Study Desk

There will be a day when God will judge because He knows the secret thoughts of men. He will do this through Jesus Christ. This is part of the Good News I preach.

You are a Jew and think you are safe because of the Law. You tell others about how you know God.

The Holy Writings say, "God's name is hated by the people who are not Jews because of you."

A man is not a Jew just because he goes through the religious act of becoming a Jew.

What then do we have to be proud of? Nothing at all! Why? Is it because men obey the Law? No! It is because men put their trust in Christ.

If a man has not worked to be saved, but has put his trust in God Who saves men from the punishment of their sins, that man is made right with God because of his trust in God.

He is also the early father of all those who have gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew. It is not because they went through the act. It is because they put their trust in God the same as Abraham did before he went through the religious act of becoming a Jew.

God promised to give the world to him and to all his family after him. He did not make this promise because Abraham obeyed the Law. He promised to give the world to Abraham because he put his trust in God. This made him right with God.

So God's promise is given to us because we put our trust in Him. We can be sure of it. It is because of His loving-favor to us. It is for all the family of Abraham. It is for those who obey the Law. It is for those who put their trust in God as Abraham did. In this way, he is the father of all Christians.

The Holy Writings say, "I have made you a father of many nations." This promise is good because of Who God is. He makes the dead live again. He speaks, and something is made out of nothing.

Now that we have been made right with God by putting our trust in Him, we have peace with Him. It is because of what our Lord Jesus Christ did for us.

Hope never makes us ashamed because the love of God has come into our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.

This is what happened: Sin came into the world by one man, Adam. Sin brought death with it. Death spread to all men because all have sinned.

God's free gift is not like the sin of Adam. Many people died because of the sin of this one man, Adam. But the loving-favor of God came to many people also. This gift came also by one Man Jesus Christ, God's Son.

The free gift of God is not like Adam's sin. God told Adam he was guilty because of his sin and through this one came sin and guilt. But the free gift makes men right with God. Through One, Christ, men's sins are forgiven.

The power of death was over all men because of the sin of one man, Adam. But many people will receive His loving-favor and the gift of being made right with God. They will have power in life by Jesus Christ.

You must do the same thing! Think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But now you have new life because of Jesus Christ our Lord. You are living this new life for God.

Sin must not have power over you. You are not living by the Law. You have life because of God's loving-favor.

What are we to do then? Are we to sin because we have God's loving-favor and are not living by the Law? No, not at all!

I speak with words easy to understand because your human thinking is weak. At one time you gave yourselves over to the power of sin. You kept on sinning all the more. Now give yourselves over to being right with God. Set yourself apart for God-like living and to do His work.