Tag Archives: Endurance

Co-Heirs with Christ

December 20, 2016 Michael

In Paul’s letter to the Roman church, while describing our deliverance through the Holy Spirit, we come across these verses regarding our heirship as children of God. I want to focus in specifically on verse seventeen, which contains parallels that emphasize our discipleship of Christ.

16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. (Romans 8:16-17)

There are three parallel ideas here that are not as obvious in the English, but clearly stand out as I read the Greek. They all express the concept of sharing with Christ, of being fellow participators with Jesus. I’ll diagram the English translation here, so it is more evident, and include the Greek as well, where the parallels are more pronounced. The three bolded portions below in the English are each communicated with three individual words in the Greek, creating strong repetition.

and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and
fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we
suffer with Him so that we may also be
glorified with Him. (Romans 8:16-17)

εἰ δὲ τέκνα, καὶ κληρονόμοι· κληρονόμοι μὲν θεοῦ,
συγκληρονόμοι δὲ Χριστοῦ, εἴπερ
συμπάσχομεν ἵνα καὶ
συνδοξασθῶμεν. (Romans 8:16-17)

If we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, then we are children of God, and consequently heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ Himself.

However, Paul puts conditions on this wonderful promise. Our being co-heirs with Christ is contingent upon our also being partners with Christ, not just in the good times, but in the hard times as well. We, as God’s children are co-heirs—if we suffer with Him. If we are co-sufferers, carrying the same cross He carried and being crucified as He was crucified (in a spiritual sense). Then, and only then, will we be glorified with Him. We must be walking in Jesus’ footsteps, and this includes enduring trials as we live with our eyes set on pleasing God.

For many Christians today, applying this teaching does not take an elaborate stretch of the imagination. Just recently, a Coptic church in Egypt was bombed, killing at least twenty-five Christians there. Those believers killed suffered with Christ. Those with dead relatives are suffering with Christ. In the west, we don’t face such stark persecution. But if we speak for truth, there is a good chance we will be mocked, especially in the public sphere, perhaps even in some churches. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12)

Here is the key. If we want to be co-heirs with Christ, inheriting the glorious promises God gives to His children, we must be ready and willing to suffer with Christ. Only these true disciples who are willing to fill up “what lacks in Christ’s afflictions” will be glorified with Christ. (Colossians 1:24) And if we are glorified with Christ, we will be seen as true heirs, true children of God.

This isn’t a burden we carry alone, the presence of God strengthens us. As we abide in Him, His strength through the Holy Spirit empowers us where we are weak. There is a great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us, who have shared in Christ’s sufferings. So let’s run the race with perseverance. We aren’t running alone, we are running with Christ.

Unless Found Perfect: A Parallel Passage in the Didache and Epistle of Barnabas

December 8, 2016 Michael

There is a strong parallel phrase between the Didache (50-70 AD) and the Epistle of Barnabas (90-131 AD), two very early Christian writings found in the modern collection known as the Apostolic Fathers.

In anticipation of the last days and the return of Jesus, the Didache emphasizes the necessity of being found perfect or complete in the last days, otherwise our past faith will “be of no use.”

Watch over your life: do not let your lamps go out, and do not be unprepared, but be ready, for you do not know the hour when our Lord is coming. Gather together frequently, seeking the things that benefit your souls, for all the time you have believed will be of no use to you if you are not found perfect in the last time. (Didache 16. 1,2; Holmes, 3rd Ed.)

In the 1912 Loeb edition, Kirsopp Lake translates the last passage as, “for the whole time of your faith shall not profit you except ye be found perfect at the last time.”

Similar language is used in the Epistle of Barnabas when talking of the last days:

Consequently, let us be on guard in the last days, for the whole time of our faith will do us no good unless now, in the age of lawlessness, we also resist, as befits God’s children, the coming stumbling blocks, lest the black one find an opportunity to sneak in. (Barnabas 4. 9b; Holmes, 3rd Ed.)

Both are directly speaking of the importance of continued spiritual soberness in the last days.  The Greek has almost identical wording in both passages where it says “for the whole time of your/our faith will do you/us no good unless [now] in the last/lawless time […].”

Didache:    οὐ       γὰρ ὠφελήσει ὑμᾶς ὁ πᾶς χρόνος τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν, ἐὰν μὴ        ἐν τῷ ἐσχάτῳ καιρῷ […]
Barnabas: οὐδὲν γὰρ ὠφελήσει ἡμᾶς ὁ πᾶς χρόνος τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν, ἐὰν μὴ νῦν ἐν τῷ ἀνόμῳ καιρῷ […]

There is no doubt that there either was a common source that both quoted from, or Barnabas borrowed here from the Didache. Regardless, the teaching that we need to be found faithful at the end was a common teaching present among the earliest believers. The eternal state of a Christian was not strictly viewed only as a simple profession of past faith, but in terms of continued faithfulness and endurance up until the end of our life.

Eventually I may take the time and effort to complete a comprehensive survey of this teaching in the earliest non-canonical Christian writings, but until then this is just one morsel of early Christian thought to chew on.