Bible Commentaries

1 Thessalonians 2:13 — tabulation of how the word works in believers: By the word the new birth is effected (1 Peter 1:23). By it the soul is saved (James 1:21). By it we are sanctified (John 17:17; 1 Timothy 4:5). It prevails mightily (Acts 19:20). Like the seed (Mark 4:26-27), it has power in itself to produce. It is living and active (Hebrews 4:12). It is like fire against that which is false (Jeremiah 23:29). It is like a hammer against that which is strong (Jeremiah 23:29). It is light in darkness (Psalms 119:105). It

1 Timothy 2:6 — are discernible in the crucifixion of Christ; and thus it is proper to say that: (1) God crucified Christ; (2) Christ crucified himself (gave himself willingly); (3) the Jews crucified him; (4) the Romans crucified him; (5) all mankind crucified him; (6) Satan crucified him; and (7) every man crucified him. A study of these is very rewarding. See in my Commentary on Romans, pp. 137ff. The inestimable worth of our Lord Jesus Christ is apparent in that a ransom must have equivalent value to that which

Titus 1:6 — "believing" as a synecdoche embracing all of the primary steps of obedience to the gospel; but there is no certainty that he did so here. The opinion of Zerr is worthy of consideration: My conclusion is that "faithful children" in Titus 1:6 is equivalent to controlled children in 1 Timothy 3:4; 1 Timothy 3:12, where the same point is under consideration, and hence that they are to believe in and be faithful to their father, regardless of whether they are members of the church or not, or

Hebrews 10:36 — For ye have need of patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise. Verse 36 and through the end of this chapter conclude the fourth great exhortation of Hebrews. The exhortation is based on a number of considerations, among which are these: (1) We have a great high priest who has opened up the new and living way through the

Hebrews 3:3 — God's children in all ages. The Jewish system, no less than the Christian, was divine in its origin; and many New Testament passages emphasize the connection of Old Testament references with that new Israel which supplanted the old (1 Corinthians 10:6; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Romans 15:4; John 5:39; Acts 17:2-3). It was in view of this unity that Jesus said, And ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without. And they shall come

Hebrews 4:14 — such things; because, as a matter of fact, Jesus Christ has ascended far above "all heavens" (Ephesians 4:10), as Paul said; and a little later in this epistle it is said that Christ is made "higher than the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26). On the plurality of heavens, Bruce wrote that "the plural `heavens' as regularly used in the New Testament and the Septuagint, reflects the Hebrew word use in the Old Testament, which is always plural. What is emphasized here is his transcendence."

Hebrews 4:4 — procurement of that more noble rest, they failed. One of the most significant revelations of this chapter is that the seventh day of Creation is still in progress. God rested on the seventh day from all his works (of creation). God is still resting, Hebrews 4:6; Hebrews 4:11. People should take pains to enter that rest because it is yet available. The Bishop of Edinburgh stated that, "From this argument, it is mandatory to conclude that the seventh day is still in progress?

James 2:5 — Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him? "Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20), thus said Jesus; and there can hardly be any doubt that James had such words in view here. Christ did not teach that the poor are saved because of their poverty, nor that the rich are condemned because of their wealth; and yet the singular fact

James 3:14 — condemned in this passage. Of course, such are included, but it is doubtful if the meaning may be thus restricted. The "truth" against which such evil strivings "lie" is the "truth of the gospel." R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 617. However, more is meant than merely contradicting the content of that which must be allowed as truthful. As Punchard observed: Falsehood is not merely the hurt of some abstract virtue, or bare rule of right and wrong, but a direct blow at the living

James 3:3 — either in grammar or spelling, becomes more sacred in their eyes than the Received Text in believers of verbal inspiration. E. G. Punchard, Ellicott's Commentary on the Holy Bible, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 369. It is high time that this kind of monkey business on the part of translators was rejected out of hand. Gerhard Maier also decried the critical bias in preferring the more difficult reading thus: The more difficult reading ("lectio Difficilior"),

James 4:4 — "kill" in the preceding verses, this word too must be understood in the spiritual sense of unfaithfulness to God. "Spiritual adultery" is the unfaithfulness of the church, which is the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Romans 7:1-6; Revelation 21:2; Revelation 22:17). The marriage metaphor was extensively used in the Old Testament, as in Isaiah 54:5; and the new Israel of God, the church, naturally took it over. Jesus used it in John 3:29; and also in Matthew 12:39. The crass

1 Peter 2:18 — subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. In subjection to your masters … Peter's instructions here are in full harmony with Paul's instructions to the Ephesians and the Colossians (Ephesians 5:6 ff; Colossians 3:22 ff). "The sacred writers use language of studied moderation, carefully avoiding any expressions which might be regarded as exciting to violence or revolutionary outbreaks." B. C. Caffin, op. cit., p. 74. Of course, Christianity

1 Peter 4:1 — the Master, then turned to the disciple. B. C. Caffin, Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22, 1 Peter (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing House, 1950), p. 170. The thing primarily in view here is exactly the Christian teaching expounded by Paul in Romans 6:1-11; and Barclay said of that passage in this context, "We think that is what Peter is thinking here." William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 247. As baptized believers in Christ, Peter's

1 Peter 4:3 — related sins typical of the whole conduct of the wicked. Here, "violence and lust are classed with drunkenness which fosters them." J. H. A. Hart, Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 71. Also, the climax of the list is "abominable idolatries," identifying the scandalous idol temples as the general source and encouragement of Gentile licentiousness. This verse, along with many others, is proof that 1 Peter was not

Revelation 11:12 — Only then will God's saints ascend to heaven (2 Timothy 4:8 f). Coming here, as it does, just before the sounding of the seventh trumpet, it occupies a place in the sixth trumpet, just as did the judgment connected with the sixth seal in Revelation 6:14-17. Is not the resurrection of the witnesses of God and their exaltation the beginning of the last judgment? Paul said, "Each in his own order; Christ the firstfruits, then they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end" (1 Corinthians

Revelation 13:5 — See under article on "The Christian View of the State" in the chapter introduction. To continue forty and two months … This time period must surely be identified with "the whole time the woman was in the wilderness (Revelation 12:6), that is, the whole Christian era, from its beginning to its close." Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 94. "The forty-two months is a symbolic number for the entire period of the persecution of the church." George Eldon Ladd, op. cit.,

Revelation 15:3 — of the Lamb … Perhaps no more is meant by this than the unity of the saints of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Moses was the grand Old Testament type of Christ. See extensive development of this in my Commentary on Hebrews, pp. 67-69. The song is that of redemption. Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty … Significantly, this song, made up of a blended collection of Old Testament texts, deals not with the overcoming of the saints, but with the mighty

Revelation 19:15 — of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. And out of his mouth proceeded a sharp sword … Again, all voices agree as one in seeing this as a symbol of the word of God (Hebrews 4:12-13; Ephesians 6:17 f). With it he should smite the nations … rule them with a rod of iron … These are not references to the merciful and benign reign of Christ through his saints on earth in the present dispensation, but to the final wrath and judgment

Revelation 5:7 — tense from the standpoint of the apostle John. "The moment is that of his appearance in heaven, fresh from the suffering and triumph of the cross." F. F. Bruce, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 643. This was, of course, some decades prior to the writing of Revelation. The tense of the verbs here, as noted by Carpenter, bears this out: "He came, and he has taken the roll out of the hand of him that sat on the throne." W. Boyd

Revelation 9:12 — valid examples of what is prophesied here. We believe that the locusts are still swarming, and that the evil horsemen are still doing their thing on the earth. Again, we wish to call attention to a quotation from Albertus Pieters under Revelation 8:6. It should always be remembered that Revelation was written to help Christians of John's day face the rigors of the actual, evil world in which they lived; and the same truth that helped them can help the Christians of all ages, including our own. These