Salvation is not a reward. It’s a gift.

Romans 4:1-25 -  Salvation is not a ‘reward’ to be ‘earned’. It is God’s ‘gift’ (4-5). Salvation comes from the Lord. ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only Son’ (John 3:16): Without the love of God, the gift of God, the Son of God, there can be no salvation. The way of …

Spiritual power

What is spiritual power? Where does it come from? Does spiritual power come from within ourselves? Jesus tells us that it comes from somewhere else. It's "power from on high" (Luke 24:49). It's the "power" of "the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:8). What happened on "the day of Pentecost"? Did Jesus' followers discover spiritual power within …

Jesus will come … again!

"I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty" (Malachi 3:1). We come to the end of the Old Testament - but we haven't reached the end of God's story. There is more …

Out of Satan’s darkness, into the light of the Lord

How do we get from this - "Lord, you are the God who saves me" (Psalm 88:1) - to this - "darkness is my closest friend" (Psalm 88:18)? - "An enemy has done this" (Matthew 13:28). God's people are under constant attack - from Satan, the enemy of God and his people. Satan is a …

Jesus was a Jew. Jesus is for all nations.

Learning From God's Word

Jesus was a Jew – “a descendant of David” (Romans 1:3).

Jesus is for “all nations” (Romans 1:5).

Jesus was a Jew.

If we are to understand Jesus, we need to go back to the Old Testament Scriptures, We need to read about what God did for his people, Israel. This is not to say that we should lose ourselves in the history of Israel. As well as learning from the Old Testament, we should, also, turn our attention to the New Testament Scriptures.

Jesus is for all nations.

In the Old Testament, there are a few glimpses of the “all nations” purpose of God. When we come to the New Testament, this emphasis on “all nations” becomes the dominant teaching. We don’t forget what we have learned from the Old Testament – but we learn to read the Old Testament in the light of what we read in the…

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With Christ’s example, the encouragement of the Scriptures and the enabling power of God, let us love one another.

Romans 15:1-33 -  With Christ’s example, ‘the encouragement of the Scriptures’ and the enabling power of God, let us love one another,‘with one heart and one voice’ (1-6). This is the way of glorifying God. Trusting in Christ, ‘the root of Jesse’, we are blessed by ‘the God of hope’, filled with ‘the power of …

Romans 11-14

Romans 11:1-36 -  ‘You stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe’ (20). In 9:32, Paul contrasted ‘faith’ and ‘works’. Here, he contrasts ‘grace’ and ‘works’ (6). Grace and faith belong together. ‘Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy Cross I cling’ (Church Hymnary, 83) – This …

When you feel like giving up

ROMANS 1:1-32 -  ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith’ (16). Do you think it was easy for Paul to maintain such commitment to Christ, such confidence in Christ? What kind of world did he live in? – A world of …

Praying Through God’s Word: Romans

Romans 1:1-32 "I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith" (Romans 1:16). Lord, we thank You for Your Gospel. It is Good News. It comes to us with power. It brings to us salvation. Help us to believe Your Gospel, to release …

We thank You, Lord, that “we have peace with You through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We thank You, Lord, that "we have peace with You through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). We thank You that "Jesus is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14). This peace is not something that comes from within ourselves. It comes to us from outside of ourselves. It comes from above. It comes to us from You. …