Romans 8:1

The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ¹ 

Isaiah 45:17

45:17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord; ² 

you will never again be ashamed or humiliated. ³ 

Isaiah 45:25

45:25 All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the Lord

and will boast in him. ⁴ 

John 6:56

6:56 The one who eats ⁵  my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him. ⁶ 

John 14:20

14:20 You will know at that time ⁷  that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.

John 15:2

15:2 He takes away ⁸  every branch that does not bear ⁹  fruit in me. He ¹⁰  prunes ¹¹  every branch that bears ¹²  fruit so that it will bear more fruit.

John 15:1

The Vine and the Branches

15:1 “I am the true vine ¹³  and my Father is the gardener. ¹⁴ 

Colossians 1:1-2

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁵  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹⁶  brothers and sisters ¹⁷  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁸  from God our Father! ¹⁹ 

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ²⁰  in him.

Colossians 1:21

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ²¹  minds ²²  as expressed through ²³  your evil deeds,

Galatians 1:22

1:22 But I was personally ²⁴  unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.

Galatians 5:6

5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight – the only thing that matters is faith working through love. ²⁵ 

Galatians 6:15

6:15 For ²⁶  neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for ²⁷  anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation! ²⁸ 

Ephesians 2:10

2:10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them. ²⁹ 

Ephesians 2:1

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ³⁰  dead ³¹  in your transgressions and sins,

Ephesians 4:13

4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God – a mature person, attaining to ³²  the measure of Christ’s full stature. ³³ 

Ephesians 5:20

5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for each other ³⁴  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

[8:1]  ¹ tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have no additional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D¹ Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (mh kata sarka peripatousin, “who do not walk according to the flesh”), while even later ones (א² D² 33^vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma, “but [who do walk] according to the Spirit”). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul’s gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.

[45:17]  ² tn Heb “Israel will be delivered by the Lord [with] a permanent deliverance.”

[45:17]  ³ tn Heb “you will not be ashamed and you will not be humiliated for ages of future time.”

[45:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “In the Lord all the offspring of Israel will be vindicated and boast.”

[6:56]  ⁵ tn Or “who chews.” On the alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) see the note on “eats” in v. 54.

[6:56]  ⁶ sn Resides in me, and I in him. Note how in John 6:54 eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood produces eternal life and the promise of resurrection at the last day. Here the same process of eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood leads to a relationship of mutual indwelling (resides in me, and I in him). This suggests strongly that for the author (and for Jesus) the concepts of ‘possessing eternal life’ and of ‘residing in Jesus’ are virtually interchangeable.

[14:20]  ⁷ tn Grk “will know in that day.”

[15:2]  ⁸ tn Or “He cuts off.”

[15:2]  ⁹ tn Or “does not yield.”

[15:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And he”; the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has been omitted in the translation in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[15:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “trims”; Grk “cleanses” (a wordplay with “clean” in v. 3). Καθαίρει (kaqairei) is not the word one would have expected here, but it provides the transition from the vine imagery to the disciples – there is a wordplay (not reproducible in English) between αἴρει (airei) and καθαίρει in this verse. While the purpose of the Father in cleansing his people is clear, the precise means by which he does so is not immediately obvious. This will become clearer, however, in the following verse.

[15:2]  ¹² tn Or “that yields.”

[15:1]  ¹³ sn I am the true vine. There are numerous OT passages which refer to Israel as a vine: Ps 80:8-16, Isa 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Ezek 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14, and Hos 10:1. The vine became symbolic of Israel, and even appeared on some coins issued by the Maccabees. The OT passages which use this symbol appear to regard Israel as faithless to Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT) and/or the object of severe punishment. Ezek 15:1-8 in particular talks about the worthlessness of wood from a vine (in relation to disobedient Judah). A branch cut from a vine is worthless except to be burned as fuel. This fits more with the statements about the disciples (John 15:6) than with Jesus’ description of himself as the vine. Ezek 17:5-10 contains vine imagery which refers to a king of the house of David, Zedekiah, who was set up as king in Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah allied himself to Egypt and broke his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar (and therefore also with God), which would ultimately result in his downfall (17:20-21). Ezek 17:22-24 then describes the planting of a cedar sprig which grows into a lofty tree, a figurative description of Messiah. But it is significant that Messiah himself is not described in Ezek 17 as a vine, but as a cedar tree. The vine imagery here applies to Zedekiah’s disobedience. Jesus’ description of himself as the true vine in John 15:1 ff. is to be seen against this background, but it differs significantly from the imagery surveyed above. It represents new imagery which differs significantly from OT concepts; it appears to be original with Jesus. The imagery of the vine underscores the importance of fruitfulness in the Christian life and the truth that this results not from human achievement, but from one’s position in Christ. Jesus is not just giving some comforting advice, but portraying to the disciples the difficult path of faithful service. To some degree the figure is similar to the head-body metaphor used by Paul, with Christ as head and believers as members of the body. Both metaphors bring out the vital and necessary connection which exists between Christ and believers.

[15:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the farmer.”

[1:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ¹⁹ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[1:17]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

[1:21]  ²¹ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ²² tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ²³ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.

[1:22]  ²⁴ tn Or “by sight”; Grk “by face.”

[5:6]  ²⁵ tn Grk “but faith working through love.”

[6:15]  ²⁶ tc The phrase “in Christ Jesus” is found after “For” in some mss (א A C D F G 0278 1881 Ï lat bo), but lacking in Ì⁴⁶ B Ψ 33 1175 1505 1739* and several fathers. The longer reading probably represents a harmonization to Gal 5:6.

[6:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “is.”

[6:15]  ²⁸ tn Grk “but a new creation”; the words “the only thing that matters” have been supplied to reflect the implied contrast with the previous clause (see also Gal 5:6).

[2:10]  ²⁹ tn Grk “so that we might walk in them” (or “by them”).

[2:1]  ³⁰ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ³¹ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.

[4:13]  ³² tn The words “attaining to” were supplied in the translation to pick up the καταντήσωμεν (katanthswmen) mentioned earlier in the sentence and the εἰς (eis) which heads up this clause.

[4:13]  ³³ tn Grk “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” On this translation of ἡλικία (Jhlikia, “stature”) see BDAG 436 s.v. 3.

[5:20]  ³⁴ tn Grk “for all.” The form “all” can be either neuter or masculine.