Thursday, October 4, 2018 – Ephesians 6:24
We are to have Incorruptible Love for our Lord
Jesus Christ, Pt. 1
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
5. The Encouragement, vs. 21-24.
Eph
6:24, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with
incorruptible love.”
The last two words of this
benediction and letter define the love we are to have for our Lord Jesus
Christ. They are “in or with
incorruption,” which in the Greek is EN APHTHARSIA. They are the
Preposition EN, “in or with,” and the Noun APHTHARSIA, “immortality or
incorruptibility.” Both are in the Dative of Manner case. As a Dative of
Manner, they denote a way in which the action of “loving” our Lord Jesus Christ
is performed or accomplished. It tells us how we are to love our Lord, the way
or manner of loving Him. A Dative of Manner answers the question “how” we are
to love Him in action, attitude, emotion, or circumstances.
Given the unique use of APHTHARSIA
in this verse, compared to its other more common usages in the NT, we see
predominantly both “circumstances” and “attitude” being defined regarding how
we are to love our Lord Jesus Christ, as we will see below. But let us first
define this word to get a sense of what the Bible is talking about. Please bear
with me in the defining of this incorruptible love, because it is only
mentioned once here in the NT and is a very unique word. So, we will flush it
out step by step.
“Incorruptible,” is
the Noun APHTHARSIA, ἀφθαρσία in the Dative of Manner, Singular. It typically
means, “immortality or incorruptibility.” It comes from the negative prefix A,
“not,” and the verb PHTHEIRO that means, “to destroy, kill, corrupt, defile,
ruin, or spoil.” So, it literally means, “not to destroy, not to kill, not
corrupt, not to decay, etc.”
Notice that both incorruption and
immortality take the root concepts of corrupt and mortal and negate them. This
illustrates the limits of our human language and understanding. For example,
there are things we have never seen about eternity and so, in order to describe
them, God had to resort to something we know and put a negative in front of it.
For instance, one of the beauties of heaven is the blessed state of
inexpressible joy that must be described by “no more tears.” The light of
heaven, Rev 22, will be given by
God, but it is described as “no night,” and “need no lamp, neither light of the
sun.” In just this way, incorruptibility is freedom from death, decay, ruin,
corruption, etc., but to its most superlative extent.
Louw-Nida defines it, “The state of not being subject to decay,
leading to death - 'immortal, immortality. A continuous state or process, with
the implication that the state or process in question is not interrupted by
death - 'unceasing, always, eternally, undying. A number of scholars, however,
insist that ἀφθαρσία in Ephes. 6:24 must be understood in the sense of
'immortality' or 'eternity' as a temporal expression, but one which can be
rendered as 'with undying love.” (Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament: Based on Symantic Domains.)
BDAG, “The state of not being subject to decay/dissolution/interruption,
incorruptibility, immortality.” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament and Other Early Christian Literature.)
Complete Word Study Dictionary, “APHTHARSIA also means incorruptible in a
moral or spiritual sense, i.e., freedom from corrupt doctrines or designs.”
“Paul pronounced grace toward only those who unceasingly
love our Lord Jesus Christ. This unusual expression is difficult to decipher in
regards to its meaning and to what it is connected. The Greek term APHTHARSIA
means “incorruptibility” or “immortality,” indicating a continuous state or
process not interrupted by death and hence has the sense of “unceasing, always,
eternally, undying.” Some suggest that this word is connected to the
immediately preceding words “our Lord Jesus Christ,” who is immortal (Dibelius
1953:100), while others think it is connected to “grace” mentioned in the first
part of the verse, thereby signifying that the grace conferred by God on believers
is immortal or indestructible (Schnackenburg 1991:291; Lincoln 1990:467-468).
Most think that it is connected to “love,” indicating a love that is not
corrupted by death, hence referring to “those who unceasingly love our Lord
Jesus Christ” (Abbott 1897:191; Robinson 1903:138, 220; Best 1998:620).” (Cornerstone Biblical Commentary.)
APHTHARSIA defines the state of
not being subject to decay, dissolution, or interruption. It speaks of an
unending existence, of that which is not capable of corruption. APHTHARSIA
indicates immunity to the decay that infects all of creation. It is the word
chosen by Paul, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, to describe the genuine MVA
Love for the Lord Jesus Christ believers are to exercise before their heavenly
Father and before a lost world. It is a requirement of a love that is free from
the seeds that will lead to decay. Therefore, there is to be no source of
change or corruption within it. We are to love Jesus Christ with a love that is
immune to decay or corruption; an unending, unfading, un-denying love.
Do you love your God with a love
that is free from the corrupting seeds of self-centered worship, Biblical
ignorance, blind unbelief, and cherished sin?
It is this type of love which the Lord counts dear, highly prizes, and
fully rewards with the experience of His daily grace.
The Dative of Manner is used to
indicate how we are to love our Lord Jesus Christ. We see that it is with a
love that is incorruptible, without death, without ruin, without decay, without
corruption, etc. And, because it is only being applied once in all of
Scripture, here in our verse, it signifies its superlative nature. Therefore,
it is the most superlative type of love God can express.
Many times the Dative case can be
a Dative of Sphere. Some believe it to be so here. If it were, it would refer
to the sphere in which your love for Christ takes place, namely, in the sphere
of incorruptible or eternal life, which He has given to you. The Dative of
Sphere would emphasize the eternal life you have and in that light love God. It
would express your love for our Lord Jesus Christ with a view toward the
eternal life He has provided for you. Since we have eternal life, we are to love
Him with that life; immortal and incorruptible. This is a true statement, and
something we are to be doing, but it comes up a little short in the application
or how we are to love Him. Sphere tells us the domain in which we are to love
Him, yet, we need to understand the mode, manner, method, and means by which we
are to love Him.
Now, we see in Scripture that this
word can be applied to God or man, when applied to man, APHTHARSIA appears in
Paul’s texts with soteriological (salvation) and ontological (existence)
implications. Incorruptibility represents the feature of the restored man, of
the whole man changed from the fallen one. This process happens at the
resurrection and is related to Christ, the one who united in Himself the two
natures: Divine and human. APHTHARSIA is an attribute of eternal life and man
is invited to participate in that life as a heritage from God.
For Paul, incorruptibility is at
the same time the result of a struggle and a gift of God’s grace. The contrast
corruption and incorruption becomes the equation of the fallen man as a result
of his freedom, and the solution requires the process of salvation. The
incarnation of the Son is the way God accomplishes both goals: to conquer death
and “clothe” man in incorruptibility; to bring man closer to God, that is to
give him the incorruptibility in stability, for eternity. Therefore, this is
not a fleeting, earthly love, but a spiritual and eternal one.
Blaikie writes that “The expression is peculiar—love the Lord
Jesus Christ in incorruptible. The word denotes, especially in Paul’s usage, what
is unfading and permanent. The love that marks genuine Christians is not a
passing gleam, like the morning cloud and the early dew, but an abiding
emotion. Nowhere can we have a more vivid idea of this incorruptible love than
in the closing verses of Romans 8.”
Rom 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing,
will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.”
APHTHARSIA is primarily used in
the NT to speak about immortality, life after death that is ever-lasting. This
Noun is used 7 times, in 4, (the number of material things), applications, in
the NT, Rom 2:7; 1 Cor 15:42, 50, 53,
54; Eph 6:24; 2 Tim 1:10. There is also an additional variant usage in Titus 2:7. Seven is the number of
Spiritual Perfection in the Bible. Therefore, this type of MVA Love towards our
Lord Jesus Christ is spiritually perfect, as we fulfill God’s Plan for our
lives in spiritual adulthood. A quick survey of the seven usages in the NT will
give us a better understanding of its application in our verse.
1. In Rom 2:7, it speaks of our Divine Good Production, as we keep our
eyes on the things above.
Rom 2:7, “To those who by perseverance in doing good seek
for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.”
Therefore, APHTHARSIA MVA Love towards our Lord Jesus Christ is part of our
Divine Good Production, as we live the unique spiritual life of the Age of
Grace.
2. It is used in 1 Cor 15:42, 50, 53, 54, for a
description of the resurrection body that is imperishable or incorruptible. Therefore,
APHTHARSIA MVA Love towards our Lord Jesus Christ is performed from our new
resurrection life while here on earth, as a new spiritual species, a new
creation, a new man that is found in Jesus Christ.
3. In Eph 6:24, it speaks of the manner in which we love our Lord Jesus
Christ, as we have and continue to define it in this study.
4. It is used in 2 Tim 1:10, it is speaking of the new
life, (immortal, imperishable, and incorruptible), that Jesus Christ brought
and made known to mankind.
2 Tim 1:10, “But now has been revealed by the appearing of
our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel.”
Therefore, with the new life we
have in Christ, (immortal, imperishable, and incorruptible), we are to Love
Him.
In addition, there is a variant
usage of APHTHARSIA in Titus 2:7, it
was used for “uncorruptness” in the
teaching of God’s Word, as used in the KJV. Some, like AMG’s Complete Word
Study Bible and Dictionary, use it for the translation of “sincerity” in that
passage. Titus 2:7 (KJV), “In all things
shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness,
gravity, sincerity.”
Another variant uses ADIAPHTHORIA,
ἀδιαφθορία that means, “sincerity, integrity, uncorruptness,” for those words. Nevertheless,
the more reliable texts do not use APHTHARSIA at all in Titus 2:7, but use the noun APHTHORIA, ἀφθορία, a cognate of
ADIAPHTHORIA, that means, “incorruptibility, incorruption, sincerity,
integrity, soundness, freedom from corruptible mixtures or adulterations,” as
does the NASB, Titus 2:7, “In all things
show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity (integrity) in doctrine, dignified, (the
Noun SEMNOTES, “dignity, honorableness, nobility, propriety”).”
Paul is saying to Titus that he should present
the teaching of God’s Word in a complete and utter incorruptible way, which is
impossible to change or degenerate. It is evident that here we have the
metaphorical use of the word. But from it, we see that our love for our Lord
Jesus Christ should be thought and brought in the same way; one that is
completely and utterly incorruptible and unchanging,
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