Study Desk

So, my brothers and sisters, we must not be ruled by our sinful selves or live the way our sinful selves want.

If we are God's children, we will receive blessings from God together with Christ. But we must suffer as Christ suffered so that we will have glory as Christ has glory.

Not only the world, but we also have been waiting with pain inside us. We have the Spirit as the first part of God's promise. So we are waiting for God to finish making us his own children, which means our bodies will be made free.

God knew them before he made the world, and he chose them to be like his Son so that Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters.

So what should we say about this? If God is for us, no one can defeat us.

He did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all. So with Jesus, God will surely give us all things.

But before the two boys were born, God told Rebekah, "The older will serve the younger." This was before the boys had done anything good or bad. God said this so that the one chosen would be chosen because of God's own plan. He was chosen because he was the one God wanted to call, not because of anything he did.

So what should we say about this? Is God unfair? In no way.

So God will choose the one to whom he decides to show mercy; his choice does not depend on what people want or try to do.

The Scripture says to the king of Egypt: "I made you king for this reason: to show my power in you so that my name will be talked about in all the earth."

So God shows mercy where he wants to show mercy, and he makes stubborn the people he wants to make stubborn.

So one of you will ask me: "Then why does God blame us for our sins? Who can fight his will?"

He waited with patience so that he could make known his rich glory to the people who receive his mercy. He has prepared these people to have his glory,

So what does all this mean? Those who are not Jews were not trying to make themselves right with God, but they were made right with God because of their faith.

Because they did not know the way that God makes people right with him, they tried to make themselves right in their own way. So they did not accept God's way of making people right.

Christ ended the law so that everyone who believes in him may be right with God.

We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved.

So faith comes from hearing the Good News, and people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.

So I ask: Did God throw out his people? No! I myself am an Israelite from the family of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

So this is what has happened: Although the Israelites tried to be right with God, they did not succeed, but the ones God chose did become right with him. The others were made stubborn and refused to listen to God.