A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11, ESV). But as rich as God's Word is, Christians sometimes shortchange it through complacency, particularly American Christians, who are immersed in such a consumer-driven culture that worship can become consumption rather than offering, and discipleship can become diluted.
The name of κλῆμα (klema) 15:5 is taken from Christ's own words in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you, the cuttings. The one who remains in me and I in him, this one bears much fruit because without me you can do nothing.” (translation mine), as a reminder that we are τὰ κλήματα (ta klemata, the cuttings which depend on Christ to live and which can do nothing on their own. This is not an encouragement to sin more that grace may abound on account of our insufficiency! Rather, it is a call to remain in Christ and His Word until He makes us inextricably His, sufficient and perfected before the Father.
With this in mind, the primary goals of κλῆμα 15:5 are:
- to equip followers of Christ with a deeper appreciation for and understanding of the richness of God's Word,
- to invite believers and non-believers to seek deep into the Word of God, which is Christ (John 1:1), and engage in civil discussion about its implications,
- to go beyond rote repetition of crafted phraseology (Matthew 6:7) in the understanding and conveyance of God's Word,
- and to encourage participants to digest the heart and guts of the Word, i.e., Christ, in line with His admonition to take and eat (John 6:53) and assimilate this into their daily lives.
To achieve this, some ground rules are necessary. Differences of opinion and interpretation may be expected, but insults, slander, and profanity will not be tolerated. Incendiary comments will be pruned, and open discussion will be limited to the first day of each post. Comments will be moderated thereafter.
Creating a community and an atmosphere for civil conversation is my sincere hope and prayer for κλῆμα 15:5. I hope you will join me in this examination of God's Word. Μενῶμεν ἐν αὐτῷ (Menomen en auto. Let us remain in Him).
Sources for κλῆμα 15:5
Quotes from the ancient Greek New Testament are excerpted from The Greek New Testament, Fourth revised edition, 3rd printing, published by Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, D-Stuttgart, in 1998.
All other Bible translations are cited by commonly recognized acronyms, e.g., ESV is English Standard Version, NIV is New International Version, NASB is New American Standard Bible, KJV is King James Version. Where I have rendered my own translation, the verses are followed by “translation mine.”
In addition to the dictionary provided in The Greek New Testament, I often reference Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon published by Oxford University Press, London, in 1966, for etymologies and dictionary entries, as well as a modern Greek dictionary, Divry's New English-Greek and Greek-English Dictionary, Revised Edition, published by D.C. Divry, Inc., New York, in 1974, for historical linguistic comparison and analysis.
Another comprehensive help which I use and heartily recommend is the E-Sword software package produced by Rick Meyers and available for free download at http://www.e-sword.net/. Commentaries, translations, concordances, and other study aids can be added as plug-ins.
