 |  |
estate", neither could we translate Jude 21, "Reserve yourselves in the love of God".
The word "keep" in the sense of "preserve", however, will fit all these passages:--
"Kept in Jesus Christ and called" (Jude 1).
"The angels which kept not their first estate" (Jude 6).
"For whom is kept the blackness of darkness unto the age" (Jude 13).
"Keep yourselves in the love of God" (Jude 21).
Tereo is translated in the majority of cases "keep":--
"Keep the commandment" (Matt. 19: 17).
"Kept in prison" (Acts 12: 5).
"Keep the unity" (Eph. 4: 3).
"I have kept the faith" (II Tim. 4: 7).
This last reference provides a fair test of the meaning of the two words under
consideration, for both occur in close association: "I have kept (tereo) the faith . . . . .
henceforth there is laid up (apokeimai) for me a crown" (II Tim. 4: 7, 8). The translation
that expresses the difference between these two words is: "I have preserved the faith
. . . . . henceforth there is reserved for me a crown."
Carrying these distinctions with us to Col. 1: 5 and I Pet. 1: 4 we shall observe that
I Pet. 1: 4 speaks of "preserving" an inheritance in heaven, while Col. 1: 5 speaks of
"reserving" our hope in heaven. The "preserved" inheritance is seen coming down "out
of heaven" in the new Jerusalem, whereas the "reserved" hope will be enjoyed in the
super-heavens, "far above all". Peter wrote to the "dispersion" (I Pet. 1: 1). Paul wrote to
the Gentiles (Col. 1: 27). Peter directs the hope of his hearers to "the last times" and to
the "salvation of their souls" at the "revelation of Jesus Christ", whereas Paul speaks of
the manifestation of Christ, Who is our life, and of our manifestation with Him "in
glory".
We have already learned that Colossians supplements Ephesians, and it is to
Ephesians that we look for definitions. There, the hope is defined as "the hope of His
calling" and "the one hope of our calling", and this, while settling the nature of the hope
to all who are already graced with opened eyes and a spirit of wisdom and revelation in
the knowledge of Him, leads some to confuse the calling of Hebrews with that of
Colossians. We must therefore consider the terms.
The heavenly calling, and In heaven.
Heb. 3: 1 speaks of a "heavenly calling", using the word epouranios; Colossians,
however, uses the word ouranos. As epouranios has been prominently associated with
the Ephesian position, some are disturbed by its presence in Heb. 3: 1, and the change
to ouranos in Colossians.
Ouranos.--This word indicates the heavens in relation to the earth (Matt. 5: 18), the
starry heavens (Matt. 24: 29), the heavens as the throne of God (Matt. 5: 34), the abode
of angels (Matt. 18: 10), and the atmospheric heavens (Matt. 24: 30). Matthew uses