Bible Commentaries

John 1:32-33 — absolutely identified as the one who would baptize in the Holy Spirit, with the necessary deduction that the same was the Messiah. For discussion on the subject of baptism, see my Commentary on Matthew. Matthew 3:11, and my Commentary on Hebrews, Hebrews 6:1-2. Without the witness of this Gospel, people might never have known how John the Baptist arrived at the conviction that Jesus was indeed the Christ. The apostle John, one of the great herald's disciples at first, was enlightened on this by John himself,

John 1:37-38 — Andrew, as revealed in John 1:40. Hovey said: But who was the unnamed companion of Andrew? Probably the Evangelist himself. For: (1) the narrative in this place is very particular and graphic, making it probable that the writer was an eye-witness. (2) The writer of such a narrative would have been sure to mention the name of the other disciple, unless there had been some reason for withholding it. (3) The writer of this Gospel never refers to himself by name, and the same feeling which led him to

John 14:20 — (Ephesians 1:3). God therefore makes a sinner righteous by bringing him into Christ, identifying him with Christ and as Christ, thus enabling all the righteousness of the Holy One to be in fact the righteousness of the redeemed soul in Christ (Galatians 2:20). For full discussion of justification in Christ, see my Commentary on Romans, pp. 108-113. No man can be saved as John Doe, Joe Bloke, or whoever he is. The only way any man can be saved is as Christ and in Christ. The identification of believers

John 16:24 — Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full. There are two ways of understanding this: (1) as a reprimand of the apostles because of their prior failure to pray in Jesus' name, or (2) a mere statement of their habit up to that time, and mentioned only with a view to changing it. Surely the latter is correct, because when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he did not at that time command them to pray in Jesus' name (Matthew 6:9-13).

John 2:19 — Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. What Jesus meant by this is plainly given in John 2:21, "He spake of the temple of his body"; but such a simple answer is rejected by some. This pointed reference to his own death, burial and resurrection cannot be allowed by those who would spiritualize every historical fact out of this Gospel.

John 4:43-44 — own country, he must earn it in another. And this Jesus had done in Jerusalem. He now brought with him the honor of a prophet from a distance. Hence too, he had found acceptance with the Galileans because they had seen his miracles in Jerusalem (John 2:23).Alvah Hovey, Commentary on John (Philadelphia: The American Baptist Publication Society, 1885), p. 125. This interpreter prefers the view of Alford because the degree of acceptance in Galilee was not sufficient to thwart the Lord's purpose of achieving

John 5:19 — actions, not only regarding their quality, but with reference to the manner of their being done. Jesus' words here are nearly the equivalent to the deduction of Nicodemus, "No man can do the signs which thou doest except God be with him" (John 3:2).

John 9:16 — the law of God perfectly, all of it, not excepting even a jot or a tittle; and yet, in spite of this, such is the mystery of evil, that the old lie of the Pharisees still surfaces in the assemblies of the saints (see my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 12:2).

Acts 10:46-48 — fact that baptism for Gentiles was necessary to their salvation, no less than it was declared to be on Pentecost, appears in the facts (1) that an angel of God told Cornelius that Peter would tell him words whereby he would be saved (Acts 11:14), and (2) that in all of the words spoken by Peter there was but one commandment, that requiring them to be baptized. In the name of Jesus … They are in error who view baptism as here commanded in the name of Jesus to be any different from that enjoined

Acts 11:15 — Peter could deliver his soul-saving message, shows that the purpose of this Spirit baptism was unrelated to the salvation of Cornelius, being intended rather as a sign to Peter and his companions that God had called the Gentiles through the gospel. (2)    As on us at the beginning … These words clearly designate Pentecost as "the beginning," this being the prime authority for accepting that date as the beginning of the church of Christ. There were in fact many

Acts 19:28-29 — Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel. Great is Diana of the Ephesians … When Elijah contested with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, the priests of Baal carried on a continuous shout for hours, crying, "O Baal, hear us" (1 Kings 18:26); and in recent decades the followers of Adolph Hitler in Germany reinforced Hitler's propaganda with similar chants in unison. Then, as always, it was a device of ignorance and prejudice. The truth cannot be drowned out by any such noise; although,

Acts 19:37-38 — observed, "He preached positive truths, rather than making a direct attack on their error." H. Leo Boles, op. cit., p. 313. Robbers of temples … This expression is unique to the New Testament, except for Paul's use of the verb in Romans 2:22, in which he accused certain Jews of robbing temples; and, as Murray said: Since the town clerk at Ephesus defends Paul and his colleagues against any such charge as robbing temples, we cannot suppose this wrong was one to which the Jews were entirely

Acts 21:9 — of Philip did or said is a sign that here we have the account of an eyewitness. In fiction, a new character is introduced only in order to do or say something. G. H. C. MacGreggor, The Interpreter's Bible (New York: Abingdon Press, 1954), Vol. IX, p. 278. Wesley's notion that "these women were evangelists also" John Wesley, op. cit., in loco. must be rejected. These are the New Testament counterpart of such Old Testament prophetesses as Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4), Noadiah

Acts 23:5 — H. Leo Boles, Commentary on the Acts (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company, 1953), p. 363. or that he spoke sarcastically, as if to say, "You cannot make a high priest out of contemptible material like that!" W. R. Walker, op. cit., p. 72. For reasons cited under Acts 23:4, the view here is that Paul simply spoke the truth and that he did not know the high priest by his personal appearance, although he might indeed have known his name. Milligan, however, thought that Paul simply regarded

Acts 7:5-8 — Discrepancies of the Bible (Nashville: B. C. Goodpasture, 1951), p. 318. The only part of Palestine that Abraham ever owned was the cave of Machpelah which he purchased for a grave. Four hundred years … This is one of the pseudocons! Exodus 12:40-41 gives the time as 430 years; but "The four hundred years is a round number as in Genesis 15:13." A. C. Hervey, op. cit., p. 216. Also, there were two ways of counting the "sojourning," these being (1) from the call of Abraham

Romans 1:13 — Holy Spirit, because the Spirit could have overruled any Satanic hindrance; and, therefore, either the hindrance itself, or its being allowed, must be attributed to the Holy Spirit. Satan indeed was the hinderer on some occasions, as in 1 Thessalonians 2:18, and, upon other occasions, the Holy Spirit was the hinderer, as in Acts 16:6. Whiteside made a very significant deduction from the circumstances revealed in this verse: This shows that he was not guided by inspiration in forming his plans, for the

Romans 5:10 — lesser. John Murray, op. cit., i. p. 175. Saved by his life … suggests the many things revealed in the New Testament that Christ is at the present time doing on behalf of the redeemed. He daily adds to the church those that are being saved (Acts 2:47); helps those who are tempted by providing a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13); provides mercy and grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16); makes intercession for his own (Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:24); is expecting until all his enemies

1 Corinthians 6:1 — sense of not being Christians. Not before the saints … Christ himself had laid down the rules for any follower of the Lord having a matter against his brother; and this rule involved: (1) a personal confrontation between wronged and wrongdoer, (2) another attempt at reconciliation if the first failed, with witnesses present, and (3) a general examination before the whole church. See Matthew 18:15-17. Also for extended discussion of this subject, see my Commentary on Matthew, pp. 279-281. McGarvey

1 Corinthians 6:11 — place as a reference to Christian baptism, along with the sanctification and justification accomplished in the ceremony itself, when performed Scripturally upon a believing penitent: (1) There is the use of "the middle voice for WASHED, as in Acts 22:16, carrying the meaning of `you had yourselves washed.'" Paul W. Marsh, op. cit., p. 386. (2) There is the appearance in the verse itself of the trinitarian formula for the administration of baptism. As Guthrie noted: "In the name of …

1 Corinthians 8:1 — meat in an idol's temple"! (1 Corinthians 8:10). As some would say today, they were bringing their "culture" into the church! The problem regarded several possibilities: (1) Should a Christian partake of the feasts in the idol temples? (2) Was it permissible for him to buy food in the public markets, where most if not all of it had been procured from the sacrifices? (3) Might he, when invited to a friend's house, eat flesh which had been sacrificed to idols?