John 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

How many of us study Greek? Not many I expect. It isn’t an easy language, hence the saying “It’s Greek to me.” That implies a lack of understanding. I am a little bit of a bible geek. I admit it. I look up words in the original text for clarity when it is seemingly obvious what is meant. I do that because I have discovered that all things are not exactly what they seem to be in scriptures. There is more to be learned.

Believe on him is broken down into three component parts for use in the Greek. For this exercise I bring you just the one connective word “on”. Strong’s number G1519 eis. It is translated 573 times as into and translated as on 58 times. Given that the translations are used to smooth out speech and make grammatical correctness in another language, what is the proper use? In context!

Read all you will on the subject but the most clarity that I could find was in Thayer’s Greek Lexicon that identified this word as a verb placed before a noun, which is the case here. The placement of the word in context, by what goes before and follows, should render the clearest understanding. This is what Thayer’s says about eis as it is used properly in context.

“An open place, a hollow thing, or one in which an object can be hidden.” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon

Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Add to that the Vine’s Expository of New Testament Words definition of G1519 and it reads that it literally means “until the end”, “continually”. If you read this and this alone one might mistakenly think that one must “believe” Jesus until the end which would then render belief as a work and not a grace gift. If you look at it rather as being hidden in Christ until the end, then it returns to a state of grace.

In support of this offering look how many time Paul uses “in Christ” in his epistles.

Psalm 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

I still get offended. Does that mean I don’t love your law? I think I do, but my peace cannot be a great peace if I lose it for any reason. This verse says nothing shall offend. So what is wrong here?

Last week I had a dream where I felt like I was at risk. The circumstances of the dream are important, the take away was being at risk. I consulted my accountability partner. He doesn’t put much weight in dreams. OK, I respect that. If there is something there God will speak to my situation again, He is a patient God.

Yesterday I justified sin because I was choosing to do what I thought was right for another person. You cannot justify sin for anyone. That is a “God I love your law” opportunity which I failed.

That night I saw a brother in the Lord doing exactly what I have been practicing to avoid. I tried to move him off point and was shut down for it. In this I was offended. Now I have to deal with my anger at this offense. But who is at fault here? Me first, I knew I did wrong and did not heed God’s warning of being at risk.

Matthew 7:3-5 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

If I love the Word, then I must love all the Word, and do what it says.

Authority comes from obedience not knowledge.