Commuter Bible NT

Practical problems in ministry call for practical answers based on good theology. In today’s reading, Paul helps Timothy and his church navigate the practical matter of supporting widows. In summary, his conclusion is that widows with family members should be supported by their family but widows who are devoted to the Lord and are truly in need should receive help from the church. He goes on to co...

Paul warns that some people will depart from the faith and begin teaching things that are contrary to Scripture. In order to be equipped and ready to fend off such falsehood, Timothy, as well as the church he shepherds, should train themselves in godliness. This comes from being nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching of the church. Is training in physical fitness beneficial? Sur...

Paul instructs Timothy and the church to pray for everyone including kings and those who are in authority. Given that Paul was imprisoned and mistreated regularly by these in authority, we should mark that such admonition doesn’t come lightly. For the sake of the gospel going forward, Paul wants the church to pray and to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects order and appropriate forms of s...

In today’s episode we’ll being reading Paul’s first letter Timothy, the young man who worked alongside Paul during some of his missionary journeys, serving as his protégé in pastoral ministry. The two are now separated and Timothy is in a season of life where he is shepherding a church. He advises his son in the faith to address those in the church who teach, or who believe, false doctrine, warnin...

Lest we forget that Paul is writing a real letter to a real local church with real people, today’s passage begins with practical counsel concerning two ladies who can’t seem to agree with one another. These women have contended for the gospel along with Paul, and he urges them to be united in Christ. He encourages the church at large to rejoice at all times and to pray without ceasing, thanking Go...

Paul warns the church at Philippi to beware of the dogs, and no, he’s not talking about puppies or pack animals, he’s talking about those Judaizers who say you must be circumcised in order to be a follower of Jesus. If anybody had reason to boast in the Jewish-ness, it was Paul, and in today’s chapter he gives an extensive list of his Jewish commendations. He places no trust in these fleshly accom...

Even within the church, humility and unity don’t come easy, but even so, Paul wants to see the church at Philippi to be united in their thinking, int their love, in spirit, and in purpose. There’s a lot of heart-work involved in serving one another with Christlike love, and Paul admonishes the church to meditate on Christ’s humility as inspiration for humility. The church ought to shine like stars...

During his second missionary journey, Paul travelled through the city of Philippi and planted a church there. As is evident from the opening chapter of Philippians, Paul had a deep love for this congregation and he has no trouble expressing his affection. His occasion for writing is to inform them about the details of his imprisonment, and even in such circumstances, Paul’s mind and heart are focu...

At the end of our last reading, Paul was admonishing husbands and wives to love each other in a way that reflects the relationship between Christ and his church. Today, we pick up where we left off as Paul admonishes children to obey their parents in the Lord, for this is right. As mentioned in our intro to Philemon, the relationship between slaves and masters during this time period was closer to...

Paul continues to admonish the Ephesian church to live a new life in Christ, a life that is distinct from the rest of the world. The Christian ought not to partner with those who are disobedient. Instead of walking in their darkness, as we once all formerly walked, we should instead walk as children of light. To do this, we must pay attention to our daily walk, growing in our understanding of the...

Here in chapter 3, Paul uses the word “mystery” again and again, so be gracious and allow me to reveal and clarify what the word mystery means in this sense. We often to refer to that which is unknown to be a mystery, but that’s only a partial definition. Technically, a mystery is something that was once hidden but is now revealed. In this case, the mystery is that God’s plan was to redeem both Is...

Here in chapter 3, Paul uses the word “mystery” again and again, so be gracious and allow me to reveal and clarify what the word mystery means in this sense. We often to refer to that which is unknown to be a mystery, but that’s only a partial definition. Technically, a mystery is something that was once hidden but is now revealed. In this case, the mystery is that God’s plan was to redeem both Is...

Most of us do not like to think about death, especially when we think about our own death. While all men will die one day in the future, Paul turns this concept on its head by saying that all men start off as dead men. In this case, however, they are spiritually dead. In his extravagant grace and mercy, God, who is very much alive, brings lifeless souls to new life in Christ. Paul goes out of his...

After a standard greeting to the church at Ephesus, Paul seems to overflow with joy and thanksgiving over the rich blessings of God offered to the believer through the gospel. The entire passage seems to effervesce with gratitude and jubilant praise. Notice, too, how much of this is centered on Christ and on God the Father. God is the main actor of the passage; in other words, it is God’s work for...

At the end of Colossians, Paul mentioned a man named Onesimus as a beloved brother in the work of ministry. This brother, Onesimus, was a slave to Philemon, and Paul writes to Philemon to ask if he could be freed. Many in slavery in this day and age were enslaved voluntarily as means by which they could repay debt. Once that debt was paid or the years of service to which they agreed came to an end...

Paul’s letter to the church at Colossae concludes with admonition to speak with God regularly in prayer, and to speak graciously with others, acting wisely toward outsiders who do not yet know the mystery of Christ revealed through his gospel. After this, he includes a summary about the ministry of the gospel being performed through other faithful men. These include Tychicus and Onesimus who are d...

Paul has positioned Christ rightly as the one who is before all things, and in whom all things hold together. All things were created by him, through him, and for him. This same Christ humbled himself to death on a cross so that our debt our sin might be canceled. In doing so, he disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly, triumphing over them. With this as his preface, Paul t...

Having reminded the church of the preeminent Christ, He who is before all things and in whom all things hold together, Paul moves on to consider how false teachers compare to him. All treasures of wisdom and knowledge are to be found in this Christ, which means that mere men cannot teach anything that would be new or unknown to the Lord. It is the gospel of Christ that has saved them and cancelled...

Paul writes to the church at Colossae from prison to correct false teaching and encourage the church to trust in Christ fully as Lord. In this first chapter he presents Jesus supreme and preeminent over all of Creation. He is the firstborn, meaning he is the one inherits all things from the Father and that He comes first before anyone else and before anything else. This same powerful and authorita...

We have reached the final chapter of the Gospel of John, wherein John reveals some of the events that took place following the resurrection of Jesus. In our last episode, the disciples discovered that Jesus had risen from the dead. He has presented himself to them on a couple of occasions already, but in today’s episode, Jesus appears to them on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius where has breakfast...

To quote 1 Corinthians 15, Quote: “I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures...

Jesus has testified before the Jewish Sanhedrin and before Pontius Pilate the Roman governor of Judea. While denying culpability, Pilate eventually gives way to the demands of the Jews and send Jesus to be put death by crucifixion. The cries of the Jews which declare, “We have no king but Caesar” recall the posture of Israel of old, for as early as the book of Judges they declared that they were i...

At this point in the narrative, Jesus is confronted by a mob comprised largely of chief priests and Pharisees who wish to have Jesus killed for blasphemy. They arrest him, tie him up, and take him Annas, a man of considerable influence who was a former high priest and  the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was serving as high priest that year. They press Jesus for information on his teachings, but he...

Jesus is walking with his disciples and teaching them about his relationship with the Father, with the Holy Spirit, and with his disciples. In today’s reading, we’ll hear Jesus pray for himself, for his disciples, and for all those believers who come after them. This section is often called “the high priestly prayer,” as Jesus is interceding for those whom he loves based on his status before the F...

Christ has introduced his disciples to the inner workings of the trinity and what must take place in the near future so that God’s will might be fulfilled. At the end of our last episode, we had a brief introduction to the Holy Spirit, whom Christ calls “the Counselor.” Today, Jesus says that he must return to the Father, because if he doesn’t go away, the Counselor will not come. Later, he explai...