In the first century, the Thessalonian church grieved deaths in their community, endured harsh persecution, and struggled with questions about the future. Paul offered them the comforts and reassurances of hope in the Messiah Jesus. But he offered far more than wishful thinking or pie-in-the-sky comfort. Paul’s emphasis on hope in the Messiah Jesus involved capturing a vision of God’s redeemed and just future in order to see and live faithfully today. Paul did not believe in a passive hope, but an active hope where, if the Day of the Messiah is a beacon, believers set their course and diligently move toward it. That diligence is especially captured by love for Christian brothers and sisters, commitment to honest and productive work, and obedience to the truth of the gospel of Lord Messiah Jesus.

In this short, accessible resource, Nijay Gupta helps beginning Bible students understand the various available commentaries—their strengths, unique contributions, and ultimately, how to use them. Through The New Testament Commentary Guide, readers will understand how to incorporate commentaries into their learning and be enriched in their study of the Bible.

Women were there.For centuries, discussions of early Christianity have focused on male leaders in the church. But there is ample evidence right in the New Testament that women were actively involved in ministry, at the frontier of the gospel mission, and as respected leaders. Nijay Gupta calls us to bring these women out of the shadows by shining light on their many inspiring contributions to the planting, growth, and health of the first Christian churches. He sets the context by exploring the lives of first-century women and addressing common misconceptions, then focuses on the women leaders of the early churches as revealed in Paul’s writings.

This accessible and balanced introduction helps readers sort out key views on the most important debated issues in New Testament studies. Well-known New Testament scholar Nijay Gupta fairly presents the spectrum of viewpoints on thirteen topics and offers reflections on why scholars disagree on these matters. Written to be accessible to students and readers without advanced training in New Testament studies, this book will serve as an excellent supplementary text for New Testament introduction courses.

This collection of essays considers what light is shed on Pauline soteriology by giving focused attention to the apostle’s language and conception of sin. Sometimes Paul appears to present sin and disobedience as transgression, while at other times sin is personified and treated as an enslaving power. Is there a model or perspective that can account for Paul’s conceptual range in his discussion of sin? What does careful study of Paul’s letters reveal about the christological and pneumatological remedies to the problem of sin as he conceives of them? These questions are explored with attention to individual Pauline letters towards a richer understanding of his attitude towards sin and its remedy.

In this new introduction and guide to Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, Nijay K. Gupta makes the background, messages, and theological importance of this text understandable and interesting to lay readers and students. Reading Philippians includes Gupta’s own English translation of Philippians. In his discussion of the value and significance of this text for Christians today, he incorporates fascinating historical case studies, modern analogies from pop culture, and practical advice and exercises for Christian formation for today.

A new commentary for today's world, The Story of God Bible Commentary explains and illuminates each passage of Scripture in light of the Bible's grand story. The first commentary series to do so, SGBC offers a clear and compelling exposition of biblical texts, guiding everyday readers in how to creatively and faithfully live out the Bible in their own contexts. Its story-centric approach is ideal for pastors, students, Sunday school teachers, and laypeople alike.

The study of Galatians has had a massive impact on Christianity throughout the ages, especially in the Reformation and modern eras. The language of “justification by faith” has generated vigorous discussion among Protestants and Catholics for more than 500 years. It would be easy to reengage this conversation again. But in this inaugural volume of the New Word Biblical Themes series, Nijay Gupta argues that Paul has much wider interests in view in Galatians. He argues that Paul’s main theme in Galatians is family—who belongs within the household of God and how they are welcomed in.

This book surveys the current landscape of New Testament studies, offering readers a concise guide to contemporary discussions. Bringing together a diverse group of experts, it covers research on the most important issues in New Testament studies, including new discipline areas, making it an ideal supplemental textbook for a variety of courses on the New Testament. Michael Bird, David Capes, Greg Carey, Lynn Cohick, Dennis Edwards, Michael Gorman, and Abson Joseph are among the contributors.

A dynamic reading of Paul’s faith language, outlining its subtle nuances as belief, trust, and faithfulness. Faith language permeates the letters of Paul. Yet, its exact meaning is not always clear. Many today, reflecting centuries of interpretation, consider belief in Jesus to be a passive act. In this important book, Nijay Gupta challenges common assumptions in the interpretation of Paul and calls for a reexamination of Paul’s faith language. Gupta argues that Paul’s faith language resonates with a Jewish understanding of covenant involving goodwill, trust, and expectation. Paul’s understanding of faith involves the transformation of one’s perception of God and the world through Christ, relational dependence on Christ, as well as active loyalty to Christ. Pastors and scholars alike will benefit from this close examination of Paul’s understanding and use of faith language.

The study of Paul’s Thessalonian letters is enjoying fresh interest today. These texts are considered by many to be amongst the earliest extant Christian documents. They are included in conversations about early Jewish and Christian apocalypticism. New insights are coming from examination of the religious, socio-cultural, and political contexts of Roman Thessalonica. And, looking back, these letters have played an important role in the development of Christian eschatology. This volumes serves as an up-to-date guide to these academic discussions and debates and much more.

Students are expected to research and write, but they aren’t always taught how to do these things well. The Writer walks through Nijay K. Gupta’s approach to and best practices for becoming an effective and efficient writer in biblical studies. He handles a wide spectrum of issues from idea conception to research and note-taking to book proposals and contracts to working with publishers and more. Gupta shares his own publishing autobiography, offering the chance for aspiring writers to learn from the ups and downs of his experiences.

Award-winning author, blogger, speaker, and New Testament teacher Nijay Gupta traces the emerging Christian faith in its Roman context in this accessible and engaging book. Christianity would have been seen as radical in the Roman world, but some found this new religion attractive and compelling. The first Christians dared to be different, pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable, transformed how people thought about religion, and started a movement that grew like wildfire.

In 15 New Testament Words of Life, New Testament expert Nijay Gupta explores the most important words found in the New Testament. He makes their meaning clear so that these words can become--once again--life giving words for modern Christians as they were for early Jesus-followers. For those first readers of the New Testament who chose to follow Jesus, these words were words of life and they can be again for Jesus-followers in the modern world.

The New Covenant Commentary Series (NCCS), compiled by international contributors from a diverse range of backgrounds, devotes itself to the task of biblical interpretation and theological reflection for the global church. The NCCS unwraps each selected New Testament book section-by-section, providing a clear view of the theology and application within. Focusing on both the text and various contexts of each book, the NCCS illustrates the impact they had on faith and tradition at the time of their composition—and the significance they continue to have in contemporary life, faith, and ministry.

Pauline scholars have long debated the so-called “center” of Paul’s theology, focusing on themes like justification by faith, reconciliation, union with Christ, and the apocalyptic triumph of God in Christ. In this innovative study, Nijay Gupta offers a new perspective that emphasizes Paul’s understanding of love at the heart of the gospel he preached.

Volumes in New Word Biblical Themes: New Testament series offer short, accessible studies of the key themes of each book of the New Testament. Each volume offers an introduction to the book, a brief exposition of the text with its basic background and a survey of its contents, an overview of its themes, and a deeper look at 3-5 key themes for understanding the book and for preaching and teaching.

The New Cambridge Bible Commentary (NCBC) series—like the original Cambridge Bible Commentary of the 1960s and 1970s—aims to elucidate the Hebrew and Christian scriptures for a wide range of intellectually curious individuals. Commentaries in the NCBC are academically rigorous but do not assume the reader has a great deal of specialized theological knowledge or an impressive command of the Hebrew, Aramaic, or biblical Greek.

What if you had a guidebook that you could turn to at each stage of your academic journey to help you navigate through the process of getting a PhD in Biblical Studies and succeeding in the academic world? This book is precisely intended to fill that need. From theory to practice, you will find discussions and answers to the most pertinent and pressing questions that prospective and current doctoral students are faced with: How do I choose a program? How can I gain admission into an elite program? How do I choose a research topic?

In Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, the reader is introduced to Christ as supreme Creator, the One who created earth and vanquished the power of death. However, this same Christ chose to bear the shame of death on a Roman cross in order to bring restoration and reconciliation to humans. This commentary presents fresh perspectives on the centrality of Jesus for the church. The enduring message of Colossians is uniquely challenging. The author testifies to the church’s cruciform life in obedience ...

This Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary collection is filled with pointed insights for pastors, teachers, and scholars. This series also contains helpful explanation that makes it accessible to a wide audience. In each volume, readers will find expert guidance that promotes theological reflection. “Connections” are special sections that relate Biblical teaching to common theological questions from modern readers. Contributors base their instruction on current research in archaeology, critical scholarship, enlightening discussion of original languages, and include practical helps that facilitate living out the Christian life in community.

The Lord’s Prayer is the most recited, most memorized, and most studied text in the Bible. This prayer of Jesus, found in two versions in Matthew and Luke, has been extolled for its simplicity and beauty, for its reflection of “real life,” and for its vision of the consummated kingdom. It also contains several conundrums: what does it mean to “hallow” the Father’s name? What relationship does our forgiveness of others have with God’s forgiveness for us? If God does not tempt, why would we pray “...

When Jesus gave his disciples a model prayer, he demonstrated both the simplicity of praying to the Father but also the weightiness of approaching God. The resources included in this collection provide you with both breadth and depth for studying the Lord’s Prayer, the historical context, and utilizing it in your own prayer habits. With contributions and perspectives from Tertullian, Cyprian of Carthage, Origen, Thomas Aquinas, A. W. Pink, R. C. Sproul, N. T. Wright, and others, this collection provides multiple resources covering a great span of church history.

Michael Gorman has been tremendously influential in exploring this question within the New Testament, particularly in the letters of Paul, the Gospel of John, and the book of Revelation. His 2001 book Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross inspired a generation of scholars and was the first in a trilogy of New Testament theology devoted to exploring the role of the cross, participation in Christ, and becoming the gospel in mission. Here, an assemblage of some of the best and brightest current New Testament exegetes honor Gorman’s work with contributions of their own, each of which further explores these three critical themes in various passages of the New Testament.

The Baptist Gold Library makes your study of the Bible easier by connecting your entire library of books to a robust set of study tools. The Baptist Gold Library provides a comprehensive Bible study library. Contained are hundreds of resources including New Covenant Commentary Series | NCCS (17 vols.), Opening Up Commentary Series (47 vols.), Greater Than Gold Bible Study Series (88 vols.), alongside other resources ideal for sermon prep or more advanced Bible study.

Formerly the Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement, a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context.

Living the King Jesus Gospel brings together biblical scholars, theologians, church historians, and ministry practitioners to discuss the Good News of Jesus Christ, discipleship, and the Christian life throughout the centuries and in the world today. Drawing from across the New Testament, the Church Fathers, the Reformers, the Anglican and Orthodox Traditions, and various modern contexts, the contributors bring diverse perspectives to key questions about the gospel. What ties them all together is the person of King Jesus and the hope for a church that embodies and reflects a life-giving and flourishing kingdom.

Offering a new type of application commentary for today’s context, the Story of God Bible Commentary series explains and illuminates Scripture as God’s story. Each biblical text is treated as though it were embedded in its canonical and historical setting to discern how to live out the story faithfully and creatively in the twenty-first century.

Smyth & Helwys is proud to announce a new supplement to the renowned Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary series. Covering issues that cross books and testaments, this addition to the series will offer pastors, professors, and any student of the Bible guidance into the depths of these rich texts.

This book, a collection of essays from ethnically diverse scholars familiar with both non-Western and Western hermeneutic traditions, explores what it means to allow the interpretations of the non-Western church to be heard—heeded and appreciated—by the Western church and its educated elite.