Prime Passages
PRIME PASSAGES
Virgil Warren, PhD
Genesis 3:20: “He named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all living.” Evolution
pictures descent as a group process instead of something that derives from one
pair of individuals.
Genesis 3:22: “Man has become like one of us.” Trinity in the Old Testament.
Cp. also Isaiah 6:8.
Exodus 3:14: God’s self-existence (aseity). “I am because I am.” He is independent being; there
is no higher frame of reference than God.
Exodus 3:14: God’s sovereignty
Leviticus 11:44-45: God’s holiness
See also Leviticus 19:2; 20:26; 21:8.
Judges 16:20: Having the Spirit is not something a person can tell by feeling.
Psalm 90:2: God’s eternality. He is without beginning or end.
See also Psalm 106:48.
Psalm 115:3: God’s omnipotence. God can do all things in keeping with his nature and purpose.
See also Job 42:1-2; Psalm 62:11-12; 147:5 (Mark 14:36);
Psalm 139:1-6: God’s omnipresence (by virtue of omniscience). Sometimes called
“immensity,” though it is doubtful how appropriate it is to use a spatial
description for him.
See also Psalm 34:15; Isaiah 66:1; Jeremiah 23:23-24; I Kings 3:27.
See also Job 38:4-5; Psalm 147:5; Isaiah 40:12-14; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Romans 11:33-36.
Isaiah 7:14: Old Testament witness to the virgin birth.
Isaiah 41:8: God’s interpersonal character. “Abraham, my friend.”
See also 2 Chronicles 20:7; James 2:23.
Ezekiel 18:4, 10-13, 14-18, 20: Guilt and penalty are personal; they are not transferable.
See also Leviticus 18:5; Deuteronomy 24:16; Jeremiah 31:30; Galatians 3:12.
Ezekiel 18:21-24, 25-32
Earlier sins are forgotten when we turn to righteousness (Ezekiel 18:26).
Our righteousness is forgotten when we turn to evil (Ezekiel (18:27-28).
The eternal state is based on final condition in life in contrast, say, to average across the whole or which largest proportion of his life was one way or the other.
Habakkuk 2:4: “The just shall have life by trust.” Therefore, salvation is by interpersonal
process, not by legal process.
See also Romans 1:16 and subsequently; Galatians 5:6-22; cp. Hebrews 10:36-12:2.
Malachi 3:6: God’s unchangeableness (immutability). God is self-consistent; hence, reliable.
See also Hebrews 13:18; James 1:17.
Matthew 1:18-25: The virgin birth.
See also Luke 1:26-34-38.
Matthew 1:25: “[Joseph] did not have sexual relations with [Mary] till she had borne a son.”
The perpetual virginity of Mary is not likely the case under this terminology, though “till” does not necessarily eliminate the occurrence of something after it.
See also Matthew 12:46-47; 13:55-57; Mark 6:2-3; John 2:12; 7:3, 5, 10; Acts
1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5; Galatians 1:19. The virgin birth, however, is clear from this context.
Matthew 5:18: God’s moral perfection. He is not subject to external standards of rectitude
See also Matthew Isaiah 40:28; 25:28; James 1:13, 17.
Matthew 16:18: “I will build my church.” The church did not exist before Pentecost (Acts 2).
Christ’s death would not stop that from happening.
Matthew 18:15-21: a pattern for church discipline.
Cp. 1 Corinthians 5.
Matthew 22:30: There is no marriage in the resurrection. People are like angels in the
resurrection.
Matthew 28:18-20: the standard baptism “formula”
Mark 2:7 (= Matthew 9:1-6 = Luke 5:20-36): “Who can forgive sin except God?” There is no
such thing as clerical absolution. Christianity is an interpersonal system, so it does
not work indirectly through an institution. Cp. Luke 7:36-50; 15:18, 21.
Mark 7:19: “He said this, making all meats clean.” Christians are not under the Mosaic dietary
laws.
Mark 15:2: “You say” means “yes,” not “That’s what you say (not what I say”: Mark 14:62
says directly, “Yes.”
Cp. Matthew 26:64; 27:11; Luke 22:761; 23:3.
Luke 5:20-25: Christ on earth had the right to forgive sins.
Luke 12:47-48: There are degrees of heaven and hell.
Luke 13:2-5: Adversity does not necessarily indicate sinfulness. Poetic justice does not govern
earthly process.
Cp. The Book of Job, John 9 (the man born blind)
Luke 16:27-31: There is more to disbelief than the inadequacy of evidence.
Luke 17:20-21: The kingdom of God is interpersonal (ἐντὸς ὑμῶν; cp. ἐν ὑμῖν).
Luke 19:11: The kingdom of God was not immediately to appear.
Luke 24:39: Angels are spirits who do not have flesh and blood.
Luke 24:39: Christ’s resurrection was a flesh and blood resurrection, not a “spiritual
resurrection.” It was an empty-tomb resurrection.
See also John 20:27.
John 3:14-15: the difference between cause and condition. A required act that precedes a result without causing it. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
John 4:24: God’s spirituality. He is not a force, material, limited by time or space.
John 8:44: The origin of evil lay with Satan, not God. He was the original liar and the father of
lies.
John 12:34: “Messiah abides forever.”
John 14:16: Distinction within the trinity: There is enough difference between the Son and the
Father for the Son to pray to the Father, enough distinction between the Father
and the Spirit for the Father to send the Spirit, and enough distinction between the Spirit and the Son for the Spirit to be “another” comforter.
Acts 2:4: Tongue speaking are actual languages (xenoglossia). “They began to speak in other
languages.” The miracle was not in the hearing.
Acts 2:38: The meaning of baptism. It is for identifying us with Christ, and on the basis of
that identity God forgives sin, gives his Spirit, and includes in the body of Christ, the church.
Acts 3:17: “I know that you and your rulers did this in ignorance.” Anti-Semitism is not in the
New Testament.
Acts 4:12: “There is no other name under heaven given among men by whom it is necessary to
be saved.” Mary is not co-redemptrix.
Acts 5:33-42: The resurrection of Jesus. Gamaliel’s argument for the resurrection.
Cp, John 12:34.
Acts 8:36-39: the form of baptism. Both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and then Philip baptized him. Then they both came up out of the water.
Acts 20:17 + 28: Bishop and elder are alternate terms for the same function in the church.
See also Titus 1:5 + 7
Acts 24:5: The resurrection of the wicked.
Romans 1:26-27: homosexual acts are sin.
Romans 2:12-16: the condition of the unevangelized.
Romans 3:27-28: Works in Paul’s discussions about salvation refers to “work of law,” that is,
works in the context of law, works in a legal setting, legal works; hence, works does not mean “doing something” or “doing something outward.”
Romans 14:19-23: Drinking alcoholic beverages is not necessarily sin.
See also Luke 7:33-35; 1 Timothy 3:8.
1 Corinthians 7:12-15: Desertion is grounds for divorce.
1 Corinthians 7:25: The difference between advice and commandment.
1 Corinthians 8:4: God’s unicity. He is the only one of his kind; there is no god like the God of
Israel.
1 Corinthians 10:13: God will not allow you to be tempted above what you can bear.
1 Corinthians 11:17-18 + 16:1: The frequency of the Lord’s Supper in apostolic practice was
weekly.
1 Corinthians 11:18-19: Church division. Those who stand for the truth are not (necessarily)
guilty of causing division because of the way others react to the stance.
1 Corinthians 14:32: The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet. Prophesying is not
accompanied by ecstasy; languages (“tongues”) are not ecstatic utterance.
2 Corinthians 5:7: Christian epistemology. The relationship of faith and knowledge. “We walk
(hence, know) by faith, not by sight (direct experience).” Most everything we
know is indirect—trust in another—rather than by direct experience.
2 Corinthians 5:18-20: Salvation is reconciliation to God; lostness is alienation from him.
See also Romans 5:10-11; 11:15; Ephesians 2:14-18; 4:14-16; Colossians 1:19-
23.
2 Corinthians 12:8-9: Answered prayer. Not every faithful prayer is answered “yes.”
Paul’s thorn in the flesh was not removed, though prayed about three times.
See also Matthew 26:37-42 = Mark 14:33-36 = Luke 22:41-44.
Galatians 3:6 (< Genesis 15:6): Righteousness is reckoned (imputed, considered) to a person by
God. Faith itself does not make a person righteous; God considers him righteous
on the basis of his trust in the righteous Christ.
Galatians 3:10-14: “Works” means the principle of personal perfection (in Paul).
Galatians 3:10(-14): Why a person cannot save himself: perfection once lost cannot be
overcome.
Galatians 3:15-22: Grace is more basic than law as it preceded law in God’s operation; hence,
legal operation was a secondary, temporary process in divine relations to mankind. Grace does not take place inside of legal operation.
Galatians 3:19-21: The purpose of the law was to define sin and sensitize to sin.
See also Romans 5:20.
Galatians 5:18-24: The fruit of the spirit is interpersonal; it is spiritual fruit in contrast to flesh.
Galatians 6:7-10: The Law of the Harvest says that the cause and result/product/consequence
must be of the same kind. “You reap what you sow.”
See also Hosea 8:7; no grapes from thorns or figs from thistles
Primary application: salvation has an interpersonal base rather than a legal one.
Ephesians 3:17: “Christ dwells in your hearts by faith.” The indwelling of the Spirit is not a
locational matter. It refers to a close relationship based on interpersonal trust.
Philippians 1:21-24: “Soul sleeping” is not the case; we are evidently with Christ consciously in
the intermediate state.
See also Luke 23:43; Revelation 6:9-11.
Philippians 2:5-8: Christ’s pre-existence.
See also John 1:1.
Colossians 1:9-10: the concept of reciprocation (sometimes called circular causation)
See also 2 Peter 1:5-8.
Colossians 2:16: “Do not let anyone judge you in regard to . . . Sabbath day.” Christians do not
observe the Sabbath.
Colossians 2:23: There is no value to self-flagellation.
1 Timothy 3:8: Wine for medicinal purposes is not forbidden. “Take a little wine for your
stomach’s sake.”
1 Timothy 6:16: God’s invisibility/imperceptibility. He must manifest himself to become
perceivable.
See also Judges 16:20.
2 Timothy 2:2: “What you have learned from me (a) commit to (b) faithful men who (c) can
teach others.” The ongoing formula for ministry and ministry preparation.
2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All scripture is God-breathed.” Scripture is as if God himself is breathing
it out—is exhaling it.
See also 2 Peter 1:20-21.
Titus 1:6-7: “Husband of one wife” does not require elders and deacons to be married. “A man
must be blameless as God’s steward”; “Blameless” appears after the expression “husband of one wife” as well; hence, the qualification is meant in a moral sense, a quality of person sense.
Hebrews 1:8: The deity of the Messiah, the Son
See also John 1:1; Philippians 2:5-6.
Hebrews 4:15: the sinlessness of the Messiah.
Hebrews 7:27: Christians have a closed canon. There is no subsequent revelation after Christ as
there was after the Mosaic law.
See also Hebrews 10:10; Revelation 22:18-19.
Hebrews 8:7-8 < Jeremiah 31:31-34: Christians are not under the law. God promised to give
establish another covenant and another kind of covenant.
Hebrews 9:15: Christ is the basis for salvation of those from the Mosaic dispensation. In fact,
all salvation is figured in relationship to Jesus Christ.
See also “no other name”; 1 Peter 3:18-21; (4:6).
Hebrews 9:27: Reincarnation does not the case. It is appointed to men once to die and after that
comes the judgment.
Hebrews 10:36-39: Apostasy is possible.
We can’t suppose that apostasy was possible under first covenant but not under second covenant because the Hebrew writer uses a text from first covenant (Habakkuk 2:4) as a basis for his comments to people under second covenant.
We can’t suppose that the writer is talking about backsliding rather than apostasy, because he says, “to perdition.”
We can’t suppose that the writer is talking about someone convinced but not committed, because he says, “my righteous one.”
We can’t suppose that the writer is talking about interpersonally lost but not categorically lost, because, again, he says “to perdition.”
Hebrews 11:17-20: Sanctified imagination. How Abraham squared the promise of progeny
through Isaac and the command to sacrifice Isaac.
See also Genesis 20:1-5-19.
1 Peter 3:16-21: Baptism is not designed primarily to serve as a testimony to other people.
Instead, it is an appeal of/for a good conscience toward God.
1 Peter 3:18-21; (4:6): Salvation from the patriarchal ages is figured relative to Christ.
2 Peter 3:9: God does not want anyone to perish; (he wants) everyone to come to repentance.
Salvation is intended for everyone (conditionally universal).
1 John 3:17: “How does the love of God abide in a person who sees his brother in need and does
nothing to help—“shuts up compassion?” God’s love is not a “distinguishing
love.” It is not offered to some and withheld from most.
Revelation 6:4: “ . . .that men should slay one another.” The text shows that the reciprocal
pronoun “one another,” besides A to B to A (“love one another”) has also the value A to B , G to H, etc., within a group. The example clarifies the usage in Ephesians 5:21 about deferring to “one another” in the family group. It is not wife to husband to wife, but wife to husband, child to parent, slave to master.
Revelation 19:10: Christians are not to bow down in obeisance to other Christians, other people,
or even angels. The passage is a warning against clerical obeisance.
See also Revelation 22:8-9.
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