Class Notes: 6/30/2022

The book of Romans part 58, Rom 1:21;

https://youtu.be/kZI2MKryWVQ

In our verse by verse study of Romans last time we completed Rom 1:20 where we saw that no normal human being has any excuse for not believing in God we then went into the first phrase of verse 21 where God states that they did know Him but they had negative volition.

Where there is negative volition at the point of epignosis gospel the unbeliever goes into unbeliever reversionism that is heathenism. The participle is a temporal participle used for a temporal clause, plus the action preceding the participle occurs before the action of the main verb.

We then have the accusative singular direct object plus the definite article plus the proper noun "Theos" that is translated "God" so the first phrase is "Because even when they knew God."

This is a reference to having spirit taught understanding referred to as "epignosis" that requires a yes or a no answer resulting in either believing or unbelieving and In this case negative volition responds with a "no" so they reject the Gospel message and remain an unbeliever.

"They did not honor Him as God;" this phrase includes that main verb. There is an aorist active indicative of "docazo" plus the negative "ouk".

The aorist tense is a culminative aorist that views the process of the communication of the gospel in its entirety and regards it from the viewpoint of the existing results for the unbeliever that is negative volition toward God's communication of epignosis gospel information.

The word "docazo" means to honor: "they did not honor." The active voice indicates that the unbeliever has a clear understanding or "epignosis" regarding the gospel and has said no. The unbeliever produces the action of negativity that results in unbelief.

The indicative mood of the verb expresses the idea from the viewpoint of reality. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb, "because when they knew God they did not honor him." Therefore the unbeliever remains maladjusted to God's justice.

The KJV adds the pronoun "him" but there is no personal pronoun, it is an attempt to clarify the translation. If we were to add a word in the phrase instead of "him" a better insertion would insert the word "Christ;" "they did not honor Christ."

The reason for inserting this is because the relative adverb, "hos", that is used to introduce the characteristic quality of Jesus Christ is in the context. The relative adverb is translated "as."

Then the accusative singular direct object "Theos" translated "God." When a definite article used with the noun in this case it is emphasizing the unique identity of Jesus Christ. Usually the anarthrous construction emphasizes quality but the definite article used with this noun is emphasizing identity.

This time we do not have the definite article so we put it in sometimes to show the antithesis because "the God" is emphasizing quality. The phrase is the way of emphasizing that God has revealed himself to the unbeliever but they respond with negative volition when they hear the gospel so the unbeliever is personally responsible for their negative volition.

"or give thanks;" ingratitude is an expression of negative volition. This phrase starts with a disjunctive particle "h)" that connects negative functions and relates them. We can translate this "nor."

Then the aorist active indicative of "euxaristeo" that means to be obligated, to feel obligated, or to be thankful, or to give thanks. Translation: "nor did they feel obligated to thank him."

This is another culminative aorist that contemplates negative volition at gospel hearing in its entirety but views it from the existing results of total ingratitude. The active voice: the unbeliever produces ingratitude at the point of negative volition to the gospel.

The indicative mood is declarative representing the concept from the viewpoint of reality. The declarative is again the main verb for the antecedent action of the aorist participle.

Literally we have, "Because when they knew the God they did not honor Christ as God, nor did they feel obligated to thank him." No obligation, no appreciation, no capacity for life.

When unbelievers reject epignosis gospel they lose any possibility of a true capacity for life. They must always accept a substitute so a vacuum opens up in the soul and into it goes statanic evil viewpoint.

As a result all unbelievers end up going into blackout of the soul, hardness of the heart, and reverse process reversionism where their thinking becomes irrational and they regard good as evil and evil as good.

This is what has happened in the USA over the past 60 years. It is why the leftist democrats hate the freedom that comes from our constitutional republic and they lust for the tyranny that comes from a fascist statist socialist dictatorship.

In the name of bipartisanship the RINO''s deceive themselves into thinking that they can compromise with the leftist loonies but that is impossible because there is no "center" so anyone who comprises becomes a leftist looney.

"but" is the adversative conjunction, "alla," that sets up a contrast with what precedes. It is an emphatic use of the adversative conjunction, that indicates that the preceding clause is a definite fact and this is a result of what happens when there is negative volition at gospel hearing.

This is not the ordinary adversative so "but" does not work as a good translation. When we have the emphatic use of the adversative it should be translated "in fact." "As a result of negative volition" can be added so that you understand the intensive use and the emphatic use of the adversative conjunction.

"they became futile in their speculations;" the aorist passive indicative from the verb "mataios" that refers to a vacuum that opens up into the is left lobe of the unbeliever's soul that God's word calls the "kardia" that is translated "heart."

The vacuum sucks in evil demonic thinking so that evil demonic thinking becomes the frame of reference that becomes the attitude that is established in the thinking in their soul.

The unbeliever's negative volition toward "epignosis" gospel is the predicate for the vacuum. When a believer has negative volition toward Bible doctrine the same vacuum is created in the believer's soul.

The words "futile in their speculations" is literally, " worthless evil ideas."

The aorist tense of the verb is a gnomic aorist for a fact or a doctrine so fixed in its certainty or axiomatic in its character that it is described in the aorist just as though it were an actual occurrence.

This is a double Greek idiom that is translated with the present tense. The passive voice: negative volition of the unbeliever at the point of gospel hearing opens the vacuum to the soul that sucks worthless or evil concepts into the soul.

In other words, the negative unbeliever receives the action of the verb. The declarative indicative is for a dogmatic statement of fact from doctrine regarding unbeliever reversionism.

This dogmatic statement is necessary to understand what follows. The phrase "in their speculations" is literally, "in their evil deliberations" or "in their evil rationalizations."

Next wee have a prepositional phrase that refers to the doctrine of evil. It is "en" plus the locative plural of "dialogisms" for rationalizations.

Polibius and Demosthenes used this word for deliberation in thought and for concepts of thinking. But by the second century BC it was used for judicial investigations and decisions. Eventually in the New Testament it came to be used primarily for evil thinking or evil thoughts. ."

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