Paul was complaining because men were fussing about their hair and women were flaunting their locks in church. Not only was this dishonoring to them, but it was also an incitement to fornication.

It was against all natural hope for a hundred-year-old man to believe that his seed would become as numerous as the stars, especially given that his wife had been barren in her youth and was now as feeble as he was.

The authorities are concerned for your safety. They also have the responsibility to see to it that if you sin you do not profit thereby, because God does not love the wicked and hates all who "work iniquity."

The God of steadfastness is the Holy Spirit, who grants that with one mind, in accordance with Christ, we may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. His steadfastness is meant to lead to repentance, and his encouragement is for those who have already repented.We are to live in harmony, so that each one may seek the salvation of the other as…

The Lord has given us power to tread upon scorpions and snakes and every power of the enemy so that he may not prevail over us and so that we can walk over him with all our members free and unfettered.

We are not justified by food. But one should also note that Paul did not say that "fasting and temperance" are not the kingdom of God but rather food and drink. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are more easily maintained through abstinence, for where there is righteousness (by loving one's neighbor as oneself) there is also peace, and where there is peace…

Do not become slow and lazy in God's work out of concern for the world. The Lord does not love those who are unresponsive and is nauseated by those who are lukewarm. If we are resistant to the world we then manifestly glow with the Spirit, doing all things not for the world or its vices but for the Lord.

The house does not build itself; somebody has to put the walls up. This is the role of teachers in the church. The gold, silver, etc., represent six different types of hearers. Gold stands for good respondents, silver for better ones (because silver is stronger than gold) and precious stones for the best of all. Similarly, wood stands for bad people, hay…

Paul was reluctant to tell the Jews that the law was dead, but what he dared not say out loud he leaves to be understood.… A man bears fruit for God when his works of righteousness like fruit break out in blossom, then grow into fruit, and finally become fully ripe, for no fruit is forever in blossom.

All sinners need the glory of God because they do not have their own.

All that follows is designed to prevent the Gentiles from being filled with pride toward the Jews. It is a secret unknown to mankind why the Gentiles were saved, because Israel's blindness in fact furnished the occasion for their salvation. The blindness continued until the Jews saw that the Gentiles were being saved, since all were called to salvation.

Here Paul calls circumcision the law, because every commandment can be regarded as part of the law. Abraham inherited the world, either because in his seed (viz., Christ) all the nations which were given to him by the Father might be blessed or because the nations would sup with him in the kingdom of heaven.