 going around today! And so much perspective is lost! It is scary. But, what we believe boi...){kind=link}
And so much perspective is lost!
It is scary.
But, what we believe boils down to simple agreement (being fully persuaded) or disagreement (or being doubtful).
Yip, I am ranting on again. But allow me to explain before I say anything further about our subject of paranoia versus metanoia.
And, dare I ask you to walk with me for a while …
Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Amo 3:3
The issue is friendship. Relationship, really.
True friendship and intimacy come from a place where both parties agree with each other ... set, fixed and joint ... betrothed. Going in the same direction. Focused with each other, unselfish ...
This is also true about our relationship with Abba and Abba with us.
But, somehow the invitation is corrupted
Somehow, by means of crafty and perverted translation, we have made ourselves unworthy of such ...
And thus, Abba calls us to repentance in the New Testament.
Repent?
Does He?
And what does it mean?
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Rom 2:4
In fact, Abba does not call us to repent.
He calls us to metanoia.
Yip, metanoia (or repentance … so we think …)
Only, this word had been blatantly corrupted and perverted all through the translation thereof ...
There is something this word is not!
Metanoia does not call us to:
Turn from our wicked ways or ...
Turn or burn;
List our sins to be forgiven;
Turn around from our sins or be lost;
Name our sins and confess them one by one;
Pay penance for our sins;
Remind ourselves of our sins and do something to come into right-standing with Him ...
No!
There is something this word IS?
Yes!
The original Greek word for repent is metanoia, which means to be with understanding.
It has nothing to do with repentance!
Then what happened in the English translation thereof?
Instead of taking translation from the original Greek (metanoia), English translators took the word (repent or repentance) from the Latin translation of the New Testament.
Repentance carries with it the whole Catholic concept of paying penance that gave birth to the very same (or similar) rituals, traditions and beliefs found in mostly all denominations. Only, the early English translators took it one step further - instead of just paying penance, you now have to re-pent. That means paying penance again and again.
All this as if the cross never happened.
The original
The original Greek word metanoia, that is actually used in the Bible, paints a totally different picture.
Metanoia is a composite of two Greek words: (1) the base word noia or nous which means understanding and (2) the prefix meta which means with or having or in line with.
Thus, metanoia means with understanding B (or along with the understanding).
However, there is a flip-side
The opposite of to be with understanding is to be without understanding.
That's really deep. I know.
In the Greek we get this opposite word by adding the prefix a to the base word noia. The word then is anoia (with the distinct meaning of having no understanding or madness).
Significantly, the word anoia occurs only twice in the New Testament.
The first time we find anoia is in Luke 6:11 where the Pharisees were filled with madness as soon as Jesus healed a man with a cripple hand on the Sabbath.
The second time we find anoia is in 2 Timothy 3:9 where the apostle Paul warns against the infiltration of false teachers spreading folly to creep unto men giving an ear to it. They are referred to as those without understanding.
No walking together with anoia.
And then there is also paranoia
By adding the prefix para (meaning against, beside, along with (not with), opposite) to the base Greek word noia, we get paranoia.
The word paranoia is used in the New Testament only once.
The only appearance of paranoia is in 2 Peter 2:18 and it is translated as madness. It is used to describe the donkey of Balaam intervening against the madness (or the standing against or non-understanding or twisted-understanding) of Balaam by speaking to him. Do yourself a favour and read it. It brings about a lot of understanding (pun intended).
No walking together with paranoia.
Back to metanoia
So, we have 24 instances where the word metanoia is used in the New Testament. In every instance it is translated into the English text as repent (to pay penance, which Jesus already did).
Yet, the Greek form of the word is used to promote our understanding with (or inline, along with or to agree with) the understanding, the noia of Abba.
Repentance steals your joy, while metanoia fuels our joy and adds to your joy.
If we are to agree with the understanding (noia) of Abba … then what is the noia of Abba?
Abba does not hide His noia from us. In fact, He is very clear on His thinking when it comes to us.
Jesus is His thinking about us.
That He fully carried our sins!
That He has placed us without spot or blemish before Him!
That He has clothed us with a cloak of righteousness!
That He has made us blameless!
That He has made us holy!
That He justified us!
That He can never again see our sins! Completely forgiven!
That He has sanctified us!
That we are His beloved, pure bride!
So, when not agreeing with this clear message of His Good Gospel or to think in any way differently, would be ...
Well, it would be to go against everything that Christ had accomplished by His finished work.
... anything contrary to this ... is anoia and paranoia. Essentially, it is a concious decision to go against that understanding.
It is to be without understanding. Or to be parallel (against), but not of the same ... with twisted understanding. It is to be with unbelief and doubt (see here).
… walking in the other direction …
We are called to repent
So, when John the Baptist and later on Jesus calls out repent (metanoia) for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mat 3:2; Mat 4:17), the call is to be with understanding, to agree with God that He did exactly what He had promised and what was prophesied. He sent His Beloved Son to die for all so that none may fall away (in anoia).
How incredibly precious is that?!
And His Holy Spirit reminds us of exactly that.
Let us agree
And now we may metanoia and agree with Paul on just how close the Kingdom of God has come to us.
Paul says the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart. Rom 10:8
Amen!
PS: In our next post we'll be looking at how Paul warns us against those being without understanding (those with anoia) preaching something other than pure Grace and perverting the Gospel. Don't miss it!
And then ... what about confessing?
We'll also be looking at the word confess in our third post in the series With Understanding.