He has watched her from afar ... Paul Reed has been raising children since he was a child himself, but he wouldn't change his life, even if given an opportunity. That is, until one of his brothers says four little words that shake the foundation of his world. "She's not a lesbian," shouldn't be quite so earth shattering, but suddenly the woman he loves is available, and he'll do whatever it takes to win her over. They call her Friday, and she's hiding more than just her name ... Friday has worked in the Reeds' tattoo parlor for four years. She's become more than just an employee, and she loves being in the middle of something so wonderful. She treasures the way the Reeds live for one another, and she adores the way they take care of their family. She would do just about anything to be part of it, if not for the fact that she doesn't deserve a family of her own. Or does she? Friday is punishing herself for her past, and by doing so, she pushes away the one man who could truly love her. Separately, they're strong. Together, they're vulnerable. As a team, they rock.

In Promise, Law, Faith, T. David Gordon argues that Paul uses “promise/ἐπαγγελία,” “law/νόµος,” and “faith/πίστις” in Galatians to denote three covenant-administrations by synecdoche (a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa), and that he chose each synecdoche because it characterized the distinctive (but not exclusive) feature of that covenant. For instance, Gordon argues, the Abrahamic covenant was characterized by three remarkable promises made to an aging couple (to have numerous descendants, who would inherit a large, arable land, and the “Seed” of whom would one day bless all the nations of the world); the Sinai covenant was characterized by the many laws given (both originally at Sinai and later in the remainder of the Mosaic corpus); and the New Covenant is characterized by faith in the dying and rising of Christ. As Gordon’s subtitle suggests, he believes that both the “dominant Protestant approach” to Galatians and the New Perspectives on Paul approach fail to appreciate that Paul’s reasoning in Galatians is covenant-historical (this is what Gordon calls perhaps a “Third Perspective on Paul”). In Galatians, Paul is not arguing that one covenant is good and the other bad; rather, he is arguing that the Sinai covenant was only a temporary covenant-administration between the promissory Abrahamic covenant and its ultimate fulfilment in the New Covenant in Jesus. For a specific time, the Sinai covenant isolated the Israelites from the nations to preserve the memory of the Abrahamic promises and to preserve the integrity of his “seed/Seed,” through whom one day the same nations would one day be richly blessed. But once that Seed arrived in Jesus, providing the “grace of repentance” to the Gentiles, it was no longer necessary or proper to segregate them from the descendants of Abraham. Paul’s argument in Galatians is therefore covenant-historical; he corrects misbehaviors (that is, requiring observance of the Mosaic Law) associated with the New Covenant by describing the relation of that New Covenant to the two covenants instituted before it—the Abrahamic and the Sinaitic—hence the covenants of promise, law, and faith. Effectively, Paul argues that the New Covenant is a covenant in its own right that displaces the temporary, Christ-anticipating, Israel-threatening, and Gentile-excluding Sinai covenant.

Prof. Dahl examines the life, theology, and significance of the Apostle Paul in the development of the church. The variety of topics and the thoroughness of the research make these essays indispensable to all who study the New Testament.

The New Testament epistles are a marvelous guidebook full of practical wisdom on living the Christian faith. Providing much more than just a glimpse of the specific issues facing the early church, the pastoral letters contain a multitude of timeless lessons for contemporary spiritual pilgrims who seek to grow in their daily walk with the Lord. In these outstanding sermons based on the Second Readings from Cycle B of the Revised Common Lectionary, the epistles' nourishing teachings are applied to today's complex challenges. Here is a wealth of creative ideas and illustrations helpful for preaching, teaching, and meditation. These biblically grounded sermons shine the light of Christ on our often-confusing world and proclaim the richness of God's truth, offering readers comfort and hope while challenging them to a more intense faith relationship with the Almighty.