Anders - Holman New Testament Commentary--Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians

Holman New Testament Commentary

1999 Broadman & Holman Publishers

Nashville, Tennessee

All rights reserved

ISBN 978-0-8054-0208-7

Dewey Decimal Classification: 226.6

Subject Heading: BIBLE. NT. GALATIANS-COLOSSIANS

Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 98-39365

Unless otherwise stated all Scripture citation is from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978m, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All Rights Reserved. The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use fo either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Anders, Max.

Galations-Colossians / Max Anders

p.cm. (Holman New Testament commentary)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-80540-208-X (alk. paper)

1. Bible. N.T. Galatians-ColossiansCommentaries.2. Bible. N.T.

Galatians-ColossiansCommentaries.I. Title.II. Galatians

Colossians.III. Series

BS2625.3G36199998-39365

226.6'.07dc21CIP

Today's church hungers for Bible teaching, and Bible teachers hunger for resources to guide them in teaching God's Word. The Holman New Testament Commentary provides the church with the food to feed the spiritually hungry in an easily digestible format. The result: new spiritual vitality that the church can readily use.

Bible teaching should result in new interest in the Scriptures, expanded Bible knowledge, discovery of specific scriptural principles, relevant applications, and exciting living. The unique format of the Holman New Testament Commentary includes sections to achieve these results for every New Testament book.

Opening quotations from some of the church's best writers lead to an introductory illustration and discussion that draw individuals and study groups into the Word of God. In a Nutshell summarizes the content and teaching of the chapter. Verse-by-verse commentary answers the church's questions rather than raising issues scholars usually admit they cannot adequately solve. Bible principles and specific contemporary applications encourage students to move from Bible to contemporary times. A specific modern illustration then ties application vividly to present life. A brief prayer aids the student to commit his or her daily life to the principles and applications found in the Bible chapter being studied. For those still hungry for more, Deeper Discoveries take the student into a more personal, deeper study of the words, phrases, and themes of God's Word. Finally, a teaching outline provides transitional statements and conclusions along with an outline to assist the teacher in group Bible studies.

It is the editors' prayer that this new resource for local church Bible teaching will enrich the ministry of group, as well as individual, Bible study, and that it will lead God's people to truly be people of the Book, living out what God calls us to be.

Twelve volumes designed for Bible study and teaching to enrich the local church and God's people.

A verse-by-verse explanation of the chapter.

An overview of the principles and applications from the chapter.

Tying the chapter to life with God.

Historical, geographical, and grammatical enrichment of the commentary.

Suggested step-by-step group study of the chapter.

Zeroing the chapter in on daily life.

T his land will remain the land of the free only as long as
it is the home of the brave.

Elmer Davis

LETTER PROFILE

• Written not to one church but to all the churches in the region of Galatia.
• Probably written to churches Paul helped establish during one of his missionary journeys to the region.
• Written to help offset the influence of false teachers, who taught that to be saved Gentiles must keep the Mosaic Law in addition to believing in Christ.
• Theme: We are saved by grace and must live by grace, not by law, for no one can keep the law.

REGION PROFILE

• Galatia was a region, not a city, in modern Turkey.
• People of the region were Celtic (originating in the British Isles, especially Ireland), who migrated to this area because of conflict with the Romans in their homeland.
• At the time of the New Testament, Galatia became a Roman province.
• Boundaries of Galatia are uncertain, but it may have contained the cities of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.

AUTHOR PROFILEPAUL THE APOSTLE

• Jew, born in Tarsus, near the Lebanese border in modern Turkey.
• Roman citizen.
• Prominent, highly educated Jewish religious leader (Pharisee).