Christian Gems: Past & Present: Exegetically Speaking—by Spiros Zodhiates The Work of Patience, part 3 From Faith, Love & Hope: An Exposition of the Epistle of James, AMG Publishers, 1997. James 1:4: “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:4). The next word used is also quite interesting and instructive. It is holoklēroi. Holokleros is a compound word composed of the word halos, which means “whole, complete, all its parts,” and the word klēros, meaning “lot,” that which is “assigned or allotted. It is the same root from which the noun klēronomía or “inheritance” comes. The thought here is beautiful. Try to catch it and you will be blessed by it. It is the desire of God that we should be “entire.” What is this, anyway? You and I, when we believed on the finished work of Christ, received a great “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away” (1 Pet. 1:4). Holoklēros, therefore, means that which retains all that was allotted to us at the first when we believed, and to which nothing necessary for its completeness is wanting. Let all the trials come, they will in no way take away anything from us. Our completeness in Christ will be preserved, no matter what happens. Though poverty may assail us from without, the riches of the soul which Jesus Christ gave us shall remain intact. Then we find this word holoklēros employed also to express that integrity of body in which there is nothing redundant, nothing deficient. In the next step of its history the word was transferred from bodily to mental and moral entireness. Christ is not satisfied with less than our full-rounded personality. He wants us to be mature in our bodies, in our minds, and in our hearts. Who of us can deny that the Christian life is a race? In the acquisition of perfection we have many competitors. There are others running alongside us. James is afraid lest some of the burdens of life shall cause us to lose speed in the race. This is why he adds the last phrase of our verse, “wanting nothing.” The strict meaning of the original Greek here is “being left behind by none.” In the Christian life there should always be the desire to be the first among many in the demonstration of Christian virtues, and especially the virtue of patience and its resultant ministry. Of course, the other meaning of the word, “wanting nothing,” is that it is an explanation of the word “entire.” Since through all our trials and tribulations we shall be able to come out intact and unaffected, we shall lack nothing from our original possessions in Christ. Oh, how wonderfully complete we are in Jesus Christ! There is absolutely nothing that can rob us of His inheritance. (Spiros Zodhiates (1922-2009) served as president of AMG International for over 40 years, was the founding editor of Pulpit Helps Magazine (Disciple’s predecessor), and authored dozens of exegetical books.) Disciple Magazine May 22, 2013
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 11:04:20 +0000
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