Transcript Document

Hypocrites and Backsliders
H and B-026:
Understanding Spiritual Death
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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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).
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Eph 4:18 - hardness
• Romans 11:25 (AMP)25 Lest you be selfopinionated (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,
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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 (11:710) but also that on its own responsibility it
chose the wrong path (9:30-10:3).
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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.
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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.
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Spiritual Death: Eph 4:18
• Scar tissue of the soul removes any possibility of true
happiness.
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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
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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.
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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].
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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.”
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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.”
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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).
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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).”
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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.”
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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);
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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Eph 4:19 - Greediness
• Frantic search for happiness, which comes
up next: with greediness, which is πληονιζια
= an insatiable, unsatisfied desire or lust.
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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.
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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).
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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".
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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,"
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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,
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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,"
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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).
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Definition Resource
• Kittel, Gerhard (Hrsg.) ; Bromiley,
Geoffrey William (Hrsg.) ; Friedrich,
Gerhard (Hrsg.): Theological Dictionary
of the New Testament. electronic ed.
Grand Rapids, MI : Eerdmans, 1964c1976, S. 5:1022
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