I chose the book of Colossians as the first book to preach through in the church where I am the pastor of preaching. A large part of the reason I chose to preach through the book of Colossians is because I read Storms’ book on Colossians and benefited from it so much, that I felt like I wanted my flock to benefit from the great truths to be mined from the book of Colossians.
Colossians’ bottom line is all about Christ being our sufficiency period. As a pastor there is no truth that I want to convey more in my preaching, counseling, coaching, discipleship, and any teaching situation I find myself in. I find that the older I get and the more I experience and see people struggle – that our greatest need is always more of Jesus. It’s not a cliché – it’s just true.
I find that this book is useful as both a commentary and a devotional. Dr. Storms is a gifted scholar, but he is also a pastor and wonderfully balances mining the depths of Christ to be found in the book of Colossians with profound wisdom always leading to personal encouragement and application.
I am reading this book for the second time, and if the return of Christ lingers, I believe this will be a book I return to again and again to be encouraged in the infinite treasures that are to be found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. I highly recommend this book as one you will come to again and again to be encouraged in your walk with Jesus.
Book Review: Exegetical Guide to The Greek New Testament – Colossians and Philemon by Murray J. Harris
The Guide assumes the following:
1) You have completed an introductory New Testament Greek Course
2) You have learned the meanings of words occurring in the New Testament more than 25 times
3) You have been introduced to New Testament Textual Criticism
4) You own or have access to a copy of The Greek New Testament, fourth rev. ed. B. Aland, K. Aland, J. Karavidopoulos, C.M, Martini and B.M. Metzger (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, New York: United Bible Societies, 1993)
The stated purpose of this book (and the commentaries in this series) is “to close that gap between stranded student (or former student) and daunting text and to bridge that gulf between morphological analysis and exegesis.”
I found this commentary to be particularly helpful in helping me understand Paul’s logic, grammar, argumentation, and insights into the author’s original intentions in brining out the “big picture” of Colossians – The Supremacy of Christ Sufficient for All things. Along with a good devotional like Sam Storms, “The Hope of Glory”; a good English and Greek Based Commentary like Douglas Moo’s, or F. F. Bruce; and an application based commentary like David E. Garland’s – you should be set to study and teach Colossians with great effectiveness.
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Posted by lifecoach4God on June 9, 2011 in Bible Study Helps, Book Reviews, New Testament Studies
Tags: Colossians, Commentary, Murray J. Harris, Philemon