Please remember that a “word study” must confine itself to passages where the actual word is used. There are other references that may – or may not – bear upon the subject under consideration. It is important to distinguish, for example, between simple cause and effect, and “the judgment of God.” Actions do have consequences: it may be simply a result of the way the world works – do not confuse consequences with overt judgments. Only in threatening theological rhetoric is talk about the “final judgment” used in an attempt to bludgeon members of an audience into accepting a list of statements about the nature and purposes of God. There is not a single example in the New Testament record of anything similar being primary – or even present!– in the “evangelistic” message.While classical uses of krino do include the sense of a legal, judicial verdict, there is no sense of divine retribution, and certainly none of “eternal” duration. Although that idea does occur – rarely – in the New Testament, implicit references to judgment are found only in 7 of the 68 uses of aionion (“eternal” or “everlasting”), while all the rest refer to “life” and all sorts of “blessedness.” A related word, krimatos, is only found with one of those seven – Heb.6:2, where it appears on the list of foundational things that need to be “laid aside” in order to move on to maturity (see W.S. #6). In point of fact, the vast majority of references to the judgment of God are addressed to the faithful, for their encouragement and comfort! Romans 2:16, Gal.5:10, I Pet.2:23 and 4:5, and Rev.6:10, 11:18, 16:5-6, 17:1, 18:8, and 19:2 all speak of the eventual vindication of the faithful and the destruction of their persecutors.Another large group of references, Rom.2:16, I Pet.1:17, II Pet.2:1, and Rev. 16:7 and 19:11, emphasize that the judgment of God is consummately fair, and therefore greatly to be desired by folks who have suffered unjust treatment. Heb.4:13 does not use the word, but characterizes a situation where the faithful have nothing to fear: “There’s no created thing concealed from him: everything is naked and exposed to his eyes, with respect to whom the Word (evaluates) us.” John 5:22-30 and much of chapter 8 explain that Jesus himself will judge honestly. Here is a judge that cannot be “bought”!Of course, judgment that is absolutely just and fair can seem like a threat, to anyone who is trying to hide, or get away with something. But for all who have struggled to live faithfully, in a world that does not acknowledge its true King, it presents the joyful prospect of deliverance. I treasure our last conversation with a dear, elderly brother, who, after a lifetime of service to his church, was the victim of vicious false accusations, and had been repudiated by many. He had stood kindly by us, years earlier, when we had been the victims of false gossip. Brother John had been able to retain his radiant love and trust in the Lord’s mercy, and told us: “We can all hold on to this: the Lord knows the truth, and he is the one that is our final judge.” That was a joyful statement of trust – not of fear.

(I am going to divide the consideration of krino into two postings, since the two major aspects of the word (excluding simple courtroom scenes) are both seriously misunderstood.) “Do not pass judgment, so that you all will not be judged.” (Matthew 7:1)“Don’t keep judging according to appearances, but judge just judgment (evaluate things fairly).” (John 7:24) These apparently contradictory statements by Jesus use derivatives of the same word, in each instance: the very same word (krino, krisis) that also refers to God’s final sorting-out at the “end of the ages.” (This latter usage will be dealt with in the next post.) Translating krino is one of those places where a translator must work with extreme caution, and uncommon flexibility, because, frustrating as it is, the Greek words are no more precise than the English. Historical records show the verb, krino, rendered as “to separate or distinguish, to divide, to pick out, to choose the best, to decide disputes or questions, to contend, to compete in games, to evaluate, to esteem, to decide in favor of, to bring to trial, to pass sentence.” The noun, krisis, and occasionally krima, is rendered “decision, choice, selection, verdict, interpretation (as of dreams), a trial of skill or strength, a dispute, an event or issue to be decided, the turning point of a disease, a legal decision.” There is no necessary negative connotation in any of these. Common, non-theological English uses the word “judge” in many of the same ways. Contests, legal decisions, debates or disputes, evaluation of persons or situations all require “judgment.” Please note, consequently, that in neither Greek nor English does the word “judge” automatically imply condemnation – or even disapproval. It may, in fact, indicate the direct opposite! The concepts in question are clarified when a form of krino appears with a prefix:— ana (again, or up) creates anakrino, “to examine closely, to interrogate, to inquire into— dia (through, or toward) creates diakrino,“to distinguish, to separate, to decide, to argue”— epi (upon, over) creates epikrino, “to pass sentence, to assent”— kata (down, against) creates katakrino, “to condemn”— sun (together) creates sungkrino, “to compare.”Unfortunately, these compound forms are used comparatively rarely. Most of the time, we are left to figure out the sense of krino from its context.

My friend’s invitation to an event at her church was kind and gracious. “It’s just a fellowship meeting,” she explained, “Coffee, some board-games, conversation ….” Now, I like coffee. Conversation is pleasant. I can even occasionally enjoy a board-game with the grandkids. But is this “fellowship”? “JUST a fellowship meeting? ” Has the contemporary church forgotten, or has it deliberately rejected, the “length and breadth and height and depth” of that beautiful word, reducing it to softball games and hot dogs? “Fellowship” is the most common translation (12 times) of koinonia, which in other contexts has been rendered “communication (2 x), communion (4 x), contribution (1 x), and distribution (1 x).” Historically, it was quite a versatile word, used of joint business ventures, charitable contributions, the routine associations of human society, and even marriage! The verb form could refer to almost any sort of a co-operative effort — even crime! –while the adjective refers to things held in common by corporations, willingness to share among members of a group, and partaking of either the suffering or the good fortune of one’s fellows. In the New Testament, the usage is also varied: these related words can refer to something as mundane as James and John’s partnership in their father’s fishing business (Lk.5:10), or as amazingly ultimate as Peter’s description of believers’ actually participating in the glory of the Lord Jesus at his coming (I Peter 5:1)! The word only appears twice in the Gospels — the previously mentioned passage in Luke, and Mt.23:30, where Jesus warns his opponents of “sharing” (koinonon) in the deeds of those who had stoned the prophets. Interestingly, the word seems to have acquired broader and deeper meaning in the church after Pentecost. Might a new slant on koinonia be connected to the power Jesus promised when he instructed the baffled disciples to “wait around” for the coming of the Holy Spirit? The New Testament usage certainly changes after that momentous occasion.

John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judaea, announcing, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the ‘sin’ (failures, faults, shortcomings, offences) of the world!” From that time, Jesus proceeded to welcome all who chose to follow him, as members of his family, citizens of his Kingdom, participants in a community of folks who were in the process of being redeemed, transformed, re-created as members of the Body of Christ! Ironically, high on the list of topics co-opted by the creators of creed and dogma as weapons or ammunition for laying heavy and unwarranted guilt-trips on those people is the concept of “forgiveness of sins.” Their signal success at distorting the message of Jesus in this regard (whether deliberately or inadvertently is not mine to judge) is due to a serious misunderstanding of both words. Each represents an instance of multiple Greek words (and therefore very different ideas) having been lumped together and expressed by one single word in most English translations. There are three different words which have been rendered “forgive” by most translators: apoluo (translated “forgive” only twice, out of 69 appearances in the New Testament), which most frequently signifies simple departure from a place, or sending away; charizomai (translated “forgive” in 11 of 23 occurrences), more often used of the gracious gifts of God for the needs and service of his people; and aphiemi (47 out of 144 occurrences), for which the most common translation is simply “leave.” It is interesting to note that none of these includes any implication of “forget”, with which it is so frequently paired in modern rhetoric. Although the gracious generosity inherent in charizomai is an important component of a correct understanding of forgiveness, and noted in Eph.4:32 and Col.3:13 as the model for our treatment of one another, I choose here to focus on the more usual term, aphiemi, because it has been so grossly misunderstood. Etymologically, aphiemi is made up of a prefix, apo, “away from”, and the verb, hiemi, “to send away, to discharge, to set free, to release, to dismiss, to acquit of a charge, to put away or divorce, to get rid of, to leave, to cancel.” Adding a prefix to such a word tends to strengthen it in the direction of the prefix (“away from”), indicating a sense of removal. Notice, “ignore” is NOT on that list of definitions. Nobody is saying, “Oh, that’s ok, it doesn’t matter.” It DOES matter: it matters so much that the situation in question needs to be removed — taken away — disposed-of. (please see posting #6.) Aphiemi does not describe a clever lawyer getting his client off the hook without penalty for his crimes. It is the error that is removed.

Nearly thirty years had passed since all the wonderful events recorded in the introductions to Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts of the ministry of Jesus. After so long, did even the participants begin to wonder if it had all been just a beautiful dream? That can happen so easily, when hope is long deferred. Did anyone remember the prophecies, the promises, the wonder of those days? Then, suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a strange figure appeared at the edge of the Judaean desert, reminiscent of the prophets many centuries before, both in his rather scruffy appearance, his odd behavior, and his compelling, unequivocating message. “Metanoeite!” he thundered. “The promised Kingdom has arrived!” English expositors have rendered that command, “Repent!”, and subsequently distorted it into a demand for repetitive, coerced assent to the sentence of guilt that they have concocted against their target audience. Oddly, neither Jesus, nor John, nor any of the later messengers, associated that call, either with violations of any list of forbidden thought or behavior, or with any convoluted connection to Adam and Eve in the garden. The word they chose was much more vital than either. Interestingly, it appears only 34 times in the entire New Testament, but the idea is pervasive. Metanoeite, a present imperative form, never carried any implication of “I’m so sorry I was naughty — I must be a terrible person!” or “oops! I was caught!”. Metanoeite indicates a total and radical change of one’s mind / orientation / behavior / purpose — and results in a complete transformation of life. It represents a shift of focus from one’s former, self-centered concerns to a singular focus on the ways and goals of the Kingdom. Such a transformation takes a while — thus the use of the present tenses. Remember that the present tense, especially in the imperative mood, indicates a sustained, not punctiliar action. But that the results are expected to be seen in one’s behavior was well understood. This is obvious in the question posed by John’s listeners: “What shall we do?” Look at the description of his interviews in Luke 3:10-14.