The Ohio Independent Baptist, August 1972

THE WORD OF RESTORATION l:.. tlit<)r' \ 1 t>te: T/1is article original/)' appeared ir1 011r i4PRIL i~\·~r,e. Hou·el'er. cl11e to a printer's error, tl1e clvs– i11~ 1,art /1acl i11a(!,·ertentl)' bee1 left Olt t . We are rttnning it a~ai,1 ... COMPLETE! J.latian 6: l begi n a new para– graph. but doe not introduce a new ub1ect or change of theme from the pre,·iou context in chapter 5: 22-26. The fruit of the H o1y pi r it doe not in lude pride, enV)' , and vai nglory, and urel)· doe not lead u to chal– lenge each other bell igerently. Chr is– tian libert\' i devoid of all elfi hne , ., and doe n't lead any of u to want more cred it and praise than others. True. piritual "brethren" - who are genuinely \\ hat the word denotes - \\ ill not act in any such manner. uch things as envy, elfishness de– -ire for more cred it challenging each other a to " r ight ", va inglory a11d ta tion. are beneath r eal brothers in the Lord. Those who are n1otivated b)' en\')' and u nholy desire wou ld no t be orry to ee a brother in Chri st o,·ertaken by ome sin and blem ished bj' it. But those who e char ac ter is genuinely spiri tual, with hear ts not moti, ated by pr ide and envy wil l be deeply concerned over a brother wh o ha become the victim of some trans– gre ion. a nd are the proper ones to help the sinning brother by the ex– erci e of hristian love and wise counsel. This leads to the admonition in 6:1. The case Paul vi ualizes and sets before us is that of a man who is o\·ertaken f proleirr1ph tl1ei) in a ' 'f au1t'', lit. ·· urpri ed. or detected in the act of committing a sin" - so that his guilt I unque tionable, placed beyond all doubt The '·fault' ' or sin, is ren– dered b} 1 the v.. ord parapto111ati. and ~ontrary to the , 1ev,.. s of many, i not a mild \\ ord and chosen for that rea on. but denote omething olemn and serious. and plainly wrong. In fact. the \•erb form of th1 'vord oc– cur 1n Hebre\.\ 6: 6. v,.. here the aorist 12 AUGUST, 1972 partici ple parapesvntas de c ribe the act of having fa ll en away f ro n1 the true Chri t ian fa ith. The in :1ere, in Gal. 6: 1, i no t some light , Hies er' ' in, one no t so ' bad ' ' a ot hers - but a tran gression which cut aero" \Vhat i ri ght and goe co1 tra ry to it . When a man i detected in such an acti on a thi , tho e who are p: ri tual (/1oi pne11111atikoi), in the congrega ti o n are respo nsible for r estor ing the gL1ilty one. ' Tho e who are piritu a l' are tho e who are mature i11 the fa ith, po e ing solid Chri ti an character , con cious of th e H o ly Spirit ' leader- hip and guida nce abl e to ,;:otinseJ and ready to fo rgive. To stre the fact that it is such a these who are expected to undertake the re_.to ring , the emphat ic pronoun (ht1111eis: has been pl aced by the H oly Spirit be– fo re the parti cular plural noun ( /1oi pne111,1atikoi) o th a t the expres- ion is to be rendered: "you, on yoi1r part . the piritual ones - }'Olt res tore!" I t i no t for those who are un ab le to master the ir carna lity· and fl eshl y inc linations. God has pl aced men in every local church wl10 are ab le to exercise them elves in th is vital and cr uc iall y important work. T hey are to "r estore" the sinning bro ther in a spirit of meekness, and watching themselves lest they also get to be tempted . Evidently, i11 view of the la t verb in the verse, peir– ast/1eis. Htempt' ', the sin i of a na ture which deals with the kind of wrong– doing into whi ch one may be " temp– ted" (ent iced I ured ) . The " re tor ing' ' i import ant . It i descr ibed by the verb katartidzete. which i a mo t intere ti ng word . Its original mea ning of "prepare, make ready, perfec t · omething for its ful l u e and de - tination i fou nd among the Papyr i, in ra t t1 r ClJ111 1non use. J .. or cxn n1plc, in l,HJ)}' l' lts y viii, 11 51: I ) the 1cci 1 icnt of t1 letter is i 11 for111ec.l that he, ill 1cccivc cer tain garn1cnts whic h h,1\ c l)ccn c\pccia ll }' 111aclc a1d prc– (J,1 1 ctl (k<1t ·irt1J111c·11a) fo r hin1 . The worl l i~ ll \Ctl in l he N cw 1 es t a1ncnt ~ I l c l11 cw~ IO 5. of the ~(Jccial divine J fCJ),tration o f tl1c l>otly of th e I~ord 111 the v1rg1n·~ won1h for the virgin bir th. In Hcl1 rcw~ 11 :3, it designates the planning and fram ing of the ages in expert n1 anncr (HThc ages 1,ver e /ra111ec/ by the word of God"). Again, in Hebrews l 3: 2 1, the wr ite r prays in hi s bcned iction tha t od will "111c1ke )'<JLl per/ect in every good work..." Paul appeals to the Corin– th ians th at they Hbe per/ectl)· jo ined toget/1er in the same mind..." ( I Cor . l : 10). To the ThessaJonians Paul ex pre 5ed the de ire that wh at– ever wa lack ing in thei r fai th 111ight he 111ade co111ple te ( I Thess. 3: l O). But the word occurs also in Matthew 4: 2 1 where it de er ibes the ac tion of the Apostl es in mend ing their fi shing net . And it ha an o ld , common urgica l u age - tha t of setting a broken limb, and repai ring a dislocat– ed joint . ow, from the e uses, it is clear that the prominent idea in the word i not that of punishment , but of reparati on, amendment correction, re torati on making ri ght aga in where there ha been injury wrong or loss. Believer who are tempted into doing what i wrong mu t be correc ted and restored to their proper pl ace . This i al I a part of the prepara ti on and 11aturing of such brethren for their fu ll u e and service a nd for their de tination . Al l of thi s goes into the fittin g out of the whole man for a more effec ti ve wi tne . When an er– rant bro ther get off th e right path. and is de tected in ome act that is wrong, and therefore harmful and inj urious, and de triment a l to the (Continued on page 15) THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST •