Death Has Lost Its Grip On Me

April 29, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. – Romans 6:5-11 ESV

For Paul, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus were more than historical events; they were the key to his salvation, sanctification, and ultimate glorification. As he stated in Chapter 1, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16 ESV).

The gospel, God’s abounding grace as revealed through the sacrificial death of His own Son, had not only justified Paul in God’s eyes but also given him the power to say no to the old sin nature that waged war against the Spirit of God within him. Paul knew that, for believers, “our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives” (Romans 6:6 NLT).

Paul stresses that, in placing our faith in Christ’s substitutionary death on our behalf, we are united with Him “in a death like his.” And, if that is true, then we are also “united with Him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5 ESV). From God’s perspective, we died alongside Christ. Not only that, we were raised with Christ, to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:5 ESV). His death put an end to sin’s vice-like grip over us. No longer do we live as slaves to sin, unable to resist its influence in our lives. Because we died with Christ, sin’s claim on our lives has been broken. We have been ransomed out of slavery and freed to live in the newness of who we are as children of God.

Paul brings up the logical conclusion that anyone who dies is immediately freed from the power of sin. Death eliminates their ability to sin because it brings an end to life. Dead people don’t sin because they lack the power to do so. That is why he states, “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.” (Romans 6:6 NLT).

As Christ hung on the cross, He bore the penalty and spiritual weight of our sins. And He died a gruesome, painful death. When He was placed in a borrowed tomb, He was lifeless, limp, and powerless; death had been victorious over Him. But then, three days later, something remarkable happened. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was brought back to life, but He was not just resuscitated; He was resurrected to new life with a new body. Yes, the nail prints in His hands and the wound in His side remained, and He was still recognizable to the disciples, but He was also different.

In His resurrected form, Jesus was no longer susceptible to pain and death. He had the capacity to move about freely, unencumbered by the physical constraints of the normal human body. He had conquered death and, in doing so, made it possible for those who believe in Him to also undergo a spiritual resurrection to new life. As Paul puts it, “so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin” (Romans 6:6-7 ESV).

In his letter to the church in Colossae, Paul encouraged them to focus their attention on the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and its implications for their earthly existence.

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. – Colossians 3:1-3 NLT

He went on to tell them, “put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you” (Colossians 3:5 NLT). This new life in Christ is not without its struggles. We still have our old, sinful natures lurking within us. We still have the capacity to sin. But Paul’s point is that we are no longer enslaved to sin; we have a choice. The key is to remember the reality of our new life in Christ. Paul put it this way to the church in Galatia:

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20 NLT

It is a matter of faith, not human effort. In my flesh, I lack the power to conquer my old sin nature. I can no more sanctify myself than I could have saved myself. Martin Luther described it this way: “Our spiritual life is a matter not of experience, but of faith. No one knows or experiences the fact that he lives spiritually or is justified, but he believes and hopes in this. We live unto God, that is, in our spiritual and new life to eternity” (Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans).

Paul’s main point in this section seems to be that our new life, made possible by Christ’s resurrection, is to be lived for God. We are to “think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth” (Colossians 3:2 NLT). As Paul stated, each believer is to “put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you.” He tells us to “put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him” (Galatians 3:10 NLT).

Our new life in Christ requires constant vigilance, including putting off the old self and putting on the new. We are to pursue righteousness and flee from sin. We are to constantly consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. We belong to Him, and we exist for His glory.

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. – Ephesians 2:10 NLT

In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

Father, Your Son’s death, burial, and resurrection accomplished it all. He did what none of us could do. He lived a sinless life and was able to serve as the unblemished sacrifice for the sins of mankind. He paid the debt we owed and satisfied Your just judgment against our rebellion against You. Before Jesus took on human flesh and died on behalf of sinful humanity, sin ruled and reigned. Men and women were doomed to live enslaved to sin and condemned to eternal separation from You. But You changed all that when You sent Your Son to conquer sin and death on the cross. Now, we are free to live in obedience to Your will and fully capable of exhibiting the fruit of righteousness through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Sin has lost its grips on us. It no longer controls and condemns us because we have been set free by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and we are eternally grateful. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

New Life In Christ Never Gets Old

April 28, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. – Romans 6:1-4 ESV

Jesus’ death on the cross was not just substitutionary; it was representative. He died in our place and as our legate or legal representative. Paul has already said, “Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone” (Romans 5:18 NLT). Although Adam’s one sin caused death to reign over all mankind, “even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17 NLT).

Everyone who receives or believes in God’s gift of grace made available through His Son’s death and resurrection has had their relationship with sin radically and permanently changed. While Christ died alone on the cross, He did not die for Himself alone. In fact, it was not for His sins that He sacrificed His life; it was for the sins of mankind. And because He paid the price in full and propitiated or satisfied God’s righteous judgment against sin, those who believe in Him share in His death and resurrection vicariously. It is as if they died alongside Him and were raised just as He was, to walk in newness of life.

Paul makes it clear that we have “died to sin” (Romans 6:2 ESV). We have been “baptized into his death” (Romans 6:3 ESV), “were buried,” and “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4 ESV).

The Romans and the Jews were not ultimately responsible for Jesus’ death; it was the result of God’s judgment and wrath against sin. They were compliant and complicit, but their evil actions were sovereignly ordained by God the Father. In the book of Acts, Luke records the following speech that Peter gave to the Jews in Jerusalem immediately after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” – Acts 2:22-23 ESV

It was God’s will that Jesus die so that sinful men might live. And Peter went on to give the good news regarding Jesus’ vicarious, substitutionary death.

“God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” – Acts 2:24 ESV

Peter wasn’t absolving the Jews of their sinful actions toward Jesus. In fact, when given the opportunity to address the high priest and members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious council, he showed them no mercy.

“The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross.” – Acts 5:30 NLT

But in his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul wanted them to understand that Jesus’ death was God’s will, and that Jesus was fully compliant and committed to carrying out His Father’s redemptive plan. Jesus was not murdered; He gave His life willingly.

The apostle John quotes Jesus declaring His compliant submission to His Father’s will.

“No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” – John 10:18 NLT

God sent Jesus to die for the sins of many, and He faithfully completed His task. Why? So that our bondage to sin and death might be broken. His death was our death. His punishment was our punishment. The prophet Isaiah predicted and described the death of the coming Messiah.

But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all. – Isaiah 53:5-6 NLT

Because of what Jesus did for us and in our place, we now have peace with God. Our wounds, caused by sin, have been healed. Death and sin no longer have a stranglehold on our lives. It is because of what Jesus did on our behalf that we are able to walk in newness of life. The NET Bible translates that phrase as “we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4 NET).

According to verse 20 of Chapter 5, the grace of God has super-abounded (hyperperisseuō) in the face of man’s persistent and ever-increasing sinfulness. God’s grace, in the form of Jesus’ substitutionary death, has provided believers with the capacity to live new lives, even in these old, sin-stained bodies. We still battle with our indwelling sin natures, but we are no longer slaves to sin.

Paul would have us know and believe “that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT). In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul encouraged them to, “put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:24 NLT). The apostle Peter provides the following reminder of the ongoing transformative power made possible by Jesus’ death and resurrection.

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. – 2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT

In his Commentary on Romans, Martin Luther wrote: “But to hate the body of sin and to resist it, is not an easy, but a most difficult task.” We each have an active sin nature, and as Paul told the believers in Galatia, “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other” (Galatians 5:17 NLT).

As believers, we recognize that Jesus died and was buried, but then was made alive and given “newness of life.” But through our relationship with Jesus, we, too, have been raised to new life and been given a new capacity to live holy and righteous lives. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit to instruct and empower us, and God assures us that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 ESV).

Because of what Jesus did for us, we can and should live new lives. Our speech and actions should be distinctively different and stand in stark contrast to our former lives. We are new creations, and our ability to walk in newness of life is proof that we have received new life in Christ. It is a grace gift, given to us by God through Christ. So, as Paul says, “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT).

Father, while I don’t always live the way I should, I do live differently than I once did. Your Spirit’s presence in my life is obvious because He has changed my attititudes and transformed so much of my behavior. Despite my frequent failure to listen to the Spirit’s voice and to submit to His will for my life, I have seen His power on display. He has produced fruit in my life. He has produced the fruit of righteousness in me and through me. And His ability to generate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in my life gives testimony to the efficacy of Christ’s saving work on my behalf. I am being changed on a daily basis. I am walking in newness of life, not perfectly or always willingly, but consistently — because of Your grace, mercy, and love. Thank You! Amen

Grace Greater Than Our Sin

April 27, 2026April 27, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁸Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. ¹⁹For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. – Romans 5:18-21 ESV

Paul continues his contrast between Adam’s one act of unrighteousness and Christ’s singular act of righteousness. Adam’s sin led to condemnation and death for all men, while Christ’s sacrifice led to “justification and life for all men” (Romans 5:18 ESV). But Paul seemed to know that some in his audience would question why God had bothered to give the law in the first place. Why would He have given a set of rules that no one could keep? Paul responds to that unstated question by stating that the “law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were” (Romans 5:20 NLT).

God provided His people with the law, not to eliminate sin, but to expose it. In Chapter 7, Paul writes, “it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, ‘You must not covet’” (Romans 7:7 NLT). But he also adds that “sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died” (Romans 7:8-10 NLT).

God gave the law to the people of Israel to prove that no man could live up to God’s holy and righteous standards. He had given them a comprehensive compendium of legal commands covering every conceivable aspect of life. He left nothing up to their imaginations or personal opinions. It was all in black and white, so they had no excuse and could not plead ignorance. They knew what God expected, but because of their sinful natures, inherited from Adam, they could not accomplish what God demanded of them. As a result, sin increased. They repeatedly and willingly violated the laws that God had laid out for them.

But the good news is that “as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant” (Romans 5:20 NLT). Man’s guilt required God’s grace, and the wrath of God against the sins of man met the love and grace of God at the cross. It was there that God’s holy and righteous wrath was poured out against humanity’s sins and rebellion against Him.

God is a holy and just judge, and He cannot overlook or ignore sin. To do so would be an injustice and a violation of His own holy character. So, God had to punish man’s sins, and, as Paul states in the following chapter, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 NLT). God required a proper payment for mankind’s sin debt, and that debt was paid by His own Son on the cross. God was required by His own law to punish sin, but the payment He required was the life of a sinless, unblemished sacrifice. The blood of a bull or goat would not suffice; it had to be a human sacrifice.

The book of Hebrews provides a detailed explanation for the necessity of Jesus’ substitutionary death on behalf of sinful humanity.

For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer.” – Hebrews 10:4-5 NLT

It was the death of Jesus, the sinless Son of God, that propitiated or satisfied the just judgment of God against sin, and it all took place on the cross. It was there that the wrath and love of God were poured out simultaneously. His judgment fell on Jesus as He bore our punishment for sin, but His love was displayed as He provided a substitute to die in our place. As Paul stated earlier in this chapter, “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT).

The amazing thing is that God’s grace abounded even as man’s sinfulness increased. He provided the law so that the scope and scale of man’s sin problem could be exposed. Earlier in his letter, Paul made it clear that even the Gentiles inherently knew God’s law and obeyed it because it was written on their hearts. It was wired into their DNA because all men are made in God’s image.

Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. – Romans 2:14-15 NLT

Yet, both Jews and Gentiles had chosen to break God’s laws. They willingly violated what was written on tablets of stone and on their hearts.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. – Romans 3:23 NLT

Despite his gloomy assessment of mankind’s spiritual state, Paul provided the good news.

Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. – Romans 3:23-26 NLT

God had every right and even the righteous responsibility to deal with mankind’s sin. And yet, He delayed; He postponed judgment until such a time as He could send His Son to pay the debt mankind owed.

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. – Galatians 5:4-5 NLT

The grace of God, revealed through the life and death of Jesus Christ, is what makes it possible for men and women to be restored to a right relationship with Him. Rampant, runaway sin was no match for the grace of God. His grace super-abounds; it is more than sufficient. As the old hymn so eloquently puts it:

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Grace Greater Than Our Sin, Julia H. Johnstone, 1910

Father, Your grace is greater. Greater than my sin. Greater than my doubt and disbelief. Greater than my stubbornness and constant reliance on my own self-sufficiency. Your grace exceeds my expectations and abounds far beyond anything I could ever earn or deserve. It is mind-boggling to think that You loved me enough to send Your one and only Son to die in my place. In a world where love is almost always reciprocal and a response to having been loved, Your selfless act of mercy and grace is difficult to comprehend. It seems illogical and inconceivable to us. And yet, as Paul so aptly puts it, You showed Your great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Your law exposed our sin and sealed our condemnation as law breakers. Yet, in Your love, grace, and mercy, You made a way where there was no way (Isaiah 43:16-19). You provided a means of salvation that satisfiied Your justice and made possible our justification. And I love You for it. Amen

Free But Not Without Cost

April 26, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁵But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. ¹⁶And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. ¹⁷For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. – Romans 5:15-17 ESV

Adam’s sin brought death into the world, and his sin was the result of disbelief. He and Eve both doubted God and paid the consequences. When the serpent spoke to Eve in the garden, he got her to question the veracity of God’s word. He planted seeds of doubt in her mind, and she coerced Adam to join her in eating the forbidden fruit. Disobedience is the natural byproduct of doubt, and their disobedience led to the death of all.

But Paul holds Adam responsible for the fall because Adam was the one who received the prohibition against eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil — directly from God Himself. Yet, when God confronted Adam about his actions in the garden, he passed the buck, blaming Eve and, ultimately, God for his sins.

“It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” -Genesis 3:12 NLT

In his letter to Timothy, Paul points out that “it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result” (1 Timothy 2:14 NLT). Adam was not duped by the disingenuous lies of Satan; he knowingly and deliberately disobeyed the revealed will of God. His decision to disregard God’s command and ignore the divine warning of death was costly. But in his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul presents Jesus as the antithesis of Adam.

The free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin.” Adam’s sin brought death. God’s free gift brought righteousness. Adam’s sin brought condemnation. God’s free gift brought justification. And the free gift that Paul is talking about is the grace of God made possible by the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. He speaks of this same amazing gift of God’s grace in his letter to the Ephesian church. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved. –Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV

For some reason, Adam chose to doubt God’s warning of judgment for disobeying His command. He ate the fruit, somehow believing that he had impunity. But he was wrong, and his doubt caused him to disbelieve God, and that disbelief led to disobedience and death. But Jesus’ faithfulness to His Father’s will resulted in a life of obedience, even to the point of willingly facing death.

In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul described Jesus’ unfailing determination to do the will of His Heavenly Father, even when it demanded that He face an excruciating death by crucifixion.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:8 ESV

Jesus’ obedience to the Father resulted in justification for all men, not just Himself. His death paid the penalty for the sins of all men for all time.

Adam’s sin brought the reign of death to mankind; Christ’s sacrifice ended the reign of sin and death. The apostle John wrote, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). Jesus Himself said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24 ESV).

Paul describes the gift of God’s grace as being free, but it must be accepted. It requires no payment on our part, but it does demand belief in the message of God’s grace as offered through the death of His Son. Any hope we have for being seen as righteous and acceptable in God’s eyes is found only in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Adam’s sin brought death and condemnation to all mankind, but Jesus brings the offer of eternal life and freedom from future condemnation to anyone who places their faith in Him as their sin substitute and Savior. In Chapter 8 of this letter, Paul writes, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 ESV).

Many struggle with the idea of imputed sin. They find it unfair that one man’s sin could have infected and impacted an entire race of people. That God should hold humanity responsible for the sin of one man committed all those years ago seems to portray God as a tyrant. But it is not as if we stand guiltless and innocent before God. The sin of Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world, and it didn’t take long to take root. Adam’s own sons inherited his sin nature. Cain murdered Abel out of jealousy and anger.

And Paul clearly pointed out that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV). It is not as if anyone can stand before God with their hands clean and their hearts free from sin and rebellion against Him. Adam’s sin brought about God’s condemnation of all sin, and everyone has sinned. Death became the penalty for man’s disbelief and disobedience.

But God also brought the cure for man’s inescapable and inevitable death sentence. He sent His Son as the payment for the sins of men. He satisfied His own wrath against sin with the life of His own Son.

The first Adam could not remain faithful to God; he doubted and disobeyed God. But Jesus Christ, the last Adam, lived a life of obedience and faithfulness to God, fully meeting His righteous requirements and fulfilling His law. Which is why Paul writes, “‘The first man, Adam, became a living person.’ But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45 NLT).

All Adam could pass on to us was his human nature and, along with it, his sinful disposition. But Paul delineates the further distinctions between the “two Adams.”

Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. – 1 Corinthians 15:47-48 NLT

With our belief in God’s gracious and merciful gift of His Son, we become new creations. We receive new natures and become children of God. He transforms us from being his enemies, alienated and under His wrath, to members of His family. As His children, we find ourselves standing in His presence, covered in the righteousness of Christ and freed from the condemnation of sin and death. And none of this is based on our merit or hard work, but it is solely a free gift of grace made possible through “the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17 ESV).

Father, Adam sinned, but so do I. He disbelieved Your word, and there are times when I do as well. Yet, because of Your grace and mercy, I stand before You as your child and not Your enemy. I am still a sinner, yet You see me not as condemned and unclean, but as righteous and sanctified. And I did nothing to deserve it. You paid my sin debt with the life of Your own Son. He willingly sacrificed Himself for me — out of love. He owed me nothing. I was unloving and unloveable. I was unworthy and unable to do anything about my sin problem, but You did it for me. Purely out of grace, mercy, and love. And as the old hymn states, “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean” (Charles Hutchison Gabriel, “I Stand Amazed In the Presence,” 1905). Amen

All Have Sinned and Need a Savior

April 25, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹²Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— ¹³for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. – Romans 5:12-14 ESV

As Paul continues to defend the doctrine of justification by faith, he draws an interesting comparison, contrasting Adam’s sin and Jesus’ sacrificial death. It was through Adam’s one act of unrighteousness that sin came into the world. While Eve was the first one to give in to Satan’s temptation to eat of the forbidden fruit, Adam was standing by her side and was fully complicit and compliant. As the God-ordained head of his household, Adam was responsible for keeping God’s commands and protecting his family. It was to Adam that God gave the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; Eve had not yet been created.

The book of Genesis records, “And the Lord commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:16-17 ESV). In the very next verse, God decides to make Adam a companion.

Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’” – Genesis 2:18 ESV

So Adam was responsible for communicating God’s command to Eve and ensuring that she adhered to it. But he failed.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her. – Genesis 3:6 ESV

The result of Adam’s actions was death, not immediate physical death, but spiritual death or separation from God. He and Eve immediately experienced shame and, for the first time, noticed that they were naked. In a sense, their eyes were opened, and they began to view the world through a different lens. Until that moment, they had not seen their nakedness as a problem. But now, they attempted to cover their nakedness with leaves. Suddenly ashamed, they tried to hide from God. But He found them and meted out punishment for their disobedience.

God cursed Adam to a life of labor accompanied by futility, ending in death.

“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” – Genesis 3:19 ESV

Rather than enjoying the fruit of all the other trees that God had provided, they were cast from the garden and left to provide for themselves through back-breaking work. And, ultimately, their lives would end in death. Which is why Paul writes, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin” (Romans 5:12 ESV).

It was Adam’s sin (original sin) that brought death into the world. Paul is comparing Adam’s one act and its result with Jesus’ one act and its subsequent outcome. He contrasts Adam’s disobedience with Jesus’ obedience. The first brought death. The second brought life. Adam’s action resulted in separation from God (spiritual death). Jesus’ action brought reconciliation and regeneration (spiritual life).

But Paul’s main point in these verses is that men had been dying (suffering the penalty for their sins) long before the law had been given to Moses.

…people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. – Romans 5:13 NLT

Mankind not only inherited death as a result of Adam’s disobedience, but they also inherited his sin nature. But their death was due to Adam’s sin, not their own. From God’s perspective, they sinned “in” Adam. The penalty for his sin was passed down to his descendants. So Paul states, “ everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did” (Romans 5:14 NLT). Long before the law was given, men sinned. They may not have sinned in the same way that Adam did, but they still faced the same penalty of death. They still experienced spiritual separation from God. Why? Because Adam “was a type of the one who was to come” (Romans 5:14 ESV).

Prior to Moses receiving God’s law on Mount Sinai, men still experienced the penalty of death for disobedience. All men knew death was inevitable and unavoidable; they just didn’t know why they had to die. They feared death because they were uncertain about what would happen next. Death was an enigma to them, and it appeared to have no purpose. Death was to be feared and avoided at all costs.

But when God gave the law, it revealed the righteousness that God demanded of mankind. It provided a non-negotiable list of God’s requirements for escaping the penalty of death. With the giving of the law, God made His righteous requirements unequivocal and non-negotiable. No longer was man allowed to dictate his own set of rules for life. Morality and justice were not subjective and left up to the opinions of fallen men; they were the province of God.

However, man’s sin nature made it impossible for him to keep God’s law. Before the law was given, man sinned in ignorance. After God’s law was made known, man sinned knowingly. Like Adam, the Israelites knew God’s commands but disobeyed anyway. They knew the consequences for disobedience, but sinned all the same.

But Paul builds on his comparison between Adam and Jesus by illustrating that God provided a way out.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:3 NLT

That is the gospel of God that Paul has been talking about. Adam’s disobedience brought death; Jesus’ obedience brought life. Death reigned, but through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God declared an end to sin’s control over us. Martin Luther summarizes Paul’s contrast quite succinctly.

“Christ has become a Dispenser of righteousness to those who are of Him, though they have not earned any righteousness; for through the Cross He has secured (righteousness) for all men. The figure of Adam’s transgression is in us, for we die just as through we had sinned as he did. The figure of Christ is in us, for we live just as though we had fulfilled all righteousness as He did.” – Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans

Adam’s sin did not come as a shock to God. In His providence and sovereignty, God knew that the couple He had made in His image would succumb to Satan’s temptation and rebel against Him. The incarnation of the Son of God was not a knee-jerk reaction by the Father; it was not His Plan B. The fall of man did not catch God by surprise. In fact, Paul reminds us that God’s plan of redemption had been in place even before He made the world or Adam and Eve.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 1:3-5 NLT

Paul reiterated this claim to his young protegé, Timothy.

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. – 2 Timothy 1:9-10 NLT

Long before Adam was created and made the fateful decision that led to death, God had ordained the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son as the solution. Man, left to his own devices, is incapable of living up to God’s righteous standards. Sin was inevitable, and mankind’s need for a Savior was unavoidable. But God had the plan in place before the universe was formed and man was created, and “Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners” (Romans 5:6 NLT). Adam sinned and brought death. Jesus died and brought life. Adam disobeyed God and was cursed. Jesus “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13 BSB).

The sin of Adam was restored by the last Adam.

Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like^[i] the heavenly man. – 1 Corinthians 14:47-49 NLT

Father, thank You for Plan A. I don’t fully understand why Adam and Eve did what they did, but I have a feeling that I would have done no better if I had been in their place. Sin comes naturally for us. Even as a believer, I find myself succumbing to the temptations of the enemy. Like the Israelites, I know Your will and have Your Word to guide my life, but I still choose to disobey You on a regular basis. Yet, I stand before You as righteous because of the blood of Your Son. His death paid the penalty for my sins — past, present, and future. He redeemed me out of slavery to sin. He has set me free and restored me to a right relationship with You. I am no longer condemned or under a curse. Without Jesus, I would still be trying to earn Your favor and acceptance through obedience to Your holy law. I would be caught in the dead-end pursuit of righteousness by my own strength. But long before You made me, You had a plan to save me, and all I can say is thank You! Amen

Weak, Unworthy, and Without Hope

April 24, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ¹¹More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. – Romans 5:6-11 ESV

Peter tells us, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV).

The sinless one died for sinners. The innocent died for the guilty. The righteous sacrificed His life for the unrighteous, and not after we got our proverbial act together. Paul emphasizes the out-of-the-ordinary nature of this selfless, substitutionary act.

…most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. – Romans 5:7 NLT

As human beings, we would find it difficult, if not impossible, to give our lives even for someone whom we deemed to be righteous. We might do it, but we would have to give it some serious thought. But Jesus died for us while we were mired in our sinfulness. He didn’t die for us because we were righteous, but so that we might become righteous. In fact, when Jesus was asked why He hung out with tax collectors and sinners, He replied, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12, 13 ESV). That was the scope of His mission.

The implications of this are staggering. We live in a world where justice is defined as everyone getting what they deserve. We are taught that any good we experience in this life is ultimately earned and a direct result of our good behavior. But Paul turns that philosophy on its head, saying that our salvation was the result of God’s mercy and love, as expressed through the sacrificial death of His own Son. Rather than giving us what we deserved: death, God gave us what we didn’t deserve: eternal life through faith in His Son.

We deserved condemnation, but He provided pardon. We merited alienation from Him, but He made us His sons and daughters. We had earned His righteous wrath and just judgment, but He poured out His grace and forgiveness. And the amazing thing is that He did it out of love.

God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. – Romans 5:8 NLT

In his late-night discussion with the Pharisee, Nicodemus, Jesus attempted to explain His God-given mission to save the world.

“…this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” – John 3:16-17 NLT

Years later, the apostle John would record his post-resurrection understanding of what Jesus accomplished through His death.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. – 1 John 4:9-10 NLT

Christ died for the ungodly. However, despite this gracious act of kindness, humanity refuses to come to grips with its own ungodliness. We struggle with the idea that we are sinners in need of a Savior. We hate the thought of being helpless, weak, and unable to save ourselves. We desperately want to believe that we can somehow earn our way into God’s good graces. But Paul will have none of it, because God refuses to grade on the curve or lower His standards in order to allow men to squeeze in under the bar.

It was the death of Jesus, His shed blood and broken body, that makes our right standing with God possible. Through the willing sacrifice of His own life, Jesus provided a way for sinful men to be made right with God and freed from ever having to face His righteous, holy wrath again. As Paul writes later in this same letter, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 ESV).

We have been reconciled with God. At one point, we were His enemies, but now we are His children. Because of Christ’s death, we have had our broken relationship with God restored — in this life. Because of Christ’s resurrection and ascension, we are assured a permanent right standing with God — for eternity. We are saved from the eternal wrath of God; that is the eventual lot of all men who refuse to accept His gift of salvation made possible through the death and resurrection of His Son.

Paul tells us that this reality should cause us to rejoice because “we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:11 ESV). It was the ancient writer, Origen, who said, “Paul stresses the now in order to indicate that our rejoicing is not merely a future hope but also a present experience” (Origen, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans). We are reconciled with God. We are free from His wrath. We are righteous in His eyes. We are no longer His enemies. We are justified by God. All these things are present realities that hold future significance.

Ambrosiaster, a Christian author who lived in the middle to late fourth century, provides a wonderful analysis of Jesus’ gracious act of kindness on our behalf.

“If Christ gave himself up to death at the right time for those who were unbelievers and enemies of God … how much more will he protect us with his help if we believe in him! He died for us in order to obtain life and glory for us. So if he died for his enemies, just think what he will do for his friends!” – Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Paul’s Epistles

God loved us while we were still mired in our sin. Christ died for us because we were sinners. And we can trust God’s love to carry us through to the very end. We can rest on the truth of Paul’s declaration, “God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6 NLT).

Father, it is so easy to overlook and underappreciate the significance of the gospel. Even as a believer, I am tempted to minimize my own sinfulness and elevate my self-righteousness. But before I came to faith in Christ, there was nothing redeemable about me. I had done nothing worthy of Your love, grace, and mercy. I was unworthy of being saved but fully deserving of Your righteous condemation. Yet, out of love, You opened my eyes to the truth of the gospel and my need for a Savior. You helped me see the wretchedness of my condition and my inability to do anything about it. Through Your grace, I was transformed from a sinner into a saint, from being Your enemy to being Your adopted son. And one day, You will complete the process of my sanctifaction with my glorification so that I can spend eternity with You. That truly is amazing! Amen

God Never Disappoints

April 23, 2026April 23, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. – Romans 5:1-5 ESV

Having settled the case of whether justification is by works or by faith, Paul now moves on in his discussion about the gospel of God. Paul emphatically and confidently states, “since we have been justified by faith” (Romans 5:1 ESV). The tense of the Greek word he uses is extremely important because it speaks of an event that has already happened. In essence, Paul is saying, “having been declared righteous, we have peace with God.” It is in the past tense and describes an event that has already taken place.

Once someone places their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, they are immediately declared righteous or are justified by God. Their debt to God is paid in full, their sins are removed, and they receive the righteousness of Christ. It is a done deal, accomplished entirely by God and as a result of faith. We no longer have to justify ourselves to God because we have been freed from trying to earn His favor. We have been released from the impossible burden of living up to His righteous standards in the hopes that He will accept us. Our salvation is accompanied by our justification.

One of the greatest benefits of our justification is the peace we enjoy with God. In verse 10 of this same chapter, Paul makes it clear that, before salvation, we were all enemies of God and subject to His wrath. We stood condemned and deserving of His righteous, just judgment. Paul emphasized this vital truth in his letter to the church in Colossae

…you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. – Colossians 1:21-22 NLT

God’s gospel, His plan for man’s salvation, has provided a means by which sinful, guilty, and rebellious men and women can be made right with Him, enjoying a state of permanent peace and the uninterrupted joy of His presence. The Greek word Paul used for peace carries the idea of harmony, security and safety. It is “the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is” (Outline of Biblical Usage).

We enjoy this peace with God because of God’s grace; it is His unmerited favor that has made it all possible. We did nothing to deserve or earn it, and Paul reminds us that we obtained access to this grace-given position through faith. In other words, we have access into the very presence of God as a result of God’s mercy. And it is our faith in the graciousness, goodness, mercy, and kindness of God made evident in the death of His Son that makes our reconciliation with Him possible.

And the best part of this God-ordained transformation is that our newfound peace with Him is permanent and includes the future hope of our eternal relationship with Him. This is why Paul states, “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2 ESV). There is a day coming when His Son will return, and those who have been made right with God through faith in Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross will enjoy an eternity of permanent peace with God.

But in the meantime, Paul encourages us to rejoice in our present sufferings. While we wait for the hope of the glory of God, we find ourselves living on this earth and facing trials and troubles of all kinds. Our newfound peace with God has put us at odds with the world we live in. Jesus warned His disciples that their relationship with Him would draw the ire of the enemy and the world over which he rules.

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” –John 15:18-19 NLT

The apostle John painted a bleak but accurate picture when he wrote, “the world around us is under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19 NLT). In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul warned them that Satan was a very real enemy who, as the god of this world, had the power to deceive and dissuade humanity.

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. – 2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT

As a result of our newfound righteousness with God, we stand in stark contrast with the world around us. As we live by faith and in submission to His indwelling Holy Spirit, our suffering will intensify. Paul reminds us, “Continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. (Colossians 1:23 NLT).

When facing suffering, we will be tempted to bail out or give up. But we must constantly remind ourselves that the trials and difficulties we face have a divine purpose. That is why Paul encourages us to rejoice in them rather than run from them.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. – Romans 5:3-5 NLT

Our reconciled state with God will produce irreconcilable differences with this world. But any suffering we encounter will produce patient endurance in us. As we suffer, we learn to persevere, and that perseverance increases our Christlikeness. The author of Hebrews states that Jesus had to suffer as well; it was all part of His Father’s redemptive plan.

Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. – Hebrews 5:8-9 NLT

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. – Hebrews 4:15-16 NLT

As we patiently endure the sufferings of life, our character is tested and proven true. Our faithful endurance reveals the character of Christ in our lives, as evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

As those divine characteristics show up in our lives despite our suffering, our hope increases, our faith is strengthened, and our confidence in God grows stronger. We become increasingly more certain that we belong to Him and that we truly are new creations. Our hope in God will not leave us empty-handed or disappointed. We will never find ourselves ashamed or embarrassed because of the faith we placed in God’s promises. Our trust in Christ’s redemptive work on the cross will not fail to deliver what God has promised. We can suffer, endure, grow, and hope “because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5 ESV).

The very presence of the Spirit within us is a reminder of God’s love for us, but He is also the source of our enduring love for God. We love because God first loved us. We endure because we rest in God’s love for us. We rejoice in trials because we know that God is using them for our good and His glory.

But as Paul has made clear, it all begins with faith, a confident hope in our faithful covenant-keeping God. Our justification is by faith, our sanctification is by faith, and our capacity to endure is the result of faith. And, as Paul reminds us, our faith in God will never disappoint.

Father, this is one of those difficult passages that seems so illogical. Rejoicing in trials is counterintuitive and seems impossible to pull off. The concept of suffering well sounds more like an oxymoron than a way life. I have no trouble believing in the reality of trial because I face them on a regular basis; it is the rejoicing part I struggle with. Yet, the older I get and the longer I live, the more I realize that Paul was right; You do use difficulties to transform us. You never said trials would be fun, but You did say they would be beneficial. When going through them, I find myself becoming far more dependent on You. Of course, I will always try to come up with my own solution. But, inevitably, my efforts fall short and I find myself turning to You for help, hope, and deliverance. And You have never disappointed me. You are always faithful and, while Your timing is not always to my liking, Your solution is always perfect. But like so many others, I am prone to forget and find myself facing the next difficulty with the same sense of hopelessness and confusion. I fail to remember all that You have done in the past. Please help me recall Your goodness and greatness when the next trial shows up so that I can rejoice in Your faithfulness long before Your deliverance appears. Amen

Our Promise-Maker and Promise-Keeper

April 22, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁸In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²²That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. – Romans 4:18-25 ESV

Belief does not come without its obstacles; it does not go unopposed or unchallenged. The author of Hebrews provides a helpful working definition:

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. – Hebrews 11:1 NLT

Faith is not a timid thing. It is not a half-hearted kind of commitment, but instead, it requires confidence and assurance, both of which must be firmly placed in God, not the thing for which we are hoping. Earlier in Chapter Four, Paul wrote, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3 ESV). Paul was quoting from the Old Testament account found in Genesis 15, where God promised Abraham, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5 ESV). After hearing this promise from God, Abraham believed; he took God at His word.

But Abraham had plenty of reasons to doubt God. He had just offered an alternative plan, suggesting that God consider using one of Abraham’s male servants as his heir. The problem, as Abraham saw it, was that he was old and his wife was barren. He believed that God would do what He promised, but he just wasn’t sure how. That is why Paul says, “in hope he believed against hope” (Romans 4:18 ESV). The New Living Translation puts it this way: “Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations.”

Abraham had every reason to question God’s promise. His situation and circumstances shouted out to him daily, “This is hopeless!” All he had to do was look around, and the evidence suggested that God’s promise was nothing more than a dream. Yet Paul says, “Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb” – Romans 4:19 NLT).

As long as Abraham focused on his circumstances, he would be tempted to doubt God’s faithfulness. But his faith was in something else. Even when Abraham took into account his wife’s barrenness, he refused to conclude that God’s promise was null and void. Paul says, “Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God” (Romans 4:20 NLT). Abraham “was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises” (Romans 4:21 NLT) because his faith was in God. His confidence was in the source of the promise. This led Paul to conclude, “because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous” (Romans 4:22 NLT).

Martin Luther wrote, “Faith is something that is arduous and difficult. First, it is directed to what a person does not see; indeed, to the very opposite of what one perceives. It seems utterly impossible” (Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans).

Abraham grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God. There is a reciprocal nature to our faith. When we believe and trust in God, He is glorified. And as we believe in Him, our faith is strengthened as we see Him work in ways we could have never imagined. Placing our faith in God gives us front-row seats to watch Him work. When we trust God, we glorify Him, and our faith in Him increases. When we trust Him in spite of the circumstances swirling around us and the doubts welling up within us, we get to see God work. As a result, our faith in Him grows stronger.

Abraham’s faith was in God. Yes, he believed the promise of God, but his faith in the promise was based on the faithfulness of the one who had made the promise. Abraham knew that God was good for it and believed that He would come through. He was fully convinced that God could do what he had promised. That is why Paul uses Abraham’s faith as a model for the kind of faith we are to have. We are to place our faith in God and His gospel message, “for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16 ESV). And when we “believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification,” our faith is counted to us as righteousness.

It is our faith in God and His ability to save us through His Son’s death, burial, and resurrection that results in His declaration of righteousness. We are saved by faith. While the world will constantly strive to cause us to doubt the veracity of God’s words and to question the reality of the gospel message, we must remain fully convinced and unwaveringly confident in the one who stands behind the promise. Our circumstances will paint a different picture. As we look around us, the evidence will not be favorable to remaining faithful. Our hopes will begin to waver. But like Abraham, in hope we must believe against hope (Romans 4:18).

Abraham hoped for an heir, but the evidence made that outcome appear hopeless. So, he placed his faith in God, the One who stood behind the promise. When he was tempted to focus on his barren wife, Abraham set his eyes on God. As the years passed and he remained fatherless, Abraham placed his hope in the promise-maker, believing God was also the promise-keeper. And we must do the same.

Father, it is an undeniable fact that circumstances lie. They deceive and distract us from believing Your promises. You promised to never leave us or forsake us, yet it so often feels as if You are nowhere to be found. Your Son promised us an abundant life, but sometimes reality makes it appear as if that promise went unfulfilled. Yet, You always keep Your word. You never lie or fail to fulfill what You have promised. Give me the ability to look past my circumstances and see You. I know You are there and I am fully convinced that You care deeply for me. But I am so easily swayed by the circumstances of life and the false expectations of the world. I want to have the kind of faith Abraham displayed. He was far from perfect and there were days his doubts and fears got the best of him. But he kept believing in You. He never stopped trusting Your promises because His hope was in You. May that be the story of my life when all is said and done. Amen

The Irrevocable Law of God’s Love

April 21, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹³For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, ¹⁷as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. – Romans 4:13-17 ESV

God promised Abraham that He would bless all the nations of the world through him. But God had a very specific means by which that blessing would come about. In his letter to the church in Galatia, Paul wrote, “God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say ‘to his children,’ as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says ‘to his child’ — and that, of course, means Christ” (Galatians 3:16 NLT).

The means by which God would bless the nations would be through the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. Through His incarnation, death, and resurrection, salvation would be made available to all nations. Did Abraham fully grasp the significance of this promise? Did he understand about the Messiah and God’s future offer of salvation and redemption through His Son’s sacrificial death on the cross? Probably not. But he believed. He trusted God. The Scriptures say, “He believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6 ESV).

The author of Hebrews, in speaking of the faith of the Old Testament saints like Abraham, Moses, David, Abel, Enoch, and Noah, writes, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13 ESV).

He goes on to say, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised” (Hebrews 11:39 ESV). Abraham believed the promise of God even though he did not fully understand it. He never lived long enough to see the promise fulfilled, but he believed that God would do it. It was his faith in God’s faithfulness that was counted to him as righteousness.

Paul’s point in Romans 4:13-17 is that God’s promise to Abraham was based on faith, not the law. because the law had not yet been given when the promise was made. And Abraham would not be around when God gave the law to Moses. The promise came long before the law, and the law did not replace or negate the promise of God. Paul makes that point quite clear.

The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise. For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise. – Galatians 3:17-18 NLT

You can’t have it both ways. There cannot be a way of gaining a right standing before God through keeping the law, and another way that is based solely on faith.

For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. – Romans 4:14 ESV

If God’s promise to Abraham that he would be blessed and a blessing to the nations was based on keeping the law, then there is no place for faith. It is all up to man’s ability to obey. And it would be solely reserved for the nation to which the law had been given: the Israelites.

But Paul reveals that the law can only bring wrath; it cannot provide salvation. God designed the law to reveal the sinfulness of men. With His law in place, it was impossible for the Jews to plead ignorance; they had no excuse for not knowing what God expected of them. But they had a severe lack of ability to carry out what the law commanded. So Paul draws the only logical conclusion.

That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring — not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. – Romans 4:16 ESV

Notice that Paul says that our relationship with Abraham is based on our common faith in God, not our adherence to the law of God. God’s promises have always been faith-based. But our faith is not to be in the thing promised as much as in the one who made the promise to begin with. As the author of Hebrews states, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV).

Abraham trusted the promises of God, even though he could not see or fully understand them. All his life, Abraham lived as a nomad in the land that God had promised as his inheritance. The only plot of land he ever owned in Canaan was the one in which he buried his wife, Sarah. He never owned a home or lived in a city. But he believed in the God who had made the promise.

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told. – Romans 4:18 ESV

All along the way, Abraham had more than enough occasions to doubt, fear, grow anxious, and question God’s faithfulness. But Paul declares, “Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God” (Hebrews 4:20 NLT). This led Paul to draw the following conclusion:

Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. – Galatians 3:21-22 NLT

A faith-based promise requires faith in a covenant-keeping God.

Father, You are forever faithful. You can always be counted on to keep Your word and to fulfill what You have promised. We can’t always see it and, sometimes, it appears as if You have wavered in Your commitment and have forgotten all about us. There are times when it feels like You have turned Your back on us because it appears as if the enemy is winning. But You are always there and You always care. I recall the words of Joshua to the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land: “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT). All during their conquest of the land of Canaan, You were with them. Even when things didn’t go as expected, You were leading and loving them. And the same thing is true in my life. I can’t always see what You’re doing, but I know You are actively operating behind the scenes, accomplishing Your will, faithfully fulfilling Your promises, and lovingly watching over me. Because You are the promise-keeping God. Amen

Faith Comes Before Faithfulness

April 20, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁹Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. ¹⁰How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. ¹¹He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, ¹²and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. – Romans 4:9-12 ESV

The “blessing” Paul refers to is the one mentioned in the previous two verses, where he quoted directly from the Psalms.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit. – Psalm 32:1-2 ESV

This blessing includes the forgiveness of sin because of the atonement or payment for those sins by another, leaving the one forgiven with no guilt or further remnants of that sin. Paul says that this remarkable blessing is not just reserved for the Jews, those he refers to as “the circumcised.” This is because the blessing is available to everyone through faith, just as Abraham’s righteous standing was made possible by his faith.

Paul makes it clear that God declared Abraham righteous long before He commanded Abraham to be circumcised. Genesis 15 records Abraham’s encounter with God when he was informed about the divine plans for his future.

Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” – Genesis 15:5 NLT

Despite the fact that Abraham was in his mid-80s at the time and his wife Sarah was barren, the text states, “Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith” (Genesis 15:6 NLT). It was nearly two decades later that Abraham received God’s command to practice the rite of circumcision.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” – Genesis 17:1-2 NLT

God agreed to confirm His covenant agreement with Abraham and his future descendants.

“I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” – Genesis 17:7-8 NLT

But God informed Abraham that their confirmation of the covenant would come with a cost. Every male member of Abraham’s future family would be required to undergo circumcision.

“Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant.” – Genesis 17:9-13 NLT

Circumcision was to be a physical reminder of their covenant commitment to God. It was never intended to be guarantee their right standing before God. Paul emphasizes this point when he states, “He [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised” (Romans 4:11 ESV).

In other words, Abraham’s right standing before God had nothing to do with circumcision, but circumcision had everything to do with his right standing before God. It was to be a symbol of his unique relationship with God, rooted in his faith in God. The rite of circumcision did not justify anyone with God, any more than the rite of baptism makes someone right with God today. The descendants of Abraham were to practice circumcision as a sign that they believed in God’s covenant promises. It was an outward demonstration of their faith. Refusing to be circumcised was a demonstration of a lack of faith and would result in that individual’s expulsion from God’s covenant community.

“Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.” – Genesis 17:14 NLT

Like baptism, circumcision was intended to be an outward sign of something that had taken place inwardly. However, the Jews had turned circumcision into the source of their righteousness when God had intended it as the sign of their righteousness. Circumcision without faith in God was worthless; it meant nothing. Paul stated this truth earlier when he wrote: “A true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.” (Romans 2:29 NLT).

In the book of Jeremiah, God prophetically declared, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh…all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart” (Jeremiah 9:25, 26 ESV).

Paul tells us that God declared Abraham righteous prior to the covenant of circumcision because He intended Abraham to be the father of all who believe “without being circumcised” (Romans 4:11 ESV). The righteousness God required was based on faith, not works; it was founded on belief, not on obedience to a command. Righteousness could be earned, and it was not a standard to be met.

…it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. – Romans 2:29 NLT

In plain language, it was to be a work of God, not man, and was to be provided by God, not man. So that no man could boast or brag.

The book of Jeremiah records God’s pleas for His covenant people to return to Him.

“Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns. O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord, or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins.” – Jeremiah 4:3-4 NLT

The people of Judah were guilty of unbelief, having failed to trust God and believe His promises concerning them. They had gone after other gods and made alliances with other nations. They had broken His commands and lived in the false security of their status as God’s chosen people. But what God was calling them to do was impossible for them. They would never be able to surrender their pride and power. They did not possess the capacity to change their hearts. As a result, God’s punishment was coming.

They would experience His wrath against their sin and rebellion, but God would not annihilate them. Instead, He would preserve them. And while He would allow them to fall into captivity among their enemies for 70 years, He would also restore them to their land and reestablish them as a people. Why? Because He had made a promise to Abraham. God had told Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3 ESV). He had also promised, “To your offspring I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7 ESV).

But in the book of Galatians, Paul makes a clarifying interpretation of these passages. “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16 ESV). In other words, God’s promise to bless the nations through Abraham would be fulfilled through one of his descendants – specifically, Jesus. God made His promise to Abraham long before He gave the law to the people of Israel. So Paul concludes: “The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise. For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise” (Galatians 3:17-18 NLT).

Our righteousness is made possible by faith in the promise of God, just as it was for Abraham. I am not made right with God by trying to live up to His righteous standards. I am made right with Him when I recognize my complete inability to meet His criteria for righteousness and place my faith in His plan for my salvation: His Son’s death, burial, and resurrection.

Jesus died to pay the penalty for my sins, He rose again to prove that His sacrifice was acceptable to God, and He took on my sin and imparted to me His righteousness. All men are made right with God through faith in His Son. When we place our faith in God’s plan of salvation, we walk in the footsteps of the faith Abraham laid down all those years ago.

The righteous shall live by faith. – Romans 1:17 ESV

Father, thank You for the gift of faith. It is certainly not something we could have produced. Your Spirit makes faith in Your promises possible. If left to our own devices, we would refuse to believe. Like the Israelites, we would turn our backs on You and worship other gods. In fact, we all do it every day. We are prone to unfaithfulness.; it is built into our fallen DNA. But Your Spirit graciously regenerates those who are dead in their trespasses and sins, and opens their eyes to see the glory of Your grace-based gospel. And when we place our faith in the truth of Your Son’s death, burial, and resurrection, we receive new life. We are born again. Not based on our feeble attempts to keep a list of religious rules or regulations, but based solely on grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Amen

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