*IN ACCORDANCE WITH
According to Merriam Wester’s Dictionary, In Accordance With means “in a way that agrees with or follows (something, such as a rule or request); in accord with. It also means according to, agrément
with, consistent with, in strict accordance with.
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Looking at a great number of so-called Christian websites and so-called Church websites, they give you an impression they do not serve God, they serve moneys. I could not find a Christian website or Church
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BY WILLIE WONG
1. ) 1Ch 15:15, “The sons of the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles on them, just as Moses had commanded in accordance with the Word of the LORD.”
Moses commanded in accordance with the Word of God. Moses was a faithful servant. What God told him, he told the children of Israel.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(15) And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God.—The priests and Levites, having purified themselves (1Chronicles 15:14), duly and rightly discharged their sacred office of bearing the Ark. This statement anticipates 1Chronicles 15:25, sqq. Such brief anticipative summaries of a series of events afterwards described in detail are very common in Hebrew narrative.
Upon their shoulders with the staves there-on.—Literally, with their shoulder, with the poles upon themselves.
As Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord.—Numbers 7:9; Numbers 4:15; Exodus 25:13-15.”
Christianity could not exist without the Word of God. There are two false religions who claim to have the Bible similar to what Christians have. Martin Luther had the right idea: Solar Scriptura.
According to https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-five-solas/
“Sola scriptura, sometimes referred to as the formal principle of the Reformation, is the belief that “only Scripture, because it is God’s inspired Word, is our inerrant, sufficient, and final authority for the church” (God’s Word Alone, 23). Notice, the basis of sola scriptura is Scripture’s inspired nature. As Paul says, “All Scripture is breathed-out by God” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). That cannot be said of church tradition, councils, or church leaders, as important as they all may be. While Scripture may have many human authors, it has one divine author. The Holy Spirit, Peter tells us, carried along the biblical authors so that what they said, God himself said (2 Pet. 1:21), down to the very words.”
2.) 2Ch 35:6, “Now slaughter the Passover animals, keep one another consecrated, and prepare for your countrymen to act in accordance with the Word of the LORD by Moses.”
To slaughter the Passover Lamb is of great significance, the Israeli must act in accordance with the Word of the Lord by Moses.”
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
So kill the passover,.... In the manner, time, and place, and for the persons it should be killed:
and sanctify yourselves: by washing themselves and garments, that they might be fit for this service:
and prepare your brethren; prepare a lamb for your brethren, or instruct them how to perform their office that needed instruction:
that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses; celebrate the ordinance of the passover in all its rites, according to the law of Moses, at least in every rite in which they were more peculiarly concerned.”
3.) Neh 12:45, “For they performed the worship of their God and the service of purification, together
with the singers and the gatekeepers in accordance
with the command of David and of his son Solomon.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
45. And both the singers and the porters kept] R.V. And they kept … and so did the singers and the porters. The verse, according to the rendering of the R.V. states first that the priests and Levites performed the due ceremonial obligations, and then that the same strict conformity to rule was practised by the singers and porters. The verb ‘kept’ has to be supplied in the second clause.
This is preferable to the suggestion that the second clause is one of a different character, = ‘and the singers and the porters were at their post according to the commandment of David’ &c. The ground for this alternative rendering is the supposition that the singers and porters would not be subject to the same laws of purification.
kept the ward of their God, and the ward of the purification] The word rendered ‘ward’ means here ‘that which has to be observed,’ ‘a charge,’ in the same sense in which it occurs in Numbers 9:23 ‘they kept the charge of the Lord;’ 2 Chronicles 13:11 ‘For we keep the charge of the Lord our God.’ Cf. Genesis 26:5.
It is therefore to be distinguished from its more concrete use in Nehemiah 12:9; Nehemiah 12:24; Nehemiah 13:30, where it refers to the ‘posts’ of the Levites.
according to the commandment … and of Solomon his son] The reference is one of a general character to the regulations of the Temple services ascribed by the Chronicler to David (1 Chronicles 23-26) and Solomon (2 Chronicles 8:14).
‘And of Solomon.’ The word ‘and’ must have accidentally dropped out of the Hebrew text, and must be restored.”
4.) Job 35:2, “Do you think this is in accordance
with justice? Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God's'?”
Job 35:2-3. Thinkest thou this to be right? — Canst thou in thy conscience, upon second thoughts, approve of what thou hast said? My righteousness is more than God’s — Not that Job said this in express terms, but he said those things from which this might seem to follow, as that God had punished him more than he deserved. For thou saidst, &c. — This is produced in proof of the foregoing charge. Job had often affirmed that he was, and still continued to be, righteous, though he had no present benefit by his righteousness, but much bitterness with it; and that God did not act kindly toward him, notwithstanding his former and present piety, but dealt with him as if he had been a most wicked man. Now, Elihu interprets this as implying that he thought himself more righteous than God. Thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee — Unto me; such changes of persons being frequent in the Hebrew language. And what profit shall I have, &c. — I have no more present advantage by all my care to please and serve God than wicked men have by their sins against him. God regards my cries no more than theirs, and shows no more kindness or pity to me than he doth to the most profligate wretches. But, it must be remembered, if Job’s words implied any thing of this kind, it was only with reference to his state in the present life. He well knew that he should have much, yea, everlasting advantage from his piety in the life to come. Isa 8:20
To the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak in accordance with this word, it is because they have no dawn.”
5.) Jer 21:2, “Please inquire of the LORD in our behalf, because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us; perhaps the LORD will deal with us in accordance with all His wonderful
acts, so that the enemy will withdraw from us.”
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(2) Nebuchadrezzar.—This form of the name, as might be expected in the writings of one who was personally brought into contact with the king and his officers, is more correct than that of Nebuchadnezzar, which we find elsewhere, and even in Jeremiah’s own writings (Jeremiah 34:1; Jeremiah 39:5).
The name has been variously interpreted by scholars as “Nebo protects against misfortune,” “Nebo protects the land-marks,” “Nebo protects the crown,” or “Fire, the shining God.”
If so be that the Lord will deal with us . . .—The messengers come to inquire of the prophet, and yet suggest the answer which he is expected to give. Jehovah is to show His wondrous works in the deliverance of the city. The history of Sennacherib’s army (2 Kings 19; Isaiah 37) was probably present to their minds. It was apparently an attempt on the part of the king and his counsellors, under the show of a devout reverence, to entice Jeremiah to change his tone and side with the policy of resistance to the Chaldæans. In Jeremiah 37:3 we have another like mission, coming apparently at a somewhat later date in the reign of Zedekiah
That he may go up from us.—i.e., in modern phraseology, that he may “raise the siege.”
6.) Lam 3:64, “You will repay them, LORD,
in accordance with the work of their hands.”
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render this, and the following verses, not as petitions, but as prophecies of what should be; but they seem rather to be expressed by way of request; and here, that God would deal with them according to the law of retaliation, and requite them according to what they had done; that he would do to them as they had done to the Lord's people, and others; and this is ordered to be done particularly to the Chaldeans, or Babylonians, Jeremiah 50:15.”
7.) Eze 39:24, “In accordance with their uncleanness and their offenses I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them.”
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
According to their uncleanness,.... Not ceremonial, but moral; they were an impure and adulterous generation, as our Lord calls them, Matthew 12:39,
and according to their transgressions have I done unto them; or "rebellions", as the Targum renders it; or defections, as the word (k) signifies; their rebellions against the King Messiah; their defections from him; their contempt of him, and rejection of his yoke, and non-submission to his ordinances; according to the desert of such crimes, the Lord dealt with them;
"took vengeance on them,''
as the Targum is; in the destruction of their nation, city, and temple: "and hid my face from them"; or caused his Shechaniah to remove from them, as the same paraphrase; See Gill on Ezekiel 39:23.”
8.) Zec 1:6, “But did My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, not overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of armies planned to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds,
so He has dealt with us.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
6. my statutes] or decrees. The word may be used here, as it is in Zephaniah 2:2; Psalm 2:7 (in both which places it is rendered decree in A. V.), of some punishment, which God had purposed or decreed, and threatened by His prophets to send upon them unless they repented. But it may also be taken to refer, as it commonly does in the O. T., to the “statutes” of the Law, sanctioned by rewards and punishments, which it was the office of the prophet to repeat and enforce.
take hold of] Marg. and R.V. overtake. Comp. Deuteronomy 28:15; Deuteronomy 28:45, where the same word is used. Pusey quotes the well-known words of Horace, “Rarely hath punishment with limping tread parted with the forerunning miscreant.”
returned] Rather turned, as the word is rendered in Zechariah 1:3-4. They were brought at last to do, what before they had refused to do, Zechariah 1:4, and what you are now intreated to be wise in time to do, Zechariah 1:3, to turn from sin and turn to God.
thought to do] Comp. Lamentations 2:17, where the penitent confession is uttered by Jeremiah, as the representative of the people, almost in the words here recorded: “The Lord hath done that which he had devised (the same word as is here rendered, “thought”); he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old.”
dealt with us] Lit. done with us. As He thought, or purposed, to do, so hath He done.
The Visions. Zechariah 1:7 to Zechariah 6:15. Exactly five months had now elapsed since the building of the Temple was resumed, as the fruit of Haggai’s earnest expostulation (Haggai 1:14-15). It was three months since Zechariah had uttered the call to repentance with which his Book opens (Zechariah 1:1); and in the mean time Haggai had again spoken in the name of the Lord, in his concluding prophecies (Haggai 2:10-23). On the basis of the repentance, of which the people were giving practical proof in their honest endeavours to rebuild the Temple, and as an encouragement to them to persevere in the work, Zechariah now unfolds to them God’s purposes of mercy, as they had been unfolded to him in a series of eight visions, all of which had been vouchsafed to him, as it would seem, in a single night.”
9.) Luk 2:39, “And when His parents had completed
everything in accordance with the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.”
For the Jews, it is of paramount importance that the parents complete everything in accordance with the law of the Lord.
For Christians it is the duties of parents to educate their children. Pro 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he grows older he will not abandon it.” Nowadays, a college education is minimum.
Verse 39. - And when they had performed all things according to the Law of the Lord. Another note, which tells us of the rigid obedience which Mary and Joseph paid to the Law of Israel, under which they lived. Marcion, the famous Gnostic heretic (second century), who adopted this Gospel of St. Luke, to the exclusion of the other three, as the authoritative Gospel for his sect (the Marcionites), omitted, however, all these passages of St. Luke's narrative in which the old Mosaic Law was spoken of with reverence. They returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. To complete the story of our Lord's early life, we must insert from St. Matthew, before this return to Nazareth, the visit of the Magi, and the flight to and return from Egypt. It is probable - even if the Gospel of St. Matthew, as we have it, was not then written - that these details, the visit of the Magi and the flight into Egypt, were facts already well known to those whom this Gospel was especially designed to instruct. Luke 2:39.”
10.) Act 24:14, “But I confess this to you, that in accordance with the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing
everything that is in accordance with the Law and is written in the Prophets.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
14. after the way which they call heresy] Better (with Rev. Ver.) “after the Way which they call a sect.” The word is the same which is used in Acts 24:5 for the “sect” of the Nazarenes. St Paul employs the expression “the Way,” in that sense in which it soon became well known, to signify “the Christian religion.” See note on Acts 9:2.
so worship I the God of my fathers] Better, as Rev. Ver., “so serve I the God of our fathers.” The verb is not the same as in Acts 24:11. Here the notion is of service which a man is bound to pay. The Apostle means that he has cast off no morsel of his old allegiance. The adjective can equally be rendered by “my fathers” or “our fathers,” but St Paul’s aim is to shew that he has not severed himself from the ancestral faith of the whole nation, and so his thought would include himself with them.
believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets] The Rev. Ver. gives very literally “all things which are according to the Law, and which are written in the Prophets.” The Apostle thus testifies to his complete acceptance of all the Jewish Scriptures. Sometimes the division is given as “the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44), but more frequently, as in the text, only two sections are named (cp. Matthew 7:12; Matthew 11:13; Matthew 22:40; Luke 16:16; John 1:45).”
11.) Rom 4:16, “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”
Therefore - In view of the course of reasoning which has been pursued. We have come to this conclusion.
It is of faith - Justification is by faith; or the plan which God has devised of saving people is by faith, Romans 3:26.
That it might be by grace - As a matter of mere undeserved mercy. If people were justified by law, it would be by their own merits; now it is of mere unmerited favor.
To the end - For the purpose, or design.
The promise ... - Romans 4:13.
Might be sure - Might be firm, or established. On any other ground, it could not be established. If it had depended on entire conformity to the Law, the promise would never have been established, for none would have yielded such obedience. But now it may be secured to all the posterity of Abraham.
To all the seed - Romans 4:13.
Not to that only - Not to that part of his descendants alone who were Jews, or who had the Law.
But to that ... - To all who should possess the same faith as Abraham. The father of us all. Of all who believe, whether they be Jews or Gentiles.”
12.) Rom 14:15, “For if because of food your brother or sister is hurt, you are no longer walking
in accordance with love. Do not destroy with your
choice of food that person for whom Christ died.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
15. But] Another reading is For. The documentary evidence is doubtful; and the evidence of connexion favours But. If For is adopted, it must be explained by treating Romans 14:14 as a parenthesis; and thus connecting Romans 14:13; Romans 14:15 : q. d., “resolve to lay no stumblingblock for others; for you do lay a stumblingblock, when you neglect their scruples about food.” Reading But, the connexion shews it to be a word not of contrast but of pursuance: q. d., “But, granting what I have just urged, it is the opposite of Christian love to neglect your brother’s scruples.”
grieved] put to pain; the pain of a conflict with conscience such as either to lead to its violation, or to harden prejudice.
with thy meat] Lit., and better, on account of thy food.—“Meat,” in the E. V., is never exclusively “flesh-meat.” The word is akin to French met; a thing put on the table. In market-language “green meat” still means vegetables; and so in some country districts “meat” alone still does. Here, of course, the word is inclusive of flesh.
not charitably] Lit. no longer according: to love: “Thou forsakest the rule of Christian love which hitherto thou hast followed.”
Destroy not him] The natural effect of neglect or contempt of the mistaken scruple would be to frighten, or embolden, the “weak brother” so as to become careless of his conscience in general; to “regard iniquity in his heart,” (Psalm 66:18,) and so to cease to “abide in Christ.” Cp. the language of 1 Corinthians 8:11.—Here the question what God would do for the protection or restoration of the “weak” Christian is manifestly out of sight, and out of place: not His covenant, but His servants’ duty and responsibility, is before us here. So again in Romans 14:20.—“Destroy” is the present imperative in the Gr., and indicates that a course of conduct, not an isolated and finished act, is intended.
thy meat] There is a subtle reproof in the word “thy;” a suggestion of the selfishness underlying the conduct in question.
for whom Christ died] The profoundest of all motives for a Christian’s tenderness and care.—Here, of course, the reference is to the Lord’s death for His Church, (Ephesians 5:25,) of which the “weak brother” is a member by faith.”
13.) Rom 16:26, “but now has been disclosed, and through the Scriptures of the prophets, in accordance with the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
26. now] In the days of Messiah, and in Him as the Propitiation. Cp. Colossians 1:26.
by the scriptures, &c.] Lit. by means of (the) prophetic scriptures. This Epistle, and e.g. Acts 13, are the best commentary on these words. The O. T., as the great prediction of Messiah and preparation for Him, was the text and the warrant of His Apostles wherever they went, and that for Gentiles as much as for Jews. When the Gentiles previously knew nothing of the O. T. the preaching would, of course, not take the O. T. as its starting-point; (see St Paul’s discourse at Athens;) but even in such cases it would bring forward the Prophecies as soon as possible, both as its credentials and its text.—We have heard this verse unintentionally illustrated by a distinguished Hindoo convert, of great intellectual power; who attributed his ultimate escape from the maze of Brahminic pantheism to the attentive study of the Messianic prophecies side by side with the Gospel history.
the everlasting God] The Gr. word (aionios) rendered everlasting perhaps refers back to the “æons” or “ages” of Romans 16:25. Q. d., “The Gospel is now revealed and proclaimed according to the will of Him who appoints and adjusts all the developements of His providence, alike past, present and to come.” He who rules all duration knows when to keep silence and when to break it.—This adjective is nowhere else in the N. T. attached to the word God.—On the adjective, see further on Romans 2:7.
to all nations] Lit. to (or perhaps better, for) all the nations. The special reference is, of course, to the Gentiles.
for the obedience of faith] i.e. to invite that obedience which, in fact, faith implies; that trustful acceptance of the terms of Salvation which may be described, in one aspect, as “submission to the righteousness of God.” (See note on Romans 10:3.) The thought is not so much of the course of moral obedience to which faith leads, as of the element of submission in the act of faith.
In this brief phrase the great Theme of the Epistle is heard for the last time.”
14.) 2Co 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(10) For we must all appear.—Better, must all be made manifest. The word is the same as that in 1Corinthians 4:5 (“shall make manifest the counsels of the heart”), and is obviously used with reference to it. It may be noted that it is specially characteristic of this Epistle, in which it occurs nine times. The English version, which can only be ascribed to the unintelligent desire of the translators to vary for the sake of variation, besides being weak in itself, hinders the reader from seeing the reference to 1Corinthians 4:5, or even the connection with the “made manifest” in the next verse.
Before the judgment seat of Christ.—The Greek word shows the influence of Roman associations. In the Gospels the imagery of the last judgment is that of a king sitting on his throne (Matthew 25:31), and the word is the ever-recurring note of the Apocalypse, in which it occurs forty-nine times. Here the judgment-seat, or bema, is the tribunal of the Roman magistrate, raised high above the level of the basilica, or hall, at the end of which it stood. (Comp. Matthew 27:19; Acts 12:21; Acts 18:12.) The word was transferred, when basilicas were turned into churches, to the throne of the bishop, and in classical Greek had been used, not for the judge’s seat, but for the orator’s pulpit.
That every one may receive the things done in his body.—It would have seemed almost impossible, but for the perverse ingenuity of the system-builders of theology, to evade the force of this unqualified assertion of the working of the universal law of retribution. No formula of justification by faith, or imputed righteousness, or pardon sealed in the blood of Christ, or priestly absolution, is permitted by St. Paul to mingle with his expectations of that great day, as revealing the secrets of men’s hearts, awarding to each man according to his works. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7) was to him an eternal, unchanging law. The revelation of all that had been secret, for good or evil; the perfectly equitable measurement of each element of good or evil; the apportionment to each of that which, according to this measurement, each one deserves for the good and evil which he has done: that is the sum and substance of St. Paul’s eschatology here and in 1Corinthians 4:5. At times his language seems to point to a yet fuller manifestation of the divine mercy as following on that of the divine righteousness, as in Romans 5:17-18; Romans 11:32. At times, again, he speaks as if sins were washed away by baptism (1Corinthians 6:11), or forgiven freely through faith in the atoning blood (Romans 3:25; Ephesians 2:13); as though the judgment of the great day was anticipated for all who are in Christ by the absence of an accuser able to sustain his charge (Romans 8:3), by the certainty of a sentence of acquittal (Romans 8:1). If we ask how we can reconcile these seeming inconsistencies, the answer is, that we are not wise in attempting to reconcile them by any logical formula or ingenious system. Here, as in other truths of the spiritual life—God’s foreknowledge and man’s free-will, God’s election and man’s power to frustrate it, God’s absolute goodness and the permission of pain and evil—the highest truth is presented to us in phases that seem to issue in contradictory conclusions, and we must be content to accept that result as following from the necessary limitations of human knowledge.”
16.) 2Co 13:10, “For this reason I am writing these
things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which
the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.”
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Therefore I write these things being absent,.... Assuring them of his power and authority, expressing his concern for their welfare, earnestly desiring that they might be kept from evil, and perform good works; and that they might be in a more honourable, orderly, and comfortable situation, whilst he was absent from them, and before he came among them:
lest, being present, I should use sharpness; meaning severe reproofs and censures, or rather the exercise of the apostolic rod:
according to the power the Lord haft given me, to edification, and not to destruction; by striking persons dead, as Ananias and Sapphira were by Peter; or by delivering them up to Satan to have corporeal punishment inflicted on them, as were Hymenaeus and Philetus, and the incestuous person by the Apostle Paul; which, though it was for the destruction of the flesh, yet for the salvation of their souls, and for the good, use, and edification of the rest of the society, that they might take warning thereby, and shun the evils which were the occasion of such severity.”
For this reason, the words of the Apostles whom the Lord gave the authority are the Words of the Lord.
16.) Eph 1:11, “In Him we also have obtained
an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things
in accordance with the plan of His will.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
11. In whom also we] “We” is not emphatic. The emphasis (“also” or “even”) is on the actual attainment, not on the persons attaining. Not only was the “mystery made known to us,” but we came in fact to share its blessing.
have obtained an inheritance] Better, were taken into the inheritance, made part of “the Lord’s portion, which is His people” (Deuteronomy 32:9). The Gr. verb occurs here only in N. T. and not at all in LXX. In later Church language the verb was used of ordination, reception among the clergy (clêros, lot; men selected by lot).
predestinated] to this admission among the Lord’s own.—On the word, see note above on Ephesians 1:5.
according to the purpose of him who worketh, &c.] The stress is not only upon the sovereignty but upon the effectuality of the Divine purpose. He Who supremely wills, going in His will upon reasons which are indeed of His own, also in fact carries out that will; so that with Him to preordain is infallibly to accomplish.—The Gr. verb rendered “worketh” is a compound; lit. “in-worketh.” The usage of the verb warns us not to press this, but on the other hand the “in” comes out more often than not in the usage. This suggests the explanation, “worketh in us;” a special reference of Divine power to the process of grace in the soul and the Church. Cp. Php 2:13.”
16.) Eph 1:19, “and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
19. And what is the exceeding greatness, &c.] The Gr. word rendered “exceeding” is, with its cognates, found, in the N. T., in St Paul’s writings only; a characteristic of the ardour of his style. The passages are Romans 7:13; 1 Corinthians 12:31; 2 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 3:10; 2 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Corinthians 4:17; 2 Corinthians 9:14; 2 Corinthians 11:23; 2 Corinthians 12:7; Galatians 1:13; Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 3:19, and here.
his power] exercised in the whole work of grace and glory, from regeneration onward to resurrection. Cp. for various aspects of its exercise, Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Corinthians 12:9; 2 Corinthians 13:4; Ephesians 3:16; Ephesians 3:20; 2 Thessalonians 1:11; 2 Timothy 1:8; 1 Peter 1:5. We take its main reference here to be to the coming resurrection, believing the whole context to refer mainly to the future, and finding a special and suggestive mention of the Lord’s Resurrection just below. But the deep and strong continuity of process in the Divine work makes it impossible to restrict the reference so. The same “power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20, see note) is that whereby we shall be glorified. See the significant words of Romans 8:11.
to us-ward who believe] whose “faith stands in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5), which gave it; and who, as believers, are now in a state of receptivity towards that power (Mark 9:23); and who, by faith, touch the “things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1) of the blessed prospect.
according to the working of his mighty power] Lit., according to the working of the strength of His might; a magnificent accumulation. Here is the scale by which to measure the possibilities of the Divine power; it is the surpassing victory of its exercise in the Lord’s Resurrection. See next note; and see further, on Ephesians 6:10.”
16.) Eph 3:11, “This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(11) The eternal purpose.—Properly, the purpose of the ages; but the sense clearly is, of the purpose of God (see Ephesians 1:11), conceived before the ages of His dispensation, and fulfilled through them. Hence the rendering of our version is substantially correct.
Which he purposed.—It should be, which He wrought, or made, for the word is quite distinct from the substantive “purpose,” and is in itself ambiguous, capable of meaning either ordained or worked out. Either sense will suit the passage; but the latter perhaps better, since the idea is throughout of the completion and manifestation of the mystery of God’s purpose in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
17.) Eph 4:22, “that, in reference to your former
way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
22. that ye put off] The Gr. verb is the infinitive aorist. The tense tends to denote singleness of crisis and action. Some would render “that you have” (or “did) put off.” But the better explanation, or paraphrase, is, “with regard to your (definite) putting-off.” The “instruction in Christ” had informed them about such a “putting-off”; its principles, secret, effects, as well as its fact.—But the view of the “putting-off” as a definite crisis remains; and the only question is, does this crisis appear here as a past or future one? The answer will be best given under the words “the old man,” just below. For the present we refer to Colossians 3:9 as strongly favouring the reference here to a crisis past; so that we may paraphrase, “you were taught in Christ with regard to the fact that your old man was laid aside.”
concerning the former conversation] On “conversation” see on Ephesians 2:3 above. The word (noun and verb) happens to be almost always used by St Paul in reference to the unregenerate life-course.—The clause means that the “putting-off” concerned, had to do with, a former life-course; it affected it, by being the close of it.—As concerning your former manner of life (R.V.).
the old man] This important phrase occurs elsewhere Romans 6:6; Colossians 3:9. In Rom. it appears as a thing which “was crucified with Christ”; in Col. as a thing which “was once stripped off” by the saints. (Cp. the remarkable parallel words Colossians 2:11, as in the best supported reading, “in the stripping off of the body of the flesh.”) On the whole, we may explain the phrase by “the old state.” And under this lie combined the ideas of past personal legal position and moral position; all that I was as an unregenerate son of Adam, liable to eternal doom, and the slave of sin. To “put off the old man” is to quit those positions, which, at the root, are one. It is to step into the position of personal acceptance and of personal spiritual power and victory; and that position is “in Christ.” The believer, lodged there, enters definitely and at once upon both acceptance and spiritual capacity for victory and growth.—“The old man” is thus not identical with “the flesh,” which is an abiding element (Galatians 5:16-17) in even the regenerate and spiritual, though it need no longer—even for an hour—be the ruling element; it may be continuously overcome, in a practical and profound manner, in the strength of “the new man.”—The phrases “old Man” and “new Man” have a probable inner reference to the doctrine of the First and Second Adam (Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21-58). The “putting off” and “putting on” may be expressed by saying, “ye broke connexion (in certain great aspects of connexion) with the First Adam, and formed connexion with the Second,” connexion both of acceptance and of life-power[37].
[37] On this aspect of Christian doctrine much excellent matter will be found in an old book, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, by Walter Marshall, Fellow of New College, Oxford (about 1670).
corrupt] Lit., corrupting, growing corrupt; morally decaying, on the way to final ruin. Such, from the Divine point of view, is the condition of ideal Man unregenerate, Man as represented by and summed up in Adam fallen. And such accordingly is the actual condition, from the same point of view, of unregenerate men, in whom the ideal is individualized.
according to the deceitful lusts] Lit., the desires of deceit; desires after the forbidden, full of deceitful promises of joy and gain. See Genesis 3 for the great typical case, which perhaps is in view throughout this verse.—“According to”:—by natural result. Moral decay must follow in their path.—Cp. 2 Peter 2:19.”
18.) Col 2:8, “See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty
deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ.”
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(8-15) The general exhortation of the previous verses is now emphasized by a solemn warning against deadly speculative error. Now, (1) the character of that error in itself is described with apparently intentional vagueness, as “a philosophy of vain deceit,” “after tradition of men,” after “the rudiments of this world.” Even its Judaic origin, which is made clear below (Colossians 2:16-17), is here only hinted at in the significant allusion to Circumcision, and perhaps in the phrase “the rudiments of the world,” which is also used of the Judaism of Galatia (Galatians 4:3; Galatians 4:9). (2) What is brought out vividly and emphatically is the truth which it contradicts or obscures. First, the full indwelling Godhead of Christ and His headship over all created being; and next, as derived from this, our own “spiritual circumcision in Him, i.e., the true “death unto sin and new life unto righteousness” in Him who is the One Atonement for all sin, and the One Conqueror of all the powers of evil. On the relation of the Epistle to Gnosticism see Excursus A.
(8) Spoil you.—Properly, lead you away as a spoil, triumph over you as a captive, and make you a slave. Comp. St. Paul’s language as to the older Judaism at Corinth (2Corinthians 11:20), “Ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.”
Philosophy and vain deceit—i.e. (like “the knowledge falsely so called” of 1Timothy 6:20), a philosophy which is inseparably connected with vain deceit. The warning implied here seems to be two-fold:—(1) First, against considering Christianity primarily as a “philosophy,” i.e., a search for and knowledge of speculative truth, even the highest. That it involves philosophy is obvious, for it claims to solve for us the great problem of Being, in Nature, in Man, and in God. St. Paul, while he depreciates the wisdom of this world, dwells emphatically on the gospel as the “wisdom of God.” (See especially 1Corinthians 2:6-16.) In this Epistle in particular he speaks of “wisdom” again and again (Colossians 1:9; Colossians 1:28; Colossians 2:3; Colossians 3:16; Colossians 4:6) as one great characteristic of Christian life. Nor is it less clear (as the ancient Greek commentators here earnestly remind us) that Christianity finds a place and a blessing for all true philosophy of men, and makes it, as St. Paul made it at Athens, an introduction to the higher wisdom. But Christianity is not a philosophy, but a life—not a knowledge of abstract principles, but a personal knowledge of faith and love of God in Christ. (2) Next, against accepting in philosophy the “vain deceit” of mere speculation and imagination instead of the modest, laborious investigation of facts. This is the “knowledge falsely so called”; of this it may be said (as in 1Corinthians 8:1) that it “puffs up,” and does not “build up.” In ancient and modern times it has always confused brilliant theory with solid discovery, delighting especially to dissolve the great facts of the gospel into abstractions, which may float in its cloudland of imagination.
After the tradition of men.—This is the keynote of our Lord’s condemnation of the old Pharisaic exclusiveness and formalism (Matthew 15:2-3; Matthew 15:6; Mark 7:8-9); it is equally the condemnation of the later Jewish, or half-Jewish, mysticism which St. Paul attacks here. It is hardly necessary to remark that the Apostle often claims reverence for “traditions” (1Corinthians 11:2; 2Thessalonians 2:15; 2Thessalonians 3:6; see also 1Corinthians 15:3; 2Peter 2:21), but they are traditions having their starting point in direct revelation of God (Galatians 1:12), and, moreover, traditions freely given to all, as being His. The “traditions of men” here condemned had their origin in human speculation, and were secretly transmitted to the initiated only.
The rudiments of the world.—See Galatians 4:2, and Note there. This marks the chief point of contact with the earlier Judaism, in the stress still laid, perhaps with less consistency, on matters of ritual, law, ascetic observance, and the like. These are “of the world,” i.e., belonging to the visible sphere; and they are “rudiments,” fit only for the elementary education of those who are as children, and intended simply as preparation for a higher teaching.”
Generations upon generations, how many have been fooled by human tradition. According to JESUS, Mar 7:13, “thereby invalidating the Word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”
19.) Col 2:22, “(which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of man?”
Just narrow down to false theologians and Bible commentators you have so many commandments and teachings of man which are destined to perish.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
23. which all are to perish with the using;)] Lit., which are all for corruption in the consumption. I.e., the things which are thus forbidden as soul-tainting are things merely material, not moral, and this is evidenced by their merely material destiny—physical dissolution in the course of natural use. Cp. Matthew 15:17.—This clause should be bracketed apart, as in R.V.
Observe St Paul’s instructive opposite use, in an opposite connexion, of the same consideration, 1 Corinthians 6:13. There an assertor of a distorted “liberty” is met by the thought that alike “meats” and “belly” are to cease to exist with the present order of things; then why for their sake violate real claims of purity?
after the commandments, &c.] The thought returns to the prohibitive formulas; these are not utterances of God’s will, but “according to,” of the kind of, on the scale of, merely human rule and principle. Obviously, so far as any of them were Mosaic, St Paul would fully recognize their Divine authority in their own period and for their own purpose. But the period was over, the purpose was fulfilled in Christ. To impose them now was to put God’s edict to man’s arbitrary use.
“Of men:”—cp. Matthew 15:9; Mark 7:7; and see Isaiah 29:13, the passage quoted by our Lord, and doubtless here in St Paul’s mind. The LXX. there agrees almost verbatim with the words here, more so than with the quotations in the Gospels.”
20.) 2Th 1:12, “so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, in accordance
with the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - That is, that the Lord Jesus himself may be honored among you; the name often denoting the person. The idea is that the apostle wished that the Lord Jesus might be honored among them by the fair application and development of the principles of his religion.
And ye in him - That you may be regarded and treated as his friends when he shall come to judge the world.
According to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ - That is, that you may experience all the honor which his grace is fitted to impart.
In view of the exposition given of this chapter, we may remark:
(1) That the wicked will certainly be punished when the Lord Jesus shall come to judgment. Words cannot reveal this truth more plainly than is done in this chapter, and if it is not to be so, then language has no meaning.
(2) the punishment of the wicked will be eternal. It is impossible for language to teach that doctrine more clearly than is done in this chapter. If it were admitted to have been the intention of God to teach the doctrine of eternal punishment, it is impossible to conceive that he could have chosen more plain and positive language to express the doctrine than has been done here. Can it be, then, that he means to trifle with people on so solemn a subject, by using words which have no meaning?
(3) it will greatly aggravate the punishment of the wicked that it will be "a righteous thing" for God thus to punish them. If they were to suffer as martyrs; if in their sufferings they could feel that they were oppressed and crushed beneath mere power; if they could feel that they were right and that God was wrong; if they could get up a party in the universe against God, sympathizing with them as if they were wronged, the case would be changed. A man can endure suffering much more easily when he has a good conscience, and feels that he is right, than he can when he feels that what he endures is deserved. But the sinner in hell can never have this consolation. He will forever feel that God is right and that he is wrong, and that every pang which he endures is deserved.
(4) if it be a "righteous thing" that the wicked shall be punished, then they never can be saved by mere justice. No one will go to heaven because he deserves or merits it. All dependence on human merit, therefore, is taken away in the matter of salvation, and if the sinner is ever saved, it will be by grace, and not by justice.
(5) if it is a "righteous thing" that the sinner should perish, he will perish. God will do right to all.
(6) it is amazing that the mass of men have so little concern about their future condition. God has plainly revealed that he will destroy the wicked forever, and that it will be a righteous thing for him to do it; and yet the mass of mankind are wholly unconcerned, and disregard all the solemn declarations of the Bible on this subject as if they were idle tales. One would suppose that the very possibility of eternal suffering would rouse all the sensibilities of the soul, and lead to the earnest inquiry whether it is not possible to avoid it. Yet the mass of people feel no concern in this inquiry. It is impossible to ever get them to think of it. We cannot get them even to ask the question, seriously, whether they themselves are to be happy or miserable for all eternity. This stupidity and indifference is the most unaccountable fact on earth, and probably distinguishes this world from all others.
(7) it is rational to think of religion; to reflect on eternity; to be serious; to be anxious about the future state. If there is even a possibility that we may be miserable forever, it is proper to be serious about it. And if there is a solemn declaration of God that it will be a "righteous thing" for him to punish the wicked, and that he will "punish them with everlasting destruction," assuredly the mind should be concerned. Is there anything more worthy the calm and sober attention of the human soul than such solemn declarations of the infinite God?.”
21.) 2Th 3:6, “Now we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother or sister who leads a disorderly life and not one in accordance with the tradition which you received from us.”
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(6) We command you.—The practical conclusion of the letter. These words take up the expression in 2Thessalonians 3:4, “Ye will do the things which (at any time) we command you; now the thing which we command you is this.”
In the name of our Lord.—To do anything in a person’s name seems to mean, in the first instance, the actual pronouncing of the name in the performance of the action—to do it name on lip, just as to “come in a rod” (1Corinthians 4:21) literally means rod in hand. Thus, miracles are commonly said to be performed “in the name of the Lord,” viz., with the audible repetition of His name (for instance, Matthew 7:22, Mark 16:17; Luke 10:17); and for examples of the way in which the name was literally so used, we may refer to Acts 3:6; Acts 9:34; Acts 19:13—in the last case the name being employed as a mere incantation or charm. See also Philippians 2:10, where, as the adoration paid to Jesus Himself is the point, the phrase must mean, “mentioning the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow.” From this mention of the name in performing an action, our phrase assumes, at any rate, two distinct meanings: (1) As in Colossians 3:17, it implies an invocation or attestation of the person named, or a recognition of his presence and interest in the matter, in which sense it has passed into the common language of Christianity, into legal formulas, &c. (2) Here, and usually, it means a claim to the authority of the person named—to act officially as his representative with full powers. (See Notes on John 14:13; John 14:26.) Thus the prophets spoke “in the name of the Lord”—i.e., as His authoritative exponents (James 5:10); St. Paul commands (Acts 16:18), and retains a man’s sins (1Corinthians 4:5) “in the name of the Lord”—i.e., as His official spokesman or ambassador; the priests are to administer the unction of the sick with like authority (James 5:14-15). So here, the Thessalonians are not to think that in disobeying St. Paul’s injunctions they are rebelling against a mere human authority; Christ Himself speaks to them through St. Paul’s lips. Yet, commanding with all this tremendous authority, they are still but “brethren” (Matthew 23:8).
Withdraw yourselves.—The striking word here used is (in its simple form) only found besides in 2Corinthians 8:20 : “avoiding this.” In a still more striking compound, it occurs in Acts 20:20; Acts 20:27; Galatians 2:12; Hebrews 10:38. It is a metaphor from the language of strategy a cautious general shrinking from an encounter and timidly drawing off under cover. Perhaps, we might illustrate it by the familiar English “fight shy of every brother.” A social excommunication rather than ecclesiastical seems chiefly meant, though the latter might perhaps be involved.
From every brother—i.e., every Christian. It was impossible to be so strict about the outside world. (Comp. 1Corinthians 5:10-11.) The man still remains a “brother” (2Thessalonians 3:15).
Disorderly.—The word is rendered “unruly” in 1Thessalonians 5:14, and is possibly suggested by the military metaphor above. It means properly “out of rank.” The kind of irregularity which is meant is made clear by 2Thessalonians 3:10-11. The worthy Bengel quaintly makes this an opportunity for denouncing the Mendicant Orders: “An order of mendicants, then, is not an order; if the Thessalonians had bound themselves to it by a vow, what would St. Paul have said?”
The tradition.—See Note on 2Thessalonians 2:15. The word must imply systematic and definite teaching; and we see here again that a clear code of ethics was part of the apostolic catechism. (See Note on 1Thessalonians 4:1)
He received.—The best rendering is, which they received—i.e., all the brethren who walked disorderly. The word “receive” is the regular correlative to “tradition” or “deliver.” (See, e.g., Mark 7:4; 1Corinthians 11:23; Galatians 1:9; Colossians 2:6.)”
22.) 2Ti 4:3, “For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
2. sound doctrine] The sound doctrine as in 1 Timothy 1:10, where see note.
but after their own lusts] Vulg. ‘ad sua desideria,’ in opposition to the healthful doctrine. Compare the same phrase in the singular, James 1:14, ‘Each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed.’ R.V. still retains ‘lusts’; this word in the age of the A.V. had also the wider sense of ‘strong desire’ not being restricted as now to one passion only. ‘Lust’ in Psalm 92:10, Pr. Bk., is ‘desire’ in A.V. and R.V. But the word here denotes a corrupt will leading both to corrupt doctrine and corrupt life. See note on 2 Timothy 3:6. Trench, N.T. Syn. § 87, quotes Cicero’s definition of the word here rendered ‘lust’; ‘immoderata appetitio opinati magni boni rationi non obtemperans,’ Tusc. Quæst. iii. 11. It is sometimes ‘concupiscence’ Romans 7:8; very rarely in a good sense ‘desire,’ Php 1:23.
shall they heap to themselves] A compound form of the verb used in ch. 2 Timothy 3:6 for ‘laden.’
having itching ears] An ambiguous rendering in A.V.; but the original is clear, the nominative case shewing that it is the pupils not the teachers who have the itching ears. R.V. corrects this by transposing the clause to the commencement of the sentence; but this gives up the close proximity of the two words for ‘ears’; because they have itching ears should be the rendering. The participle is middle, lit. ‘scratching themselves,’ as Arist. H. A. ix. 1, 18. Out of a prurient longing for novelty and excitement, ‘instead of receiving those Teachers who are authorized by Christ to instruct them and have a regular call and mission from Him to execute their sacred office, and preach by the Rule of Faith, they will stray away from their Pastors and from their own proper Fold and will raise up for themselves a confused heap of Teachers.’ Wordsworth.”
23.) Tit 1:9, “holding firmly the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.”
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(9) Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught.—More literally, according to the teaching; but the English version gives the sense clearly and exactly. The elder must, St. Paul says, hold fast the faithful word or saying; or, in other words, must steadily adhere to that Christian doctrine taught by St. Paul and his brother Apostles. So St. Paul pressed on Timothy, the chief presbyter of Ephesus, “to hold the pattern of sound words which thou heardest from me” (2Timothy 1:13); and again, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them” (2Timothy 3:14). Here “the faithful saying,” that formulary so common in the Epistles to Timothy and to Titus, and which we have generally explained as including the great Christian watchwords of the faith, echoes probably of sayings of Christ, taken up and expanded by His chosen servants, and then adopted in the various churches and woven into the tapestry of the earliest liturgies—now, possibly, after a form like the “comfortable words” of our Communion Service, now into a creed, now into a hymn, but in one shape or other thoroughly well known and loved in the different congregations—here the faithful word or saying seems to include all the faithful sayings, and denotes generally the teaching of St. Paul and the Apostles.
To exhort and to convince the gainsayers.—Two special purposes are specified for which the “sound doctrine” which the elder will acquire by steadfast application may be used. The first, with the sound, healthy teaching—sound, healthy, practical, compared with that sickly, morbid, and unpractical teaching of those gainsayers of whom he is going to speak—he is to exhort the adversaries; secondly, with the same true words he is to confute their arguments. Chrysostom well remarks “that he who knows not how to contend with adversaries, and is not able to demolish their arguments, is far from the teacher’s chair.”
24.) Tit 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(5) Not by works of righteousness.—This by no means asserts that such works ever had been done, and then produced, as it were, before the bar of God, and weighed and found insufficient; but it simply maintains that to win salvation such must be done. Sad experience, more forcibly than any theological assertion, has demonstrated to us all the utter impossibility of any of us, even the holiest, ever, even for one day, doing the works of a purely righteous man.
But according to his mercy.—As there was nothing in us which called for such a salvation, as there were no acts of ours which deserved reward, His gift of salvation, which includes (Titus 3:7) eternal life, was owing entirely to His divine love which saw and pitied our misery, our endless suffering. Out of this hopeless state the eternal pity lifted us, and put us into a state of salvation. The next clause specifies the outward and visible sign of the salvation our loving God was pleased to ordain in His Church, namely, “baptism;” but here great care must be taken properly to understand what St. Paul meant by this baptism, to which he attributed so great power. In St. Paul’s mind it was no mere observance, but was a sacrament, in which all that was inward properly and completely accompanied all that was outward. In another place the Apostle has grandly paraphrased his words here. In the Galatian Letter (Galatians 3:27) he writes how “that as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ,” that is, have entered into vital union with Him—a blessed state, which most surely leads to life eternal, if the baptised only remain faithful.
By the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.—Seeing, then, that God has saved us by His own act, independently of any work of ours, we ask, How has He effected this? The words we are here considering give the answer to the question. The Greek should be rendered, “by the laver of regeneration,” &c. Then, by means of the laver of regeneration, &c, has God put us into a state of salvation. In other words, He has effected this by means of “baptism” (for the laver here can only signify the baptismal font, and is called the laver of regeneration because it is the vessel consecrated to the use of that sacrament), whereby, in its completeness as a sacrament, the new life in Christ is conveyed. Baptism, then, is the means through which we receive the saving grace of Christ; in its laver we are born again to a new life, in it we receive strength through the Holy Ghost constantly to renew and to develop this new life, for it is not only the laver of regeneration but also of renovation by the Holy Spirit. But baptism is here understood in all its completion—the outward visible sign accompanied with the inward spiritual grace. In the case of one who is come to years of understanding seeking baptism, repentance and faith in the promises of God are absolutely required. In the case of infants, who have also from the very earliest times been, through this same laver, enrolled in the communion of Christians, the same profession is required, only they make it by their sureties, and directly that they have come to years of discretion they solemnly and publicly assent to what had been already affirmed in their name. Thus, by means of the laver of regeneration, &c, or, in other words, by baptism in all its completion—the outward act being accompanied with the inward faith—He saved us, that is, put us into a state of salvation. Of the difference between “regeneration” and “renovation,” the first, “regeneration,” is well explained in the words of the collect for Christmas Day, which speaks of the “regenerated” as “made God’s children by adoption and grace.” The second, “renovation,” the same collect goes on to speak of, when it prays that “the regenerated” “may daily be renewed by the Holy Spirit.” The first, “regeneration,” is spoken of by St. John in his words, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7); the second is alluded to by St. Paul when he wrote, “the inward man is renewed day by day” (2Corinthians 4:16).”
You have learned so great a salvation that we are saved not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His
mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. So you must repent of your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus as your God and Savior. You can do it now.