An Introduction Concerning Works
Richard Joseph
Works
Important things to know concerning the word WORKS
There are a number of different Greek words that have been intentionally mistranslated as the English word Works in the King James Bible.
Here now is a general list of these words: Ergon, Dunamis, Logos, Molia Ischuo, Pragma, Praxis, Megaleta, Energeo, Ergasia, Poteo, and Ginomai. There are some other forms of these words also translated as Works. Understand without us examining a single one of these words listed above: Regardless of how they were translated in the KJV of the bible or any other translation that has followed suit, All of these words Do Not Mean the word Works in the Greek.
Scanning the list we see:
Dunamis which means Power, to Do or to Make.
Logos which means the spoken or written Word.
Pragma from which we get the word Pragmatist
Energeo from which we get the word Energy
Ginomai from which we get words like Gynecologist
**Note for passages in the Old Testament were will provide the word from the Greek Septuagint. And may add in this study passages in the KJV that should have been translated as the English word works.
1) Works is a neutral word that can be good, of man, evil, or of the devil
2) Works also has various meanings, One’s Deeds, One’s Job, Hand crafted, Society and beliefs, miracles, creation, all living things, forgiveness, mercy, caring for . . .
3) When a passage speak of the Works of the Law, Works of righteousness, Good Works, Dead Works . . . Understanding the meaning of the works in these and other passages is not speaking of the same thing, and therefore can not mean the same thing is critical in understanding the word of God.
For example: Dead works, what does dead works mean?
Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, (Nekron Ergon) and of faith toward God,
Nekron – Burial Place for the Dead, Tomb, or Grave. In both of these passages in Hebrews Paul is citing Jesus Christ’s stern rebuke of the Pharisees.
Greek: Ergon- A Man’s Business or Employment, a Person’s Deeds, the Works of One’s Hands.
Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works (Nekron Ergon) to serve the living God?
The Greek the word Dead is very significant here. The book of Hebrew’s was written to Jewish Christians, who had departed Judaism and the Pharisees to serve Jesus Christ. Paul expressly speaks to their former connections to the doctrines and traditions of the Pharisees, declaring they had neither repented greatly enough, to show their faith towards God. And that those dead works had yet to be purged from their conscience, affecting their ability to serve the Living God.
Paul is saying they have yet to cross from the death of their having partaken of the doctrine and traditions of the Pharisees, so that their dead bones, filled with rottenness, and all manner of uncleanness was still working death within their hearts and souls, while they were trying to follow after Jesus. And that deep repentance was necessary unto the purging of these things from their hearts and souls. So that when accomplished they could then enter unto life in service of the Living God.
Dead Works are works that either no longer or have never had any bearing to your faith in Jesus Christ. The doctrines and traditions of men that Jesus decried of the Pharisees are Dead Works. Meaning they never came out of the mouth of God. These things are not God Breathed, they are not part of the inspired word of God, they do not contain life and power as what God spoke to prophets and holy men, and through Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Dead Works are collections of religious or spiritual laws, rules, regulations, and traditions are not contained in the word of God as these men or ministries teach, nor were such things ever implied.
Every church and denomination we have ever visited, have been riddled with all manner of Dead Works, in the church buildings themselves, in church service structure, in the platform and its accoutrements, in messages preached and teached and in the level of prayer present.
The hard truth about Dead Works is that when one participates, honoring these dead doctrines and dead traditions, this partaking thereof, this tasting, eating of or drinking of nullifies your faith, your standing, and your witness before God and the Lord Jesus Christ. In the same manner that when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they former faith and standing was destroyed before God and it became nescessary to kick them out from the constant and direct presence of God and the Garden. We are declaring that the doctrines and traditions of men in the church made with hands is the knowledge of good and evil, rather than being the inspired life giving word of God.
In that you’re obeying, serving, and honoring Dead Works; whether a lot or a little (These things invented by corrupt men and ministries) in so doing you show in word and deed that you hold these things that are dead, as being either equal or greater than the words and commandments of Jesus Christ and the Father.
Obeying Dead Works is High Treason in the Kingdom of Heaven.
One can not serve their church’s, denomination’s or ministries Dead Works and be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
One small Example: Offering plates were originally forged in evil during the time of the inquisition. The inquisition was not as much to identify and destroy heretics as it was to gain funding for the crusades. The truth here is that all the kings and lords and great families were financially tapped out, so the Roman Catholic Church needing lots of money turned to the middle class and the poor to bear the bill of the current crusade and the next.
**Note: The bible refutes any obligation of the poor to pay tithes and offerings. So here at this point the Catholic Church reversed itself on pressing the poor for cold hard cash. The offering plate was designed specifically for enforcement, of the collecting of illegal tithes, forced offerings, and forced gifts to the Church.
The offering plate of the inquisition put the knife to the throat of every common believer from that point onward. The enforcement arm to all of this in the local church was these large shiny circular ornate offering plates, so that from their high perch in their churches the Priests and Bishops could peer down on the offerings given by individual members, and when the offering seemed sparse in relation to what they expected from a given person, their their poor record of giving offerings was duly recorded and then turned over the father confessor.
If the confessor was unable to persuade the given person to pay up front what the Priests and Bishops determined they owed, generally this would be greatly inflated sums beyond the reach of the accused party to be able to pay up. This person would then be imprisoned to await the inquisitor arrival in that town or village. The inquisitor would look over all their purported assets and notes written about the person from their Priest or Bishop. And the closed mock trial would began with the laying our of false charges and the examination of the purported evidence, the accused, and the testimony of false witnesses was all set in motion for how ever many days were to be given to the trial.
From that point forward, the accused while in a dungeon the person would be tortured by branding, hot rods poked through their tongue, hooks to tear their flesh amoung a list of other sadistic grusome things that could be done. If the person did not readily confess to whatever they were supposed to told to confess to; members of their household would be dragged into the dungeon to be beaten, and then tortured before the accused husband, this would including the raping their wives and daughters, and rendering them unable to give birth. If that yet failed to bring a complete and full confession all things charged consisting of: Apostacy, Stealing from God, Blasphemy, and or Witchcraft, the Church the wife daughters and sons would be brought forth one more time and slain one at a time before the husband.
The whole of this farce was to have the man confess that he and his family in some manner did works of the devil. By this point in either the case of confession or non confession in either case this man was horribly slain. All their possessions, houses, lands, furnishings, and holdings officially became the property of the Roman Catholic Church. If there were any surviving sons or daughters or wife survived at that point they would then all be sold in slavery. The only concession between confession and non-confession was the claimed state of the man's eternal soul after death being given sacred last rights and a grave or to be cursed eternally and dumped in an unmarked pit.
If the targeted victim turned out to be wealthy, the monies extracted for all his holdings would work up the ladder of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy enriching cogs in the system along the way as money made its way up to the Church of Rome’s war coffers. The Inquisition proved to be the Roman Catholic Church’s greatest money machine of all time with untold tens of thousands buried in unmarked graves all over Europe. All of this due in part to the creation of large shiny metal offering plates It is utterly sinful and corrupt to suggest that God could look upon and bless tithes offerings and gifts collected in offering plates. The blood of those slain in part by these plates cry out from the ground where their bodies have lain in corruption for God’s vengeance.
Another point that is lost upon the modern church is that the offering plate itself was an idolatrous object made by mental artificers, with pagan symbols and images all along its rim.
God does not obsolve people of sin that partake of such in ignorance, neither does He forgive those who take the things of this world and devil and say that they are now Christan therefore clean because a "Christian" now oversees the making of a formerly object of sin and corruption. in place of those evil sinners and ungodly. And yet in my lifetime hundreds if not thousands of such things have been Christianized and declared clean to the shame of all churches and christians that indulge in such perversions.
When the offering plates and or offering bags visually pass through the congregation (It is neigh impossible for the pastor and church members to either directly look or sneaks peeks at who is giving what, and especually at certain members of the church. These are all shadows that remain from the inquisition, that will once again spring to life in the Great Tribluation as brother shall sell out brother, children shall betray parents, and parents shall betray children) Before God these plates or things similar will ever remain blood soaked devices that bear every bit of the original sinful intent for that object. The Eternal God yet sees and hears the cries of the victim of that reign of terror and all the unholy objects, doctrines and traditions brought forth during the inquisition.
** Note Bible Believing and Pentecostal churches in their origins did not use offering plates. They all began with what since medieval times was called the poor box usually located by the door, or in the side of the front foyer near the entrance door. Once these churches and minsitries became money hungry and money driven, all for the sake of money alone there came an ever pressing urgency for greater numbers and higher church membership numbers. In their lust and haste for filthy lucre they immediately grasped for the plates of visual offering with its offering plates.
Under its newest twist the visual offering and it offering plates is now being taught as a critically important part of the church service. It is being taught that this blood drenched offering is the only time in the church service where people can show forth their “true” intent towards God in the only meaningful way they can by worshipful giving beyond even their normal tithes offerings and gifts to that church or minsitry. Jesus decried the Pharisees making large shows of their giving God public offerings as part of their feigned worship of God. This new twist is not being done for any holy or righteous purpose, it is done to constrain even higher amounts being given by the seriously deceived, and bible ignorant parishioners, who love the praise of men more than from God.
To give whether it is money, goods, food, clothing, shelter,or services to God, the Poor, the Infirm, the Elderly, the Homeless, and the Needy are all works. The much maligned and hated works The works of God
Matthew 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. (Just the act of being seen giving is forbidden by Christ, regardless of one's intent or purpse. and the act shall be nullified before God)
Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Matthew 23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: (In the eye's of the public, before their peers, to garner witnesses)