Deuteronomy 33:3 Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.

Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Reading in Hosea recently I found the words saints used and got curious about the Old Testament use of that word. The translation from Hebrew to English is often different than the translation from Greek to English for the same words.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that in this case the definitions of the Hebrew word godesh and the Greek word hagios translated saint are identical.

They bother mean consecrated, set aside unto God, holy, morally blameless.

So many times I have found differences in the translation in Hebrew and Greek into English that require me to understand the definitions in terms of OT vs NT usage. It is easy to confuse the two and keeping that in mind as I read might not always be at the forefront of my mind.

It is pleasing to me that saints are viewed and treated the same by God in the OT and the NT. The differences are often seen as they relate to righteous law (OT) and righteous love (NT). In this case however they relate to God’s attitude and view of the people He holds in relationship.

It is how Enoch, who had no law to follow and no Christ as an example, could walk with God and please God. The faithfulness of God is unwavering and unchanged throughout time.

It is God’s faith imputed to us that makes the difference. Not in who we are or what we do because God can and does change us.

What happens when we break faith?

That is a question for another day.

Acts 17:19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

A few days ago I said that the placement of 1 Corinthians 15:33 in context would require another study. In order to understand who Paul is speaking to in context, we should know a little about these people. The people of Corinth are not far from Athens and the significance of Areopagus is not lost on them.

The Roman name for Areopagus is Mars Hill and it served as the meeting place for the Areopagus Court, the highest court in Greece for civil, criminal, and religious matters. Even under Roman rule in the time of the New Testament, Mars Hill remained an important meeting place where philosophy, religion, and law were discussed.

These were Greek thinkers who regularly engaged in lofty conversations which exceeded the boundaries of earthly affairs. Intelligent men came there to flex their intellectual muscles. What Paul had to say in 1^st Corinthians 15 would have inspired these thinkers to return to their way of expanding their conversations beyond that of everyday life.

1 Corinthians 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Paul issues a warning in the middle of these lofty thoughts to bring these great thinkers back down to the reality of the day. Not everyone within earshot participated at Areopagus and it would be bad manners to exclude them from these talks.

1 Corinthians 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

This verse alone is enough to send the intellectual mind off onto a rant of vain imaginations. There are more verses here to spur on vain thoughts if the warning of 1 Cor. 15:33 is not given and heeded.

This is why the quote of the Greek poet Menander was given to men well read.