Giving Thanks and Offering Testimony
I recently came across 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 again and was reminded of all the ways God has enriched his people through his grace, blessing us with his words, with understanding. Here it is:
I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
A common verse to lean on around Thanksgiving time, and a good one; but—as Scripture is the living word of God—he tends to reveal familiar passages to us differently at different times. It was verse 6 that stuck out to me this time. Partly because it was the one I’d always passed over without giving it second thought.
God’s gifts to his people (v5) confirms our testimony about him (v6). Paul’s use of the word “testimony” (martyrion, in the Greek), is interesting, considering this note from the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology:
Paul is perhaps…the first to give martyrion a new meaning and content when he says in 1 Cor. 1:6: “because our testimony [martyrion] about Christ was confirmed in you.” This word no longer means a piece of evidence or a recollection giving encouragement or warning; the word is used in the sense of the gospel, the proclaimed message of salvation in Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 2:1; 15:15; 2 Thess. 1:10).
My hope is that even our words this season—words like “thanksgiving” and “holiday” and “testimony”—words easily appropriated by the secular world and put to its casual use—would be transformed in our speech by the power of Christ.
The Importance of Word Studies
Words are important. The beginning came about by the Word, after all. The Word, which became flesh to transform our death into new life. God transforms our words—as he transforms our spirit, our understanding, as he enriches us “with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge” (1 Cor. 1:5b).
I encourage you, through this holiday season, to focus on individual words in your Scripture reading. If you’re a Bible Gateway Plus member, you have access to a suite of commentaries and dictionaries for just this type of close reading. Resources like Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary and New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology are indispensable guides to knowing God’s Word more fully.
I encourage you to use them, or sign up for the free 30-day trial and discover them. Seek out deeper understanding of the words that puzzle you in the Bible stories that seem so familiar to you.
And have a blessed holiday season!
Note: The word “holiday” comes from the Old English haligdæg, meaning, “holy day, consecrated day, religious anniversary.” So, when I say, “have a blessed holiday season,” I mean it in that way. May God consecrate this time while we seek him by reading and learning his Word.
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