Daily Truthbase: More Of The 7 Passages

For those of you who can't wait to dig in, here are the unedited (and non uniformly formatted) guides to:

Your Relationship with the God and His Word 2Tim 3:16-17

Your Relationship with the God the Father in Prayer Phil 4:6-7

Your Relationship with the Lord Jesus in Lordship 2Cor 5:9-10

Your Relationship with the Holy Spirit in Sanctification Rom 12:1-2

Coming soon:

Your Relationship with Other Believers in Fellowship Acts 2:42-46

Your Relationship with Non-Believers in Love John 4

7 PASSAGES #2

Your Relationship with God and His Word

2Timothy 3:16-17

Could you live the Christian life without the Bible?

How would you know what God expects of us, and what we can expect of Him? How should the Bible be used to love others?

See “How do your know what's True” and “Is there a Supernatural Being and can He walk and TALK” for background.

Your job is to study and outline 2Timothy 3:16-17.

The surrounding verses are given for context

Lexical: The STRUCTURE is fairly straightforward, and the major benefit will be from understanding the meanings of the words. You start by using a lexicon, like Thayer's, which gives the range of possible meanings and insight into how the word was derived. Just bring up the Strong's numbers for the KJV text in the Online Bible or theWord, and click on the number to get the possible definitions. Bible Dictionaries tend to be pretty interpretative, and rarely break down the usages of the word by author. For instance, it's more important to understand how Paul has used the word earlier in his writing to Timothy, than to know how John uses the word in Revelation. The best way to get an unbiased understanding is to use the OnlineBible or theWord, or even an old fashioned concordance to look up all the occurrences, and then figure out which meaning Paul intended. Just pop the number into the search function and voila. See the 10minuteBible.com youtube on how to study a word for more help.

OUTLINE:

15a and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures,

15b which are able to make you wise for salvation

15c through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

16a All Scripture

16b is given by inspiration of God,

16c and is profitable

16d for doctrine,

16e for reproof,

16f for correction,

16g for instruction in righteousness,

17a that the man of God

17b may be complete,

17c thoroughly equipped

17d for every good work.

Significant Observations

FORM: a letter, near the end of his life, from Paul to Timothy, (his protege), telling him how to serve God and people in a Body of believers.

Since the Scriptures are also mentioned in verse 15, maybe these verses are related, telling us something about being WISE with respect to salvation.

STRUCTURE: Two implied verbs (you find that out by looking at an Interlinear like Biblos, or noting that there is no Strong's number for the verbs in the Online Bible). They will be the basis of our verbal propositions.

The same preposition pros in front of four nouns (a list) that might have some structure to discover. What is the relationship among them? Is it: Progression, elaboration, alteration, chiasm (whatever that is) or random?

16b and 16c are joined by a conjunction kai which normally coordinates two ideas of equal weight, but sometimes indicates a progression, like case and effect or result. Which one is it?

16a All Scripture This is the subject of the sentence (not the Subject-Complement statement) in 16a-b. The noun is modified by the adjective “all” indicating every part all the entire thing.

Lexical: Looking up the word “Scripture” in the Online Bible or theWord or Biblos and clicking on Strong's number yields Thayer's defintion:

#1124 γραφη graphe graf-ay’ n f AV-scripture 51; 51

1) a writing, thing written

2) the Scripture, used to denote either the book itself, or its contents

3) a certain portion or section of the Holy Scripture

Theological Discourse: (you don't need to read this to understand 2Tim 3:15, but it does shed some Light on the topic.) Looking up the other NT uses of this word (by clicking on the Strong's number and then putting that number in the search bar of the Online Bible or other program), one finds it is always translated Scripture(s). The “51” in the definition would have told you that as well. The most interesting cross-reference (that's what other passages that refer to the idea of our passage are called) is 2Pt 3:15...as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. Peter refers to Paul's writings as Scriptures. That the miracle working, supernaturally authenticated apostles could write authoritative Scripture was set up by Jesus in John 16:13 when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

It's worth noting that the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth, that's the vehicle He uses to accomplish Christ's will in our lives.

16b is given by inspiration of God This phrase is all one word in Greek, an adjective, modifying “Scripture”. With the supplied verb “is”, it becomes our verbal proposition. This is an example of ellipsis (look it up if you want to know more), where the author leaves out a word for convenience or emphasis. Some form of the verb “to be” (in this case “is”) is most frequently supplied.

#2315 θεοπνευστος theopneustos theh-op’-nyoo-stos

from 2316 and a presumed derivative of 4154; TDNT-6:453,876; adj

AV-given by inspiration of God 1; 1 1) inspired by God

Used once in the NT, it is a combination of the word “God” and the word for wind or blow (which is also the root of “spirit” in Greek and pneumatic in English). So you could say literally this adjective means “God-breathed”.

What God wanted to say is what was written.

For more information: See the Bibliology Outline: “What the Scriptures say about the Scriptures” on Truthbase.net.

16c and is profitable This phrase begins with kai connecting it with 16b, giving us either a coordinate idea, or a sequential idea. Is Paul giving us two ideas of equal weight, or does one lead to the other?

Theological note: some translations ignore the kai, which clearly links the two ideas of inspiration and profitability, and totally unbalance and misconstrue the text to read “all inspired Scripture is profitable”, implying that some Scripture isn't inspired, and leaving us the task of picking an choosing what we should or should trust and obey. Where's the kai? If you look at an interlinear, you see kai (translated “and”), why isn't in the translation? Is it possible that a theological bias has worked its way into the translation process, distorting the text? This highlights the need to be a diligent student of the Scriptures. By the way, the original writing is inspired, not the translations (in case you hadn't figured that out).

“Profitable” means much the same as it does in English. He used it in previous letter to Timothy 4:6...train yourself to be godly (niv) 8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

So is Scripture's profitability related to its inspiration? If you see the sequence, then RESULT is the nuance. If not, then you have two coordinate concepts, which together lead to the rest of the verse.

16d-g These four prepositional phrases are going to complete or complement the concept(s) above them. Do they tell us Who, When, Where, Why, What, or How about 16a-c (or just 16c)?

First, you want to understand what each means, then see if there is any relationship between/among them, finally try to link them back. Look up the four words and explain each in your own words.

For is pros a preposition which usually indicates some sort of progress of thought or action in a particular direction. Clicking on Strong's number in Biblos gives a little more insight into how the preposition is used.

16d for doctrine This is the basic word for “teaching” used fifteen times by Paul in the Pastoral Epistles (Letters to Timothy and Titus helping them pastor or shepherd the growing churches).

“Teaching” maps out the path believers should take as they follow Christ.

HINT: You can pull up all the occurrences in the NT and then just focus on the uses in the Pastorals, or you can limit the search to only show the letters to Timothy, and Titus. Don't forget to change the search range back to the whole Bible if you limit it.

16e for reproof This noun occurs twice, but the verb 17 times in the NT, frequently meaning “to prove” (reproof). Under the verb's definition you'll find a meaning of “bring to light or expose”. This is the root idea: you prove your case by bringing it to light, usually with some sort of evidence. Reproof is a major ministry the Scriptures have in our lives and believers have to each other, i.e., to bring to light where we have strayed from the narrow path to life. The usage by Jesus in Matthew 18:15 will give the evidence to make the concept clear (hey that's reproof!).

16f for correction This noun only occurs here in the NT. Thayer defines it as “1) restoration to an upright or right state 2) correction, improvement of life or character.” You should get the idea that is “fixes” whatever was shown to be incorrect by reproof. If reproof shows us where we are off the path, correction shows us how to get back on the path.

16g for instruction in righteousness This word for “instruction” is usually the world for child training, although in this context (especially when you understand the beginning of chapter 4) it is talking about big people. But the principle of training is paramount. The lexicon definitions bring out the concepts of developing body and soul, curbing the passions, and cultivating virtue, all of which are necessary for staying on the path. If you don't address your values and passions, purifying them by the renewing of your mind (which we'll get to in Romans 12:1-2) you will quit walking along the path (especially when it gets narrow, goes uphill, and becomes difficult).

Hebrews 12 uses this word four of the six times it shows up in the NT. Heb 12:11 Now no chastening/discipline seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained/exercised by it. (cf 1Tim 4:7)

Notice that the training is “in righteousness”, a loaded theological term.

Obvious Paul is not talking about forgiveness or redemption, or something imputed to us, but rather the practical, experiential aspect of being “rightly related to God” and by extension to those around us. Twice earlier Paul had commanded Timothy to chase after or pursue it (after he fled other stuff).

1Tim 6:11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life 2Tim 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

So the Scriptures are profitable for showing us how to train ourselves to stay on the path of righteousness.

Mini-Application: A simple way to remember the pattern is:

Teaching marks out the path

Reproof shows us where we're off the path

Correction show us how to get back on the path

Training develops the spiritual and mental muscle to stay on the path.

Structural note: If you observed the layout/outline of the passage above, you'll notice that I indented the middle two items. You can see how they go together. (off-on). The outer two (first and last) are also somewhat related.

The Greeks had a name for this structure, chiastic. (comes from the letter Chi or X, look it up and you'll see why). The key to understanding chiasmus is to realize that the most important stuff is in the middle. Multiple chapters of Luke's gospel are arranged like this.

TIP: You can easily verify that the middle two aspects were per-eminent in Paul's thought when writing this to Timothy, by glancing at the application to this information in 2Tim 4:2. This will also help you understand why Paul writes the next verse as well.

Extra Credit: For when you've finished your outline, check out 1Pt 2:17 and 2Tim 2:12-13 to see how difficult passages suddenly make sense when you recognize chiastic structure.

Progress Report: First, you want to understand what each means CHECK

then see if there is any relationship between/among them CHECK

finally try to link them back to the previous part of the verse OH, yeah...that...

You know that pros can mean: to, towards, to the advantageous of, with regard to, in the direction of, which could be PURPOSE. That would mean the Scriptures are inspired fot the purpose of teaching, etc., which sounds good. But saying the Scriptures are profitable for the purpose of teaching, etc., is a little awkward. You've actually got a purpose coming up in the next verse, so it might be worth considering another option if you can find one. Since the root idea of pros is one of location (before/destination), let's try our location nuance, SPHERE: The Sphere in which Scripture is profitable is in teaching, etc. That sounds good, but “The Sphere in which Scripture is inspired is in teaching” is really bad. However, if the four phrases only modify the concept of profitability, then all is good again. Stay tuned for the outline which will hopefully resolve everything.

STRUCTURE: Verse 17 has four phrases, each modifying the one above it. We call this a stair-step. I'm sure the Greeks had a better word for it, but I don't know it. We have a main verb (not a participle – one that ends in “ing” like running, nor an infinitive – one prefaced with “to” as in “to run”) so that will probably be our VP for the verse. “Equipped” is a participle in Greek (click on the second Strong's number in the Online Bible, or hover over the verb parsing code in Biblos or theWord), so that can't stand alone, nor serve as the MVP, but has to modify something else.

17a that the man of God The verse starts with a subordinating conjunction.

Grammar Guide: hina, (the conjunction translated ”that” above) when combined with a Subjunctive verb (you've got one in 17b) always means PURPOSE. A subjunctive verb is one that expresses the idea of uncertainty, i.e., it might or might not happen but it ought to or should (ought, should, may, might are tip offs in English that you've got a subjunctive, but the translators aren't always consistent in doing their job).

Lexical Light: “man of God” is a favorite OT word for a prophet, not so much someone who would predict the future, but some who would deliver God's message that if they obeyed, He'd bless as promised, and if they failed to repent and continued their stubborn independence, they'd regret it when God fulfilled His promise to curse (make their life miserable). Of course God would much rather bless, but sometimes His kids are downright ornery, and won't move into the place of blessing.

So Paul is putting Timothy in the role of an OT prophet. Wait a minute, aren't those the guys they stoned, kinda like a shoot the messenger kind of thing? Stay tuned for the first part of chapter four...

17b may be complete Here is our MVP, as noted above in the Subjunctive mood. Your outline point can simple read: Someone should be complete.

Grammar Guide: Simply click on the second Strong's number of a verb, and it will parse the verb for you. Click on the numbers after the parsing, and it will give you a mini grammar lesson. See what is says about the Subjunctive. Hey, that just what is says in the 17a tip. What? You think I make this up?

Lexical Light: Perfect, adequate, complete, trained, fitted, thoroughly, are just some of the translations. So which best fits Paul's thought? Roll the dice and take your pick? It's only used once in the NT. Well, 17c is actually going to elaborate on the meaning, so we should wait until we get there to decide. It might be worth noting that the word comes from another which stresses the immediacy of a moment, hence “ready”.

17c thoroughly equipped This is the same word as 17b with an ek in front of it; used only twice in the NT. In Acts 21:5 of finishing a period of days, not a huge help. But a huge help follows the Lexical note (you can skip it).

Lexical Light: There are many usages of NT words in the papyri, that shed lots of light on the meaning of words in Koine or common Greek (the language of the NT, as opposed to Classical Greek, the language of Homer 700BC and philosophers like Plato 400BC). There are even Dictionaries of Biblical words from the papyri (Moulton/Milligan) but scholars have done most of the heavy lifting and published the gems in more accessible sources (which you don't need to know about until you develop more discernment).

Huge Help: In the papyri, our word for “thoroughly equipped” is used to describe a document all signed and stamped and good to go. Better yet, it describes a rescue ship (The Good Ship Timothy) outfitted with all it needs to do its job. (Just kidding about the name.) Timothy is about to be launched out into a sea of opposition (as all men and women of God are) and the Scriptures give him all he needs to do God's will, which, coincidentally shows up in the next phrase.

So so “complete” and “thoroughly equipped” describe the manner of the man of God about to do God's work.

17d for every good work This is the Thing for Which the man of God is thoroughly equipped to do by the Scriptures.

HINT: If you type Strong's numbers “18 & 2041” (with a space before and after the ampersand “&” and no quotation marks) you'll find sixteen verses where the NT use the words “good” and “works” The list is not exhaustive, nor is every search result applicable, but it's a good start. The key ones to know about are: Rom 2:7; 2Cor 9:8; Col 1:10; Eph 2:8-10; 2Thess 2:17; 1Tim 2:10; 5:10; 2Tim 2:21 (same book); Titus 1:16; 3:1; Heb 13:21.

There is another word for “good” #2570, which will yield another sixteen verses, among which are: Mt 5:16*; 1Tim 3:1; 5:25; 6:18; Titus 2:7; 2:14*; 3:8; 3:14; Heb 10:24; Js 3:13; 1Pt 2:12. Notice how many are in the Pastoral Epistles. Teaching believers to please God by doing good works is a major theme it Titus.

Flashback: If you recall from Ephesians 2:8-9, we're saved to do good works. 2Timothy 3:16-17 tells us how to get equipped to do them.

What's the big deal about Good Works? Matthew 5:16 helps answer that with an appeal to your purpose in life: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Our job is to live so God looks good to those around us, and as a result they'll be drawn to His light shining through us.

Mini-Application: Done any good works lately? Did they make God look good in the eyes of others? If you grasp anything from the verses on good work you'll realize they're really important, so make a note to learn about them and do them when you finish studying these Seven Passages (if not sooner).

Truthbase Tip: If you hunt around on Truthbase.net you can find some sermons and studies on the topic, and learn how to do a “topical study” on your own. You can also find help on what it means to glorify God and how to determine and do your life purpose in the openikng pages of the Truthbase notes on TOYL (Time Of Your Life Seminar). As usual you can find some outlines and sermons on the topic there as well.

BIG IDEA HINT: Before we move onto doing the Exegetical Outline, it's worth taking a peak at the next verses, which are the opening ones of chapter 4. Paul told timid Timothy (a problem he tries to correct throughput his letters to Tim) about the Scripture making him adequate, so Tim would be up to the task of using them in the lives of others (even if they didn't want to hear.

Now try linking the phrases together ala The Dick and Jane Story, expressing the relationships in Subject-Complement form.

The NUANCE of the SUBJECT is the COMPLEMENT

START with ►#1 v16b, the MVP.

#2 TIE to MVP 16a All Scripture

►#1 START HERE 16b Something is God-breathed =MVP

#2 Then move up to 16a and relate 16a to the MVP.

Since “all Scripture” answers the question WHAT about the MVP, the nuance is The THING WHICH.

#2 TIE TO MVP The THING WHICH is God-breathed is all Scripture

►#1 START HERE 16b Something is God-breathed =MVP

#3 Since 16c doesn't just modify “something is God breathed”, but rather modifies the fact that “all Scripture is God-breathed” you have to summarize 16a-b in #3, which will become the Subject of 16c;

When you're doing a summary of the first point, it is sometimes just a repeat of the point it summarizes (an outlining quirk you have to experience to understand). It will become clearer when you put the Roman Numerals on the outline (hopefully).

#3 SUMMARIZE 16a-b so 16c can modify them both, the full idea.

*It is OK that your summary is the same as 16a.)

#3 SUM 16a-b The THING Which is God-breathed is all Scripture

#2 TIE TO MVP 16a The THING Which is God-breathed is all Scripture

►#1 START 16b Something is God-breathed =MVP

#4 16c is the Complement of 16a-b, answering the question WHY, giving the RESULT of Scripture being inspired (is that it's profitable).

#4 TIE BACK 16c (to the Summarized Complement of 16a-b)

16c The RESULT of all Scripture being God-breathed is that it is profitable

#5 The four prepositional phrases “for teaching” etc. can be lumped together in one point. They answer the question WHAT or WHERE about Scripture being profitable indicating the “things for which” or “places where” Scripture is profitable. Since the four phrases are kinda activities rather than things, and take place as a process in a context, I'd lean toward SPHERE over THINGS for WHICH. But essentially they're the same concept, so take your pick.

#5 TIE BACK 16d-g (to the Complement of 16c)

16d-g The SPHERES in which Scripture is profitable...

...are teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteous.

OR The THINGS for Which Scripture is profitable are...teaching, etc.

RECAP: Your outline should look something like this:

16a-b The THING Which is God-breathed is all Scripture

16a The THING Which is God-breathed is all Scripture

►16b Something is God-breathed =MVP

16c The RESULT of all Scripture being God-breathed...

... is that it is profitable

16d-g The SPHERES in which Scripture is profitable

...are teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteous.

Or 16d-g The THINGS for Which Scripture is profitable are...teaching, etc.

Follow the same process for verse 17, express each in Subject-Complement format and then tie back to verse 16 (or some part of verse 16).

17 “that” we know that this is hina, which when with the subjunctive gives purpose. So our summary statement of verse 17 will yield a complement which will be the PURPOSE of something in 16.

17a the man of God

►#1 START 17b Someone may be complete =VP

#2 17a WHO? The ONE WHO will be complete is the man of God

#1 17b Someone may be complete =VP

#3 SUM 17a-b The ONE WHO will be complete is the man of God

#2 17a The ONE WHO will be complete is the man of God

#1 17b Someone may be complete =VP

#4 TIE 17c back to 17a-b using MANNER since it answers the question HOW?

17c The MANNER in which he is complete is in being totally equipped

#5 TIE 17d back to 17c using THING WHICH since it answers the question WHAT?

17d The THING FOR WHICH the man of God is totally equipped

...for every good work.

16a-b The THING Which is God-breathed is all Scripture

16c The RESULT of all Scripture being God-breathed is that it is profitable

16d-g The SPHERES in which Scripture is profitable

...are teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteous.

17 Summary

17a-b The ONE WHO will be complete is the man of God

17c The MANNER in which he is complete is in being totally equipped

17d The THING FOR WHICH he is totally equipped is for every good work

Now 16 and 17 need to be linked. We saw above that the nuance was purpose. Is 17 the purpose of of 16d-g or of some summary of 16?

Let's first try taking it back to the immediately preceding point, 16d-g, the most frequent scenario:

17 The PURPOSE of Scripture being profitable in the spheres of teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteous...is SO THAT the man of God might be totally equipped for every good work.

That makes sense. If we try to take it back to it just being profitable, we'd miss the application of the passage to the needs of Timothy's audience in 4:2, where he's told to reprove and teach. Taking it back to Scripture being inspired is inadequate, because inspiration is the basis for far more than just doing good works. So the closest choice (16d-g) looks best.

FINAL OUTLING STEP: Enumerate your outline points with actual outline markers, like A,B,C, etc. Indent points like below. You can't have just one sub-point. A is a summary of A1, A2, A3. B must be related to A, as a complement or another item in a list.

A1.

A2.

A2a.

A2b.

A2b-1.

A2b-2.

A2c.

A3.

I. vv 16-17 (to be determined)

A. v16a-b The THING Which is God-breathed is all Scripture

A1. v16a The THING Which is God-breathed is all Scripture

A2. v16b Something is God-breathed =MVP

B. v16c The RESULT of all Scripture being God-breathed...

... is that it is profitable

C. v16d-g The SPHERES in which Scripture is profitable

...are teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteous.

D. v17 The PURPOSE of Scripture being profitable in the spheres of teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteous...is SO THAT the man of God might be totally equipped for every good work.

D1. v17a-b The ONE WHO will be complete is the man of God

D1a. v17a The ONE WHO will be complete is the man of God

D1b. v17b Someone may be complete =VP

D2. v17c The MANNER in which the man of God is complete...

...is in being totally equipped

D3. v17d The THING FOR WHICH the man of God is totally equipped

...is for every good work.

EXTRA MILE CLUB: Your outline is basically complete, and you should move on to APPLICATION if you're running out of time. However, if you really want to understand and INTERPRET accurately, you need to tie this passage into the larger section. It actually aids application if you can answer the questions:

Why did the author write this to his original audience? What did he want them to do?
Why did the Holy Spirit include this passage in the NT? What does he expect us to do?

If you can summarize and tie the passage to the sections above and below it, you have a good chance of answering the above questions correctly. Tie in the passage fore and aft with Roman numerals. Roman numeral “I.” is used for illustration only. If you were studying the book from the beginning, you'd probably be up to XIII or IX, and vv16-17 would be a sub-section like B2 or B3. While doing these studies, just use

“I.” and if you need it, “II.” for simplicity's sake.

CONTEXT, CONTEXT, and CONTEXT are the three most important concepts in Bible Study. If you read earlier in the chapter you'll see that people are always distorting the Truth and believing Satan's lies. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth combats the lies with Truth. The foundation that holds the armor of God together is the belt of Truth, and the only offensive weapon is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Truth). [You could argue that prayer fits in there, but that's the next lesson.]

Just take a look at the Supplement of all the things the Word of God does for us, and you see how vital it is.

In order to get timid Tim equipped and confident to do battle with the lies of darkness, Paul reminds him of the primacy and sufficiency of the Scripture (Truth). In verses 14 and 15, Paul exhorted Tim to contine in the Scriptures which not only are the basis of his relationship with God, but are also the strategy manual for becoming wise regarding the salvation which is his through faith in Christ. Wisdom (which we are commanded to walk in Col 4:5, Eph 5:15) is choosing the right objectives and the right means of obtaining them (See Truthbase). In order for Timothy know and do the right thing, he needs the Scriptures.

So vv16-17 provide the reason Timothy should continue in the Scripture,

because they will give him what he needs to wisely do battle. This understanding of the passage provides your outline point II.

I. vv 14-15 The RESULT of people being deceived and deceiving...

...is THAT is that Timothy should continue in the Scriptures.

II. vv16-17 The REASON Timothy should continue in the Scriptures...

...is BECAUSE they will give him what he needs to wisely work to bring lives into conformity to God's will for them.

ELABORATION: You'll notice that the synthesis drops out all the good stuff you just studied. So if you want to include it, you could say:

...is BECAUSE God inspired the Scripture to equip Believers to be able to do good works of teaching and training others in the Truth.

If you ponder the points for a bit, you see they essential similarity.

ONE MORE POINT (the Two Extra Mile Club): You can tie in the following passage to validate your understanding of vv16-17.

4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:

In 4:1 Paul is charging Timothy on the basis of Christ's return and reward of faithful servants. (See 4:7-8 if you doubt that's what was in Paul's mind. You'll study the concept in more depth when you get to 2Cor 5:9-10 on Lordship). The return of Christ is the REASON Timothy should do 4:2.

So your outline point would be something like:

III. (no subordinating conjunction, conclusion, therefore probable RESULT)

A. v1 The REASON Tim should preach the word (MVP in 2a)...

...is BECAUSE Jesus is coming back to judge (you and them).

B. v2a Preach the word! =MVP

C. v2b The MANNER of Preaching is in season and out of season.

(whether it seems appropriate-they want to hear it, or not.)

D. v3c The MEANS of Preaching is

...to convince, rebuke, exhort, with all patience and teaching.

E. vv3-4 The REASON you need the above means and manner...

...is BECAUSE they won't want to hear it.

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine/teaching, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers (who tell them what they want to hear) rather than Truth); 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

Now you can summarize and tie it back.

III. The RESULT of Scriptures being given to bring lives into conformity with God's will...

...is that Timothy should work the Word into people's lives, in the light of the future judgment, even if they oppose his efforts.

You might notice that the complement changes slightly as we uncover more and more of the author's thought. You will eventually develop the skill of re-working your outlines to reflect the author's upcoming thoughts, as well as what he's already written, because your job is to enter into his brain, and that's what you'll find thre.

Speaking of entering into brains, that brings us to:

APPLICATION, the second to last step of Bible Study is to apply the Truth. How would you apply it?

1. The most obvious take-away is to look at the Scriptures to see how they reveal:

- the path/actions God wants us to take;

- where we might be off the path (including: destination, ambition, attitudes);

- how to get back on the path (first understanding why we got off);

- how to make sure we stay on the path when we are tempted to quit.

Scan the SUPPLEMENT of all the things the Word of God does in our lives and purpose/plan to spend time every day in His Word. Make having a Quiet Time (see second Supplement) and doing Bible Study a priority.

3. Come up with a minimum standard for your time in God's word. Remember that Worship is a Response to Revelation. If you're not seeing God Reveal Himself and His will in His Word, they you'll have difficulty Responding to it. If you understand the Revelation and fail to make the appropriate Response then you are failing to Worship. He is WORTHY of the best hear, mind, soul, and strength you can make.

4. How else could you experience the benefits of Learning and Living the Truth?

The LAST STEP, after learning and living the Truth is to love others with it, by passing along the skill you've just developed. This is particularly applicable once you understand this passage in it's context.

What's wrong with this excerpt from a Bible Dictionary (on Biblos)?

“...2 Tim 3:17, stressing the end-impact of Scripture on the receptive believer. Indeed the Bible thoroughly fits ("furnishes") each believer to live in full communion with God.” While it sound nice and Biblical, it is not true to the text. Clearly if the author understood context, he would see that the point of Paul's instruction to Timothy is so that Timothy would use the Word in the lives of others! The moral of the story is that you need to evaluate everything in light of the context.

SUPPLEMENTS:

What the Word of God does for us.

TOYL QT

RESOURCES:

If you want more help on understanding inspiration and inerrancy, check out the on Bibliology Outline: What the Scriptures say about the Scriptures” on Truthbase.net.

7 PASSAGES #3

Your Relationship with God the Father in Prayer

Philippians 4:6-7

6a Be anxious for nothing,

6b but in everything

6c by prayer and supplication,

6d …..with thanksgiving,

6e let your requests be made known to God;

7a and the peace of God,

7b which surpasses all understanding,

7c will guard your hearts and minds

7d in/through ev Christ Jesus.

8a Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report,

If there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy

8b meditate on these things.

9a The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me,

9b these do/practice,

9b and the God of peace will be with you.

Significant Observations

6a Be anxious is an Imperative or a Command, usually a MVP, parallel to 6d

for nothing modifies the imperative, indicating the Thing for Which we should be anxious, which is “nothing”. Flip the statement around into: Don't be anxious for anything = MVP

Lexical: Looking up the other NT uses of this word (by clicking on the Strong's number and then putting that number in the search bar of the Online Bible or other program), one finds that the majority of the usages relate to worrying about or focus on temporal things, like Jesus mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount. Many of those items are outside our control (which is why we worry in the first place), and really should be on God's ToDo list. Like Martha, we can't be focused on Christ (as Mary was), when we are overly concerned about stuff that won't last the week, much less eternity.

You could break down your outline into:

6a (Summary of 6a-1&2) The Thing about which Believers should be anxious is nothing

6a-1 Be anxious = VP

6a-2 The Thing about which Believers should be anxious is nothing

But, doing so doesn't tell you anything beneficial, or deepen your understanding of the passage. Sometimes it is helpful to break a clause down into its smallest parts, especially when the meaning isn't intuitively obvious, or you what to emphasize what the author emphasizes (the key to correctly understanding the Scriptures, i.e., emphasizing what God emphasizes). Verse 8a below has lots of parts, but giving each a separate outline point doesn't add any additional insight, so they'll be summarized in a block.

Truthbase Tip: If you hunt around on Truthbase.net you can find some sermons and studies on the topic of Anxiety and other destructive emotions. An emotion is a filtered response to a filtered perception. Change your filters, and life is good.

6b but a coordinating contrastive conjunction alla, indicating the following clause is parallel but the opposite of the previous clause. So you'll have two MVPs of equal weight, telling us what not to do, and what we should do instead.

Mini-Application: If we fail to control our emotional anxious response, according to MVP#1, we'll have trouble obeying MVP#2, because we'll be emotionally short-circuited. An understanding of God's love, power, and purposes, will help us view the rolling sea billows* from His perspective, as will the instructions in vv8-9. *See lyrics to “It Is Well With My Soul”.

in everything this contrasts with the “nothing” of 6a, indicating Sphere or Things about/in which we should make our requests. In every circumstance or situation with can cause anxiety, or in whatever concerns us, we are invited (actually commanded) to ask God for help.

6c by prayer and supplication, these are two nouns sometimes used as synonyms for communicating with God. They modify MVP#2 describing HOW to make the requests, indicating the MEANS.

Lexical: Clicking on the Strong's numbers for them in the Online Bible will bring up an entry 5883, which tries to distinguish between the synonyms. “Prayer” is usually more of a devotional expression of dependence on God, while “supplication” is more an expression of a need.

Tip: Meditating on the differences and looking up the various contexts in which these words occur (putting the appropriate Strong's number in the search bar of the OLB, or clicking the number and then the search function will bring up all the occurrences. To go the extra mile, do the same for the verb forms of the words, which you find by clicking on the number in OLB following “From”, ie the word from which the noun is derived.)

6d with thanksgiving This noun is introduced by the preposition meta translated “with” and is not just a third means of making requests, but either modifies the means, or the MVP#2 indicating the MANNER of praying and supplicating, or the MANNER of making request. If the former, the focus would be on expressing thanks that one can pray and make requests; if the latter the focus would be more on thanking God for the situation engendering the prayer, or for hearing and whatever answer He provides.

Mini-Application: Why would anyone thank God for a situation that causes potential anxiety, clearly not to our liking? If we understand that God works all things together for our good, (as Romans 8:29 states, and that trials and difficulties are means of bringing us into a place of greater blessing (as 1Peter 1, James 1, and Romans 5 teach), then our response should be: “Bring it on!” If we understand that independence is the essence of sin, and that difficulties make us more dependent upon God's grace, and deepen our intimacy with Him, weaning us from needing temporal things and circumstances as our source of joy (as the context of Philippians tells us), then difficulties are things for which we should be thankful. Praying for help in the midst of them is not only encouraged but commanded.

6e let your requests be made known to God This is the parallel MVP to 6a. The One To Whom we should make our requests known is God. Not that it doesn't say badger God, or plead with Him, or bargain, or bribe Him, but rather the simple sharing of information from our perspective. Nor does it make mention of any intercessor. See the Theological Discourse below.

Lexical: The word for requests shows up only three times in the NT as a noun. (You could have found that out by clicking the Strong's number for the word and then put that number in the search bar. If nothing shows up make sure the version is set to KJV+Strong's numbers, and that you're searching the entire Bible or NT.) The verb form shows up 71 times. Looking at the two other times the noun is used:

Luke 23:24 of the crowd requesting Pilate to release Barabbas and crucify Jesus, and 1John 5:14 which is worth noting: “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” 1Jn 5 is a similar context and introduces the concept of conditions for answered prayer (see “Biblical Survey of Prayer” for more) and the confidence we can have in asking God.

Theological Discourse: Matthew 6:8 says God already knows what we need before we ask, so why should we make known to Him what He already knows? That question might be answered in your discussion of the passage (or later in the resource materials), but suffice it to say that Paul doesn't qualify the command to the Philippians, who in all probability didn't have a copy of Matthew's gospel yet. So the command as written needs to be followed. Perhaps we need to know that He knows?

Interpretative Tip: Although you don't want to jump to other passages of Scripture to understand the one your studying, it is legitimate to check your understanding against other Scriptures dealing with the same theme (and ideally by the same author), after you've arrived at an a tentative conclusion for the meaning of the passage you're studying. Since Phil 4:6e states our request should be made known directly to God, is that view borne out in other passages? Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

7a and This little Greek word kai is most frequently used as a coordinating conjunction, but sometimes (as in Acts 1:8) is used to continue the idea introduced by the previous verbal proposition, and bring it to a conclusion. You can only tell the difference by the context. Is Paul saying two coordinate ideas or does the second continue and complete the first? If the former, Paul is commanding them to not be anxious but pray, and then almost random stating that God's peace will guard them. If the latter, Paul commands them not to be anxious but to pray, and then indicates the consequence or result of that praying, God's peace will guard them. This latter view makes a lot of sense, the former doesn't. So the kai of 7a introduces the RESULT of obeying verse 6. When you tie verses 6 and 7 together, your outline will be something like:

The RESULT of doing “verse 6-the Subject” is that you get “verse 7-the Complement”.

the peace of God, This phrase is the subject of the MVP, but separated from it by a qualifying relative clause. It indicates the THING WHICH will do the action of the MVP in this verse. The noun “peace” is modified by “of God” which is in the Genitive Case. The Genitive Case (identified by how they spell the end of the word in Greek, called “case ending”) is primarily used to indicate Possession or Source. So you have to decide is Paul talking about the peace which belongs to God, or comes from God (which are really quite similar, and usually mean the same to most people). Or you might decide to dig a little deeper and consider and eliminate the dozen or so other meanings of the Genitive case, but there are more profitable things to explore.

LEXICAL: Peace is far more than just calmness and contentment. It is, among other things, a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and something we should chase after (Romans 14:19; 2Timothy 2:22), a is also a blessing/reward from God (Numbers 25:12!!!!). Your job is to figure out which of the possible meaning is intended by the author. The following excerpt from Thayer's Lexicon (via the Online Bible) gives most of the possible meanings, some of which are a little more interpretative than others (which might be perfectly legitimate in some passages).

1515 ειρηνη eirene i-ray’-nay probably from a primary verb eiro (to join); TDNT-2:400,207; n f

AV-peace 89, one 1, rest 1, quietness 1; 92 (this is the number of times in the NT and how KJV translates it).

1) a state of national tranquillity 1a) exemption from the rage and havoc of war

2) peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord

3) security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous)

4) of the Messiah’s peace 4a) the way that leads to peace (salvation)

5) of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is

6) the blessed state of devout and upright men after death

7b which surpasses all understanding This relative clause (introduced by a relative pronoun) modifies peace, rather than God, since the pronoun and peace are feminine gender, and God is masculine. It gives us descriptive characteristics of the peace of God, indicating The MANNER of the peace.

Lexical: “surpasses” means to go beyond, above, and by extension, to be superior to. “Understanding” is the basic word for “mind” translated understanding in a handful of passages. Put the two together to come up with your own translation or understanding of the passage.

7c will guard This verb in the future tense, describes something that will happen, and serves as the MVP of the verse.

Lexical: “guard” comes from a word that means “to stare at”, as at a prisoner, to make sure he doesn't get out of control. You need to figure out how the peace actually guards your heart and mind.

your hearts and minds These are the objects of the verb “will guard”. THINGS WHICH the peace of God will guard are believers' hearts and minds.

Lexical: The “heart”, in Hebrew thought, was where people made their decisions, and exercised their will. Heart in Greek (and English) usage sometimes emphasizes the emotional aspect of our being (an important aspect when anxiety is concerned).

7c uses a slightly different form of the word for “mind” than in 7b. Here the emphasis is on

a little more on the reasoning than the perceiving. Of interest is that the five other uses of this word in the NT are clearly in demonic contexts, of Satan blinding or deceiving people. You might paraphrase this phrase as “God's peace keeps our decisions and thinking” in the right place (which might be described in the next phrase).

7d in/through ev Christ Jesus This prepositional phrase modifies either “guard” indicating the Means by Which the guarding occurs; or it could indicate the Place Where or Sphere in which our hearts and minds are guarded. If it were Means, that would suggest that Jesus is doing the guarding, using His shepherd's staff to keep away wolves, and keep us close to Him. Unfortunately, as nice as that sounds, it is the “peace of God” that is doing the guarding. So, that leads us to conclude that “ev Christ” is more like the spot or location, or Sphere where we (and our thinking and decisions) are kept, i.e., in union with Christ. Christ is the Greek word or anoint, which emphasizes His role as Messiah (which is the Hebrew word for annointed), and Head of the Church. Jesus comes from the Hebrew word of save, stressing His role as Savior. Put them together and what to you have?

Theological Discourse and Mini-Application: “ev Christ” occurs about 77 times in the NT, and doesn't mean the same thing everywhere it shows up. Some people try to assert that it is a technical term for being a Christian. It might mean that in some verse, but such a meaning would be meaningless here. frequently means “in union with Christ” and that is usually the first “meaning” you should test against the context of the verse if you don't have any other clues. “In union” could encompass simply being a Christian, but more frequently has the connotation of an abiding fellowship, walking through life hand in hand with Christ. Such bliss is something available to all believers, but many forfeit it by living independently of God, or running away from Him, or being overwhelmed by circumstances rather than overwhelmed by the greatness of our Almighty Shepherd King.

But wait; there's more! You were only supposed to outline verses 6 and 7, but there is a little gem waiting in the next two verses. You'll profit from looking up the hidden treasures of the things we're supposed to focus are thinking on in verse 8, but the ruby is in verse 9. See if you can find it by just looking at the text above.

Spoiler Alert! If you haven't taken a look on your own above, you're not on your way to becoming a Sherlockesque Sleuth for the Truth, but are relegating yourself to the realm of perpetual Watsonhood.

Sherlock would have notice the word and concepts mentioned above that is repeated below.

8a Finally This word has multiple possible translations, ranging from a conclusive “Therefore” to a Post Script “Oh yeah, don't forget...” If “therefore” it would introduce a Result. If “PS” it would probably be a Manner, as in the Manner in which Believers should live is...

brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report,

if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy

This impressive list of things to meditate or think about serve as the subject of the verb in the last part of the verse. The One who should meditate are believers, and the Things which they should meditate on need to be distilled into their essence for your summary statement. You'll gain much from doing that, but it goes beyond the intent of this stage of study, and (in all likelihood) beyond your current skill level. Suffice it to say that this list is in contradiction to the stuff worry-worts and anxious Annies think about and dwell on.

8b meditate on these things This is the verbal proposition of the verse, another imperative or command. Believers are commanded to focus their attention on the things of eternal significance rather than the eternally insignificant trivialities which Satan and his minions will try to get us anxious about.

Mini-application: By the way meditation is thinking through implications for applications. Joshua 1:8

Extra Credit: You could take the item listed in verse 8 and see if you can find them in the Letter to the Philippians. If Paul didn't mention or allude to them, why does he come up with this list now and not explain it?

9a The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me,

The things learned, accepted, heard and seen, i.e., Paul's ministry to them, serve as the subject of 9b. Paul practiced what he preached, serving as his own visual aid.

Textual Consideration: In most versions/translations the verse is not introduced by a conjunction. Such a grammatical construction (actually it looks like a non-construction, but has its own Greek name, given by geeky grammarians: asyndeton, meaning “without connection”), in which the connection was deliberately omitted, serves to emphasize the point. Strangely, all the Greek texts have a kai at the beginning of the verse, linking it (either as a continuation or a conclusion) with verse 8. For some reason the translators didn't like it. We'll use it to link verse 9 to verse 8 when we summarize things.

9b these do This is the verbal proposition of the verse. Just do it. Actually the word is more precisely “practice”, which focuses on the process of continual performance. Just do it (and don't stop). It should go without saying that Paul and the Holy Spirit expected believers to be able to comply with these instructions.

9c and This is another use of kai as a concluding conjunction, introducing the effect of the preceding cause (RESULT), rather than another coordinate proposition. It's either “Do 9a and you get 9c as a consequence or effect” or “Do 9a and, by the way 9c randomly occurs.”

the God of peace will be with you. Observe the parallel structure to the above verses. Imperatives or instruction about what to do, followed by a promise in the future tense. Note also the comparison and contrast between “peace of God” and “God of peace.” So what's the difference?

Grammar Geek Goodie: In both 7a and 9c the “of” is the translator's rendering of the Genitive Case. In verse 7 it made sense that the peace which guards our hearts and minds is sourced in or based in God. He possesses it (root idea of the Genitive), and therefore it comes from Him. Grammarians also classify uses of the Genitive as Attributive-Descriptive which describe, characterize, or attribute qualities to the noun it modifies. Since God is the source of all peace, He can be characterized as the God of peace, a phrase used occasionally in benedictions in the NT (which you can find by entering the phase in a search bar). Just like Mars was the god of war, our God is the God of peace.

Mini-Application: So if you've got God, you've got peace. And the converse would be true. Which would your rather have, the peace of God or a piece of God, (God Himself)? It seems that the superior guard would be the Almighty Omnipotent Creator who can make or do anything, as well as be a great Companion in anxious times. In fact, in His presence, it would be hard to be anxious.

Application: So what does Philippians 4 say is the key to getting the God of peace? Do you need some sort of plan to make it a reality in your life?

(Hint: The key is not praying “God be with us” which is one of the top three requests at prayer meetings. How can an Omnipresent Being not be present?)

CONGRATULATIONS! You made it through the OBSERVATION phase and are now up to doing your outline. Do your own first if you can, then, compare it. There are two outlines below. The first you should be able to get on your own. The second will take a little study because the nomenclature (numbering system should be numberclature) is new to you, but it is ultimately what you'll want to use because it is so helpful. Trust me.

START with identifying the MVP's in 6a and 6e, then tie in modifiers. If you have a wordy MVP, try using just the initials to both save space and keep yourself focused on the Subject-Complement format.

START#1 6a Believers should not anxious for anything =MVP#1

6b The THINGS about WHICH Believers should pray (BSLTRK) is everything (that makes them anxious)

6c The MEANS by which BSLTRK is by prayer and supplication

6d The MANNER in which BSLTRK with thanksgiving,

START#2 6e Believers should let their requests be made known (BSLTRK) to God =MVP#2

7a The THING WHICH will guard believer's hearts and minds is the peace of God

7b The MANNER of God's peace is that it surpasses all understanding,

START#3 7c Something will guard believer's hearts and minds =MVP

7d The SPHERE in which God's peace guards believers' hearts and minds is in Christ Jesus

OR The Means by which God's peace guards believers hearts and minds is by Christ Jesus.

8a The THINGS ON WHICH Believers should meditate are things of eternal value

(what's true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtuous and praiseworthy)

START#4 8b Somebody should meditate on something =VP

9a The THINGS WHICH Believers should practice...

...are the what they learned, received, heard and saw in Paul.

START#5 8b These do/practice/perform=VP

9b The RESULT of practicing what Paul preached is that the God of peace will be with them.

If you got anything resembling the above, you have made great progress! You've gone from Lestrade to Watson. To get to wear the Deer Stalker (that's Sherlock's cranium cover) you need to learn to summarize and synthesize your findings. It's not just about wearing a funny hat, it is the essence of tracing an author's thought through a passage, and thus the basis of accurate Interpretation, and Application. So here's the refined outline:

NOTE: A. B. C. D. etc are summaries of the points beneath them. If you have a summary point, there must be at least two points that it summaries (not one). I've split 6a into two points, to show you more detail and emphasize the parallelism, but you could just have it as A1. Note that the summary in A1 is the same as A1a.

A. v6a-e The Things for which Believers should not be anxious but instead pray about is all things.

A1. v6a The THINGS FOR WHICH Believers should be anxious is nothing.

A1a. v6a-1 The THINGS FOR WHICH Believers should not be anxious is anything.

A1b. v6a-2 Believers should not anxious =MVP#1

A2. vv6b-e The THINGS FOR WHICH Believers should pray with thanksgiving is everything.

A2a. v6b The THINGS about WHICH Believers should pray (BSLTRK) is everything

A2b. v6c The MEANS by which BSLTRK is by prayer and supplication

A2c. v6d The MANNER in which BSLTRK with thanksgiving,

A2d. v6e Believers should let their requests be made known (BSLTRK) to God =MVP#2

EXPLANATION: You might observe some interplay with all things, nothing, everything; it's just play.

You could have summarized verse 6 emphasizing the means and manner of praying. The structure of comparison and contrast led to the above. If you had: Don't be anxious but pray, as the summary, you're correctly concise. Note that in A2a-c everything modifies the MVP. Sometimes outline points will modify each other, especially the one immediately before it.

B. v7a-d The RESULT of not being anxious by praying is THAT...God's peace will keep keep believers' thinking, feelings and decisions aligned with Christ's will.

B1. v7a The THING WHICH will guard believer's hearts and minds is the peace of God

B2. v7b The MANNER of God's peace is that it surpasses all understanding,

B3. v7c Something will guard believer's hearts and minds

B4. v7d The SPHERE in which God's peace guards believers' hearts and minds is in Christ Jesus

EXPLANATION: The summary statement in B gets its SUBJECT from verse 6, and the COMPLEMENT from verse 7. The Observation made in 7a (way up above) was that the kai joined the two verses indicating cause (v6) and effect (v7), so we use Result. The whole thinking, feeling, decisions aligned with Christ's will is interpretative, but probably isn't that far off the mark. But it it makes you stress, you could have stuck with the text: guard believer's hearts and minds in Christ. Shorter, but not as sweet and applicable. It's your outline, and life.

The next decision you have to make is whether to have verse 8 and verse 9 as separate outline points (C and D); or combine v8 and v9 into one point C. and then tie it back to B. or even A; or have C v8 modify B, and D v9 modify C. If you don't follow this don't despair. You'll eventually get it.

The easiest thing to do is make them separate, and tie them together with the previous verses on a list: A. v6 Don't be anxious B. v7 Pray C. v8 Meditate D. v9 Do. Which would be summed up as

I. vv 6-9 The Manner in which Christians should live is....in not being anxious, praying, meditating on the eternal and doing what Paul taught. (Elementary, but we want to at least get to the high school level.)

However, because of the comparison of the “peace of God”/”God of peace”, and connection between meditation v8 and application v9, it's worth giving the gray cells a little more workout, and trying to decipher a deeper structure in Paul's thinking.

A. Paul tells us not to be anxious, but doesn't elaborate on how not to be anxious.

B. He then says to pray, and elaborates on it, giving the means and result.

C. Might be telling us the means of not being anxious (A)

D. Might be giving us the result of doing the means. (C) Hmmmmm.....

Let's try linking B and C.

The Nuance would be RESULT (possible meaning of “finally” see Lexical under 8a)

The Subject would be the Complement of B. = God's peace guards believers in Christ

The Complement would be the Summary: believers should meditate are things of eternal value

Possible C. The Result of God's peace guarding praying believers is that believers should meditate on things of eternal value (rather than be anxious).

This makes some sense. Since we've prayed and asked God for help, we don't need to keep thinking about it, but instead can trust Him to take care of it and think about more profitable things.

What about verse 9? Although most translators made it a separate point by ignoring the kai, and in their defense verse 9 does conclude the main teaching of the letter. So lets link it back to verse 8 (after the tip).

Extra Tip: What follows in the end of the chapter is a return to his theme in chaper 1, thanks for the gift guys. If you want to look a little deeper, you can also see that Paul illustrates the point of not being anxious with his own life (he's actually been using his life as an illustration throughout the letter, as well as Christ, Timothy and Epaphroditus). Check out the secrets of contentment in 4:13 and 19/

C. 8-9 The Result of something up above is the summary of what's below. (see further down)

C1. v8 The Things on which Believers should meditate are things of eternal value

C1a. v8a The THINGS ON WHICH Believers should meditate are things of eternal value

C1b. v8b Somebody should meditate on something =VP

C2. v9a-b The Things which Believers should practice are what Paul preached

C2a. v9a The THINGS WHICH Believers should practice are what Paul preached

C2b. v9b These do/practice/perform=VP

C3. 9c The RESULT of meditating on the eternal and practicing what Paul preached is that the God of peace will be with Believers.

EXPLANATION: Since C1 (v8) and C2 (v9a-b) are joined by kai, usually a coordinating conjunction, the high probability bet is to see if they make sense being coordinate. Just to be on the safe side, you could check to see if they are sequential, C2 being the effect or result of C1. That doesn't sound as good, although you can see how meditating on the eternal should lead to practical obedience. However, Paul gave us a new subject for what to actually practice, namely the things he taught and modeled (which would include most of what is in verse 8).

So now we have two parallel things to do, and the result of doing them. You could just tie C3 back to C2, but C1 would be lonely.

The summary statement “C” will reflect the emphasis of C as the complement of B. So we start with the last part of B as the Subject, and then add the Complement. The Nuance comes from “finally” as mentioned above. Another hint in choosing Result as the link between B and C, is that this is the end of the section, so we're looking for a conclusion.

C. 8-9 The RESULT of God's peace guarding praying believers is THAT believers who meditate on the eternal and put belief into practice experience the presence of the God of peace.

This might not be the definitive summary statement of the section, but in has a few things going for it:

It does incorporate the key ideas from each verse. A is modified by B which is modified by C. It correctly links the Subject-Complement statements (although there might be better ways of doing it, they are not obvious). It follows the grammatical construction and usual meanings of words pretty closely. It matches up with what the rest of Scripture teaches (or at least doesn't contradict it). It is applicational, and would do wonders for a believer's life if actually applied.

Now all that remains of the outlining is to tie A, B, and C into a Roman Numeral. Actually this section is part of a bigger section, in chapter four (there's also being like-minded, and rejoicing), which is probably sub-section VIII, or IX of the book, but we'll just use “I.” for simplicity's sake.

I. 6-9 The Manner in which Believers stand fast in the Lord (as they await His return) is by praying and obeying and thus experiencing the peace and presence of God.

Speaking of APPLICATION, the second to last step is to apply the Truth. How would you apply it?

1. An easy start is to make a list of things that make us anxious and tell God about it. Knowing He knows and remembering that He can do anything should start generating some peace.

2. Refusing to be anxious when things come up but developing the discipline to pray would help.

3. Developing the habit of meditating on the items listed in verse 8 would reap huge benefits. That would mean coming up with a list of what is true, noble...praiseworthy. A journal where you note how God answers your prayer would give you things that are praiseworthy. You could even praise Him for them, privately, or better yet, tell some else.

4. How about the list of things in v9? You would have to know them before you can practice them, and in order to practice them, you'd have to have a plan.

The last step, after learning and living the Truth is to love others with it, by passing along the skill you've just developed.

SUPPLEMENTS:

Two excerpts from Truthbase: The first is from Jesus praying in the Garden and is really useful when you're facing extreme anxiety. It spells out the acrostic P R A Y. You can actually find each of these four points in Mark 14:31-42.

Pour Out your feelings honestly to God 1Pt 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Phil 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus

Recognize that God is able to change anything Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Jn 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you

Align your Will (thinking and feeling) with the Father's 1Jn 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Yield yourself to do God's will to the point of death. Rm 14:4 God is able to make him stand. 2Cor 9:8 God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Here's another outline excerpt from Truthbase that gives you the Stages of Prayer you should progress through as you mature in your walk with God.

For what should we Pray (express desire to God)? 1Tim 2:1 I urge...that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone {Adore Confess Thanksgiving Supplication}

A. Why? We need to, We ought to, We want to.

Promptings to Prayer: 1) Problems -Punish, Perfect, Profit; 2) Possibilities; 3) People

B. Stages of Prayer (See Biblical Survey of Prayer and TOYL Prayer List {Tools to Manage your Spiritual Life) on Truthbase.net)

1. Worthless words Mt 6:7 when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases...think that they will be heard for their many words. ESV

2. Wants & Needs– desires to dependence Phil 4:6 not anxious...but in everything by prayer and supplication,let your requests be made known to God

3. Worship (Response to Revelation)– thanksgiving to praise Ps 100:4 gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Thankful..bless

4. Will transformation Lk 22:42 Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."
TOYL Tools: Thanks, Adore, Confess, Renewal (Mind,Values,Acts), Affirmations-Victory, Needs-Priorities-Perspective, Others, Doxology

5. World change– others & world Eph 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints ---19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak Col 4:12 Epaphras...always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

A Week of Prayer SMTWTFS: Mate & Ministry; Thanks & Things; World & Workers; Those who believe; Family & Friends; Salvation & Set Free; Self & Seek God

6. WOW (glorification of God) 2Thess 1:12 that the name of our Lord..may be glorified in you, and you in Him, acc to the graceof our God and Lord

C. Answers Jer 33:3 Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. Yes/No/Wait/Better

RESOURCES:

If you want more help on understanding prayer, check out the Survey of Biblical Teaching on Prayer on Truthbase.net. It lists every important teaching on prayer, along with some practical tips.

Start reading the Psalms and note how David and others prayed.

Also on Truthbase.net

Check out the outline “Knowing God” the better you know Him the better the relationship and the better you can pray.

Become acquainted with “Barriers to Intimacy with God” if He seems a little distant.

If your prayers aren't being answered study the “Secret of Contentment”

The outlines on “Perception and Performance” and studies on Anxiety will help you renew your thinking and be transformed from the inside out.

There are Tools to Manage your Spiritual Life in TOYL, including a prayer list.

7 PASSAGES #5

2 Corinthians 5:9-10

Your Relationship with the Lord Jesus in LORDSHIP

1. What does it mean to call Jesus your Lord? Are all Christians pleasing to Christ? Can Jesus be your Savior and not your Lord?

Lk 6:46 why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?

2. Are there any consequences to not obeying Christ and living as a “carnal” (temporally focused) Christian? How does the justice of God figure in?

3. If the Great Omission, uhmm, Commission (Mt 28:19-20) is to “make disciples teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (NIV), how does obedience differ from legalism? How do you make a disciple?

4. What do you think of the lyrics: ”For the favor He shows and the joy He bestows are for those who Trust and Obey...there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to Trust and Obey”?

5. Who said: If you love me, keep my commandments? (Hint: John 14:15)

Your mission impossible is to study and outline 2 Corinthians 5:9-10

You can skip directly to doing the outline, but eventually you should come back to this section to sharpen your skills.

RECAP:

Unit 1: We're not saved/forgiven by our works, but to do works Eph 2:8-10

Unit 2: We are equipped to do good works by the Word of God 2Tim 3:16-17

Unit 3: We learn what God wants us to do by developing intimacy with Him through prayerful dependence and obedience Phil 4:6-10

Unit 4: We keep motivated to please God by wanting to hear the words: “Well DONE, good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of your Lord”

N.B. (Nota Bene=Note Well): We can't hear these words from Mt 25:21 unless we've DONE something well, been good, been faithful, and been a servant.

The STRUCTURE is fairly straightforward, and the major benefit will be from understanding the implications of the passage.

CONTEXT: You first want to understand a passage in its context (which in this case in 2Cor 4-5), and THEN see how it ties into the rest of the Bible. You learn the range of the context by observing the subject matter and flow of thought, as well as by discovering that words in our passage were used a little earlier in the letter.

In this unit, you'll go beyond the passage to reinforce the plain meaning of the passage by seeing what light is shed by other passages, talking about the same subject, and even using the same words. Problems (and inaccurate interpretations) arise when people use an oral tradition or verses out of context to undermine the obvious Truth of a passage. So build your understanding by studying the passages as if it was the only piece of Scripture in your possession. Of course the Corinthians had the First Corinthians and the prior chapters of Second Corinthians as context, as well as the preaching of Paul at Corinth (in Acts), and whatever other believers and teachers had shared about Jesus' teaching. We're going to toss in a verse from the end of the Bible, which the Corinthians didn't have access to, but which is the final Word on the subject (so maybe it's legitimate).

PURPOSE: A quick trick to figure out the purpose of a letter is to look at the “bookends”. These are similar subject matter repeated at the beginning and end of the book, which are reflected in the content of the book. Noting the things that the author prays for his audience also helps. Paul does spend some time defending his apostleship, but that is only so they will pay attention to him rather than false teachers. Paul wants the Corinthians to do well at the future judgment.

2Cor 1:6 (All difficulties) are for your encouragement and salvation 7 And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the encouragement.

2Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.* Examine yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is (abiding) in you?-- unless indeed you are disqualified (from His blessings). 7 Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable 9... And this also we pray, that you may be equipped/perfected** 11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Become equipped/perfected** Be of good encouragement, be of one mind (cf 1Cor 1:10) , live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

*not have faith, but walking in accordance with the faith

**used of nets being mended to go fishing; or restoring someone to useful service

PROCESS REVIEW: Start by using a lexicon, like Thayer's, which gives the range of possible meanings and insight into how the word was derived. Just bring up the Strong's numbers for the KJV text in the Online Bible or theWord, and click on the number to get the possible definitions. Pop the number into the search function to see how the word is used by Paul (and other authors) in other passages.

See 10minuteBible on YouTube for "Fun with Dick and Jane" which explains the basics of inductive Bible study.

OUTLINE:

9 Therefore

9a we make it our aim,

9b whether present or absent,

9c to be well pleasing to Him.

10 For

10a we must all appear

10b before the judgment seat of Christ,

10c that each one may receive

10d the things done in the body,

10e according to what he has done,

10f whether good or bad.

Significant Observations

FORM: a second letter from Paul to the Corinthians, motivating them, among other things, to persevere in the Truth (actually a lot of the letters have this theme).

RUNNING START: In this section, which really begins in chapter 4 Paul reveals part of his motivation for serving others when it gets difficult.

[See the supplement at the end of other passages giving motivations of those who glorify God.]

If you have time, read both chapters four and five a couple of times to get a feel for the context. Here's a key excerpt: note the inward-outward, temporal-eternal and at least two other contrasts.

2 Cor 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working/producing for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

QUIZ: What is outward, temporary, and seen? What is inward, eternal, and unseen?

Paul broadens the application to all believers in our verses. He holds himself up as a model for others as you saw in Philippians 4. As he wrote in Phil 3:14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind

This is a common theme which is frequently lacking from our understanding.

1 Cor 4:16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me. 11:1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. Hebrews 6:12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

STRUCTURE: Two verbs. They will be the basis of our verbal propositions.

9 Therefore Whenever you see this word, you should ask what is it “there for”? This is an inferential conjunction dio that draws an inference from what was said earlier. It gives the effect of the previous cause, therefore it will give us the NUANCE of RESULT when we tie things together.

9a we make it our aim "Ambition/goal/labor/strive” are various translations of the verb which occurs two other times in the NT.

It is an interesting compound of two words. Click on Strong's number in the Online Bible to get Thayer's definition: “#5389 φιλοτιμεομαι philotimeomai from a compound of 5384 (love) and 5092 (honor); v

1) to be fond of honor
1a) to be actuated by love of honour

1b) from a love of honor to strive to bring something to pass

2) to be ambitious 2a) to strive earnestly, make it one’s aim”

It will be our MVP for the verse. Notice it is plural, including the readers.

9b whether present or absent, Paul had already indicated, in 5:6 and 8, that this phrase (a benefit we get from reading the context) meant to live or die.

If you skipped the context (horrors!), you could have discovered your shame by popping the Strong's number into the search bar a pulled up the other two usages of the phrase just one and three verses earlier.

Literally it is two participles: being at home and being away from home.

This could answer the question WHERE (about the VP), but WHEN is a better choice since we are looking at the totality of the time of one's life, not merely the location.

9c to be well pleasing to Him. This is an infinitive, which can't serve as a verbal proposition (neither can the participles in 9b) but can actually function as a noun, giving us the object of our ambition. It answers the question WHAT about the focus of the ambition. It's interesting that the KJV translated it as “be accepted”. It is another compound of “well or good” and “pleasing”. It can be used of a slave pleasing his master in everything, but most often is used of believers being pleasing to God.

You could make “to Him” a separate outline point, “The One to Whom we are to be well pleasing is Christ”. But that's kinda obvious, and would have to be recombined to serve as the proper object of the Verbal Proposition. If breaking something down into smaller parts doesn't yield valuable information, then don't bother. There are more important things to do.

Mini-Application: It's hard to find someone who will say that pleasing Christ is a bad thing, but it is equally hard to find someone who can actually cite the Biblical methods of being pleasing in His sight. The end of Colossians 1 has few hints, as will the passage you study next time in Romans 12, in both verses one and two. Hebrews 13:21 tells us that this is something God is wants to make happen in our lives. 20 Now may the God of peace...21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

How pleasing are you to God? Why do you think that? What are you most ambitious about?

10 For This Greek word "gar" gives a reason for WHY we should strive to please Christ. We will connect verses 9 and 10 using the nuance REASON. Verse 9 will be the Subject and a summary of verse 10 will be the Complement. Simple.

10a we must all appear Literally “it is necessary to appear”, the VP for this verse. “Appear” is a basic word for “to make manifest” or have everything seen. “Before” in 10b emphasizes “being in the presence of”. Combined, they describe showing up in court to answer a summons It isn't optional; note the necessity “it is necessary to appear”. No one is immune from this process.

It should go without stating, that the ONES WHO must appear are “we all”.

It's almost worth an outline point to specify that believers are in view here.

10b before the judgment seat of Christ This answers the question WHERE about the Verbal Proposition. Both Greeks and Romans had a raised platform, called a “Bema” where a ruler sat to execute judgment, vindicate, reward or punish. The NT mentions the Bema 12 times, only two of which refer to Christ's Bema. Nine other times it refers to the secular seat, where Pilate condemned Christ (Jn 10:13) and Paul hoped to be vindicated (Acts 25:10).

Romans 14, the only other passage where Christ's Bema is mentioned echos the sentiments of our verse “8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." 12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”

This is a judgment of believers' works (not sins, Christ already paid for them) as shown in the rest of the passage, and the verses in the Supplement.

A passage Paul had written earlier to the Corinthians (3:8-15) would prevent any misunderstanding about the nature of this judgment. But most people jump right into the middle, ignoring everything else. So read and reap.

3:8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones*, wood, hay, straw,** 13 each one's work will become manifest***; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. *lots of effort hard to get

**easy, no effort expended ***same as our word in 2Cor 5:9

Notice the Corinthians would have understood that their salvation (forgiveness-justification) wasn't impacted by their works or lack thereof.

Jesus is quoted in the last chapter of the Bible reinforcing this judgment. Rev. 22:12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments...

10c that each one may receive Hina plus the subjunctive tells us that this clause answers the question WHY we must appear before the Bema, indicating PURPOSE. Note the change from “all” in 10a, to “each”. It's not extremely significant, but it's good to learn to observe even the smallest jot or tittle, because sometimes a detail determines destiny. Here the emphasis is on individual responsibility and judgment, rather than corporate.

“Receive” is in the Middle Voice. In the active voice, the subject does the action of the verb. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb. The middle voice is, somewhere in the middle: the subject participates in the giving and receiving of the action. The parent bathed the child; the child was bathed by the parent; the child bathed himself.

Grammar Geeks: Click on the parsing (second Strongs number) of the verb in the Online Bible), and then click again on #5785 and you'll find more about the middle voice. Nothing earth shattering.

Lexical Light: “Receive” has an number of meanings: from “care” to “carry”, in Koine (Common) Greek. Every time it is used in the NT, in the middle voice, it has the sense of receiving for oneself, as a consequence of ones actions. The best way to gain additional insight into which meaning Paul intended is to recall the context of 2Cor 4-5, where Paul is expecting to receive something back. The second best is to look how the word is used in the NT.

Eph 6:8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

Col 3:24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

Heb 10:35 do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

Heb 11:39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect (brought to completion) apart from us.

1Pt 1:9 receiving the end of your faith --- the salvation of your souls.

10 Of this salvation the prophets...prophesied of the grace that would come to you 13 gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ

1Pt 5:4 when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. [It's worth mastering 1Peter 1]

2Pt 2:3 will receive the wages of unrighteousness 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray [Context is believers if you study it]

Conclusion: It is clear that “receive” is used of pay-back, positive or negative, which is exactly what Paul goes on to say.

10d the things done in the body This is the only grammatical difficulty in the verses, but it's not that tough. “the things done” translate two Greek words. “The things” is the Greek word for “the” (definite article).

“Done” is the preposition dia.

Grammar Geeks: The same word, the definite article, shows up in a different case in front of “body,” where it's translated “the.” The Greeks assumed a noun to have an “a” in front of it, (the indefinite article) , as in “ a body” “any old body”. By using the definite article, the author specifies which body he's talking about, “the body” or “that body.”

[If course being Greek they had a special grammatical construction which omits the definite article when the really wan to say they have a specific item in mind. People have written doctoral dissertations on these things.]

It's a little easier to understand what's going on if you look at an interlinear. Don't freak. The first line is the Greek word, followed by the parsing (cheater code which gives you most of the info you would have had to memorize in years of agonizing Greek courses), then Strong's number. The second is the transliteration (Greek to English letters), followed by an English translation.

τα^t-apn <3588> δια <1223> του^t-gsn <3588> σωματος^n-gsn<4983>προς <4314> α ^R-apn<3739> επραξεν <4238>

ta “the things” dia “by means of” tou “the” somatos “body” pros α

Ta is APN=Accusative Case, Plural number, Neuter gender. The Accusative case usually serves as the direct object, which receives or completes the action of the verb, ie The THINGS WHICH one receives back.

Dia when used with the Genitive Case (which is the case ending for “body”) usually indicates MEANS, which is why most translators use some concept of “done by the Body”

Receive/recompensed “the/that” “by means of the body” “the” pros “he has done”

When in doubt, check out Bible Gateway or the parallel translations in Biblos to see how the pros translated things.

NASB each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body whether good or bad

NIV receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad

ESV may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

HCSB may be repaid for what he has done in the body whether good or bad

NET be paid back acc to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil

ISV receive what he deserves for what he has done in his body, whether good or worthless. NLT We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

BBE may get his reward (payback) for the things done in the body, good or bad.

So your outline will reflect the understanding that one is being recompensed, and the translators are generally in agreement that it is for things/deeds done in/by the body. You might notice they kinda a skipped and smoothed over some of the difficulties.

10e according to what he has done “According” is the preposition pros usually means “to” or “towards”, and by extension, indicates “with a view to”

“What” is a relative pronoun Accusative Plural Neuter, just like “the things”

“Done” is our word for practice or perform from Phil 4. It's a finite verb (not a participle nor infinitive) that serves as a Subordinate Verbal Proposition SVP.

10f whether good or bad. This phrase modifies either what is done or what is received. It ultimately doesn't make a difference, because if what is done is good, one receives good, and conversely. It answers the question WHAT about what? Or it could tell us the MANNER of something.

Theological Discourse: (You really don't need to know about what follows to follow and obey Christ; so skip it unless you have extra time.)

If you look at an interlinear or two, you might notice two different Greek words for “bad”. Κακος kakos #2556 usually meaning evil or absence of good, or φαυλος phaulos #5337 having the idea of worthless. Welcome to the esoteric world of textual criticism. Kakos is in the Majority Text, which represents 90% of the existing Greek texts (from which translations are made). The Majority or Byzantine text is the basis of the KJV and NKJV (although purists will argue that technically, the KJV is based on the single Textus Receptus). Phaulos is in the Minority text. Many modern versions like the NASB and NIV are based on the Westcott-Hort text composed from literally a handful of Greek texts that are older than the Majority texts (because they were found in a climate that better preserved them). You'll eventually reach your own conclusion as to which text type better reflects the flow of the author's argument, as you develop your exegetical outlining skill. You'll also conclude that many translators lack such skill. There is no significant doctrine of the Christian faith that is in doubt as a result of textual variants, so if you reach a conclusion that is consistent with the rest of Scripture, trust and obey it.

9 Therefore (we will tie this back into the context as a summary of the following)

9a Believers strive =MVP

9b The TIME WHEN Believers strive is whether they live or die

9c The THING for WHICH Believers strive is to be well pleasing to Christ.

EXPLANATION: 9a-c will be summarized to form the COMPLEMENT of the previous verse, and the SUBJECT of the following verse. 9S basically the summary. So, you'll have 9a-c The RESULT of (the idea above) is that Believers strive to be pleasing to Christ.

10 For - gives a reason for verse 9 {=the Subject} in the summary of what's below {=Complement}

10a Believers must all appear =VP

10b The PLACE WHERE Believer must appear...

...is BEFORE the judgment seat of Christ

10c- The PURPOSE of appearing before the judgment seat of Christ...

...is SO THAT each

EXPLANATION: We need to summarize 10c-f, so serve as the complement of 10b, answering the question of “WHY we must appear”. Then we will summarize all of verse 10 to answer the question of “WHY we should strive.”

10c Each one may receive/be recompensed =SVP

10d The Things things done by the body,

10e with a view toward/according to what he has done,

10f THE MANNER of either the things done or the things received (which essentially say the same thing) is good or bad.

phrases are going to complete or complement the concept(s) above them.

Mini-Application:

Structural note:

Progress Report: First, you want to understand what each means CHECK

then see if there is any relationship between/among them CHECK

finally try to link them back to the previous part of the verse OH, yeah...that...

SPHERE: T

Lexical Light:

HINT:

Mini-Application:

Now try linking the phrases together ala The Dick and Jane Story, expressing the relationships in Subject-Complement form.

The NUANCE of the SUBJECT is the COMPLEMENT

START with ►#1 v16b, the MVP.

#2 TIE to MVP 16a All Scripture

►#1 START HERE 16b Something is God-breathed =MVP

9 Therefore

9a we make it our aim,

9b whether present or absent,

9c to be well pleasing to Him.

10 For

10a we must all appear

10b before the judgment seat of Christ,

10c that each one may receive

10d the things done in the body,

10e according to what he has done,

10f whether good or bad.

#2 Then move up to 16a and relate 16a to the MVP.

Since “all Scripture” answers the question WHAT about the MVP, the nuance is The THING WHICH.

#2 TIE TO MVP The THING WHICH is God-breathed is all Scripture

►#1 START HERE 16b Something is God-breathed =MVP

#3 SUMMARIZE 16a-b so 16c can modify them both, the full idea.

*It is OK that your summary is the same as 16a.)

#3 SUM 16a-b The THING Which is God-breathed is all Scripture

#2 TIE TO MVP 16a The THING Which is God-breathed is all Scripture

►#1 START 16b Something is God-breathed =MVP

#4 16c is the Complement of 16a-b, answering the question WHY, giving the RESULT of Scripture being inspired (is that it's profitable).

#4 TIE BACK 16c (to the Summarized Complement of 16a-b)

#5 TIE BACK 16d-g (to the Complement of 16c)

16d-g The SPHERES in which Scripture is profitable...

...are teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteous.

OR The THINGS for Which Scripture is profitable are...teaching, etc.

RECAP: Your outline should look something like this:

16a-b The THING Which is God-breathed is all Scripture

16a The THING Which is God-breathed is all Scripture

►16b Something is God-breathed =MVP

16c The RESULT of all Scripture being God-breathed...

... is that it is profitable

16d-g The SPHERES in which Scripture is profitable

...are teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteous.

Or 16d-g The THINGS for Which Scripture is profitable are...teaching, etc.

Follow the same process for verse 17, express each in Subject-Complement format and then tie back to verse 16 (or some part of verse 16).

17 “that” we know that this is hina, which when with the subjunctive gives purpose. So our summary statement of verse 17 will yield a complement which will be the PURPOSE of something in 16.

17a the man of God

►#1 START 17b Someone may be complete =VP

#2 17a WHO? The ONE WHO will be complete is the man of God

#1 17b Someone may be complete =VP

#3 SUM 17a-b The ONE WHO will be complete is the man of God

#2 17a The ONE WHO will be complete is the man of God

#1 17b Someone may be complete =VP

#4 TIE 17c back to 17a-b using MANNER since it answers the question HOW?

17c The MANNER in which he is complete is in being totally equipped

Why did the author write this to his original audience? What did he want them to do?

Why did the Holy Spirit include this passage in the NT? What does he expect us to do?

“I.” and if you need it, “II.” for simplicity's sake.

CONTEXT, CONTEXT, and CONTEXT are the three most important concepts in Bible Study. If you read earlier in the chapter you'll see that

This understanding of the passage provides your outline point II.

I. vv 14-15 The RESULT of people being deceived and deceiving...

...is THAT is that Timothy should continue in the Scriptures.

II. vv

ELABORATION: You'll notice that the synthesis drops out all the good stuff you just studied. So if you want to include it, you could say

ONE MORE POINT (the Two Extra Mile Club): You can tie in the following passage to validate your understanding of vv16-17.

Now you can summarize and tie it back.

III. The RESULT of Scriptures being given to bring lives into conformity with God's will...

...is that Timothy should work the Word into people's lives, in the light of the future judgment, even if they oppose his efforts.

Speaking of entering into brains, that brings us to:

APPLICATION, the second to last step of Bible Study is to apply the Truth. How would you apply it?

1. The most obvious take-away is to look at the Scriptures to see how they reveal:

What's wrong with this excerpt from a Bible Dictionary (on Biblos)?

Lord of ToDo list

Lord of Life Plan

Glorify Him

SUPPLEMENTS:

Lyrics for Trust and Obey

RESOURCES: Biblical Survey of Rewards

The Life God rewards; Prayer of Jabaz

ADD SECRETS OF THE VINE to prayer or Word

ADD SURVEY OF DISCIPLESHIP somewhere

ADD GOOD WORKS study to Word Supplement

The key ones to know about are: Rom 2:7; 2Cor 9:8; Col 1:10; Eph 2:8-10; 2Thess 2:17; 1Tim 2:10; 5:10; 2Tim 2:21 (same book); Titus 1:16; 3:1; Heb 13:21.

There is another word for “good” #2570, which will yield another sixteen verses, among which are: Mt 5:16*; 1Tim 3:1; 5:25; 6:18; Titus 2:7; 2:14*; 3:8; 3:14; Heb 10:24; Js 3:13; 1Pt 2:12.

If you want more help on understanding inspiration and inerrancy, check out the on Bibliology Outline: What the Scriptures say about the Scriptures” on Truthbase.net.

9 Therefore

9a we make it our aim,

9b whether present or absent,

9c to be well pleasing to Him.

10 For

10a we must all appear

10b before the judgment seat of Christ,

10c that each one may receive

10d the things done in the body,

10e according to what he has done,

10f whether good or bad.

9 Therefore

9a we make it our aim,

9b whether present or absent,

9c to be well pleasing to Him.

10 For

10a we must all appear

10b before the judgment seat of Christ,

10c that each one may receive

NASB each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body whether good or bad

NIV receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad

ESV may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

HCSB may be repaid for what he has done in the body whether good or bad

ISV receive what he deserves for what he has done in his body, whether good or worthless. NLT We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

BBE may get his reward for the things done in the body, good or bad.

10d the things done in the body,

10e according to what he has done,

10f whether good or bad.

The judgment of the believer's works, not sins, is in question here. These have been atoned for, and are "remembered no more forever" Heb 10:17 but every work must come into judgment, Mt 12:36 Rom 14:10 Gal 6:7 Eph 6:8 Col 3:24,25. The result is "reward" or "loss" (of the reward), "but he himself shall be saved" 1Cor 3:11-15.

This judgment occurs at the return of Christ Mt 16:27 Lk 14:14 1Cor 4:5 2Tim 4:8 Rev 22:12.

More Of The 7 Passages

For what should we Pray (express desire to God)? 1Tim 2:1 I urge...that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone {Adore Confess Thanksgiving Supplication}

Translate Daily Truthbase

Contact Us at Daily Truthbase