Bible Commentaries

Genesis 18:1-2 — "theophany." Keil noted that, "There was a double purpose in this visit of the Lord to Abraham";C. F. Keil, Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 228. these were: (1) to strengthen and establish Sarah's faith that the birth of the promised son would actually occur, and (2) to announce the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. There were very strong reasons that underlay that second purpose, as we shall see later. This passage must not be interpreted in

Genesis 24:50-58 — time to make up her mind. (2)    She would say goodbye to her home and relatives, with the near certainty that she would never see them again. (3)    She believed the messenger completely, an incredible act of faith. (4)    She made the decision, saying, "I will go." (5)    She followed the messenger to meet her bridegroom. (6)    She was already the bride-elect, but her actual union with Isaac would

2 Kings 19:29-34 — remnant would be saved, not in Jerusalem, but out of it. It is amazing that Judah and Jerusalem paid so little attention to this warning. God's purpose for Israel was never focused upon the whole people, but upon the few (the remnant) who would have the faith and character of Abraham. "The king of Assyria… shall not come unto this city… nor cast up a mound against it" Yes, in the Assyrian inscriptions, Sennacherib claims to have done this; but no Christian should allow any servant of Satan

Psalms 49:13-15 — God. They will be delivered from the power of the grave (or Hades); while the ungodly shall be held under by Death and the grave (Psalms 49:14). The righteous shall be released from Death and will enter upon a higher life."Ibid. "Here is the hope of faith that reaches beyond death, and in doing so overcomes death spiritually."New Bible Commentary Revised, p. 482. "This is one of the rare references in the Old Testament to a belief in an afterlife."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. III, p. 258. "Clearly,

Ecclesiastes 12:14 — it. As Hendry wrote, "The resolution of the discord" (the making of all things right: the just assignment of rewards for the righteous and punishments for the wicked, which shall take place only in the world to come) - "All this shall await the time when faith will give place to sight and every hidden thing will be revealed; so we may say of these last words of Ecclesiastes, that they foreshadow the resurrection."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 578. "Solomon's conclusion is that true religion is

Isaiah 62:6-9 — whatever to the kind of lives they lived. The passage of the Old Testament that Israel seemed never to have believed, or even to have heard of it, is in Jeremiah 18:7-10, where it is revealed that "all of God's promises" are contingent, absolutely, upon faithful human obedience to the will of God. The "faith only" Protestants of our own generation need to heed the warning that Israel ignored. "Watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem" Dummelow believed these to be, "Angelic beings who report to Jehovah what

Ezekiel 8:7-13 — worship was taking place in the Temple. "The paganism visible in this vision does not appear to be any kind of blending of paganism with the true worship of God; but, on the other hand, "It was unalloyed idolatry practiced by the defectors from the true faith in God."John T. Bunn in the Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1871), p. 255.

Micah 4:2 — dispensation, confirming exactly what is reiterated again, and again by the sacred writers of the New Testament who referred to the gospel as "the precious law of liberty" (James 2:12), "the perfect law" (James 1:26), "the royal law" (James 2:8), "the law of faith" (Romans 3:27), "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:2), "the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2), and "not being without law… but under law to Christ" (1 Corinthians 9:21). No greater misunderstanding prevails upon earth

John 5:24 — shall ever be saved upon the basis of his own personal merit or righteousness; but in Christ, and as Christ, all who are truly united with the Lord shall be saved, the grounds of their justification and redemption being nothing less than the perfect faith and obedience of the Son of God himself. See full discussion of this in my Commentary on Romans, pp. 108-111. But hath passed out of death into life … Not having perfect identity with Christ, in Christ, and as Christ is a state of death;

Acts 19:21-22 — Now after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. And having sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto

Acts 9:1-2 — Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1954), p. 194. Threatenings and slaughter … Such an expression would hardly have been used if the persecution had resulted in the death of Stephen alone. There were many slain on account of their faith.

Romans 3:7-8 — Romans 3:5-8 he is dealing with an assault upon the justice or rectitude of God. "The righteousness of God" (Romans 3:5) is the attribute of righteousness. … It is the inherent equity of God and is to be coordinated with the truth or faithfulness of God (Romans 3:5-7). The abuse with which Romans 3:5-8 deal is therefore of a different cast, and it is significant that Paul has no lengthy refutation. The consideration that he pits against the distortion is simply, "God forbid;

Romans 6:15 — 2:8-9), will comprise the basis of the final judgment itself. The latter half of this present chapter removes any doubt that this is true. Whomever people OBEY, whether Christ or Satan, that one whom they obey is their God. Oh, but we are justified by faith! Indeed yes; but as Dykes put it, If free justification turns out on trial not to save a man from his sin, but to encourage him in it, then it turns out to be a cheat, like all other gospels or recipes for working deliverance which men have ever

1 Corinthians 2:7 — where it is called great (1 Timothy 3:16), the mystery (Romans 16:25), the mystery of God's will (Ephesians 1:9), the mystery of Christ (Ephesians 3:4), the mystery of the gospel (Ephesians 6:1), the mystery of God (Colossians 2:3), the mystery of the faith (1 Timothy 3:9), and the mystery of godliness (1 Timothy 3:16) — it is to that mystery that Paul refers here. It is this mystery which dominates the sixty-six books of the Bible. God announced the mystery in Eden; Satan's part in it was revealed;

1 Timothy 3:16 — it in the New Testament designate it as: The mystery (Romans 16:25). The mystery of his will (Ephesians 1:9). The mystery of Christ (Ephesians 3:4). The mystery of the gospel (Ephesians 6:19). The mystery of God (Colossians 2:2). The mystery of the faith (1 Timothy 3:9). The mystery of godliness (1 Timothy 3:16). There is nothing simplistic about this mystery. It has many facets and complexities; and for an extended treatise on the theology of mystery unfolded in the New Testament, reference is

Titus 3:5 — that stood at the entrance to the Jewish temple, in which priests washed themselves before engaging in their duties within the sanctuary. The analogy in the Christian religion is the baptistery, the same being the only laver connected with the holy faith, and being the place where sinners are cleansed and justified prior to their entry into the true sanctuary, which is the Lord's church. The use of the term laver is very fortunate, because the primary meaning of it, in context, is the baptistery,

Judges 11:34-40 — That is where Jephthah's daughter was. If she had become a burnt-offering, the yearly celebration would not have involved any "going" at all. (8)    We have already noted that Jephthah's name is listed in the roster of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, along with David and Samuel, and due to the fact of human sacrifice having been forever and always an abomination to the Lord, it is impossible to believe that Jephthah would have been so favorably mentioned in the N.T. if indeed

1 John 1:8 — involved.Iraeneus, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, On Heresies I, 6, 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, n.d.), p. 324. This ancient heresy exists today in a much more sophisticated form in what is heralded as salvation "by faith alone," which has exactly the same meaning as salvation "not by means of conduct." Man's presumptuous blindness in denying the existence of sin, either as a principle, or as existent within himself, is self-deception at its worst.

1 John 3:17 — grace, John Wesley wrote this: "Give to him that asketh thee …" Give and lend to any so far (but no farther, for God never contradicts himself) as is consistent with thy engagements to thy creditors, thy family, and the household of faith.John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (Naperville, Illinois: Alec R. Allensen, Inc., 1950), p. 34. Such a comment reveals the serious question of priorities which makes this one of the most difficult Christian commandments; and

1 John 5:3 — to an idea that is never far from the surface of his mind. Obedience is the only proof of love."William Barclay, The Letters of John and Jude (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 103. We might add that it is likewise the only proof of faith.