Hebrews–Revelation (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Revised Edition, Volume 13 | REBC)

Top Highlights

“Christians are to pray for brothers who sin under the presupposition that a true brother will confess and repent. The Antichrists, on the other hand, are persistent idolaters unwilling to accept that Christ died to remove sins (see comment at 5:6). Marshall, 249, observes that ‘when a person himself refuses to seek salvation and forgiveness, there is not much point in praying for him’ to be restored to God, for such a person never enjoyed a relationship with God in the first place. The only prayers a believer could offer on behalf of an Antichrist are prayers for that person’s repentance and salvation.” (Page 503)

“‘Anxiety follows when we forget that God is the One who cares for us. We are not left adrift on the sea of chance facing shipwreck on the shoals of an impersonal destiny. We are under the care of a sovereign God who controls the course of history and is intricately involved in the everyday life of each of his children.’” (Page 354)

“For James, faith seems to involve a strong commitment to act on what is right. Faith is not simply a state of mind but rather a posture of trust in God that expresses itself in action.” (Page 215)

“The two adjectives in ‘neither hot nor cold’ should be understood together as equivalent to ‘lukewarmness’ (v. 16)—i.e., they were useless to Christ because they were complacent, self satisfied, and indifferent to the real issues of faith in him and of discipleship.” (Page 636)

“The ‘sin that leads to death’ is therefore a combination of false doctrine (‘idolatry’) and the lack of love the Antichrists have shown by leaving the community over doctrinal issues (cf. Rensberger, 140).” (Page 501)