Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles

Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." NKJV. The King James Version renders it: "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." The New Living Translation has stated it this way: "Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth." Eugene Peterson in his paraphrase, The Message, writes: "Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple." This is what I have set out to do. I am presenting a plain, simple, and basic commentary on the Word of God. I want to present the Word, compared by the Word, with the hope of creating a greater desire of the reader to want to know more and to seek to go deeper into God's Word. I found written in the front of my Dad's first preaching Bible this statement: "The task of the scholar is to guarantee the purity of the text; to get as close as possible to the Word as originally given. He may compare Scripture with Scripture until he discovers the true meaning of the text. But right there, his authority ends. He must never sit in judgment upon what is written; he must not bring the meaning of the Word before the bar of his reason." I do not know the source of this statement, but it is true, and that is my desire as I write this series of commentaries or expositions on Scripture.