Pursue Holiness (2) - Systematic Discipleship (Part 11) & The One Page New Testament

Exploring the invitation to Follow Jesus - to ‘Pursue Holiness’

General Introduction

In this series we are building what we will refer to as the ‘One Page New Testament’ - #onepagenewtestament. Our approach is building a pictorial summary of the main messages for disciples of Jesus in a systematically derived, structured form. We aim to keep the descriptive text to a minimum and share with you the different Themes that are being created. We will consider the scriptures on their own merit, Theme by Theme, without introducing much in the way of theology. Within each Theme, we will let the scriptures speak for themselves - hopefully in a way that demonstrates the validity of the analysis.

Introduction to this Faith Article

This article is the eleventh in a series that is unpacking some of the analysis work currently being undertaken to draw out the main teachings from the New Testament from a personal discipleship perspective. The previous articles can be found in the reference at Note [1] and they focus upon the New Testament’s teaching that corresponds to the challenges of what we have so far called ‘Kingdom Fundamental 1 [KF1]’ - ‘Love God’, and ‘Kingdom Fundamental 2 [KF2]’ - ‘Follow Jesus’.

We have previously introduced that we consider there are four Kingdom Practices under the invitation to Follow Jesus [KF2]:

  • Submit to Jesus’ Lordship - [KP3] (explored previously in Systematic Discipleship Parts 3 to 9)

  • Pursue Holiness - [KP4]

  • Live out kingdom values - [KP5]

  • Exercise discernment - [KP6].

In the previous article (Systematic Discipleship - Part 10) we began to introduce the Kingdom Practice to ‘Pursue Holiness’ - [KP4]. We have derived seven Kingdom Actions (sub-Themes) that sit below this heading which come from our ongoing analysis of the New Testament:

  • Control / guard our eyes (what we look at / watch / read) - [KA13]

  • Control / guard our tongues (what we say / write) - [KA14]

  • Control / guard our ears (what we hear / listen to) - [KA15]

  • Control / guard our hands and feet (what we touch / where we go) - [KA16]

  • Control / guard our reactions / emotional responses to kingdom events / situations - [KA17]

  • Control / guard our hearts / thoughts / minds (our focus) / knowledge - [KA18]

  • Control / guard our character (act with integrity) - [KA19].

The elements we will cover in this article are shown in light blue (encouragements) and pink (warnings) in Figure 1.

If readers take away nothing else from these articles than the sense, logic, and directive actions in the Figures - for disciples to put into practice in the strength God gives - we will hopefully have achieved our initial objective.

Figure 1 - Investigating the Kingdom Practice to ‘Pursue Holiness’ - [KP4]

As we highlighted above, there are seven areas that we can consider as aspects of trying to live in a holy way (KA13-KA19). These Kingdom Actions describe how we should try to manage and control our senses, our emotional and thought responses to the external stimuli we experience, and ultimately how we present ourselves to others through our character. We will address our behavioural responses in more detail as we explore Kingdom Practice 5 - Live out kingdom values in future articles. Whilst we will never live up to a standard of perfect holiness, as the Holy Spirit enables us, we can continue to try!

We need to be aware that working towards holy living is separate and distinct from being made holy by God - through the forgiveness we receive as we repent from our sins and accept Jesus as our personal Saviour and Lord. We considered this aspect of holiness in Systematic Discipleship Part 7 [1].

Moving forward, let’s begin to explore what holy living might require by considering some of the Greek words and scriptures that point us towards this.

Kingdom Action 13 - Control / guard our eyes (what we look at / watch / read)

In working through our analysis, we have chosen to group aspects of how we control our eyes (vision) into two, perhaps obvious, categories:

  • Look at the right things

  • Do not look at the wrong things.

We explore each of them below.

Kingdom Action 13.1 - Look at the right things

There are several Greek words we can consider appropriate here [2] and [3]:

  • Blepó (Strong’s 991) which is defined as ‘to look at’ and used to describe ‘(primarily physical), I look, see, perceive, discern’. This occurs 132 times in the New Testament [4] and [5].

  • Ophthalmos (3788) which means ‘the eye’ and can be translated as ‘the eye; figuratively: the mind's eye’. It is found 100 times.

  • Horaó (3708) which represents ‘to see, perceive, attend to’ and is used to describe the following: ’I see, look upon, experience, perceive, discern, beware’. There are 460 occurrences.

  • Horasis (3706) is ‘the act of seeing, a vision, appearance’ and describes ‘a sight, vision, appearance'. There are 4 places where this word appears.

  • Theóreó (2334) is defined as ‘to look at, gaze’ and translated as ‘I look at, gaze, behold; I see, experience, discern; I partake of’. There are 58 verse references where this is found.

Example scriptures [6] that demonstrate this sub-Theme include:

  • Matthew 6:22 - “The eye (Strong’s 3788) is the lamp of the body. If your eyes (3788) are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

  • Matthew 15:31 - The people were amazed when they saw (991) the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing (991). And they praised the God of Israel.

  • Matthew 24:33 - Even so, when you see (3708) all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.

  • Mark 8:18 - Do you have eyes but fail to see (991), and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember.

  • John 2:23 - Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw (2334) the signs he was performing and believed in his name.

  • John 4:35 - Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes (3788) and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.

  • John 12:45 - The one who looks (2334) at me is seeing (2334) the one who sent me.

  • Acts 2:17 - ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions (3706), your old men will dream dreams’.

  • Acts 4:13 - When they saw (2334) the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

  • 1 John 5:16 - If you see (3708) any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.

There are 40 verse references where these words appear that relate to this subject.

Kingdom Action 13.2 - Do not look at the wrong things

Looking at the opposite perspective we can see that many of the same Greek words Blepó (Strong’s 991), Ophthalmos (3788), Horaó (3708) and Theóreó (2334) from above have relevance here. In addition we can also consider:

  • Monophthalmos (3442) which is defined as ‘having one eye’ and describes being ‘one-eyed, with one eye only’. It is found twice.

  • Diablepó (1227) which means ‘to look through, to see clearly’ and is translated as ‘I see through, see clearly’. There are 3 instances.

  • Theaomai (2300) describes ‘to behold, look upon’ and in translations is used to explain ‘I see, behold, contemplate, look upon, view; I see, visit’. There are 23 places where it is found.

Relevant scriptures that support this include:

  1. Matthew 5:28 - But I tell you that anyone who looks (991) at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

  2. Matthew 5:29 - If your right eye (3788) causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

  3. Matthew 7:5 - You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly (1227) to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

  4. Matthew 21:15 - But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw (3708) the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

  5. Mark 9:47 - And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye (3442) than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.

  6. Luke 9:62 - Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks (991) back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

  7. Luke 20:14 - “But when the tenants saw (3708) him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

  8. Acts 21:27 - When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw (2300) Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him.

  9. Acts 28:27 - For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes (3788). Otherwise they might see with their eyes (3788), hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’

  10. 10.1 John 3:17 - If anyone has material possessions and sees (2334) a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?

We have identified in the region of 52 verse references, where these words appear, to support this sub-Theme.

Kingdom Action 14 - Control / guard our tongues (what we say / write)

The second area we have drawn out as an area of holiness relates to our tongues. At this Theme level we can consider two Greek words:

  • Damazó (1150) which means ‘to tame’ and is used to describe ‘I tame, subdue, involving obedience and restraint’. It is seen 4 times.

  • Chalinagógeó (5468) defined as ‘to lead with a bridle’ and translated into ‘I bridle, curb, restrain, sway’. There are 2 occurrences.

Verses which illustrate this are:

  • James 1:26 - Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein (5468) on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

  • James 3:8 - but no human being can tame (1150) the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

From our work to look at this in more detail, we have separated aspects of keeping our tongues in check by creating three summarising categories:

  • Speak (or write) positively [KA14.1]

  • Resist opposition [KA14.2]

  • Do not speak (nor write) negatively [KA14.3].

These are outlined below.

Kingdom Action 14.1 - Speak (or write) positively

Part of controlling our tongues is to be careful what we say, and this includes other ways we choose to communicate with other, particularly online and in writing. We have identified 17 Greek words that are relevant to this sub-Theme some of which are presented here.

  • Glóssa (1100) is defined as ‘the tongue, a language' and translated as ‘the tongue, a language, a nation (usually distinguished by their speech)’. There are 50 occurrences in the New Testament.

  • Alétheuó (226) means ‘to speak the truth’. Translations convey this as ‘I say (speak) truth, do truth, maintain truth (the truth)’. It is found twice.

  • Legó (3004) describes ‘to say’ and translated as ‘(denoting speech in progress), (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command’. There are 2267 places where this word is found.

  • Apokrinomai (611) is interpreted to mean ‘to answer’ and describes ‘I answer, reply, take up the conversation’. It is seen 229 times.

  • Krazó (2896) means ‘to scream, cry out’ and is rendered to describe ‘I cry aloud, shriek’. It appears in 55 verse references.

  • Phóné (5456) is defined as ‘a voice, sound’ and used to refer to ‘a sound, noise, voice, language, dialect’. There are 139 places where this appears.

Example scriptures where these words and idioms are found include the following:

  • Matthew 14:33 - Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying (3004), “Truly you are the Son of God.”

  • Matthew 21:9 - The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted (2896), “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

  • Mark 8:29 - “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered (611), “You are the Messiah.”

  • Luke 5:5 - Simon answered (611), “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

  • Luke 19:37 - When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices (5456) for all the miracles they had seen.

  • Luke 24:32 - They asked (3004) each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

  • John 20:28 - Thomas said (3004) to him, “My Lord and my God!”

  • Philippians 2:11 - and every tongue (1100) acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

  • Acts 2:14 - Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice (5456) and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.”

  • Acts 7:60 - Then he fell on his knees and cried (2896) out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

  • Ephesians 4:15 - Instead, speaking the truth (226) in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

There are around 140 verse references where these words appear that relate to this topic.

Kingdom Action 14.2 - Resist opposition

The New Testament draws attention to those who would oppose the truth and gives encouragement to us to resist others’ views and records instances of refuting them. Greek words that are relevant here include:

  • Antilegó (Strong’s 483 & 471) which is defined as ‘to speak against, to contradict, oppose’ and rendered in translations as ‘I speak or say in opposition, contradict (oppose, resist)’. There are 11 New Testament instances.

  • Laleó (2980) meaning ‘to talk’ and used to describe ‘(I talk, chatter in classical Greek, but in NT a more dignified word) I speak, say’. There are 297 occurrences.

  • Anthistémi (436) defined as ‘to set against, withstand’ and used in the context of ‘I set against; I withstand, resist, oppose’. It appears 14 times.

  • Phimoó (5392) understood to describe ‘to muzzle, to put to silence’ and explains situations where ‘I muzzle, silence’. There are 8 verse references where this is found.

  • Antithesis (477) describing ‘opposition’ and translated as ‘a proposition, tenet, opinion advanced by one party against another; opposition’. It only occurs once.

  • Diakatelegchomai (1246) is defined as ‘to confute completely’ and translated as ‘I effectively (utterly) refute’. It also appears only once.

Verses that include these words to illustrate this Theme include:

  • Luke 21:15 - For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist (436) or contradict (471).

  • Acts 6:10 - But they could not stand up against (436) the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke (2980).

  • Acts 18:28 - For he vigorously refuted (1246) his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

  • 1 Timothy 6:20 - Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas (477) of what is falsely called knowledge.

  • Titus 1:9 - He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose (483) it.

  • 1 Peter 2:15 - For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence (5392) the ignorant talk of foolish people.

We have identified 17 verse references that apply here.

Kingdom Action 14.3 - Do not speak (nor write) negatively

We have personal responsibility for what we say and write (just a different form of outward communication) - whether we are worshipping God, being creative, in a social context, joking, or responding in frustration or anger. The New Testament has things to advise us on this topic. We have considered 19 Greek words, and some are set out below.

  • Glóssa (Strong’s 1100) is defined as ‘the tongue, a language’ and translated as ‘the tongue, a language, a nation (usually distinguished by their speech)’. It occurs 50 times in the New Testament.

  • Legó (3004) meaning ‘to say' and used in three contexts where it is ‘(denoting speech in progress), (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command’. There are 2267 instances.

  • Aneōgen (455) which has the meaning ‘to open’ and rendered in Bible texts as ‘I open’. It appears 77 times.

  • Laleó (2980) describes ‘to talk’ and is used to translate ‘(I talk, chatter in classical Greek, but in NT a more dignified word) I speak, say’. There are 297 verse appearances.

  • Logos (3056) is ‘a word (as embodying an idea), a statement, a speech’. This is translated as ‘a word, speech, divine utterance, analogy’. It is found 331 times.

  • Aparneomai (533) is defined as ‘to deny’ and used to describe ‘I deny, disown, repudiate (either another person or myself), disregard’. There are 11 instances.

  • Boaó (994) means ‘to call out’ and translated as 'I shout, call aloud, proclaim’. There are twelve occurrences.

  • Dilogos (1351) as defined as ‘given to repetition, double-tongued’ and used explain where someone is ‘double-tongued, deceitful’. It is only seen once.

  • Krazó (2896) represents ‘to scream, cry out’ and describes where ‘I cry aloud, shriek’. It is found 55 times.

  • Stoma (4750) refers to ‘the mouth’ and translates as ‘the mouth, speech, eloquence in speech, the point of a sword’. There are 78 places where this is seen.

  • Cheilos (5491) is ‘a lip, an edge’ and refers to ‘a lip, mouth, shore, edge, brink; meton: language, dialect’ in translations. There are 7 verse references.

  • Arneomai (720) means ‘to deny, say no’ and can b e used in two contexts ‘(a) I deny (a statement), (b) I repudiate (a person, or belief)’. It is found 33 times.

  • Phtheggomai (5350) is defined as ‘to utter’ and used to describe where ‘I speak aloud, utter’. There are 3 places where it is found.

These words are reflected in the following verses:

  • Matthew 5:34 - But I tell (3004) you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne.

  • Matthew 12:36 - But I tell you that everyone will have to give account (3056) on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken (2980).

  • Matthew 27:23 - “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted (2896) all the louder, “Crucify him!”

  • Luke 12:9 - But whoever disowns (720) me before others will be disowned (533) before the angels of God.

  • Acts 20:30 - Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking (2980) perverse things, to draw away disciples after them (King James Version).

  • Romans 3:13 - “Their throats are open (455) graves; their tongues (1100) practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips (5491).”

  • Colossians 3:8 - But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips (4750).

  • 1 Timothy 3:8 - Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued (1351), not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre (King James Version).

  • James 1:26 - Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues (1100) deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

  • James 3:6 - The tongue (1100) also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

  • 1 Peter 3:10 - For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue (1100) from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.

  • 2 Peter 2:18 - For when they speak (5350) great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error (King James Version).

At a further level of detail, we can also identify the following warnings:

  • Do not defile ourselves in speech / slander / blaspheme / be a reviler / speak ill or evil / gossip [KA14.3.1]

  • Do not deceive / delude / lie / practise falsehood / quarrel about words [KA14.3.2]

  • Do not swear / joke crudely / use foolish, filthy, empty, irreverent or unwholesome talk [KA14.3.3]

  • Do not be insolent / curse [KA14.3.4].

Without setting out the Greek words in detail that we have considered, the following verses support these sub-Themes (Strong’s references are in brackets):

KA14.3.1 - Do not defile ourselves in speech / slander / blaspheme / be a reviler / speak ill or evil / gossip

  • Matthew 9:3 - At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming (987)!”

  • Matthew 15:18 - But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile (2840) them.

  • Acts 19:9 - But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned (2551) the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

  • 1 Corinthians 5:11 - But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler (3060), or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person (New King James Version).

  • 2 Corinthians 12:20 - For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip (5587), arrogance and disorder.

  • Colossians 3:8 - But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander (988), and filthy language from your lips.

  • 2 Timothy 3:2 - People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive (989), disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy.

KA14.3.2 - Do not deceive / delude / lie / practise falsehood / quarrel about words

  • Romans 3:13 - “Their throats are open graves; their tongues (1100) practice deceit (1387).”

  • Ephesians 4:25 - Therefore each of you must put off falsehood (5579) and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

  • 1 Timothy 6:4 - they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels (3055) about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions.

  • 1 Peter 3:10 - For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue (1100) from evil and their lips from deceitful (1388) speech.

  • 1 John 1:6 - If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie (5574) and do not live out the truth.

KA14.3.3 - Do not swear / joke crudely / use foolish, filthy, empty, irreverent or unwholesome talk

  • Romans 2:20 - an instructor of the foolish (878), a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.

  • Ephesians 5:4 - Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk (3743) or coarse joking (2160), which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

  • 2 Timothy 2:16 - Avoid godless chatter (2757), because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

  • James 5:12 - Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear (3660)—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.

KA14.3.4 - Do not be insolent / curse.

  • Romans 1:30 - slanderers, God-haters, insolent (5197), arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents.

  • Romans 12:14 - Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse (2672).

  • James 3:10 - Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing (2671). My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

Summary

In this eleventh Faith Article, we have explored some of the Greek words (presented in Louw and Nida’s [2] and Mounce’s [3] reference materials) and scriptures that can be used to support our analysis which expand the Theme that we have called ‘Kingdom Practice 3 - Pursue Holiness’. In particular, we have looked at some of the words and scriptures that encourage us to try to manage what we look at and what we say (or write).

Just as with many English words, Greek words can have more than one meaning and consequently when translated into Biblical texts can be used to convey several different sentiments. Which is used is dependent upon the context.

Ultimately, this analysis and these groupings are subjective, as will be the inclusion (or exclusion) of many verses within each Theme and sub-Theme. We should note that some verses have a much stronger relevance to the derived Themes than others.

During this analysis, the aim has been to restrict the number of Themes that can be associated with any specific Greek word to eight or less - as any more implies poor analysis technique and the wrong heading choice / naming process.

In the next Faith Article, we shall begin to explore Kingdom Practice 4 in more detail by considering KP15 (Control / guard our ears (what we hear / listen to) and KP16 (Control / guard our hands & feet (what we touch / where we go). These represent more practical things that we need to be conscious of as we seek to respond to the call to ‘Pursue Holiness’ as we Follow Jesus. As ever, the aim will be to try and make it informative, but manageable, in terms of the time and effort needed to look at and understand each area.

Any constructive thoughts on this Article, the process being undertaken, and related constructive feedback are welcome.

Notes:

[1] - All previous Faith Articles focusing on the One Page New Testament can be found at this page: www.teachthemtoobey.co.uk/blog/

[2] - “Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, based upon Semantic Domains” Volumes 1 and 2 - Louw and Nida - Published by and © United Bible Societies - 1988

[3] - “Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words” - © William D Mounce, 2006 - Published by Zondervan

[4] - biblehub - https://biblehub.com/greek/

[5] - The number of instances of specific Greek words can vary considerably depending upon the Greek manuscript(s) that is / are referenced by the data underpinning a particular program or website. For example, there can be differences in the number of instances of a Greek word depending upon whether your information source is, say: biblehub.com, blueletterbible.org, or Accordance Bible software. For example: the word Kurios (Lord) appears:

  • 722 times according to biblehub

  • 748 times in the Textus Receptus (TR) Greek for the blueletterbible

  • 717 in the Morphological Greek New Testament (MGNT) in the blueletterbible

  • 717 times for the Legacy Standard Version in Accordance

  • 711 times for the ESV in Accordance.

In general, we have used the biblehub.com counts for the number of instances of the Greek words we are presenting. If there are major discrepancies with the other resources we are using we will try to highlight these explicitly.

[6] - Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.TM.

The Bible references presented are illustrative rather than aiming to be ‘proof texts’. They are examples only as there are, generally, many more we could look at. Please note that when looking at any Bible verse references, you should ideally consider more than one translation / respected version to get a more rounded view, and look at the wider context for each verse too. When Greek words are translated, Bible scholars do not always use the same English word every time it appears in the Greek. This is why it is useful to look at more than one Bible version.





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