New Testament / Matthew

  • Unlimited Forgiveness

    Matthew 18:21–35

    It is not as if unforgiving people lose their salvation, Matthew Henry says, for “those who do not forgive their brother’s trespasses, did never truly repent of their own, and therefore that which is taken away is only what ...Read More

  • Church Authority

    Matthew 18:18–20

    The church’s ability to liberate people, says John Calvin, is not limited to the restoration of disciplined members to full participation in the congregation. Such liberation is also discharged when elders, according to Scripture, assure repentant people of pardon ...Read More

  • Redemptive Discipline

    Matthew 18:15–17

    In excommunication, Dr. John MacArthur writes, “the idea is not merely to punish the offender, or to shun him completely, but to remove him as a detrimental influence from the fellowship of the church, and then to regard him as ...Read More

  • The Lord’s Care for His Own

    Matthew 18:10–14

    God is not willing that any of His own should perish (Matt. 18:14), and so He shepherds us, using His staff to discipline us if that is what is necessary to keep us in the fold. One way in ...Read More

  • The Seriousness of Sin

    Matthew 18:7–9

    Dr. John MacArthur echoes Jesus’ somber warning in Matthew 5:29: “Sin must be dealt with drastically because of its deadly effects” (The MacArthur Bible Commentary, p. 1,131). Refraining from speaking privately with a certain person might be what ...Read More

  • A Somber Warning

    Matthew 18:5–6

    One commentator says that leading others into sin can be done in ways that do not involve false teaching. Failure to provide adequate pastoral care, for example, can make us unable to see trouble in the lives of others, leading ...Read More

  • Kingdom Greatness

    Matthew 18:1–4

    Matthew Henry writes: “The humblest Christians are the best Christians and most like to Christ, and highest in his favor, and fittest to serve in this world, and enjoy him in another.” Humble believers have an honest assessment of their ...Read More

  • Jesus Provides a Shekel

    Matthew 17:24–27

    In Paul’s day there were some who were weak in the faith and would eat only vegetables because meat was often sacrificed to idols. These weaker brothers were not to denigrate the meat-eaters. At the same time, the stronger ...Read More

  • The Resurrection Predicted

    Matthew 17:22–23

    Many Christians do not think about the future resurrection, assuming that we will live forever in heaven as spirits without a body. Yet this is not the Bible’s picture of our final state. Though there is an intermediate state ...Read More

  • Small but Powerful Faith

    Matthew 17:14–21

    Today’s passage does not define faith exhaustively; thus, it must be read in concert with other passages like 1 John 5:14, which emphasizes the importance of God’s will when we pray. As Dr. John MacArthur writes: “True ...Read More

  • The Coming of Elijah

    Matthew 17:9–13

    John Calvin writes on today’s passage that Elijah’s restoration “does not mean that John the Baptist restored them perfectly, but that he conveyed and handed them over to Christ, who would complete the work which he had begun ...Read More

  • The Transfiguration

    Matthew 17:1–8

    In placing the transfiguration of Christ in between two predictions of suffering and death (Matt. 16:21–28; 17:9–13), God provides assurance that trouble will not always be the lot of His Son and His people. When adversity ...Read More

  • Willing to Die

    Matthew 16:24–28

    We still wait for the visible, bodily presence of Christ, but that does not mean the kingdom is not present at all right now. Though its fullness has not yet been realized, the kingdom has come, and, indeed, it continues ...Read More

  • Jesus Rebukes Peter

    Matthew 16:21–23

    Evangelicals often stress that Jesus has died for our sins, but it can be easy to forget that He was also raised for our sins. As we share the Gospel, let us remember to present the truth of the resurrection ...Read More

  • Peter, the Rock

    Matthew 16:13–20

    When we study Scripture, we should be careful not to let the excesses of opposing positions unduly influence our own applications of the text. All the teachings of those with whom we disagree may not necessarily be wrong, and we ...Read More