Study Desk

Now I am on trial because I believe the promise God made to our people long ago.

"Who are you?" I asked. Then the Lord answered, "I am Jesus! I am the one you are so cruel to.

The Lord also said, "I will protect you from the Jews and from the Gentiles that I am sending you to.

But Paul replied, "Honorable Festus, I am not crazy. What I am saying is true, and it makes sense.

None of these things happened off in a corner somewhere. I am sure that King Agrippa knows what I am talking about. That's why I can speak so plainly to him."

Cheer up! I am sure that God will do exactly what he promised.

I am bound by these chains because of what we people of Israel hope for. That's why I have called you here to talk about this hope of ours.

What I am saying is that we can encourage each other by the faith that is ours.

It doesn't matter if people are civilized and educated, or if they are uncivilized and uneducated. I must tell the good news to everyone. That's why I am eager to visit all of you in Rome.

I am proud of the good news! It is God's powerful way of saving all people who have faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.

I am using these everyday examples, because in some ways you are still weak. You used to let the different parts of your body be slaves of your evil thoughts. But now you must make every part of your body serve God, so that you will belong completely to him.

Am I saying that something good caused my death? Certainly not! It was sin that killed me by using something good. Now we can see how terrible and evil sin really is.

We know that the Law is spiritual. But I am merely a human, and I have been sold as a slave to sin.

So I am not the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.

And so, if I don't do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.

What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die?

I am sure that what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us.

I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future,

I am a follower of Christ, and the Holy Spirit is a witness to my conscience. So I tell the truth and I am not lying when I say

my heart is broken and I am in great sorrow.