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25:10, etc.). Cf. the
RV
of Luke 4:18, “release” (
KJV
, “liberty”). For the significance in
connection with remission of sins and the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, see A, No. 1.
See
DELIVERANCE
,
LIBERTY
,
RELEASE
,
REMISSION
. Cf. the different word
, “a
passing over, a remission,” of sins committed under the old covenant, Rom. 3:25. The
RV
should be used here. This passing over, or by, was neither forgetting nor “forgiving”; it
was rather a suspension of the just penalty; cf. Acts 17:30, “the times of ignorance God
overlooked,”
RV
; see also, e.g., Ps. 78:38.
FORM (Noun)
1.
(
$ )
, 3444) denotes “the special or characteristic form or feature” of a
person or thing; it is used with particular significance in the NT, only of Christ, in Phil.
2:6, 7, in the phrases “being in the form of God,” and “taking the form of a servant.” An
excellent definition of the word is that of Gifford: “
is therefore properly the
nature or essence, not in the abstract, but as actually subsisting in the individual, and
retained as long as the individual itself exists.… Thus in the passage before us
$
is the Divine nature actually and inseparably subsisting in the Person of Christ.…
For the interprehtion of ‘the form of God’ it is sufficient to say that (1) it includes the
whole nature and essence of Deity, and is inseparable from them, since they could have
no actual existence without it; and (2) that it does not include in itself anything
‘accidental’ or separable, such as particular modes of manifestation, or conditions of
glory and majesty, which may at one time be attached to the ‘form,’ at another separated
from it.…
“The true meaning of
in the expression ‘form of God’ is confirmed by its
recurrence in the corresponding phrase, ‘form of a servant.’ It is universally admitted that
the two phrases are directly antithetical, and that ‘form’ must therefore have the same
sense in both.”*
The definition above mentioned applies to its use in Mark 16:12, as to the particular
ways in which the Lord manifested Himself.¶
Note:
For the synonymous word
, see
FASHION
. For the verb
, see
FORMED
, No. 1, below.
2.
(
$
, 3446), “a form or outline,” denotes, in the NT, “an image or
impress, an outward semblance,” Rom. 2:20, of knowledge of the truth; 2 Tim. 3:5, of
godliness. It is thus to be distinguished from
(No. 1); it is used in almost the
same sense as
, “fashion” (which see), but is not so purely the outward “form” as
is.¶
3.
$
(
"
, 5179), “the representation or pattern” of anything (for which see
ENSAMPLE
), is rendered “form” in Rom. 6:17, “that form (or mold) of teaching whereunto
ye were delivered,”
RV
. The metaphor is that of a cast or frame into which molten
material is poured so as to take its shape. The Gospel is the mould; those who are
obedient to its teachings become conformed to Christ, whom it presents. In Acts 23:25, it
* From Gifford, “The Incarnation,” pp. 16, 19, 39.