Faith
Jesus Heals The Paralyzed Man - Mark 2:1 – 2:12 (commentary)
Jesus chose Capernaum as the headquarters of His Galilean ministry. This was a commercial city on the main road of traffic between Egypt and Damascus. We find Jesus back in this city in a crowded house preaching the Word. Four men came carrying their paralyzed friend on a stretch …
Jesus Heals Jairus Daughter - Mark 5:35 – 5:43 (commentary)
While Jesus is still talking, someone comes with the news that Jairus’s daughter is dead (v.35). This person also accuses Jesus of not caring, otherwise, He would have hurried to help the girl, and here He is just talking. He implies that they should not fool with this Jesus. Jesus …
Abraham Justified by Faith - Romans 4:1 – 4:8 (commentary)
This chapter is perhaps one of the greatest chapters in the Bible on salvation by faith alone. Many religious groups claim to believe in salvation by faith, but not in salvation by faith alone. It is even common to find people in good churches who are not sure if they are saved or not because of ...
The Religious Leader’s Demand - Matthew 16:1 – 16:12 (commentary)
We find the Pharisees and Sadducees who are normally opposing each other, uniting in one common effort to silence Jesus (v. 1). The Pharisees were the traditionalists of their day and the Sadducees were the liberals. For the fourth time these religious leaders were asking for a s …
Healing of The Epileptic Son - Matthew 17:14 – 17:23 (commentary)
As Jesus came down from the mountain He finds some arguing scribes, embarrassed disciples and a needy father and son. The father had brought his epileptic son who had a demon in him to the disciples begging them to deliver him but they couldn’t (vv. 14-16). Jesus rebuked the disc …
Paul’s Faith Validates God’s Work - Acts 28:1 – 28:16 (commentary)
The island of Malta is located 60 miles south of Sicily. The ship was lost but all 276 of the men were saved by the hand of God. The inhabitants of the island showed great kindness to the shipwrecked men (vv. 1-2). As Paul was throwing wood on the fire a poisonous snake fastened ...
Paul Faith Validates God’s Work in their Midst - Acts 28:7 – 28:10 (commentary)
Paul continued to minister to others, even as a ship- wrecked prisoner. On this trip alone, his centurion, the chief official of Malta, and many others were affected. Is it any wonder that the Gospel spread like wildfire? How do we interpret signs and wonders? We first need to go …
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The Spies Promise to Protect Rahab - Joshua 2:12 – 2:24 (commentary)
Joshua was a keen army general who sent two men on a secret intelligence gathering mission to spy out the Promised Land. The part about Rahab is an example of how God uses a sinner to accomplish His purpose and in whose heart He works a change. Rahab was a “harlot,ā€¯ or prostitute ...
The Definition of Faith - Hebrews 11:1 – 11:6 (commentary)
This eleventh chapter of Hebrews is one of the best known chapters of the Bible on the subject of faith. Two words describe faith; confidence and certainty. These two words need a secure beginning and ending point. The beginning point is believing in God’s character; that He is w …
By Faith They Overcame - Hebrews 11:30 – 11:35 (commentary)
Someone has said there are four types of faith.There is faith that receives, as when we come empty handed to Christ for salvation.There is faith that reckons, that counts on God to undertake for us.There is faith that risks, that moves out in God’s power, daring to do the i …
The Danites Search for New Territory - Judges 18:1 – 18:11 (commentary)
The passage begins with two things that were lacking in those days. There was no king in Israel, and there was no inheritance for the tribe of Dan (v. 1). In truth, Dan had been given an inheritance along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (Joshua 19:40-46), but they had failed to take it from the ...
Assurance of The Resurrection - II Corinthians 5:1 – 5:9 (commentary)
In this passage we find that heaven was not simply a destination for Paul; it was also a motivation. He was anxiously waiting for the day when he would fully participate in the abundant life promised in heaven. He used a tent or earthly house as a picture of our present earthly bodies (v. 1). A tent ...
David Kills Goliath - I Samuel 17:48 – 17:58 (commentary)
Goliath walks up to David with a cocky spirit (vv. 41-44). When he sees how young David is, he is insulted to think that Israel would send such an inexperienced, fair complected young lad to fight him. He curses David and says he is going to feed his flesh to the fowls of the air …
Faith is Proved by Works - James 2:19 – 2:26 (commentary)
It might come as a shock that demons have faith, “Even the demons believe and tremble” (v. 19). But it is not a saving experience to believe and tremble. The following are some things they believe: The existence of God (They are neither atheists or agnostics)The de …
The Shepherds Visit Jesus - Luke 2:15 – 2:20 (commentary)
When we think of men of the Bible who walked by faith, we often think of men like Abraham who left his home land to follow God into a new land, of Noah who took many years to build a big boat when he had never seen it rain, and Peter who walked on water. We don’t think about …
A Centurion’s Servant is Healed - Luke 7:1 – 7:10 (commentary)
In this chapter Jesus is confronted with a dying servant (vv. 1-10), a grieving widow (vv. 11-17), a perplexed prophet (vv. 18-35) and a repentant sinner (vv. 36-50). In today’s passage we are introduced to the dying servant as Jesus demonstrates His sovereign power ov …
The Returning Remnant of Israel - Isaiah 10:20 – 10:34 (commentary)
Once Assyria’s army was destroyed, a small group of God’s people would stop relying on Assyria and start trusting God (vv. 20- 23). Those who remained faithful to God despite the horrors of the invasion are called the remnant. The key to being a part of the remnant was fai …
The Penalty For Israels Rebellion - Deuteronomy 1:32 – 1:46 (commentary)
God makes it clear to the Israelites that the whole generation which came up to Kadesh-Barnea and turned back in unbelief will die (vv. 32-35). Only two men of the old generation will be permitted to enter the promised land. They are Joshua and Caleb (vv. 36-38). They were different ...
Job Had a Certainty of Seeing God - Job 19:19 – 19:29 (commentary)
As a result of all that had happened, Job was estranged from his family and friends. Even his wife and kin could no longer stand to be around him (v. 19). Physically he was just skin and bones and barely alive (v. 20). So he asked his friends to have pity on him and to stop all t …
Elisha And The Widow’s Oil - II Kings 4:1 – 4:17 (commentary)
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Promises to Abram - Genesis 12:1 – 12:9 (commentary)
This is a pivotal chapter in the book of Genesis as God turns His attention from a rebellious humanity scattered by the judgment of Babel to one man, Abraham. At this point, Abraham was 75 years of age and had another 100 years to live (v. 4). The next twelve chapters of Genesis …
Hezekiah Reigns in Judah - II Kings 18:1 – 18:16 (commentary)
Hezekiah’s rule was characterized not only by devotion to God but by devotion with such intensity that even the high places were destroyed. Even the brazen serpent which Moses had erected seven hundred years earlier had become an object of worship and was reduced to scrap metal. …