Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• The seventh commandment 20:14
  Adultery is sexual intercourse when one or both partners are married (or engaged, under Israelite law; cf. Deut. 22:23-29) to someone else. Adultery destroys marriage and the home, the foundations of society (cf. Matt. 5:27-2...
• 2. Holiness of the marriage relationship ch. 18
  Emphasis shifts in this chapter from ceremonial defilement (ch. 17) to moral impurity. The Lord wanted His people to be holy in their behavior and character as well as in less important ritual observances (cf. Matt. 23:28; Ro...
• The seventh commandment 5:18
  This commandment deals with adultery only. Whereas murder violates life itself, adultery violates the most important and sacred human relationship, marriage.88God dealt with other forms of sexual sin elsewhere (cf. chs. 22-25...
• The rights of the poor and vulnerable in Israel 15:1-18
  The Israelites were not only to care for the Levites (14:27, 29) and the aliens, orphans, and widows (14:29) but also other individuals in the nation who were in need (15:1-18).15:1-11 "It is appropriate to deal with the law ...
• God's questions of Job 38:4-39:30
  As Job's friends had done, God began to break Job down blow by verbal blow. Finally all his pride was gone. However where Job's friends had failed, God succeeded."The function of the questions needs to be properly understood....
• The guilt of adultery 6:20-35
  Verses 20-23 indicate the start of a new section and stress again the importance of the precepts that follow. Solomon regarded the instruction he was giving as an expression of God's law (cf. v. 23; Ps. 109:105).The immoral a...
• I. The oracle against Babylon chs. 50-51
  Jeremiah wrote almost as much about Babylon's future as he did about the futures of all the other nations in his other oracles combined. The length of this oracle reflects the great importance of Babylon in his ministry as we...
• The method of Israel's restoration 36:22-32
  "The next verses in the chapter are among the most glorious in the entire range of revealed truth on the subject of Israel's restoration to the Lord and national conversion."46536:22-23 Ezekiel was to tell the Israelites that...
• Genre
  Daniel is a book of prophecy."Among the great prophetic books of Scripture, none provides a more comprehensive and chronological prophetic view of the broad movement of history than the book of Daniel. Of the three prophetic ...
• Their condition 5:3-10 (cf. Luke 6:20-26)
  This pericope describes the character of the kingdom's subjects and their rewards in the kingdom.236"Looked at as a whole . . . the Beatitudes become a moral sketch of the type of person who is ready to possess, or rule over,...
• Revelation about the church 16:18-20
  16:18 "I say to you"(cf. 5:18, 20, 22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44; 8:10) may imply that Jesus would continue the revelation the Father had begun. However the phrase occurs elsewhere where that contrast is not in view. Undoubtedly it ...
• 1. Instruction about marriage 19:3-12 (cf. Mark 10:2-12)
  Matthew evidently included this instruction because the marriage relationships of His disciples were important factors in their effective ministries. Jesus clarified God's will for His disciples that was different from the co...
• The parable of the workers in the vineyard 20:1-16
  This parable explains why the last will become first. It begins with a well known scene but then introduces surprising elements to make a powerful point."Jesus deliberately and cleverly led the listeners along by degrees unti...
• The parable of the 10 virgins 25:1-13
  This parable helps disciples understand what it means to await the King's return with prudence.25:1 The introductory "then"ties this parable to the subject of the preceding instruction, namely the Second Coming of the Son of ...
• 3. Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus 3:1-21
  John now presented evidence that Jesus knew people as no others did and that many believed in His name (2:23). This constitutes further witness that He is the Son of God. John summarized several conversations that Jesus had w...
• Paul's speech in his defense 22:1-21
  Paul needed to defend himself against the charge that he had been disloyal to his people, the Mosaic Law, and the temple (cf. 21:28). His devout Jewish audience was especially skeptical of Paul since he was a Hellenistic Jew ...
• IV. THE IMPARTATION OF GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS chs. 6--8
  The apostle moved on from questions about why people need salvation (1:18-3:20), what God has done to provide it, and how we can appropriate it (3:21-5:21). He next explained that salvation involves more than a right standing...
• 2. The evil of offending another 14:13-23
  In the previous section Paul addressed both the "weak"and the "strong"Christians, but he spoke mainly about the weaker brother's temptation to condemn the stronger believer. In this section he dealt more with the temptation t...
• 1. Past labors 15:14-21
  Paul had been somewhat critical of the strong and the weak in the Roman church (14:1-15:13). He now balanced those comments by pointing out other strengths in the church beside the faith of his Roman brethren (1:8).15:14 Paul...
• Historical Background
  Corinth had a long history stretching back into the Bronze Age (before 1200 B.C.).1In Paul's day it was a Roman colony and the capital of the province of Achaia. The population consisted of Roman citizens who had migrated fro...
• Message10
  A phrase in 1:2 suggests the theme of this great epistle. That phrase is "the church of God which is at Corinth."Two entities are in view in this phrase and these are the two entities with which the whole epistle deals. They ...
• Outline
  I. Introduction 1:1-9A. Salutation 1:1-3B. Thanksgiving 1:4-9II. Conditions reported to Paul 1:10-6:20A. Divisions in the church 1:10-4:211. The manifestation of the problem 1:10-172. The gospel as a contradiction to human wi...
• A. Salutation 1:1-3
  The apostle Paul began this epistle as he did his others by identifying himself and a fellow worker known to the readers. Then he identified and described the recipients of the letter and greeted them with a benediction. This...
• The folly of the Corinthian believers 1:26-31
  Paul turned from the content of the gospel to the Corinthian believers to strengthen his argument that the gospel he preached contradicted human expectations. God had chosen "nobodies"rather than the "beautiful people"of Cori...
• A warning against destroying the church 3:16-17
  This is perhaps the strongest warning in the New Testament against taking the church lightly and destroying it with the world's wisdom and division.3:16 The Corinthian church was a temple that God's Spirit indwelt. Paul was n...
• B. Lack of discipline in the church chs. 5-6
  The second characteristic in the Corinthian church reported to Paul that he addressed concerned a lack of discipline (cf. Gal. 5:22-23). This section of the epistle has strong connections with the first major section. The lac...
• The analogy of the Passover 5:6-8
  Paul argued for the man's removal from the church with this analogy. It was primarily for the sake of the church that they should remove him, not for the man's sake.5:6 It was not good for the Corinthians to feel proud of the...
• The Christian's relationship to fornicators 5:9-13
  Paul proceeded to deal with the larger issue of the believer's relationship to fornicators inside and outside the church. He did this so his readers would understand their responsibility in this area of their lives in their i...
• 2. Litigation in the church 6:1-11
  The apostle continued to deal with the general subject of discipline in the church that he began in 5:1. He proceeded to point out some other glaring instances of inconsistency that had their roots in the Corinthians' lax vie...
• The shame on the church 6:1-6
  The failure of the two men who were suing each other was another evidence that the Corinthian church was not functioning properly. It indicated how lacking in true wisdom these Christians were. Paul argued with a series of rh...
• Paul's judgment in the matter 6:7-11
  The apostle now addressed the two men involved in the lawsuit but wrote with the whole church in view.6:7 By hauling one another into court the Corinthians were intent on winning damages for themselves. Evidently a business o...
• 3. Prostitution in the church 6:12-20
  The apostle proceeded to point out the sanctity of the believer's body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. He wanted to help his readers realize the seriousness of the sins that marked them to some extent as a church."The Greek...
• Refutation of the Corinthians' false premises 6:12-14
  Paul began by arguing against his recipients' distortion of Christian freedom and their misunderstanding of the nature of the body.6:12 Paul was and is famous as the apostle of Christian liberty. He saw early in his Christian...
• The reason participating in prostitution is wrong 6:18-20
  Sexual immorality is wrong, Paul concluded, because it involves sinning against one's body, which in the case of believers belongs to the Lord through divine purchase.6:18 In conclusion, believers should flee from fornication...
• A. Marriage and related matters ch. 7
  The first subject with which he dealt was marriage. He began with some general comments (vv. 1-7) and then dealt with specific situations."The transition from chapter 6 to chapter 7 illustrates the necessity Paul was under of...
• The importance of sexual relations in marriage 7:1-7
  Paul advised married people not to abstain from normal sexual relations.7:1 Again Paul began what he had to say by citing a general truth. Then he proceeded to qualify it (cf. 6:12-13). The use of the Greek word anthropos(man...
• Knowledge and love compared 8:1-3
  Paul began by comparing the way of love and the way of knowledge to show their relative importance.8:1 The key phrase peri de("now concerning"or "now about") as well as a change in subject matter mark off a new section of thi...
• The application of Israel's example 10:6-13
  Though idolatry was the cause of Israel's failure and the focus of Paul's warning to this church, four other evil characteristics of Israel also seem to have marked the Corinthians. These characteristics also resulted in the ...
• The incompatibility of Christianity and idolatry 10:14-22
  The apostle proceeded to warn his readers of the danger of idolatry further (cf. v. 7). This paragraph concludes the long argument that Paul began in 8:1 concerning going to temple feasts.10:14 Formerly Paul urged the Corinth...
• 4. The issue of marketplace food 10:23-11:1
  As with the issue of marriage, however, Paul granted that there are some matters connected with idolatry that are not wrong. He next gave his readers some help in making the tough choices needed in view of the amoral nature o...
• Other arguments for resurrection 15:29-34
  Paul turned from Christ's career to the Christian's experience to argue ad hominemfor the resurrection.377The Corinthians' actions, and his, bordered on absurdity if the dead will not rise. This paragraph is something of a di...
• Bibliography
  Adams, Jay. Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible. Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1980.Andrews, J. N. "May Women Speak in Meeting?"Review and Herald. January 2, 1879. Reprinted in Advent...
• Other sins (v. 21)
  Things like these (similar violations of God's moral will)"The common feature in this catalogue of vices seems to reside not in the precise ways in which these fifteen items manifest themselves but in the self-centeredness or...
• 3. Walking in love 5:1-6
  In addition to calling his readers to walk in unity (4:1) and holiness (4:17), Paul urged them to walk in love (5:2). He first advocated positive love (vv. 1-2) and then negatively warned to abstain from evil (vv. 3-6).5:1 "T...
• The duty of husbands 5:25-33
  5:25 In the Greco-Roman world in which Paul lived, people recognized that wives had responsibilities to their husbands but not vice versa.137Paul summarized the wife's duty as submission and the husband's duty as love. The wo...
• Paul's greater goal 3:8-11
  3:8 Paul had regarded his advantages over other people as what put him in a specially good position with God. However, he had come to realize that absolutely nothing apart from Jesus Christ's work on the cross was of any valu...
• The antinomian danger 3:18-19
  Another threat to the joy and spiritual development of the Philippians was people who advocated lawless living. This is, of course, the opposite extreme from what the Judaizers taught (v. 2). Paul warned his readers of this d...
• 2. Sexual purity 4:3-8
  This section opens and closes with explicit references to the will of God.4:3-5 The will of God for the Christian is clear. Positively it is sanctification, namely a life set apart from sin unto God. Negatively it involves ab...
• A. Thanksgiving for calling 2:13-15
  2:13 In contrast to the wicked unbelievers just referred to (v. 12), Paul was grateful that he could always give thanks for his readers. Moreover he did so.58The ground for his joy was God's choice of them for salvation befor...
• B. The Superiority of God's Son 1:5-14
  The writer proceeded to explain the exaltation of Jesus Christ to help his readers appreciate the fact that He fulfilled Old Testament prophecy concerning the Son of David. He did this so they would appreciate Him properly an...
• 4. The goodness of God 1:16-18
  James now defended God before those who doubted His goodness or reliability or who had given up hope in a time of testing and had concluded that this was their "fate."551:16 James wanted his readers to have no doubt about God...
• 3. The inconsistency of favoritism 2:5-7
  James' three questions in these verses all expect positive answers, as is clear in the construction of the Greek text.2:5 Since God has chosen the poor of this world to be the recipients of His blessings it is inconsistent fo...
• 3. Wives' respect for their husbands 3:1-6
  Having explained before how Christians should conduct themselves in the world, Peter next gave directions about how Christian wives and husbands should behave. He did this to help his readers identify appropriate conduct in f...
• 5. Promise 2:26-29
  The prize for faithfulness was the privilege of reigning with Christ in His earthly kingdom (cf. 1:6; 12:5; 19:15; Ps. 2:8-9; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4-6). As with the promises in the other letters, this one is probably for all ...
• 4. Promise 3:20-22
  In the context we note that God addressed well-known verse 20 to Christians."The first thing which a person mustget fixed in his mind when studying the message to the Church in Laodicea is the fact that the Spirit of God is a...
• 2. John's first vision of the New Jerusalem 21:2-8
  21:2 In the same vision, John next saw a city descending out of heaven from God (cf. v. 10; 3:12; Heb. 11:13-16). It was holy in contrast to the former Jerusalem (cf. 11:8; Isa. 52:1; Matt. 4:5; 27:53). As the old Jerusalem w...