Romans 9–11 is a difficult and debated section of Scripture in terms of God’s role in salvation and ethnic Israel’s role in the redemptive plan of God. Over the next few weeks, I hope to crystallize my own thoughts about these chapters into a few posts, passage by passage, as we work through this section… Read More »
Is eternal life really eternal? Does my salvation really last forever? Will my present standing in Christ truly result in glorification? Will heaven be mine one day? Romans 8:31–39 answers these questions in multiple ways. This passage powerfully teaches the doctrine of eternity security—that once we are saved, we will always be saved, thanks to… Read More »
Romans 8:16 asserts, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” What does this verse mean? The verb “bears witness with” is all one word in the Greek (summartureō), a combination of the preposition “with” (sun) and the verb “to bear witness” (martureō). Paul uses this verb only two… Read More »
The New Testament uses the word adoption (huiothesia) five times. Theologically, “Adoption means to be placed as an adult son of God and given all the rights and privileges of a son.”1 What can we learn about adoption from these five verses? The Adoption of Israel Paul states of the Israelites in Romans 9:4 that… Read More »
Our good and holy God gave Israel the Mosaic Law. “The law is holy” (Rom 7:12), “the law is good” (1 Tim 1:8), and “we uphold the law” (Rom 3:31). The law is fulfilled in us through Christ who works in us to carry out its greatest commandments—loving God and our neighbor (Rom 8:3–4; 10:5;… Read More »
In Romans 3:21–26, Paul speaks of how God justifies someone, that is, declares someone to be righteous. Humanly speaking, God justifies through a person’s faith in Jesus Christ. Divinely speaking, God justifies the believer “by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). What is “the redemption that… Read More »
The following loosely organizes many verses using at least one of three related words in the New Testament: “calling” (klēsis), “to call” (kaleō), and “called” (klētos). The calling in each of these verses involves God’s effectual call in which He brings the sinner to Himself for salvation. When and How God’s calling comes to a… Read More »
Jude’s purpose in his letter for his readers is clear: “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). It’s funny that, even though Jude… Read More »
“We aren’t speaking anymore.” “My sin is too big for God to forgive.” Have you ever heard statements like these? One pastor observes, “Early in my pastoral ministry I noticed an interesting fact: nearly all the personal problems that drive people to seek pastoral counsel are related in some way to the issue of forgiveness.… Read More »
Romans 8:29–30 states, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”… Read More »