Romans 2:7
7 To them who by [men] [kata] patient continuance [hupomone] in well [agathos] doing [ergon] seek [zeteo] for glory [doxa] and [kai] honour [time] and [kai] immortality [aphtharsia], eternal [aionios] life [zoe]: KJV-Interlinear
7 to
those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality,
he will give eternal life; ESV
The subject in this passage is reward. Who gets it and who does not. And certainly if anyone disregards the learning
process of the spiritual life, then their reward becomes nil.
Patient continuance, eliminates an occasional good act
or deed or even an occasional meaning well, or sincerity of ones personality.
The word, ‘hupomone,’ means cheerful, enduring,
continuance, constancy. This establishes
a long term pattern for ones life, not the occasional good intention or act.
And remember this has nothing to do with
salvation. That depends upon the single
act of faith alone and nothing more.
Once saved, always saved.
These verses have the do with how you handle your life
after salvation. Namely will you comply
with Gods mandates to study, learn, grow, and otherwise live by the Biblical
principles that are contained within the scriptures. This includes abiding by your divinely expected
responsibilities and obligations.
Well doing, ‘agathos ergon,’ means good, genuine,
consistent, honest, toil, deed, labor, work, effort.
Seek, ‘zeteo,’ means to pursue, to desire, to want enough
such that you make an effort to obtain.
Glory, ‘doxa,’ means dignity, glory, honor, praise,
worship.
Honor, ‘time,’ means a value, i.e. money paid, or
valuables, invested, esteem (especially of the highest degree), or the dignity
itself, honor, precious, price.
Immortality, ‘aphtharsia,’ means incorruptibility, unending
existence, genuineness, incorruption, sincerity.
Eternal life, ‘aionios zoe,’ eternal, forever,
everlasting.
And all of this points to a dedication to ones
spiritual life in accordance with Gods mandates, consistent with how God wants
you to live your life. With the genuineness
of an honest effort and desire to really want to learn and grow and figure out
and understand, and ultimately possess that which God intends for you.
This eliminates those who pretend, those who do not
make an effort, those who want someone else to do things for them, those who play
games in life, those who complain, those who are superficial and always have
excuses, and especially those who simply do not take any of this Bible stuff
seriously.
The references to honor or time, eternal life, and
immortality means that for you to acquire the benefits of the spiritual life,
which are eternal, and permanent, you have to invest in your spiritual
life. You have to take the time and make
the time and pursue with effort and consistency, your spiritual growth, in
order to advance in your spiritual life.
For those who make these commitments, for those who
invest the time and continue in their efforts in learning and growing, through thick
or thin, and regardless of their situations in life, then there will be a
reward that is beyond imagination.
But, for those who do not make the commitment, do not
fulfil their obligations in the spiritual life for themselves or others or through
supporting of Christian instruction that is expected, for those who pretend
their way through life, who try to skimp by, without making any commitment,
presuming that someone else will take up their slack, then there will be no
reward.
And losing out on an eternal reward is the same as
giving up on a treasure of infinite value.
And who could be that stupid? Only the spiritually lazy, the arrogant, the
greedy, those who refuse to keep their end up, those who simply ignore that
which is expected of them, and totally disregard that which God expects of
them.
