2 Corinthians 6 ~ Geneva Study Bible

2 Corinthians 6 ~ Geneva Study Bible

Chapter 6
6:1 We ¹ then, [as] workers together [with him], beseech [you] also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

(1) Men do not only need the ministry of the Gospel before they have received grace, in order that they may be partakers of the Gospel, but also after they have received grace they need to continue in it.

6:2 ² (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time ^a accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.)

(2) In that grace is offered, it is by the grace of God, who has appointed times and seasons to all things, that we may take occasion when it is offered.
(a) Which I of my free mercy and love towards you liked and appointed. And at this time God poured out his marvellous love upon us.

6:3 ³ Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:

(3) He shows the Corinthians a pattern of a true minister in his own example, and in Timothy and Silvanus, to the end that he might procure authority for himself and his companions like him, as he purposed from the beginning.

6:4 But in all [things] ^b approving ourselves as the ministers of God, ⁴ in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,

(b) Declare and indeed show. (4) He first of all reckons up those things which are neither always in the ministers, nor without exception, unless they are there according to the ministers bodily condition. Patience, however, is an exception, which also is one of the virtues which ought to always be in a good minister.

6:5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in ^c tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;

(c) In tossing to and fro, finding no place of rest and quietness.

6:6 ⁵ By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,

(5) Secondly he reckons up such virtues as are necessary, and ought alway be in them, and by which as by good armour, all pitfalls and hindrances may be overcome.

6:7 By the ^d word of truth, by the ^e power of God, by the ^f armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

(d) Preaching of the Gospel.
(e) Power to work miracles, and to subdue the wicked.
(f) Uprightness.

6:11 ⁶ O [ye] Corinthians, our mouth is ^g open unto you, our heart is enlarged.

(6) Going about to rebuke them he says first that he deals with them sincerely and with an open and plain heart, and in addition complains that they do not do the same in loving their Father.
(g) The opening of the mouth and heart signifies a most earnest affection in him that speaks, as it happens commonly with those that are in some great joy.

6:12 Ye are not ^h straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own ⁱ bowels.

(h) You are in my heart as in a house, and that no narrow or confined house, for I have opened my whole heart to you; but you are inwardly narrow towards me.
(i) After the manner of the Hebrews, he calls those tender affections which rest in the heart, "bowels".

6:14 ⁷ Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

(7) Now he rebukes them boldly, because they became fellows with infidels in outward idolatry, as though it were an indifferent thing. And this is the fourth part of this epistle, the conclusion of which is, that those whom the Lord has condescended to in calling them his children, must keep themselves pure, not only in mind, but also in body, that they may be completely holy to the Lord.

6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what ^k part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

(k) What can there be between them?

6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the ^l living God; as God hath said, I will ^m dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

(l) He sets the living God against idols.
(m) God dwells with us, because Christ has become God with us.

AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for the Kingdom of Belgium - Europe

Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)

Home > Mar 07: Belgium

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Mar 07: Belgium

Join the Prayer Movement

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Belgium

Kingdom of Belgium

Europe

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 30,528 sq km
One of the Low Countries; often called The Crossroads of Western Europe.
Population: 10,697,588    Annual Growth: 0.54%
Capital: Brussels. Capital of the EU and headquarters of NATO
Urbanites: 97.4%
HDI Rank: 14 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 38 (26% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Flemish, French and German    Languages: 29 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	6,709,527	62.72	-0.5
Evangelicals	132,569	1.2	2.5

Prayercast

Challenges for Prayer

Leadership in the churches is a challenge. The lack of Belgian, and especially Flemish, Christian workers and pastors is crippling indigeneity and growth. There are very few full-time pastors; most are bivocational. This in turn undermines first-generation believers (the majority of indigenous Belgian evangelicals), since they need solid discipleship in post-Christian Belgium. Immigrant churches, through their tithing, have shown that it is possible to support a full-time pastor, even with a small congregation. Pray, in this light, for the ongoing work of well-established Belgian Bible training institutions.
Specific, focused ministry is vital in a nation lacking moral absolutes and with churches lacking the leadership necessary to mentor and guide. Pray specifically for:
a) Francophone children’s ministry. Objectif 4-14, created in 2007, emphasizes children’s ministries to evangelical Francophone churches. Results were so positive that ongoing collaboration, resource development, Internet outreach and, in a few cases, new church plants continue today. CEF, BEM, AI, OAC and AoG, among others, serve children in Belgium.
b) Prayer movements. Stemming from the Flemish Evangelical Alliance, organic prayer movements such as Kniel/Breeze draw youth together to regularly pray and talk about God through websites, online forums and chats, local meetings and workshops. One movement, started (in 2005) and led by youth, now claims over 175 groups. Pray4Belgium is a website mobilizing prayer and connecting different Belgian prayer ministries.
c) Mobilization for mission. OM provides ongoing opportunities through Teens In Mission for Belgian youth to participate in mission and outreach. Missions Day conferences are generally held annually, hosted by WBT, SIM, Awake Ministries International, Eden Project and other related ministries. Pray for many young people to devote themselves to service among the Belgian peoples and even throughout the world.
     For an additional 8 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Belgium.

2 Corinthians 13 ~ Geneva Study Bible

2 Corinthians 13  ~ Geneva Study Bible

Chapter 13
13:3 ¹ Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is ^a mighty in you.

(1) A most sharp reprehension, because, while they despise the apostles admonitions, they tempt Christs own patience: and also while they condemn him as wretched and miserable, they lay nothing against him, which is not common to him with Christ.
(a) And will be most mighty to be avenged upon you, when need will be.

13:4 For though he was crucified through ^b weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.

(b) Regarding that base form of a servant which he took upon him when he abased himself.

13:5 ² Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

(2) He confirms that which he spoke about the power of God appearing in his ministry, and he gathers by the mutual relation between the peoples faith and the ministers preaching, that they must either reverence his apostleship, upon whose doctrine their faith is grounded, or they must condemn themselves of infidelity, and must confess themselves not to be of Christs body.

13:6 ³ But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.

(3) He appeases that sharpness, trusting that they will show themselves towards their faithful apostle, able and willing to be taught. And he also adds this, that he does not seek his own fame and estimation, so that they may serve their saviour, which is the only mark that he shoots at.

13:7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as ^c reprobates.

(c) In mens judgment.

13:9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, [even] your ^d perfection.

(d) That all things may be in good order among you, and the members of the church restored into their place, which have been shaken and are out of place.

13:11 ⁴ Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

(4) A brief exhortation, but yet such a one as comprehends all the parts of a Christian mans life.

13:12 ⁵ Greet one another with an holy kiss.

(5) He salutes them familiarly, and in conclusion wishes well to them.

Romans 7 (NIV) Audio

Romans 7 ~ Geneva Study Bible - Text
Chapter 7
7:1 Know ¹ ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

(1) By expounding the similitude of marriage, he compares together the state of man both before and after regeneration. The law of matrimony, he says, is this, that as long as the husband lives, the marriage remains binding, but if he is dead, the woman may marry again.

7:3 So then if, while [her] husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be ^a called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

(a) That is, she will be an adulteress, by the consent and judgment of all men.

7:4 ² Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the ^b body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, [even] to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth ^c fruit unto ^d God.

(2) An application of the similitude of marriage. "So", he says, "it is the same with us: for now we are joined to the Spirit, as it were to the second husband, by whom we must bring forth new children: we are dead with regard to the first husband, but with regard to the latter, we are as it were raised from the dead."
(b) That is, in the body of Christ, to show us how intimate and near the fellowship is between Christ and his members.
(c) He calls the children, which the wife has by her husband, fruit.
(d) Which are acceptable to God.

7:5 ³ For when we ^e were in the flesh, the ^f motions of sins, which were by the ^g law, did ^h work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

(3) A declaration of the former saying: for he says that the fleshly desires which the law stirred up in us were in us as if they were a husband, from whom we brought forth very deadly and cursed children: but now that husband is dead, and so consequently, being delivered from the force of that killing law, we have passed into the control of the Spirit, so that we bring forth now, not those rotten and dead children, but rather living children.
(e) When we were in the state of the first marriage, which he calls in the following verse the oldness of the letter.
(f) The motions that urged us to sin, which show their force even in our minds.
(g) He does not say "of the law" but "by the law", because they spring from sin which dwells within us, and take occasion to work in us in this way, by reason of the restraint that the law makes, not that the fault is in the law, but in ourselves. ^h Worked by their strength.

7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that ⁱ being dead ^k wherein we were ^l held; that we should serve in ^m newness of spirit, and not [in] the oldness of the ⁿ letter.

(i) As if he said, "The bond which bound us is dead, and has disappeared, in as much that the sin which held us does not have anything to hold us with now."
(k) For this husband is within us.
(l) Satan is an unjust possessor, for he deceitfully brought us into bondage to sin and himself: and yet nonetheless, as long as we are sinners, we sin willingly.
(m) As is appropriate for those who, after the death of their old husband, are joined to the Spirit, the ones whom the Spirit of God has made new men.
(n) By the letter he means the law, with respect to that old condition: for before our will is shaped by the Holy Spirit, the law speaks but to deaf men, and therefore it is dumb and dead to us, with regard to the fulfilling of it.

7:7 ⁴ What shall we say then? [Is] the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known ^o lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

(4) An objection: What then? Are the law and sin the same thing, and do they agree together? No, he says: sin is reproved and condemned by the law. But because sin cannot abide to be reproved, and was not in a manner felt until it was provoked and stirred up by the law, it takes occasion by this to be more outrageous, and yet by no fault of the law.
(o) By the word "lust" in this place he does not mean evil lusts themselves, but the fountain from which they come, for the heathen philosophers themselves condemned wicked lusts, though somewhat poorly. But as for the fountain of lust, they could not so much as determine it, and yet it is the very seat of the natural and unclean spot and filth.

7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin [was] ^p dead.

(p) Though sin is in us, yet it is not known as sin, neither does it rage in the same way that it rages after the law is known.

7:9 ⁵ For I was alive without the ^q law once: but when the commandment ^r came, sin revived, and I ^s died.

(5) He sets himself before us as an example, in whom all men may behold, first what they are by nature before they earnestly think upon the law of God: that is, stupid, and prone to sin and wickedness, without any true sense and feeling of sin, and second what manner of persons they become, when their conscience is reproved by the testimony of the Law, that is, stubborn and more inflamed with the desire for sin than they ever were before.
(q) When I did not know the law, then I thought that I indeed lived: for my conscience never troubled me, because it was not aware of my disease.
(r) When I began to understand the commandment.
(s) In sin, or by sin.

7:12 ⁶ Wherefore the law [is] holy, and the ^t commandment holy, and just, and good.

(6) The conclusion: that the law is holy in itself, and that all the fault is in us, the ones who abuse the law.
(t) Concerning the commandment, not to covet.

7:13 ⁷ Was then that which is good ^u made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might ^x appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might ^y become exceeding sinful.

(7) The proposition: that the law is not the cause of death, but our corrupt nature being with the law not only discouraged, but also stirred up: and it took occasion by this to rebel, and the more that things are forbidden it, the more it desires them, and the result of this is guiltiness, and occasion of death.
(u) Does it bear the blame for my death?
(x) That sin might show itself to be sin, and betray itself to be that which it is indeed.
(y) As evil as it could be, showing all the venom it could.

7:14 ⁸ For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

(8) The law is the cause of this matter because the it requires a heavenly purity, but when men are born, they are bondslaves of corruption, which they willingly serve.

7:15 ⁹ For that which I do I ¹⁰ allow not: for what I ¹¹ would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

(9) He sets himself before us as an example, since he has been regenerated, and in whom may easily appear the strife of the Spirit and the flesh, and therefore of the law of God, and our wickedness. For since the law in a man who has not been regenerated brings forth only death, therefore in him it may easily be accused: but seeing that in a man who is regenerated it brings forth good fruit, it better appears that evil actions proceed not from the law but from sin, that is, from our corrupt nature: and therefore the apostle teaches also what the true use of the law is by reproving sin in the regenerated, unto the end of the chapter: as a little before (that is, from the seventh verse until now) ( Romans 7:7-15 ), he declared the use of it in those who are not regenerated.
(10) The deeds of my life, he says, are not in accordance to my will, rather they are contrary to it. Therefore by the consent of my will with the law, and repugnancy with the deeds of my life, it plainly appears that the law and a properly controlled will induce us to do one thing, but corruption, which also has its seat in the regenerated, another thing.
(11) It is to be noted that the very same man is said to will and not to will, in different respects: that is, he is said to will in that he is regenerated by grace: and not to will in that he is not regenerated, or in that he is in the same state into which he was born. But because the part which is regenerated at length becomes conqueror, therefore Paul, speaking on behalf of the regenerated, speaks in such a way as if the corruption which willingly sins were something outside of a man: although afterward he grants that this evil is in his flesh, or in his members.

7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but ^z sin that dwelleth in me.

(z) That natural corruption, which adheres strongly even to those that are regenerated, and is not completely gone.

7:18 ¹² For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but ^a [how] to perform that which is good I find not.

(12) This vice, or sin, or law of sin, wholly possesses those men who are not regenerated, and hinders them or holds those back who are regenerated.
(a) This indeed is appropriate to the man whom the grace of God has made a new man: for where the Spirit is not, how can there be any strife there?

7:21 ¹³ I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

(13) The conclusion: as the law of God exhorts to goodness, so does the law of sin (that is, the corruption in which we are born) force us to wickedness: but the spirit, that is, our mind, in that it is regenerated, coexists with the law of God: but the flesh, that is, the whole natural man, is bondslave to the law of sin. Therefore, in short, wickedness and death are not of the law, but of sin, which reigns in those that are not regenerated: for they neither wish to do good, neither do they do good, but they wish and do evil: but in those that are regenerated, it strives against the spirit or law of the mind, so that they cannot live at all as well as they want to, or be as free of sin as they want to.

7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the ^b inward man:

(b) The inner man and the new man are the same, and are compared and contrasted with the old man; and neither do these words "inward man" signify mans mind and reason, and the "old man" the physical body that is subject to them, as the philosophers imagine: but by the outward man is meant whatever is either without or within a man from top to bottom, as long as that man is not born again by the grace of God.

7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my ^c mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

(c) The law of the mind in this place is not to be understood as referring to the mind as it is naturally, and as our mind is from our birth, but of the mind which is renewed by the Spirit of God.

7:24 ¹⁴ O ^d wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

(14) It is a miserable thing to be yet in part subject to sin, which of its own nature makes us guilty of death: but we must cry to the Lord, who will by death itself at length make us conquerors, as we are already conquerors in Christ.
(d) Wearied with miserable and continual conflicts.

7:25 I ^e thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I ^f myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

(e) He recovers himself, and shows us that he rests only in Christ.
(f) This is the true perfection of those that are born again, to confess that they are imperfect.

Psalm 145 (NIV)

Psalm 145 (New International Version)

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise. Of David.

1 [a] I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.

3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.

4 One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.

5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. [b]

6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.

7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.

9 The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.

10 All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you.

11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might,

12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. [c]

14 The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.

16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.

18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.

20 The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.

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AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for the Kingdom of Belgium - Europe

Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)

Home > Mar 06: Belgium

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Mar 06: Belgium

Join the Prayer Movement

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Belgium

Kingdom of Belgium

Europe

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 30,528 sq km
One of the Low Countries; often called The Crossroads of Western Europe.
Population: 10,697,588    Annual Growth: 0.54%
Capital: Brussels. Capital of the EU and headquarters of NATO
Urbanites: 97.4%
HDI Rank: 14 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 38 (26% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Flemish, French and German    Languages: 29 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	6,709,527	62.72	-0.5
Evangelicals	132,569	1.2	2.5

Prayercast

Challenges for Prayer

Protestantism has had mixed fortunes – over the last 40 years, evangelicalism grew while mainline Protestantism declined. The growth of evangelical, and especially Pentecostal, groups as well as the evangelical wing of the largely liberal United Protestant Church (EPUB) has offset the decline in the mainline Protestantism. For prayer:
a) The national body ARPEE/CACPE has, since 2003, represented before the government the various Protestant and evangelical denominations, giving them a unified voice in society, legal legitimacy (to avoid the “sect/cult” label) and equal access to government subsidies.
b) The strengthening of fellowship and ministry links among denominations. The Evangelische Alliantie was formed in Flanders in 1980, the Fédération Evangélique in Wallonia in 1989. They formed in 1998 a national evangelical synod. Together with EPUB, they represent most Protestants and evangelicals before the government under the ARPEE/CACPE.
The Bible has been reintroduced to Belgian society after many centuries of being discouraged, even banned, by the Catholic Church before 1960. UBS unveiled a new translation of the Bible in 2004, leading to a year-long promotional tour in 2006. A Bible multimedia exhibit, Expo Biblia, united the Flemish and French Bible Societies in efforts to reintroduce to Belgians the history and stories of the Bible. BEM also has portable multimedia Bible exhibits open to the public in French- and Flemish-speaking regions. Pray that the Word of God might take root deeply within the fabric of Belgian society.
     For an additional 8 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Belgium.

2 Corinthians 5 ~ Geneva Study Bible - Text Only

2 Corinthians 5 ~ Geneva Study Bible

Chapter 5
5:1 For ¹ we know that if our earthly house of [this] tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

(1) Taking occasion by the former comparison, he compares this miserable body as it is in this life, to a frail and brittle tabernacle. And contrasts this with the heavenly tabernacle, which he calls that sure and everlasting condition of this same body glorified in heaven. And this is so, he says, in that we are addicted to this tabernacle, but also with sobs and sighs desire rather that tabernacle. And so this place concerning the glory to come is put within the treatise of the dignity of the ministry, just as it also was in the beginning of the second chapter.

5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be ^a clothed upon with our house which is from ^b heaven:

(a) He calls the glory of immortality, which we will be as it were clothed with, a garment.
(b) Heavenly, not that the substance of it is heavenly, but rather the glory of it.

5:3 ² If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

(2) An exposition of the former saying: we do not without reason desire to be clad with the heavenly house, that is, with that everlasting and immortal glory, as with a garment. For when we depart from here we will not remain naked, having cast off the covering of this body, but we will take our bodies again, which will put on as it were another garment besides. And therefore we do not sigh because of the weariness of this life, but because of the desire of a better life. Neither is this desire in vain, for we are made to that life, the pledge of which we have, even the Spirit of adoption.

5:5 Now he that hath ^c wrought us for the selfsame thing [is] God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

(c) He means that first creation, to show us that our bodies were made to this end, that they should be clothed with heavenly immortality.

5:6 ³ Therefore [we are] always ^d confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

(3) He concludes something here from verse four, and states it in the following way: "Therefore, seeing that we know by the Spirit that we are strangers so long as we are here, we patiently suffer this delay (for we are now so with God, that we behold him only by faith, and are therefore now absent from him) but so that we aspire and have a longing always to him. Therefore also we behave ourselves in such a way that we may be acceptable to him, both while we live here, and when we go from here to him." ( 2 Corinthians 5:4 )
(d) He calls them "confident" who are always resolved with a quiet and settled mind to suffer any danger at all, not doubting at all that their end will be happy.

5:7 (For we walk by ^e faith, not by sight:)

(e) Faith, of those things which we hope for, not having God presently in our physical view.

5:8 We are ^f confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

(f) And yet we are in such a manner confident and do so pass on our pilgrimage with a valiant and peaceful mind, that yet nonetheless we had rather depart from here to the Lord.

5:9 Wherefore we ^g labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

(g) And seeing that it is so, we strive to live so, that both in this our pilgrimage here we may please him, and that at length we may be received home to him.

5:10 ⁴ For we must all ^h appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad.

(4) That no man might think that what he spoke of that heavenly glory pertains to all, he adds that every one will first render an account of his pilgrimage, after he has departed from here.
(h) We must all appear personally, and enquiry will be made of us, that all may see how we have lived.

5:11 ⁵ Knowing therefore the ⁱ terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

(5) Now he moves on, and taking occasion of the former sentence returns to ( 2 Corinthians 4:16 ), confirming his own and his associates sincerity.
(i) That terrible judgment.

5:12 ⁶ For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to [answer] them which glory in ^k appearance, and not in heart.

(6) He removes all suspicion of pride by a new reason, because it is a responsibility, not for his part but for theirs, that his apostleship be considered sincere compared to the vain display of a few others.
(k) In outward disguising, and that pretentious show of mans wisdom and eloquence, and not in true godliness, which is sealed in the heart.

5:13 ⁷ For whether we be beside ourselves, [it is] to God: or whether we be sober, [it is] for your cause.

(7) The meaning is: even when I am mad (as some men think of me), while I seem as a fool to boast about myself, I do it for your profit, to the same extent that I do when I preach only the Gospel to you.

5:14 ⁸ For the love of Christ ^l constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if ^m one died for all, then were all dead:

(8) He continues dismissing all suspicion of desire of estimation and boasting. For the love of Christ, he says, compels us to this, that seeing he died for us all, who were dead when as we lived to ourselves (that is, while we were yet given to these earthly affections) we in like sort should consecrate our whole life which we have received from him, to him. That is, being endued with the Holy Spirit to this end and purpose, that we should meditate upon nothing but that which is heavenly.
(l) Wholly possesses us.
(m) He speaks here of sanctification, by which it comes to pass that Christ lives in us.

5:15 And [that] he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth ⁿ live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

(n) See See Romans 6:1-7:25

5:16 ⁹ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: ¹⁰ yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we [him] no more.

(9) He shows what it is not to live to ourselves but to Christ, that is, to know no man according to the flesh. That is to say, to be conversant among men and yet not to care for those worldly and carnal things, as those do who have regard for a mans family, his country, form, glory, riches, and such like, in which men commonly dote and weary themselves.
(10) An amplification: "This is", he says, "so true, that we do not now think carnally of Christ himself, who has now left the world, and therefore he must be thought of spiritually by us."

5:17 ¹¹ Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a ^o new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

(11) An exhortation for every man who is renewed with the Spirit of Christ to meditate on heavenly things, and not earthly.
(o) As a thing made new by God, for though a man is not newly created when God gives him the spirit of regeneration, but only his qualities are changed, yet nonetheless it pleased the Holy Spirit to speak so, to teach us that we must attribute all things to the glory of God. Not that we are as rocks or stones, but because God creates in us both the will to will well, and the power to do well.

5:18 ¹² And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

(12) He commends the excellency of the ministry of the Gospel, both by the authority of God himself, who is the author of that ministry, and also by the excellency of the doctrine of it. For it announces atonement with God by free forgiveness of our sins, and justification offered to us in Christ, and that so lovingly and freely, that God himself does in a way beseech men by the mouth of his ministers to have consideration of themselves, and not to despise so great a benefit. And when he says so, he plainly reprehends those who falsely attribute to themselves the name of "pastor", as this calling can only come from God.

5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath ^p committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

(p) Used our labour and travail.

5:21 For he hath made him [to be] ^q sin for us, who ^r knew no sin; that we might be made the ^s righteousness of God in him.

(q) A sinner, not in himself, but by imputation of the guilt of all our sins to him.
(r) Who was completely void of sin.
(s) Righteous before God, and that with righteousness which is not fundamental in us, but being fundamental in Christ, God imputes it to us through faith.
 

Romans 6 (NIV) Audio

Romans 6 ~ Geneva Study Bible - Text
Chapter 6
6:1 What ¹ shall we say then? Shall we continue in ^a sin, that grace may abound?

(1) He passes now to another benefit of Christ, which is called sanctification or regeneration.
(a) In that corruption, for though the guiltiness of sin, is not imputed to us, yet the corruption still remains in us: and this is killed little by little by the sanctification that follows justification.

6:2 God forbid. ² How shall we, that are ^b dead to sin, live any longer therein?

(2) The benefits of justification and sanctification are always inseparable joined together, and both of them proceed from Christ by the grace of God: now sanctification is the abolishing of sin, that is, of our natural corruption, whose place is taken by the cleanness and pureness of a reformed nature.
(b) They are said by Paul to be dead to sin, who are made partakers of the power of Christ, so that the natural corruption is dead in them, that is, the power of it is removed, and it does not bring forth its bitter fruits: and on the other hand, they are said to live to sin, who are in the flesh, that is, whom the Spirit of God has not delivered from the slavery of the corruption of nature.

6:3 ³ Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into ^c Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

(3) There are three parts of this sanctification: that is, the death of the old man or sin, his burial, and the resurrection of the new man, descending into us from the virtue of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, of which benefit our baptism is a sign and pledge.
(c) To the end that growing up as one with him, we should receive his strength to extinguish sin in us, and to make us new men.

6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead ^d by the glory of the Father, even so ^e we also should walk in newness of life.

(d) So that Christ himself, being released of his infirmity and weakness, might live in glory with God forever.
(e) And we who are his members rise for this purpose, that being made partakers of the very same power, we should begin to lead a new life, as though we were already in heaven.

6:5 ⁴ For if we have been planted together in the ^f likeness of his death, we shall ^g be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection:

(4) The death of sin and the life of righteousness, or our ingrafting into Christ, and growing up into one with him, cannot be separated by any means, neither in death nor life: by which it follows that no man is sanctified who lives still to sin, and therefore is no man made partaker of Christ by faith, who does not repent and turn from his wickedness: for as he said before, the law is not overturned but established by faith.
(f) And by means of the strength which comes from him to us, so we die to sin, as he is dead.
(g) For every day we become more perfect: for we will never be perfectly sanctified, as long as we live here.

6:6 Knowing this, that our ^h old man is crucified with ⁱ [him], that the ^k body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not ^l serve sin.

(h) Our entire nature, as we are conceived and born into this world with sin, is called "old", partly by comparing that old Adam with Christ, and partly also in respect of the deformed state of our corrupt nature, which we change with a new.
(i) Our corrupt nature is regarded as belonging to Christ, not because of what he has done, but by imputation.
(k) That wickedness which remains in us.
(l) The end of sanctification which we aim at, and will at length come to, that is, when God will be all in all.

6:7 ⁵ For he that is dead is freed from sin.

(5) He proves it by the effects of death, comparing Christ the head with his members.

6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin ^m once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto ⁿ God.

(m) Once for all.
(n) With God.

6:12 ⁶ Let not sin therefore ^o reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

(6) An exhortation to contend and strive with corruption and all the effects of it.
(o) By reigning Paul means that principal and high rule which no man strives against, and even if anyone does, it is in vain.

6:13 Neither ^p yield ye your ^q members [as] ^r instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God.

(p) To sin, as to a Lord or tyrant.
(q) Your mind and all the powers of it.
(r) As instruments to commit wickedness with them.

6:14 ⁷ For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

(7) He grants that sin is not yet so dead in us that it is utterly extinct: but he promises victory to those that contend bravely, because we have the grace of God given to us which works so that the law is not now in us the power and instrument of sin.

6:15 ⁸ What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

(8) To be under the law and under sin signifies the same thing, with respect to whose who are not sanctified, and on the other hand to be under grace and righteousness is in harmony with those that are regenerated. Now these are contraries, so that one cannot agree with the other: therefore let righteousness expel sin.

6:17 ⁹ But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that ^s form of doctrine which was delivered you.

(9) By nature we are slaves to sin and free from righteousness, but by the grace of God we are made servants to righteousness, and therefore free from sin.
(s) This type of speech has a special meaning in it: for he means by this that the doctrine of the gospel is like a certain mould in which we are cast, to be shaped and fashioned like it.

6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were ^t free from righteousness.

(t) Righteousness had no rule over you.

6:21 ¹⁰ What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the ^u end of those things [is] death.

(10) An exhortation to the study of righteousness and hatred of sin, the contrary results of both being set down before us.
(u) The reward or payment.

6:23 ¹¹ For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(11) Death is the punishment due to sin, but we are sanctified freely, to everlasting life.

Psalm 144 (NIV)

Psalm 144 (New International Version)

Psalm 144

Of David.

1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.
2 He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples [a] under me.

3 O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?

4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.

5 Part your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke.

6 Send forth lightning and scatter {the enemies}; shoot your arrows and rout them.

7 Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners

8 whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,

10 to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David from the deadly sword.

11 Deliver me and rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

12 Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.

13 Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields;

14 our oxen will draw heavy loads. [b] There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.

15 Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.

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AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for the Republic of Belarus - Europe

Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)

Home > Mar 05: Belarus

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Mar 05: Belarus

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Belarus

Republic of Belarus

Europe

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Geography

Area: 207,600 sq km
Landlocked; fertile agricultural land with extensive forests on the North European plains. Surrounded by Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Smallest of the three Slavic nations of the former USSR.
Population: 9,587,940    Annual Growth: -0.47%
Capital: Minsk
Urbanites: 74.3%
HDI Rank: 68 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 28 (18% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Belarusian and Russian; the latter is more widely used    Languages: 11 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	6,762,374	70.53	0.4
Evangelicals	122,576	1.3	3.0

Challenges for Prayer

Orthodoxy and Catholicism enjoy privileged status as historic Slavic religious entities, but even these face limitations. Other denominations face opposition from the establishment.
a) The acceptance of Russian Orthodoxy by the state is in keeping with a traditional Slavic identity, and Orthodoxy remains largely a ritualistic entity for the purposes of baptising, marrying and burying. Renewal and reformation within the ancient confessions could potentially impact millions; pray for such to occur.
b) Religious movements face increasing pressure from government officials. These include Orthodox expressions that do not submit to the state-approved Moscow patriarchate (such as Old Believers, autocephalous and splinter Orthodox groups), Uniate Catholics, Protestants and groups such as Hare Krishna, Buddhists and pre-Christian pagans.
Evangelical Christians are increasing despite concerted opposition and intensifying persecution. The state steadfastly maintains laws that forbid meeting in homes for worship, forming congregations of less than 20 people, opening religious schools, ministering outside of the home city, and importing and distributing non-state-approved literature. All religious activity must receive state permission. All congregations are required to register; obstructionism in the registration process prevents many churches from meeting or growing. The inability to buy or rent property for worship is the biggest problem for evangelicals. Pray for:
a) Patient, overcoming faith for believers to withstand such difficulties. Evidence suggests that evangelicals are persisting, growing and finding ways to deal with these challenges.
b) Those in government who harass and persecute God’s Church, that they might (hopefully through believers) discover the truth of the gospel and the love of Christ.
c) Unity among the various evangelical groups – different denominations, registered and unregistered churches. Pray for greater cooperation to replace mistrust in many denominations.
d) The emergence of a truly Belarusian evangelicalism, one that is culturally relevant and reflective of national character, one that allows for worship and ministry from an indigenous foundation. Evangelicals are usually perceived as agents of the West.
e) Training of new leaders. As the Church grows, the new post-Communist generation needs to be discipled and shaped according to biblical values. This must be done amid repressive laws that restrict meeting, training and education.
     For an additional 6 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Belarus.

2 Corinthians 4 Geneva Study Bible

2 Corinthians 4 Geneva Study Bible

Chapter 4
4:1 Therefore ¹ seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we ^a faint not;

(1) Now he plainly witnesses that both he and his associates (through the mercy of God) do their vocation and duty uprightly and sincerely, neglecting all dangers.
(a) Though we are broken in pieces with miseries and calamities, yet we do not yield.

4:2 But have renounced the ^b hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God ^c deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every mans conscience in the sight of God.

(b) Subtilty and every type of deceit which men hunt after, as it were dens and lurking holes, to cover their shameless dealings with.
(c) This is that which he called in the former chapter, making merchandise of the word of God.

4:3 ² But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

(2) An objection: many hear the Gospel, and yet are no more enlightened by it than by the preaching of the Law. He answers, "The fault is in the men themselves, whose eyes Satan plucks out, who rules in this world." And yet nonetheless he and his associates set forth the most clear light of the Gospel to be seen and beheld, seeing that Christ only whom they preach, is he in whom God will be known, and as it were seen.

4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the ^d light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the ^e image of God, should shine unto them.

(d) The light of plain and enlightening preaching, which shows forth the glory of Christ.
(e) In whom the Father sets himself forth to be seen and beheld.

4:5 ³ For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for ^f Jesus sake.

(3) He removes according to his accustomed manner, all suspicion of ambition, affirming that he teaches faithfully, but as a servant, and witnessing that all this light which he and his associates give to others, proceeds from the Lord.
(f) To preach this self same Jesus to you.

4:6 For God, ^g who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the ^h light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

(g) Who made with his word alone.
(h) That being enlightened by God, we should in the same way give that light to others.

4:7 ⁴ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, ⁵ that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

(4) He takes away a stumbling block, which darkened among some, the bright shining of the ministry of the Gospel, that is, because the apostles were the most miserable of all men. Paul answers that he and his associates are as it were, earthen vessels, but yet there is in them a most precious treasure. (5) He brings marvellous reasons why the Lord does so afflict his principal servants, to the end, he says, that all men may perceive that they do not stand by any mans power, but by the singular power of God, in that they die a thousand times, but never perish.

4:10 ⁶ Always bearing about in the body the ⁱ dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

(6) An amplification of the former sentence, in which he compares his afflictions to a daily death, and the power of the Spirit of God in Christ to life, who oppresses that death.
(i) So Paul calls that miserable estate and condition that the faithful, but especially the minsters, are in.

4:11 For we which ^k live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our ^l mortal flesh.

(k) Who live that life, that is, by the Spirit of Christ, among so many and so great miseries.
(l) Subject to that miserable condition.

4:12 ⁷ So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

(7) A very wise conclusion: as if he would say, "Therefore, to be short, we die that you may live by our death", because they ventured into all those dangers for the building of the Churchs sake, and they ceased not to strengthen and encourage all the faithful with the examples of their patience.

4:13 ⁸ We having the same ^m spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;

(8) He declares the former sentence, showing that he and his associates die in a way to purchase life for others, but yet nonetheless they are partakers of the same life with them: because they themselves do first believe that which they offer to others to believe, that is, that they also will be saved together with them in Christ.
(m) The same faith, by the inspiration of the same Spirit.

4:15 ⁹ For all things [are] for your sakes, ⁿ that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

(9) He shows how this constancy is preserved in them, that is, because they are doing it for Gods glory, and the salvation of the churches committed to them.
(n) When it will please God to deliver me, and restore me to you, that exceeding benefit which will be poured upon me will in like sort result to the glory of God, by the thanksgiving of many.

4:16 For which cause we faint not; ¹⁰ but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is ^o renewed day by day.

(10) He adds as it were a triumphant song, that he is outwardly afflicted, but inwardly he profits daily: and he is not bothered by all the miseries that may be sustained in this life, in comparison of that most constant and eternal glory.
(o) Gathers new strength so that the outward man is not overcome with the miseries which come freshly one after another, being maintained and upheld with the strength of the inward man.

4:17 For our ^p light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of ^q glory;

(p) Afflictions are not called light, as though they were light in themselves, but because they pass away quickly, as indeed our whole life is not of very long continuance.
(q) Which remains forever firm and stable, and can never be shaken.

Romans 5 (NIV Audio)

Romans 5 ~ Geneva Study Bible
Chapter 5
5:1 Therefore being ¹ justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

(1) Another argument taken from the effects: we are justified with that which truly appeases our conscience before God: and faith in Christ does appease our conscience and not the law, as it was said before, therefore by faith we are justified, and not by the law.

5:2 ² By whom also we ^a have access by faith into this grace ^b wherein we ^c stand, ³ and ^d rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

(2) Whereas quietness of conscience is attributed to faith, it is to be referred to Christ, who is the giver of faith itself, and in whom faith itself is effectual.
(a) We must know by this, that we still receive the same effect from faith.
(b) By which grace, that is, by which gracious love and good will, or that state unto which we are graciously taken.
(c) We stand steadfast. (3) A preventing of an objection against those who, beholding the daily miseries and calamities of the Church, think that the Christians dream when they brag of their felicity: to whom the apostle answers, that their felicity is laid up under hope of another place: which hope is so certain and sure, that they rejoice for that happiness just as if they presently enjoyed it.
(d) Our minds are not only quiet and settled, but we are also marvellously glad, and have great joy because of the heavenly inheritance which awaits us.

5:3 ⁴ And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: ⁵ knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

(4) Tribulation itself gives us different and various occasions to rejoice, and more than this it does not make us miserable. (5) Afflictions make us use to being patient, and patience assures us of the goodness of God, and this experience confirms and fosters our hope, which never deceives us.

5:5 ⁶ And hope maketh not ashamed; because the ^e love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

(6) The foundation of hope is an assured testimony of the conscience, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, that we are loved by God, and this is nothing else but that which we call faith, from which it follows that through faith our consciences are quieted.
(e) With which he loves us.

5:6 ⁷ For when we were yet without strength, in due ^f time Christ died for the ungodly.

(7) A sure comfort in adversity, so that our peace and quietness of conscience are not troubled: for he that so loved them that were of no strength and while they were yet sinners, that he died for them, how can he neglect them, having now been sanctified and living in him?
(f) At an appropriate and proper time which the Father had appointed.

5:7 ⁸ For scarcely ^g for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

(8) An amplifying of the love of God towards us, so that we cannot doubt it, who delivered Christ to death for the unjust and for them from whom he could receive no useful thing, and, what is more, for his very enemies. How can it be then that Christ, being now alive, should not save them from destruction whom by his death he justifies and reconciles.
(g) In the place of a just man.

5:8 But God ^h commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet ⁱ sinners, Christ died for us.

(h) He commends his love toward us, so that in the midst of our afflictions we may know assuredly that he will be present with us.
(i) While sin reigned in us.

5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from ^k wrath through him.

(k) From affliction and destruction.

5:11 ⁹ And not only [so], but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

(9) He now passes over to the other part of justification, which consists in the free imputation of the obedience of Christ: so that to the remission of sins, there is added moreover and besides, the gift of Christs righteousness imputed or put upon us by faith, which swallows up that unrighteousness which flowed from Adam into us, and all the fruits of it: so that in Christ we do not only cease to be unjust, but we begin also to be just.

5:12 ¹⁰ Wherefore, as by ^l one man ^m sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, ⁿ for that all have sinned:

(10) From Adam, in whom all have sinned, both guiltiness and death (which is the punishment of the guiltiness) came upon all.
(l) By Adam, who is compared with Christ, and similar to him in this, that both of them make those who are theirs partakers of that which they have: but they are not the same in this, that Adam derives sin into them that are his, even into their very nature, and that to death: but Christ makes them that are his partakers of his righteousness by grace, and that to life.
(m) By sin is meant that disease which is ours by inheritance, and men commonly call it original sin: for so he calls that sin in the singular number, whereas if he speaks of the fruits of it, he uses the plural number, calling them sins.
(n) That is, in Adam.

5:13 ¹¹ (For until ^o the law sin was in the world: but sin is not ^p imputed when there is no law.

(11) That this is so, that both guiltiness and death began not after the giving and transgressing of law of Moses, is evident in that men died before that law was given: for in that they died, sin, which is the cause of death, existed then: and in such a way, that it was also imputed: because of this it follows that there was then some law, the breach of which was the cause of death.
(o) Even from Adam to Moses.
(p) Where there is no law made, no man is punished as faulty and guilty.

5:14 ¹² Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over ^q them that had not sinned after the ^r similitude of Adams transgression, ¹³ who is the figure of him that was to come.

(12) But that this law was not the universal law, and that death did not proceed from any actual sin of everyone particularly, it appears by this, that the very infants which neither could ever know nor transgress that natural law, are nonetheless dead as well as Adam.
(q) Our infants.
(r) Nor after the manner of sin of those who are older, following their lusts: but yet the whole posterity was corrupted in Adam when he knowingly and willingly sinned.
(13) Now that first Adam corresponds to the latter, who is Christ, as it is afterward declared.

5:15 ¹⁴ But not as the offence, so also [is] the free gift. For if through the offence of ^s one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, [which is] by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

(14) Adam and Christ are compared together in this respect, that both of them give and yield to theirs that which is their own: but the first difference between them is this, that Adam by nature has spread his fault to the destruction of many, but Christs obedience has be grace overflowed to many.
(s) That is, Adam.

5:16 ¹⁵ And not as [it was] by one that sinned, [so is] the gift: for the judgment [was] by one to condemnation, but the free gift [is] of many offences unto ^t justification.

(15) Another inequality consists in this, that by Adams one offence men are made guilty, but the righteousness of Christ imputed unto us freely, does not only absolve us from that one fault, but from all others.
(t) To the sentence of absolution, by which we are acquitted and pronounced righteous.

5:17 ¹⁶ For if by one mans offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall ^u reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

(16) The third difference is that the righteousness of Christ, being imputed to us by grace, is of greater power to bring life, than the offence of Adam is to condemn his posterity to death.
(u) Be partakers of true and everlasting life.

5:18 ¹⁷ Therefore as by the offence of one [judgment came] upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [the free gift came] upon all men unto ^x justification of life.

(17) Therefore, to be short, as by one mans offence the guiltiness came on all men to make them subject to death, so on the opposite side, the righteousness of Christ, which by Gods mercy is imputed to all believers, justifies them, that they may become partakers of everlasting life.
(x) Not only because our sins are forgiven us, but also because the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us.

5:19 ¹⁸ For as by one mans ^y disobedience ^z many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

(18) The foundation of this whole comparison is this, that these two men are set as two heads or roots, so that out of the one comes sin by nature, and from the other righteousness by grace springs forth upon others.
(y) So then, sin enters not into us only by following the steps of our forefathers, but we receive corruption from him by inheritance.
(z) The word "many" is contrasted with the words "a few".

5:20 ¹⁹ Moreover the law ^a entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more ^b abound:

(19) A preventing of an objection: why then did the law of Moses then enter? So that men might be so much more the guilty, and the benefit of God in Christ Jesus be all the more glorious.
(a) In addition to that disease which all men were infected with by being defiled with one mans sin, the law entered.
(b) Grace was poured so plentifully from heaven that it did not only counterbalance sin, but beyond this it surpassed it.