Study Desk

You think you can show foolish people what is right. And you think you are a teacher for those who are just beginning to learn. You have the law, and so you think you know everything and have all truth.

It would be the same to say, "We should do evil so that good will come." Many people criticize us, saying that's what we teach. They are wrong, and they should be condemned for saying that.

"They have no fear or respect for God."

What the law says is for those who are under the law. It stops anyone from making excuses. And it brings the whole world under God's judgment,

God makes people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. He does this for all who believe in Christ. Everyone is the same.

God gave Jesus as a way to forgive people's sins through their faith in him. God can forgive them because the blood sacrifice of Jesus pays for their sins. God gave Jesus to show that he always does what is right and fair. He was right in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. And in our own time he still does what is right. God worked all this out in a way that allows him to judge people fairly and still make right any person who has faith in Jesus.

"It is a great blessing when people are forgiven for the wrongs they have done, when their sins are erased!

Is this blessing only for those who are circumcised? Or is it also for those who are not circumcised? We have already said that it was because of Abraham's faith that he was accepted as one who is right with God.

So people get what God promised by having faith. This happens so that the promise can be a free gift. And if the promise is a free gift, then all of Abraham's people will get that promise. The promise is not just for those who live under the Law of Moses. It is for all who live with faith as Abraham did. He is the father of us all.

Abraham was almost a hundred years old, so he was past the age for having children. Also, Sarah could not have children. Abraham was well aware of this, but his faith in God never became weak.

These words ("he was accepted") were written not only for Abraham.

They were also written for us. God will also accept us because we believe. We believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from death.

Jesus was handed over to die for our sins, and he was raised from death to make us right with God.

Christ died for us when we were unable to help ourselves. We were living against God, but at just the right time Christ died for us.

Very few people will die to save the life of someone else, even if it is for a good person. Someone might be willing to die for an especially good person.

But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.

And not only will we be saved, but we also rejoice right now in what God has done for us through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of Jesus that we are now God's friends.

Yes, when Christ died, he died to defeat the power of sin one time—enough for all time. He now has a new life, and his new life is with God.

In the same way, you should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive for God through Christ Jesus.

Don't offer the parts of your body to serve sin. Don't use your bodies to do evil, but offer yourselves to God, as people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used for doing good.