Never Settle for Ordinary

[stephenroehm]

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
John 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
John 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

In verse 20, evil is defined as "ordinary, normal, easy, and worthless". God desires us to go above ordinary and normal and easy. Live with vigor, with passion, with hunger, with desire, with a desperate seeking, following, and loving of God. He came so we could have life, and it more abundantly. Don't let normal overtake you and don't let ordinary be your focus. Consecrate yourself to a passionate, intimate, burning love-affair with Jesus.

[Michael The Disciple]

The same Greek word is used here as "evil".

Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice, 5:29 and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. John 5:29

In both the verses Strongs defines the Greek word as meaning FOUL, FLAWY, WICKED.

Please check it out.

Altho I agree with the idea living a "normal" life does not make one a Christian. A Christian is not normal to the world rather we are children of light!

[stephenroehm]

I did check it out. According to Thayer's Greek definitions, it is defined as:

G5337

phaulos

Thayer Definition:

1) easy, slight, ordinary, mean, worthless, of no account
2) ethically, bad, base, wicked

According to the definition and within the context of the verse, the lifestyle which is easy and ordinary is the same as being worthless and ethically bad to God. It's the same principle as "I'd rather you be cold or hot...". I like Strong's Dictionary but I also like Thayer's. It expands more, adds contextual definitions as to how the word is used in Scripture, and also adds more historical and geographical facts. It's a part of e-sword. I'd recommend the program and the add-on, they are both pretty good. Brown-Driver-Brigg's Hebrew Definitions is also a free add-on for it and is similar to Thayer's, only for the OT.

[Praxeas]

You guys need to realize that your online "Thayers" is nothing more than a list words taken from the real "Thayers" Lexicon. It doesn't tell you where and how it is translated that way

You can't just pick and choose what definition you want to use for a Greek word

Zodhaites Wordstudies
phaúlos; fem. phaúlē, neut. phaúlon, adj. Vile, evil, wicked, foul, corrupt, good-for-nothing, depraved, worthless, mediocre, unimportant. In the NT, used of evil deeds (Joh_3:20; Joh_5:29; Jam_3:16), statements (Tit_2:8). See Sept.: Pro_22:8.

A.T. Robertson
That doeth ill (ho phaula prassōn). The word phaulos means first worthless and then wicked (usually so in N.T.) and both senses occur in the papyri. In Joh_5:29 see contrast between agatha poieō (doing good things) and phaula prassō (practising evil things).

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by stephenroehm

According to the definition and within the context of the verse, the lifestyle which is easy and ordinary is the same as being worthless and ethically bad to God. It's the same principle as "I'd rather you be cold or hot...". I like Strong's Dictionary but I also like Thayer's. It expands more, adds contextual definitions as to how the word is used in Scripture, and also adds more historical and geographical facts. It's a part of e-sword. I'd recommend the program and the add-on, they are both pretty good. Brown-Driver-Brigg's Hebrew Definitions is also a free add-on for it and is similar to Thayer's, only for the OT.

Thayers was obsolete before it was even Published. Strongs is ancient and outdated and is merely a dictionary of words used in the KJV

BTW Thayers says Phaulos should be translated as "ill",

Here is what a real "Lexicon" looks like

φαῦλος, η, ον (Trag., Pre-Socr., Hdt.+; pap, LXX; TestSol 8:9; apolog. exc. Ar.) in Gk lit. ranging in mng. fr. ‘easy, light, simple’ to ‘common, bad’.
① pert. to being low-grade or morally substandard, base (Soph., X., Pla. et al.; LXX; EpArist 142; Philo; Jos., Vi. 41, C. Ap. 1, 53; SibOr 3, 362 [w. ἄδικος]. πᾶς φ. ἀνόητός ἐστιν Orig., C. Cels. 3, 74, 3) πρᾶγμα Js 3:16. ἔργον 1 Cl 28:1 (cp. Just., D. 14, 3). οἱ φ. those who are base 36:6, i.e. those who do not reflect in their behavior the high status they could enjoy as pers. destined for ‘deathless knowledge’ (see 36:2; cp. Epict. 4, 1, 3; 5; 4, 5, 8; Philo; Jos., Bell. 2, 163 [opp. οἱ ἀγαθοί]; Just., A I, 16, 3; Iren. 4, 37, 2 [Harv. II 286, 1]. Sing.: Did., Gen. 161, 8). μηδὲν ἔχων λέγειν περὶ ἡμῶν φαῦλον if he has nothing bad to say about us Tit 2:8 (cp. Plut., Mor. 717b οὐ φαύλως εἰπεῖν said of one who does not speak flippantly or without sufficient thought). πράσσειν τι ἀγαθὸν ἢ φαῦλον Ro 9:11 (v.l. κακόν 1b [q.v.]. The contrast ἀγ. and φαῦλ. as Pla., Protag. 326e τῶν ἀγαθῶν πατέρων πολλοὶ υἱεῖς φαῦλοι γίγνονται ‘many sons of respected fathers turn out to be worthless’ noting the contrast between socially responsible parents and irresponsible children; Just. A I, 43, 2; A II, 9, 4; T. Kellis 22, 48; cp. Aeschin., Ctesiphon 174 opp. καλός); (τὰ) φαῦλα πράσσειν (Theoph. Ant. 1, 3 [p. 62, 22]) J 3:20; 5:29 (Just., A I, 44, 5). κομίσασθαι … πρὸς ἃ ἔπραξεν, εἴτε ἀγαθὸν εἴτε φαῦλον 2 Cor 5:10 may refer to the performance of those under judgment: whether one has led a high-grade or a low-grade life, or more prob. (s. κομίζω 3) to be understood as

Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.) (1050). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Here is a screen shot of the actual Thayers Lexicon, not the Thayers words that comes with Esword

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/...s=G5337&t=NKJV

I recommend saving up for a program like Logos Library or BibleWorks for serious exegetical studies.

[stephenroehm]

Praxaeus, the screenshot that you linked to from the "actual" Thayer's Lexicon contains the EXACT same information as what I posted just in a different format and the citation of Zodhaites and AT Robertson also contain extremely similar information. What is your point? All I see is that you want to try to appear to be more intelligent than other people who are using the same "outdated, ancient, and obsolete" means of study that you yourself cited in your example.

Nice double standard.

While we're at it, let's look at some of the definitions used by the "serious" Lexicon you posted:

Easy, light, simple, common, bad, being low-grade or morally substandard, those who do not reflect in their behavior the high status they could enjoy as pers. destined for ‘deathless knowledge’, one who does not speak flippantly or without sufficient thought, the contrast between socially responsible parents and irresponsible children, may refer to the performance of those under judgment: whether one has led a high-grade or a low-grade life.

"Easy, light, simple, common, bad, being low-grade or morally substandard" are exactly the same or synonymous with the definitions I posted.

"Those who do not reflect in their behavior the high status they could enjoy as persons destined for 'deathless knowledge'" is the essence of the message that I was conveying in the OP.

"One who does not speak flippantly or without sufficient thought" and "the contrast between socially responsible parents and irresponsible children" are the only potential definitions that weren't represented in the OP and in the "outdated" resource I used.

Zodhaites adds Vile, evil, wicked, foul, corrupt, good-for-nothing, depraved, worthless, mediocre, unimportant. Again, these are exactly the same or synonymous with the definitions I posted. Robertson simply uses worthless and wicked, again synonymous or exactly the same as what I posted.

According to the sources you cited, you have actually done more to support my original post that equates "ordinary, normal, and easy" Christian living with that which is "low-grade, bad, morally substandard, evil, or wicked".

Now do you want to continue trying to convince me that my study is substandard or do you want to discuss the content of the message, which is that those who practice lacy-grace and counterfeit Christianity hate the light and refuse to come to it because they don't want their lifestyle to be exposed, which would put them in a position where they could either continue living an unpleasing lifestyle in the eyes of God or conform to His ways?