https://youtu.be/Jk2CMWtL8Ck
In our verse-by-verse study of Romans last time we started Rom 4:21; that describes the mature believer's cognizance of the reality of God's integrity.
"And being fully assured" the connective use of the conjunction "kai" (and), plus the aorist passive participle of the verb "plhrophoreo" (fully), often used as a synonym for "plhroeo" (to bear or to carry something that is full).
It means to bring to fullness, to fill completely. In the passive voice it means to be completely filled, to achieve complete certainty or to be fully convinced. It is talking about the greatest principle in life that is characteristic of the mature believer: complete and total confident expectation.
"And having been fully convinced" or "possessing total confidence." The constantive aorist contemplates Abraham's function of faith-rest in its entirety in spiritual maturity. Abraham has total confidence from his maximum relationship with God's integrity that is gathered up into a single entirety.
The passive voice: Abraham received the action of the verb, confidence from maximum doctrine resident in the soul. The participle is circumstantial, it not only occurs in the case of Abraham but in the case of any person at any time in history who advances to spiritual maturity.
"that what he had promised" the conjunction "hoti" (that), included after verbs of mental activity. The activity that glorifies God and he takes cognizance of it is mental activity. Not overt productivity but mental activity.
The dynamics of life are centered in one's mental attitude not overt function. Thought and decision lead to action so overt function is the implementation of mental attitude.
Then comes the nominative neuter singular from the relative pronoun "hos" (what) with the perfect middle indicative of the verb "epaggellomia" (promised).
In this case it is a reference to the specific promise, the promise regarding Abraham's sexual prosperity. This is an iterative perfect that describes a promise that was made at intervals rather than continuously. In other words, a mature believer or a person who is advancing in doctrine doesn't have to be continuously reminded of the promise because he remembers.
Only when the person is insecure is there a continuous demand for reassurance. Abraham is confident so he is not insecure. The indirect middle voice describes the agent, God, who produces the action from His integrity. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of fact.
The middle voice has a reflexive connotation so it can be translated "that what he himself had promised." NASB and the NET translate it as "God" instead of "he himself." Net note 40
This is a reference to the promise of blessing from God's justice. All promises from God originate His justice because justice is the functional part of God's integrity.
"He was able also to perform" dunatos estin." The adjective "dunatos" (able) comes before the verb"eimi" (he is).
There is a catch in the phrase "God is able." He is able but if you do not have doctrine resident and functional in your soul you limit the function of God's justice for blessing you.
If you are not filled with the Spirit and functioning under the PMA of doctrine the only thing that can come to you directly from God is discipline. Here we have the present active indicative of "eimi" (he is). The present tense is a static present for a condition that is assumed to be perpetual.
God's justice always has ability and power to do what God's righteousness demands. The active voice: God's justice produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of reality.
Next is the conjunction "kai" (and), plus the nominative singular predicate adjective from "dunatos" (abile or power) that emphasizes God's ability and Abraham's cognizance of God's ability.
Plus the aorist active infinitive from "poieo" (perform, work or do) that means to accomplish "he is also able to accomplish." This is a gnomic aorist that describes an axiomatic reality.
The active voice: God produces the action from His justice. The infinitive is the infinitive of actual result of having maturity adjustment to God's justice.
Expanded Translation: Rom 4:21; "And having been fully convinced that what he himself (God) had promised he is able also to accomplish."
Spiritual maturity is the cognitive status of total confidence in God's integrity not confidence in any human system of security or blessing of life. This means that spiritual maturity is the state of true security. The only real security in life comes from confidence in God from metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness.
Maturity adjustment to God's justice is a place of spiritual power first in thought, then in happiness, then in blessing, then in confidence, and finally in production.
Maturity is the status of finding greater reality in God's integrity than in any of the adversities and sufferings of life in the devil's world.
It is where God's integrity is more real than any person, any circumstance, or any situation of life. God's justice had many blessings prepared for Abraham that were compatible with the capacity that he had developed from metabolized doctrine resident in his soul.
It was Abraham's capacity from doctrine resident in the soul that caused attainment of maturity adjustment to God's justice. Abraham is the pattern for every believer. We attain spiritual maturity today in the same way that he attained spiritual maturity.
With spiritual maturity Abraham had both love for the source of blessing and capacity to enjoy the blessing, without losing the perspective of grace in the enjoyment of the blessing.
This is how mature believers can have power without abusing power, blessing without flaunting blessing, and true thanksgiving or appreciation of God as the source without forgetting God.
At this point the parenthesis that started in Rom 4:17; is finished so we refer back to the sentence that was interrupted in Rom 4:16.
Rom 4:22 "kai" (and) is the connective conjunction with it is the inferential conjunction "dio" (for this reason or therefore) that describes self-evidence: "And for this reason." Plus the aorist passive indicative of the verb "logizomai" (credited or imputed) to someone." And for this reason it (faith in Christ) it was also credited to him...."
The culminative aorist tense gathers into one entirety Abraham's salvation adjustment to God's, justice through faith in Jesus Christ with emphasis on the existing results of the imputation of God's righteousness and resultant justification.
The instant anyone believes in Christ God credits His righteousness. The passive voice: faith in Christ receives the action of the verb that is the crediting of God's righteousness. The declarative indicative views the action of the verb from the standpoint of absolute and dogmatic reality.
This occurred in Ur when Abram was a Gentile. The dative singular of the indirect object from the intensive pronoun "autos" (him) refers to Abram in the form of a personal pronoun.
Then comes a prepositional phrase, "eis" (for) plus the accusative singular of "dikaiosune" (righteousness). God imputes His righteousness to the believer as the basis for all blessing directly from God's justice. The imputation or credit of God's righteousness is the prerequisite for all direct blessing from God's justice.
Expanded Translation Rom 4:22; "And for this reason (salvation adjustment to God's justice) it (faith in Christ) was credited to him (Abraham) for righteousness. "
We see from this that both potential and capacity are necessary for direct blessing from God's justice.
Potential is defined as the imputation of divine righteousness at the point of salvation. This means that potential occurs at salvation adjustment to God's justice.
Capacity is defined as maximum doctrine resident in the soul at spiritual maturity so capacity occurs at maturity adjustment to God's justice
Potential simply requires faith in Christ to receive God's righteousness. Capacity, however, requires the daily function of GASP over a period of time for maximum metabolized doctrine to be transferred to the thinking of the soul from God's Word.
Only epignosis aka spirit taught doctrine in the thinking produces the spiritual growth necessary for maturity adjustment to God's justice. At maturity the believer has the capacity both to appreciate the source plus the various blessings from that source.
Blessings from God are meaningless without having the capacity for those blessings. Since God's justice is fair He never gives us the direct blessing without the capacity for that blessing.
This means that only the mature believer possesses true capacity for life, for happiness, for love, and for blessing from God's justice. Money, promotion, power, love, sexual prosperity, leadership ability, professional prosperity, is meaningless without capacity for these blessings or advantages.
This means that the most miserable people in the world are not the have-nots but the haves who have no capacity.
This is precisely why we have the discontent and chaos that is destroying our country. The people who are destroying the country have blessing by association with mature believers but no capacity for them.