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Hypocrites and Backsliders

Hypocrites and Backsliders. H and B-026: Understanding Spiritual Death. Eph 4:18 - Ignorance.

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Hypocrites and Backsliders

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  1. Hypocrites and Backsliders H and B-026: Understanding Spiritual Death

  2. Eph 4:18 - Ignorance • “Ignorance” is agnoia (ἀu947 νu959 ιu945 ), which Expositors says “is not a term merely of intellect. It denotes an ignorance of divine things, a want of knowledge that is inexcusable and involves moral blindness (Acts 3:17, 17:30, I Peter 1:14). • It is further defined here not simply as ‘their ignorance,’ but as an ignorance ‘being in them’—surely a phrase that is neither tautological nor without a purpose, but one that describes their ignorance in respect to its seat. • Their alienation had its cause, not in something external, casual, or superficial, but in themselves,—in a culpable ignorance in their own nature or heart.” LWBC 03-23-08

  3. Eph 4:18 - hardness • The word “blindness” is pōōis (πu969 ρu969 σu953 ς), “hardness.” The word is formed from pōos (πu969 ρu959 ς), “hard skin or induration.” It means literally “the covering with a callous.” The word occurs in Mark 3:5; Romans 11:25, and here, and is used of mental or moral hardening. These Gentiles were alienated from God through their culpable moral and spiritual ignorance and through the hardening of their hearts. LWBC 03-23-08

  4. Eph 4:18 - hardness • ｹωρόω (ｹηρόω),   ｹώρωσις (ｹήρωσις)*. noun, feminine, singular, accusative1. Derived from ὁ ｹῶρος, the "tuff-stoneﾓ (Poll., 7, 123), medically "hardening,ﾓ hardened swelling of the bone, also jelly thickening out of the bone (Aristot.Hist. An., III, 19, p. 521a, 21), callus (callum),1 through which the parts of a broken bone are knit together again and the healing of the break is promoted, M. Ant., IX, 36. Hence ｹωρόω "to harden,ﾓ medically of a hard swelling, though the word can also mean "to heal.ﾓ i.e., to knit together parts of bone by callus, Hippocr. LWBC 03-23-08

  5. Eph 4:18 - hardness • De Fracturis, 47, transf. "to make dull or insensitive,ﾓ physically, Nymphis Fr., 16 (FHG, III, 16) or mentally.2. The verb occurs in the LXX only twice at Job 17:7 (== כהה, "to become weak,ﾓ of the eyes; vl. ｹεｹήρωνται) and Prv. 10:20 A, though with no thought of "hardening.ﾓ We do not find the verbal noun in the LXX. LWBC 03-23-08

  6. Eph 4:18 - hardness • The verb occurs 5 times in the NT and is always fig., usually of the heart. It refers to the hardening of the Jews in Jn. 12:40; R. 11:7; 2 C. 3:14, and in Mk. 6:52; 8:17 to that of the disciples, whose misunderstanding is presented as a relapse into Jewish modes of thought, → 1027, 23 ff.2 The verbal noun occurs 3 times with reference to the hardening of the Jews or Gentiles (Mk. 3:5: τῇｹωρώσει τῆς καρδίας, also Eph. 4:18;3 also R. 11:25). LWBC 03-23-08

  7. Eph 4:18 - hardness • John 12:40 (AMP)40 He has blinded their eyes and hardened and benumbed their [callous, degenerated] hearts [He has made their minds dull], to keep them from seeing with their eyes and understanding with their hearts and minds and repenting and turning to Me to heal them. • Romans 11:7 (AMP)7 What then [shall we conclude]? Israel failed to obtain what it sought [Godﾕs favor by obedience to the Law]. Only the elect (those chosen few) obtained it, while the rest of them became callously indifferent (blinded, hardened, and made insensible to it). LWBC 03-23-08

  8. Eph 4:18 - hardness • Romans 11:25 (AMP)25 Lest you be self-opinionated (wise in your own conceits), I do not want you to miss this hidden truth and mystery, brethren: a hardening (insensibility) has [temporarily] befallen a part of Israel [to last] until the full number of the ingathering of the Gentiles has come in, LWBC 03-23-08

  9. Eph 4:18 - hardness • 2 Corinthians 3:14 (AMP)14 In fact, their minds were grown hard and calloused [they had become dull and had lost the power of understanding]; for until this present day, when the Old Testament (the old covenant) is being read, that same veil still lies [on their hearts], not being lifted [to reveal] that in Christ it is made void and done away. LWBC 03-23-08

  10. Eph 4:18 - hardness • Mark 3:5 (AMP)5 And He glanced around at them with vexation and anger, grieved at the hardening of their hearts, and said to the man, Hold out your hand. He held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored. LWBC 03-23-08

  11. Eph 4:18 - hardness • Mark 6:52 (AMP)52 For they failed to consider or understand [the teaching and meaning of the miracle of] the loaves; [in fact] their hearts had grown callous [had become dull and had lost the power of understanding].Mark 8:17 (AMP)17 And being aware [of it], Jesus said to them, Why are you reasoning and saying it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet discern or understand? Are your hearts in [a settled state of] hardness? LWBC 03-23-08

  12. Eph 4:18 - hardness • The remorse which arises out of fear of impending punishment cannot be accepted as a restitution which restores the ancient relation (this is refuted in Jer. 14:1-12). • The sin which derives from man's will must be worked out wholly and utterly in the sphere of his will. • Sin and unbelief are the punishment of sin and unbelief. LWBC 03-23-08

  13. Eph 4:18 - hardness • The sin which derives from man's will must be worked out wholly and utterly in the sphere of his will. • The people which will not hear, which is deaf to the divine admonitions (Is. 1:2-5), will have this obduracy as its penalty and judgment (Is. 6:9 f.). • There is no more hope of amendment or instruction. • The only remaining possibility is that of complete renewal, of new creation after the destruction of the old, Is. 6:11-13. LWBC 03-23-08

  14. Eph 4:18 - hardness • Paul in R. 9ﾐ11 neither softened nor explained this prophetic message of hardening; he simply repeated and underlined it. • According to 11:25 hardening happened in part to Israel. The meaning is, then, not only that this Israel was hardened by God (11:7-10) but also that on its own responsibility it chose the wrong path (9:30-10:3). LWBC 03-23-08

  15. Eph 4:18 - Darkness • Darkened: Periphrastic σκοτιζω = darkened = blackout. • Perfect tense means this is permanent. • Passive voice, this is received because of the ignorance in them. • The Unbeliever who rejects God has a permanent blackout which causes him to be disoriented to the grace of God. LWBC 03-23-08

  16. Eph 4:18 - Hardened • 1. Ignorance of doctrine alienates from the life of God. • 2. Such alienation creates friction in the soul. This friction in the soul comes from 2 sources; the Darkened Appraisal Process and The Emotional Complex of Sins: guilt complex, fear, worry, anxiety, jealousy. • Hardening (ｹωρωσιν [pōrōsin]). Late medical term (Hippocrates) for callous hardening. Only other N.T. examples are Mark 3:5; Rom. 11:25. • 3. These frictions of the soul create scar tissue in the soul. Πληροσις. LWBC 03-23-08

  17. Spiritual Death: Eph 4:18 • Scar tissue of the soul removes any possibility of true happiness. LWBC 03-23-08

  18. Spiritual Death: Eph 4:18 • Translation. Being those who have had their understanding darkened, who have been alienated from the life of God through the ignorance which is in them, through the hardening of their hearts LWBC 03-23-08

  19. Spiritual Death: Eph 4:19 • 19 who, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. LWBC 03-23-08

  20. Spiritual Death: Eph 4:19 • they have become callous (apalgeo) (cease to feel pain) • and past feeling • and reckless and have abandoned themselves [a prey] to unbridled sensuality, • eager and greedy to indulge in every form of impurity (akatharsia) [that their depraved desires may suggest and demand]. LWBC 03-23-08

  21. Eph 4:19 - Who • (4:19) “Who” is hoitines (οu7985 τu953 νu949 ς), a relative and indefinite pronoun showing character or nature, “who are of such a nature that.” LWBC 03-23-08

  22. Eph 4:19 - Callous • “Being past feeling” is apalgeō (ἀu960 αu955 γu949 ω), a participle in the perfect tense. • The word means, “to cease to feel pain or grief, to become callous, insensible, apathetic.” LWBC 03-23-08

  23. Eph 4:19 - callous • NASB-having become callous • NKJV-being past feeling • NRSV-have lost all sensitivity • TEV-have lost all feeling of shame • NJB-sense of right and wrong once dulled • This is another PERFECT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE ="Having made themselves hardened" • Fallen humanity had become, and remained, insensitive, or hardened beyond feeling, to both natural revelation (cf. Ps. 19:1-6; Rom. 1:18-2:16) and special revelation of the Bible and the Son, the written word (cf. Ps. 19:7-12) and the living word (cf. John 1:1-14). LWBC 03-23-08

  24. Spiritual Death: Eph 4:19 • Expositors says: “It expresses the condition, not of despair merely, but of moral insensibility, ‘the deadness that supervenes when the heart has ceased to be sensible to the stimuli of the conscience’ (Ellicott).” LWBC 03-23-08

  25. Eph 4:19 - Given themselves • “Have given themselves over” is paradidōi (πu945 ρu945 δu953 δu969 μu953 ), literally, “to give alongside.” Today we would say, “sell down the river.” The verb means “to give into the hands of another, to betray, to hand over, give one’s self up, present one’s self.” LWBC 03-23-08

  26. Eph 4:19 - Given themselves • ἀｹοδίδωμι. verb, third person, plural, aorist, active, indicative1. • a. "To give or do something which one should in fulfillment of an obligation or expectation." Mt. 20:8; 2 Tm. 4:8 (a reward); Mt. 21:41 (fruits of the leased vineyard); Mk. 12:17 (Mt. 22:21; Lk. 20:25) (taxes); Mt. 27:58 (the requested body of Jesus); LWBC 03-23-08

  27. Eph 4:19 - Lasciviousness • “Lasciviousness” is aselgeia (ἀu963 εu955 γu949 ιu945 ), “wanton lawless insolence.” The aselgeia (ἀu963 εu955 γu949 ιu945 ) person is one who acknowledges no restraints, who dares whatsoever his caprice and wanton petulance may suggest. “Wantonness” is the best word to describe it. The word speaks of a complete surrender of self. LWBC 03-23-08

  28. Eph 4:19 - Lasciviousness • To lasciviousness (τῃ ἀσελγειᾳ [tēi aselgeiāi]). Unbridled lust as in II Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19. To work all uncleanness (εἰς ἐργασιαν ἀκαθαρσιας ｹασης [eis ergasian akatharsias pasēs]). • "for a trading (or work) in all uncleanness. LWBC 03-23-08

  29. Eph 4:19 - To work • “To work” is eis ergasian (εu7984 ςἐu961 γu945 σu953 αu957 ), literally, “to a working.” Vincent says, “In Acts 19:25, used of a trade. Not precisely in this sense here, yet with a shade of it. They gave themselves up as to the prosecution of a business. LWBC 03-23-08

  30. Eph 4:19 - Work • εργασια = to make a business of something. When you get into promiscuity, you have made a profession of uncleanness. • The soul is not clean and now is becoming covered with scar tissue. Increased scar tissue on the soul. • Frantic search for happiness, which comes up next: with greediness, which is πληονιζια = an insatiable, unsatisfied desire or lust. LWBC 03-23-08

  31. Eph 4:19 - To Uncleanness • The eis (εu7984 ς), ‘unto,’ is very forcible.”“All uncleanness” is akatharsias pasē (ἀu954 αu952 αu961 σu953 αu962 πu945 σu951 ς), “every kind of uncleanness,” moral uncleanness in the widest sense. LWBC 03-23-08

  32. Eph 4:19 - Uncleanness • NASB -having given themselves over to sensuality • NKJV-having given themselves over to licentiousness • NRSV-have abandoned themselves to licentiousness • TEV-give themselves over to vice • NJB-have abandoned themselves to sexuality • This literally means "open shamefulness" (cf. Rom. 1:24, 26, 28). • Fallen humanity has abandoned all restraints, social and spiritual. LWBC 03-23-08

  33. Eph 4:19 - Greediness • With greediness (ἐν ｹλεονεξιᾳ [en pleonexiāi]). From ｹλεονεκτης [pleonektēs], one who always wants more, whether money or sexual indulgence as here. The two vices are often connected in the N.T. LWBC 03-23-08

  34. Eph 4:19 - Greediness • “With greediness describes the condition or frame of mind in which they wrought the uncleanness” (Expositors). The Greek word means “greed,covetousness.” • Translation. Who, being of such a nature as to have become callous, abandoned themselves to wantonness, resulting in a performing of every uncleanness in the sphere of greediness. LWBC 03-23-08

  35. Eph 4:19 - Greediness • NASB-for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness- • NKJV-to work all uncleanness with greediness • NRSV-greedy to practice every kind of impurity • TEV-and all sorts of indecent things without restraint • NJB-eagerly pursue a career of indecency of every kind LWBC 03-23-08

  36. Eph 4:19 - Greediness • This means more and more for me at any cost (cf. Col. 3:5). Fallen humanity has lost the sense of corporate good. Humans live only for themselves, for the moment. This is the curse of the Fall of Genesis 3. • Ephesians 4:19 Being past feeling (ἀｹηλγηκοτες [apēlgēkotes]). Perfect active participle of ἀｹαλγεω [apalgeō], old word to cease to feel pain, only here in N.T. LWBC 03-23-08

  37. Eph 4:19 - Greediness • Frantic search for happiness, which comes up next: with greediness, which is πληονιζια = an insatiable, unsatisfied desire or lust. LWBC 03-23-08

  38. Eph 4:19 - Greediness • Happiness is just around the corner and it isn’t there. You go around the corner, and it isn’t there. • The Unbeliever is constantly walking around the next corner looking for happiness. LWBC 03-23-08

  39. Eph 4:19 - Greediness • ｹλεονεξία* A. The Non-Jewish and Non-Christian Greek Sphere. • The word group means first a. "having more" 2), then b. "receiving more," and finally c. "wanting more." • From the first literary examples on it is not restricted to material possession. In Hdt. ｹλεονεξία is "hunger for powerﾓ (VII, 149, 3 of the Spartans), ｹλεονεκτεῖν "striving for powerﾓ (VIII, 112, 1, Themistocles for Athens), ｹλεονέκτης "presumptuous" (VII, 158, 1). LWBC 03-23-08

  40. Eph 4:19 - Greediness • The fact that the group plays a political role here is obviously due to the nature of the material in Hdt., but even after Hdt. the group is important in national and international life. In Thuc. ｹλεονεκτεῖν is "to take the greater share" (VI, 39, 2, the aristocrats), "to increase one's possessions", "to seek aggrandisement" (IV, 61, 5), "to take advantage of" (I, 77, 3), "to seek political gain" • ｹλεονέκτης is the "robber" • ｹλεονεξία "the will to press one's advantage" • In III, 82, 8 ｹλεονεξία, with φιλοτιμία, means "selfishness". LWBC 03-23-08

  41. Eph 4:19 - Greediness • The two last refs. prepare the way for the importance of the group in ethical discussions relating to society and moral conduct generally. In Xenoph. and Plato there is also an extension of usage for which we do not always know how far the way had been prepared before them: "to outdo someone (gen.) in something" (dat.), Xenoph.Cyrop., IV, 3, 21; "to be in force," "to be superior" in number and weapons, "to take precedence" in power, "to forge ahead" at the expense of others, "to treat someone arrogantly," LWBC 03-23-08

  42. Eph 4:19 - Greediness • "to receive more" in material distribution, • "to be at an advantage" in dealings with the gods, • "to gain advantages," • "to take advantage of someone," • "to seize the goods of others," • "to seek something by force," • "insatiability" in respect of food and pleasures, LWBC 03-23-08

  43. Eph 4:19 - Greediness • "immoderation" • "desire," erotically • finally the act of "encroaching on what belongs to others," then esp. the desire for power etc., and esp. the "urge to assert oneself," LWBC 03-23-08

  44. Spiritual Death: Eph 4:17-19 • Spiritual Death: Eph 4:17-19 • The heathen walk in the futility of their thinking,i.e., in a state of moral and spiritual fatuity, not knowing what they are about, nor where they are going (verse 17) because they are in mental darkness and are alienated from God's life through the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their hearts (verse 18), as is demonstrated as they give themselves over to sensuality (verse 19). LWBC 03-23-08

  45. Definition Resource • Kittel, Gerhard (Hrsg.) ; Bromiley, Geoffrey William (Hrsg.) ; Friedrich, Gerhard (Hrsg.): Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. electronic ed. Grand Rapids, MI : Eerdmans, 1964-c1976, S. 5:1022 LWBC 03-23-08

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