Tim’s Blog

A Translation of Philippians 3

November 10, 2012

I’m preaching on Philippians 3:20-21 on Sunday, so as I do on occasion, am offering my translation of the chapter here.

1 As for the rest, my brothers: rejoice in the Lord. It is not troublesome for me to write the same things to you; but for you it is safe. 2 Beware the dogs; beware the evil workers; beware the mutilation!

3 For we ourselves are the circumcision, the ones who offer service in the Spirit of God, and who boast in the Messiah, Jesus, rather than having confidence in the flesh.

4 Though—I also could have confidence in the flesh! if anyone else thinks he could have confidence in the flesh, I could have more: 5 circumcised the eighth day; from the race of Israel; of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; according to Torah, a Pharisee; 6 according to zeal, persecuting the church; according to the righteousness in Torah, being blameless.read more »

John 3: Salvation-Historical Backdrop

November 1, 2012

(Another entry from my old timgallant.org blog.)

John 3 is arguably one of the most misused chapters in the Bible, partly because it is so temptingly quotable that the overall context gets ignored very easily. It is important that one keep in mind the earlier observations I made in connection with chapter 1: the salvation-historical themes are very much at the heart of what Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus is about, and yet most discussion of the chapter ignores them. Not good.

We read of Nicodemus coming to Jesus and saying things that seem pretty promising… until we notice that this is recorded immediately after the note about Jesus not entrusting Himself to those who believed in His name, because He knew all men, and what was in men (2.24-25). So while I think there is good indication that Nicodemus ultimately took the full step of faith into the new covenant kingdom, we have some context here for understanding why Jesus responds the way He does.read more »

Reflections on John 1

November 1, 2012

(This is a reposting of something I posted on my old blog at timgallant.org a few years ago.)

One of the first things that we need to unlearn is the unfortunate assumption that what is going on in John is all about our systematic theological category of “regeneration.” Although the Gospel’s themes are related to that, that approach dehistoricizes the events of the Gospel and robs us of much of the richness of the biblical backdrop.

We’re probably all familiar with the echo of Genesis 1 that we find in John 1.1, so I won’t dwell on it here much. The Greek form behind our translation “the Word was God” is anarthrous (no article) and thus stresses the character of the Word – what He is, if you will. The articular form is generally only used of the Father, and therefore, we don’t expect it. Thus the intention of John 1.1 is essentially to state that the Word is God, just as “the God” (the Father) is God, and the Word is the Word God spoke in creation and was mutual party in the conversations of Genesis 1 (e.g. where we read, “And God said, ‘Let us…'”).read more »

Rebirth

November 1, 2012

I tried migrating my old blog, but lost some configurations, so not sure anything can be salvaged. Looks like I may be starting fresh.