Study Desk

In view of all this, what can we say? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Certainly not God, who did not even keep back his own Son, but offered him for us all! He gave us his Son—will he not also freely give us all things?

Who, then, will condemn them? Not Christ Jesus, who died, or rather, who was raised to life and is at the right side of God, pleading with him for us!

As the scripture says, "For your sake we are in danger of death at all times; we are treated like sheep that are going to be slaughtered."

For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future,

for my people, my own flesh and blood! For their sake I could wish that I myself were under God's curse and separated from Christ.

I am not saying that the promise of God has failed; for not all the people of Israel are the people of God.

For God's promise was made in these words: "At the right time I will come back, and Sarah will have a son."

And this is not all. For Rebecca's two sons had the same father, our ancestor Isaac.

For he said to Moses, "I will have mercy on anyone I wish; I will take pity on anyone I wish."

For the scripture says to the king of Egypt, "I made you king in order to use you to show my power and to spread my fame over the whole world."

After all, the man who makes the pots has the right to use the clay as he wishes, and to make two pots from the same lump of clay, one for special occasions and the other for ordinary use.

For we are the people he called, not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles.

for the Lord will quickly settle his full account with the world."

My friends, how I wish with all my heart that my own people might be saved! How I pray to God for them!

For Christ has brought the Law to an end, so that everyone who believes is put right with God.

For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved.

As the scripture says, "Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved."

But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard the message? And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed?

But I ask: Is it true that they did not hear the message? Of course they did—for as the scripture says: "The sound of their voice went out to all the world; their words reached the ends of the earth."