The Family Bible Commentary, Vol V: Pauline Epistles, General Epistles & Revelation. - 5362

From Christ’s fullness, we have all received grace upon grace. His apostles were given the words and boldness to speak them just as He had promised them. Not all received those words as the Word of God, but to those who did receive the apostles' preaching, He has given them the power to become the children of God, born from above water and the Spirit. These letters and this Apocalypse are that preaching, the very words that Christ gave to His chosen ones and to their disciples such as James and Jude to guide and guard the earliest churches. If men were not sinners and the world were not evil, it is possible these letters would not exist – fourteen of Paul and fourteen of the other disciples of the Lord, counting the seven letters in Revelation. These balanced twenty-eight letters would not have been needful if men listened intently to the preaching of the apostles and guarded it in their hearts. The letters were written to preserve and extend new churches. They are the letters of missionaries and preachers, not of academicians or bureaucrats. They have the vigor and clarity that the rough-and-tumble of the church’s life demands. They show a Christian church scattered already throughout the known world and troubled everywhere by heresies, jealousies, and sheer confusion. People fall away under the pressures of persecution and distraction, and some ministers preach false doctrine shamelessly. This church is very recognizable to us because we see and know it ourselves in our own day. Nothing has changed from that day to this. That’s why these letters were given by the Holy Spirit to them then and to us now afresh. They are not mere historical records of distant times. There are uncertainties about when each of them was written, and our best guess has been provided in the commentary where possible. There are uncertainties about how they were received or to whom some of them were sent, such as in Jude's letter. It is very certain that through them, the Spirit of God is still speaking to His church. What does He say? Each letter has its own delights, but all the letters of the New Testament affirm that the Old Testament Scriptures pointed to the person and work of Christ Jesus, that Christ came into the world to save all mankind through His death and resurrection, and that when someone believes this, he turns from fruitless service of idols to the fruitful and delightful service of the only true and living God. To these basics, each letter returns us in its way, and from these basics, we are trained to discern good from evil and grow up in the image of Him Who has called us from the darkness of idols into His marvelous light. What will you find here? The letter’s origin, purpose, connections to other parts of Scripture, and its simple literal meaning are laid out for each New Testament epistle and the Revelation to St. John. This is the pure, clear fountain of Israel bubbling over from the fullness of Christ into the life of His holy people in whom His Spirit is dwelling and working. In these letters, it is wondrous to see that the kingdom of God is growing and deepening in the churches despite every external and internal obstacle. The gates of hell did not then prevail against the church of Christ, and through the wisdom and light these letters bring us with all of Holy Scripture, we will be more than conquerors through Him Who loved us.
ASIN: B0DM64Y6R3
VSKU: BVV.B0DM64Y6R3.VG
Condition: Very Good
Author/Artist:Koontz, Rev. Adam C.|Novak, Sam|Wood, Timothy J.
Binding: Hardcover