Winner, Foundation for Pentecostal Scholarship Award of
Excellence, 2009
An
authoritative commentary from an outstanding biblical scholar.
An
introduction situating Paul’s letter in time and space is followed by a
detailed discussion of each section of the letter, verse-by-verse
commentary, and a theological discussion with challenging questions for
individual or group study.
From the Introduction:
Luther and Calvin tended
to read the letter as having primarily to do with justification by works
or by faith. But that is decidedly not the matter that called forth this
letter, which is stated most clearly in one of the opening sentences of
the argument proper: “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to
finish by means of the flesh?” (1:3), where “flesh” is a play on words,
referring to literal circumcision of the flesh as the primary issue
regarding their “keeping” the law.
At issue throughout the
letter is not the question, “How are people saved?” (to use contemporary
language) but whether people who are already “saved” also need to
practice specific aspects of the Jewish law. The concern, then, is not
how one begins life in Christ, but whether, once begun, one must also
add these aspects of the law to be completed in one’s faith in Christ.
Gordon Fee
is Emeritus Professor of New Testament, Regent College, Vancouver,
Canada. An expert on NT textual criticism and NT exegesis, he is the
author of many books on the New Testament and the Church, and editor of
the New International Commentary of the New Testament. His publications
include: Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God; How to Read
the Bible for All its Worth; God’s Empowering Presence.
Pentecostal
Commentary Series
ISBN 9781905679027. x + 262pp. Pbk. UK £26.95/
Europe £27.95/ ROW £29.95