The Chain of Salvation
Few passages in all of Scripture are as beloved and comforting as Romans 8:28-30. For many Christians, Romans 8:28 has become a treasured promise, memorized in childhood, clung to in times of suffering, and quoted in the darkest valleys of life.
The Spirit Intercedes in Our Weakness
There are certain truths in the Bible that stretch beyond what our finite minds can fully comprehend. As Christians, we eventually discover that Scripture contains mysteries. Yet we must be careful to distinguish between a mystery and a contradiction.
“From Suffering to Glory”
Few passages in Scripture lift our eyes higher than Romans 8:18–25. If Romans 8 is the summit of Paul’s letter to the Romans, then these verses stand near its highest peak. Here Paul draws the believer’s gaze away from the immediate pressures of life and fixes it on a single blazing reality: eternal glory
The Assurance of Our Adoption — Romans 8:14–17
J. I. Packer famously wrote, “If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child and having God as his Father.” He goes on to argue that everything distinctly Christian is summed up in this reality. Our understanding of the faith can rise no higher than our grasp of adoption.
That is a striking claim. If someone were to ask you, “What is Christianity really about?” would your answer begin with knowing God as Father? Paul’s words in Romans 8 would suggest that it should. The heart of the Christian life is not merely forgiveness, nor only justification, but being brought into the family of God through the work of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
“Be Killing Sin or Sin Will Be Killing You”
The article title reads, “Meet Wally the Emotional Support Alligator.” Yes, an emotional support alligator. The story explains that a Pennsylvania man lives with two alligators, one of whom is a registered emotional support animal named Wally. Wally follows him around the house, enjoys being petted, makes nests out of blankets, and even lounges on the couch and bed. The owner insists Wally has never bitten anyone, while also warning that alligators do not make good house pets because they are still wild animals.
“Life in the Spirit”- Romans 8:5-13
Every parent knows the battle of getting kids to wash their hands before dinner. We fight over germs and hygiene because we know what happens when we ignore them. But Jesus warns us about a far more dangerous kind of contamination, one we cannot fix with soap and hot water. Mark 7 records a confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees that uncovers a deeply uncomfortable reality about all of us. The issue was not dirty hands at the dinner table, but dirty hearts before a holy God.
What the Law Could Not Do, God Did
We are slowly working our way through Romans 8, a chapter that has often been called the greatest chapter in the greatest letter ever written. Last time we considered Romans 8:1–2 and saw two great truths of the Christian life: in Christ there is no condemnation, and by the Spirit there is real freedom from the power of sin.
No Condemnation: Beginning a Journey Through Romans 8
Today I begin a new series of blog posts “trekking” our way through Romans 8, a chapter that many have called “the greatest chapter in the Bible.” I just spent some time hiking through the Himalayan Mountains. You might say that the letter to the Romans is the Mount Everest of Scripture, and Romans 8 is the summit. Here, in just 39 verses, Paul gathers up the great themes of the gospel and shows us what it means to belong to Christ, to live by the Spirit, and to rest in the unshakable love of God.
Clean Hands and Dirty Hearts (Mark 7:1–23)
Every parent knows the battle of getting kids to wash their hands before dinner. We fight over germs and hygiene because we know what happens when we ignore them. But Jesus warns us about a far more dangerous kind of contamination, one we cannot fix with soap and hot water. Mark 7 records a confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees that uncovers a deeply uncomfortable reality about all of us. The issue was not dirty hands at the dinner table, but dirty hearts before a holy God.
A New Year, A New Bible Reading Plan — Beginning in Genesis 1 and Matthew 1
As I mentioned last week, every January I restart my annual Bible reading plan, and this year—like so many years before—it began in a familiar and surprising place: Matthew 1. That means the very first reading in the New Testament was not a miracle, a parable, or a command from Jesus, but a genealogy. A list of names. Some might say, “a boring list of names.” The kind of passage many of us are tempted to skim so we can get to the “good stuff.”