Hosea 10:12
Orthodox Study Bible (based on Septuagint*):
“Sow to yourselves in righteousness;
Gather in the fruit of life;
Light for yourselves the light of knowledge;
Seek the Lord till the fruits of righteousness come upon you.”
NASB (1995 version):
“Sow with a view to righteousness,
Reap in accordance with kindness;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord
Until he comes to rain righteousness on you.”
Either way you read it, seeking comes from us, and righteousness is poured out from the Lord. It reminds me of Galatians 5:5: “For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.”
*https://www.christian-history.org/septuagint.html
About Paul Pavao
I am married, the father of six, and currently the grandfather of five. I teach, and I am always trying to learn to disciple others better than I have before. I believe God has gifted me to restore proper theological foundations to the Christian faith. In order to ensure that I do not become a heretic, I read the early church fathers from the second and third centuries. They were around when all the churches founded by the apostles were in unity.
My philosophy for Bible reading is to understand each verse for exactly what it says in its local context. Only after accepting the verse for what it says do I compare it with other verses to develop my theology. If other verses seem to contradict a verse I just read, I will wait to say anything about those verses until I have an explanation that allows me to accept all the verses for what they say. This takes time, sometimes years, but eventually I have always been able to find something that does not require explaining verses away. The early church fathers have helped a lot with this.
I argue and discuss these foundational doctrines with others to make sure my teaching really lines up with Scripture. I am encouraged by the fact that the several missionaries and pastors that I know well and admire as holy men love the things I teach. I hope you will be encouraged too.
I am indeed tearing up old foundations created by tradition in order to re-establish the foundations found in Scripture and lived on by the churches during their 300 years of unity.
I love your commitment to not settle for uncommitted Christianity, knowing we are changed, you do not leave it there, but daily you repeat the important message to encourage one another to acts of love and good works! I appreciate and love your dearly brother!
Thanks, Dave. I hope you’re able to get some encouragement out there Sac’to, Folsom, or EDH!