Bible Commentaries

Genesis 6:22 — "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him; so did he." Through Noah's faith and obedience, under the grace and mercy of God, a new beginning was achieved for mankind. It is appropriate to think a moment about the stupendous nature of this man's faith in what God told him. Such a flood was a seeming impossibility. The N.T.

Psalms 40:10-11 — "I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation; I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great assembly. Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Jehovah; Let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me." As Jamieson said, "Christ's

Matthew 21:21-22 — And Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea, it shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. This

Matthew 5:8 — Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. This refers not merely to those whose hearts are free from evil purpose and desire but particularly alludes to those whose hearts have been purified by faith (Acts 15:9) and obedience to the gospel (1 Peter 1:22). The "heart" in this passage is, of course, THE MIND. According to the Scriptures, it is "THE HEART" that imagines (Genesis 6:5), understands (Matthew 15:13), reasons (Mark

Mark 10:52 — And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And straightway he received his sight, and followed him in the way. Thy faith hath made thee whole … may also be translated, "Thy faith hath saved thee" (see the English Revised Version (1885) margin). From

Mark 11:13 — Jesus' expectation, because the leaves were normally preceded by the fruit. Nothing but leaves … This freakish fig tree, all leafed out, and out of season also, was a perfect type of Israel; but it is in one particular a type of all who profess faith in God without exhibiting any of the fruit that should accompany such faith. This cannot be, however, the full meaning of this fig tree, because in this dispensation it IS the time of figs (spiritually). It is in this differentiation that the unique

Luke 17:1-2 — entitled "Four things of which the Christian should beware." These were enumerated by him as "the sin of tempting others (Luke 17:1-2), … the sin of an unforgiving spirit (Luke 17:3-4), … the sin of overlooking the power of faith in this (Luke 17:5-6), … and the sin of supposing that one may merit salvation (Luke 17:7-10).Herschel H. Hobbs, An Exposition of the Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1966), p. 245. We fully agree with Hobbs that

Luke 17:14 — healed in one circumstance, some in others; most were healed instantaneously; one or two were healed in stages; some were touched by Jesus, others were not; some were commanded to tell it, others forbidden to tell it; some upon the basis of their own faith, others upon the faith of friends; some were healed in his presence, others in absentia; and, true to such diversity, there is a unique angle here, in that they were commanded to go show themselves to the priests (a necessary requirement of the

Luke 18:40-42 — And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole. Gilmour's terse comment here is that "Mark's graphic details are omitted,"S. MacLean Gilmour, op. cit., p. 319. which, of course, is proof that Luke was not copying Mark, nor is there the slightest hard evidence

John 11:45 — translators have softened the impact of the passage by limiting the number of believers to "many therefore." Like many other passages in the New Testament, this is another example of the tenderness with which the theory of salvation by "faith only" is guarded from every possible "misunderstanding"! The truth shines, however, that "believers," regardless of what kind of faith they have, must find something beyond it and in addition to it in order to be saved,

John 13:19 — to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. The treachery of Judas and denial of Peter were events of such negative force that Jesus moved to protect his disciples against the impact which such actions would have upon their faith. The whole terrible ordeal of the trials, crucifixion, and death, was almost upon them; and the apostles were here schooled against the very worst that could happen. That I am he … Jesus never lost sight of the fact which he came into the

John 6:37 — in no wise cast out. All that which the Father giveth me … refers to all who shall be saved, none being excluded, so long as they truly come to Christ, that being the thrust of the second clause. Significantly, this verse makes no reference to faith like that in the previous verse; but this does not exclude faith, the verses being supplementary each to the other. Thus, one must believe and come to Jesus in order to be saved. Coming to Jesus is equivalent to entering his kingdom; and entering

John 8:46 — all who ever knew Christ concurred fully in this judgment of absolute holiness pertaining to him, a fact that his bitterest enemies allowed to stand unchallenged. Why do ye not believe … This stage of the interview having been reached, their faith had become no faith. Note also that this does not deny their fundamental position of "believing on" him as the promised Messiah, the Christ who should come into the world, etc. They still recognized him as the head of the theocracy, the

Acts 17:30 — The times of this ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent. This would have been a marvelous opportunity for Paul to expound salvation "by faith only" if he had ever believed or taught such a thing; but here he used "repent" in exactly the same manner as he often used "believe," that is, as a synecdoche for all of the things required of the alien sinner, namely,

1 Thessalonians 1:7-8 — so that ye became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything. The faith of those Thessalonians has touched all lands, as noted in the introduction. Dummelow called attention to the fact of Thessalonica being the capital of Macedonia, and of

2 Timothy 2:14 — Paul moved to instruct Timothy with regard to the false teachers who had emerged in Ephesus. Put them in remembrance of these things … That is, remind the Christians under his care in Ephesus of the soul-inspiring truths just enunciated in the faithful saying. Strive not about words, to no profit … Needless and useless argumentation have been the bane of historical Christianity. At the time of the great Communist revolution in Russia, the Orthodox Church was engaged in a tremendous argumentative

Hebrews 12:2 — Looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured on the cross, despising the shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Above the great cloud of witnesses is the great King himself, Jesus our Lord; and, although some doubt

Hebrews 12:4 — Brooke Foss Westcott, op. cit., p. 398. Addressed to the second generation of Hebrew Christians, this epistle would gain deeper significance in calling to remembrance the first generation martyrs by the reminder that his readers had not yet crowned their faith after the example of Stephen and James. Sin is personified in this verse, being represented as the antagonist of Christians; and so it is. Some of the struggles of faith are against people, but the great struggle is against sin.

Hebrews 4 overview — EXHORTATION CONTINUED; THE CHRISTIAN'S REST ATTAINED BY FAITH; THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD; THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST; BOLDNESS AT THE THRONE OF GRACE

Hebrews 6 overview — FOUNDATION PRINCIPLES; PRESSING ON UNTO PERFECTION; EXHORTATIONS TO FAITH AND PATIENCE; THE HOPE THAT IS SET BEFORE US