It is the small words that make a big difference in understanding the Bible. In a book I’m reading at the moment, the author writes, “God uses three Greek prepositions to reveal “in Christ” truth.” I would probably include more than three but they are enough to get deep into vital truth.
David Spurbeck in The Christian “In Christ” continues…
- “The preposition eis describes how the believer is placed into Christ.
- The preposition en describes one’s location … with its position and possessions.
- The preposition sun describes the relationship between believers with one another and with the Head, Jesus Christ.
An understanding of each of these will help the believer live a spiritual life that will lead toward maturity.”
Eis is commonly translated “into”, en is mostly translated “in”, and sun is translated “with”. I would add ek, “out of”, as part of the process of the believer being translated from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son.
“In Christ I have an identity.
In Christ He is all my dignity.
In Christ is my only integrity.
In Christ He assures my eternity.”
The point of all this is that we should be aware of the enormous impact of little words and the big theological words will hopefully become clearer.
Hi — It’s so good to see how God is revealing truth to His own. Thanks for sharing.
What great insight little words provide. Thanks for your website and continued efforts to inform the Christian of who he is in Christ. That word in or the greek word en denotes a fixed location. I saw that same word en in Romans chapter 8, where Paul tells us that we are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. Thanks Peter