Paul addressed the question: since not all Israel, or all people, are saved, is God unjust? Has His love failed us somehow? His answer is a firm “No”. God is not unjust; He is merciful!

Along with all creation, we groan, awaiting the renewal of our bodies, which God has secured for us in Jesus. In the waiting, God’s Spirit also groans within us, aligning us with God’s purposes.

Everything we have received from God for salvation has been by the work of the Spirit applying Christ’s benefits to us.

Paul takes us into the ongoing inner battle we face against our flesh, even as those who have been inwardly spiritually renewed and destined for eternity.

In Christ we’ve been freed from the slavery of sin and brought into a new way of life that leads to eternal holiness. The path we’ve been freed to walk is obedience - to a good and loving master.

God’s church is called many things: a building, a body, a light, but also a family. Of all the things families do, one thing they all do is fight. How do we live as God’s people in a family that will inevitably argue and fight? By seeing and treating each other the way God has treated us.

What does the Lord desire for and from us as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper?

Paul goes on to answer the question of how the great benefits of the Gospel become ours. It’s our association with Christ, with Him as our representative before God that we are able to receive life. Faith moves us from being found in Adam, under the reign of death, into the righteousness and eternal life Jesus offers.

After laying out the bad news of our absolute inability to approach God on our own terms, Paul shows how God himself has provided all that it needed for righteousness before Him, through Jesus Christ and His atoning work.

Humans have a tendency to sit over and above others when we feel privileged. Paul turns to the Jews now to ensure they know their own broken, condemned state before God, even as those who were privileged with God’s law.

The Gospel reveals both God’s righteousness in Christ, but also why we needed it. Paul lays out here the harsh reality of our wickedness and where it comes from; a suppression of the truth of God’s existence. Yet, even in the face of this truth, the hope of salvation is still held out in the gospel.

The Gospel is God’s power for salvation for all people. It drives everything the apostle Paul does. It prompts his prayers, it drives his plans, and it overflows into his proclamation.

The relevance of Paul's Gospel message is wholly dependent on and determined by the reality of who Jesus Christ is. Paul claims that he is both a human descendant of David, according to God’s promises, and, by His resurrection, declared to be the Holy Son of God. It’s faith in this Jesus that brings about eternal change in our lives.

If Jesus rose from the dead, if the tomb was empty, then our hope in Him is absolutely certain. He has loved us, forgiven our sins, secured us for eternity, and sharing his message is worthwhile.

All the people watching Jesus being crucified hurled insults at him, saying, “Save yourself”. The truth is, he could have, but he didn’t. He stayed there for us, because we couldn’t save ourselves.

Jesus responds to the Pharisee’s faulty view of marriage in God’s kingdom with God’s ideal and expectation. Marriage models Jesus’ faithful commitment to his people.

God’s heart beats for those who are in need. In Mark 9, Jesus helps his disciples understand that being like God is losing yourself to serve the least among them, just like Jesus did for us.

Jesus wants his disciples, and all those who will follow him to see the call clearly. The way of the Christ is the way of the cross, and so too the way of the Christian is the way of the Christ.

Jesus meets two different groups of people who demonstrate for us what it looks like to approach God with genuine humility, understanding who we are in light of who He is.

Unlike what many of can think, that our greatest problems are external. Jesus clearly describes where our greatest problems come from - the heart!