There is much confusion among Bible-believing Christians, because so many pastors have not learned the original languages of scripture and do not even see the importance of knowing them. However, the Bible was not written in the English language, but in Hebrew and Aramaic in the Old Testament and in the Koine Greek in the New Testament, so the meaning of words being translated from one language to another often causes a problem in interpretation.
Without pastors having a knowledge of the original languages of scripture, much false doctrine is being taught, and many cults have developed through a misunderstanding of what the scriptures actually say. For example, the Koine Greek has a tense for verbs called the AORIST tense that we do not have in our English grammar that can refer to something that occurs just once as in Acts 16:31: “BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” The verb ‘believe’ is in the aorist tense and means ONCE AND FOR ALL. Without knowing that the aorist tense was used by God the Holy Spirit who is the author of scripture, many people are under the false impression that they can lose their salvation. There is also a PERFECT tense which indicates continuous action of the verb BELIEVE, and it says we must keep on doing something, as when Jesus told His disciples to keep on believing in His Word.
The foregoing information is just a very small example to show why grammar is so important. In our day and age, the importance of grammar is not stressed in our schools or in our society in general, but it can make a great deal of difference when it comes to the communication of God’s Word, so we all need to ‘bone-up’ on our grammar.
One lesson I learned in English classes in school many years ago that has always been very important in my own life is how to CONJUGATE a verb. The dictionary gives the following meaning of the word: “to cover the various changes of a verb according to its voice, mood, tense, number and person. A verb may be used in a sentence to denote either ACTION or BEING. It isn’t really hard to identify action words like JUMP, SWIM, CATCH, etc., but when our English teacher taught us to conjugate the verb
TO BE, I never fully understood how vitally important it was until I became a student of the Bible, and I hope the following explanation of the verb will be helpful in your understanding of the character of God:
The verb “TO BE” is conjugated as follows:
SINGULAR PLURAL
I am you are
you are we are
he, she or it is they are
The very first word in the singular column is the most interesting, because “I AM” is the name that God calls Himself, and it means PERFECT EXISTENCE. God has always existed, and there never was a time when He did not exist. When God spoke to Moses from a burning bush and commissioned him to deliver the Children of Israel from Egyptian slavery, Moses objected and said, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and ask him to set the people free?” God replied, “You shall say to the Children of Israel that I AM has sent you to them … I AM THAT I AM.”
Jesus Christ is both God and Man in one person forever. During a discussion with some very religious men, Jesus told them that He knew Abraham. They laughed and said, “You aren’t even forty years old … how can you say you know Abraham?” Jesus replied, “Listen carefully to My words … before Abraham existed, I AM.” They understood perfectly that He was telling them He was eternal God, and they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and passed through their midst. (John 8:36-59)
In John 10:22-30 another group of religious unbelievers surrounded Jesus in the temple during the Feast of Dedication and demanded that He tell them in plain words who He was. Jesus said, “I have told you before who I AM, but you do not believe My words nor do you believe the works I perform in My Father’s name. I and My Father are ONE.” They understood clearly that He was claiming to be God in flesh, so they wanted to stone Him, but as before He escaped out of their hands.
Throughout the Bible there are hundreds of scriptures which prove that the Lord Jesus Christ is GOD and MAN in one person forever. God the Son, the only visible member of the Trinity, became a man in order to die on a cross as our substitute and pay the penalty for the sins of the entire world.
“THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG MEN WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAVED.” (Acts 4:12) Therefore, “BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND YOU WILL BE SAVED.” (Acts 16:31)
Written by Lois Delnay
Fallbrook Ranch Productions
04/14/07
loisdelnay@hotmail.com
Books for sale by L. Delnay
http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Schoolhouse-Studies-Children-Teens/dp/1438212003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212685141&sr=8-1
link to Lois Delnays Children Bible Study
http://gettoknowyourbible.org/
http://loisdelnay.bravehost.com/index.html
link to Lois Delnay's Writings on Helium
