March 13: “The Work of the Spirit in Christians” (Romans 8:1-17)

The most frequently used word in Romans 8 is the “Spirit”. Paul describes the Spirit as the key to our sanctification. The Spirit frees us from the law of sin & death, and enables us to obey the law. The Spirit gives life, enabling us to defeat sin and the flesh. And the Spirit adopts […]

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March 6: “Freedom from the Law” (Romans 7)

The overarching theme of Romans 5 to 8 is the assurance of the hope that those God justified, God will glorify. What stands in the way of this glorification? Sin and death, as we saw in chapter 6. In chapter 7, Paul deals with another hindrance to our glorification – the law. In Christ, we […]

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February 27: “Freedom from the Power of Sin” (Romans 6)

In chapter 5, Paul began talking about the implications of justification. Another implication of justification is freedom from the power of sin. In the first half of chapter 6, Paul’s main idea is that we are freed from sin’s power through our union with Christ. Paul’s main idea in the second half is that we […]

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February 20: “The Blessings of Justification” (Romans 5)

In chapter 5, Paul wants us to be sure of what we have in Christ as a result of our justification. Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace (reconciliation) with God, a new hope in God, the love of God, the gift of the Paraclete, and eternal life of Christ. God gave […]

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February 13: “The Father of Many Nations” (Romans 4)

After declaring the gospel, Paul in chapter 4 lifts up Abraham as an example of someone who was justified by God’s grace. Abraham was justified by faith, not by works, nor by circumcision (physical descent), nor by the law. Abraham also lived by faith, not by sight. Chapter 4 also deals with Paul’s secondary theme […]

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