These are my notes from a preaching course I’m taking. Unless otherwise indicated all quotations are from the book:

Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon, 3^rd Edition by Bryan Chapell

Before beginning I want to look in depth at Psalm 62 for a different but related assignment:

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. (Psalm 62:1 ESV)

The Hebrew word דֽוּמִיָּ֣ה (dûmîyâ), waits in silence (ESV), waiteth (Tanakh, KJV), patiently wait (NET) was translated ὑποταγήσεται, a passive form of ὑποτάσσω, in the Septuagint: be subject (NETS), be subjected (English Elpenor). I have said these things to you, Jesus told his disciples, that in me you may have¹ peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.² These two verses seem not merely to complement one another, but to expound on one another in ways that exceed the sum of their parts.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. (Psalm 62:2 ESV)

Was צ֖וּרִי (ṣûr) not the word found in the Hebrew text the rabbis translated into Greek? Or did they have reasons for not wanting to translate צ֖וּרִי (ṣûr) with some form of πέτρα in this particular context?

I can imagine that Jewish rabbis wishing not to confuse their Gentile audience thought it better to lose the connection to this passage than to associate יְהֹוָ֜ה (Yᵊhōvâ) too closely with the rock at Horeb. But Paul and the Holy Spirit had no such scruples: For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.³

How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? (Psalm 62:3 ESV)

The translators have different understandings of this verse. Apparently, the translators of the ESV understood כֻ֫לְּכֶ֥ם (rāṣaḥ)—ye shall be slain (Tanakh, KJV), [you] are murderers (NET), You commit murder (NETS), ye are…slaughtering (English Elpenor)—as to batter him.

They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah (Psalm 62:4 ESV)

The Greek verb ἔδραμον, They ran (NETS), I ran (English Elpenor), can be either a 3^rd person plural or a 1^st person singular form of τρέχω.

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. (Psalm 62:5 ESV)

He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. (Psalm 62:6 ESV)

On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. (Psalm 62:7 ESV)

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah (Psalm 62:8 ESV)

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope (ἐλπίσατε, a form of ἐλπίζω) fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.⁴

Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. (Psalm 62:9 ESV)

Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them. (Psalm 62:10 ESV)

Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, (Psalm 62:11 ESV)

and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work. (Psalm 62:12 ESV)

Questions for Review and Discussion

1. What are the benefits and the liabilities of selecting texts for preaching that address personal or congregational concerns?

Preaching on passages that are of a particular meaning or interest to you is a great way to learn to expound texts. What excites or moves you is much more likely to elicit the passion from you that will enthuse and move others…

However, preachers who choose texts to address their personal concerns need to be cautioned in at least two ways. First, make sure you do not impose your concern on the text. Solid exposition should demonstrate that the passage really speaks to the issue you want to address and that your passion to address a particular subject has not abused the original author’s intent. Second, be aware that a ministry that too frequently addresses the preacher’s personal concerns can become too narrow in focus for the broader needs of a congregation. The pastor may end up riding hobby horses or unconsciously concentrating on personal struggles, thereby neglecting other important truths needed for a fully mature congregation.

Considerations for Selecting a Passage: Concerns p. 45

Congregational concerns should also influence what pastors choose to preach. Preachers will be regarded as out of touch or insensitive if they press forward with their sermon programs while ignoring a community’s employment dilemma, the death of a pillar in the church, a national tragedy, a local disaster, a building program, a young person’s decision to enter the mission field, moral issues that the young encounter, health concerns that the elderly face, or a host of similar matters of significance in the life of the church. The world should not set the agenda for our preaching, but ministry that ignores the world that a congregation confronts is a sanctimonious sham.

Considerations for Selecting a Passage: Concerns pp. 45, 46

A ministry can be as warped by lending too much of an ear to what people want to hear as it can by giving too much weight to what the preacher wants to preach (2 Tim 4:3).

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions [Table], and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:3, 4 ESV)

Considerations for Selecting a Passage: Concerns pp. 46, 47

Different church traditions have used various means to round out the emphasis of preaching in a local setting…Reformed churches and others from “free church” traditions have typically rejected lectionary usage for a variety of reasons: (1) the principle of sola Scriptura, which some take to include the idea that Scripture alone should dictate what is preached; (2) the practice of lectio continua as opposed to lectio selecta, that is, presenting lessons from text in consecutive sequence (e.g., preaching through a book in a series, also known as “consecutive preaching”)¹² instead of choosing diverse selections week to week, since this was felt to lead to inappropriate human emphases; (3) the tradition of holding no day above another in reaction to Roman Catholic holy day observances that were seen as integral to sacramentalism; and (4) the regard given to the autonomy of the local pulpit on the assumption that the Holy Spirit will grant a local preacher unction (i.e., spiritual power) and insight for the task at hand.

Considerations for Selecting a Passage: Concerns p. 47

The Holy Spirit. No catalyst for selecting a text is more important than sensitivity to the leading of God’s Spirit. Prayer with godly concern for the good of others and the glory of Christ should lead you through the choices you must make among the catalysts for selecting a sermon’s focus.²⁰ Preaching in the power of the Spirit is the culmination of a process that has been Spirit-led.

Catalysts: Contexts pp. 51, 52

2. What are benefits and cautions associated with preaching a series?

…significant benefits for a pastor preaching in sequence through a chapter or a book…

Matters in the text…address a greater number than…personal interest or experience.

Sensitive matters can be addressed without the appearance of pointing a finger…matters simply appear next in the text sequence…

Much mental energy [and time] can be saved…deciding what to preach…the next section of the text is the obvious choice.

Much research time can be saved…of the book’s or the passage’s author, background, context, and cause.

The congregation will learn to see the organizing themes and schemes of the Bible…

The congregation and the pastor can monitor the progress of both their journey through a book and their exposure to important biblical and doctrinal topics.

Considerations for Selecting a Passage: Catalysts: Series p. 47, 48

Series preaching shows its greatest liabilities when preachers fail to make adequate or appropriate progress…

Series also cause problems if a preacher makes each sermon dependent on previous messages…

Series greatly aid a pastor’s preparation and subject scope. Still, series generally work best when their duration is reasonable, their sermons are not too dependent on one another, and their subjects or approaches differ from those of recent series.

Considerations for Selecting a Passage: Catalysts: Series p. 48, 49

3. What cautions does a preacher need to observe when approaching spurious texts?

Do not use spurious texts. Concern for what a congregation needs to hear should never lead a pastor to proclaim as authoritative any words or texts that the Holy Spirit did not inspire. Scribal comments and errors that have mistakenly been included in some translations should not be presented as the Word of God.²¹ Where there is the rare question about whether a particular passage is spurious, it is wise to see if that same truth can be preached from a more certain passage or to provide the congregation with your reasons for using the text (since the marginal notes in the most trustworthy translations in the laps or smartphones of listeners will question the passage’s authenticity).

Cautions p. 53

While this sounds like wise advice for pastors it plays right into the hands of those who would remove passages from the Bible. Those passages deemed “spurious” are possibly, if not probably, soon to be removed, even from the Greek text of the New Testament. Who decided they were spurious? For what reasons?

A brief video online, “Was the Original Bible Corrupted and Restored? | The Critical Text of the New Testament Explained,” offers an interesting introduction to answering these questions. The first 30 seconds or so is designed to make anyone who would question the processes of modern Bible scholarship feel like a rabid conspiracy theorist. But this kind of rhetoric only alerts and heightens my awareness to become even more critical of those processes. The Cross Bible Timeline mentioned in the video may prove to be a useful resource.

On the left is a translation from the Masoretic text, edited by those who rejected Jesus as Messiah “between the 7th and 10th centuries of the Common Era (CE).” On the right is a translation of the same verse from the Septuagint, “the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Hebrew…Biblical scholars agree that the first five books of the Hebrew Bible were translated from Biblical Hebrew into Koine Greek by Jews living in the Ptolemaic Kingdom, probably in the early or middle part of the third century BCE.^[8] The remaining books were presumably translated in the 2nd century BCE.”

Men edit and translate the Bible. I like to compare the Masoretic text to the Septuagint, and NA²⁷ and NA²⁸ to the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text. There are other texts and translations available to consider if necessary.

Faith that the Holy Spirit knew what he was doing when he inspired the Word without the spurious texts will keep us confident of Scripture’s sufficiency. We can help the people to whom we preach remain confident of the Bible’s authority by reminding them how rare such questions are when they do arise in the ordinary course of preaching. Bible-believing scholars question the textual validity of less than one word in a thousand in our best translations.²² As a result, there is little question concerning what statements appeared in the original manuscripts. The evangelical debate with modern theologies rarely concentrates on what Scripture actually says, but rather on whether to believe and obey what it says. The Holy Spirit’s inspiration and providential preservation of Scripture are continuing miracles of God’s supernatural care for our souls.²³ A good study Bible prepared by scholars who accept the Bible’s full authority will give us ample warning of a questionable text and will grant us confidence that we are preaching in accord with the Spirit’s imprimatur.²⁴

Cautions pp. 53, 54

The note (20) from the NET on Matthew 6:13 follows:

Most mss (L W Δ Θ 0233 ƒ 33 565 579 700 1241 1424 M sy sa Didache) read (though some with slight variation) ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν (“for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen”) here. The reading without this sentence, though, is attested by generally better witnesses (א B D Z 0170 ƒ lat mae Or). The phrase was probably composed for the liturgy of the early church and most likely was based on 1 Chr 29:11-13; a scribe probably added the phrase at this point in the text for use in public scripture reading (see TCGNT 13-14). Both external and internal evidence argue for the shorter reading.

In other words, “Trust us.” There is no mention of an extant manuscript with these missing words in the margin, just a lot of speculation. And I know the benefit of praying them daily. Keep a watchful eye on Bible editors. We live in the golden age of home Bible study online: “The Holy Spirit’s inspiration and providential preservation of Scripture are continuing miracles of God’s supernatural care for our souls.”

4. Why should a preacher be cautious about turning to a commentary as a first step in sermon preparation?

The expertise that commentaries bring to bear on a particular passage is at one moment their greatest benefit and their greatest danger. The mixed blessing is in the two types of pastors who will never make great preachers: the first will not listen to what others say; the other will say only what others say. A preacher who refuses to pay attention to what gifted scholars have discovered mistakes personal arrogance for erudition. God does not give all his insights to any one person. At the same time, a preacher who only repeats what commentators say is trying to preach by proxy.

You must think through what Scripture says in order to be able to share the significance of commentary information…

Commentaries are better used as a check than as a guide³²…

Let the Holy Spirit work in your heart and mind to develop a message a commentator would approve, not design. Concern for precision should not so overwhelm you as to deny you or your listeners the insights God will grant you in his Word.

Tools for Interpreting a Passage pp. 57, 58

5. How does an allegorical method of interpretation differ from an expository method?

Expository preaching solemnly binds a preacher to the task of representing the precise meaning of a text as intended by the original author or as illuminated by another inspired source within the Bible. As matter-of-fact as such a rubric may seem, homiletical history indicates how slippery such a standard is and how carefully it must be guarded.

Early church and medieval escapades into allegorical interpretations led ancient preachers to the conviction that the “literal interpretation” of a text was the least rewarding to preach.³⁵

Principles for Interpreting a Passage pp. 59

Then one⁵ of them, named⁶ Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to⁷ Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said⁸ to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this,⁹ it is now¹⁰ the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,¹¹ and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself [Table]. (Luke 24:18-27 ESV)

This was as often as not an allegorical method of interpretation, for that is how we see Jesus in the Old Testament most of the time. But the reaction of those first exposed to this method of interpretation reinforces the author’s point (Luke 24:32 ESV):

They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” [Table]

I am hard-pressed to think of another verse in the Bible more frustrating than this one. I’ve yelled at them for this response: “Who cares how you felt?! Tell me what He said!” So my argument with the author here is mostly over the word “escapades” applied to the early church.

Up to this moment the Pharisees with their own grammatical-historical method had carefully exegeted the principles by which they hoped to keep the faithful in Israel from offending their God: “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”¹² That was expository preaching until Jesus came, saying: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me [Table], yet you refuse to come to me that you may have¹³ life.¹⁴

I can be a little charitable if the early church found the Pharisees’ expository method to be more like the letter and Jesus’ more allegorical method to be more of the Spirit: For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.¹⁵

Modern resurrections of the allegorical method regularly occur when preachers assume that the Holy Spirit will enable them to discern in a text something more than was meant by the human author (or than the divine Author made evident within the canon of Scripture).³⁶ Preachers’ interpretations remain consistent with Scripture when they follow long-honored and proven interpretive procedures that expose the Bible’s original intent. That intent is not always limited to the human author’s knowledge of all that the Holy Spirit was revealing through his inspiration, but it is not broader than the Holy Spirit’s intention that is revealed within the patterns of Scripture as well as in the propositional statements of the human writers (cf. Matt. 2:15; 1 Pet. 1:10).³⁷

Principles for Interpreting a Passage pp. 59, 60

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”¹⁶ (Matthew 2:13-15 ESV)

Though you have not seen¹⁷ [Jesus], you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully [Table], inquiring¹⁸ what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look [Table]. (1 Peter 1:8-12 ESV)

But nothing other than what the patterns or propositions of Scripture make evident through the processes of logical discernment should be declared as God’s will for his people.

These interpretive principles require that preachers consider the context that frames the meaning of our expository unit. Context is part of the text, as it relates to our exposition. Context limits and imparts an author’s intended meaning. We cannot maintain the integrity of any biblical statement without considering its surroundings. The reason that “every heretic has his verse” is that he takes it out of context. Our first task as expositors is to use the best tools available to determine what a biblical author’s statements mean in their context.³⁸

Principles for Interpreting a Passage p. 60

In a recent sermon my Pastor (the facilitator of this course and a former student of the author) gave a vivid demonstration of the interplay between the allegorical and expository methods. His text was Genesis 12:1-3. As a climax to an otherwise expository sermon, he simply reread the text as God the Father speaking to God the Son: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you [Table]. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing [Table]. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” [Table].

It was an allegorical reading of Genesis 12:1-3, and it was an electrically charged in the heavenlies moment, the spiritual equivalent of a dose of psychedelics. Who wouldn’t want more of that? Well, it is the spiritual equivalent of a dose of psychedelics.

The grounding of the expository method is absolutely essential to keep the consciousness-altering high of such an allegorical reading from spinning off into flights of fancy. It also helps to keep one’s hunger and thirst—to know…the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom [He has] sent¹⁹ through Bible study—a more balanced and healthy addiction than a junkie’s quest for ever higher highs. The expository method also provides a more solid foundation, like a launching pad for the allegorical method’s flight, as well as a navigational system guiding its trajectory. How sad it would have been if my Pastor’s allegorical reading had been a dud, a misfire, failed to lift-off and carry me aloft with it. And it’s not too hard to imagine that a steady diet of allegorical readings of the Old Testament, seeing Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus all the time, apart from the grounding of solid exposition could have a dulling effect on the beauty and the wonder. It could become just so much “blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

6. In what ways can context (cultural, historical, literary, and redemptive) affect the interpretation of a text?

Our task as preachers is to discern what the original writers meant by analyzing the background and grammatical features of what they said. Using grammar and history to discern a text’s original meaning is called the “grammatical-historical” method.⁴⁰ This method allows Scripture to speak for itself instead of letting the interpreter’s context (or perspective) determine the meaning of a text. Sometimes the interpreter’s perspective does not seem like a problem if that person is committed to the historical truths of biblical faith. In such cases, we may hardly blink when told that the water from the rock Moses struck represents the water of baptism or that the worm at which Jonah railed is the sin that eats at a believer’s heart. Despite the absence of biblical evidence confirming these interpretations, they sound reasonable because they reflect biblical imagery and truths appearing elsewhere.

Use the Grammatical-Historical Method p. 61

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized (|ἐβαπτίσαντο|, a form of βαπτίζω) into Moses in the cloud and in the sea [Table], and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:1-4 ESV)

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit [Table], in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ [Table], who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:18-22 ESV)

However, if anything in Scripture can mean whatever our imaginations suggest rather than what Scripture affirms, then our opinions become as authoritative as the statements of God and we can make the Bible say anything we want…

Occasionally, there may be a thin line between “it means” and “it may mean,” but biblically bound preachers must recognize the difference…

Nothing but what Scripture itself attests should ground the instruction of our preaching. Expository preachers determine the biblical truths intended for the people addressed by a text and then identify similarities in our present conditions that require the application of the same truths. This means applications may vary, but interpretations of a text’s core principles should not.

The meaning of a text may be significant in many ways, but this does not deny that the writer was teaching a definite principle for our understanding and application.

Use the Grammatical-Historical Method p. 61, 62

Accurate interpretations require us not only to determine what particular words say but also to see how they function in their broader contexts. Scripture can be twisted to say almost anything if interpreters ignore contexts. Attention to historical and cultural contexts help to explain the “offense” of the cross (Gal. 5:11) and the reason healed lepers went to the temple before they went home (Luke 17:14).

But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense (σκάνδαλον) of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! (Galatians 5:11, 12 ESV)

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified [Table]. (Galatians 2:15, 16 ESV)

When [Jesus] saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. (Luke 17:14 ESV)

And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses²⁰ commanded, for a proof to them.” (Luke 5:14 ESV)

We determine literary contexts both by analyzing the concepts that surround a biblical statement and by identifying the type of literature in which the statement occurs.

Preachers should examine what chapters and verses surrounding a passage say in order to determine what a biblical writer intended to communicate through particular words.

Observe the Historical, Cultural, and Literary Context p. 62

Study of a passage’s context also requires preachers to identify the genre, or type of literature, in which a biblical statement occurs. Many an error has been made by interpreting proverbs as promises, prophecy as history, parables as facts, and poetry as science.

For example, proverbs are truisms, statements so tending to be true that the wise take them to heart…statements tend to be true, but neither is always true. Proverbs are prescriptive, not predictive. God requires his people to heed his proverbs, not to interpret them as promises of what will always happen.

Observe the Historical, Cultural, and Literary Context pp. 62, 63

Preachers determine the meaning of a passage by seeing not only how words are used in the context of a book or its passages but also how the passage functions in the entire scope of Scripture. An accurate interpretation requires preachers to ask, How does this text help disclose the meaning or need of redemption? Failure to ask and to answer such questions leads to preaching that is highly moralistic or legalistic because it focuses on the behaviors or beliefs a particular passage teaches without disclosing how the biblical writer was relating them to God’s ongoing work of rescuing his people from their broken lives and world.⁴²

Determine the Redemptive Context p. 63

Regard for context requires preachers to consider a text in the light of its purpose in the redemptive message that unfolds throughout all of Scripture…

We want to make sure that focusing on the particulars of a specific text does not cause us to neglect the redemptive context of God’s entire Word.

Determine the Redemptive Context p. 64

Exercises

1. Use research tools to determine what Greek word John and James use for “believe” in John 3:16 and James 2:19. Indicate the various ways in which they use the word.

Although John and James both use the word believe, contexts indicate that they are communicating quite different concepts with that word (cf. John 3:16; James 2:19).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes (πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων, a form of πιστεύω) in him (εἰς αὐτὸν) should not perish but have eternal life [Table]. (John 3:16 ESV)

You believe (πιστεύεις, another form of πιστεύω) that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe (πιστεύουσιν, another form of πιστεύω)—and shudder! (James 2:19 ESV)

Observe the Historical, Cultural, and Literary Context p. 62

I can’t see these as “different concepts” of πιστεύω. James wrote about believing an Old Testament fact about God: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.²¹ To believe in a fact cannot be expected to have the same impact as to believe “into” or “unto” the Person of the Savior God sent. Granted, someone might think that other things James wrote could shade his use of πιστεύω. My own current belief is that he simply qualified the nature of πιστεύω into Jesus Christ. Believing in the fact of Jesus Christ may not have the same impact as believing into Him, except (John 1:12, 13 ESV):

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right (αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν, a form of ἐξουσία) to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

The phrase τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, who believed in his name (ESV), could be giving the Lord the widest possible latitude and discretion, even as it excludes James or me from judging his mercy or his grace.

2. Use your understanding of a proverb to explain Proverbs 15:1 and Proverbs 26:4-5.

Though the Bible says that a gentle word turns away wrath (Prov. 15:1), God does not promise that people will never get angry at us if we always speak softly. He indicates that it is usually not wise for peacefully inclined people to answer fire with fire, but he does not promise that soft answers are guaranteed to extinguish the rage of others (see Matt. 26:62-68). Great damage is done to the intent of Scripture as well as to the consciences of Christians when preachers confuse these distinctions between promises and proverbs.

Observe the Historical, Cultural, and Literary Context pp. 63

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1 ESV)

The Septuagint adds some context to this proverb: Anger slays even wise men.²² It reminds me of David and Abigail. Perhaps, more to the point, one might consider it when facing the anger of God. The Hebrew word in the Masoretic text translated soft (Tanakh, KJV) and gentle (NET) was רַ֖ךְ (raḵ). The rabbis who translated the Septuagint understood it as ὑποπίπτουσα, a participle of ὑποπίπτω: “to fall; to occur, materialize, arise; to fall defeated; to fall under (a category); to fall within (a classification); to belong to; to cringe; to happen to, befall; to come to the notice of.” Abigail seems to have done all of this in her response to David’s threat (1 Samuel 25:14-38).

The rabbis who translated the Septuagint used a different preposition in each verse: πρὸς, in accordance with (NETS), according to (English Elpenor); κατὰ, according to (NETS, English Elpenor). It was a subtilty all but lost in English translation. Still, the second clause can give us understanding: lest thou also be like unto him (Tanakh, KJV), lest you yourself also be like him (NET), lest you become like him (NETS, English Elpenor).

The words translated folly were כְּאִוַּלְתּ֑וֹ (‘iûeleṯ) in the Masoretic text and ἀφροσύνην (a form of ἀφροσύνη) in the Septuagint. Jesus listed ἀφροσύνη as one of the things that defile a person (Mark 7:20-23 ESV):

And [Jesus] said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness (ἀφροσύνη) [Table]. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

In other words, if I answer a fool according to his folly simply to defend myself from his foolish accusations, I’m likely to become like him, defiling myself verbalizing my own foolishness. Here is another proverb about a fool and his foolishness.

If my intent were to show compassion to a fool trapped in his folly, his own sin, then I would answer him, but how?

I was shocked the first time I heard Paul distinguish between a rod and love: What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod (ράβδῳ, a form of ῥάβδος), or with love (ἐν ἀγάπῃ) in a spirit of gentleness?²³ But Peter wrote about a different way to answer fools: For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish (ἀφρόνων, another form of ἄφρων) people.²⁴

Whether beaten with a rod or silenced by followers of Jesus doing good, the Elpenor version of the Septuagint held out some hope for the foolish.

These words are absent from the Masoretic text and the BLB Septuagint.

3. Use context to determine who the “weak” are in Romans 15.

Without reading Romans 14 for its conceptual context, you are likely to determine that those called “weak” in Romans 15 are precisely the opposite of what Paul intended.

Observe the Historical, Cultural, and Literary Context p. 62

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and²⁵ let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand [Table]. (Romans 14:1-4 ESV)

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself,²⁶ but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For²⁷ if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus²⁸ serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.²⁹ The faith that you have, keep between yourself³⁰ and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:13-23 ESV)

Tables comparing Psalm 62:1; 62:2; Exodus 17:5; 17:6; Psalm 62:3; 62:4; 62:5; 62:6; 62:7; 62:8; 62:9; 62:10; 62:11; Proverbs 15:1; 26:4; 26:5; 26:11 and 26:3 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Psalm 62:1 (61:2); 62:2 (61:3); Exodus 17:5; 17:6; Psalm 62:3 (61:4); 62:4 (61:5); 62:5 (61:6); 62:6 (61:7); 62:7 (61:8); 62:8 (61:9); 62:9 (61:10); 62:10 (61:11); 62:11 (61:12); Proverbs 15:1; 26:4; 26:5; 26:11 and 26:3 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Luke 24:18, 19; 24:21, 22; 1 Peter 1:8; 1:11; Romans 14:3; 14:14, 15; 14:18 and 14:21, 22 in the KJV and NET follow.