- See Our Newest Teaching
- celebratingthebible@gmail.com
In 1 Corinthians 16:13, Paul urges the brothers, "Watch, stand fast in the belief, be men, be strong." His words can teach us what Biblical manhood looks like.
The word for watch is grēgoreuō, which means to keep awake, to watch, be vigilant.
This is the same word that Yeshua uses in Matthew 25.13, "Watch therefore, because you do not know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." Similarly to his Master Yeshua, Paul is urging us to be vigilant and watch for the Day of YHVH (or Day of the LORD).
The word for stand fast is stēkō, which means to be stationary as in to persevere.
Paul uses this same word in Philippians 1:27, "Only, behave yourselves worthily of the Good News of Messiah, in order that whether I come and see you or am absent, I hear about you, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one being, striving together for the belief of the Good News." So, we are urged to persevere in our faith, particularly to the Good News of Messiah, and not be "borne about by every wind of teaching" (Ephesians 4.14).
Finally, we are to be strong, kraitaioō. This word means to be empowered or to increase in vigor.
Paul only uses this idea one other time, in Ephesians 3:14-17, "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Master Yeshua Messiah... in order that He might give you, according to the riches of His esteem by power, to be strengthened in the inner man, through His Spirit, that the Messiah might dwell in your hearts through belief."
Our belief, or faith, in Messiah Yeshua should strengthen and empower us to carry out His instructions, given in Matthew 28.19-20, "Therefore, go and make taught ones of all the nations, immersing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Set-apart Spirit, teaching them to guard all that I have commanded you."
Author, Jared Gragg
Date, June 9, 2025