Bible Commentaries

Acts 14:24-26 — region in the Roman province of Galatia. Pamphylia was the province south of Galatia and east of the kingdom of Antiochus. Perga, like Derbe, was one of the sites the missionaries visited that Luke chose not to comment on extensively (cf. Acts 13:13-14). Perhaps Paul and Barnabas planted a church there, too. The apostles then sailed directly for Syrian Antioch by way of Attalia, the seaport 10 miles south of Perga. "Ports in antiquity were often satellite towns of larger and more important cities

Acts 28:9 — that God’s power was still working through Paul. God was working as strongly as ever in spite of the physical exhaustion caused by the sea voyage and shipwreck. Paul could heal anyone that God wanted healed, though not everyone (cf. 2 Timothy 4:20). "Paul could exercise the gift of healing; and yet Paul had forever to bear about with him the thorn in the flesh. He healed others while he could not heal himself. Like his Master, in another sense, he saved others when he could not save himself."

Romans 10:18 — This rhetorical question suggests the possibility that Israel’s rejection of her Messiah may have been due to a failure to get the message to the Jews (Romans 10:14). However, Paul’s quotation of Psalms 19:4 clarifies that they had heard. Every human being hears the testimony of nature (ch. 1), and all Israel had heard the special revelation of God concerning His Son from the prophets. They could not plead

1 Corinthians 1:27-28 — The Old Testament is full of illustrations of God choosing less than promising material as His instruments. In the Book of Judges, for example, we see Him using an ox goad (Judges 3:31), a nail (1 Corinthians 4:21), trumpets, pitchers, and lamps (Judges 7:20), a millstone (Judges 9:53), and the jawbone of an ass (Judges 15:15). His method did not change with the coming of Christ nor has it changed since then. "Things that are not" are things that

1 Corinthians 13:7 — Love covers unworthy things rather than bringing them to the light and magnifying them (cf. 1 Peter 4:8). It puts up with everything. It is always eager to believe the best and to "put the most favorable construction on ambiguous actions." [Note: Bruce, 1 and 2 Corinthians, p. 127.] "This does not mean . . . that a Christian

1 Corinthians 15:45 — including a spiritual body, only as Christ did, namely, by resurrection. [Note: See Richard B. Gaffin Jr., "’Life-Giving Spirit’: Probing the Center of Paul’s Pneumatology," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 41:4 (December 1998):573-89.]

2 Corinthians 12:20 — instructions in this letter. Furthermore he feared that they might see the disciplinarian in him. He also feared that he might sorrow if he saw continuing carnal conduct in them (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:11-12; 1 Corinthians 1:31; 1 Corinthians 3:3; 1 Corinthians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 5:2; 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians 11:18; 1 Corinthians 14:33; 1 Corinthians 14:40). "It is an understatement to say that Paul was afraid of what he might find at Corinth upon his third visit. This list of

2 Corinthians 3:2 — by blessing his ministry with fruit in Corinth spoke more eloquently than any letter he could have carried with him. "Proof of Paul’s genuineness was to be found not in written characters but in human characters." [Note: Harris, p. 334.] "Professing Christians are the Bible that men read and know." [Note: A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, 4:220.]

2 Corinthians 5:9 — of these good things our ambition must be to please God come life or death. The prospect of face-to-face fellowship with Jesus Christ should motivate us to please Him out of love (cf. Galatians 1:10; Philippians 1:20; Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:1). Paul did not mean that we can perform acts after we die that will please God (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:10), though we can. "At home or absent" is a figure of speech (merism) for always. In a merism two parts represent the whole (e.g., heaven

2 Corinthians 7:3 — reaction he promised he would never exclude them from his love. This is a good example of unconditional love. "The caveat that one was writing something not to stir negative emotion but to demonstrate affection (2 Corinthians 7:3; 1 Corinthians 4:14) was an appropriate way of showing love (Cicero Fam. 2.4.2)." [Note: Keener, p. 197.]

2 Corinthians 7:6-7 — felt disheartened (Gr. tapeinos, not clinically depressed) by this syndrome of circumstances. However, he felt greatly encouraged when Titus found him and reported that the Corinthians had responded to his severe letter properly (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:3-4). Paul evidently wrote that letter between 1 and 2 Corinthians. [Note: See the chart in the introduction section of these notes.] Three things turned his spirits around: the arrival of Titus after some delay, Titus’ report of his positive experience

Ephesians 3:2 — This verse begins another long sentence that runs through Ephesians 3:13 in the Greek text. "If indeed" (NASB) means "Surely" (NIV, cf. Ephesians 4:21). The Ephesians had indeed heard of Paul’s ministry. "Stewardship" or "administration" (Gr. oikonomia, dispensation, Ephesians 3:9; Ephesians 1:10) here has the idea of the management of someone else’s business (cf.

Ephesians 4:23 — point is revelation. The infinitive has the force of an imperative. [Note: Bock, "’The New . . .,’" pp. 162-63; idem, "A Theology . . .," p. 316, footnote 10.] Rather than being futile, darkened, and ignorant (Ephesians 4:18-19) the Christian has taken on a new attitude (cf. Romans 6:2-10; 2 Corinthians 5:17). This renewing is an ongoing process in the life of the Christian (i.e., progressive sanctification). The verb is passive, which emphasizes that God is at work

Ephesians 4:29 — The fourth exhortation is to speak good things as well as to do good things (Ephesians 4:28). Anything that injures others or causes dissension in the body is unwholesome (Gr. sapros, rotten, defiling). Christians should use words to build up people rather than to tear them down. Words can give grace (help) in the sense that they communicate

Ephesians 5:13 — light" in the sense that it becomes obvious, but it also becomes good. "This may mean that Christians who lead a righteous life thereby restrain and reform evildoers, yes, and even convert them." [Note: Stott, p. 200. See also Foulkes, p. 148.] "Turn on the light. Often the preacher is the only man brave enough to turn the light on the private sins of men and women or even those of a community." [Note: Robertson, 4:543.]

Ephesians 5:26 — The purpose Jesus Christ had in mind when He sacrificed Himself for His bride, the church, was to set her apart (sanctify, make her holy) for Himself as His own forever (cf. Hebrews 2:11; Hebrews 10:10; Hebrews 10:14; Hebrews 13:12). [Note: See Richard D. Patterson, "Metaphors of Marriage as Expressions of Divine-Human Relations," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 51:4 (December 2008):689-702.] Logically cleansing comes before setting apart,

Philippians 2:21 — Epaphroditus. Paul would commend him shortly (Philippians 2:25-30). Perhaps Paul was thinking of those local Roman Christians who were serving the Lord at least partially to advance their own reputations. He had referred to them previously (Philippians 1:14-18). He probably meant that of all the people whom he might have sent to the Philippians, none put the interests of Christ above their own as Timothy did. Luke must have been away from Rome when Paul wrote this, and perhaps other helpers of Paul were

1 Timothy 5:8 — blameworthy, since he has, what the heathen has not, the supreme example of love in Jesus Christ." [Note: Newport J. D. White, "The First and Second Epistles to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus," in The Expositor’s Greek Testament, 4:129.]

Hebrews 3:1 — calling as Christians is not just earthly but also heavenly. Jesus Christ is the "Apostle" (lit. delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders) in that He is the One God sent to reveal the Father to humankind (cf. Hebrews 1:1-2; John 1:14; John 3:17; John 3:34; John 5:36; John 5:38; et al.). Furthermore He is the "High Priest" in that He is the One God anointed to represent human beings to Himself (Hebrews 2:17-18). Our confession is that for which we take a public stand in

Hebrews 5:10 — for this purpose, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest, that God appointed Jesus as our High Priest. The writer developed the subject of the order of Melchizedek later (ch. 7). Jesus Christ is not only superior to angels (Hebrews 1:5-14) and Moses (Hebrews 3:1-6) but also Aaron (Hebrews 5:1-10). "The orientation given to the exposition is intensely practical. The solidarity of the heavenly high priest with the community in its weakness provides a strong motivation for earnest