The Ohio Independent Baptist, January 1971

DR. _OR6E LAWLOR THE WORD OF COMMITMENT R ,111"111 I 2. l rcachc '" ba k. (011 11 . .. tl1er~t ,re.. ) ~111d gath r -- tip er ' - tl11r1~ that hc.1, l1e n "' aid in hapter :-~' . ..."inti hring\ it all f f\\ ard into thi grL3t cl1c11,1'\. hc.1pter 1- n1ight 'Aell ... l1a\ e fol lo,, d at on aft r chapter , l1ad not Pat1l been directed to in ert t'"'? · ct1on c ncerning I r ael and her r 1ect1on of d' rigt1teou ne and gra_e , nd ho,\ d \I\ ill hovvever pre- :er, e an ele t ren1nant. o. in 12: 1, Patil intr at : "I be eech you there– f re. brethren. through the mercie of od to pre e11t )"Our bodie as a living acrifice. holy. acceptable to God , our rea enable ervice . The e:\.pre ion ' 'to pre ent" i an intere ting and in1portant verbal in thi ignificant ver e. It i the aori t ..... infiniti,.-e parasteisai. which i derived trom the , erb paristei111i (para and /1i rei111i). ··place be ide , range by the ide of. place at the di po al of. pre– ent·· - hence. ' 'dedicate devote, pre– ent a an offering' . This en e of the , erb ma)r be een in connection with judicial proceeding uch a the in– cident recorded in Papyru Ryland II, 9-1-: 11 ( .D . 14-37) when the presi– dent and ecretary of a guild of weav– er become ureties for the presenta– tion of fi\-e of their number against \\ horn proceedings were pending: ' 'It i incumbent on us to produce them (parasteisin a1cto1cs) for you whenever , ou choo e. to an Vver the claims tated J b~ the petition of Paninouti ". The , erb i rendered "i r eady" in Papyrus Petr. III. 43:15 (3 B.C.). in a letter in \\ 1 hich the writer ay : •'Further. )'OU are v.. ell av. 1 are how I told you in con,'ersat1on that the sesame and cro– ton are read)·'' (pares£eiken). In papy– ru ~f agn 100. a 12 (2 B.C.) there appear a reference to the completed building of the temple of Artemis and ifs c/edication ( parastaseos). With thi background. perhap then the use of the \\'Ord in the Septuagint \ ' ers1on, for Esther 4: 5. mo t simply and best portra~ 1t meaning in the ew Te ta- 14 JANUARY, 1971 111 nt , "Th n called ther for H at- hach, one f the king· chamberlain wh n1 he had appointed to attencl i, p– otz lier ..." (/10 parei teikei aL1tei). It 'Ar a H a thach' re pon ibility in lieu f hi po ition in the curt to pre ent him elf to E ther in f11ll readine for the performance of any ervice or duty which E ther might require. and t give him elf to that work with all po ible dedication and devotion. ow this i the ame word which appear in Luke 2: 22 to de cribe the bringing of the child J e u to J eru– alem by Mary and Jo eph, ' to pre– ent (paras teisai) Him to the Lord... ' 'And it is very exact for what was done: Je us, the first-born son was dedicated to the Lord ( Jehovah) a belonging to Him in a special sense, for the complete fulfillment of God's will for Him and through Him. A Luke puts it, this was the chief rea on for which Jo eph and Mary went to Jeru a1em. The word occurs in it mo t literal en e twice in Acts 1 : vs. 3 attests the Lord's re urrection appearance to the Apo tle and tates that He ''showed Him elf alive' ' to them ( hois kai parestheisen heai,ton) . The risen Lord definitely presented Him elf to Hi followers in connec– tion with many proof and placed Himself right be ide (para) His Apo tles so that they could make no mi take about Hi identity and per on, and He appeared at the Lord' a cen– sion (Luke calls the angels in the tomb andre , "men' Luke 24:4; and here he writes again andres, "men") a standing close beside the Apo tles (pareisteikeisan), a the Lord went up into heaven. Luke u e the word in hi Go pel and the Act 12 time and it occur everal tin1e in the other Go pel and the Book of Revelation but it i Paul' word in a pecial en e. It i the word which the Apo tle u e in Rom. 6: 13, 19, translated "yield" in the KJV. Both form are aori t imperative s ht>\\ in, h<>\\ ss' nt ial it i f<lr b Ii '\'Crs 1,, <l<..l ,, 11:.1 lhcs' c1 uci~d ,,ers sla t·. nnLI fl nt il chnrgcs 1 Ii v , her to \ll), l1 al he l1rjngs l<l ,l 11igJ1 J'loin (1f clctlicnlt)r' r ct1 · in I 2: I . J{on <, : I J ca ll s llf)<111 t1 s to <l'finitcfy r>re en ,,111 \elves. <J11r lv/1,,/, 'go, f <l 1ot l - i n a <lncc- f<lr -all ne t (lf gcnuir1c l lcd1 Cll li()l1 . In 6: 19. in the sa 111 c 111 Hr1ne1 <lcfinitcl}' an<I <lncc-1'( r all . \.\'c are t, 11rc,cn t <11/ t/1e 111e111l,ers C)f oursclvc<– <)lll \vholc cgc1. What we arc CH iie, ltJ)C)11 to ti ,vith ot11· \.V }1ol c ego i1 6 : I J, \.\ c arc c h ar g c cl t <) t Io w j l h a 11 i t 111c111l,cr \ 1n (1 : 19. Ro 111 . l 2 : l ,\ l hc gra 11 d c1 i n, a 1 he aori~t inf1n1ti vc conlintics th sen e of the defIn i te, once-for-all a of pre entation and dcd1ca t1on to Go In 6: 13 , it i ot trsel ves; in 6: 19, it i ottr 1t1e111/Jers; here in 12: 1, it is 0 1, boclies. Our body i the one organ fo a ll our actions and we pre ent 011 bod) 1 to the Lord , it mean that all ou member , i.e. bodily part member~ are to be controlled and directed ole ly by Him. We mu t not overlook th fact that it is ive 011rselves who are tc pre ent our bodie to God. Moreove that one genuine, definite once-for a ll pre entation will render ambiguou and unnece ary a life-time of repeate, presentations before God, one afte another, whenever we "feel that w mu t do something" . While the verba i an infinitive form, it carries th force of an imperative for this matte i o crucial. In thi phy ical worl it is our body which mu t meet an, make all the contacts with the powe of sin. Satan' lie use our ears a mean of entry, and our eye an1 mind are influenced through th printed page. All our members ar somehow involved. When our who] body ha been definitely onc~-for-al committed to the Lord all tho e mem hers are turned over to Him, to Hi control. All the road into our ego ar to be cJo ed down tightly to all bu God. And, reaching over all the im portant fact in v . 1-2, to the la in v . 2 - God' people mu t neve forget that the action of voluntaril bt1t definitely pre enting our elve ti God, and tanding in once-for-a] dedication before Him, there be id Him in devotion and elf-abnegation i ab olute]y vital and e ential if W• de ire to ever know the will of Go< for our lives. . . AVAILABLE FOR ••• Pulp it Supply and/ or Sermons in Song REV. GEORGE P. ZINN Route 3, Huber Road Norwalk, Ohio - 44857 Tel. (419) 662-9794 THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIS