Blessed be God for the unspeakable gift of his grace, . . . and blessed be his glorious name to all eternity, for Jesus Christ, that inestimable gift of his love, through whom . . . every other good thing, pertaining to life and godliness, are freely given unto us, beyond all expression, measure, or bounds.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary (available in the Public Domain)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
He Is Able ! (2 Corinthians 9:8 AMP)
And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation].
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2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV) - Commentary
If we are secure in his love and know that he undertakes to watch over our lives, then all anxiety for the future will be gone (Siede 1978:728).
God's abounding grace extends beyond the mere replenishment of resources. He is powerful not only to replace resources spent in Christian service but also to multiply them to the point that at all times and in all things we have all that we need (v. 8).
Autarkeia ("all that is needed") means to be sufficient in oneself or self-supporting. Cynics and Stoics aimed at the kind of self-sufficiency that permitted indifference to other people and to circumstances. To a certain extent Paul aligns himself with this sentiment. Like the Stoic, the Christian aspires to be free from dependence on material possessions--or, as Paul puts it, "to be content whatever the circumstances" (Phil 4:11).
To learn to be content with very little requires that one want very little: "If we have food and clothing, we will be content" (1 Tim 6:8). And the less one wants, the greater the means for relieving the needs of others (Plummer 1915:260).
This is a very difficult notion for Westerners today, for the drive in our world too often is to get-get-get and buy-buy-buy. An attitude of contentment like Paul's presupposes trust and confidence in God to provide for our basic needs.
[About this commentary:IVP New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity of InterVarsity Press to www.biblegateway.com]
God's abounding grace extends beyond the mere replenishment of resources. He is powerful not only to replace resources spent in Christian service but also to multiply them to the point that at all times and in all things we have all that we need (v. 8).
Autarkeia ("all that is needed") means to be sufficient in oneself or self-supporting. Cynics and Stoics aimed at the kind of self-sufficiency that permitted indifference to other people and to circumstances. To a certain extent Paul aligns himself with this sentiment. Like the Stoic, the Christian aspires to be free from dependence on material possessions--or, as Paul puts it, "to be content whatever the circumstances" (Phil 4:11).
To learn to be content with very little requires that one want very little: "If we have food and clothing, we will be content" (1 Tim 6:8). And the less one wants, the greater the means for relieving the needs of others (Plummer 1915:260).
This is a very difficult notion for Westerners today, for the drive in our world too often is to get-get-get and buy-buy-buy. An attitude of contentment like Paul's presupposes trust and confidence in God to provide for our basic needs.
[About this commentary:IVP New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity of InterVarsity Press to www.biblegateway.com]
He Is Able ! (2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV)
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
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Listen to this passage
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He Is Able ! (2 Timothy 1:12)
New International Version (NIV):
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
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Amplified Bible (AMP):
12And this is why I am suffering as I do. Still I am not ashamed, for I know (perceive, have knowledge of, and am acquainted with) Him Whom I have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on), and I am [positively] persuaded that He is able to guard and keep that which has been entrusted to me and which I have committed [to Him] until that day.
View commentary related to this passage
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
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Amplified Bible (AMP):
12And this is why I am suffering as I do. Still I am not ashamed, for I know (perceive, have knowledge of, and am acquainted with) Him Whom I have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on), and I am [positively] persuaded that He is able to guard and keep that which has been entrusted to me and which I have committed [to Him] until that day.
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2 Corinthians 3:18 (AMP) - Commentary
Whenever a person gives his or her thoughts and life a new direction, it always involves a judgment on previous views and behavior.
So it comes as no surprise that repentance and turning to the Lord are closely related ideas in the New Testament (Laubach 1975:353). Peter, for instance, calls his Jerusalem audience to "repent and turn to God" (Acts 3:19).
Transformation is not a one-shot affair. It is transformation into a likeness that is with ever-increasing glory (v. 18). With ever-increasing glory is literally "from glory to glory."
The phrase denotes a splendor that steadily grows, in contrast to the short-lived glory of Moses' face.
It was the property of mirrors back in those days (which were made of a flat, circular piece of cast metal) that the more polished the surface, the clearer the image. Continuous elbow grease was needed to keep away corrosion.
The picture is a provocative one. The life and ministry of the believer are depicted as a mirror that is in need of continual polishing so as to reproduce to an ever-increasing extent the glorious knowledge and truths of the gospel.
This ever-increasing glory, Paul states, comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
[IVP New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity of InterVarsity Press through biblegateway.com]
So it comes as no surprise that repentance and turning to the Lord are closely related ideas in the New Testament (Laubach 1975:353). Peter, for instance, calls his Jerusalem audience to "repent and turn to God" (Acts 3:19).
Transformation is not a one-shot affair. It is transformation into a likeness that is with ever-increasing glory (v. 18). With ever-increasing glory is literally "from glory to glory."
The phrase denotes a splendor that steadily grows, in contrast to the short-lived glory of Moses' face.
It was the property of mirrors back in those days (which were made of a flat, circular piece of cast metal) that the more polished the surface, the clearer the image. Continuous elbow grease was needed to keep away corrosion.
The picture is a provocative one. The life and ministry of the believer are depicted as a mirror that is in need of continual polishing so as to reproduce to an ever-increasing extent the glorious knowledge and truths of the gospel.
This ever-increasing glory, Paul states, comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
[IVP New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity of InterVarsity Press through biblegateway.com]
2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV) - Commentary
The condition of those who enjoy and believe the gospel is happy, for the heart is set at liberty to run the ways of God's commandments. They have light, and with open face they behold the glory of the Lord. Christians should prize and improve these privileges. We should not rest contented without knowing the transforming power of the gospel, by the working of the Spirit, bringing us to seek to be like the temper and tendency of the glorious gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and into union with Him.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
He Is Able ! (2 Corinthians 3:18)
New International Version (NIV):
And we, . . . are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
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View commentary related to this passage
Amplified Bible (AMP):
And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] . . . the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.
View commentary related to this passage
And we, . . . are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Listen to this passage
View commentary related to this passage
Amplified Bible (AMP):
And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] . . . the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.
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Tuesday, December 30, 2008
He Is Able ! [2 Corinthians 5:14-20 - The Message]
A New Life
Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.
Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.
The Message (MSG)
View commentary related to this passage
Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.
Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.
The Message (MSG)
View commentary related to this passage
He Is Able ! [2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV]
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Listen to this passage
* * * * * * *
AFRICA BIBLE COMMENTARY, Zondervan Publishing, (pg. 1404):
... Paul insists that he and all other believers should no longer understand things from a human point of view. Something new has come and what is old has gone. In other words we no longer live as we did before, because we live for Jesus who gives new meaning to our lives. The new order was introduced by God; it is he who has reconciled us to himself through Christ.
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* * * * * * *
AFRICA BIBLE COMMENTARY, Zondervan Publishing, (pg. 1404):
... Paul insists that he and all other believers should no longer understand things from a human point of view. Something new has come and what is old has gone. In other words we no longer live as we did before, because we live for Jesus who gives new meaning to our lives. The new order was introduced by God; it is he who has reconciled us to himself through Christ.
He Is Able ! [Romans 16:25-26]
The Message (MSG)
All of our praise rises to the One who is strong enough to make you strong, exactly as preached in Jesus Christ, precisely as revealed in the mystery kept secret for so long but now an open book through the prophetic Scriptures.
New International Version (NIV)
Now to him (be praise) who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him
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All of our praise rises to the One who is strong enough to make you strong, exactly as preached in Jesus Christ, precisely as revealed in the mystery kept secret for so long but now an open book through the prophetic Scriptures.
New International Version (NIV)
Now to him (be praise) who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him
Listen to this passage
He Is Able! [Hebrews 7:25 NIV]
Therefore he is able to save completely[a] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Listen to this passage
a. Or forever
a. Or forever
Monday, December 29, 2008
To Truly Know Christ
Philippians 3:10
[New International Version (NIV)] I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,Philippians 3:9-11 (in Context) Philippians 3 (Whole Chapter)
1 John 2:3
[New International Version (NIV)] We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.1 John 2:2-4 (in Context) 1 John 2 (Whole Chapter)
[New International Version (NIV)] I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,Philippians 3:9-11 (in Context) Philippians 3 (Whole Chapter)
1 John 2:3
[New International Version (NIV)] We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.1 John 2:2-4 (in Context) 1 John 2 (Whole Chapter)
To Know Jesus Christ
The Greek word translated "know" here is ginosko:
TO KNOW: means to know by observation and experience (see parallel to Hebrew). Again this is not an abstract "knowing." It is much more than "knowing about." This knowing is direct, personal, experiential, as well as observational and reflective.
TO KNOW, here, indicates a relationship between the person "knowing" (us) and the object known (the true God and Jesus Christ). The "known" is of value and importance to the one (us) who knows, and this value and importance drive the establishment of the relationship.
No wimpy, mental, or star struck emotional knowing here. To know is deep, very,very personal in its roots within us, and discontent with anything less that an intimate, experiential, full bore, relationship. As such we are driven to deepen and in any way possible pursue this relationship, this interaction and living together with, the object of our knowing - God, Jesus Christ. Mental knowledge is not enough, we want the real thing in the fullest way possible.
TO KNOW: means to know by observation and experience (see parallel to Hebrew). Again this is not an abstract "knowing." It is much more than "knowing about." This knowing is direct, personal, experiential, as well as observational and reflective.
TO KNOW, here, indicates a relationship between the person "knowing" (us) and the object known (the true God and Jesus Christ). The "known" is of value and importance to the one (us) who knows, and this value and importance drive the establishment of the relationship.
No wimpy, mental, or star struck emotional knowing here. To know is deep, very,very personal in its roots within us, and discontent with anything less that an intimate, experiential, full bore, relationship. As such we are driven to deepen and in any way possible pursue this relationship, this interaction and living together with, the object of our knowing - God, Jesus Christ. Mental knowledge is not enough, we want the real thing in the fullest way possible.
That They May Know You
John 17:3 (New International Version)
[Now this is eternal life:] that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
[Now this is eternal life:] that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Commentary On Jeremiah 9:23-26
It is pure folly to depend on possessions, wisdom or riches, for the deep meaning of life is not to be found in such things, but rather in knowing God. The Lord is the only security for human kind. To know the Lord is also to experience that he alone is gracious, upright and just. The apostle Paul quotes this passage in his letters to the Corinthians (1 Cor 1:31; 2 Cor 10:17)
* * * *
[Africa Bible Commentary: Zondervan Publishing, pg. 862]
* * * *
[Africa Bible Commentary: Zondervan Publishing, pg. 862]
To Understand
The Hebrew word translated "understand" here action oriented, not at all abstract in construction.
The English word prudence, not so widely used or understood today, is sometimes used to get at the action oriented nature of this understanding.
Both "exercising sound judgment in practical matters" and "managing carefully, being cautious or discreet in conduct," begin to help us with the nature of "understanding" concerning which God speaks here.
The English word prudence, not so widely used or understood today, is sometimes used to get at the action oriented nature of this understanding.
Both "exercising sound judgment in practical matters" and "managing carefully, being cautious or discreet in conduct," begin to help us with the nature of "understanding" concerning which God speaks here.
To Know
The Hebrew word for to know used here means to know by experience plus to observe and reflect in the experience.
Know God, here, is not abstract in any aspect, it is personal and experiential.
Where are you struggling to know Jesus?
Know God, here, is not abstract in any aspect, it is personal and experiential.
Where are you struggling to know Jesus?
Make Sure You Truly Know Jesus
Jeremiah 9:23-25
New International Version (NIV)
Listen to this passage
23 This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,
24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.
25 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh-
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
The Message (MSG)
23-24God's Message:
"Don't let the wise brag of their wisdom. Don't let heroes brag of their exploits.Don't let the rich brag of their riches. If you brag, brag of this and this only:That you understand and know me. I'm God, and I act in loyal love.I do what's right and set things right and fair, and delight in those who do the same things.These are my trademarks." God's Decree.
25-26"Stay alert! It won't be long now"—God's Decree!—"when I will personally deal with everyone whose life is all outside but no inside: Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab. All these nations are big on performance religion—including Israel, who is no better."
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
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23 This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,
24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.
25 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh-
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
The Message (MSG)
23-24God's Message:
"Don't let the wise brag of their wisdom. Don't let heroes brag of their exploits.Don't let the rich brag of their riches. If you brag, brag of this and this only:That you understand and know me. I'm God, and I act in loyal love.I do what's right and set things right and fair, and delight in those who do the same things.These are my trademarks." God's Decree.
25-26"Stay alert! It won't be long now"—God's Decree!—"when I will personally deal with everyone whose life is all outside but no inside: Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab. All these nations are big on performance religion—including Israel, who is no better."
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
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Friday, December 26, 2008
"Who O' Lord Is Like You?"
Have We Forgotten?
Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with those others for whom there is no room. His place is with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world. (by Thomas Merton)
"WHO IS LIKE YOU O" LORD!"
Have we forgotten?
Monday, December 15, 2008
Chris Hodges - Christ on Main Street
"As the financial crisis in America continues, it is critical that we learn the lessons of the past and change. In fact, I believe that most people need a complete new way of thinking when it comes to finances. Poverty is as much a condition of the soul as it is the pocketbook. Simply put, there is a direct connection between what we think and how we behave. And anytime we want real change in our lives, we need to begin by going to God's Word and let the truth of Scripture renew our minds." --Chris Hodges, pastor, Church of the Highlands, Birmingham, Ala., OUTREACH, November/December 2008, page 56.
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