Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγέννηται
Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων = the ones who are continually believing (present active nominative participle)
ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγέννηται = out of the God have been begotten (made children of God) (perfect indicative passive)
It cannot be insisted that the Greek tenses for both "believing ones" and "begotten" prove conclusively that the birth precedes the initial act of faith in Christ. Many Greek scholars affirm this (even those who are inclined to believe that the tenses of those two words lend credence to the born again before faith view), acknowledging that this is not necessarily so, not a universal rule. Is it possible that the Greek construction allows for the idea that the birth precedes and causes the believing? Yes, but can it be shown conclusively that this is the case in this text? No. Neither side can rely on the Greek tenses of the participle and verb to determine which of the two (believing and being begotten), if any, precedes the other. Most, from both sides of the debate, agree that faith and birth go together so that one does not exist without the other.
"All the ones believing that Jesus is the Christ" is the subject, a participle (verb functioning as a noun or as a substantive) and "is born of God" is the predicate, containing a statement about the subject.
"Believing" Is Not Initial Believing
Why does John not speak of "believing" in the same tense as "begotten"? He could have said "the ones who have believed have been begotten," in which case the tenses would be the same or perfect tense. Further, had John written it that way it would have been a true statement. But he did not write it that way. Could it not be because John did not want to focus on the initial act of believing but rather upon continual believing? Is it not because John knew about "temporary" believers, those who "believe for a while and then fall away"? (The heretics John has in mind in this epistle fell away and this showed that they were not real believers who continued in the faith, says he) He would not give any assurance to those who believe once but who failed to continue believing and so speaks of those who are continual believers in contrast to shallow or thorny ground believers, who are not such. That is my view, however it is argued by some that "whoever is believing that Jesus is the Christ" does refer to the one time act of faith that begins the life of a believer. I do agree that present tense verbs and participles do not always denote continuous action (linear) and can function like the aorist tense and be functionally punctiliar. However, the idea of action in motion, or linear, is most frequent, as most scholars seem to agree.
The "believing" of "the believing ones" does not exclusively refer to the first act of faith, to the time when a person initially "becomes" a believer (when the soul receives Christ), but to believing that is continuous or linear, and thus "believing" is set it in contrast to the being "begotten," which is a one time act, not linear, not continuous, though its effects are linear and regular.
Another reason that John does not speak in the past tense about believing ("those who have believed") is because he wants to focus on the life of faith, and not on initial believing. The way to avoid doing this is to speak of "believing" linearly, as ongoing faith, on the practice and habit of believing, and not on the initial act that began the practice of believing. With this in mind we may therefore translate as equivalents these expressions: "the ones who are practicing believers" or "the ones living a life of faith." So, in this case, John is saying that the life of a Christian begins with a birth. But, does it not also in scripture say that the believer's life begins with faith? We can say that the Christian life begins both with a birth and with faith.
All this is said to show that even if we allow that the grammar affirms that birth precedes continuous believing, for this I allow, this does not equate with saying that the birth preceded the initial act of faith (that brought union with Christ). It likely means that the birth preceded the ongoing life of faith, not initial believing, or when faith is first given or begotten. In agreement with this said Dr. David Allen:
"Furthermore, with respect to 1 John 5:1, contextually the simple initial act of believing is not under consideration by John. John is talking about the ongoing life of faith as a believer. Obviously, the new birth precedes the ongoing life of faith. But that is something altogether different from saying the new birth precedes the initial act of faith." (See
here)
The same is true with I John 2: 29 that says "every one that does righteousness is born of him." It is the same Greek construction as I John 5: 1. "Everyone that does" could also be translated as "everyone who is doing." But, "does" may be alright and preferred, depending upon the kind of present tense/aspect are the words "doing/does" and "believing," for there are several kinds as we will shortly mention. Beginning a life of righteousness is coextensive with being born of God. But, so too does it begin when faith is begotten, as the apostle will speak about in the immediate verses following verse one. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." At the first act of faith righteousness is accounted or reckoned to the guilty sinner, and makes him righteous in the sight of God and his law.
Again, it is a truth that "everyone who is living righteously has been born of God." But, this is a far cry from supporting the idea that birth precedes faith. Both faith and regeneration, along with the abiding presence of Christ and the Spirit, are required to live righteously. There are causes of faith and there are effects of faith. Is birth or regeneration alone sufficient without faith to please God or live righteously? Faith is everywhere in the bible the instrument of union with Christ, and regeneration follows union. A similar statement about doing righteousness are these words:
"But in every nation he that fears (present participle) him, and works (present participle) righteousness, is (present) accepted with him." (Acts 10: 35)
Here the same thing is said as in I John 2: 29 except that for "is begotten" Luke has "is accepted."
So, we grant that the birth precedes doing righteousness. And we grant that birth precedes the life of faith. But, that is not the same as saying that regeneration is not by faith in its beginning.
The Tense From The Author's Perspective
Dr. Allen said
"the timing of the perfect tense ‘have been born’ is relative to John’s writing of the epistle, rather than relative to ‘believes’." Tenses for verbs and participles may be chosen by the writer or author to reflect the time aspect of events or happenings from his standpoint (at the time of his writing). The perfect indicative of "begotten" represents an action occurring prior to the time of the author's utterance of the fact.
There are Christians who persevered in their believing and there are those who fell away in the epistle of John, who did not abide in faith or continue believing. John says something about those who were not of this class of believers, but rather of that class of believers who persisted in their belief of the word of God, of those who habitually believe that Jesus is the Christ. John is observing things from his point in time and the people he wishes to make a predicate statement regarding are people who are characterized in their creed and conduct as believers, and people who do not quit believing and adhering. He says of them as a class that they "have been born of God." What other tense could he possibly use?
He could have used the present tense for "is begotten" and if viewed linearly then the birth would be seen as a process rather than as a one time act (a view held by many, including Baptists who saw birth as a process from conception to birth). But, this also would have given the idea that maybe such believers were not yet fully born and fail to foster assurance of present salvation. He could have used the aorist present or aorist perfect tense and if the latter, then it would simply be an affirmation that regular believers were born of God without any idea as to the time when it occurred. It would then be only simple statement of fact that it had occurred sometime in the past. But, this too would not be acceptable for the aorist perfect does not allow for effects of that past event to be continuing in the present. The aorist simply states the fact that an action has happened. It gives no information on how long it took, or whether the results are still in effect.
So, the perfect tense for "begotten" is the only possible way of expressing that action, especially as it relates to those who of the believing class. Such a perfect tense verb when used with a gnomic present subjunctive participle does not indicate, in this case, that the action of being born preceded the action of believing.
The perfect tense of "begotten" indicates a completed action or existing state relative to the time of the speaker or writer. So John is telling his readers that the new birth of all those continually believing that Jesus is the Christ is completed. This serves John’s overall purpose of allowing his readers to know that they have eternal life by providing them tests. Do I have ongoing faith? Yes? That means I was born again at some time in the past.
Gnomic & Universal Present
"All thinking people (present active) have come to realize (perfect passive) this truth."
This sentence is structured just as I John 5: 1. Do we mean by the above sentence that realization occurred before and caused the thinking? No; And the reason is that "thinking people" is a gnomic present tense, a universal present. So too in I John 5: 1. So we can say "all thinking people" means "all thinkers of the past, present and future."
Greek professor Daniel Wallace wrote the following about the "gnomic present":
“The gnomic present is distinct from the customary present in that customary present refers to a regularly recurring action while the gnomic present refers to a general, timeless fact…The gnomic present is generally atemporal.”
That is probably the case with I John 5: 1 and I John 2: 29. Said Wallace further:
"Further, the present participle, especially in such formulaic expression Πᾶς ὁ + present participle and the like, routinely belong here." (Greek Grammar here)
Πᾶς ὁ + present participle is what we have in I John 5: 1 and Wallace says such expression "routinely belongs" to such a gnomic class of present tense.
The gnomic present is the present tense used to make a statement of a general, timeless fact. It does not say that something is happening, but that something does happen. The action or state continues without time limits. An example of this is in 2 Cor 9: 7 - "God loves [as a general, timeless fact] a cheerful giver." The gnomic present is used to express a universal truth, a maxim, a commonly accepted fact, a state or condition which perpetually exists, and a very widespread practice or custom.
Wallace (pp. 615-616) continues, “Many substantival participles in the NT are used in generic utterances" and says that "most of these instances involve the present participle." I John 5: 1 is an example of this kind of substantive participle. I John 5: 1 was a maxim in John's day and it has continued to be such since within the Christian community.
Thus, by "all believing persons" we may interpret as "all who have believed in the past, present, or future have been born of God." And, such a structure does not affirm that the birth occurred prior to and caused the believing. John certainly understood that the believers he was encouraging were not only presently believing but that they had been believing for quite awhile. The universal aspect of the present tense in such gnomic presents would include the idea of a past believing as well as the present continuation of that believing. Thus we may view the words of John as saying "all who have believed and are still believing now have been born of God." In this case there is no precedent in time between believing and being born.
There are also what are called "Broad-Band Presents," where the present tense is used to describe an action that, begun in the past, continues in the present, though the emphasis is on the present time. Luke 15: 29 - "I have served you (present) for these many years." Here the present tense includes the past tense. There is also the "Iterative Present," where the present tense may be used to describe an event that repeatedly happens. There is also the "customary" or general present which denotes lifestyle, what is customary. The customary present is used to signal either (1) an action that regularly occurs or (2) an ongoing state. The action is usually iterative, or repeated, but not without interruption.
Luke 18:12 I [customarily] fast twice a week.
1 John 3: 6 "No one who lives in him keeps on sinning [as a lifestyle]." There is also what is called the "Durative Present" and is an action or a state of being which began in the past and is described as continuing until the present. Again, that may very well be the kind of present in I John 5: 1.
If "whosoever is believing" is a gnomic present participle or a durative present, then we should view the words in this manner - "whoever has in the past believed and continues to believe has been born of God." "Whoever is believing" therefore does not exclude the idea of past believing. We cannot construe John to be saying "whoever is now believing (but not in the past) has been born of God."
Also, John's intention is not to say that birth produces faith (for this would be to contradict what he elsewhere taught in agreement with other apostle's teachings).
The structure of John's maxim, as well as John's intent, was not to show that the birth produced the faith but to show that both are coterminous. Where there is ongoing faith there is begotten status, and where there is begotten status there is faith. This is because they are inseparably joined and so we say that whoever has faith has experienced new birth and whoever has experienced the birth has faith. In other words, where there is no faith there is no birth, and where there is no birth there is no faith.
Paul says we are "sons of God by faith in Christ." (Gal. 3: 26) They are sons by birth, but the birth that makes sons is by faith.
John said "to as many as received him to them gave he the right to become the children of God." (John 1: 12) Here clearly birth follows believing and receiving, that is to say, it follows union with Christ."Becoming children" (tekna denoting one begotten) of God follows receiving Christ. It must be so because faith is the medium of union with Christ.
A similar present active participle are the words "ho baptizon" = "the baptizing one" or "the Baptist." But, that is what may be said at any time, even at times when John was not presently baptizing. It would include his practice of baptizing, whether in the past or present, or future. So we may view the present participle of I John 5: 1 similarly and say "the believing ones" and this would not exclude their past believing.
The conclusion of all this leads us to say that if we allow that the present tense nominative active participle, a substantive, "the ones believing" (ὁ πιστεύων) includes past believing, then the argument for the past tense of "begotten" (have been begotten) becomes null and void.
Born Through The Preached Word
"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever...Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you." (I Peter 1: 22,23,25)
"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth." (James 1: 18)
The apostles taught that being born of God, being born of the Spirit, is by means of the word of God preached, by the word of truth, or as Paul says "begotten through the gospel" (I Cor. 4: 15). John taught the same truth, not eliminating hearing the word of God as the instrument of their birth. This being so we may read I John 5: 1 as follows: "Whoever is believing has been born of God through the word of truth and God." It is all the same Greek structure. Born "of" God but "by" or "through" the word (logos or discourse or preaching). The source of the new birth is God and his Spirit and the instrument of it is the word, especially the word preached.
But, how through the word? Apart from believing the word? Are unbelievers also begotten through the word preached? If anyone is begotten by the word he is begotten because he believes it. Many hear the word of the gospel and who do not believe it. They were not born again by the word of God heard by them. This being true, I John 5: 1 cannot contradict it, which is what the born again before faith view affirms in their insistence that the birth precedes the faith in that passage. This is why many of them are forced into affirming that the word of God is not a means in the new birth but is only a means after birth for post birth salvation.
Faith Is Born Of God
"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (vs 4-5)
In these verses which follow our main text (I John 5: 1) are some pertinent things to observe in regard to how to interpret verse one. We notice how what is said about being "born of God" is also said about "faith." Victory and overcoming are ascribed to both the new birth and to faith. Also, both persons and their faith are "born or begotten of God." Were the people begotten before faith was begotten? If so, would that not be two births rather than one? Would it not be better to say that the people themselves, in their souls and spirits, were born of God at the same time that faith was born in them?
No comments:
Post a Comment