Matthew 24:13

24:13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved. ¹ 

Luke 8:13-15

8:13 Those ²  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, ³  but ⁴  in a time of testing ⁵  fall away. ⁶  8:14 As for the seed that ⁷  fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but ⁸  as they go on their way they are choked ⁹  by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, ¹⁰  and their fruit does not mature. ¹¹  8:15 But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing ¹²  the word, cling to it ¹³  with an honest and good ¹⁴  heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance. ¹⁵ 

John 6:29

6:29 Jesus replied, ¹⁶  “This is the deed ¹⁷  God requires ¹⁸  – to believe in the one whom he ¹⁹  sent.”

John 8:31-32

Abraham’s Children and the Devil’s Children

8:31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans ²⁰  who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, ²¹  you are really ²²  my disciples 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ²³ 

Romans 2:7

2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality,

Romans 2:1

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ²⁴ Therefore ²⁵  you are without excuse, ²⁶  whoever you are, ²⁷  when you judge someone else. ²⁸  For on whatever grounds ²⁹  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

Romans 3:5

3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates ³⁰  the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? ³¹  (I am speaking in human terms.) ³² 

Hebrews 10:38-39

10:38 But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I ³³  take no pleasure in him. ³⁴  10:39 But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls. ³⁵ 

James 2:20

2:20 But would you like evidence, ³⁶  you empty fellow, ³⁷  that faith without works is useless? ³⁸ 

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ³⁹  do not show prejudice ⁴⁰  if you possess faith ⁴¹  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴² 

James 2:19

2:19 You believe that God is one; well and good. ⁴³  Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear. ⁴⁴ 

James 3:1

The Power of the Tongue

3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, ⁴⁵  because you know that we will be judged more strictly. ⁴⁶ 

[24:13]  ¹ sn But the person who endures to the end will be saved. Jesus was not claiming here that salvation is by works. He was simply arguing that genuine faith evidences itself in persistence through even the worst of trials.

[8:13]  ² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:13]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:13]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[8:14]  ⁷ tn Grk “What”; the referent (the seed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:14]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:14]  ⁹ sn That is, their concern for spiritual things is crowded out by material things.

[8:14]  ¹⁰ sn On warnings about the dangers of excessive material attachments, described here as the worries and riches and pleasures of life, see Luke 12:12-21; 16:19-31.

[8:14]  ¹¹ tn The verb τελεσφορέω (telesforew) means “to produce mature or ripe fruit” (L&N 23.203). Once again the seed does not reach its goal.

[8:15]  ¹² tn The aorist participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally, reflecting action antecedent (prior to) that of the main verb.

[8:15]  ¹³ sn There is a tenacity that is a part of spiritual fruitfulness.

[8:15]  ¹⁴ sn In an ancient context, the qualifier good described the ethical person who possessed integrity. Here it is integrity concerning God’s revelation through Jesus.

[8:15]  ¹⁵ sn Given the pressures noted in the previous soils, bearing fruit takes time (steadfast endurance), just as it does for the farmer. See Jas 1:2-4.

[6:29]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[6:29]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the work.”

[6:29]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “This is the work of God.”

[6:29]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “that one” (i.e., God).

[8:31]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Grk “If you continue in my word.”

[8:31]  ²² tn Or “truly.”

[8:32]  ²³ 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.

[2:1]  ²⁴ sn Rom 2:1-29 presents unusual difficulties for the interpreter. There have been several major approaches to the chapter and the group(s) it refers to: (1) Rom 2:14 refers to Gentile Christians, not Gentiles who obey the Jewish law. (2) Paul in Rom 2 is presenting a hypothetical viewpoint: If anyone could obey the law, that person would be justified, but no one can. (3) The reference to “the ones who do the law” in 2:13 are those who “do” the law in the right way, on the basis of faith, not according to Jewish legalism. (4) Rom 2:13 only speaks about Christians being judged in the future, along with such texts as Rom 14:10 and 2 Cor 5:10. (5) Paul’s material in Rom 2 is drawn heavily from Diaspora Judaism, so that the treatment of the law presented here cannot be harmonized with other things Paul says about the law elsewhere (E. P. Sanders, Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People, 123); another who sees Rom 2 as an example of Paul’s inconsistency in his treatment of the law is H. Räisänen, Paul and the Law [WUNT], 101-9. (6) The list of blessings and curses in Deut 27–30 provide the background for Rom 2; the Gentiles of 2:14 are Gentile Christians, but the condemnation of Jews in 2:17-24 addresses the failure of Jews as a nation to keep the law as a whole (A. Ito, “Romans 2: A Deuteronomistic Reading,” JSNT 59 [1995]: 21-37).

[2:1]  ²⁵ tn Some interpreters (e.g., C. K. Barrett, Romans [HNTC], 43) connect the inferential Διό (dio, “therefore”) with 1:32a, treating 1:32b as a parenthetical comment by Paul.

[2:1]  ²⁶ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[3:5]  ³⁰ tn Or “shows clearly.”

[3:5]  ³¹ tn Grk “That God is not unjust to inflict wrath, is he?”

[3:5]  ³² sn The same expression occurs in Gal 3:15, and similar phrases in Rom 6:19 and 1 Cor 9:8.

[10:38]  ³³ tn Grk “my soul.”

[10:38]  ³⁴ sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.

[10:39]  ³⁵ tn Grk “not…of shrinking back to perdition but of faith to the preservation of the soul.”

[2:20]  ³⁶ tn Grk “do you want to know.”

[2:20]  ³⁷ tn Grk “O empty man.” Here the singular vocative ἄνθρωπε (anqrwpe, “man”) means “person” or even “fellow.” Cf. BDAG 82 s.v. ἄνθρωπος 8 which views this as an instance of rhetorical address in a letter; the pejorative sense is also discussed under the previous heading (7).

[2:20]  ³⁸ tc Most witnesses, including several important ones (א A C² P Ψ 33 Ï sy bo), have νεκρά (nekra, “dead”) here, while Ì⁷⁴ reads κενή (kenh, “empty”). Both variants are most likely secondary, derived from ἀργή (argh, “useless”). The reading of the majority is probably an assimilation to the statements in vv. 17 and 26, while Ì⁷⁴’s reading picks up on κενέ (kene) earlier in the verse. The external evidence (B C* 323 945 1739 sa) for ἀργή is sufficient for authenticity; coupled with the strong internal evidence for the reading (if νεκρά were original, how would ἀργή have arisen here and not in vv. 17 or 26?), it is strongly preferred.

[2:1]  ³⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ⁴² tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[2:19]  ⁴³ tn Grk “you do well.”

[2:19]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “believe and tremble.” The words “with fear” are implied.

[3:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[3:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “will receive a greater judgment.”