Study Desk

So one of you will ask me: "Then why does God blame us for our sins? Who can fight his will?"

The potter can make anything he wants to make. He can use the same clay to make one thing for special use and another thing for daily use.

Brothers and sisters, the thing I want most is for all the Jews to be saved. That is my prayer to God.

But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them;

Then Isaiah is bold enough to say: "I was found by those who were not asking me for help. I made myself known to people who were not looking for me." Isaiah 65:1

And if he chose them by grace, it is not for the things they have done. If they could be made God's people by what they did, God's gift of grace would not really be a gift.

The Jews' failure brought rich blessings for the world, and the Jews' loss brought rich blessings for the non-Jewish people. So surely the world will receive much richer blessings when enough Jews become the kind of people God wants.

It is not natural for a wild branch to be part of a good tree. And you who are not Jews are like a branch cut from a wild olive tree and joined to a good olive tree. But since those Jews are like a branch that grew from the good tree, surely they can be joined to their own tree again.

Yes, God made all things, and everything continues through him and for him. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship.

Do not be shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.

Love each other like brothers and sisters. Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves.

Wish good for those who harm you; wish them well and do not curse them.

My friends, do not try to punish others when they wrong you, but wait for God to punish them with his anger. It is written: "I will punish those who do wrong; I will repay them," says the Lord.

This is also why you pay taxes. Rulers are working for God and give their time to their work.

Do this because we live in an important time. It is now time for you to wake up from your sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

The "night" is almost finished, and the "day" is almost here. So we should stop doing things that belong to darkness and take up the weapons used for fighting in the light.

Those who think one day is more important than other days are doing that for the Lord. And those who eat all kinds of food are doing that for the Lord, and they give thanks to God. Others who refuse to eat some foods do that for the Lord, and they give thanks to God.

We do not live or die for ourselves.

If we live, we are living for the Lord, and if we die, we are dying for the Lord. So living or dying, we belong to the Lord.