Commuter Bible NT

The reality of ministry is that it is filled with joys and sorrows, highs and lows, glory and dishonor. Paul highlights suffering for the gospel, which seems pointless to those who don’t know the treasure of Christ, but worthwhile to those who know the joy of our Savior. Joy and affliction seem like an impossible pairing, but Paul reminds the Corinthian church that God comforts the downcast, and t...

Paul longs to live his life in a way makes the truth of the gospel clear to all. Unbelievers cannot see the gospel clearly because the god of this age, that is Satan, has made their minds blind. The same God who pronounced “Let light shine out of darkness,” must also shine into the hearts of men so that might see and believe. Our frail and humble bodies carry the infinite worth of Christ like jars...

Judging from Paul’s words of concern in today’s reading, it seems that he had a painful visit with the church at Corinth and wrote a letter after that visit. There seems to be a reference to the act of church discipline and the restoration of a repentant sinner into the fold of the church. As we get further into the book of 2 Corinthians, we’ll discover that the church had become impressed with a...

Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth begins with a reminder that God is a God of comfort. He comforts his people who are under affliction, and even when one experiences comfort, the end goal is that the comforted person might comfort others. Paul makes it clear that has, in fact, endured a great affliction in Asia, one so terrible that he thought it would be better to die. In the end, how...

As Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth draws to a close, he reminds them to set money aside at the beginning of each week according to how each one prospers. This would have been a way of prioritizing the work of the church, funding and supporting other believers who labored in preaching and teaching. He continues on with updates about the work of various men and women who are doing such work,...

What would the Christian faith be like if Christ had not been raised from the dead? It’s hard to imagine what that would be like, but we can assume that such a worldview would be devoid of power and hope, relegated only to teachings about morals and good behavior. In today’s reading, Paul addresses those within the church who say that Christ was not raised and that there is not resurrection from t...

In chapter 12, Paul began to admonish the church to consider the nature of spiritual gifts within the church. Individuals within the church really wanted to have the gift of speaking in tongues, but Paul says that they should rather think of themselves as a body with many parts, all working together, though each part if different. It is within this context that Paul speaks of the nature of love. Y...

In today’s reading, Paul begins a new topic of discussion that will carry us through the next few chapters, and that is the topic of spiritual gifts. In the early church, speaking in another language by the Spirit must have been an incredible and awe-inspiring sight, as indicated in the books of Acts at Pentecost. This gifting was so unique and thrilling that everyone wanted to have that gift. Pau...

The first half of today’s reading will cover Paul’s recommendation to the Corinthian church concerning head coverings for women. While different cultures and different interpreters come to varying conclusions as to whether or not this particular recommendation is prescriptive in all societies, it is clear that Paul intends to establish a distinction between male and female, as well as a structure...

In today’s reading, Paul offers a word on faithfulness in the midst of temptation. Referencing the book of Moses which we call Numbers, Paul reminds his hearers that Israel desired evil things rather than God, and thereby received just punishment from the God with whom they had covenanted as a people. When we are tempted, we may feel that we are the only ones who have ever experienced what we are...

Chances are that if you visit a friend’s house for dinner tomorrow night that you won’t be offered food offered to an idol, but in Paul’s day, that would have been more common. Paul says that there is only one God and all food is from him, so food sacrificed to idols, in reality, means nothing. Just because you can eat food sacrificed to idols, however, doesn’t mean you should, because it might ca...

Paul continues to write to the church in Corinth concerning sexual ethics, and in today’s reading, he writes specifically about situations concerning marriage. In general, men and women are to give themselves to each other, for in marriage one’s body is not one’s own. If someone is married to an unbeliever, Paul commends that such a person should stay married because he or she may be able to save...

The church in Corinth had some messed views about what was permissible, especially where it pertains to sex and morality. Our reading opens with Paul addressing the church on resolving a matter the could fit well on day time talk shows: a man is having sex with his stepmother, and the church isn’t doing anything about it. Paul directs the church to execute church discipline, telling them to “hand...

Paul continues his thoughts from our last reading into today’s chapter concerning the way leaders are revered among the Corinthian church. As you’ll recall they had been attaching themselves to particular leaders within the church, causing unnecessary division. One shouldn’t be concerned with how others judge, but on how God judges, and he sees the intentions of the heart. Paul doesn’t want any of...

Paul tells the church in Corinth that he was not able to speak to the Corinthian church as those who were mature in Christ, but as those who were immature and unable to process deeper truths, for envy, strife, and disunity are abundant among them. In humility, Paul tells the Corinthian church that he is nothing but servant, and that the glory for growth within believers goes to God alone. While a...

Today’s chapter is pretty short, but nonetheless intriguing. Though Paul is a man of great intelligence, he tells the Corinthian church that is resolved to know nothing among them except Christ and him crucified. This does not mean that he is emptying his mind, but that he orients all of his knowledge in such a way that Christ and his cross and central in his mind. The power of God’s wisdom was no...

We’re beginning Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church, a congregation that was comprised mostly of Greeks rather than mostly Jews. As we make our way through this letter, you’ll realize that in some ways, the Corinthian church was really messed up, but praise the Lord, this give us hope for Christ’s local church and our own congregations. Divisions had already begun among the church at Cori...

We’re beginning the second half of 2 Thessalonians, and so far Paul has spent a good amount of time talking about God’s judgment and God’s glory, particularly as it relates to the end times. He continues to encourage the church to stand firm in the faith and count their suffering and persecution for the Gospel as evidence that they belong to the Lord. Paul asks the church to pray for him and those...

We’re beginning Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonian church today, and in this letter Paul speaks a good deal about judgment and the afterlife. The church at Thessalonica was in the midst of suffering hardship and persecution, but Paul encourages them by reminding that persevering through such trials only brings further assurance that they have been counted worthy of God’s kingdom. Those who d...

The final chapter of Paul’s first letter the Thessalonians begins with discussion about the end times, and ends with exhortations and blessings upon the church. Paul says that the day of the Lord, a phrase referring to the end-time period of God’s judgment, will come unexpectedly. Like labor pains on a pregnant woman, they will strike without warning and continue until the culmination of God’s fin...

At the end of our last reading, Paul called the Thessalonian church his joy and his crown of boasting. As we pick up today’s reading, Paul is writing to the church at Thessalonica about the history and that he has with the believers in that church. His tone of brotherly affection and longing continues in today’s reading, as he recounts sending Timothy to strengthen and encourage the church while h...

Today we begin reading Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica. What do we know about this church? Well, we know that on his second missionary journey recorded in Acts, Paul stopped in the port city of Thessalonica, preached in the synagogue, and a church formed in the city thereafter. In just a few short weeks, a riot began, and Paul was forced to leave the fledgling church body. Here in toda...

On our last episode, we read Mark’s account of the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ. He died a gruesome death accompanied by miraculous signs, as Mark notes that the sky turned to darkness at midday and temple curtain was torn in two. While we know that this was not the end, we should also remember that the disciples assumed that it was. As you hear the account of the resurrection, imagine the joy...

On today’s episode, Jesus is crucified on the cross, fulfilling the Scriptures concerning the suffering servant. Though there isn’t enough time to cover every instance, we can quickly say that Jesus was the fulfillment of Isaiah 53, for he was “despised and rejected by men” and “a man of suffering.” He is the one who “bore our sicknesses and carried our pains.” He is the one who “was pierced becau...

Christ has just celebrated the Passover with his disciples and now they are in a garden named Gethsemane. Other gospels tell us that this had been their pattern over the last few days, so Judas knew where they would be. When Judas arrives he kisses Jesus to identify the man they are to arrest. The mob comes wielding an assortment of weapons, and a certain young man (probably Matthew himself) is so...