Here is a careful, balanced, scholarly study of an important subject. The author is a New Testament scholar; but he is also a pastor with a warm heart for the health of the local church. Those who preach and those who train and equip preachers will be helped by working carefully through the lucid exegetical work presented here, and following it through to its theological and pastoral conclusions. I commend very warmly this perceptive contribution to the debates surrounding the subject.