Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 0-209 (Theology)

Living Words of the New Testament, by Rev Dr Leon Morris

JOY

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” wrote Paul (Phi1.4:4) and in so doing sounded one of the great notes of the New Testament. Jesus had, of course, said it before: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

We do not always realise how thoroughly joy permeates the New Testament. But when men whose backs were sore from a beating with rods and who had been thrown into a dungeon and their feet made fast in the stocks could sing cheerfully at midnight (see Acts 16:22-25) they had a deep-seated joy. This is not the cheerfulness of the worldly person who is happy because things are going well with him. This is the joy of people who have known the wonderful salvation that Christ died to bring and whose lives have been made new in his service (2 Cor.6:17).

The noun “joy” and the verb “rejoice” occur over and over in the New Testament. But this is only the beginning. Many of the great Christian words are built up on the word for joy. The Greek for “joy” is chara and the Greek for “grace” is charis; you can hear the one word in the other. Basically “grace” means “that which causes joy” and in the Christian set-up nothing causes joy like what God has done in Christ.

One of the words for forgiveness, charizomai, is built on chara. And there are others. It is not easy to let the Greek New Testament fall open anywhere and not have on the pages open before you one or other of the joy words. Christianity is just about the most joyful thing that ever hit a sad and sorry and sin-sick old world.

Yet modern Christians have so often made it dull! From reading the New Testament I would not have thought it possible, but that’s what we have all too often done. Let’s get back to New Testament Christianity, for it is still true that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh.8:10).

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Rev Dr Leon Morris is an internationally recognised New Testament scholar, theologian and author, from Melbourne Australia.

This feature series of ‘Living Words of the New Testament’ appeared in ‘Daily Notes’, published by Scripture Union.