Process – Part 3

The purpose of Exposing and Engaging people into the disciplines that were outlined in the previous posts is to Establish them in the faith.  Before someone jumps on this, I am aware that the Lord is the one who establishes us in faith.  However, based on the passage on which we are focusing, Ephesians 4:11 – 16 (here at Bible Gateway), He uses the people in the Body to build us up, or establish us.  

I had a mentor that habitually said that the word translated “establish” meant to stand on their own.  Thus, establishing was to help one stand on their own.  Since I was with that mentor, I have studied Greek at two different schools.  I haven’t been able to validate his take on that word.  I want to.  I like the illustration.  But I am committed to what the Word says, not what I want it to say.

I did a quick word study on Establish in the New Testament.  I am going to walk you through what I did so you can follow and then I will make some comments.  There are several documents that will be hyperlinked for you to use.

• The first is all the places Greek words are translated establish in the NASB.  You will note that the context of each of those precludes them from establishing a believer in their faith except for 1 Thessalonians 3:13 (here at Bible Gateway) and 1 Peter 5:10 (here at Bible Gateway).  Nevertheless, I looked at all of the Greek words that are translated “establish” to get a sense of how the terms were used.  You will see that each of these words have a broad semantic range.
  
  
• This word is translated “establish” in Romans 3:31 (here at Bible Gateway), Romans 10:3 (here at Bible Gateway), and Hebrews 10:9 (here at Bible Gateway).
  
  
• This word is translated “establish” in Romans 16:25 (here at Bible Gateway) and 1 Thessalonians 3:13 (here at Bible Gateway).  It is also translated "confirm" in 1 Peter 5:10 (here at Bible Gateway).
  
  
• This word is translated “establish” in 1 Peter 5:10 (here at Bible Gateway), note that I also looked at the words translated “perfect” and “strengthen”.  The reason was to get a fuller notion of what Peter was saying using these four words, and because of the word translated "confirm" in the point above.

The process for the study is to look at the data and consider the other uses in context.  How does that help you understand the meaning of the word?

So, look if you wish, I will tell you what I saw in the next post.  We can compare notes.