Matthew was the most popular Gospel in the early church, widely read for its clear emphasis on Jesus' teaching. Drawing on its use as a teaching or discipleship manual, Craig Keener expounds Matthew as a discipleship manual for believers today. In his skilled hands, this first-century text becomes as relevant and contemporary as information downloaded from the Internet, while it challenges us with its divine perspective on how life ought to be lived. In this clear, incisive commentary, readers will find an introduction with background material concerning authorship, date and purpose, as well as a summary of important theological themes. A passage-by-passage exposition follows that focuses on understanding what significance the Gospel of Matthew had for its original readers in order to see its relevance for the church today. Students, pastors, Bible teachers and everyone who wants to understand the message of Matthew for the church will benefit from this excellent resource.

The Gospel of John declares its purpose clearly—"these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." Thus it fulfills a dual function, encouraging believers and providing them with evidences for proclaiming that Jesus is God's Messiah, the divine, incarnate Son of God. Christians today, as in the first century, can draw strength and courage from John's telling of the story of Jesus, a telling that consistently reflects not only the words and deeds of Jesus but their inner significance. We are called to worship as we find the Father, Son and Spirit revealed in the Gospel. And as in Jesus we discover God's light, life and love, we learn to respond in faith, humility and obedience. Throughout, Whitacre explains what the gospel meant to its original hearers and its application for us today.

If ever there was a hostile environment for the gospel, it was the strife-torn, ethnically diverse backwater of the Roman Empire known as Palestine following the ascension of Jesus. But the gospel thrived—beginning from Jerusalem and spreading throughout Judea, Samaria and the rest of the known world. In Acts, the sequel to his Gospel, Luke tells how the Holy Spirit transformed a ragtag band of believers into a unified, world-engaging church. And as William Larkin explores this narrative of the early church, he offers inspiration and insight for readers who wonder how the gospel may be advanced in the increasingly divided and skeptical culture of the late twentieth century. In this clear, incisive commentary, readers will find an introduction with background material concerning authorship, date and purpose, as well as a summary of important theological themes. A passage-by-passage exposition follows that focuses on understanding what significance Acts had for its original readers in order to see its relevance for the church today. Students, pastors, Bible teachers and everyone who wants to understand the message of Matthew for the church will benefit from this excellent resource.

Few individual books of the Bible have changed the course of church history the way Paul's letter to the Romans has. Whether one thinks of Augustine's coversion in the fourth century, Luther's recovery of justification by faith in the sixteenth or Barth's challenge to recover theological exegesis of the Bible in the twentieth, Romans has been the catalyst to personal spiritual renewal and the recapturing of gospel basics. Paul, in seeking to bring unity and understanding between Jews and Gentiles in Rome, sets forth in Romans his most profound explication of his gospel and its meaning for the church. The letter's relevance is as great today as it was in the first century. In Grant R. Osborne's careful study of Romans, readers will find an introduction that sets the letter in context and surveys its general content, highlighting issues surrounding its authorship, date, occasion and purpose. Passage-by-passage commentary follows that explains what the letter means to us today as well as what it meant for its original hearers. Students, pastors, Bible teachers and everyone who wants to understand Paul's message for the church will benefit from this excellent resource.

"Wherever ethnic rivalries are destroying societies, the book of Galatians calls Christians to express the truth of the gospel in communities where there are no ethnic or social or gender divisions." With this strong admonition, Walter Hansen introduces his IVP New Testament Commentary on Galatians. Unlike many other commentaries, Hansen's volume highlights not only the individual dimensions of justification by faith but also its social implications. But like all the volumes in the IVP New Testament Commentary Series, it seeks to explicate the Scriptures with historical accuracy and textual faithfulness, providing helpful explanatory notes and a passage-by-passage commentary in a user-friendly format. But Hansen strives to do even more. With a pastor's conviction and concern, he aims to move from the text itself to its contemporary relevance and application. His bold, careful interpretation challenges students and teachers of this important Pauline letter to move beyond merely the question "How can I, a sinner, be right before a just and holy God?" and to find in Galatians a healing word addressed to the ongoing tensions of race, class and gender—a word worked out in the life of the whole church. "If a church does not defend in practice the equality and unity of all in Christ," writes Hansen, "it implicitly communicates that justification is not by faith but by race, social status or some other standard. Faith must not be defined in individualistic terms; faith as Paul defines it . . . is 'faith working through love.'" Students, pastors, Bible teachers and everyone who wants to understand the transforming message of Galatians for the church will benefit from this excellent resource.

Nothing cripples a church's effectiveness like internal strife. In Philippi, Paul addressed a congregation whose private struggles were compounded by opposition and suffering from without. Paul's strategy was to write them a letter of friendship and moral exhortation, reminding them of their "partnership in the gospel," their mutual suffering for the cause of Christ, and their need to "stand firm in one spirit." His approach and counsel can serve us well today. In this warm, well-written study of Philippians, readers will find an introduction that discusses the letter's occasion and purpose, authorship, and other background information, as well as its important theological themes. Passage-by-passage commentary follows that seeks to explain what the letter means to us today as well as what it meant for its original hearers. Students, pastors, Bible teachers and everyone who wants to understand the Paul's message for the church will benefit from this excellent resource.

Fascination with the end times is not just a recent phenomenon. The young church at Thessalonica, having taken root during Paul's brief stay there, pondered when the end might come as well. Paul, in order to instruct them more fully, wrote them two letters, which taken together expound the "already-and-not-yet" character of his views of the end times. His instruction and counsel can serve us well today. In this careful study of 1-2 Thessalonians, G. K. Beale offers an introduction that sets the letters in context and surveys their general content, highlighting issues surrounding their occasion and purpose. His passage-by-passage commentary seeks to explain what these letters mean to us today as well as what they meant for their original hearers. Students, pastors, Bible teachers and everyone who wants to understand Paul's message for the church will benefit from this excellent resource.

Philip Towner's study of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are part of the IVP New Testament Commentary Series, a series which combines pastoral concerns with attention to tough exegetical issues and emphasizes the significance of the biblical text for today's church.

For people beginning to doubt the uniqueness and supremacy of Christ, the author of the book of Hebrews provided one of the longest, most profound arguments in the New Testament. Christians today will find their understanding stretched and their loyalty confirmed by this rich presentation of our great High Priest, the Son of God, whose sacrifice of himself took away our sins and gave us continual access to God. Written in a fresh, succinct style, this commentary from a leading evangelical pastor supplies helpful background information that paves the way for our seeing what the text means for us today as well as what it meant for its original hearers. Students, pastors, Bible teachers and everyone who wants to understand the message of Hebrews for the church will benefit from this excellent resource.

Recipient of a Christianity Today 1992 Critics' Choice Award! As a young church in a hostile environment, Peter's first readers found in his letter encouragement, not just for facing suffering, but for living responsibly in the world as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Christians today will also find in Peter's letter a wealth of practical counsel on how to conduct themselves in family and social life, as well as in relation to a society that makes it tough to follow Jesus Christ. In this invigorating volume from one of today's leading evangelical scholars, readers will find an introduction that discusses the letter's form, authorship, destination and primary theological themes, followed by a passage-by-passage commentary that always seeks to answer the question of what the text means for us today as well as what it meant for its original hearers. Students, pastors, Bible teachers and everyone who wants to understand Peter's message for the church will benefit from this excellent resource.

Torn by conflict, the congregation to whom John addressed his letters stood in need of his strong exhortations to love and unity within the bounds of truth. His word to them is well suited to the church today, confronted by controversies within and without that challenge its ability and will to stand for the truth in a pluralistic society. In this careful study of John's letters, readers will find an introduction that discusses the letters' occasion and purpose, authorship and date, order and theological themes. A passage-by-passage commentary follows that seeks to explain what each letter means for us today as well as what it meant for its original hearers. Students, pastors, Bible teachers and everyone who wants to understand John's message for the church will benefit from this excellent resource.

Interpretations of the book of Revelation are numerous and varied. The preterist view focuses on first-century social analysis of John's environment. The church-historical view sees the Revelation as a prophetic survey of the history of the church. The futurist view sees the book as a precise prediction of unfolding events in the yet-to-come end of the world. The trouble with all three, argues J. Ramsey Michaels, is that they make the Revelation of John irrelevant to Christians throughout much of history. Failing to take seriously what John saw, such interpreters do not comprehend the value of the Revelation to Christians in any age. Michaels strives to recapture the Revelation as a prophetic letter of testimony, a testimony as relevant to today's church as it was to John's as it faces evil and looks for the victory of the Lamb.