Letter to Christians in Rome: Chapter 4 (pt 9 of 13)

One of the problems we run into in the Church is that we have not seen the difference between dust and stars. Let me explain. In Genesis 13:16, when Abram chose his land and decided to settle in it, God said to him, “Abram, I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth.”

Letter to Christians in Rome: Chapter 4 (pt 8 of 13)

Listen how Paul explains this phenomenon about choice in the next chapter of Romans: . . . for until the Law, sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law —Romans 5:13

Letter to Christians in Rome: Chapter 4 (pt 7 of 13)

“The ancient promise made to Abraham and his descendant, that they should eventually possess the world, [or more literally: the God who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that He has foretold and promised as if they already existed] wasn’t given because of any achievements made through obedience to the [...]

Letter to Christians in Rome: Chapter 4 (pt 6 of 13)

“Now an important question arises: is this happiness for the circumcised only, or those who are uncircumcised, as well? “Note this carefully. We began by saying that Abraham’s faith was counted unto him for righteousness. When this happened, was he circumcised at the time? Well, no, he wasn’t.; he was still uncircumcised—It was afterward that [...]

Letter to Christians in Rome: Chapter 4 (pt 5 of 13)

Now how does all this affect the position of our ancestor Abraham? Well, if justification were by achievement he could quite fairly be proud of what he achieved – but not, I am sure, proud before God. For what does scripture say about him? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness’—Romans [...]

Letter to Christians in Rome: Chapter 4 (pt 4 of 13)

I ran across an excellent quotation that puts this false dichotomy of Law versus Grace into perspective. What makes this quotation interesting is its source. You see, it comes from one of the more progressive commentaries on the Bible, the World Bible Commentary, and disappointedly, many modern Seminaries and Bible colleges recommend this multi-volume work [...]

Letter to Christians in Rome: Chapter 4 (pt 3 of 13)

The Hebrews never believed they could “work their way to heaven.” They fully recognized that righteousness had to be a gift from YHWH (we know it as Grace). In one of the studies from Tom Bradford, of The Torah Class, he mentioned an excellent book and if you enjoy challenges, he recommended reading a book [...]

Letter to Christians in Rome: Chapter 4 (pt 2 of 13)

If we pull this pattern forward a few thousand years, YHWH has prepared a final Ark, Yeshua, Jesus the Christ. He has become a safe haven for the righteous for that day when He pours out His wrath and ends the world as we know it—again.

Letter to Christians in Rome: Chapter 4 (pt 1 of 13)

There are three phases of redemption, as Paul outlines them for us. I am sure you are familiar with them: justification, sanctification, and glorification. Chapter 4 illustrates the meaning of justification. Paul begins this theme in the closing part of chapter three, where he shows us that justification means that God gives us a righteous [...]

Letter to Christians in Rome: Chapter 3 (pt 6 of 6)

[Oops, I miscounted, instead of 5 parts of chapter 3, there are six. So here is the final post of this chapter] Okay Paul, why in the world would God do this?