Luke12:8

Translation

Now I say to you, everyone who is inclined to speak in open agreement with me

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before men, THE SON OF MAN will also speak favorably of him before the angels of God;

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Paraphrase

Now let me tell you this – all those who are aligned with me and are willing to let others know about it will be ones that GOD’S SOLUTION TO MAN’S PROBLEMS will speak well of before God Himself;

Footnotes

1: “speak in open agreement with me”

The word used here is a compound word that comes from “to speak” and “the same as,” or we would say, “to agree with openly.” It indicates not only agreement in thought, but the willingness to tell others about that you think the same thoughts as that other person. The same word is used about Jesus speaking for us before His Father, but I render it differently because the roles are different. Jesus does not agree with us; we must agree with Him. When we do so, He will speak well of us before God the Father, pleading on our behalf that His righteousness be imparted to us so that we can be seen as righteous and thus avoid eternal punishment.

2

“before the angels of God” meant heaven and heaven indicated the One who “owns” heaven. It was code language for “before God Himself” in the same way that “kingdom of heaven” was code language for “kingdom of God.”