Bible Commentaries

Acts 12:10-11 — wrong one and He left the wrong one! But life and death are in the hands of a sovereign God. . . . This is His universe, not ours. It is God’s church, not ours. The hand of a sovereign God moves in the church." [Note: McGee, 4:562.]

Acts 23:33 — The governor (procurator) of Judea at this time was Antonius Felix (A.D. 52-59). [Note: Cf. Bruce, "Chronological Questions . . .," pp. 284-87; David W. J. Gill, "Acts and Roman Policy in Judaea," in The Book of Acts in Its First Century Setting; Vol. 4: The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting, pp. 21-25.] Pontius Pilate occupied this office from A.D. 26-36. Felix had a reputation

Romans 8:14 — Paul wrote to the Galatians that the law leads people to Christ (Galatians 3:24). The Holy Spirit does this too (John 16:8-11). Having come to Christ the Holy Spirit continues to lead us in the moral will of God. The Holy Spirit leads every true child of God (Galatians 5:18). He goes before us and expects us to follow Him, as a

1 Corinthians 14:32-33 — Prophets were to control themselves when speaking, even when giving new revelation (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:27-28). The nature of this gift was that it did not sweep the prophet into a mindless frenzy. Pagans who received demonic revelations frequently lost control of themselves. Inability to control oneself was no evidence that the prophet spoke from God.

1 Corinthians 14:34 — common and acceptable practice. I think the best explanation of this apparent contradiction comes out of the context, as is usually true. Paul had just permitted others in the congregation to evaluate the comments that a prophet made (1 Corinthians 14:29). Now he qualified this by saying the women should not do so vocally in the church meetings, as the men could. The teaching of the Law on this subject appears to be a reference to woman’s subordination to the authoritative man in her family

2 Corinthians 1:15-16 — Macedonia, Corinth, and then possibly Jerusalem. However, Paul was at this time in Macedonia having traveled there from Ephesus by way of Troas, not Corinth (2 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 7:5; 2 Corinthians 8:1; 2 Corinthians 9:2; 2 Corinthians 9:4). We can see why some in Corinth had concluded that since Paul had not followed through with his plans they could not count on his word and doubted his love for them.

2 Corinthians 10:5 — also speculations (theories) and incorrect information that contradicts God’s revealed truth. The propaganda of our enemy consists of ideas that run counter to the truth of God. "Speculations" or "arguments" (2 Corinthians 10:4 in NIV) contrast with revelations that God has given, and they contradict those revelations. "Lofty things" or "pretensions" include any human act or attitude that asserts itself as being superior to God’s will or truth. Paul

2 Corinthians 3:13 — ("boldness") is barefacedness. Paul could be barefaced in his confidence because of the permanent character of the covenant under which he ministered. Moses, in contrast, could not. He ministered with a literal veil over his face much of the time (Exodus 34:29-35). He removed the veil when he spoke with the people (Exodus 34:33) and when he spoke with God in the tabernacle. He wore it at other times evidently to teach the Israelites’ their unworthiness to behold God’s glory. Paul used this

Ephesians 2:1 — Before their regeneration, believers were spiritually dead, separated from God, and unable to have fellowship with Him (cf. Ephesians 4:18; John 17:3). We were living in the sphere of rebellion against God (cf. Ephesians 2:2). Transgressions (false steps, cf. Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:5) and sins (acts of missing the mark) describe deliberate offenses against God. "There are three

Colossians 1:19 — grace and power (cf. Acts 5:31; Acts 17:31). His point was that all divine power resides in Christ as a result of His resurrection (Colossians 1:18) and there are no other mediating agents (cf. Colossians 2:9; Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 3:19; Ephesians 4:13; 1 Timothy 2:5). ". . . the importance of the language is to indicate that the completeness of God’s self-revelation was focused in Christ, that the wholeness of God’s interaction with the universe is summed up in Christ." [Note:

Colossians 1:26 — new revelation from human understanding for ages past. Paul expounded it more fully in Ephesians 3:3-9 and only gave its essence here as "Christ in [among] you [Gentiles]" (cf. Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 3:17). "For Christ to be among the Gentiles involved being in those who believed. And He was and is for them the hope of glory, the pledge that they shall share in His glory to come (cf. Colossians 3:4)." [Note: Johnson, 475:233.]

1 Timothy 5:3-16 — for its widows to clarify how and for whom the church should provide special care. Widows have been and still are especially vulnerable individuals. As such God has always shown special concern for their protection (cf. Deuteronomy 10:18; Deuteronomy 24:17; Psalms 68:5; Isaiah 1:17; Luke 2:37). The early church normally mirrored His attitude (Acts 6:1; Acts 9:39). In the Greco-Roman world a female normally obtained her social status and identity from her male, either her father or, after marriage,

Titus 2:3 — Older women 2:3 These women were also to give evidence of their reverence for God in their behavior. Negatively they should avoid malicious gossip (Gr. me diabolous; slandering others; 1 Timothy 3:11; 1 Timothy 5:13-14) and dependence on enslaving substances such as wine (Gr. mede oino pollo dedoulomenas; 1 Timothy 3:8). Positively they should teach what is good (Gr. kalodidaskalous) by deed as well as word and encourage the younger women to fulfill their responsibilities

Hebrews 10:1 — in fact the whole chapter) continues our writer’s argument regarding the superiority of the sacrifice of Christ over the Mosaic rites." [Note: Jeffrey R. Sharp, "Typology and the Message of Hebrews," East Asia Journal of Theology 4:2 (1986):100.]

Hebrews 10:35-36 — Now was not the time to discard that confidence in a better reward (cf. Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 4:16; Hebrews 10:19). They needed to persevere, to keep on keeping on. By doing this they would do God’s will and eventually receive what He promised, namely, an eternal reward (Hebrews 1:14; Hebrews 3:14; Hebrews 9:15; Matthew 6:19). [Note: Cf.

James 1:13 — responsible for sin is that He permits other things to tempt us, namely, the world, the flesh, and the devil (cf. Job 1-2). James did not mention this here. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Lead us not into temptation" (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4). Jesus used a figure of speech (i.e., litotes) in which He expressed a positive idea by negating the contrary. Other examples of litotes are "not a few" meaning many, and "no rare occurrence" meaning a frequent occurence. James

1 Peter 1:15 — use of a key word in 1 Peter: "behavior" (Gr. anastrophe; cf. 1 Peter 1:18; 1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 3:1-2; 1 Peter 3:16). Other frequently recurring words include "bear up" (Gr. pascho; cf. 1 Peter 2:19-21; 1 Peter 2:23; 1 Peter 3:14; 1 Peter 3:17-18; 1 Peter 4:1 [twice], 15, 19; 1 Peter 5:10), "submit" (Gr. hypotasso; cf. 1 Peter 2:13; 1 Peter 2:18; 1 Peter 3:1; 1 Peter 3:5; 1 Peter 3:22; 1 Peter 5:5), and "do right" (Gr. agathopoieo; cf. 1 Peter 2:15; 1 Peter

1 Peter 2:1 — as well as 1 Peter 1:22-25. To prepare for an exposition of the Christian’s calling, Peter urged his readers to take off all kinds of evil conduct like so many soiled garments (cf. Zechariah 3:1-5; Romans 1:29-30; 2 Corinthians 12:20; Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8; 1 Timothy 1:9-10; James 1:21). The sins he mentioned are all incompatible with brotherly love (cf. 1 Peter 1:22). Malice (wickedness) and guile (deceit) are attitudes. The remaining three words describe specific actions. These are

1 Peter 2:6 — Before going on, however, Peter elaborated on the foundation of this building, the church. "Zion" here refers to the heavenly Jerusalem, that larger eschatological entity of which the church will be a part (cf. Revelation 21:14). The "corner stone" refers to the main stone on which the building rests. It does not refer to a modern corner stone or to the last stone the mason put at the top of the building, the keystone (Isaiah 28:16; cf. Ephesians 2:20). In view of

1 Peter 4:14 — people revile, insult, and reject us for being followers of Jesus Christ, they may curse us, but their curses are really blessings from God (Matthew 5:11-12). "To be insulted is not simply to receive a rebuke (1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 3:16; 1 Peter 4:5), but . . . it means to be rejected by the society (or even by humanity)." [Note: Davids, p. 167.] Their curses become blessings because the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of glory, already indwells us. The "and" here (Gr.