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El uso divino del pretérito... The divine use of the past tense...

9/9/2016

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“Por supuesto que la economía mexicana es más lenta... les quita tiempo el tener ​que conjugar todos esos verbos.”

De entrada nos decían que para aprender otro idioma sería necesario aprender bien el tuyo. Resultó muy cierto. Es duro, pero el premio viene años después cuando te sientes tan cómodo en el idioma aprendido como en el natal.

El corazón del castellano ha de ser la precisión de los modos y tiempos de los verbos, para todos los cuales existe su conjugación especial. Además de memorizar las conjugaciones, hay que reconocer cuándo y cómo se usan... lo cual es hasta más difícil. Para los de habla inglesa, hay partes que corresponden directamente y hay partes que ni traduciendo se entienden. Diría que el dominio del modo subjuntivo sería de las áreas más díficiles para nosotros.

En cambio, cuando tienes que armar el rompecabezas de un idioma nuevo, ves más claramente muchos detalles gramáticales en que no te fijas tanto leyendo en el tuyo.

Me acuerdo cuándo empecé a captar la distinción en el tiempo pasado entre imperfecto y pretérito. Generalmente, el tiempo imperfecto describe una condición o algo que sucede en el pasado, mientras el pretérito marca una acción que terminó de hacerse en el pasado.

Se me comenzaron a resaltar pasajes de la Biblia en cuanto a la salvación que tenemos en Cristo Jesus que aparecen en el tiempo pretérito... acciones hechas y terminadas de hacerse en el pasado. Se reforzó lo que ya sabía: la salvación que nos hacía falta... ¡Dios ya la hizo!

“según nos ESCOGIÓ en él antes de la fundación del mundo, para que fuésemos santos y sin mancha delante de él, en amor HABIÉNDONOS PREDESTINADO para ser adoptados hijos suyos por medio de Jesucristo, según el puro afecto de su voluntad, para alabanza de la gloria de su gracia, con la cual nos HIZO aceptos en el Amado,” (Efesios 1:4-6)

“Pero Dios, que es rico en misericordia, por su gran amor con que nos AMÓ, aun estando nosotros muertos en pecados, nos DIO vida juntamente con Cristo (por gracia sois salvos), y juntamente con él nos RESUCITÓ, y asimismo nos HIZO SENTAR en los lugares celestiales con Cristo Jesús,” (Efesios 2:4-6)

“Porque a los que antes CONOCIÓ, también los PREDESTINÓ para que fuesen hechos conformes a la imagen de su Hijo, para que él sea el primogénito entre muchos hermanos. Y a los que predestinó, a éstos también LLAMÓ; y a los que llamó, a éstos también JUSTIFICÓ; y a los que justificó, a éstos también GLORIFICÓ.” (Romanos 8:29-30)


¿Ya gozas de esta salvación?

Lo único que falta es que te des cuenta y que abraces por fe lo que Dios te preparó mediante el sacrificio de Su Hijo. ¡Qué descanso! ¡Qué certeza!

No es para que te pongas religioso... ¡qué frustrante y aburrido sería! Es mejor abrazar a Jesús…  mejor una vida abundante y eterna que una religiosidad muerta.

Si de ir al cielo se trata, tus esfuerzos no contarán para nada… pero tu fe en Jesús, ¡Sí!

“Concluimos, pues, que el hombre es justificado por fe sin las obras de la ley.” (Romanos 3:28)

​At the outset, we were told that in order to learn a new language, we would end up learning our own as well. That turned out to be true. It is hard, but the prize comes years later when you feel as comfortable in the learned language as you do in the one you were born into.

The heart of the Spanish language would most likely be the precision of the modes and tenses of the verbs, for each of which there is a specific conjugation. Among other things, the endings of the verbs change according to mode, tense, person, and number. In addition to memorizing the conjugations, you have to recognize when and how they are used... something even harder to do.

For English speakers, there are parts that correspond directly and parts that even when you try to translate them they are difficult to grasp – not what they mean as much as why the phrases are constructed the way they are. I would say that the subjunctive mode would be one of the more difficult areas for us.

On the other hand, when you have to put the jigsaw puzzle of a new language together, you start seeing certain grammatical details with more clarity than you do while reading in your own.

I remember when I first started to grasp the distinction in the past tense between the imperfect and the preterite (simple past). Generally, the imperfect tense describes a condition or event that was happening in the past, while the preterite marks an action that was finished or accomplished in the past.

Passages in my Spanish Bible regarding the salvation that we are offered in Jesus Christ began jumping off the page at me because they appeared in forms of the past tense that indicated actions that were carried out and finished in the past! This reinforced what I already knew: that the salvation we all so desperately needed... God had already done it!

"even as he CHOSE us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he PREDESTINED us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has BLESSED us in the Beloved."  (Ephesians 1:4-6)

"even as he CHOSE us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he PREDESTINED us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has BLESSED us in the Beloved."  (Ephesians 1:4-6)

"For those whom he FOREKNEW he also PREDESTINED to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he PREDESTINED he also CALLED, and those whom he CALLED he also JUSTIFIED, and those whom he JUSTIFIED he also GLORIFIED."  (Romans 8:29-30)



Do you know yet if you have been included in this wonderful salvation?

The only thing lacking for it to be so is that you realize that you need it and embrace what God prepared for you through the sacrifice of His Son. What rest! What certainty!

It is not about getting religious... how frustrating and boring that would be! Better to embrace Jesus Christ... better to find abundant and eternal life than a dead religiosity!

If getting into heaven is what it's all about, then your efforts don't count for anything... but your faith in Jesus does!

"For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law."  (Romans 3:28)

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    Greg Smith

    Greg grew up in Menomonee Falls, WI. His ministry began in 1976: 5 years in Central America, 36 in Mexico. His passion is church planting and discipleship.
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    Greg enjoys being married to Carol Ahola-Smith. Both have been missionaries (Japan and Mexico); both watched their first spouses precede them in death.
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    Together, they have a heart for writing, mentoring and teaching.  They enjoy long walks and good coffee.

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