"The Whole Book"

Saturday, September 13, 2025

#1629 Romans 6 Part 1 May It Never Be

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died has been justified from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6: 1-14 LSB

Romans 6:1-14

V. 1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase - Sounds like a dumb question, but Paul has already been accused of teaching an antinomian view. All these chapters build on each other, and now Paul is going deeper into what the new birth looks like, what it means to be born again, a new creature. He is showing that our salvation doesn't end with justification, that there is also sanctification, where we are being conformed more and more to the image of Christ. It all happens when a person is genuinely saved, they are regenerated, given the gift of faith and repentance to believe that the God who justifies also sanctifies. He not only pays our debt, but He changes us from within, and we don't know everything all at once, in fact, in time and space our sanctification can seem to drag on forever. He gives us His word though, and it is there that we grow, not only in knowledge but also desire. Our new nature causes us to see more things in light of what they really are, sin, and we come to detest this in ourselves more and more as we grow. This is not just an old argument from Paul's time, but those who have reformed back to Scripture in every age have come up against this sort of apostasy that says, "I am a Christian, Jesus has paid for my sins, I said a prayer, but I don't call some things sin that He calls sin, or I know this is a sin, but I am more of a carnal Christian." There is no such doctrine as that of the carnal Christian. A lot of churches that teach that also remove unpopular Biblical teachings like church discipline and the life style and other qualifications required of those who teach, who are elders, deacons and in other forms of ministry. These are religious, but do not bare the fruit of being born again.

…7However, if my falsehood accentuates God’s truthfulness, to the increase of His glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner? 8Why not say, as some slanderously claim that we say, “ Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved! 9What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.… Romans 3: 7-9

#1628 Romans 5 Part 2 DNA

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the trespass of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the gracious gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. 17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were appointed sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be appointed righteous. 20 Now the Law came in so that the transgression would increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5: 12-21 LSB

Romans 5: 12-21

Through that one man, sin came into the world. Now listen. Sin entered the world through that one man, it wasn't invented by that one man, it wasn't originated by that one man. You remember Jesus said the devil sinneth from the beginning. There was sin prior to Adam. Lucifer, that great son of the morning, that great archangel who fell because of his pride, was the first and original sinner. But sin entered the world, the cosmos of man's existence, the system of creation, as we know it, through one man. He introduced sin to mankind. He became the agent of the devil.

The wicked, vile, sinful devil tempted Adam, who became the vehicle to pass sin out of the angelic realm into the human realm. And if you read in Genesis chapter 3, you read the sad story of how first Eve sinned and then Adam sinned. Adam is held responsible because he sinned willfully and wasn't deceived and because he was the head over Eve and was given authority. God gave Adam only one prohibition. He said you can do anything you want except just don't eat of that one tree of the knowledge of good and evil, just that one exception. But you know the story: Eve ate and so did Adam, which tells you that sin is basically born out of selfishness. How selfish do you have to be when you can have everything in a perfect world except one tree and the one tree is what you've got to have?

Pride, self-centeredness, always at the heart of sin even as it was with Lucifer, who said I will be like God, I will be like the most high, I will, I will, I will, I will, and that in Isaiah 14 is recorded and that's why he sinned. Now when Adam sinned, something dramatic happened. It says, "Sin entered the world." Amazing thing took place. His sin, listen to this, brought a constitutional change into his being. He degenerated from his original creative identity and became different. Unholiness became part of the fabric of his soul.

Would you please note, it says through one man's sin, singular, not sins. Not all the acts of sin came in through Adam. He didn't invent all the acts of sin, but the principle came, the nature, the disposition, the innate corrupting element entered into the human stream. For Adam was mankind. He was all the mankind there was, along with Eve. And once the sin principle came to dwell in him, he would then pass it on to all of his procreation. Just as all the offspring of Adam have human characteristics like eyes and ears, and hands and feet, and nose and mouth and internal organs, so they have the sin principle as well.

It is passed on to progeny. The world of mankind then became corrupted. John Donne must have been musing about this reality when he wrote, "No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." And then he said, "Every man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." You're not an island, you cannot be isolated; you cannot be separated. Adam, acted in a solidarity. Adam was mankind. In his loins was the seed of humanity that would bring forth every human life, and when he was polluted so was everything that came out of his loins, and he produced a polluted race.

God made a very important comment on this when God identified Israel with a sign called circumcision. God said I want you to circumcise every male child on the eighth day. Why? Well, you say well, that was the sign that you were a Jew. Well, it was more than that. Why did God choose that kind of sign? Why didn't he carve an X in their wrists or whatever? Why that? Because the cutting away of that skin was a demonstration of the fact that man needed a cleansing. Something in his life and character needed to be cut away. Something needed to be removed. And why did he choose that particular thing to be removed? Because nowhere better is the sinfulness of man demonstrated than in his procreative capacity.

If you want to see the sinfulness of man at its nature-level, you see it in the fact that a man will always produce a sinner. And so circumcision was God's way of saying to people, you need radical surgery at the very, most deep level of your nature as evidenced by the fact that you can produce nothing but sinners. The whole of mankind was there in Adam when he sinned and all subsequent human history then was encapsulated at that moment. The mark of sin was made and we all bear it.

The Jews would understand this corporate personality concept because they didn't think of themselves as individuals but as parts of people, tribe, and family. So, the whole of the human race in the loins of Adam is then caught in the polluting of sin. That's what Paul is saying here. He's saying in verse 12, "Through one man sin entered into the world," a pretty basic, simple point. Adam, acting as mankind, was then the solid mass of humanity and when he sinned he introduced sin into the human stream, and so that one man, by one act of disobedience, affected the whole human race. - J Mac

Vs. 12-14 Through one man sin entered the world - I hated this story as a young man, and of course, like everyone says about everything today, I thought, "how unfair, if I would have got the same chance in paradise then I would have looked around and acknowledged that I had everything I needed and then some, so I wouldn't have eaten the fruit of that one tree." So we think it's unfair of God to punish everyone because of one man's sin, yet we all sin so we don't have a leg to stand on and God doesn't owe us paradise. Yet, God, in His great mercy has also made it by One Man, Christ, His righteousness, that men can believe and be saved. This is the only part where we can see actual unfairness, and that is in the murder of the Son of God, for He was the only One without sin. "Sin is not imputed where there is no law", so from Adam to Moses we only knew that our kind fell, and the result was death, which principle was active even then. We are all dead in our trespasses and sins. We saw God punish the resulting sins that sprang forth from this original sin, that men left the natural order, and God found them to be violent and so even before Moses God destroyed the earth by water. Later, in Abraham's day, He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Sin resulted in men leaving the natural order, the foundation of civilization, the family, one man and one woman, committed to raising their children before God, they left that and men burned in lust for one another. So while the law of Moses had yet to arrive, yet men had a sense of being wronged, of murder because of what Cain did to Abel, and God's reactions to human depravity.

…3As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die. Ezekiel 18: 3-4

…20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God. 21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5: 20-21

…13For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous. 14Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them… Romans 2: 13-15

Vs. 15-17 The gracious gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification - Everything that was done to Christ was wrong. Every transgression, from His being hunted in His childhood by Herod, being mocked and accused of healing people and casting out demons by the power of Satan. His being rejected by those of the circumcision to which He was born, the kangaroo court, the false accusations, beatings, and the cross. Don't stick your nose up in the air, don't cry about how unfair your life is. He took what He didn't deserve so that you could believe in Him and receive what you don't deserve.

J Vernon McGee adds this thought...Now I recognize that this is a difficult section, and this is one of the most difficult passages. To simplify it, all this section means is this: one transgression plunged the race into sin; and one act of obedience and the death of Christ upon the cross makes it possible for lost man to be saved. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson) - PA

Vs. 18-21 The many will be appointed righteous - Because of Christ's obedience we have a way to be seen as righteous. We now stand corrupt, it is our inherited DNA, and why I laugh every time someone says we are evolving as a society, no, entropy works in the opposite direction, that's what we observe, that's reality. God wipes everyone off the planet except for eight people, Noah and his family, and so here is a chance to start all over again, right? Wrong, the sin principle is still there, and the obedience of man to teach his children from generation to generation about God, well that is a weak link; it is sinners producing sinners, eventually making light of what God told Adam, then Noah and so on. Within a couple generations they were building the tower of Babel, a proud monument to themselves and their disobedience. Come to the end of yourself, plead for mercy from God, and be a true parent, teaching your children the reality of sin and the reality of God's judgment on it.

…8and placed everything under his feet.” When God subjected all things to him, He left nothing outside of his control. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. 9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. 10In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.… Hebrews 2: 8-10

#1627 Romans 5 Part 1 For A Good Man

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we boast in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Romans 5: 1-11 LSB

Romans 5: 1-11

V. 1 Having been justified by faith - Therefore indicates that we are flowing off of the previous chapter, and in Romans 4:25 we left off with "25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."

Christ didn't die for a show, not for a sweet story, not because we were so loveable, no, quite the opposite, He chose to love us while we were sinners, and because He is holy, He did not put away justice but instead paid the price. It is mind boggling because the One receiving the injustice is Christ, the innocent One. So this justification is received by faith which we saw before is a gift from God, not because you were clever and figured something out. This faith gives us the power to believe that we have been justified not by our own works but because of the worthiness of Jesus, the One Who had to take on human flesh, because it was man who sinned, but who also had to be God, because it is God Who was the offended, and Who is eternally opposed to sin. So the object of your faith is Christ, believing that yes, I am a sinner, and yes, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord because He was the sacrifice that was found expectable by the Father. Being justified means you are now in good standing with God because of Christ, and the evidence of this is that the Holy Spirit will work in you, convicting you of sin, bringing you to repentance, and being more and more conformed to the image of Christ.

Haldane explains that "It is not by faith, abstractly considered, that we are justified, nor even by faith in everything that God reveals. It is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even this phrase itself, namely, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, is still elliptical, and supposes the knowledge of what is to be believed with respect to Christ. It is not believing in His existence, but believing on Him as revealed in the Scriptures, in His person and work. In the same manner as we have the phrase, “justified by faith,” we have the phrase, justified by the blood of Christ. As, in the former case, faith implies its object, so, in the latter, it is implied that we are justified by faith in the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ justifies by being the object of belief and of trust. (An Exposition on the Epistle to the Romans)

True faith that saves one's soul includes at least three main elements (1) firm persuasion or firm conviction, (2) a surrender to that truth and (3) a conduct emanating from that surrender. In sum, faith shows itself genuine by a changed life. (Click here for W E Vine's similar definition of faith) - PA

V. 2 Into this grace in which we stand - Remember, grace is unmerited favor, you can either believe in yourself, your own personal goodness, or believe in Christ, Who God accepts.

…23so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life. 25Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.… John 5: 23-25

1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, and in which you stand firm. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,… 1 Corinthians 15: 1-3

Hodge explains that...

There is a joyful confidence expressed in these words, an assurance of ultimate salvation, which is the appropriate effect of justification. We are authorized and bound to feel sure that having been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, we will certainly be saved. This confidence is the only fitting response to the merit of his sacrifice and the sincerity of God’s love. It is not founded on ourselves or on the preposterous idea that we deserve the favor of God or the equally preposterous idea that we have in ourselves strength to persevere in faith or obedience. Our confidence is solely on the merit of Christ and the free and infinite love of God.

Although this assurance is the legitimate result of reconciliation, and its absence is evidence of weakness, in this, as in other respects, the actual state of the believer generally falls far short of the ideal. He always lives below his privileges and goes limping and stumbling when he should rise up with the wings of the eagle. But it is important for him to know that assurance is not an unbecoming presumption, but a privilege and duty. (Commentary on Romans) - PA

Vs. 3-5 We boast in our afflictions - There is a dangerous teaching now that attaches itself to Christian vocabulary, and it can be seen in Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, and charismatic circles especially, that teaches men that Christianity is a pyramid system, a means to prosperity. Joel Osteen is one apostate that comes to mind, writing books like "your best life now", and this is in no way my best life, no matter how good things may get here, my best life is in eternity with Christ. If this is your best life I feel sorry for you. Many of the prosperity teachers assume that people are suffering more than others because they lack "faith", see, a word from the Bible, but do they get it right? Remember Job, he was a man that loved God and that God said there was no one like him on the earth, but Satan asked to be able to hurt him to test this, and God allowed it. When Job had lost almost everything his own wife told him to curse God and die, but Job praised God sitting in the dirt covered in boils, having lost his children, his wealth, almost everything. Job's friends assumed his terrible state was because of some hidden sin, yet he was in better standing with God than them. It was the same with Paul when the "super apostles" tried sell their version of this nonsense back then.

10Now I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances. 12I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need.… Philippians 4: 10-12

V. 6 For while we were still weak - It wasn't our strength, but Christ's willingness to die.

…5“Do you not know what they are?” replied the angel. “No, my lord,” I answered. 6So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts. 7What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. Then he will bring forth the capstone accompanied by shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”… Zechariah 4: 5-7

Vs. 7-8 While we were yet sinners Christ died for us - It pains me that I have made so light of my sin when I think about how futile it is. As if I know more than God, or see a better way than the One Who created everything that I understand so little of. I marvel at this because the apostle Paul is right, rarely will one die for a righteous man, and the Scripture is clear, there is none righteous, not even one. God, Who is infinitely opposed to sin, comes and dies for sinners. I have been in the corporate world for a long time now, and most people won't even stand up for someone that we consider good by our standards. God only owed us death in order for justice to prevail, yet He offers His Son in my place. In the place of someone who deserved to die according the standard of the One Who made and therefore owns everything, Christ came. If you aren't moved by that then you have a really low view of God, no comprehension of holiness, and a delusional, high opinion of your own goodness. You are in complete opposition to what God claims is reality, but Who is He compared to your genius?

12This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are My friends if you do what I command you.… John 15: 12-14

Vs. 9-11 We boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ - I take no pride in myself but in God, and what He has done for me and through me.

Spurgeon comments...

OUR text begins with these words, “And not only so.” It is the second time in which they occur in the chapter (Ro 5:3), I might almost have said the third, for a similar expression is used in another verse. The apostle had been mentioning very great and amazing privileges; he had gone from great benefits to yet greater; he had advanced, I might say, from silver to gold, and from gold to the priceless crystal; and when he had reached the highest point that we could have thought to be conceivable, he adds, “And not only so.” There is always in Christian privilege a yet beyond. The ancient mariners spoke of the pillars of Hercules and the Ultima Thule, and they supposed that when once their sails had whitened the sea in that direction they had come to the end of the universe and could go no further; but, more venturous prows forced their way to a new world, and proved that the former boundaries were imaginary. Even so we may have concluded in the early days of our Christian experience that we never could be happier, that we never could enjoy greater privileges, that there could not be greater treasures than we had discovered; but even at this present we have pushed far beyond our young attainments, and are preparing for yet more far-reaching endeavours. We have not yet attained. Far be it from us to imagine that we are or have all that the Lord intends. Let us not sit down contented with the notion that the gospel contains no more, for rest assured, to him who is able to follow after it there are whole worlds of privilege yet to be discovered. We are only at the foot of the mountain as yet. We may take for our motto the words, “Higher, higher, higher,” and may soar aloft again and again on eagles’ wings, for heaven is higher than our loftiest flight. At the end of all we have known and experienced there may be written, “And not only so.” A nobler future allures us, a higher line of spiritual things invites us; let us by faith and patience press forward to it. The borders of Immanuel’s land have yielded us choice fruit, but the inner valleys are rich with Eshcol clusters, and the brooks in the heart of the country overflow with milk and honey.

The present passage indicates a high attainment in spiritual life, when the soul learns not only to rejoice in salvation—which is an early experience, or to rejoice in tribulation—which is a far riper fruit, but advances even beyond that, and learns to make her joy, her glory, and her boast in God, in God alone. “And not only so, but we joy in God.” There is the point of elevated experience of which the apostle speaks with such confident familiarity. It certainly touches the confines of heaven, if it be not altogether heaven. This is the joy of angels and of spirits purified from all stain; they joy in God. Yet this is an attainment possible to us here. I might confine my thoughts to that subject, but it might be for profit if I use the text in another way, embracing that thought and making it the main topic of discourse, but taking a somewhat wider range. My text seems to me to describe the progress of a soul towards God. There is the first step visible in it, though somewhat in shadow and rather implied than expressed. The second step is very clear; it is “receiving the atonement,” or more correctly “the reconciliation.” The third step shines in a yet brighter light; having received the reconciliation, “we joy in God” and so we complete our fellowship with Him, and ascend to an elevation which, if it be not in heaven, lies on the confines of it. (Amen, let it be so for every reader of Romans 5 dear Lord. Amen) (Romans 5:11 Joy in a Reconciled God - Pdf) - PA

#1626 Romans 4 Part 2 The Promise

13 For the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith has been made empty and the promise has been abolished; 15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no trespass.

16 For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be according to grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the seed, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all— 17 as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”—in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. 18 In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your seed be.” 19 And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to do. 22 Therefore it was also counted to him as righteousness. 23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was counted to him, 24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be counted, as those who believe upon Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 He who was delivered over on account of our transgressions, and was raised on account of our justification. Romans 4: 13-25 LSB

Romans 4: 13-25

V. 13 But through the righteousness of faith - The law of Moses had not entered the picture yet. This does not remove the law of sin and death, for Abraham, as a child of Adam and Eve, like all of us, was born into sin. The law comes to point out the trespass, like a mirror or a measuring stick, it reveals our actual state as sinners. The Bible tells us that we are saved by grace, which is unmerited favor, through faith, which is the gift we are given that enables us to receive that grace. It is what is born in regeneration, the ability to see that I am a sinner, that there is a cure to be found in the gracious gift of God, and to trust in a righteousness belonging to another, Who is Christ. I don't have nor can I produce this righteousness, but faith allows me to believe that Christ's righteousness, and His sinless death, have been applied to my account.

1For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good. 2God looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God. 3All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.… Psalm 53: 1-3

Vs. 14-15 Faith has been made empty - Like we have been seeing, Abraham was before the law, he believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. You see a beautiful picture of this when Abraham cuts the animal in half, leaving a path for two people to walk through in a blood covenant, but Abraham never walks through with God, instead, he falls to sleep and God walks between the halves. This is a unilateral covenant, in that God is the upholder. He requires a righteous sacrifice and then provides it, just like in the picture on Mt. Moriah where Abraham offers up his son, Isaac, but God stops this sacrifice and provides a ram. The law brings more knowledge of sin and therefore more accountability, but it is powerless to save. The covenant that saves us is that God promised His Son a people, God walked the blood covenant with His Son, Who became the sacrificial Lamb, the One without spot. If God had no moral law then there would be no trespass, but the law assures us, our consciences assure us, that we say, "right and wrong", assures us that there is a law. The law is beautiful in that it tells me what is offensive to God, and through His grace He brings me to hate what He hates and to follow His word.

…20I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing. Galatians 2: 20-21

…2I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” 4So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.… Genesis 12: 2-4

"The Whole Book"

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Saturday, September 13, 2025

#1629 Romans 6 Part 1 May It Never Be

Friday, September 5, 2025

#1628 Romans 5 Part 2 DNA

Saturday, August 30, 2025

#1627 Romans 5 Part 1 For A Good Man

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

#1626 Romans 4 Part 2 The Promise

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