Bible verses about "trustworthiness" | JMNT

⁶ Jesus then says to him, "I Myself am (exist being) the Way (or: Path), the Truth (the Reality) and the Life (or: = I am the way to really live). No one is presently going to, or progressively coming toward, the Father, except through Me (through means of Me, or, through the midst of Me).

³⁵ "Since He said 'gods' [= elohim] to whom God's Word (or: Logos) came to be (or: toward whom the Idea, whose source and origin is God, was birthed; toward whom God's message proceeded and was directed into existence) – and it is not possible (or: there is no power) for the Scripture [= the Tanakh] to be loosened, to be undone so as to nullify, or to be destroyed –

¹ Consequently, brothers, I am repeatedly calling you folks alongside to exhort, implore and encourage you, through God's compassions to stand your bodies alongside (or: to set or place your bodies beside) [the] Well-pleasing, Set-apart (Holy; Different-from-the-usual), Living Sacrifice by God (or: in God; for God; to God; with God), [this being] your sacred service which pertains to thought, reason and communication (or: your reasoned and rational service; the logical and Word-based service from you folks).

³ For, through the grace and favor being suddenly given to me, I am saying to (or: for) everyone being among you folks not to be continually over-opinionated or elated (to be constantly hyper-thinking to the point of being haughty, arrogant or having a sense of superiority; to be habitually over-thinking issues; to constantly mind things above; to be overweening) beyond what is necessary (binding; proper), but rather to think (mind; be disposed) into the disposition to be sane and of a sound mind, as God divides and distributes (or: parted) to, in and for each one a measure of faith (a meted amount of firm persuasion; a measured portion of trust; a [specific or allotted] ration of confidence and loyalty). ⁴ For you see, just as (or: according to what is encompassed) in one body we continuously have (constantly hold and possess) many members, yet all the members do not have the same mode of acting (do not constantly hold the same function), ⁵ thus we, the many, are and continue to exist being one body within Christ (in union with [the] Anointed), yet individually (or: the situation being in accord with one), members of one another (or: but still, [being] on one level, [are] members whose source is, and who belong to, each other).

² And stop constantly conforming yourselves to (or, as passive: So then, quit being repeatedly molded by, fashioned for or patterned together with) this age [with other MSS: and not to be continuously configured to this age, or not to constantly remodel yourself for this age], but on the contrary, be progressively transformed (transfigured; changed in form and semblance) by the renewing (or: in the renewal; for the making-back-up-new again) of your mind [with other MSS: from The Mind; of the intellect; pertaining to the faculties of perceiving and understanding; of the mindset, disposition, inner orientation and world view] into the [situation and condition for] you folks to be habitually examining in order to be testing and, after scrutiny, distinguishing and approving what [is] God's will (design; purpose; resolve; intent): the good and well-pleasing, even perfect (finished, complete and destined)! (or: = the thing [that is] virtuous, satisfying and able to succeed in its purpose.)

⁶ Now constantly holding (having; possessing) excelling grace-effects (or: gracious results of favor that carry-through), down from, in accord with and to the level of the grace and joyous favor being given to us, in us and for us, whether prophecy – [let it be] down from and in line with the above-word of the faith (or: in accord with the analogy of the loyalty; according to the proportion of trust; following the pattern of the corresponding relationship that pertains to the Faith; down along the upward-thought of faith or the up-message of the belief; in accordance with conformability from the faithfulness; on the level of the correspondence and ratio of confidence); ⁷ or whether serving (thoroughly dispensing in attendance on a duty) – [let us be, or live] in the service (the attendance to the duty; the arrangement for provision; the aid through dispensing); or whether the one constantly teaching – [let the person continue] in the teaching (the instructing or training); ⁸ or whether the person normally performing as a paraclete (one habitually calling alongside to aid, admonish, encourage, exhort and give relief) – [let the person flourish] in the calling alongside to give relief and aid, as well as for admonition, encouragement and exhortation; the one habitually sharing (imparting; giving together) – in simplicity (singleness; or: = with generosity); the one constantly setting himself before [a situation] or being a caregiver (or: standing in front and presiding; or: being in charge of giving care or aid) – in diligent haste (= eagerly); the one continuously mercying (applying mercy) – in cheerfulness (pleasantness; gleeful abandon). ⁹ Love (or: The inner movement toward overcoming existential separation) [is] not overly critical and [does] not [make] hyper-distinctions or excessive divisions or separations (or: [is] unfeigned, unhypocritical and [does] not play a role as an actor). With abhorrence (or: strong detesting) [be] constantly shrinking away from the worthless thing (the bad situation; the painfully toilsome endeavor; the base, cowardly or evil thing) [and be] habitually gluing or welding yourself (attaching yourself and adhering) to The Good One (or: the profitable situation; the virtuous endeavor). ¹⁰ In sisterly love (or: By fond affection, as for members of a family,) unto one another, [be] tenderly affectionate folks who express warm regard, being people constantly taking the lead in the honor (by and with the estimation of value or worth) of one another (or: habitually esteeming one another first in value; constantly giving preference to one another in respect). ¹¹ [Be] eager and in diligent haste – not slothful, lazy or hesitating folks. In the Breath-effect (or: By the Spirit; With this attitude), [be] people constantly boiling hot! For the Lord (or: In the Owner; By the Lord; To the Lord [= Yahweh or Christ]), [be] folks constantly slaving (repeatedly performing as slaves)! ¹² In and with expectation (or: By expectant hope) [be] people continuously rejoicing; in pressure (squeezing; tribulation; compression) [be] folks constantly remaining under to give support (or: humbly enduring); in thinking or by acting, and with speaking, toward having goodness, ease and well-being (or: by and with prayer) [be] people habitually persevering (persisting in adherence and engagement). ¹³ To the (or: For the; In the) needs of the set-apart folks (the holy ones; the saints) [be] people continuously sharing (contributing/participating in partnership from common existence). [Be] folks habitually pursuing (rapidly following; eagerly pressing toward) the love of foreigners (or: Follow the course of hospitality by fondness expressed in kindness to strangers). ¹⁴ You folks keep on speaking well of (or: repeatedly think goodness for; continue blessing) the people consistently pursuing and persecuting you: be continuously blessing (speaking well of [them] or thinking goodness for [them]) and stop cursing (or: you must not continue praying down on, or wishing anything against, [things, situations or people])! ¹⁵ Practice (or: Be constantly) rejoicing with those who are presently or habitually rejoicing, and constantly weep (or: cry; lament) with those presently (or: habitually) weeping; ¹⁶ n this very same vein, continue being folks who are focusing your thinking into one another: not being those constantly setting their minds on the high positions or elite social statuses (or: don't be corporately arrogant), but rather, being folks consistently led away together to the low, humble ones (or: by the humble people; in the low things; = associate with folks of low social standing). You folks must not habitually become people of a particular mind-set (or: Stop engendering corporate arrogance or producing opinionated folks) side-by-side with, and among, yourselves (or: = Stop being those who are wise or conceited in their own opinions and in their own eyes)! ¹⁷ To no person practice giving away (returning or repaying) evil in exchange for evil (ugly in the place of ugly; worthless, bad, ill, unsound, poor quality over against the same)! Habitually being folks taking thought in advance for fine things (or: constantly providing ideal things; continuously giving attention ahead of time with regard to things of good form and quality; repeatedly having forethought for beautiful [situations]) in the sight of all humanity, ¹⁸ since [you are] full of power (or: if capable; if or since able) regarding that which has its source in you folks (or: as to that which proceeds from yourselves corporately), [live] being folks continuously at peace with all mankind (in the midst of all people), ¹⁹ not being folks habitually getting justice for yourselves (not maintaining what is right concerning yourselves; not avenging yourselves), beloved ones, but on the contrary, you folks must yield the position held in anger (or: give a place for [His] natural impulse, propensity, passion and personal emotion; give place to [His] intrinsic fervor; relinquish [your] right to anger or wrath), for it has been written, "'In Me (or: For or By Me) [is] maintenance of justice (execution of the Way pointed out; working out of the right); I Myself will continue giving away, instead (or: I will progressively be making a recompense [to you]; or: I will continue taking the opposing position of giving [it] away; or: in its place, I Myself will repeatedly repay [you]),' the Lord [= Yahweh] is habitually saying." [Deut. 32:25; comment: if we are not to practice giving away evil in exchange for evil (vs. 17, above), then we should not expect the Lord to do this] ²⁰ But further, "If your enemy (the one hostile to you) should perhaps be hungering (or: continues hungry), continue feeding him morsels (supplying him with food); if he may continue thirsting (be constantly thirsty), continue giving drink to him (causing him to drink), for while constantly practicing (performing; doing) this you will progressively pile on and heap up burning coals (embers) of fire upon his head." [Prov. 25:21-22] [comment: the directives of feeding and giving drink correspond to what was to be done for brothers in Matt. 25:35, 40; the metaphor of heaping coals may correspond to Isa. 6:6 where a coal from the incense altar purged sin, so being put on his head may be a picture of purging his thinking; Wuest suggests this as supplying a needed source of fire for someone's home, meeting a desperate need – Word Studies, vol. 1, p. 220; as the first two are blessings, I suggest that this latter also is] ²¹ Do not be habitually conquered under (or: Stop being overcome by) the worthless (the bad of quality; the ugly and unsound; the evil), but to the contrary, be constantly conquering (overcoming; victorious over) the worthless (the unsound, the bad and the ugly; the evil) [by being] in union with The Good One (or: [a participant] within what is profitable; or: in the midst of virtue). [comment: this verse points to a positive interpretation of the burning coals in vs. 20]

¹⁵ But continuously being real and true (living in accord with reality and the facts; holding to, speaking, pursuing and walking in Truth; truthing it) within, and in union with, love, we can grow up (enlarge; increase) into Him the ALL which is the Head: Christ (or: [and] we would in love make all things grow up into Him Who is the head and source: [the] Anointed One)! ¹⁶ from out of Whom (or: out from the midst of Which) all the Body (or: the entire body) being continuously fitted and framed together (made a common joint by a word; laid out and closely joined together) and constantly being knit together and caused to mount up united through every fastening (or: joint) of the supply of rich furnishings (or: through every assimilation of the full supply of funds; through every touch {kindling; setting on fire} of the completely supplied requirements) in accord with (or: down from; commensurate to) the operation (operative, effectual energy) within [the] measure of each one part [other MSS: member], is itself continually making (or: is for itself progressively producing and forming) the growth and increase of the Body, [focused on and leading] into house-construction (or: unto building [up] and edification) of itself within the midst of, and in union with, love.

¹⁶ For we did (or: do) not experientially or intimately make known to you the power and presence (or: ability and [the] being alongside; parousia) of our Lord, Jesus Christ, by following forth in (or: by) wisely made myths (or: in being made wise by myths or fables; or: with fables modified by wisdom; or: to cleverly crafted stories), but rather, [from] becoming (or: being made to be; being birthed) eyewitnesses (onlookers; spectators) of that One's magnificence (or: of that greatness):

¹⁵ "But the one within the ideal soil – these are those folks who, at one point listening to and hearing the Word (the thought; the idea; the message; the Logos) within an ideal (beautiful) and good (virtuous) heart, continue holding [it] down within and retaining [it] – and so they continue bearing fruit (producing a harvest) within the midst of a remaining-under, and in union with endurance (or: in union with a persistent endurance which remains under [the task or burden]).

⁴³ "How (Through what [situation]) is it that you folks consistently do not understand (have personal, experiential knowledge of) the matter of My discourse or the way I’m speaking (= Why don't you understand what I'm saying)? Because you have no power (are unable) to continue hearing My word (or: to repeatedly or progressively listen to My message, thought or idea).

⁴⁵ "On the other hand – because I Myself am continually saying the truth (speaking reality)! – you folks are not presently trusting or believing Me (or: in Me). ⁴⁶ "Who of you is presently correcting Me about error (or: demonstrating a proof about My being wrong; making a convincing argument which refutes Me and exposes Me about having missed the target; convicting me concerning sin)? Since (or: If) I am habitually speaking truth (reality), how (through what [situation]) is it that you folks are not trusting Me or believing in Me? ⁴⁷ "The person continuing in being (existing in essential being) out of the midst of God (= having God as his source and being) is constantly hearing (repeatedly and habitually listening and paying attention to [implies obeying]) the effects of the things God says (results of God's flow of declarations; spoken words from God). Because of this, you folks are not presently in the habit of hearing (or: listening; paying attention [and obeying]): because you are not presently existing from out of God."

⁴⁴ "You folks, in particular, are (exist and have your being) from out of, and have your source in, the ancestor who cast [an object] through [someone] (or: the father, the devil; or: the devil father; or: the father – the one thrusting [words or issues] through [folks/groups] and dividing them), and you are habitually wanting (willing; intending; purposing) to be constantly doing your father's passionate cravings (full-rushing over-desires). That one was existing being a murderer (a killer of humanity) from [his/its] beginning (or: from [the] start; from [its] origin; or: from headship, chieftainhood, government or rule), and he/it has not stood and does not now stand within the Truth (or: it had not made a stand in union with reality), because truth is not (openness and reality does not exist) within him (or: it). Whenever he/it may be speaking the lie, he/it is continuing speaking from out of his own things – because he/it is (or: continues existing being) a liar, and its father [note: either the father of the lie, or of the liar].

¹⁷ To no person practice giving away (returning or repaying) evil in exchange for evil (ugly in the place of ugly; worthless, bad, ill, unsound, poor quality over against the same)! Habitually being folks taking thought in advance for fine things (or: constantly providing ideal things; continuously giving attention ahead of time with regard to things of good form and quality; repeatedly having forethought for beautiful [situations]) in the sight of all humanity, ¹⁸ since [you are] full of power (or: if capable; if or since able) regarding that which has its source in you folks (or: as to that which proceeds from yourselves corporately), [live] being folks continuously at peace with all mankind (in the midst of all people), ¹⁹ not being folks habitually getting justice for yourselves (not maintaining what is right concerning yourselves; not avenging yourselves), beloved ones, but on the contrary, you folks must yield the position held in anger (or: give a place for [His] natural impulse, propensity, passion and personal emotion; give place to [His] intrinsic fervor; relinquish [your] right to anger or wrath), for it has been written, "'In Me (or: For or By Me) [is] maintenance of justice (execution of the Way pointed out; working out of the right); I Myself will continue giving away, instead (or: I will progressively be making a recompense [to you]; or: I will continue taking the opposing position of giving [it] away; or: in its place, I Myself will repeatedly repay [you]),' the Lord [= Yahweh] is habitually saying." [Deut. 32:25; comment: if we are not to practice giving away evil in exchange for evil (vs. 17, above), then we should not expect the Lord to do this] ²⁰ But further, "If your enemy (the one hostile to you) should perhaps be hungering (or: continues hungry), continue feeding him morsels (supplying him with food); if he may continue thirsting (be constantly thirsty), continue giving drink to him (causing him to drink), for while constantly practicing (performing; doing) this you will progressively pile on and heap up burning coals (embers) of fire upon his head." [Prov. 25:21-22] [comment: the directives of feeding and giving drink correspond to what was to be done for brothers in Matt. 25:35, 40; the metaphor of heaping coals may correspond to Isa. 6:6 where a coal from the incense altar purged sin, so being put on his head may be a picture of purging his thinking; Wuest suggests this as supplying a needed source of fire for someone's home, meeting a desperate need – Word Studies, vol. 1, p. 220; as the first two are blessings, I suggest that this latter also is] ²¹ Do not be habitually conquered under (or: Stop being overcome by) the worthless (the bad of quality; the ugly and unsound; the evil), but to the contrary, be constantly conquering (overcoming; victorious over) the worthless (the unsound, the bad and the ugly; the evil) [by being] in union with The Good One (or: [a participant] within what is profitable; or: in the midst of virtue). [comment: this verse points to a positive interpretation of the burning coals in vs. 20]

¹⁸ "Yet the things constantly emerging and flowing forth out of the mouth are continually coming forth from out of the midst of the heart (the core of the individual; the self as a whole, at its deepest level, which is the individual's animating and driving force [note: I owe these last phrases to Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity]) – and those things continually make the person contaminated, defiled, ceremonially unclean and common. ¹⁹ "For example, from out of the heart (the core of our being) habitually come forth worthless reasonings (wicked designs; considerations having a bad quality; miserable and laborious dialogues and arguments), murders, adulteries, fornications and prostitutions, sexual immoralities (fornications; prostitutions), thefts, false testimonies (or: false presentations of evidence), blasphemies (malicious slanders; abusive misrepresentations). ²⁰ "These continue being the things that are making the person contaminated (unclean; defiled; common) – yet to eat a meal with unwashed hands does not make the person common, contaminated or unclean!"

¹⁷ "Set them apart (or: Make them different from the norm) within the midst of the Truth (or: in union with, and centered in, reality). Your Word (Logos) exists being Truth (or: Your thought, idea and expressed message of divine rational meaning and purpose is Reality).

⁹ "Further, I am now saying to you folks, At once make friends from out of the midst of the mammon (Aramaic: wealth and earthly goods; Syrian god of riches) that pertains to and has its source in inequity (or: the aforementioned mammon of injustice and dishonesty) so that whenever it gives out (fails; falls short; is defaulting) folks can (or: may; would) welcome and receive you into the tents that have the qualities and characteristics of [this] age (or: the tabernacles that last for an undetermined duration). ¹⁰ "The person [who is] faithful (reliable; trustworthy; loyal) in [the] least (or: smallest) also continues being (or: is) faithful (reliable; trustworthy; loyal) in much; and the person [who is] inequitable (unjust; = dishonest) in [the] least (or: smallest) also continues being (or: is) inequitable (unjust; unfair) in much. ¹¹ "Therefore, since you folks did not (or: if you folks do not) come to be faithful and trustworthy in connection with the inequitable mammon (the unfair and unjust wealth), who will proceed entrusting to you (or: in you) the real and true? ¹² "And since you folks did not (or: if you folks do not) come to be faithful and trustworthy in connection with the thing belonging to another, who will continue giving to you (or: for you; in you) the thing that is your own [other MSS: that is ours]? ¹³ "No domestic (household servant) continues able to habitually perform as a slave for (or: to) two owners (masters; lords); you see, he will either proceed treating the one with less preference and disfavor (with ill will; with disapproval; with hate) and will continue loving the other (the different one), or, he will continue holding himself instead to (= uphold, be attentive to, stay loyal to and support) [things] pertaining to one and then proceed despising (hold a down-oriented opinion and frame of mind toward) the other (the different one). You folks continue unable to keep on performing as a slave for (or: to) God and also to (or: for) mammon (= wealth, money, or, the god of riches). ¹⁴ Now the Pharisees, habitually being inherently fond of silver (= money-lovers), were listening to all these things, and so began turning out and up their noses while contemptuously sneering at Him. ¹⁵ Consequently He said to them, "You men are the ones constantly justifying yourselves in the sight of people (or: show yourselves as being fair and equitable to humans), but God continuously knows your hearts by intimate experience! The fact is, the thing [which is] high and lofty among humans [is] a disgusting and nauseating thing (something which is the result of filth and nastiness) in God's sight.

⁹ Do not keep on (or: Stop) lying unto one another! [Be] folks at once stripping off from yourselves (undressing yourselves from; or: go out and away from) the old humanity (the old human; = the old Adam), together with its practices, ¹⁰ and then [be] suddenly clothing yourselves with (or: entering within) the new one (the fresh one which existed only recently), the one being continuously (or: repeatedly; habitually; progressively) renewed (made back up new again, in kind and character) into full, accurate, added, intimate and experiential knowledge and insight which is down from and corresponds to the image (an exactly formed visible likeness) of its Creator (of the One framing and founding it from a state of wildness and disorder),