Practical Application: Particples & Infinitives

We will now look at some other instances of practical application where participles and infinitives are used.

1 Corinthians 1:2

The phrase, "have been sanctified" is actually one Greek word, ἡγιασμένοις [hēgiasmenois]. Thus, the steps to take are to once again first look the Greek word up in the Analytical Greek Lexicon, and when you do, you find the following identification: ἡγιασμένοις dat. pl. m. perf. part…id.

This means that this word is a dative plural masculine, perfect participle passive. The little abbreviation at the end of the identification, "id.", stands for "idem" in Latin which means "same"-thus, you follow "id." all the way up until it stops at ἁγιάζω, which is the root verb. You then go to the Greek-English Lexicon and lookup the word ἁγιάζω, and you find the meaning. Here too, as with εἰμί, you find a number of meanings, with the primary one being to "separate from things profane and dedicate to God"-thus, to be "sanctified" carries the idea of being separated unto God for His work in our lives through Jesus Christ! In addition, the "perfect" tense indicates a completed act with a resulting state of being. Thus, this sanctification was accomplished some time in the past and has an ongoing, continuous work in the lives of believers now! The "passive" voice indicates that this was done by someone else to the believer; in particular, it is done and accomplished by God in Christ for all those believers who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

2 Corinthians 5:8

If we look up the word ἐκδημῆσαι [ekdēmēsai], we will find the following:

ἐκδημῆσαι aor. act. inf. . . . . . . . . . . . . ἐκδημέω

This means that it is an aorist (aor.) active (act.) infinitive (inf.), and it comes from the verb, ἐκδημέω What is significant about this infinitive and the subsequent infinitive, "to be present" (ἐνδημῆσαι), is that they are both aorist infinitives, and the aorist indicates action occurring at a point in time-thus, the absence and presence is immediate! The active voice simply means that at the point of death, my spirit is actively, on its own, moving immediately into the presence of the Lord. What a glorious truth!