Titus 2:11–14 joins a sober, righteous life to Christ’s saving work and the hope of his appearing. Galatians 5:13–26 places self-control within life by the Spirit and love for other people. These passages give the subject its purpose: learning to live faithfully before God in the desires you welcome, the words you speak, and the good you choose to do.
Let God’s grace teach you how to live
Begin with trust in the Savior who gave himself for you, and receive his instruction about the life you now live. Titus 2:11–14 says that the grace bringing salvation also teaches God’s people to turn from ungodliness and worldly desires and to live soberly, righteously, and godly. To live “soberly” here includes sensible self-restraint. The verse joins your own desires and decisions with right treatment of others and devotion to God. Grace trains the whole course of life.
The reason for this obedience is made clear in Titus 2:13–14: Christians await Jesus Christ’s glorious appearing, and he gave himself to redeem them from iniquity and make them his own people, eager for good works. The KJV calls them a “peculiar people,” meaning a people belonging especially to him. Self-control therefore has a positive aim. Turn from the desire that draws you into sin so that you can give yourself to the good for which Christ has redeemed you.
This instruction belongs to believers at different stages of life. Titus 2:1–8 addresses older men, older women, younger women, younger men, and Titus himself, joining sound judgment with love, purity, faithfulness, and a trustworthy example. Titus 3:3–8 recalls an earlier life ruled by desires, pleasures, envy, and hatred, then says that God saved according to his mercy and renewed his people by the Holy Spirit. Receive that mercy with gratitude and take the next act of obedience seriously. The passage places both your hope of change and your responsibility to do good within God’s kindness.
Further study: Jennifer Vija Pietz · Biblical Studies Press
Walk by the Spirit and give yourself to righteousness
Ask what obedience to God and love for your neighbor require, and act in that direction. In Galatians 5:13–16, Paul explains that freedom in Christ is to be used in loving service. He quotes the command to love your neighbor and contrasts it with believers consuming one another through conflict. His instruction to walk in the Spirit belongs to this struggle over how people treat each other. Self-control serves love in the life you share with others.
Galatians 5:17–23 describes opposing desires and their results. The works of the flesh include sexual sins, idolatry, envy, hostility, and drunkenness. Paul warns that those who do such things will not inherit God’s kingdom. The Spirit’s fruit includes love, patience, gentleness, and “temperance,” or self-control. The list itself shows that flesh here reaches beyond bodily appetite to a whole way of life opposed to God. As the Spirit forms this different character, you are called to follow his direction. Galatians 5:24–26 joins belonging to Christ with rejecting sinful desires and with giving up provocation and envy.
Romans 6:1–14 explains why a Christian can offer real obedience. Paul recalls baptism into Christ’s death and the new life associated with his resurrection, then calls believers to reckon themselves dead to sin and alive to God. That truth leads directly to a command: yield yourselves to God and your “members,” the parts of your body, as instruments of righteousness. Your body has work to do in God’s service. Use your mouth to speak truth, your hands for good work, and your actions to obey what you have received from him.
Dependence on the Spirit belongs within this active obedience. Romans 8:12–17 says that believers put sinful deeds to death through the Spirit, and immediately speaks of the Spirit of adoption by whom they cry to God as Father. The command to “mortify” in Romans 8:13 means to put to death; its object is sinful deeds. Bring the conduct itself to an end, with the help of the Spirit who dwells in you. Paul sets this struggle within the life of God’s children, who suffer with Christ in hope of sharing his glory and whose confidence rests in their Father.
Further study: Amy L. B. Peeler
Attend to your desires and seek God’s help in temptation
Give attention to what is directing your choices. Proverbs 4:20–27 tells a son to keep the father’s instruction in his heart, guard that heart, put away crooked speech, and consider the path of his feet. The connection matters: the heart is where instruction is received and the direction of life takes shape. Receive God’s teaching there, then let it govern what you say, what you attend to, and where you go.
James 1:13–18 asks you to acknowledge the desire involved when temptation draws you toward evil. Desire entices; when it conceives, it gives birth to sin, and completed sin brings death. God, by contrast, gives good gifts and brings forth his people through the word of truth. Earlier, James 1:2–5 calls for endurance under trials and prayer for wisdom. Difficulty can become an occasion for faithful endurance, while an enticing desire still needs to be refused. Name the sin honestly, ask God for wisdom, and act on the good he commands.
Jesus’ response in Matthew 4:1–11 shows obedience to God under real testing. Hungry after his fast, he answers the demand to turn stones into bread with Deuteronomy 8:3. That verse recalls Israel’s hunger and God’s gift of manna, which taught dependence on his word. Jesus also refuses to test God’s protection or worship the devil for the kingdoms of the world, drawing on the covenant loyalty taught in Deuteronomy 6:13–16. His answers express trust, obedience, and worship of God alone. Read Scripture to understand and follow that will, including when an immediate desire presses in another direction.
Trust God’s faithfulness enough to take the path away from sin. In 1 Corinthians 10:1–13, Paul recalls Israel’s deliverance and provision, followed by serious falls into idolatry and other sins. He calls the Corinthians to humility, then assures them that God will provide a way to endure temptation. His next instruction is direct: flee idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14–22). The promise supports a faithful response in the pressure they face. It gives you reason to obey the way God makes available, rather than treating exposure to temptation as proof of your strength.
Bring your weakness to God before relying on your resolve. In Matthew 26:30–46, Peter promises loyalty, but the disciples repeatedly sleep as Jesus prays before his arrest. Jesus tells them to watch and pray because their willing spirit is accompanied by weakness. He himself brings his sorrow to the Father and submits to the Father’s will. Hebrews 4:14–16 gives a continuing reason to come to God: Jesus is the great high priest who has faced temptation without sin and understands human weakness. Seek his mercy and grace as you obey, especially when the cost of obedience is becoming clear.
Further study: Bryan J. Whitfield
Honor God with your body and practice sexual faithfulness
Treat your body as belonging to the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 6:12–20, Paul answers claims about freedom and bodily appetite by declaring that the body is for the Lord, that God will raise it, and that believers’ bodies belong to Christ. Sexual union matters because it joins persons as one body. Paul therefore commands believers to flee fornication and glorify God in the body in which his Spirit dwells. The reason for restraint is the worth and purpose of the body God has claimed for himself.
First Thessalonians 4:3–8 calls each believer to abstain from sexual immorality and live in holiness and honor. Paul sets honorable conduct against uncontrolled passion and against wronging another person in this matter. Sexual restraint concerns both the desires you encourage and the way you treat someone else. His concluding reason reaches beyond human expectations: God has called his people to holiness and given them his Holy Spirit. Govern sexual desire with that regard for God and for the person your conduct affects.
Jesus directs attention to the intention behind the gaze. Matthew 5:27–28 identifies looking at a woman to lust after her as adultery already committed in the heart. Take responsibility for the desire you are encouraging, as well as for the outward act. In Matthew 5:29–30, the eye and hand imagery expresses the seriousness of removing what leads you into sin. Its force is a call to decisive repentance: the heart’s adultery cannot be cured by injuring an organ. Matthew 15:18–20 makes that source explicit when Jesus traces adulteries and other evils to the heart. Turn your attention and conduct toward faithfulness, accepting the real cost of giving up what nourishes sin.
Joseph’s refusal gives this faithfulness a concrete biblical setting. Entrusted with Potiphar’s household, he explains in Genesis 39:7–10 that taking his master’s wife would betray that trust and be sin against God. He refuses her repeated requests, and when she seizes his garment, he leaves it and flees (Genesis 39:11–12). The following accusation leads to imprisonment, where the narrative again says the LORD was with him (Genesis 39:13–23). His example joins a clear moral reason with action that leaves the temptation, even when faithfulness brings loss.
For married believers, self-control also includes faithful care for a spouse. First Corinthians 7:1–9 addresses sexual relations with corresponding responsibilities for husband and wife. Paul directs each to give the other marital affection and describes temporary abstinence for fasting and prayer as something agreed together, followed by coming together again. His concern includes temptation arising from lack of self-control. He also recognizes differing gifts and commends marriage to those unable to exercise sexual restraint. Receive the responsibility appropriate to your calling: fidelity and mutual care in marriage, and purity in singleness. The passage directs desire toward honorable conduct and treats the other person as someone to care for.
Further study: Biblical Studies Press · Craig S. Keener
Receive God’s gifts gratefully and keep a sober judgment
Receive food with gratitude to its giver. First Timothy 4:1–5 opposes teaching that forbids marriage and foods God created to be received with thanksgiving. The goodness of God’s creation is part of the argument: thankful reception, God’s word, and prayer belong together. Self-control therefore includes using a gift rightly and acknowledging God as its source.
Proverbs 23:19–21 calls the hearer to wisdom and warns against joining drunkards and gluttons, describing the poverty and drowsiness associated with that course. Proverbs 23:29–35 gives a fuller picture: lingering over wine brings quarrels, wounds, distorted perception, and a return to the very thing that caused harm. The attractive cup is compared with a serpent that finally bites. The description teaches you to judge appetite by where it leads, and to heed wisdom while desire still presents itself as inviting.
Ephesians 5:15–21 places sobriety within a wise use of life before the Lord. Paul commands believers to understand the Lord’s will, rejects drunkenness, and calls them to be filled with the Spirit. He then describes singing to the Lord, speaking together in psalms and hymns, giving thanks, and submitting to one another in reverence for God. Pursue that sober, thankful, responsive life. Appetites are to serve a life capable of worship and care for others.
Listen carefully and speak words that help
Make readiness to listen part of your obedience. James 1:19–22 calls believers to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, because human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. The next instruction is to receive the implanted word humbly and do it. Listening gives God’s instruction room to correct your judgment. As you hear another person, let that same humility govern the answer you give.
Words have effects beyond their size. James 3:1–12 begins with the greater judgment teachers face, then uses a horse’s bit, a ship’s rudder, and a spreading fire to explain the tongue’s influence. James acknowledges that all stumble and that no human being can tame the tongue, yet insists that blessing God and cursing people made in God’s likeness do not belong together. The difficulty calls for humble seriousness. Speak with regard for the people God has made, and receive the peaceable, merciful wisdom described in James 3:13–18.
Give speech a clear purpose: truth and the hearer’s good. Ephesians 4:25–32 tells believers to speak truth because they belong to one another and to use words that build up according to the need. Kindness, compassion, and forgiveness give those words their manner. Proverbs 10:19–21 joins restraint with the nourishment righteous lips provide; Proverbs 15:1–4 contrasts an answer that calms anger with words that stir it. Wisdom includes choosing when to speak and then giving an answer that is truthful, fitting, and useful.
Prayer and correction belong in this work. Psalm 141:3–5 asks God to guard the speaker’s mouth and heart and welcomes righteous reproof as kindness. Let God’s word and truthful correction expose speech that needs to change. Second Timothy 2:22–26 shows that even correcting error calls for restraint: Timothy is to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with others, and teach opponents gently and patiently, looking to God for their repentance. Truthful instruction can be firm in its content while remaining gentle toward the person receiving it.
Further study: A. K. M. Adam · Susan Hylen
Govern anger and pursue the other person’s good
Value the strength that governs your response. Proverbs 16:32 places the person slow to anger above a mighty warrior and the person ruling his spirit above a conqueror of a city. Proverbs 25:28 compares an ungoverned spirit to a city with broken walls. These comparisons make restraint substantial: power needs to be directed by wisdom. James 1:19–20 gives the reason to slow down and listen, since human wrath does not produce God’s righteousness. Proverbs 22:24–25 also warns that close company with an angry person can teach you his ways and become a snare. Choose companionship with attention to the conduct you are learning.
Ephesians 4:26–32 directs you to deal with anger promptly and without sin. The instruction to let no sunset pass over your wrath gives the response urgency: put away malice and hostile speech, give no place to the devil, and practice kindness and forgiveness as God has forgiven you in Christ. Mark 3:1–6 records Jesus angry and grieved at hardness of heart as he heals a man. His action serves the suffering person. Let concern for what is right move you toward doing good, with your own response answerable to God.
Be willing to receive counsel that turns you away from an angry course. In 1 Samuel 25:4–13, Nabal insults David’s messengers after David’s men have protected his shepherds, and David prepares an armed response. Abigail hears the danger, brings provisions, and asks David to listen. Her appeal in 1 Samuel 25:23–31 places his intended revenge beside his future responsibility before the LORD: needless bloodshed would burden him with guilt. Her words address the direction of his conduct, not merely the strength of his feeling.
David’s response is the important turn in the account. In 1 Samuel 25:32–35, he blesses the LORD for sending Abigail, praises her advice, acknowledges that she has kept him from bloodshed and personal vengeance, and sends her home in peace. The narrative commends hearing a truthful appeal and changing course. Practice that willingness when anger has already begun to move you toward an action: listen, acknowledge the good in the correction, and stop the wrong you were preparing to do.
Romans 12:17–21 gives the whole church a positive direction when wronged. Seek peace as far as it depends on you, leave vengeance to God, and feed or give drink to an enemy in need. The qualification about peace recognizes that another person’s response is beyond your control. Your responsibility is still clear: overcome evil with good. Together with the gentle answer of Proverbs 15:1, this turns restraint into active care and leaves judgment with the Lord.
Further study: Susan Hylen
Use your freedom to serve others
Sometimes love calls you to lay aside something you are free to enjoy. First Corinthians 8:1–13 concerns food offered to idols. Some believers understand that an idol is nothing, while others remain troubled by their former association with it. Paul asks the knowledgeable to consider what their example does to a brother for whom Christ died. He is prepared to give up the food rather than draw that person into sin. Self-control can therefore mean limiting a legitimate freedom for another person’s spiritual good.
Paul explains his own restraint in 1 Corinthians 9:1–23. He establishes an apostle’s right to material support, then explains why he has chosen to forgo it in Corinth: he seeks to place no obstacle before the gospel. He adapts himself in service to different people while remaining under Christ’s authority. His particular decision does not cancel the right he has just defended. It shows a freedom directed by the gospel and by the people it is meant to reach.
That purpose carries into the runner and boxer images in 1 Corinthians 9:24–27. Competitors exercise restraint for a fading crown; Paul directs his conduct toward an unfading one. He runs with a purpose, disciplines his body, and takes seriously the possibility of being a “castaway,” here a person disqualified or failing approval. His preaching to others does not make his own obedience unnecessary. The image calls for purposeful faithfulness, including the costly restraint he has just described.
Put the other person’s good into your actual judgment. First Corinthians 10:14–11:1 distinguishes eating ordinary food with thanks from participating in idolatry and from disregarding another’s conscience. Romans 14:13–15:7 similarly calls believers to pursue peace and build one another up, accepting each other as Christ has accepted them. These instructions address matters of food and differing convictions; they do not make wrongdoing acceptable. In such matters, ask whether your conduct honors God, helps another person, and can be practiced in faith. Be ready to abstain when love requires it.
Further study: Ruben Zimmermann · Thomas L. Constable
Practice the good that belongs to your life in Christ
Let your life with Christ govern the restraint you practice. Colossians 2:20–3:1 asks why people who have died with Christ would submit to human rules about handling and tasting perishable things. Such practices can have an impressive appearance of wisdom, humility, and severity toward the body. Paul directs believers back to Christ, with whom they have died and risen. Restraint takes its purpose from belonging to him and obeying his will.
Give sustained attention to the good that is to replace sinful conduct. Colossians 3:1–17 begins with life in the risen Christ, then names desires and practices to put away and qualities to put on. Sexual immorality, greed, anger, and lying give way to compassion, humility, patience, forgiveness, and love. Christ’s word is to dwell richly among believers as they teach, worship, and give thanks. This makes change concrete: learn his word, receive its correction, and put the fitting good into practice.
Second Peter 1:3–11 holds God’s provision and your diligence together. God’s power and promises supply what is needed for life and godliness; believers are therefore called to add goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love to their faith. Verse 8 speaks of these qualities being present and increasing, and verse 9 recalls cleansing from former sins. Peter goes on to urge diligence in making God’s calling and election sure, with entrance into Christ’s everlasting kingdom in view. Pursue these qualities together as growing expressions of knowing Christ. Self-control needs truth to guide it, endurance to continue it, and love to direct it toward others.
Psalm 119:9–16 gives substance to receiving God’s word: seeking God wholeheartedly, treasuring his instruction, asking him to teach, speaking his judgments, meditating on his ways, and delighting in them. The psalmist treasures God’s word in order to keep his way clean and avoid sinning against him. In 1 Timothy 4:6–16, Timothy is likewise to be nourished by good teaching and trained in godliness, attending to Scripture, exhortation, and his own example. His ministerial responsibilities are particular, but the connection is plain: give close attention to the truth you receive and let it direct the life you practice.
Carry that sincerity into acts of devotion. Matthew 6:1–18 joins giving, prayer, and fasting under the concern that they be directed to the Father who sees in secret. Jesus tells those fasting to anoint their heads and wash their faces so that their devotion is not staged for an audience. Isaiah 58:3–10 exposes fasting joined to quarreling and oppression, and calls for freedom for the oppressed and bread for the hungry. These passages give fasting its moral and devotional setting. Approach God sincerely and join your restraint with obedience and generous care.
Further study: Biblical Studies Press · Biblical Studies Press
Stay watchful with your hope set on God
Let hope in Christ make you attentive to your present responsibilities. First Peter 1:13–16 calls for readiness of mind, sobriety, hope in the grace Christ will bring, and holiness in conduct. First Thessalonians 5:1–11 similarly calls believers, as children of the day, to watchfulness marked by faith, love, and the hope of salvation. Its conclusion is mutual encouragement. Stay ready to obey and help others remain faithful as you look toward the Lord.
Watchfulness has ordinary expressions in the church’s life. First Peter 4:7–11 joins sober prayer with earnest love, hospitality without grumbling, and service through the gifts God provides. First Peter 5:5–11 joins vigilance against the devil with humility, casting cares on God, and steadfast faith in the company of suffering believers. Attend to the dangers of sin while entrusting your care to the God who cares for you. Prayer, love, and useful service give this attentiveness its daily purpose.
Self-control also belongs with courage. In 2 Timothy 1:6–14, Paul calls Timothy to exercise his gift, bear gospel suffering, hold to sound teaching, and guard what has been entrusted to him through the Holy Spirit. The “sound mind” of verse 7 appears alongside power and love in this charge. The passage encourages disciplined faithfulness in a difficult calling. Let sound judgment help you do the good God has entrusted to you, even when obedience requires courage.
Receive forgiveness and help one another continue
When you sin, come into the light with an honest confession and a renewed willingness to obey. First John 1:5–2:2 addresses people who need cleansing while calling them to walk in the light. God is faithful to forgive and cleanse those who confess, and Jesus Christ the righteous is their advocate with the Father. John writes so that they will not sin, and also tells them where to turn when they do. Receive his mercy and take up the obedience described in 1 John 2:3–6.
Give and receive help with humility. Galatians 6:1–5 follows the account of the Spirit’s fruit by directing spiritual believers to restore someone caught in a fault gently, watching themselves because they too can be tempted. Bearing one another’s burdens and examining one’s own work belong together. Welcome truthful correction, as Psalm 141:5 does, and extend patient help to another person who needs to return to faithful conduct.
Continue doing good with the future God promises in view. Galatians 6:7–10 explains that sowing to the flesh and sowing to the Spirit lead to different harvests, then urges believers to persevere in doing good to all, especially the household of faith. Self-control is part of that persevering life: desires brought under God’s direction, words that serve truth and love, anger governed by patience, and actions given to what is good. Keep responding to the grace that teaches you and the Spirit who gives life.
Read the passages
Scripture in context
53 contextual selections for this subject, including the passages cited above and further related reading. Every selected range is reproduced in full from the KJV. Context notes identify the setting and kind of evidence.
Biblical narrative 2 selections
Genesis 39:1–23 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete chapter includes entrusted service, repeated solicitation, flight, false accusation, imprisonment, and God’s continuing presence.
39:1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
39:2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
39:3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
39:4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
39:5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.
39:6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
39:7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
39:8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
39:9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
39:10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
39:11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
39:12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
39:13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,
39:14 That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:
39:15 And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.
39:16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.
39:17 And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:
39:18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
39:19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.
39:20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
39:22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
39:23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.
1 Samuel 25:2–35 KJV · In this guide
Context: The selection follows the complete threat and intervention through David’s acceptance and Abigail’s peaceful departure; the chapter’s later outcome was also inspected.
25:2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
25:3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
25:4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
25:5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:
25:6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.
25:7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.
25:8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
25:9 And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
25:10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.
25:11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
25:12 So David’s young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings.
25:13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.
25:14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them.
25:15 But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields:
25:16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
25:17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.
25:18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.
25:19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
25:20 And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.
25:21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.
25:22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
25:23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
25:24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.
25:25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
25:26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
25:27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.
25:28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
25:29 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.
25:30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;
25:31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.
25:32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
25:33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
25:34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
25:35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
Israel’s covenant instruction 2 selections
Deuteronomy 6:10–19 KJV · In this guide
Context: Israel is to remember its deliverer amid coming abundance, serve him alone, and refrain from testing him as at Massah.
6:10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
6:11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
6:12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
6:13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
6:14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
6:15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
6:17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
6:18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,
6:19 To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.
Deuteronomy 8:1–10 KJV · In this guide
Context: Moses recalls Israel’s wilderness hunger and manna before describing the good land and calling for thanksgiving.
8:1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
8:4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
8:5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
8:6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
8:7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
8:8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
8:9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
8:10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
Prayer and wisdom poetry 1 selections
Psalms 119:9–16 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete Beth stanza joins keeping the way with seeking, treasuring, learning, speaking, meditating on, and delighting in God’s word.
119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
119:10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
119:12 Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
119:13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
119:14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
119:16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
Prayer and poetry 1 selections
Psalms 141:1–10 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete prayer seeks a guarded mouth and heart, welcomes righteous reproof, and asks protection amid wickedness and danger.
141:1 LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.
141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
141:3 Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
141:4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
141:5 Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.
141:6 When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.
141:7 Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.
141:8 But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.
141:9 Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.
141:10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.
Wisdom instruction 3 selections
Proverbs 4:20–27 KJV · In this guide
Context: A complete closing address to the son connects receiving instruction, guarding the heart, speech, sight, and the path of conduct; the earlier chapter was also read.
4:20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
4:21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
4:22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
4:24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
Proverbs 22:24–25 KJV · In this guide
Proverbs 23:19–21 KJV · In this guide
Context: This complete saying addresses the son, commands wise direction of the heart, and gives the consequences of drunkenness and gluttony.
Wisdom sayings 2 selections
Proverbs 10:19–21 KJV · In this guide
Context: Three complete neighboring sayings compare restrained, valuable, nourishing speech with folly.
Proverbs 15:1–4 KJV · In this guide
Context: Four complete sayings consider calming or wounding speech, wise knowledge, and the LORD’s observation of good and evil.
15:1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
15:2 The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
Wisdom saying 2 selections
Proverbs 16:32 KJV · In this guide
Context: A complete two-part proverb compares patient self-rule with military power; neighboring sayings were inspected rather than merged into a fictitious speech.
16:32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
Proverbs 25:28 KJV · In this guide
Context: A complete comparison pictures the person without self-rule as a city without walls; the chapter’s independent sayings retain their form.
25:28 He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
Wisdom poetry 1 selections
Proverbs 23:29–35 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete wine poem moves through questions about harm, the cup’s attraction, its serpent-like outcome, and renewed craving.
23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
23:30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
23:32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
23:33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
23:34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
23:35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Prophetic exhortation 1 selections
Isaiah 58:1–12 KJV · In this guide
Context: The prophetic rebuke of fasting with exploitation leads to justice, sharing food and shelter, and promises of restoration to God’s people.
58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
58:2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
58:3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
58:4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
58:5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
58:9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
58:10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Gospel narrative 3 selections
Matthew 4:1–11 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete wilderness temptation account follows Jesus’ baptism and precedes his Galilean ministry; each response appeals to Deuteronomy.
4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Matthew 26:30–46 KJV · In this guide
Context: Peter’s pledge and Jesus’ prediction of denial lead into the Gethsemane prayer scene through Jesus’ announcement that the betrayer is at hand.
26:30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
26:32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.
26:33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
26:34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
26:35 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.
26:36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
26:37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
26:40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
26:42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
26:43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
26:44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
26:45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
26:46 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.
Mark 3:1–6 KJV · In this guide
Context: The whole Sabbath healing account includes the question about doing good, Jesus’ anger and grief, healing, and the plot against him.
3:1 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
3:2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
3:3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
3:4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
3:5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
3:6 And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
Jesus’ teaching 3 selections
Matthew 5:27–30 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete adultery and lust saying in the Sermon on the Mount includes the grave eye and hand imagery.
5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Matthew 6:1–18 KJV · In this guide
Context: Giving, prayer, and fasting form a complete sequence about the Father’s regard and the motive for religious action.
6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
6:2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6:3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
6:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6:17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
6:18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Matthew 15:1–20 KJV · In this guide
Context: The handwashing dispute includes a rebuke about honoring parents, the crowd saying, and Jesus’ explanation to the disciples that defilement proceeds from the heart.
15:1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
15:3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
15:5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
15:6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
15:7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
15:10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
15:12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
15:13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
15:15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
15:16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
15:17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
15:20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Shared discipleship 27 selections
Romans 6:1–23 KJV · In this guide
Context: Paul answers both proposals to continue in sin, using union with Christ and the transfer from sin’s service to righteousness.
6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 8:1–17 KJV · In this guide
Context: Life through the Spirit leads to the command to put sinful deeds to death and to the assurance of adoption and inheritance with Christ.
8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Romans 12:9–21 KJV · In this guide
Context: The connected love exhortations culminate in peace as far as possible, entrusting vengeance to God, and feeding an enemy.
12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
12:13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 14:1–15:7 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete food-and-days argument moves from receiving the weak to God’s judgment, avoiding stumbling, building up, and Christ’s welcome.
14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
14:2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
14:3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
14:4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
14:6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
14:9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
14:15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
14:16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
14:19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
14:20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.
14:21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
14:22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
15:1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
15:2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
15:3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
15:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15:7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 6:12–20 KJV · In this guide
Context: Paul addresses freedom, bodily appetite, prostitution, resurrection, union with Christ, and the Spirit’s dwelling.
6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
6:13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
1 Corinthians 8:1–13 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete argument concerns knowledge about idols, differing consciences, the harm of an example, and Paul’s willingness to abstain.
8:1 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
8:2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
8:3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.
8:4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
8:7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
8:8 But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.
8:9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
8:10 For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;
8:11 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
8:12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
8:13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.
1 Corinthians 10:1–22 KJV · In this guide
Context: Israel’s wilderness history leads to humility, the assurance of God’s faithfulness in temptation, and the reason to flee idol feasts in light of the Lord’s table.
10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
10:5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
10:15 I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.
10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
10:17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
10:18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
10:19 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?
10:20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.
10:22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
1 Corinthians 10:23–11:1 KJV · In this guide
Context: The unit covers ordinary market and household food, a conscience-sensitive exception, God’s glory, others’ salvation, and imitation of Christ.
10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
10:24 Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.
10:25 Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:
10:26 For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.
10:27 If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
10:28 But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof:
10:29 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?
10:30 For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
10:32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
10:33 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
Galatians 5:1–26 KJV · In this guide
Context: The full chapter preserves the circumcision and justification dispute before freedom, service, opposing desires, the Spirit’s fruit, and the concluding warning about provocation.
5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
5:2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
5:8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
5:9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
5:10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.
5:11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
5:12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you.
5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 6:1–10 KJV · In this guide
Context: Immediately after the Spirit’s fruit, Paul addresses restoration, humility, shared help, personal responsibility, sowing, and sustained good works.
6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
6:4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden.
6:6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Ephesians 4:17–5:2 KJV · In this guide
Context: Learning Christ and putting on the new person lead into specific replacements for lying, wrath, theft, and corrupt speech, ending in God’s forgiveness and Christ’s love.
4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Ephesians 5:15–21 KJV · In this guide
Context: Wise walking and understanding the Lord’s will lead to the command about wine and the Spirit, then worship, thanksgiving, and mutual submission.
5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Colossians 2:16–3:17 KJV · In this guide
Context: The rejection of imposed observances and bodily severity leads into life with the risen Christ, putting sinful deeds away, and putting on love.
2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
2:19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
2:21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
2:22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
2:23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
3:6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
3:14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
3:17 And what soever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
1 Thessalonians 4:1–8 KJV · In this guide
Context: The first complete exhortation about pleasing God centers on sexual holiness and concludes with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
4:2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
4:4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
4:5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
4:6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
4:8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 KJV · In this guide
Context: The day of the Lord motivates wakefulness, faith, love, hope of salvation through Christ, and mutual encouragement.
5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
5:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
5:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
1 Timothy 4:1–5 KJV · In this guide
Context: The warning about false teaching specifies prohibitions of marriage and food and answers them with creation, thanksgiving, word, and prayer.
4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
4:5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
Titus 2:1–15 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete chapter moves from instructions to particular age and household groups to the grace, redemption, and hope that ground them, then Titus’s teaching commission.
2:1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
2:2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
2:3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
2:4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
2:6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
2:7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
2:8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
2:9 Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
2:10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.
2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Titus 3:1–8 KJV · In this guide
Context: Public gentleness is grounded in remembered enslavement to desires, God’s mercy, renewal by the Spirit, and careful good works.
3:1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
3:2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Hebrews 4:14–16 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete exhortation to hold fast and approach God rests on Jesus’ heavenly priesthood and sinless experience of temptation.
4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
James 1:2–18 KJV · In this guide
Context: The opening exhortations include trials, wisdom, the rich and poor, endurance, enticement by desire, and the Father’s good gifts.
1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
1:11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
James 1:19–27 KJV · In this guide
Context: Hearing, speech, anger, reception of the word, the mirror illustration, and practical religion form a connected exhortation.
1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
James 3:1–18 KJV · In this guide
Context: The chapter begins with teachers, develops the tongue images and blessing/curse contradiction, and ends with peaceable wisdom.
3:1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
3:2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3:3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
3:4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
3:7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
3:9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
3:10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
3:11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
3:12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
3:15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
3:16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
1 Peter 1:13–25 KJV · In this guide
Context: Hope in Christ’s revelation grounds holy conduct, reverence, remembered redemption, and earnest love through the enduring word.
1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1:14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
1 Peter 4:7–11 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete exhortation from the nearness of the end moves to sober prayer, love, hospitality, and service for God’s glory.
4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
4:8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
4:9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
4:11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 5:5–11 KJV · In this guide
Context: Humility and casting cares on God lead to vigilance, resisting the devil in faith, solidarity in suffering, and God’s restoring grace.
5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
5:11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
2 Peter 1:1–11 KJV · In this guide
Context: The opening salutation and divine provision ground the connected call to grow in virtues, remember cleansing, and make calling sure.
1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
1:6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
1:7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
1:11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:5–2:6 KJV · In this guide
Context: The light-and-darkness argument includes confession, cleansing, Christ’s advocacy and atoning work, and keeping his commands.
1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
Marriage and shared discipleship 1 selections
1 Corinthians 7:1–9 KJV · In this guide
Context: Paul opens his reply on marriage with reciprocal duties, agreed temporary abstinence, differing gifts, and counsel to the unmarried and widows.
7:1 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
7:2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
7:3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
7:4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
7:5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
7:6 But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.
7:7 For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
7:8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.
7:9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
Apostolic example and exhortation 1 selections
1 Corinthians 9:1–27 KJV · In this guide
Context: The complete chapter defends apostolic support, explains Paul’s voluntary refusal and adaptation, and concludes with the athlete metaphor.
9:1 Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?
9:2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.
9:3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,
9:4 Have we not power to eat and to drink?
9:5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
9:6 Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?
9:7 Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
9:8 Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?
9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?
9:10 Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.
9:11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?
9:12 If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.
9:13 Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
9:14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
9:15 But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.
9:16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
9:17 For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
9:18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.
9:19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
9:20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
9:21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
9:23 And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Particular ministry instruction 3 selections
1 Timothy 4:6–16 KJV · In this guide
Context: Timothy is instructed in godliness, example, reading, teaching, and perseverance in his entrusted ministry.
4:6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
4:7 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
4:8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
4:9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
4:11 These things command and teach.
4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
4:15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
2 Timothy 1:6–14 KJV · In this guide
Context: Paul charges Timothy to use his gift, share suffering, retain sound teaching, and guard his trust through the Holy Spirit.
1:6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
1:11 Where unto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
1:13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
1:14 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
2 Timothy 2:14–26 KJV · In this guide
Context: Timothy’s charge about accurate teaching and damaging controversy leads to honorable service, pursuit of virtues, and gentle correction of opponents.
2:14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2:16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
2:20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
Go deeper
Sources & interpretation
The teaching starts with the cited Scripture. These consulted works inform wording, context, and interpretive questions. No qualified human review has been recorded for this guide.
What does possessing one’s vessel mean?
First Thessalonians 4:3–8 expressly concerns holiness, sexual immorality, harmful transgression, and God’s Spirit. The vessel expression in verse 4 is less definite than those surrounding commands.
- The person’s body is to be controlled or possessed in holiness; the NET regards this as most likely.
- The phrase concerns acquiring a wife or conducting married life honorably.
- The NET reports a more specific sexual-organ interpretation through Jay E. Smith; that article was not read here.
PROBABLE: body is the leading explanation in this further-study comparison, with attribution and qualification. The main teaching uses the explicit commands shared by the whole unit without making that disputed noun carry its conclusion. The guide does not turn the uncertain noun into a universal command to marry.
Further study: Biblical Studies Press
Further examination: Which reading best explains both the verb about possessing and the contrasts of holiness, passion, and wronging another person in verses 3–8? What remains explicit even if the noun is unresolved?
How does Ephesians govern anger?
Ephesians 4:26 has an imperative form, prohibits sin and prolonged wrath, and is followed by commands to remove anger and malice and practice forgiveness. Mark 3:5 expressly describes Jesus’ anger with grief and healing.
- The anger clause functions as a concession: when angry, do not sin. Hylen argues that the conditional sense is more likely.
- It positively permits or directs appropriate anger, while the rest of the passage governs its expression and duration.
PROBABLE for the concessive sense; STRONG for the practical conclusion shared by the readings. Respond without sin, deal promptly with wrath, seek good, and forgive. The sunset instruction supplies urgency, not a device by which unresolved conflict can be forced into reconciliation.
Further study: Susan Hylen
Further examination: How should verse 26 be read with verse 31, James 1:19–20, and the good Jesus does in Mark 3:1–6? Which actions does the passage actually command of an angry person?
What is at stake in Paul’s athletic self-discipline?
First Corinthians 9 moves from rights to renunciation and purposeful running. Verse 27 includes Paul himself in the warning; 10:1–13 immediately recalls people who received great gifts and fell under judgment.
- Constable reads disqualification as loss of reward, appealing to the crown and his understanding of Paul’s assurance.
- The warning includes failure at final approval or exclusion, given the seriousness of 10:1–12. This is a contextual alternative considered here, not attributed to an unread commentator.
- A narrower account emphasizes public or ministerial credibility, but it must still explain the unfading crown and the following judgment examples.
STRONG: the image calls for real obedience and restraint for the gospel and others’ good. The package leaves the precise relation of disqualification, reward, and final salvation open; it neither promises immunity to apostasy nor resolves a doctrine of losing salvation from this unit alone.
Further study: Ruben Zimmermann · Thomas L. Constable · Bryan J. Whitfield
Further examination: What explains the connection between 9:23–27 and 10:1–13 most fully, while preserving both God’s faithfulness and Paul’s serious inclusion of himself in the warning?
How do bodily discipline and self-denial differ from severe human rules?
Matthew 5:27–30 places adultery in the heart before the eye and hand sayings. Matthew 15:18–20 traces evil to the heart. Colossians 2:20–23 rejects imposed restrictions, while 3:1–17 commands the putting away of sins and the putting on of love.
- The eye and hand language graphically demands decisive removal of occasions of sin; Keener points out that damaging the eye cannot remove lust.
- Colossians 2:23 is commonly rendered as denying such rules any power against indulgence.
- The NET’s alternative grammatical construction says the severe practices actually result in fleshly indulgence.
STRONG: the bodily imagery calls for decisive repentance and obedient use of the body; physical injury is not prescribed. PROBABLE: the two leading Colossians renderings both expose inadequate human severity, though their syntax and exact claim differ. The main prose rests on the clear movement into Christ-centered conduct in chapter 3.
Further study: Craig S. Keener · Biblical Studies Press
Further examination: How do the heart, the body’s belonging to Christ, and the specific vices and virtues of Colossians 3 explain the kind of restraint God requires? Which conclusion depends on the disputed last clause of 2:23?
How do God’s provision and diligent growth belong together?
Second Peter 1:3–4 describes divine power and promises; 1:5–8 calls for virtues that are present and increasing; 1:9 recalls cleansing; 1:10–11 connects diligence with stability and entrance into the kingdom.
- The NET describes holiness as evidence of salvation and growth as dependent on God’s continuing enabling.
- The phrase about never falling may mean avoiding ruin, moral stumbling, or resulting misfortune; NET note 30 records these alternatives.
- Reading the ordered list as a rigid set of consecutive stages is possible as a proposed training scheme, but the text directs the qualities to be present and increasing together and gives no timetable.
STRONG: diligent growth answers God’s provision and aims at fruitful knowledge of Christ. Keep verse 10’s precise scope open; do not promise instant sinlessness or use the list as an invented routine. Confession and continued obedience in 1 John remain necessary companions.
Further study: Biblical Studies Press
Further examination: How do verses 3–4 and 9 shape the commands in verses 5–8, and how does the kingdom horizon of verse 11 help you assess what falling means in verse 10?
- Commentary on Titus 2:11–14
Jennifer Vija Pietz · Working Preacher / Luther Seminary · 2020-12-24
Explains how verses 11–14 ground the preceding instructions and connect grace, training, Christ’s self-giving, and good works.
What was reviewed
Complete commentary body and notes; especially “God’s grace has appeared: Titus 2:11–14.” First published 2017; this page is dated 2020. Accessed 2026-09-25.
Scholarly preaching commentary. Its modern illustrations and broad social reconstruction are not imported; works cited in its footnotes were not read.
- NET Bible: Titus 2:12, translation and notes
Biblical Studies Press · NET Bible
Checks the connection of training with grace and the sense of sober living.
What was reviewed
Verse comparison and translator notes 1–2, including the continuing grammatical relation to verse 11. Accessed 2026-09-25 · Read in part.
A verse-level translation aid, not independent evidence for the whole letter’s historical setting.
- Commentary on Galatians 5:1, 13–25
Amy L. B. Peeler · Working Preacher / Luther Seminary · 2019-06-30
Emphasizes the relation of freedom, loving service, opposed desires, and the Spirit’s fruit.
What was reviewed
Complete body, particularly “Free slaves” and “Vice and virtue.” Accessed 2026-09-25.
Her account of Paul’s chief concern is an interpretation; the guide retains the text’s serious warning in verse 21 and does not infer that believers no longer face moral danger.
- Commentary on 1 Corinthians 10:1–13
Bryan J. Whitfield · Working Preacher / Luther Seminary · 2019-03-24
Places the escape promise within Paul’s appeal from Israel’s history and his instruction to flee idolatry.
What was reviewed
Complete body and note; especially “Food offered to idols,” “Israel in the desert,” and the concluding paragraph of “Five warnings.” Accessed 2026-09-25.
The guide independently distinguishes idol feasts from ordinary food in 10:23–30. The page’s introductory father-through-gospel reference is a miscitation; it is not used. Holladay and other cited works were not read.
- NET Bible: 1 Thessalonians 4:4, translator note
Biblical Studies Press · NET Bible
Prefers body for the vessel metaphor while identifying material alternatives.
What was reviewed
Verse comparison and note 1, including body, wife, and the reported sexual-organ proposal. Accessed 2026-09-25 · Read in part.
The preference remains qualified. Jay E. Smith’s article and the primary parallels cited through it were not independently read.
- Matthew: Do Not Covet Others Sexually (5:27–30)
Craig S. Keener · IVP New Testament Commentary Series / InterVarsity Press, licensed on Bible Gateway
Explains deliberate lust and interprets the drastic bodily image through the persistence of desire in the heart.
What was reviewed
Complete online subsection, especially the paragraphs on the lusting person’s responsibility and the eye-removal image; not the complete print volume. Accessed 2026-09-25 · Read in part.
Historical examples and other writers are accessed only through Keener. His grammatical suggestion is qualified in the source; the guide does not make tense alone prove a distinction between attraction and lust.
- Commentary on James 3:1–12
A. K. M. Adam · Working Preacher / Luther Seminary · 2009-09-13
Connects the tongue’s influence with teachers’ special responsibility and integrity of discipleship.
What was reviewed
Complete commentary body, especially teachers’ responsibility, the small/large images, and blessing versus cursing. Accessed 2026-09-25.
The guide does not adopt speculative details about the obscure fire imagery or the source’s judgment that the animal comparison is factually false.
- Commentary on Ephesians 4:25–5:2
Susan Hylen · Working Preacher / Luther Seminary · 2009-08-09
Connects conduct with the new person and communal good; proposes a conditional force for the anger clause.
What was reviewed
Complete body; paragraphs on 4:22–24, 4:26–27, 4:29–32, and 5:1–2. Accessed 2026-09-25.
The conditional reading is attributed and probable. Modern scenarios and proposed stages in the lists are not treated as textual facts.
- Mission versus ethics in 1 Corinthians 9? “Implicit ethics” as an aid in analysing New Testament texts
Ruben Zimmermann · HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 68(1), article 1216 · 2012-06-29
Reads Paul’s renunciation within obligations to Christ, gospel proclamation, and the good of others in chapters 8–10.
What was reviewed
HTML abstract and introduction; the discussion from “The limitations of the indicative-imperative model” through the epilogue, especially “History of traditions in context,” “The ethical Logic,” and “Adressee – field of application.” Accessed 2026-09-25 · Read in part.
One peer-reviewed interpretive argument. Its complete ethical model and broad comparison with Stoicism are not prerequisites for the guide; its cited literature was not read.
- Notes on 1 Corinthians, 2026 edition
Thomas L. Constable · Sonic Light · 2026
Explains the athlete image through relinquished freedoms and argues that 9:27 concerns forfeiting reward rather than salvation.
What was reviewed
PDF printed pages 155–159, particularly “Apostolic exhortation and example 9:24–27,” and the beginning of page 160 on 10:1–22; title page verified the 2026 edition. Accessed 2026-09-25 · Read in part.
Read in part. The reward-only conclusion is presented as his view, not settled by the guide. Ancient athletic details and works in the notes were not independently verified.
- NET Bible: Colossians 2:23, translation and notes
Biblical Studies Press · NET Bible
Records the NET construction in which severe regulations result in fleshly indulgence, compared with the common rendering that they lack power to restrain it.
What was reviewed
Verse comparison and notes 1–4, including the difficult clause structure and manuscript qualification. Accessed 2026-09-25 · Read in part.
The source acknowledges difficulty. Hollenbach’s article and manuscript evidence are reported through the notes, not independently examined.
- NET Bible: 2 Peter 1:3–11, translation and notes
Biblical Studies Press · NET Bible
Explains the relation of divine provision and diligent growth, the culminating love, and alternatives for stumbling in verse 10.
What was reviewed
Passage and notes 1–30, especially 11–16, 19, 27, and 30. Accessed 2026-09-25 · Read in part.
The notes contain theological judgments as well as grammar. Bauckham, BDAG, and TDNT were not independently read; no comprehensive doctrine of election is inferred from one note.