Study Desk

We have been made right with God because of our faith. So we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have been made right with God by the blood sacrifice of Christ. So through Christ we will surely be saved from God's anger.

Sin came into the world because of what one man did. And with sin came death. So this is why all people must die—because all people have sinned.

One man sinned, and so death ruled all people because of that one man. But now some people accept God's full grace and his great gift of being made right. Surely they will have true life and rule through the one man, Jesus Christ.

So that one sin of Adam brought the punishment of death to all people. But in the same way, Christ did something so good that it makes all people right with God. And that brings them true life.

The law was brought in so that more people would sin the way Adam did. But where sin increased, there was even more of God's grace.

Sin once used death to rule us. But God gave us more of his grace so that grace could rule by making us right with him. And this brings us eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So do you think we should continue sinning so that God will give us more and more grace?

Of course not! Our old sinful life ended. It's dead. So how can we continue living in sin?

So when we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and took part in his death. And just as Christ was raised from death by the wonderful power of the Father, so we can now live a new life.

Christ died, and we have been joined with him by dying too. So we will also be joined with him by rising from death as he did.

We know that our old life was put to death on the cross with Christ. This happened so that our sinful selves would have no power over us. Then we would not be slaves to sin.

So what should we do? Should we sin because we are under grace and not under law? Certainly not!

Brothers and sisters, you all understand the Law of Moses. So surely you know that the law rules over people only while they are alive.

But if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, the law says she is guilty of adultery. But if her husband dies, she is made free from the law of marriage. So if she marries another man after her husband dies, she is not guilty of adultery.

In the same way, my brothers and sisters, your old selves died and you became free from the law through the body of Christ. Now you belong to someone else. You belong to the one who was raised from death. We belong to Christ so that we can be used in service to God.

In the past we were ruled by our sinful selves. The law made us want to do sinful things. And those sinful desires controlled our bodies, so that what we did only brought us spiritual death.

In the past the law held us as prisoners, but our old selves died, and we were made free from the law. So now we serve God in a new way, not in the old way, with the written rules. Now we serve God in the new way, with the Spirit.

And sin found a way to use that command and make me want all kinds of things that weren't mine. So sin came to me because of the command. But without the law, sin has no power.

We know that the law is spiritual, but I am not. I am so human. Sin rules me as if I were its slave.