Bible Commentaries

Genesis 50 overview — This chapter concludes the astounding Book of Genesis, giving an account of the burial of Jacob and the death of Joseph. This chapter records one of the great actions of faith. Joseph was one of the most popular and successful Prime Ministers (if we may call him that) who ever lived. This man Joseph might indeed have been buried in one of the pyramids, or have received the most elaborate and expensive burial that the

Psalms 39:8 — "Deliver me from all my transgressions: Make me not the reproach of the foolish." Here is the glory of Old Testament faith. How heroic it is, that in the midst of the riddles of the present, and the looming darkness of that night in which no man can work, and the pitiful brevity of our earthly pilgrimage, that faith lays hold on God as the ultimate reality. He created us; he is the answer; he is the Redeemer; he is our hope and our salvation!

Matthew 9:2 — And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven. This is one of those "mighty works" mentioned by Jesus in his reproach of Capernaum (Matthew 11:23). Important details are mentioned in Mark 2:1-12 and Luke

Mark 5:34 — And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. Far from being displeased with her, the Lord reassured her, bestowed upon her the benediction of his peace, and the assurance of her continued wholeness. He also directed her thoughts away from any superstition to the effect that touching a fringe had healed her. Her healing was founded upon his own sovereign will and upon her own faith in the Lord of glory.

Mark 8:23 — Christ occasionally resorted to such practice is not known to us; but, as in the case of the deaf-mute, it appears to have been necessary for the instruction of the blind man. Dummelow observed that: The man was healed in stages, probably because his faith was imperfect. Jesus first strengthened his faith by partly healing him, and then; when his faith was adequate, completed the cure.J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 728. In this connection,

John 4:47 — When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him and besought him, that he would come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. That he would come down and heal … The faith of the nobleman was sufficient to send him to Capernaum, a distance of some sixteen miles, over hilly and rough terrain. The fact of the son's being at the point of death is pertinent; because only the direst necessity could have sent this nobleman

John 4:49 — The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. The nobleman did not pretend to a faith he did not have, but only poured out the agony of a broken heart before the only one who he knew could help. Such an outpouring of human sorrow was not lost upon "the Man of Sorrows." The faith that falls down before the Lord and pours the soul's agony at his feet is always the beginning of something better, as it proved here.

John 4:50 — Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. The man believed the word that Jesus spake unto him, and he went his way. Little faith had suddenly grown strong. In Jesus' presence, under the impact of the imperative word, and in the light of all he remembered from Jerusalem, he believed the word of Jesus. Having believed, he obeyed at once, returning to Capernaum as soon as he

Acts 14:22 — Confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. Confirming the souls … In order to avoid the overtones of the word "confirming," as it is erroneously associated with the so-called "seven sacraments,"

Romans 10:17 — So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Conybeare and Howson translated this verse: So, then, faith comes by teaching; and our teaching comes by the word of God (There is no English word which precisely represents the word for teaching in its subjective as well as objective meaning, which is literally, "word received by hearing," that

Romans 16:25-27 — according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all nations unto obedience of faith: to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever. Amen. My gospel … must not be understood as anything different from the gospel taught by the other apostles of Christ, with special reference to the great body of

Romans 4:2 — For if Abraham was justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not toward God. By works … is an unfortunate rendition, because the expression seems to take sides in an old controversy, appearing to be antithetical to salvation "by faith only" as advocated by the commentators; and the implicit denial of it here is construed as support of their theory. Nothing like that is here. "Works" simply means the law of Moses, "works of law," the alternate reading

2 Corinthians 5:17 — body is the spiritual body of Christ. The entire New Testament gives no other means, provides no other device, and suggests no other ceremony or action that can bring the believer INTO CHRIST. Why? Because there is none. But, it is alleged that "faith in Christ" saves; and so it does, but notice the meaning of this oft-repeated and frequently misunderstood expression. "Faith in Christ" means faith exercised by a believer who is "in Christ," having been baptized into him.

Galatians 3:3 — contrasting Judaism and Christianity, "the Spirit" being the endowment of all Christians, and "fleshly descent" being the total basis of Jewish confidence. But the constant manipulation of every text in the New Testament to fit the "faith only" notion must be maintained: "They received the Spirit by faith," R. E. Howard, Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1965), Vol. IX, p. 55. as one declared, despite the fact that faith is not mentioned

Ephesians 1:15 — For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which ye show to all the saints. Heard of the faith … among you … Beare said this is "fiction, and not specific," and tried to prove it by a distorted quotation, or paraphrase,

2 Thessalonians 3:2 — and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men; for all have not faith. Unreasonable and evil men … Moffatt suggested "That the general aim of this passage is to widen the horizon of the Thessalonians, by enlisting their sympathy and interest on the part of others." James Moffatt, The Expositor's Greek

Hebrews 11:1 — Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. The preoccupation of scholars with their view of making this verse a logical definition of faith has resulted in the rendition before us, which is certainly no improvement on the

Hebrews 11:29 — By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were swallowed up. Though the faith of Moses appears in this, it is also the faith of the people that enabled them to go into the sea at God's command and trust in

Jude 1:20 — But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, Building up yourselves … If we followed the pattern in works of this kind, three or four pages should be inserted here explaining how "there is not anything you can do to be saved," "it is all of

Jude 1:3 — Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints. While I was giving all diligence … means that Jude was actually engaged in writing a treatise on "our common salvation." For possible reasons why this might have been overruled by