Language Studies

Greek Thoughts

LATREUO* - Part 4 - εχηγεομαι (Strong's #1834)
To worship, to serve

Please note that all Biblical quotes, in this and all other lessons posted to Greek Thoughts, are from The Literal English Translation of the Bible produced by BTE Ministries - The Bible Translation and Exegesis Institute of America.

This week is our final study of the Greek verb λατρεὺω (Strong's #3000), which expresses worship in the form of service. In the Old Testament Septuagint, λατρεὺω is used to express religious worship, whether of heathen gods or the service of Israel to the true and living God. In the New Testament, Jesus expands our understanding of the meaning of λατρεὺω to apply not only to an act of worship, but to one's life response - the choice each of us must make between the world and the Lord. We saw this last week in the Lord's responses to the devil (Luke 4:8), and we will see it again this week in Paul's description of his own heart response of worship and service to the Lord from out of his spirit, which is contrasted with the religious Jews whose confidence of right standing with God is focused on outward practice and pious appearance. Our texts today are from Romans 1:8-10 and Philippians 3:2-3.

Romans 1:8-10

8)

First, indeed I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ on behalf of all of you, that your faith is being declared in the whole world;

9)

for God is my witness, Whom I serve (λατρεὺω) in my spirit in the gospel of His Son, how without ceasing I make mention of you,

10)

Always upon the occasion of my prayers, petitioning if how now at last I will be prospered in the will of God to come to you.

The first thing Paul mentions to the Roman believers is his thankfulness to the Lord for their faith being announced to the whole world. Paul then uses God as witness to the fact that he makes mention of them without ceasing whenever he prays, by petitioning that he will have a prosperous journey to come to them. Our word of study is found in this group of scriptures in the sentence, "…Whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son." So we see Paul, as a Jew, describing his worship through service to the Lord as spiritual, as taking place in the inner man, as coming from his spirit. This stands in sharp contrast to the Jewish understanding of the day with its emphasis on outward actions and religious appearance. Paul's teaching exposes the same deeper meaning of λατρεὺω that Jesus' did in Luke 4. True worship of the Lord is expressed in and from the spirit. Paul relates this same truth in Philippians 3:2-3.

Philippians 3:2-3

2)

Be continually watching for the dogs, be continually watching for the evil workers, be continually watching for the concision;

Paul expresses his warning to the Philippian believers in three present imperatives that express continual action. At that time, the Jews used all three terms to describe Gentiles because they (the Gentiles) were considered to be religious dogs, evil workers since they did not keep the Law, and the concision or mutilators. Instead of applying these terms as his Jewish contemporaries would, Paul applies them to those who put their confidence in the outward practice of Judaism and in the keeping of the Law to obtain right standing with God. His address indicates that Philippian Christians are being urged to circumcision either by the Jews or by Gentile converts who are themselves practicing circumcision. Paul calls these practices of Judaism applied to the flesh "mutilation" and says they are done by "evil workers" who are "dogs."

3)

for we are the circumcision, the ones worshiping (λατρεὺω) God in spirit,^F1 and boasting in Christ Jesus, and not having confidence in the flesh.

Paul declares that the true circumcision is comprised of those who are worshiping God in spirit, who are boasting in the work of Christ, who are not putting confidence in the flesh. This correlates with his teachings that the true Jew is one who is circumcised, not outwardly in the flesh, but circumcised in his heart or spirit as recorded in Romans 2:25-29 and Colossians 2:11. Throughout his letters, Paul defines those of the true circumcision as ones who worship the Lord by serving Him in spirit, not having confidence in fleshly religious acts.

From Paul's writings, we perceive that early believers understood λατρεὺω had a deeper, more spiritual meaning than just its accepted application to the priestly service of Judaism. In the Early Church, worship of the Lord came from a believer's spirit (heart) and was expressed through a lifestyle of serving the Lord in a world dominated and influenced by the devil through the physical realm. We also live in a world dominated and influenced by the devil through the physical realm; and we likewise need to understand that true worship is not comprised of the songs we sing in church, but is rather a heart response to the Lord which compels us to render our time, our lives, to His service. Who and what we spend our time serving reveals the (O)one we worship.

Next week we will delve deeper into the meaning of worship through service as we study the noun form of λατρεὺω in Romans 12:1.

*LATREUO is the English font spelling of the Greek word λατρεὺω.

F1: Some manuscripts capitalize the word for spirit (Πνεὺματι); and others also use the genitive case Θεοῦ, "of God," instead of the dative Θεῷ making the text read, "the ones worshiping by the Spirit of God."

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