Bible Commentaries

Romans 3:9-10 — about to do this from scripture. He has charged them with being under sin. The phrase is very striking: "Not merely sinners, but under the empire of sin" (Liddon). It occurs again with equal force in Romans 6:14; Romans 7:14 and Galatians 3:22. This is the first occurrence of the word "sin" out of nearly fifty places in Romans 1—8. The various New Testament words for "sin" are deeply significant. The most familiar and frequent of them means "missing the mark";

1 Corinthians 2:16 — should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. David Lipscomb and Adam Clarke concurred in rendering this verse, "Who hath known the mind of the Lord that he should teach it (that is, teach the truth)?" David Lipscomb, op. cit., p. 62. This would appear to be preferable, because the thought of any mortal "instructing God" is evidently not in the passage at all. The thought is that `none of you uninspired men have any notion whatever of what the truth of God may be.' But

1 Corinthians 5:5 — mercy, as well." F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1954), p. 114. See my Commentary on Acts, under Acts 5:5. The opinion that this offender repented and came back into the congregation is founded upon 2 Corinthians 7:12; but there is little certainty that this application is correct. If that is what happened, then what became of "the destruction of the flesh" enunciated in this judgment? The frequent opinion that "The sinful man (was)

2 Corinthians 7:10 — "toward," i.e., in the direction of, or "unto" salvation, as here. Peter said that God had granted the Gentiles repentance "unto life"; Mark noted that repentance was "unto the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4); and in Acts 20:21, it is declared that "Both to Jews and to Greeks repentance TOWARD God and faith TOWARD our Lord Jesus Christ" constituted a part of the Pauline testimony to all people. The direction impact of these references cannot be overlooked. Of

Galatians 1:23 — sole essential to salvation!" J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 948. Indeed, indeed! Paul was preaching the same gospel Peter preached, and Peter commanded believers to "repent and be baptized" in order to receive the remission of sins (Acts 2:38); and this verse is an affirmation that Paul preached exactly the same gospel.

Ephesians 3:12 — the perfect faith and obedience of the Son of God is a subject that has been treated somewhat in depth in the commentaries on Romans and also in Galatians, to which reference is made for those wishing to pursue the subject further. See under Galatians 2:16, in this volume. There is no justification whatever for rendering this verse "through our faith in him." The Greek New Testament says no such thing. See in my Commentary on Romans, Romans 3:22 ff. Taylor, Wesley, MacKnight and many others,

Colossians 1:18 — proposition, "Christ is the head of the church," was absolutely foreign to Paul's thinking prior to the time of the Prison Epistles. William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 76. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that there is "one body" (1 Corinthians 12:20), and is not a body supposed to have a head? Furthermore, when Paul wrote that the head of "every man" is Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3), is this not absolutely equivalent to saying that Christ is the head of the church? As a matter of fact,

1 Thessalonians 4:14 — deceased members, indicating that they fully expected to live to the Second Advent! Of course, this expectation was erroneous, and it may not be inferred that they had received any such false impression from what Paul had actually taught. The appearance of 2 Thessalonians such a short time later to correct their false views proves conclusively that the false views were not of apostolic origin, but due only to their improper deductions. It should be remembered that Paul's instruction of them had been interrupted

1 Thessalonians 4:4 — each one of you take a wife for himself in holiness and honor. The excuse for such a translation derives from the double meaning of two Greek words in the passage: (1) possess, which in classical Greek is sometimes used in the sense of acquire; and (2) vessel which is capable of meaning either wife or body. The English language has many words with double meanings, as well known to all; but the fault in the RSV derives from their adoption of meanings which would make Paul advocate a low view of marriage

Titus 2:2 — enjoined. "Monkey business" and "clowning around" are forbidden by this. Sober-minded … While mentioned here in the instructions to older men, this virtue "is demanded of three of the groups which follow, and of all in Titus 2:12." Alan G. Nute, op. cit., p. 527. Sound in faith… "Faith here is objective," <footnote R. C. H. Lenski, Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistles … Titus (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1964), p. 910. meaning that older

Hebrews 10:30-31 — For we know him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. These quotations are Deuteronomy 32:35-36; but a check of those verses will show that their form, but not their meaning, has been altered by the author of Hebrews. The quotation is not like the Septuagint, nor like Philo, so what is it? It is the apostle Paul quoting a well-known scripture

Hebrews 13:9 — perfunctory reading of it will provide full understanding of it; but despite this, the vast body of scriptural truth is frequently referred to as "truth," in the singular, by the divine writers, emphasizing its essential unity and cohesiveness (2 John 1:9, etc.). Contrasted with this relative simplicity of the truth, the diversity and novelty of all kinds of theories, teachings, and speculations of people clamor incessantly for the Christian's attention. The mention of "meats" suggests

Hebrews 6:11-12 — are: "Be ye imitators of me even as I also am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1); "And ye become imitators of us and of the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 1:6); "For ye, brethren, become imitators of the churches" (1 Thessalonians 2:14); and "Be ye therefore imitators of God as beloved children" (Ephesians 5:1). Faith and patience as joined here are actually twin virtues, because without patience, faith is likely to wither and fall. Jesus said, "In your patience

James 2:22 — the text has it. A similar thing was in view on Pentecost, when Peter commanded that believers "have themselves baptized," making their obedience something for which they were responsible and were required to have done (see comment on Acts 2:38 in this series). And by works was faith made perfect … Here is the clinching argument that faith "without works" is imperfect, utterly unable to save. Inherent in this is also the truth that works are not merely something that genuine

1 Peter 1:11 — which are mandated by this: In attributing the teaching of the prophets to the Spirit of Christ, Peter is in effect affirming that the same Spirit which spoke through him and the other apostles also spoke through the Old Testament prophets (compare 2 Peter 1:21) Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 28. Macknight gave as the meaning of this verse the observation that: From this it appears that, in many instances, the prophets did not understand the meaning of their own prophecies, but studied them, as

1 Peter 2:13 — king, as supreme; or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well. Be subject … This means "submit, or obey"; and "It is the key word in this epistle, occurring here and in 1 Peter 2:18; 1 Peter 3:1; 1 Peter 3:5; 1 Peter 3:22, and in 1 Peter 5:5, six times in all." C. J. Polkinghorne, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 590. To every ordinance of man … Macknight translated

1 Peter 5:13 — indicating that the meaning here is Rome on the Tiber. What are some of the spiritual implications of such a designation? (1) Just as ancient Babylon was a center of enmity and oppression of God's people, so Rome had become in the times of the apostles. (2) As Babylon was destroyed, so shall Rome also be destroyed. (3) Peter reminds his readers afresh that they, as the Israel of God, are "exiles in a foreign land," G. J. Polkinghorne, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan

1 John 3:24 — love."John R. W. Stott, op. cit., p. 151. In this connection, it is also appropriate to point out that no one was ever truly "in Christ" who was not baptized "into him," as the New Testament repeatedly affirms (Romans 6:3-5; Galatians 3:26-27; 1 Corinthians 12:13). And hereby we know that he abideth in us … this is only another way of saying, "hereby we know we are truly Christians." By the Spirit he gave us … In Christians, this refers to "the influence

Revelation 21:9 — bowls, who were laden with the seven last plagues; and he spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. Some have tried to separate this description of the new Jerusalem by an artificial division between Revelation 21:1-8, and the rest of the prophecy. However, Wilcock demonstrated that the balance of this prophecy is a close-up elaboration of exactly what is included in Revelation 1-8 : Michael Wilcock, I Saw Heaven Opened (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity

Revelation 6:5-6 — are priced almost out of the reach of the poor, the rich still have their oil and wine. As Hendriksen put it, "The rich enjoy their abundance, but the poor have hardly enough to hold body and soul together." William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 123. The other view, that of Beckwith, is that the words are "merely intended as a limitation on the severity of the famine." Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 521. It is believed that the latter interpretation is correct. (1) It corresponds with