Bible Commentaries

Luke 16:5 — analogy of the manner in which the scribes and Pharisees lowered the standards of righteousness as a device for keeping their hold upon the people: allowing divorce on any pretext (Luke 16:18), and by countless devices making void the law of God (Matthew 23:16). And, although the scribes and Pharisees were the deceitful stewards in view here the analogy may be extended throughout Christian history to include countless others who have marked down the gospel and perverted God's law. This crooked device

John 3:22 — Christ, almost totally omitted by the synoptics. The Spirit of God directed the apostles in the choice of the material they included. Jesus had definitely stressed the fact that the Gospel should first be offered to the Jews and then to the Gentiles (Luke 24:27; Acts 1:8); and "to the Jew first" became a slogan of the missionary work of Paul, and presumably of all the apostles. How fitting, therefore, that the Lord himself should have carried his great message first to the Jews as revealed in

John 5:46 — causative force of the final resurrection of all the dead. And, in all of this magnificent progression beginning with the healing of the invalid, and then moving steadily and logically from that event: (1) to the promise of "greater works," (2) to the promise that his foes would marvel at it, (3) to the teaching of a great spiritual resurrection, (4) and to the announcement of himself as having authority and power over the final resurrection and judgment of the last day — in all of

John 9:2 — thought that possibly the man had sinned, either in a previous state of existence (in accordance with the doctrine of transmigration of souls), or more probably as an infant before birth. To the Jews who attributed intelligence to unborn children (Genesis 25:22-26; Luke 1:41), this last was a natural idea.J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 790. According to Hendriksen, the Jewish Rabbis held that Esau had tried to kill Jacob in the womb, before either

John 9:5 — When I am in the world, I am the light of the world. This is the second of the great "I am's" of John. For the list of these, see under John 8:12. When I am in the world … has the meaning of "as long as I am in the world" (KJV), an admission that there would come a time when Jesus would be no longer on earth; but that has reference only to his physical life. Such was the glory

Acts 14:1 — repopulated. The word "images" in the Greek ([@eikones]) gives us the English "icon"; and similarly Iconium found a name! E. M. Blaiklock, Cities of the New Testament (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1965), p. 27. Such a legend of course was grounded in the fact that the flood mentioned in Genesis actually occurred. It stood on the edge of the plateau, well watered, a wealthy and productive region. Claudius honored it by calling it Claudiconium; Hadrian made

Romans 14:4 — here. ON JUDGING OTHERS Jesus said, "Judge not that ye be not judged" (Matthew 7:1); and, while upon earth, not even the blessed Son of God himself judged people, saying, "I came not to judge the world but to save the world" (John 12:47). This is not a prohibition of discerning other people's actions, but of presuming to utter a condemnation, break the fellowship, or disturb the unity of the church. Any Christian might lawfully make a private, personal, and tentative evaluation

Romans 15:13 — Dayspring from on high shall visit us … to guide our feet unto the way of peace (Luke 1:78-79); and the joy having been announced by the angel of the Lord to the shepherds: Behold I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be to all people (Luke 2:10). Such a glorious peace and joy are available from no other source than the life of faith in Jesus Christ. These priceless endowments of the soul are the Christian's badge of eternal inheritance, his true credentials of heavenly citizenship, and

Romans 3:29-30 — a Gentile prerogative, and was also the basis of their feeling that God was a tribal, or national, God to themselves alone. Paul here disposed of that bias by two statements: (1) since there is only one God, he is God of both Jews and Gentiles, and (2) the salvation God offers to all people is offered upon the same conditions to them all, "by faith," and "through faith" being the summary of those conditions in a magnificent synecdoche. The expressions "by faith" and

Romans 4:3 — reckoning righteousness to Abraham and entering into a covenant that in Abraham all the families of the earth should be blessed, Abraham had exhibited an obedient faith in all that God said: (1) God called Abram to leave Ur of the Chaldees (Genesis 12:1-3); Abram believed and obeyed, not even knowing whither he went (Hebrews 11:8). (2) When Abram reached Shechem in the land of Canaan, he built an altar and worshipped God (Genesis 12-6, 7). (3) Abraham built an altar unto Jehovah and called upon God's

Romans 8:1 — There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Seven times already in this letter, Paul had stressed the significance of being "in Christ." Faith (Romans 3:26), redemption (Romans 3:24), peace (Romans 5:1), rejoicing in God (Romans 5:11), abundance of grace and of the gifts of righteousness (Romans 5:17), being alive unto God (Romans 6:11), and eternal life (Romans 6:22), were all mentioned by Paul as blessings

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 — body of Christ (Romans 6:11). There are four things mentioned by Paul in this passage which belong to the Christian by virtue of his being "in Christ." Wisdom of God. In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). The person "in Christ," by reason of having believed and having been baptized "into Christ" is thus identified with Christ, being a part of his spiritual body; and thus, as Christ he has become the possessor of the wisdom of

Philippians 3:1 — 1971), p. 190. It is amazing how often in the Scriptures joy is associated with knowledge and study of God's word, a familiar example being, "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart" (Psalms 19:8). Both here and in Philippians 2:18 "rejoice" has the status of an apostolic order or commandment. A Christian who will not "rejoice in the Lord" is a contradiction! Paul himself, suffering privations, imprisonment and hardships, led the way in this most distinctive

Colossians 4:10-11 — the circumcision: these only are my fellow-workers unto the kingdom of God, men that have been a comfort unto me. Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner … ARISTARCHUS This man, a Jew of Thessalonica, is first mentioned in the New Testament in Acts 19:22, where it is reported that, along with Gaius, he was dragged into the theater at Ephesus. When the riot was over and Paul left Ephesus, Aristarchus went with him (Acts 20:4), appearing again as one of the committee in charge of Paul's collection for

1 Timothy 2:1-2 — in the administrative assistants in government as well as heads of state. The intense missionary thrust of this whole passage is inherent in the repetition of "all" throughout the passage, as well as in the missionary reference in 1 Timothy 2:7. That we may lead a tranquil and quiet life … Christians are not to be revolutionaries in the sense of that word today, although the influence of the gospel, properly advocated, can and does have a therapeutic effect upon the entire society.

Hebrews 7:9-10 — freely"). Any one of these meanings is fitting, for this is exactly what the writer does when he says that Levi was still in the loins of Abraham when Abraham paid the tenth to Melchizedek; he uses the proper expression. R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 220. For notes on "loins" see under Hebrews 7:5. The burden of the argument in this place is simply that the priesthood of Melchizedek (and therefore of Christ) is greater than the Levitical priesthood; and the proof offered is that the whole

James 3:6 — the state of "the steward of unrighteousness" (Luke 16:8), and "the judge of unrighteousness" (Luke 18:6). Ronald A. Ward, The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1230. Here is the key to understanding what was said a little later. An uncontrolled tongue is closely allied with the inherent wickedness of unregenerated human carnality. Every conceivable form of lust, greed, deception, hatred, malignity and every evil,

1 Peter 2:9 — but here Peter trumpeted the bestowal of all those titles upon the new Israel, now no longer restricted to those of Abrahamic descent, but available to Jew and Gentile alike "in Christ Jesus." Peter had already cautioned his readers (1 Peter 2:5) to be what they were supposed to be, and to show the kind of life and character that would be pleasing to God, thus warning them to avoid the mistake of the old Israel who had failed so spectacularly in that very duty. An elect race … Just

Revelation 11:18 — for the glory of God. Michael Wilcock, I Saw Heaven Opened (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1975), pp. 107, 108. "There is an appropriateness in God's tailoring the punishment to fit the crime." Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 231. Judgment and recompense are not contradictory to love, but a necessary aspect of it." Vernard Eller, op. cit.. p. 122. The current misunderstanding and misrepresentation of God's love make it to be an attitude that is not even worthy of a good

Revelation 5:1 — these sheets together, side to side, to form the roll of required length. In reading, the roll was transferred from the roller in one hand to another roller in the other. Barclay tells us that a book the length of Romans would have required a roll 11 1/2 feet long. William Barclay, The Revelation of John (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 208. A characteristic of the scroll was that the strips of papyrus caused a horizontal grain on one side and a vertical grain on the other, called the