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Showing 326 to 350 of 4943 results

326. Cain and Abel

Genesis 4:1-26

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... measure. It is astonishing that Yahweh did not sentence Cain, the first murderer, to death. Instead, seeing value in Cain’s life, God graciously let him live. God does not give up quickly even on those who flagrantly violate another’s life. God provides them continuing protection. 4:16 Cain left Yahweh’s presence, the source of blessing and support. Because his sin alienated him from God, he went to live in a land named Nod. This name makes a pun on the verb “to wander” (nud). The location of Nod ...

327. The Covenant of Circumcision

Genesis 17:1-27

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... to act. While God remains silent, a person is apt to follow a course that is a threat to faith. Often at such a juncture God seeks to nurture the one whose faith is languishing. As is the case here with Abraham, God offers encouragement to continue believing, regardless of the nature of the obstacles. Now that it seemed impossible to Abraham and Sarah that the promise of an heir would be fulfilled, God asked them to believe for one more year. Abraham accepted that challenge. 17:23–27 Excited at what God ...

328. Miscellaneous Laws

Deut 23:15–25:19

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... active military service in war granted to the newly married (20:7) into a one-year exemption from all other civil duties. The underlying purpose of the exemption is doubtless so that the new couple could have time to become parents and thus ensure the continuity of the family, a joy that Deuteronomy expresses with characteristic warmth: it would allow the man to bring happiness to the wife he has married, or in the delightful phraseology of the KJV, he “shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken!” 24:6 ...

329. Jerusalem to Be Inhabited

Isaiah 44:24--45:25

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... or that Assyria will then fall to Babylon, or that Jerusalem itself will fall to Babylon, or that Babylon will fall to the Medes, then their words will be fulfilled because they issue from involvement in the strategy Yahweh is implementing. The participial expression continues in verse 26b but its form changes slightly to signal a change in the content. Three times in verses 26b–28a Yahweh speaks as “the one who says” (NIV omits “the one”). The change is a move from the general statement of Yahweh ...

330. God's Accusation Against the Wicked

Isaiah 56:9--57:13

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... ). In the present context, the charge of blindness recalls 42:18–19. The promise of 29:18 and 35:5 has not yet been fulfilled—certainly not with regard to the community’s leaders. Their blindness includes the assumption that the indulgence of today will continue tomorrow. So the community’s leaders are no more capable of living up to their job description or to the vision of passages such as 52:7–10 than the leaders who appear in chapters 1–12. The talk of lookouts and shepherds also recalls ...

331. Jesus Begins His Ministry to Israel

Matthew 4:23-25, Matthew 4:18-22

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... in this world in Jesus, resonating with the full context of Paul’s words: “the Lord Jesus Christ . . . gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age” (Gal. 1:3–4). A new age has arrived in Jesus (1 Cor. 10:11), although there continues to be a future day of final vindication and justice (Matt. 13:40–43). Second, we can help people see that, in Matthew, the gospel is presented in both word (4:17) and deed (4:23–25; see chaps. 8–9). There is no bifurcation between the gospel ...

332. The Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35, Luke 14:15-24

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... free grace, the fate of those who, having initially accepted the invitation, then failed to honor it. This raises the possibility of failed discipleship, and the following verses, 14:25–35, explore this theme, not now at the table, but as Jesus continues his journey toward Jerusalem. This paragraph therefore takes up the theme with which the journey began (9:57–62): the cost of following Jesus. Historical and Cultural Background For the significance of meals and who is invited to them, see “Historical ...

333. God and Mammon

Luke 16:16-18, Luke 16:1-15

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... a new beginning in 16:16. The law and the prophets are being fulfilled in the kingdom of God, but that does not mean that they are dispensable. Matthew 5:17–20 and especially the examples that follow in 5:21–48 tease out the tricky blend of continuity and discontinuity that result from the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the ministry and teaching of Jesus. 16:18 Anyone who divorces his wife. This is the only teaching about divorce in Luke. Matthew 5:31–32 and Matthew 19:3–12 = Mark 10:2–12 ...

334. Paul Reinterprets the Story of Israel

Romans 2:17-29

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... were not considered to be Jews. Interpretive Insights 2:25–29 a person is a Jew who is one inwardly. In Romans 2:25–29 we meet with six major contrasts, really reversals of roles, between unbelieving Jews and Christian Gentiles: First, the unbelieving Jew continues to break the law of Moses (2:25) while the Christian Gentile, ironically, fulfills the (implied) intent of the law of Moses through faith in Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (2:26–27). For Paul, the Jew breaks the Torah ...

335. Marriage, Sexual Intimacy, and Spiritual Devotion

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... concentrate on the service to Christ (cf. 9:25). Athletes exercise self-control and stay focused on their task (enkrateia is listed also as evidence of the Spirit’s fruit [Gal. 5:23]). The meaning of the verse would then be something like this: “Those whose minds continue to be occupied by the desire to marry should marry. For it is better to marry than to be distracted by passion.” 7:10–11 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord). Paul’s correction of himself (“not I, but the ...

336. Last Encouragement and Final Greeting

1 Corinthians 16:19-24, 1 Corinthians 16:5-18

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... with a powerful example of faithfulness. The Corinthians knew the couple as serving patrons when they lived in Corinth and knew they had come to Corinth from a position of Christian leadership in Rome. When now the Corinthians are reminded of the couple’s continued faithfulness in the Ephesian church, this functions as a model for what it means to remain vigilant in Christ’s community. Not only do Aquila and Priscilla serve as an example that Christ’s body is unified across ethnic groups, borders, and ...

337. The Fifth Trumpet (First Woe)

Revelation 8:6--9:21

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... 26–31). We should not mistake the patience of God for any sort of compromise with sin. The power of sin offends God and hurts people and will be destroyed in the end. Throughout the book of Revelation, the vice-like grip of God’s justice continues to tighten around human beings who not only refuse to repent but become more aggressive and bold in their rebellion. The great tragedy of human depravity is that people rush after the very things that will eventually destroy them. The essence of sin is seeking ...

338. The New Heaven and New Earth

Revelation 21:1-27

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... was chosen to describe life in the presence of God because a strong marriage is perhaps the best picture of a deep love relationship (Eph. 5:25–33). Jesus told his disciples the night before he was crucified that he was going away to prepare a place for them. He continued, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). These are the words of a bridegroom to his bride. God has planned a beautiful, glorious future for ...

339. The Conclusion

Revelation 22:7-21

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... of his certain return (cf. Rom. 13:11; 1 Pet. 4:7). 22:10–11 Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy. Unlike Daniel, who is commanded at the end of his prophecy to “seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end” (Dan. 12:4), John’s readers are living in “the last ...

340. Escaping a Tangled Web

1 Samuel 30:1-31, 1 Samuel 29:1-11

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... broke, and it looked like the vessel was sinking. “That was an awful night,” Moody wrote, “the darkest in all our lives! [Everyone was] waiting for the doom that was settling upon us! No one dared sleep. . . . I was passing through a new experience.” Moody continues, “I had thought myself superior to the fear of death. I had often preached on the subject and urged Christians to realize this victory of faith. During the Civil War I had been under fire without fear. I was in Chicago during the great ...

341. “The Lord . . . Rules the World in Righteousness”

Psalm 10:1-18, Psalm 9:1-20

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... expects God to act on our behalf as he has acted for the saints of history. Understanding the Text Psalm 7 closes with a vow of thanksgiving (7:17), and Psalm 8 is in effect the fulfillment of that vow. Then follows Psalm 9 with a continuation of thanksgiving, followed by the lament of Psalm 10. This order is a reversal of the usual order of lament and thanksgiving. There are certainly psalms that contain mixed types,[1] but the order here may suggest that the editor deemed it more appropriate to follow ...

342. The List of Returnees

Ezra 2:1-70

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , so what value does this chapter have for us? First, it helps us to understand the context of Ezra. The list also confirms Jeremiah’s word that the exile would be limited to approximately seventy years and the people would return. Again it emphasizes the continuity of this people with the preexilic covenant community. Today we also need this emphasis on the common people, on our families, on our identity in Christ, on the fact that each member of the community is important in God’s work. In Ezra 2:1 ...

343. In Pisidian Antioch

Acts 13:13-52

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... . Other, similar statements Paul will utter later in the narrative (cf. 18:6; 28:28) reflect similar intention. In this context, Paul’s statement points clearly to the responsibility of the Jews for rejecting the gospel. Although God is faithful to his people, his people continue to reject him. After this striking statement, Paul quotes from Isaiah 49:6 in justifying his turn to the Gentiles (13:47). This text from Isaiah has been alluded to a number of times in the Lukan narrative (Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8 ...

344. Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Romans 6:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... new life on account of the power of God, which was manifested in Jesus’s resurrection and is at work in their lives by virtue of their union with Christ. Paul restates in 6:6–10 what he said in verses 3–5, explaining why Christians cannot continue sinning. Since union with Christ is a union with his death, it is a union with Jesus’s crucifixion (6:6). Since Jesus died on the cross for the sins of Adam’s descendants (“our old self”), believers have been crucified with Christ by virtue of their ...

345. Being a True Disciple

John 8:31-36

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... scripture is that discipleship calls for action. Apparently those new Jewish believers were not growing in the faith. We are not told all that transpired between them and Jesus, but Jesus addressed them and called for a deeper relationship. He said, in effect, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples." He was saying that his disciples need to abide in or live in what he was saying. Becoming a disciple is an ongoing process. Each believer needs to grow. The newfound faith needs to deepen. A ...

346. The Lord's Supper

Mark 14:12-26

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... fail him in times of testing as did the Twelve. 14:22–26 Mark’s account of the last supper is one of four in the NT, and each one has special features that indicate that the record of this meal of Jesus and the Twelve was shaped by the continuing celebration of the rite of Eucharist, or Lord’s Supper, in the early church (see Matt. 26:26–29; Luke 22:15–20; 1 Cor. 11:23–25). Scholars differ over several matters in their attempt to reconstruct the original form of the sayings over the cup and the ...

347. God's Righteous Judgment

Romans 2:1-16

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... judgment. Once the universality of God’s judgment is established in 2:1–3, Paul proceeds to challenge another illusion: is not God’s silence in the face of wrongdoing indicative of a lack of divine retribution (2:4–11)? Quite the contrary. God’s continued goodness in the face of evil is intended to melt the icy heart of the sinner. Patience is extended in order to lead to repentance, and presumption on that patience is a fatal mistake. God is an utterly impartial judge (v. 11) who judges deeds ...

348. Slaves to Righteousness

Romans 6:15-23

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... excuse for disobedience. 6:16 Paul hopes to make his reasoning apparent by a rhetorical question: Don‘t you know that … you are slaves to the one whom you obey? This resumes the thought of verses 12ff., and, as there, the present tense of his verbs implies continuous or habitual action. He is not thinking of occasional sins, but of an ongoing alliance with sin, an obedience to sin that leads to enslavement. “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin’ ” (John 8:34; see also 2 Pet. 2 ...

349. Life Through the Spirit

Romans 8:1-17

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... , slavery, and death. Freedom is the decision to act according to God’s Spirit, for if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live (v. 13). The Greek of the verb put to death is in the present tense, which indicates continuous action. The battle with sin is not a momentary event, no matter how sincere, but a lifetime commitment. The Spirit is not a promise to those who succeed in overcoming sin, but God’s abiding presence in the midst of the flesh or sinful nature. The ability ...

350. God's Sovereign Choice

Romans 9:1-29

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... 5:7). Thus began the doctrine of the remnant. Paul appeals to the same idea with regard to the Jewish response to the gospel: only a few would respond, as was foretold in Scripture (SO 9:6). The present believing remnant, however, is not the last chapter. Paul’s continuing burden for the Jews (9:1–5; 10:1–3; 11:25–29) develops into the hope that the remnant is but an interlude in the divine drama, after which greater Israel will embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ and be joined to the church (ch. 11 ...

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