Results 1 - 4 of 4
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Definition of "Perfect Will of God" | Ps 115:3 | Lookn4ward2Heavn | 195093 | ||
Doc and Lionheart, With all due respect: (1) I do not see where either posts provide a direct answer to my question. (2) Going down the thread, I do not find a Biblically supported explanation of just what the phrase in question means. I may have missed it somewhere and if so, please be so kind as to direct me. |
||||||
2 | Definition of "Perfect Will of God" | Ps 115:3 | BradK | 195094 | ||
Hello Lookn..., Well, let's take a look at a scriptural definition. I would think Rom. 12:1-2 pretty well defines the meaning: Rom 12:1- Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Rom 12:2- And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. I trust this will help, BradK |
||||||
3 | Definition of "Perfect Will of God" | Ps 115:3 | Lookn4ward2Heavn | 195096 | ||
BradK, thanks for your answer and the Bible verse. 1. What can one understand to be the apostle Paul's intended meaning by the word "perfect"? For example, is the apostle here affirming that God's will is always accomplished in/through the believer and always exactly in the way God wills it to be accomplished? Is the apostle making a distinction between "good," "acceptable," and "perfect"? Or are these terms merely describing one and the same thing, (i.e. God's will)? 2. Considering the context, is the apostle implying that if one does not follow through with his urging - to (a) "to present your bodies," and (b) "not be conformed to this world" - they may fail to do God's will or do it perfectly? Furthermore, can the apostle's use of the word "perfect" mean or emphasize the quality of the act in relation to God's character as, for example, holy and good, and not necessarily the act as an act? |
||||||
4 | Definition of "Perfect Will of God" | Ps 115:3 | BradK | 195110 | ||
Hello Lookin..., Let me address the first point due to time. The word for 'perfect' is telios (Gr.)and it is used some 19 times in the NT. Along with "perfect", it's meaning also conveys the idea of 'brought to it's end, finished',and 'wanting nothing neccesary to completeness'. Wuest translates the passage this way: "And stop assuming an outward expression that does not come from within you and is not representative of what you are in your inner being, but is patterned after this age; but change your outward expression to one that comes from within and is representative of your inner being, by the renewing of your mind, resulting in your putting to the test what is the will of God, the good and well-pleasing, and complete will, and having found that it meets specifications, placing your approval upon it." [Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament] Marvin Vincent says of this passage, "That good and acceptable and perfect will. Better to render the three adjectives as appositional. “May prove what is the will of God, what is good,” etc. The other rendering compels us to take well-pleasing in the sense of agreeable to men." [Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament] Finally, the Commentary Critical offers this insight: "and perfect, will of God—We prefer this rendering (with Calvin) to that which many able critics [Tholuck, Meyer, De Wette, Fritzsche, Philippi, Alford, Hodge] adopt—“that ye may prove,” or “discern the will of God, [even] what is good, and acceptable, and perfect.” God’s will is “good,” as it demands only what is essentially and unchangeably good (Ro 7:10); it is “well pleasing,” in contrast with all that is arbitrary, as demanding only what God has eternal complacency in (compare Mic 6:8, with Je 9:24); and it is “perfect,” as it required nothing else than the perfection of God’s reasonable creature, who, in proportion as he attains to it, reflects God’s own perfection. Such then is the great general duty of the redeemed—self-consecration, in our whole spirit and soul and body to Him who hath called us into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ. Next follow specific duties, chiefly social; beginning with Humility, the chiefest of all the graces—but here with special reference to spiritual gifts." [Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, A. R. Fausset et al., A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory] I trust this will add some understanding to your question. BradK |
||||||