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In our verse by verse study of Romans last time we completed our Expanded Translation of Rom 4:18; "Who beyond hope of sexual prosperity believed in hope of fulfillment, in order that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which he had spoken, So your seed shall exist.
We noted that this verse explains that spiritual maturity is always challenged in the area of the reality of life. Reality is always challenged in life but especially to the believer who has attained maximum adjustment to God's justice.
The challenge to Abraham was what was more real to him Was his hopeless situation of sexual death more real or was the reality of God's veracity and integrity with God's righteousness as the principle and God's justice as the function more real to him.
Maximum doctrine resident in the soul makes the decision in favor of the reality of God's integrity more real than any hopeless situation.
Rom 4:19; "Without becoming weak in the faith." The verse starts with the connective conjunction "kai" (and) with the negative "mh" (not) that rejects the idea. In this case we have a negative result, so we have "mh" (not).
Then the aorist active participle of the verb "astheneo" (weak) this is an ingressive aorist tense with the negative "mh" (not) where the action viewed by the aorist is contemplated at its beginning.
The negative indicates that Abraham did not even begin to falter. He had made total adjustment to God's justice because he had maximum doctrine resident in his soul.
Mature Abraham had no doubts about God's integrity. "And not becoming weak." The active voice: Abraham produces the action of the verb: he had no doubts. The participle is circumstantial for the fact Abraham's reality was based on God's integrity.
God's justice and God's righteousness were more real to him than his adverse situation. Then comes the locative singular from "pistis" (faith) with the definite article "ho" (the) that is used as a demonstrative pronoun to emphasize the strength of Abraham's faith-rest function with maximum doctrine resident in his soul.
"Without becoming weak in the faith." Weakness would have been lack of doctrine. On the other hand, strength is maximum doctrine resident in Abraham's soul. Weakness is lack of doctrine; strength is maximum doctrine resident in the soul that establishes a mature relationship with God's integrity.
Abraham had attained maximum adjustment to God's justice. He had spiritual maturity that was consistent with his function under GASP. He was therefore focused on God's integrity.
Weakness and strength in the Christian life is measured in terms of having Bible doctrine resident in the soul or not. This means that our attitude toward doctrine is the issue. Lack of doctrine is weakness; perception of doctrine or possession of spirit taught doctrine is strength.
The more doctrine we have in our soul the closer our relationship with God's integrity and that relationship means freeing God's justice to provide direct blessing. The more doctrine we have in our souls the more we understand God, and the more honor and respect we have for God and His grace policy.
The more doctrine we have in our soul the greater becomes our capacity for life, for happiness, for blessing, and for love. The more doctrine we have in our soul the greater our cognition of God's integrity, and the greater our occupation with the person of Jesus Christ.
"he contemplated his own body now as good as dead" - the aorist active indicative from the verb "katanoeo" (careful thought or contemplation) means to notice, to observe, to look at with reflection, to consider, to contemplate something.
It means to focus on an object in order to completely understand it. A good translation is "he completely understood." The constantive aorist gathers into one entirety Abraham's concentration and comprehension of his hopeless situation.
Over a period of years he was completely aware of the fact that he had sexual death. The active voice: Abraham was completely aware of the fact that he was sexually dead because of his age.
He wasn't ignoring the problem, he was aware of the problem. The indicative mood is declarative regarding action from the viewpoint of reality. The accusative singular direct object of " heautou soma" (his body), had sexual death.
The possessive genitive singular from the reflexive pronoun "heautou" (his) indicates that it was his body that was the problem. Then the perfect passive participle from "nekroo" (dead) that in this case refers to sexual death.
The dramatic perfect is used to describe the fact in a vivid realistic way. It was something that started in the past and continues into the present. The perfect tense describes completed action emphasizing existing results. The passive voice: the subject, Abraham, receives the action of the verb. The participle is circumstantial, recognizing the historical fact of Abraham's sexual death because of his age.
"when he was about an hundred years old" the noun "hekatontaetes", (a hundred years old). He wasn't quite at his 100th birthday because of an enclitic adverb, "pou" (about or approximately) so we have "being approximately or about one hundred years old."
The word "being" is the present active participle of "hyparcho" (exist). The present tense is a pictorial present that describes Abraham's thinking in his status of sexual death.
"and the deadness of Sarah's womb;" Sarah had never been able to have children. Here is the adjunctive use of the conjunction "kai" (and) in this case the conjunction is used as an adverb that means also or likewise so we have "like wise he completely understood."
Then the word "nekros" (deadness) it is the accusative singular direct object that means death or deadness. It is used as a medical term for any part of the body that is atrophied.
Plus the possessive genitive singular from "metra" (womb). "Likewise he completely understood the deadness (barrenness) of Sarah's womb."
He had total cognizance without any negative emotional reaction including bitterness or frustration because he had maximum doctrine that established a mature relationship with God's integrity with the result that God's integrity and ability was more real to him than any inability.
Expanded Translation Rom 4:19; "And so, not becoming weak in the faith, he completely understood his own body which had become sexually dead when he was approximately one hundred years old; likewise he completely understood the barrenness of Sarah's womb."
Rom 4:20; yet with respect go the promise of God he did not waver. The preposition "eis" (into) goes with the accusative "ho" (the) is the accusative singular of the definite article that begins a prepositional phrase.
The postpositive conjunctive particle is "de" (but) is used as a transitional conjunction to insert an explanation so we have "de" (but) " that references the object "epaggelia" (promise).
"Promise" means that God's integrity has provided doctrinal information that is relevant to Abraham. God also has many promises for us today but these promises are only relevant to us when we have the pertinent doctrine resident and circulating in our thinking for recall and application.
Then comes the possessive genitive of the proper noun "Theos" (God). The promise belongs to God. Plus the verb that is aorist passive indicative of "diakrio" (doubt) "krino" means to judge; "diakrino" means to doubt or waver.
With the negative "me" (not) we see that "he did not waver." The aorist tense is a constantive aorist that gathers into one entirety Abraham's hopeless situation of sexual death, but in that impossible situation he continued to have perfect confidence in God.
He did not for a moment doubt God. The passive voice: Abraham received the action of the verb: no doubting, no wavering, no staggering in unbelief. The indicative mood is declarative; so it regards the action of the verb from the standpoint of historical reality.
The phrase "through unbelief" is the locative singular from "apistia" (in unbelief). Unbelief refers to failure to utilize faith-rest. Such failure results from sin nature control of the soul from ignorance or rejection of doctrine that result in the use of human solutions rather than God's solutions.
Spiritual weakness is lack of doctrine resident in the soul from the daily function of GASP. Spiritual weakness is the believer's life comes from lack of doctrine from spiritual malnutrition.
"but was strong" the adversative conjunction "alla" (but) is used to set up a contrast. He was not weak but he was strong. Plus the aorist passive indicative of "endunamoo" (strong), meaning to become strong (en = in; dunamasj = power). It means to receive energy, or to become empowered in the passive voice it means to receive power poured in. The power being poured in is Bible doctrine.
Our translation "he received dynamic capacity" or "he received power." The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views the function of GASP in its entirety but it emphasizes the existing results.
The passive voice: Abraham received the action of the verb; he was empowered by doctrine resident in his soul. The declarative indicative mood is for the reality of maturity adjustment to God's justice through the daily intake of God's Word.
This verse tells us that doctrine resident in the soul is the dynamic of the Christian life.
Without indwelling doctrine through the function of GASP there is no power, there is no fuel; there is no capacity to face adversity using God's power.
Maturity adjustment to God's justice is established through maximum doctrine resident in the soul.
"in faith" is not exactly correct because "pistis" (faith) has three categories of meaning. The passive sense that is used here refers to that which is believed or doctrine so it should be translated "by means of doctrine."
Here is the instrumental of the definite article "ho" (the) the article with the noun makes it monadic so it is used to represent a specific class, a group or category.
It refers to specific doctrine that is resident in the soul and separates it from everything else. In other words, when you have doctrine in your soul you are strong; if you lack that specific doctrine you are weak.
So the definite article puts a plus in front of "doctrine." The definite article isn't generally translated but it individualizes the entire realm of doctrine necessary for a specific individual to adjust to God's justice. Your application of the doctrine is unique to you.
The believer's spiritual power resides in "epignosis" (spirit taught doctrine) that is resident and circulating in his soul and his ability to relate that doctrine to experiences and circumstances of life under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
"giving glory to God" - the aorist active participle from the verb "didomi" (give). This is a culminative aorist, that views maturity adjustment to God's justice in its entirety but regards it from the viewpoint of existing results.
The existing result here is giving glory to God. Only maturity adjustment to God glorifies God during human history in time. There can be no maturity adjustment to God's justice apart from doctrine resident in the soul and therefore once again there is an emphasis on the importance of Bible doctrine.
The active voice: mature Abraham produces the action of the verb, glorifying God. Man can only glorify God through a mature relationship with God's integrity that comes from maximum adjustment to God's justice.