Study Desk

Everything depends on having faith in God, so that God's promise is assured by his great kindness. This promise isn't only for Abraham's descendants who have the Law. It is for all who are Abraham's descendants because they have faith, just as he did. Abraham is the ancestor of us all.

The Scriptures say that Abraham would become the ancestor of many nations. This promise was made to Abraham because he had faith in God, who raises the dead to life and creates new things.

They were written for us, since we will also be accepted because of our faith in God, who raised our Lord Jesus to life.

By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God.

But that's not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure.

that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love.

But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life's blood, we will also be kept safe from God's anger.

Even when we were God's enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his Son's life.

And in addition to everything else, we are happy because God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to make peace with us.

Sin was in the world before the Law came. But no record of sin was kept, because there was no Law.

Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.

Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life.

Sin ruled by means of death. But God's kindness now rules, and God has accepted us because of Jesus Christ our Lord. This means that we will have eternal life.

What does all this mean? Does it mean we are free to sin, because we are ruled by God's wonderful kindness and not by the Law? Certainly not!

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.

Sin used this command to trick me, and because of it I died.

The Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ's body to condemn sin.

Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God's laws.

But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins.

His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him.