Please join me on “Good Friday”.  I will deliver 3rd of the “Seven Last Words” St. Luke AME Church (901 40th Ave N) 7:00 pm

Before moving on to the next, the eighth (ninth and tenth) occurrences of ‘pistis/faith’ all in the 3rd verse of Chapter 3 of Paul’s Letter To The Romans, a most interesting stop off in the closing text of Chapter 1.

I want to be clear that my purpose is to take ‘self inventory’ which is a needful thing for most Christians.  It is as clear as Paul states it in the verses immediately following this text as he opens Chapter 2 by saying, “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.”  With this in mind, ‘self-inventory’ will reveal at least one thing, (or two, or three, or four…) that ‘I’ can ponder in repentance for the renewal of ‘my’ life.  Make the World, the Church, the Job, the Home in which I live, a better place.  Romans 1:29-31.

Revised Standard Version: “They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice.  Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips,  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,  foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”

King James Version: “Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:”

Complete Jewish Bible: “They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and vice; stuffed with jealousy, murder, quarrelling, dishonesty and ill-will; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God; they are insolent, arrogant and boastful; they plan evil schemes; they disobey their parents;  they are brainless, faithless, heartless and ruthless.”

New International Version: “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,  slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;  they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”

World English Bible: “being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers,  backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,  without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;”

In ‘charting’ this text on today, I have tarried in parallel of this text to Jesus’ word in Mark 7:21-22— (RSV): “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”

These two texts share ‘Four’ exact characteristics:  1)’poneria/wickedness’;  2) ‘phonoi/murder’;  3) ‘dolos/deceit’; and  4) ‘uperephania/arrogance’.

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