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No.43.
The Throne Room (1: 19 - 2: 7).
Roused together (sunegeiro) and seated together.
pp. 141 - 144
We have considered something of the teaching of Eph. 2: 5, and now give our
attention to the next revelation of our union with Christ and His work, namely the
opening words of verse 6:
"And hath raised us up together."
Christ is set forth as both "raised" and "seated" (Eph. 1: 20); the believer here is said
to be "raised up together" and "made to sit together", blessings that are most evidently
intended as a sequel. Before we proceed, there is a great need for discrimination, as there
are two words used in the original which are translated "raise", but only one of them is
compounded with the preposition "with". The urgent need to discriminate will be seen
when we remember that there were some who said in the Apostle's day that "the
resurrection is past already". An article appeared some time ago in which the reader was
informed that the Greek word for resurrection was anastasia, a word derived from
anistemi, to raise, and the writer then went on to expound the wonder of being "raised
with Christ", without instructing the reader that sun "together with" is never used with
the Greek words anistemi or anastasis. This even though innocently done, is
nevertheless evil, for it provided a basis for an untrue inference. The uninstructed
reader would naturally assume that just as there is the compound exanastasis "the
out-resurrection", so there must be sunanastasis, and this being assumed, provided the
basis for the teaching that the believer is thus "raised together" with Christ, and as the
writer referred to put it, "the believer had been ALREADY RAISED with Christ",
consequently for such the resurrection was past already! There is not one single
occurrence of the words sunanastasis or sunistemi in the N.T. The word of Eph. 2: 6
employs another term, the word there being sunegeiro. This word we find in two
passages in Colossians:
"Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of
the operation of God, Who hath raised Him out from dead ones" (Col. 2: 12 literally).
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God" (Col. 3: 1).
Egeiro differs from anistemi in that it means "rouse" rather than "raise", "to wake up"
rather than "stand up". The A.V. occasionally gives this primary translation "His
disciples . . . . . awoke Him" (Matt. 8: 25). "It is time to awake out of sleep"
(Rom. 13: 11). "Awake thou that sleepest" (Eph. 5: 14). In this passage taken from
Ephesians, we find both words occurring thus:
A |
Awake (egeiro)
\
subject "sleep".
B
| Thou that sleepest (katheudo) /
A |
Arise (anistemi)
\
subject "death".
B
| From the dead (nekros)
/