THE TENSE READINGS
OF
THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT
by
Selected
From His Book
The
Edited By Jeff Paton
(Editor’s
Note: Dr. Steele published this work at the dawn of the 20th Century.
Much of the terminology concerning psychology, medical terminology, and science
as we know it, it in the dated terminology of his day. Attempts will be made to
smooth some of the reading in order to make the reading more profitable to the
reader. Steele’s Tense Readings were a ground breaking work that was based on
the results of Adolf Deismann’s discoveries while working with ancient
languages. In his studies, Deismann found the key to unlock the long forgotten
understanding the Greek tenses in the Scriptures, which started a new revolution
in Biblical studies.)
In
this age of astonishing scientific progress, when the microscope applied to
living tissues reveals whole continents of evidence of design in material life,
and marvelously strengthens theism in its evolutionary debate with atheism, we
have applied the same instrument to the Greek Testament, with the aid of
exegesis, in the interest of disputed truths, and for the refutation of certain
doctrinal errors. Our microscope will be directed to a long-neglected field of
research of the Greek tenses, not for the purpose of discovering new truths, but
for the confirmation and clear elucidation of truths as old as revelation. It is
the evident order of Providence that there should be an advance in the evidences
of Christianity in its various departments. Hence, Tischendorf, in rummaging the
moldy libraries of the Orient, lays open to the world a manuscript of the New
Testament hidden for ages among the lazy, wine-bibbing Greek monks of a Sinaitic
convent; and archeologists dig up Nineveh from her long-lost grave, and makes
her a swift witness against the doubters of Old Testament history; as Schliemann
unearths old Troy to the confusion of those German destructives who, with pipe
in mouth, over mugs of beer, were proving to their own satisfaction that Ilium
was a myth, and the Iliad a splendid fiction born of the cumulative pooling of
myths over successive generations of enthusiastic story tellers wandering over
Greece. In the field of exegetics the late advance has been in the most
searching grammatical analysis, attending to the accents, the particles, the
tenses, and the emphatic order of the words. This results from the greater
accuracy of modern scholarship. But most of our standard commentaries were
written by annotators trained to disregard the minutiae of the Greek language.
But Dean Alford, Bishop Ellicott, and other late sacred scholars, enrich their
notes with gems of truth discovered by applying the microscope of modern
learning. They call frequent attention to the tenses as conveying important
truth. Recent Greek Testament grammarians, such as Winer and the younger
Buttmann, indignantly rebuke the blindness of the older annotators to the value
of the tenses. Says Winer, the highest authority in the grammar of the Greek
Testament, "In regard to the tenses of the verb, Greek Testament
grammarians and expositors have exhibited very great misapprehensions. In
general, the tenses are employed in the New Testament with exactly the same
accuracy as in Greek authors." He then quotes Berthold, as a representative
of the slovenly style of treating the tenses, who says, "In the use of the
tenses, it is well known that the New Testament writers paid little regard to
the rules of grammar." But Winer denies this charge, and asserts that,
"strictly and properly, none of these tenses (aorist, imperfect, perfect,
and pluperfect) ever stands for another, as commentators pretend." That the
English scholar may understand our argument and our illustrations, we will give
the following definitions:
The
present tense denotes what is now going on, and indicates a
continuous, repeated, or habitual action, as, I am writing.
"The
aorist indicative," says Goodwin, "expresses the simple
momentary occurrence of an action in past time, as, I wrote."
The perfect
denotes an action as already finished at the present time, as, I have
written; my writing is just now finished. It also expresses the
continuance of the result down to the present time; as the formula
"It is written," is literally, it has been written, and implies that
it now stands on record; the door has been shut, that is, it so remains
till now.
The imperfect
denotes an act which took place before another past act.
The
chief peculiarity lies in the aorist. We have in the English no tense
like it. Except in the indicative, it is timeless, and in all the moods
indicates what Krueger styles singleness of act." This idea our translators
could not express without going around the direct translation of a word to
create the meaning intended. This was difficult since there were no direct words
in the English that would unambiguously represent what was in the Greek text.
"The poverty of our language." says Alford, "in the finer
distinctions of the tenses, often obliges us to render inaccurately and fall
short of the wonderful language with which we have to deal." His
annotations abound in attempts to bring out the full significance of the tenses.
For instance, in 2 Cor. 12:7, "to buffet" (pres.) me, "is best
thus expressed in the present. The aorist would denote but one such act of
insult." This same point has been noted by both Chrysostom and Theophylact.
It is worthy of remark that when the aorist would indicate the momentary work of
the Spirit in regeneration and in entire sanctification, these learned writers,
especially Bishop Ellicott and Dean Alford, for dogmatic reasons, refrain from
calling attention to the force of the aorist, except it be to note that
baptismal regeneration is a single act.
As some
of our readers may be disposed from dogmatic reasons or prejudice, to dispute
our inferences from this tense, we proceed to fortify ourselves by the following
authorities: -Says Buttmann, in his recent New Testament Grammar: "The
established distinction between the aorist, as a purely narrative tense
(expressing something momentary), and the imperfect as a descriptive tense
(expressing something contemporaneous or continuous), holds in all its force in
the New Testament. Says Winer: "Nowhere in the New Testament does the
aorist express what is wont to be."
"The
aorist," says Meyer, "does not anywhere in the New Testament express a
habit." In applying these principles we make several important discoveries.
We cite only a few specimens :
1. All exhortations to prayer and to spiritual endeavors in
the resistance of temptation are usually expressed in the present tense, which
strongly indicates persistence.
Matt.
7:7: Keep asking (pres.), and it shall be given you: seek (pres.) again and
again, and ye shall find; knock persistently. And it shall be opened unto you.
Mark
11:24: (Alford's version). Therefore I say unto you, All things that ye
perseveringly pray (pres.) and ask for (pres.), keep believing (pres.) that ye
receive (aor., Alford), and ye shall have them.
Luke
11:10: For every one that asketh (pres.) perseveringly, receiveth; and he that
seeketh (pres.) untiringly, findeth; and to him that persistently knocketh
(pres.), it shall be opened. Verse 13: How much more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that importunately ask (pres.) Him. The idea
implied is clearly expressed in Luke 18:1.
John
16:24: Ask (pres.) repeatedly, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be
permanently filled (perfect).
Luke
13:24: Persistently agonize to enter in (aor.), once for all, at the strait
gate.
Luke
18:13: But he kept smiting (imperfect), and saying, God be merciful (aor.) to
me, the sinner. The conditions of pardon are persistently complied with.
James
1:5-6: If any one of you lack wisdom, let him frequently ask (pres.) of God,
etc. But let him ask (pres.) repeatedly in faith, etc. Heb. 11:6: For he that
persistently comes (pres.) to God must believe (aor. definitely grasps two
facts), (1) that He exists, and (2) that He is becoming a rewarder to those who
diligently and repeatedly seek Him.
To this
use of the present tense a remarkable exception occurs in Christ's last address
before His crucifixion (John 14-16.). Here He for the first time directs us to
pray in His name, and, as if to denote the influence of that all-prevailing name
when presented to the Father in faith, the aorist tense is used when prayer is
commanded, as if to teach that one presentation of the name of the adorable Son
of God must be successful. See John 14:13, 14, and 16:23, 24. In the 23rd verse
the aorist occurs, but in verse 24 the present tense (be asking) is used,
probably in view of the foreseen fact that there would be multitudes of
half-believers, who must be encouraged to pray till they fully believe in the
name of Jesus Christ.
2. The
next fact which impresses us in our investigation is the absence of the aorist
and the presence of the present tense whenever the conditions of final salvation
are stated. Our inference is that the conditions of ultimate salvation are
continuous, extending through probation, and not completed in any one act. The
great requirement is faith in Jesus Christ. A careful study of the Greek will
convince the student that it is a great mistake to teach that a single act of
faith furnishes a person with a paid-up, non-forfeitable policy, assuring the
holder that he will inherit eternal life, or that a single energy of faith
secures a through ticket for heaven, as is taught by the Plymouth Brethren, and
by some popular lay evangelists. The Greek tenses show that faith is a
state, a habit of mind, into which the believer enters at justification. The
widespread mistake on this point in thus illustrated by Dr. John Hall, of New
York: --
"Have
you ever seen a young girl learn to fire a pistol? I will not say, imagine a
boy, for he would naturally he brave about it. I have seen young ladies
acquiring this accomplishment, and it is a very curious thing. It may illustrate
to you the false notion that many persons have about faith. The pistol is loaded
and handed to the young lady. She takes hold of it very 'gingerly,' as if afraid
it may shoot from the handle. Now, she means to go through with it: there is the
mark: so she takes the pistol in her hand, and holds it out a long way, and
appears to take aim with the greatest exactness, but does not shoot. She is a
little afraid, trembles, and holds back. At last she screws up her courage to
the sticking-point, and, as you suppose, taking the most exact aim, shuts her
eyes firmly, and fires. The thing is done, and done with. Well, now, many
intelligent persons are led to believe that faith is something like that--
something you end in an instant. You muster up your courage for it, then shut
your eyes, and just believe once for all: then the thing is done, and you are
saved. Now, that is a mistaken idea about faith itself. That real faith which is
honest goes on from time to eternity."
Since we
are writing for the English readers, we will refrain from quoting the Greek
verbs, which would make our pages repulsive to the very people we wish to
benefit. Scholars will appreciate our argument if they accompany it with their
Greek Testaments.
John
1:12: But as many as received (aor.) Him (by a momentary and definite act), to
them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that are believing
(present) perseveringly on His name. Here the aorist participle would have been
used instead of the present, if a single act of faith secured ultimate
salvation.
John
3:15: That whosoever is continuously believing in Him should not perish (aor.,
once for all), but be having everlasting life. Here, again, the present and not
the aorist participle of the verb to believe is used, as it is again in verses
16 and 36.
John
5:24: Verily, verily I say unto you, he that is always hearing My word, and
constantly believing on Him that sent Me, hath eternal life, and is not coming
into condemnation, but has passed over (perfect) from death unto life, and so
continues. Says Alford: "So in I John 5:12, 13, the believing and the
having eternal life are commensurate; where the faith is, the possession of
eternal life is, and when the one remits, the other is forfeited. But here the
faith is set before us as an enduring faith, and its effects described in their
completion. (See Eph. 1:19, 20)." Thus this great English scholar rescues
this text from its perverted use, to teach an eternal incorporation into Christ
by a single act of faith, and he demonstrates the common-sense doctrine that the
perseverance of the saints is grounded on persistent trust in Jesus Christ. A
wise General does not destroy a captured fortress, but moves his troops in and
garrisons within it.
John 5:
44: How are you able to put forth a momentary act of faith (aor.) that
habitually receives (pres.) honor one of another, and somehow, are not
constantly seeking the honor which is from God only? This interrogative question
implies the impossibility of a single genuine act of faith springing up in a
heart persistently courting human applause.
John 5:
47: But if ye are not habitually believing His writings, how will ye believe My
words?
John
6:29: The received text reads thus: This is the work of God, that ye believe (aor.,
once for all) on Him whom He sent. When we first noticed this aorist tense,
implying that the whole work required by God is summed up in an isolated act, we
felt that there must be an error in this tense. By referring to Alford,
Tregelles, and Tischendorf, we find that the aorist is rejected, and the present
tense is restored, so that it reads: This is the work of God, that ye
perseveringly believe, etc.
John
6:35: He that is perpetually coming (pres.) to Me shall not, by any means
(double negative), once hunger (aor.), and he that is constantly believing in ME
(emphatic) shall never, by any means, (double negative), feel one pang of thirst
(aor.). Says Bengel, "When thirst returns, the defect is in the man, not in
the water." He has ceased to drink.
John
6:54: Whoever eats (pres., keeps eating) My flesh, and drinks (keeps drinking)
My blood, hath eternal life.
John
11:25, 26: He that believes persistently (pres.) shall not, by any means (double
negative), die (aor.) forever.
John 20:
31: That you might believe (aor.; but Tischendorf has the present, continue to
believe) that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, believing
constantly (pres.), you might have life through His name.
Acts 16:
30, 31: Sirs, what must I do to be instantaneously saved (aor.)? Believe
instantaneously (aor.) on the Lord Jesus. This is no exception to the general
use of the tenses. The jailer wished immediate deliverance from his guilt, and
was directed to a definite and sharply defined act of reliance on Christ. But in
Rom. 1: 16, where future and eternal salvation is spoken of, it is promised to
every one that perseveringly believes (pres.). So also in Rom. 3:22; 4:24; 9:33;
10:4, 11; 1 Cor. 1: 21: Eph. 1:19; I Thess. 1: 7; 2:10, 13; 4: 14.
In 2
Thess. 1:10, we find, not in the received text, but in the best manuscripts, an
exceptional instance of the use of the aorist in expressing the conditions of
final salvation: "to be admired in all them that believe" (aor.).
Alford says it is used because the writer is "looking back from that day on
the past." probation being viewed as a point.
A
similar explanation he gives to the aorist in Heb. 4: 3, saying, that the
standing-point is the day of entering into the rest. We prefer to teach that the
aorist is preferred to the present in this passage because the general state of
trust is not under discussion as the condition of entering eternal rest in
heaven, but the grasping of the definite fact of Christ's ability to be the
believer's Joshua, and to bring him into soul-rest in the present life. Hence
the exhortation, verse 11, "Let us labor (Greek, hasten) to enter (aor.)
into that rest." Other instances of the aorist, used when some distinct
saying is to be believed, are found in John 4: 21; and in Matt. 8: 13.
Rev. 22:
14: Blessed are they that are constantly doing His commandments, that they may
have right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
The best manuscripts read, Blessed are they that are always washing their
garments, etc. In both instances the present tense is used. This is the last
time the conditions of final salvation are expressed in the Bible.
There is in the New Testament one remarkable exception to the use of the present tense as expressing the continuousness of the conditions of salvation. We will not dodge Mark 16:16: He that believeth (aor.) once for all, and is baptized (aor.) once for all, shall be saved; he that disbelieves (aor.) shall be damned. It may not be known to the reader that the chief biblical critics, such as Westcott and Hort, agree in rejecting as spurious verses 9-20 of this chapter. Tischendorf drops them entirely from his edition. Dean Alford retains them in brackets, but thinks that both the external and the internal evidences are "very weighty against Mark's being the author. No less than twenty-one words and expressions occur in these verses, and some of them several times, which are never used by Mark, whose adherence to his own peculiar phrases is remarkable."
Should
we admit the genuineness of this text, its meaning, says Meyer, is, "He who
becomes a believer shall be saved," as in I Cor. 3: 5, "Ministers by
whom ye became believers." This applies to Rom. 13:11. "First became
believers."
Hence we
conclude from a thorough examination of the above texts, that the Spirit of
inspiration has uniformly chosen the present tense in order of teach that final
salvation depends on persevering faith.
3. But
when we come to consider the work of purification in the believer's soul, by
the power of the Holy Spirit, both in the new birth and in entire
sanctification, we find that the aorist is almost uniformly used. This tense,
according to the best New Testament grammarians, never indicates a continuous,
habitual, or repeated act, but one which is momentary, and done once for all.
We adduce a few illustrative passages: --
Matt. 8:
2, 3: And behold, there came a leper, and he kept worshipping (imperfect) Him,
saying, Lord, if Thou wilt Thou canst cleanse (aor.) me once for all. And Jesus,
stretching out (aor.) His hand, touched (aor.) him, saying, I will, be thou
instantaneously cleansed (aor.). The leper prayed to be cleansed, not gradually,
but instantly, and it was done at a stroke, according to his faith.
Matt.
14: 36, illustrates the difference between the imperfect and the aorist: And
they kept beseeching (imp.) that they might touch just once (aor.) only the hem
of His garment; and as many as only once touched (aor.) were instantaneously
healed (aor.).
Matt.
23: 25, 26: Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for you are
constantly
cleansing
(pres.) the outside of the cup and the platter, but within are full of extortion
and injustice. Thou blind Pharisee, first cleanse (aor.) at a stroke the inside
of the cup and of the platter, that the outside may instantly become (aor.)
clean also. If Christ had commanded a gradual inward cleansing He would have
used the present tense, "be cleansing by degrees."
Luke
17:14: And it came to pass that while they were going (pres.) they were
instantaneously healed (aor.).
John 13:
8: "If I wash (aor.) thee not, thou hast no part with Me." This
washing is not the new birth, for Peter was already regenerate. Of His apostles
Christ said, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world." "I am the vine, ye are the branches" (John 17: 13; 15:
5). It must therefore symbolize entire sanctification. This cleansing after
regeneration is taught in John 13:10 (R.V.), "He that is bathed needeth not
save to wash (aor.) his feet, but is ever whit clean." Peter was partially
but not entirely sanctified. "These words of Jesus," says Alford,
"awakened a feeling of his own want of cleansing." Thus teach Stier,
Bengel, and others. Tholuck says, "Only the extremities were yet to
John
17:17-19: Sanctify (aor., imperative) them once for all through Thy truth, that
is, through faith in the distinctive office and work of the Comforter . . . And
for their sakes I am consecrating (pres.) myself, in order that they in reality
may have been permanently sanctified. Christ's was not a real sanctification or
cleansing, inasmuch as He was never polluted; but the disciples needed
sanctification in reality, or "truly." This is the suggested meaning
of the words, "through the truth." See Bagster's marginal reading.
Compare 2 Cor. 7: 14. Says Winer: "In the New Testament the obvious
distinction between the imperative aorist -- as sanctify, above -- and the
imperative present
I Cor. 15: 34: Awake (aor.), and be not
sinning (pres.) or stop sinning. Acts 15: 11: But we habitually believe that
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we were saved (aor., by a momentary
and completed act) even as they, (saved from guilt, not saved eternally). Rom.
6: 13: Here occurs a beautiful instance of this distinction, affording an
undoubted proof-text for instantaneous sanctification, which is not seen in the
English version: Nor render repeatedly (present imperative) your members as
instruments of unrighteousness to sin; but render (aor., by a final act of
unreserved surrender, once for all) yourselves (not your members by a repeated
and piecemeal consecration) to God (or for God's cause, says
Tholuck), as alive from the dead. Says Alford: "The present imperative
above denotes habit; the exhortation guards against the recurrence of a
devotion of the members to sin; this aorist imperative, on the other hand, as in
chap. 12: 1, denotes an act of self-devotion to God, once for all, not a
mere recurrence of the habit." Tholuck's annotation brings out the
completeness of this text as a proof of cleansing from original sin,
(Greek adkia), ungodliness in general; (Greek hamartia), the indwelling,
predominant love of sin."
Acts
15: 9: Instantaneously purifying (aor.) their hearts by faith. This verse is a
key to the instantaneous sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit wrought in the
hearts of believers on the day of Pentecost, since the words even as he did unto
us refer to that occasion. See Acts 10: 45-47.
Rom.
6: 6: Knowing this, that our old man was crucified (aor.) once for all, that the
body (being or totality) of sin might be destroyed (aor., at a stroke), that
henceforth we should no longer be serving (pres.) sin. For he who once for all (aor.)
died (unto sin) has been justified from sin. The aorist here teaches the
possibility of an instantaneous death-stroke to inbred sin, and that there is no
need of a slow and painful process, lingering till physical death or purgatorial
fires end the torment. Men are not crucified limb by limb, after one part is
dead finding a hand or arm or finger alive, but the whole life is extinguished
all at once. A class of interpreters, who are afraid of entire sanctification in
this life, and are especially horrified at an instantaneous purification by the
stroke of Omnipotence, tone down the word "destroy" to "render
inoperative or powerless." The strength of this verb will be seen by
studying the following texts, where it is rendered by "abolish,"
consume, or "destroy." 2 Cor. 3: 13: "And not as Moses which put
a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to
the end of that which is abolished." Eph. 2: 15: "Having abolished in
His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for
to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace." 2 Tim. 1: 10:
". . . Our Savior Jesus Christ Who hath abolished death, and hath brought
life and immortality to light through the Gospel." I Cor. 15. 26:
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 2 Thess. 2:
8: "And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume
with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His
coming." Heb. 2: 14: "Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh
and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same: that through death He
might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil."
Rom.
12:1: That ye present (aor.) your bodies (as a single act, never needing to be
repeated). The body is specified, because, says Tholuck, it is the organ of
practical activity, or, as Olshausen, De Wette, and Alford say, "as an
indication that the sanctification of Christian life is to extend to that part
of man's nature which is most completely under bondage to sin." If in
Paul's conception believers were to be sinning and repenting all their days, as
the best that grace could do for them, he would have used the present
imperative, "Be presenting your bodies again and again." In Alford's
note on I Peter 2: 5: Ye also as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to
That
neither of these texts refers to justification is shown:
(1) by the fact
that the persons addressed are already Christians;
(2) by the requirement that the sacrifice be holy (Rom. 12: 1), that is,
accepted,
as the lamb was examined by the priest, and pronounced fit for sacrifice, or
acceptable to Jehovah; and I Pet. 2: 5, requires a holy or accepted priesthood,
both of which requirements symbolize a state of justification before God.
Rom.13:
14: Put ye on (aor., a single definite act) the Lord Jesus Christ, and make
(pres.) not, that is, quit making, provision for the flesh, etc.
I Cor.
5: 7: Purge out (aor.) the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump. This summary
and instantaneous excision of the incestuous offender illustrates the force of
the aorist in verbs signifying to purify.
I Cor.
6:11: But ye washed yourselves (aor., middle) by submitting to outward baptism;
ye were sanctified (aor.), ye were justified (aor.). Here the sanctification is
a momentary and completed act, the same as the justification. By the figure
called the inverted chiasmus the words "were justified" are placed
last. The natural English order would be, "were justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus, and were sanctified by the Spirit of our God." See Meyer.
2 Cor.
1: 21, 22: Now, He who is continually establishing us with you, in Christ, and
who once for all anointed (aor.) us, is God, who also sealed us (aor.) and gave
(aor.) the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. Here the establishing is
constant, the anointing, sealing, and endowment are momentary and completed
acts.
2 Cor.
5:21: The received text reads, "that we might be made (pres., being made)
the
2 Cor.
6: 13: Be ye also enlarged (aor.) by the sudden baptism of the Holy Spirit.
2 Cor.
7: 1: Let us cleanse (aor.) ourselves at
a stroke from every filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting (pres.)
holiness in the fear of the Lord. If Paul had been exhorting to a gradual inward
cleansing he would certainly have used the present tense. The chapter division
is here very unfortunate, and very much obscures the writer's thought. Bengel
puts this verse in the paragraph which closes the sixth chapter. The course of
the argument is this: The promise of the Old Testament was that ye should be
sons and daughters of God. Having realized the fulfillment of this promise by
adoption, let us who are sons cleanse ourselves, etc. Cleansing is here viewed
as a human work, inasmuch as our application of the purifying power is by faith,
as we are to make unto ourselves new
Gal. 1:
15, 16: But when it pleased God, who separated (aor.) me from my mother's womb,
and called (aor.) me by His grace, to reveal (aor.) His Son in me, etc. The
words rendered separated and called are aorist participles. Says Goodwin:
"The aorist participle regularly refers to a momentary or single action,
which is past with reference to the time of the leading verb." In this
passage the leading verb is "pleased." After his birth and calling, or
conversion, there was an instantaneous revelation of the Son of God within, to
the spiritual eye, as there had been an objective revelation of the form of the
Son of man to Paul's physical eye on his way to Damascus. Both Ellicott and
Alford insist that the sequence of tenses here teaches that this inward
revelation of Christ was after his conversion. This may well be styled Paul's
second blessing. This is in harmony with Christ's promise that He would manifest
Himself to those who already love Him and evince their love by their obedience;
John 14: 21: "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love
him, and will manifest Myself to him." John 16: 14: "He shall glorify
Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you."
Various
metaphors and phrases are employed to denote entire sanctification, as will be
seen in the following texts: --
Gal. 2:
19, 20: For I through the law died (aor. quite suddenly) to the law, that I
might live unto God. I have been crucified (perfect) with Christ (and stay dead
till now), and it is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me. Says
Alford: "The punctuation in the English version is altogether wrong. Here
is a perfect answer, in Paul's testimony, to the advocates of a lingering death
of the old man, continuing up to the separation of soul and body. There was a
time when Paul died to sin by a crucifixion -- a short and sharp kind of death--
and the old man lived no more. Some people are forever on the cross, always
dying but never dead, because they do not grasp the sin-slaying power.
Gal. v.
24: And they that are Christ's have crucified (aor.) the flesh, together with
the passions and lusts. From this it would appear that all believers are
entirely sanctified as soon as they are regenerated. But Olshausen's explanation
is very satisfactory: "It is remarkable here that the act of crucifying is
designated past, while it is, certainly, involved in the exhortations of Paul
that it is to be continued. This is explained by the fact that Paul here resents
the idea of a true Christian quite objectively, and, therefore, in its
completeness; as such the believer has entirely crucified the flesh." The
only remaining question relates to the time when this completeness may be
realized. Wesley says: "Now, by faith, without doing or suffering
more." Olshausen says: "In the concrete actuality, the complete idea,
and, therefore, too, the crucifying of the old man, never appear completely
realized." That is to say, the old man is completely crucified in the
abstract, but in the concrete man he always lives! Common sense sides with the
Englishman against the German.
Gal. 4:
19: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed
(aor.) in you. Here is a second spiritual birth, distinct from the first. All
devout pastors find multitudes in their churches, rocking as old babes in the
cradle of spiritual infancy, and they travail in birth for them, that the faint
image of Christ enstamped upon them in their regeneration may be renewed and
permanently deepened. Like coins on which the head of Liberty is but slightly
impressed, they need to be placed beneath the die again, and receive a deep and
clear impress. The aorist expresses the instantaneous re-minting.
Eph.
1:13: After that ye believed (aor.) ye were sealed (aor.) with that Holy Spirit
of promise. Here the believing and the sealing are acts distinct, definite, and
completed.
Eph. 2:
5: By grace ye have been saved (perfect--and so continue).
Eph. 3:
16-19: Here we have seven aorists in four verses -grant, be strengthened, dwell,
or, rather, "take up his abode" (Meyer), may be able to comprehend, to
know, and be filled. May we not infer that Paul chose this tense to convey most
strongly and vividly the ability of Christ to do a great work in a short time,
to save believers fully, and to endow them with the fullness of the Spirit? If
gradual impartations of the Sanctifier had been in his thought, it is strange
that he did not use one present tense to express endowment by degrees. "The
Greek perfect participles rooted and grounded," says Dr. Karl Braune,
"denote a state in which they already are and continue to be, which is the
presupposition in order that they may be able to know." The same writer, in
Lange's Commentary, in his note on "to comprehend" (aor.), says that
"it here means more than a mere intellectual apprehension, a perception,
but preeminently an inward experience corresponding with 'to know' (aor.) in
verse 19." "The aorist tense of 'to comprehend,'" says Ellicott,
"perhaps implies the singleness of the act, and the middle voice -- called
by Krueger a dynamic middle -- indicates the earnestness, or spiritual energy,
with which the action is performed." How strongly does this grammatical
examination of this passage confirm the essay of John Fletcher on the spiritual
manifestation of Christ to the inward perception of the perfect believer by an
instantaneous revelation!
Eph. 4:
13: Till we all attain (aor.) unto the unity of the faith and of the perfect
knowledge of the Son of God, unto the full-grown man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ, -- Alford's Version. The perfecting of the
saints is here expressed by a definite and momentary arrival at a point where
faith merges into knowledge, where a Savior believed becomes a Savior fully
realized. See Olshausen's full comment. This transition from faith to full
knowledge is a crisis expressed by the aorist. It is when the Paraclete purges
the film of inbred sin from the eye of the soul, and Jesus, as a living, loving,
glorified, and complete Savior, is manifested to the spiritual vision. Then the
child, the imperfect believer, becomes a perfect man, and reaches the fullness
of Christ; that is, the abundance which he has to bestow, a fullness excluding
all sin, but capable of eternal increase. That this point is before death is
shown by the consequences which follow in the present life, as detailed in
verses 14-16: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love,
may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom
the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."
Eph. 4:
22: That ye put off (aor.) the old man (the unsanctified nature). Here the
aorist is used, because the act of putting off is one and decisive,
"referring," says Alford, to a direct, definite and reflexive
act."
Verse
23: And that ye be renewed (pres.) in the spirit of your mind.
Verse
24: And that ye put on (aor.) that new man, which after God is created (aor.,
was instantaneously created) in righteousness, etc. "Beware," says
Alford, "of rendering, with Eadie and Peile, 'that ye have put off,' which
is inconsistent with the context (ver. 25) and not justified by the word 'you'
being expressed." This epistle is addressed to the saints and the faithful
in Christ Jesus (chap. 1: 1). Such undoubted Christians are exhorted by one
decisive act to lay off the old man, implying that he was not yet fully laid
aside, and to put on the new man, as if Christ were not fully investing and
pervading the nature. Why these aorists, if only a gradual growth out of sin
into holiness is contemplated?
Eph. v.
25, 26: Husbands, be constantly loving (pres.) your wives, even as Christ loved
(aor.) the Church. Says Ellicott: "The pure aoristic sense is more
appropriate and more in accordance with the historic aorist that follows, so
that 'gave' (aor.) is a specification of that wherein this love was
pre-eminently shown. The moment is seized upon when His love culminated in the
gift of His life for us." That He might sanctify (aor.) it, having cleansed
(aor.) it by the washing of water with the word (R. V.). The exegetes all agree
that the cleansing by water (symbolizing regeneration) precedes the definite and
momentary act of sanctification. Thus Alford and Ellicott. Says Olshausen:
"That He may sanctify her, after He had previously purified her by the
bath, i.e., baptism and the new birth effected by it." Both regeneration
and sanctification are distinct works instantaneously wrought with an interval
of time between them. This is the legitimate inference from this passage.
Phil. 3:
12: Not already perfected (perfect), brought to the end of his course and
crowned. The same word is used in the same sense in Luke xiii. 32: " . . .
Behold, I cast out devils, and do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I
shall be perfected." Paul and Jesus disclaim the same perfection.
Heb. 2:
10: "For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all
things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings."
Heb. 5:
9: "And being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation unto
all hem that obey Him." Heb. 12: 22, 23: " . . . Ye are come unto
Mount Sion, . . . to the spirits of just men made perfect."
Col. 1:
9: That ye might be filled (aor.) with the full knowledge of His will.
Col. 3:
5: Mortify (aor., kill outright), therefore, your members which are upon the
earth; fornication, etc. "Let nothing," says Bishop Ellicott,
"live inimical to your true life, hidden in Christ. Kill at once (aor.) the
organs and media of a merely earthly life." Here, in the very strongest
terms, is the Wesleyan doctrine of entire sanctification as a distinct and
instantaneous work of the Spirit clearly set forth. A young evangelist, holding
meetings in a Baptist church, preached to pastor and people entire
sanctification as immediately obtainable by faith. The pastor was stumbled by
the English reading of this text, "Mortify;" that is, keep mortifying
day by day. He thought that he must ever keep a little sin alive in his heart in
order to be forever mortifying it. His mistake was:
(2)
in disregarding the aorist tense of the command, enjoining a decisive and
momentary act, to be done once for all.
Col.3:
8: But now put off (aor.) all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
communication out of your mouth. The aorist imperative is a broom that sweeps
the heart clean at one stroke of omnipotent power.
Verse
12: Put on (aor.), therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of
mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering. By the incoming
of the abiding Comforter all the excellencies of the Christian character are to
be at once assumed. This is the positive side of entire sanctification, the
negative being the mortifying of sin in verse 5.
Verse
13: Forbearing (pres.) one another, and forgiving (pres.) one another. There
will be occasion for the constant exercise of these virtues.
Verse
15: Let the peace of God rule (pres.) constantly, and be (pres.) ye thankful
always.
Verse
16; Let the word of Christ dwell (pres., perpetually) in you richly in all
wisdom.
Verse
18: Wives submit (pres.) yourselves constantly, etc.
Verse
19: Husbands love ( res.) your wives at all times -on washing days, when
breakfast is late, and the bread is sour.
Verse
20: Children obey (pres.) your parents constantly.
Verse 21: Fathers provoke (pres.) not at
anytime your children to anger lest they be discouraged.
Thus a
series of present imperatives extends through this chapter and to verse 6 in
chapter 4:, enjoining daily recurring duties. But the aorist imperatives are
always used when the duty of putting away sin from the heart, and putting on the
fruits of the Spirit, is commanded. Let the candid reader examine this chapter,
and he will see that the reason for the use of the aorists is that entire
sanctification and the fullness of the Spirit are viewed as a work to be
finished at a stroke, while duties to our fellow-men are to be constantly
repeated. No other account can be given for the alternation of tenses in the
imperatives in this chapter.
I Thess.
3: 13: To the end He may stablish (aor.) your hearts unblamable in holiness.
Here the tense indicates a single and momentary act. The same Greek construction
occurs in chapter 4: 9: "But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I
write you: for ye yourselves are taught if God to love one another." Here
the present tense is used, "to love one another," a constant duty. A
similar form of expression in the Greek occurs in
I Thess.
4: 8: Who also gave (aor.) unto us His Holy Spirit. Here the aorist is used,
says Alford, "as being a great definite act of God by His Son." The
act is just as definite whether the gift is dispensational or individual.
I Thess.
5: 23: And the very God of peace, once for all, sanctify (aor.) you wholly, and
your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved (initial aorist, to mark the
beginning in the heart of the power that keeps the believer). The nicety of
Paul's grammatical knowledge is seen in verse 25: Brethren, pray (pres.) for us.
Greet (aor.) all the brethren with a holy kiss. The praying was to be
continuous, the kissing momentary.
2 Tim.
2: 21: If a man therefore purge (aor.) himself from these, he shall be a vessel
unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every
good work. Sanctified and prepared are both in the perfect tense, implying the
permanent result of the definite act of purging.
Titus 2:
14: Who gave (aor.) Himself for us, that He might redeem (aor.) us from all
iniquity, and purify (aor.) unto Himself a people for His own possession,
zealous of good. The verbs gave, redeem, and purify are all
aorists, indicating momentary acts. The purifying is before death, because its
subjects are to be zealous of good works.
Titus 3: 4, 6: But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared. Which He shed (aor.) on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Savior. To inaugurate a dispensation; (2) To sanctify and endow individuals. Personal pentecosts have been experienced all along the ages. Paul received such a pentecost; Rom. 5: 5: "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."
Heb. 4: 11: Let us labour (hasten aor.), therefore, to enter into that rest. A vigorous and earnest effort is enjoined. The word labor in Greek is radically the same as haste in Josh. 4: 10: And the people hasted (aor.) and passed over.
Heb. 10:
2: Because that the worshippers once purged (perfect), a cleansing once for all
and permanent. Such have no more conscience, or consciousness, of sins.
Heb. 10: 26: For if we willfully sin (pres., enter upon a course of sin) after we receive (aor.) the full knowledge (Greek epignosis) of the truth, etc.
Heb.
12: 1,2: Let us also. . . lay aside (aor.), once and forever,. . . the sin which
doth so easily beset, or "doth closely cling to us" (R.V. marg.),
"Our inner propensity to sin" (Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Ernesti and
others), "sin as an indwelling evil" (Delitzsch), looking (present)
away unto. . Jesus--the victorious attitude of the believer--let us be
running (present), etc.
Heb.
13:12: Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify (aor.) the people with His
own blood, suffered (aor.) without the gate.
Heb.
13: 29,21: Now the God of peace,. . . make you perfect (aor., an insulated act)
in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in
His sight, through Jesus Christ. The workman and not the work is to be made
perfect.
James
1: 21: Wherefore putting away (aorist, "because," says Alford,
"it must be done as a single act, antecedently to that which follows")
all filthiness and superfluity, (remnant of evil disposition inherent in our
hearts, surviving from old times," Michaelis), naughtiness, (the
"infection of nature that doth remain, yea, in them that are
regenerated," Art. ix., Church of England), receive (aorist) the implanted
word (which initial justifying faith has already appropriated), that is able to
save (aorist) your souls, "because the power is to complete the work and to
have done it forever." Alford. The same sacred scholar says, "It is
evident from the contents of the epistle (of James) that it was written for
Christian readers." These are exhorted to entire sanctification,
immediately, by an act of
James
4: 8: Cleanse (aor.) your hands, ye sinners: and purify (aor.) your hearts, ye
I
Pet. 1: 15: So become ye yourselves (aor., by an all-surrendering act of faith)
holy in all manner of conduct.
Verse
16 (according to the received text): Become ye (aor.) instantaneously holy, for
I am holy. The aorist in these verses indicates a transition from sin to
holiness, and not a progress. The word yourselves (R. V.) is proof positive that
the holiness is inwrought and personal. "In all manner of living" (R.
V.) is a phrase which shows that the place of this holiness is in our daily life
here on earth, and not in the glorified person of Jesus Christ in heaven.
"As He is so are we in this world."
I
Pet. 3: 15: Sanctify (aor.) the Lord Christ in your hearts. Says Wiesinger,
indorsed by Alford: "The addition of 'in your hearts' is added to the Old
Testament quotation, to bring out that the sanctification must be perfected in
the inner parts of a man, and so keep him from false fear." "Care only
for this, that your heart may be a temple of Christ; then nothing will disturb
you." This implies that there is a time when He becomes completely
enthroned in the heart. Hence the precision of the aorist: Sanctify once for all
a place for the Lord Christ, or Christ as Lord, in your hearts. See the critical
reading of Christ for God. Verses 15 and 16 show the result in this life.
I Pet.
5: 7: We copy Alford's note: "CASTING (aor., once for all, by an act which
includes the life) ALL YOUR anxiety ('the whole of,' not every anxiety as it
arises, for none will arise if this transference has been effectually made) UPON
HIM." The parentheses are Alford's.
2 Pet,
1: 4: That ye might become (aor.) partakers of the divine nature (R. V.). Says
Alford: "The account of this aorist has not been anywhere, that I have
seen, sufficiently given. It is untranslatable, in most cases, but seems to
serve in the Greek to express that the aim was not the procedure, but the
completion, of that indicated; not the carrying on of the process, but its
accomplishment." This is corroborated by the aorist participle,
"having escaped," in the same verse.
2 Pet.
1: 19: We have (pres.) a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do (pres.)
well that ye take (pres.) heed, as unto a light that shineth (pres.) in a dark
place, until the day dawn (aor.), and the day star arise (aor.) in your hearts.
We have the highest authority for reading this without a parenthesis, which some
put in, obscuring the sense. No passage of Scripture more strikingly describes
the writer's Christian experience, first of painful doubt and then of cloudless
assurance; first a spasmodic clinging of the intellect to the external evidences
of miracle and prophecy, and then the sunrise-- Christ manifested, the day-star
in his heart. There are in this verse four verbs in the present tense, have,
do, take, shineth, representing the alternation of light and darkness in
early Christian experience. The lamp feebly glimmers in a gloomy, or, literally,
dirty place, giving just light enough to see impurities, but not fire enough to
consume them. In this twilight state doubts
"
'Tis Love! 'tis Love! Thou diedst for me;
I
hear Thy whisper in my heart;
The
morning breaks, the shadows flee:
Pure,
universal Love Thou art:
Thy
nature and Thy name is Love."
But how
is this shown in the Greek text? Note the two aorist verbs dawn and arise,
"putting an end," says Alford, "to the state indicated by the
present participles above." What this day-star is, Grotius, De Wette, and
Huther best explain, who think that some state in the readers themselves is
pointed at, which is to supervene upon a less perfect state. Says Huther:
"The writer distinguishes between two degrees of Christian life: in
the first, faith rests upon outward evidences; in the second, on inward
revelations of the Spirit; in the first, each detail is believed separately as
such; in the second, each is recognized as a necessary part of the whole. And
hence, being in the former is naturally called a walking in a dismal, dirty
place, in the light of a lamp or candle, while the being
2 Pet. 2: 20: After they escaped (aor.) the pollutions of the world through the full knowledge (Greek epignosis) of the Lord, etc.
Verse
22: The sow that was washed (aor.).
I
John 1: 9: If we persistently confess (pres.) our sins. He is faithful and just
to forgive (aor.) us our sins, and to cleanse (aor.) us from all
unrighteousness. The cleansing is just as definite, distinct, and decisive as
the forgiving. Alford cannot escape the force of these aorists. "Observe
the two verbs are aorists, because the purpose of the faithfulness and justice
of God is to do each as one great complex act -- to justify and to sanctify
wholly and entirely." Dusterdieck says: "The death and blood of Christ
are set forth in two aspects: (1) as a sin-offering for our justification, and
(2) as the purifying medium for our sanctification." If the purifying is to
be by degrees, the present tense would have been used instead of the aorist. He
pleads for gradual sanctification, but there is no more grammatical basis for it
than there is for a progressive justification.
I John 2: 1: These things I write unto you, that ye sin (aor.) not even once. And if any man sin (aor., once, not habitually) we have (pres.) constantly an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
I
John 3: 6: Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen
Him, neither known Him. This text in the English favors the notion that the man
who loves not his brother never knew God savingly. But the perfect of this verb
"to know" has acquired a present meaning. (See Winer, page 290). Says
Alford: "Have known, and many other perfects, lose altogether their
reference to the past event, and point simply to the present abiding effect of
it." Hence Alford's version: "Whosoever sinneth seeth Him not, neither
knoweth Him." He may have both seen (spiritually perceived) and known Him,
but he does not now.
I
John 3: 9: Whosoever has been born (perf., brought into permanent sonship) of
God is not habitually sinning, for His seed is abiding in him, and he is not
able to be sinning because he has been born (perf.) of God. If the aorist tense
had been used in this verse instead of the perfect, it would have been a strong
proof-text for the doctrine, "Once in grace, always in grace." But,
says Alford: "The abiding force of this divine generation in a man excludes
sin; where sin enters that force does not abide; the 'has been born' (perf.)
is in danger of becoming the 'was born' (aor.); a lost life instead of a
living life. And so all such passages as this, instead of testifying, as Calvin
would have this one do, to the doctrine of the final perseverance of the
regenerate, do, in fact, bear witness to the opposite, namely, that as the
Church of England teaches, we need God's special grace every day to keep us in
the state of salvation, from which every act and thought of sin puts us in peril
of falling away.
Rev.
7: 14: They washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Both verbs are aorists denoting definite acts. Hengstenberg interprets the
former of the forgiveness of sins, the latter of entire sanctification.
4. Rarely
in the Greek Testament an habitual act is expressed by the aorist, when the
period of its continuance is long past, and the course of action is viewed as a
completed whole. See Alford on 2 Thess. 1: 10, and I Pet. 3: 6.
The
aorists of verbs denoting sanctification and perfection quoted in this essay,
belong to no one of these exceptional classes.
We
have looked in vain to find one of these verbs in the imperfect tense when
individuals are spoken of, The verb (Greek hagiazo), to sanctify, is always
aorist or perfect. (Editor’s Note: It should be also noted that the Bible
knows nothing of a future tense for sanctification and to make holy. The grave
will not save us or purify us. It must be done by the Holy Spirit, in our
physical life if it is to be done at all. If God cannot do it now, there is
nothing in Scripture that says He will do it later.) Acts 20: 32: "And
now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able
to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are
sanctified." Acts 26:18: "To open their eyes, and to turn them from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive
forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified through
faith that is in Me." Rom. 15: 16: "That I should be the minister of
Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the Gospel of God, that the offering
up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy
Ghost." I Cor. 1: 1, 2: "Paul, unto the church of God which is at
Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus."
2 Tim. 2: 21: "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet f or the Master's use." Heb. 10:10: "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Heb. 10: 29: "of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit of grace." Jude 1: "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ. . . to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called."
The
Greek verbs “katharizo” and “hagnizo”, to purify,
are also always aorist or perfect. Our inference is that the energy of the Holy
Spirit in the work of entire sanctification, however long the preparation, is
put forth at a stroke by a momentary act. This is corroborated by the universal
testimony of those who have experienced this grace.
Says
Prof. Joseph Agar Beet: "It is worthy of notice that in the New
Testament we never read expressly and unmistakably of sanctification as a
gradual process, or, except perhaps Rev. 22: 11 ('He that is holy, let him
be made holy still, margin, yet more, (R. V.), of degrees and growth in
holiness. A gradual process is not necessarily implied in the present
participles of Heb. 2: 11; 10: 14."
The
reason why gradualism is not necessarily implied is found in the use of the
present tense to describe momentary acts repeated not on the same individual but
on a succession of different persons. Thus justification by faith is expressed
by the present tense in Rom. 3: 24, not because it is a gradual process in the
pardon of the believer, but because believers in succession are justified freely
by His grace." When the individual leper was healed, in Matt. 8: 3, the
aorist is twice used, but when many are to be cleansed one after another the
present imperative is used, Matt. 10: 8, "cleanse the lepers."
Canon
Westcott admits that in the only two texts where the present tense of the
verb sanctify is used, Heb. 2:11: "For both He that sanctifieth and they
who are sanctified, are all of one;" and Heb. 10: 14: "For by one
offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified," the reference
may be to "successive generations." His alternative theory that
the "present tense shows the continuous process by which the divine gift is
slowly realized from stage to stage in the individual life," seems to be
highly improbable in view of the general use of the aorist of the verbs
sanctify, cleanse, and destroy (sin).
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