1 Corinthians 15:14

15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty.

Psalms 106:12-13

106:12 They believed his promises; ¹ 

they sang praises to him.

106:13 They quickly forgot what he had done; ² 

they did not wait for his instructions. ³ 

Luke 8:13

8:13 Those ⁴  on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, ⁵  but ⁶  in a time of testing ⁷  fall away. ⁸ 

John 8:31-32

Abraham’s Children and the Devil’s Children

8:31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans ⁹  who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, ¹⁰  you are really ¹¹  my disciples 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ¹² 

Acts 8:13

8:13 Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to ¹³  Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed. ¹⁴ 

Acts 8:2

8:2 Some ¹⁵  devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation ¹⁶  over him. ¹⁷ 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁸  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Galatians 3:4

3:4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing? – if indeed it was for nothing.

James 2:14

Faith and Works Together

2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, ¹⁹  if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith ²⁰  save him? ²¹ 

James 2:17

2:17 So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself.

James 2:26

2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

[106:12]  ¹ tn Heb “his words.”

[106:13]  ² tn Heb “his works.”

[106:13]  ³ tn Heb “his counsel.”

[8:13]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:13]  ⁵ sn This time of temporary faith represented by the description believe for a while is presented rather tragically in the passage. The seed does not get a chance to do all it can.

[8:13]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:13]  ⁷ tn Traditionally, “temptation.” Such a translation puts the emphasis on temptation to sin rather than testing of faith, which is what the context seems to indicate.

[8:13]  ⁸ sn Fall away. On the idea of falling away and the warnings against it, see 2 Tim 3:1; Heb 3:12; Jer 3:14; Dan 9:9.

[8:31]  ⁹ tn Grk “to the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (i.e., “Judeans”), the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9; also BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple and had believed his claim to be the Messiah, hence, “those Judeans who had believed him.” The term “Judeans” is preferred here to the more general “people” because the debate concerns descent from Abraham (v. 33).

[8:31]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “If you continue in my word.”

[8:31]  ¹¹ tn Or “truly.”

[8:32]  ¹² tn Or “the truth will release you.” The translation “set you free” or “release you” (unlike the more traditional “make you free”) conveys more the idea that the hearers were currently in a state of slavery from which they needed to be freed. The following context supports precisely this idea.

[8:13]  ¹³ tn Or “he kept close company with.”

[8:13]  ¹⁴ sn He was amazed. Now Simon, the one who amazed others, is himself amazed, showing the superiority of Philip’s connection to God. Christ is better than anything the culture has to offer.

[8:2]  ¹⁵ tn “Some” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[8:2]  ¹⁶ sn Made loud lamentation. For someone who was stoned to death, lamentation was normally not allowed (m. Sanhedrin 6:6). The remark points to an unjust death.

[8:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “mourned greatly for him.”

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[2:14]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:14]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the faith,” referring to the kind of faith just described: faith without works. The article here is anaphoric, referring to the previous mention of the noun πίστις (pisti") in the verse. See ExSyn 219.

[2:14]  ²¹ sn The form of the question in Greek expects a negative answer.