The Family of God

June 11, 2026June 11, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁸For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, ⁹and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name.”

¹⁰And again it says,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

¹¹And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples extol him.”

¹²And again Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse will come,
even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. – Romans 15:8-13 ESV

“Christ did not please himself,” Paul wrote back in verse three. No, Paul reminds us, “Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy” (Romans 15:8-9 ESV).

As Paul sums up his admonitions and encouragements for unity between the members of the body of Christ, he uses Christ Himself as the example to follow. It is true that Jesus initially focused His ministry on His fellow Jews, having been born into the line of Judah as a descendant of David. But His intent from the very beginning was to make salvation available to both Jews and Gentiles.

Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham when He said, “Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed” (Genesis 28:18 NIV). In his letter to the Galatians, Paul clarified the meaning of this promise.

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

Jesus was the means by which God would bless all the nations of the earth, including the Gentiles.

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” – Galatians 3:7-8 ESV

God’s intent all along had been to make salvation available to all people groups, not just the Jews. Paul’s missionary journeys to the Gentiles were not God’s plan B. He wasn’t forced to come up with an alternative plan when the Jews failed to accept His Son as their Messiah. And Paul makes this perfectly clear by quoting from four Old Testament passages that predicted that the Gentiles would respond to God’s offer of grace and mercy:

For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. – 2 Samuel 22:50 ESV

Rejoice, O nations, with His people… – Deuteronomy 32:43 NASB

Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! – Psalm 117:1 ESV

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. – Isaiah 11:10 NIV

The Hebrew word used in these passages for “nations” is gowy, which usually refers to non-Hebrew people or Gentiles. That is why Paul replaces it with the Greek word, ethnos, which refers to pagans, Gentiles, or the people of foreign nations who did not worship the one true God. God’s promise to Abraham that He would bless all the nations (gowy) of the earth through Abraham’s offspring was fulfilled in Jesus. He became the sole sacrifice for the sins of men, Jews and Gentiles alike.

Jesus told Nicodemus, the Pharisee, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17 ESV). The apostle John reminds us, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 NLT). Those of us who are Gentiles or non-Jews have been extended the mercy and grace of God made possible through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. So, Paul encourages us to “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7 ESV).

We have been included and warmly welcomed into God’s family, not because we deserved or earned it. In fact, Paul makes the amazing truth of our inclusion status quite clear. He provided the predominantly Gentile congregation in Colossae with a powerful reminder of their remarkable transformation from enemies of God to cherished members of His family.

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

And the apostle Peter confirmed Paul’s words.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. – 1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV

In light of God’s marvelous grace, we are to welcome or receive others in the same way that we have been welcomed by Christ; with open arms, no pre-conditions or demands for good behavior, and no requirement that they curtail their sinful behavior. Our unity doesn’t require unanimity; we don’t always have to agree, and we won’t always see eye to eye. We will have our differences, but we will always share our common bond in Christ, illustrated by His undeserved mercy and grace.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. – Romans 3:23-24 NLT

Father, Your Son’s cross is the great leveler. At the foot of the cross, all men are equals, sharing the common status as sinners in need of a Savior. No one can stand before You who deserves Your mercy and grace. None of us are worthy of Your love and forgiveness but, through Christ, we discover access into Your presence and receive Your unmerited favor and acceptance. Each of us deserved condemnation and judgment because we have all sinned and fallen short of Your glorious standard. In Your eyes, all our so-called righteous deeds have as much value as a soiled piece of worthless cloth. The color of our skin, the quality of our character, the measure of our wealth, or the extent of our achievements mean nothing to You. You are not impressed by any man and You are indebted to no one. Your mercy and grace have nothing to do with our merit; they are expressions of Your selfless, sacrificial love for a hopeless and helpless humanity. And when we accept Your free gift of grace offered through the life, death, and resurrection of Your Son, we all become His co-heirs and members of the same family. And for that, I am 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

The Debt of Love I Owe

June 5, 2026June 6, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁸Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. – Romans 13:8-10 ESV

Paul had just finished encouraging his readers to “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13:7 ESV). He was not alone in his thoughts on this topic. At one point in His earthly ministry, Jesus was approached by some Pharisees and supporters of King Herod who attempted to trick Him into saying something they could use against Him. Hypocritically addressing Him as “Teacher,” they said, “We know how honest you are. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. You teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us—is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them, or shouldn’t we?”(Mark 12:14-15 NLT).

Jesus saw through their scheme and asked them to show Him a Roman coin. When He asked whose image was on the coin, they responded, “Caesar.” Jesus matter-of-factly told them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God” (Mark 12:17 NLT). For Jesus, the issue had little to do with money, public policy, governmental authority, or the rule of law; it concerned the Kingdom of God, and God’s Kingdom is not of this world. At his trial before Pilate, Jesus told the Roman governor, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36 NLT).

Paul understood what Jesus meant. That is why he told his readers, “there is no authority except from God” (Romans 13:1 ESV) and “whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed” (Romans 13:2 ESV). For Paul, it all had to do with God’s sovereignty and rule. As believers, we are to be far more concerned about what God would have us do. Unless our earthly, God-appointed authorities are causing us to disobey God, we are to view them as acting on His behalf and show them the honor and respect they deserve as God’s servants.

We are to be debt-free in our submission to earthly authorities. In fact, Paul says we are to owe no one anything except love, and that indebtedness is never paid off. We owe love to everyone because of the priceless gift of love that God showed us. Paul has already reminded his readers, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 ESV). Now he says that when we love others, we are fulfilling the law. His point is that all the commandments prohibiting adultery, murder, stealing, and coveting are fulfilled by love. When we truly love others, the very idea of taking something from them that doesn’t belong to us would never cross our minds. That is why, when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He pointed out the two commands that call for love.

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. – Matthew 22:37-40 NLT

Paul writes, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor” (Romans 13:10 ESV). In other words, the kind of love Jesus was talking about is incapable of harming or taking advantage of someone else. God’s law was designed to manage and legislate man’s relationship with his fellow man and with God. But if we truly love God and love others, the requirements of the law will be fulfilled. If we love God, we will not worship false gods and will honor His name in the way we live our lives. If we love others, we will treat them with dignity and respect, and never consider taking advantage of them for our own pleasure or benefit.

Earlier in his letter, Paul wrote, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4 ESV). The Holy Spirit provides us with the power to live according to God’s law, and the key is love. Not only have we experienced the love of God through the gift of His Son, but we also have the power and capacity to love selflessly because of the presence of God’s Spirit within us.

Jesus told His disciples, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:34-35 NLT). Our love for believers and non-believers alike is an indication of our relationship with Christ and His Spirit’s presence within us. In Paul’s way of thinking, we should worry less about what the government may be taking from us and concern ourselves with what God would require of us: Love.

As Paul pointed out in his first letter to the believers in Corinth, love is a non-negotiable requirement for all Christ followers.

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NLT

All our religious rhetoric and pious-sounding platitudes become meaningless if they are not accompanied by love. Our outward acts of kindness and mercy lose their effectiveness if they are done without love. Love is the fuel of our faith. John said that love is the greatest demonstration or proof of our faith in and love for God.

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? – 1 John 4:20 NLT

Paul warned Titus about those who “profess to know God, but…deny him by their works” (Titus 1:16 ESV). He described them as “detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good” (Titus 1:16 NLT). Those kinds of people are loveless and, therefore, worthless. Their works are missing the one thing that God requires: Love. And what makes their loveless lifestyle so glaringly unacceptable is that God didn’t just command us to love, He gave us the power to pull it off.

We love each other because he loved us first. – 1 John 4:19 NLT

John clarified that statement earlier in his letter when he wrote, “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16 NLT). We have experienced God’s love, and we have been given the capacity to share that love with others. So, we are without excuse.

Isaac Watts put it well when he wrote the lyrics to the hymn, “Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed.”

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.

I can never repay God for what He has done for me, but I can love others.

Father, as the old song says, “Love makes the world go round,” but it isn’t sachrine, Hallmark-card kind of love; it is the love You showed by sending Your Son to die for the sins of mankind. While we were sinners, You loved us. When we were unloveable and unworthy of Your affection, You sent Your Son to serve as the sinless sacrifice who paid the debt we owed. He sacrificed His life for us. Now, You call us to love as we have been loved. You command us to model our lives after His by loving others in the same selfless, sacrificial way. And to make it possible, You provided us with the Holy Spirit to convict, encourage, and empower us. Love is not an option; it is a byproduct of the Spirit’s presence and proof that You have poured out Your love into our hearts (Romans 5:5). May we love as we have been loved, so that others might experience the selfless, sacrificial nature of Your Son’s sacrifice on their behalf. Amen

Our Promise-Keeping God

May 25, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. ²God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? ³“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” ⁴But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” ⁵So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. – Romans 11:1-6 ESV

Is God done with Israel? Has their rejection of His Son as their Messiah put them on His permanent “naughty” list and denied them any opportunity to be restored to a right relationship with Him? Paul would say confidently and emphatically, “No!” and he used himself as living proof.

If God was done with Israel, Paul would never have come to know Christ as His Savior. After all, he was a Jew himself.

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today.” – Acts 22:3 NLT

“I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.” – Philippians 3:5 NLT

Paul argued that he and the other believing Jews in his audience were not the last of their kind. He used the story of the prophet, Elijah, to drive home his point. Elijah had defeated the prophets of Baal and, as a result, came under the wrath of the wicked queen, Jezebel. She put a bounty on his head, and Elijah was forced to run for his life. When God confronted Elijah and asked him why he was running from the queen, Elijah responded: “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10 ESV).

Elijah and God had this conversation two times in the narrative. Then God informed him, “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18 ESV). In other words, God knew something Elijah didn’t know; he was not the last man standing. Despite his feelings of isolation and intimidation, Elijah was not alone. There were others who, like Elijah, had refused to abandon God.

And Paul’s conclusion was, “It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful because of God’s grace—his undeserved kindness in choosing them.” (Romans 11:5 NLT). While the majority of Israel had rejected Jesus as their Messiah, there were some who had chosen not only to recognize Him, but to accept Him as their Savior. And Paul couldn’t resist the urge to remphasize that their salvation was the result of grace, not works.

The very existence of this faithful remnant in Paul’s day was proof that God had not abandoned His people; He was not done with them yet. And, later in this chapter, Paul explains what God has planned for His people in the future. Chapters 9-11 form a cohesive unit in which Paul focuses on Israel, the chosen people of God. In chapter nine, Paul reveals God’s past grace in His sovereign selection of Israel as His people. In chapter ten, Paul addresses the present reality of Israel’s refusal to respond to God’s provision of grace, as revealed in His Son’s death. And finally, in chapter eleven, Paul outlines God’s future plans for Israel.

Paul paints a compelling picture of God’s matchless grace. While the people of Israel never deserved God’s favor, He had repeatedly displayed it — despite their ongoing rebellion and refusal to repent. Over the centuries, they had proved to be unfaithful and disobedient time and time again, but God never fully abandoned them. Even after sending them into exile for their rebellion, He graciously and mercifully restored them to the land. He kept a remnant alive and returned them to Jerusalem so that He might one day fulfill His promise to produce a descendant of David who would sit on the throne of Israel.

Even today, there are future plans concerning Israel that have yet to be fulfilled. At present, they are experiencing a temporary rejection by God. But as Paul will explain later in this chapter, that condition will one day be radically altered. Their rejection of Christ as their Messiah opened up a door for the gospel to be shared with non-Jews, “those who are not a nation” (Romans 10:19 ESV). God made the good news regarding salvation available to “those who did not seek me” (Romans 10:20 ESV). And those of us who have discovered the grace of God made possible through the death of Christ have much to be grateful for. We were totally undeserving of God’s favor, and yet He provided a way for us to be made right with Him.

When he wrote to the Gentile believers in Ephesus, Paul emphasized the incredible nature of their conversion.

Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. – Ephesians 2:11-13 NLT

Paul wrote something similar to the believers 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

As Gentiles or non-Jews, we have much to be grateful for. We must never forget that if God had not chosen Abraham and given him Isaac as his son, if He had not chosen Jacob over Esau, if He had not chosen David over Saul, and if He had not chosen to send His Son through the nation of Israel, we would never have heard the good news concerning Jesus. But our God is good and gracious, and He is sovereign over all. He knows what He is doing, and He is not yet done with Israel. Their rejection of Him has not resulted in their rejection by Him, because He is faithful, loving, and true. He will accomplish all that He has promised for them, in His time and according to His plan.

Father, Your grace truly is amazing. That You would deem to save any should astound and confound us. As David wrote in his Psalm, “The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one” (Psalm 14:2-3 NLT). And Paul echoed those words when he wrote, “No one is righteous— not even one” (Romans 3:10 NLT). And yet, You poured out Your mercy and grace on Jews and Gentiles alike. You have redeemed a remnant of Your chosen people and You are far from done. You have made Your grace available to all humanity, but You have not turned Your back on the seed of Abraham. You will one day fulfill every promise You made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You will redeem and restore a righteous remnant from among the 12 tribes of Israel. And this fact reminds me that You are faithful and fully worthy of my trust because You are not a man, so You do not lie. You are not human, so You do not change Your mind. You have never spoken and failed to act. You have never promised and not carried it through (Numbers 23:19 NLT). You are the promise-keeping God.
Amen

Our Merciful God

May 17, 2026May 17, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! ¹⁵For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. – Romans 9:14-18 ESV

Paul has just made the point that not all who are descendants of Abraham are considered children of the promise. Both Ishmael and Isaac were sons of Abraham, yet God chose Isaac over Ishmael. Of the two sons of Isaac, God chose Jacob over Esau. And, according to Paul, God’s choice of one son over the other had nothing to do with their behavior or perceived righteousness. In fact, while Jacob and Esau were still in the womb, God told Sarah, “The older will serve the younger” (Romans 9:12 ESV). And Paul comments that God made this announcement solely out of mercy, not merit.

But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works). – Romans 9:11-12a NLT

The twin sons in Sarah’s womb had not yet been born, so they had committed no sins and done no good deeds. Paul states that God simply chose one over the other. His plan, ordained before the world was even created, included His choosing of some over others. He chose Abraham over all the other men on the earth at the time, and not because of anything inherently righteous about Abraham. As an idol-worshiping pagan from the land of Ur, Abraham was undeserving of God’s mercy, yet God chose him. God also chose Isaac over Ishmael, even though Ishmael was Abraham’s firstborn son. He chose Jacob over Esau, despite Esau being the older twin. God chose Moses, even though he was a convicted murderer with a bounty on his head. God chose David over all the other sons of Jesse to replace Saul as king of Israel.

Paul even quotes the very words of God, spoken through the prophet Malachi.

“I have always loved you,” says the Lord.

But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?”

And the Lord replies, “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau’s inheritance into a desert for jackals.” – Malachi 1:2-3 NLT

The natural, human response to all of this is to question God’s fairness or justice. Our human sensibilities struggle with the thought of God hating one and loving another. We wrestle with the idea of God choosing one and not another. And yet, as Paul illustrates, God’s seemingly arbitrary decision to elect or choose one and reject another is displayed throughout the Scriptures. Paul even quotes from Exodus 33:19, where God made the following statement to Moses:

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” – Romans 9:15 ESV

Later in this chapter, Paul explains that God is not obligated to explain or defend His actions.

Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. – Romans 9:20-23 NLT

According to the psalmist, “Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes” (Psalm 115:3 NLT). But Paul is not trying to present God as uncaring or capricious. He emphasizes that God’s choice has nothing to do with merit; it is all based on His mercy.

So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it. – Romans 9:16 NLT

Paul even reaches back into Israel’s history to show how God chose to use Pharaoh to accomplish His will and proclaim His own glory.

For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” – Romans 9:17 NLT

God used the pride-filled, hard-hearted Pharaoh to display His own power and sovereign authority. In God’s plan to deliver the people of Israel from captivity in Egypt, He repeatedly hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and He did so to display His power and accomplish His divine will for His people.

We struggle with that thought because it seems out of character for God. But God did not force Pharaoh to do anything; He simply allowed the Egyptian leader to act according to his sinful nature. God could have changed Pharaoh’s heart, but He chose not to. He could have forced Pharaoh to set the Israelites free, but He chose to allow Pharaoh’s sinful disposition to set the stage for the divine display of His power and sovereign authority.

When reading the Old Testament, we question why God chose to kill some and not others. We wrestle with the idea of God using people like pawns in some kind of celestial chess game. But in doing so, we fail to ask the question, “Why would a holy God choose to show mercy on anyone?” Why would He choose Jacob over Esau when neither son had done anything to deserve His merch? In a sermon on the story of Jacob and Esau, C. H. Spurgeon made the following comment:

“I can tell you the reason why God loved Jacob; it is sovereign grace. There was nothing in Jacob that could make God love him; there was everything about him, that might have made God hate him, as much as he did Esau, and a great deal more. But it was because God was infinitely gracious, that he loved Jacob, and because he was sovereign in his dispensation of this grace, that he chose Jacob as the object of that love.” – C. H. Spurgeon, “Jacob and Esau,” New Park Street Pulpit Volume 5

Paul’s goal in this passage is to emphasize the mercy of God, which no one deserves. The Jews, as descendants of Abraham, did not automatically qualify for His forgiveness and mercy; they still had to believe. They were required to place their faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Thomas Constable comments, “It is not man’s desire or effort that causes God to be merciful but His own sovereign choice. God is under no obligation to show mercy or extend grace to anyone. If we insist on receiving just treatment from God, what we will get is condemnation” (Thomas L. Constable, Notes on Romans, 2009 Edition).

Paul told Timothy that God “wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth” (2 Timothy 2:4 NLT), but not all men will be saved. Many have rejected His offer of salvation and died in their sinful state. Many more will do so in the years to come. Some will be saved and some will not.

When God protected Noah and his family by placing them in the ark, He extended His unmerited favor. Many others drowned in the waters that covered the earth, due to their sinful, unrepentant condition. This reality is difficult for us to grasp and accept. But the Bible clearly states, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 ESV).

All humanity deserves to die. The fact that God extends mercy to any should amaze and astound us. Until we fully understand the gravity of our sin, we will never appreciate the grace and mercy of God. Paul goes on to say, “but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 ESV). The undeserved, unearned mercy of God should cause us to rejoice, not recoil. That the holy God of the universe should extend mercy to any of His stubborn, rebellious creations should amaze us. In Chapter 3, Paul quoted from a psalm of David.

Only fools say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
not one of them does good!

The Lord looks down from heaven
    on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
    if anyone seeks God.
But no, all have turned away;
    all have become corrupt.
No one does good,
    not a single one! – Psalm 14:1-3 NLT

Yet, in His mercy, God chooses some.

Father, this is a diffucult concept for us to understand. It goes against our better judgment and seems to contradict the statement, “God is love.” Yet, Your love and mercy go hand in hand. In fact, as John records, You loved the world that You gave Your only son, “that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NLT). When wrath and judgment were deserved, You displayed mercy. But that mercy must be received. In His earthly ministry, Jesus told the Jewish religious leaders, “The Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you. You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life” (John 5:37-40 NLT).

You didn’t have to show me mercy, but You did. You weren’t obligated to save me, but You did. You could have condemned all humanity to death, but instead, You chose to save some. And while I don’t fully comprehend it, I deeply appreciate it. Amen

Things Are Not Always As They Seem

May 14, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

³⁶As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:36-39 ESV

What are the “these things” to which Paul refers in verse 37? To get the answer, all you have to do is look at the preceding verse where he lists tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword. Paul says that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37 ESV).

According to Paul, we’re not only survivors, but we’re also thrivers. The phrase he uses, “more than conquerors,” is actually a compound word in Greek. It is hypernikaō and the first half means “exceedingly abundantly, over, beyond, more than.” We don’t just conquer, we hyper-conquer. Or better yet, we overcome, because that is what the second half of the compound word means. The Greek word nikaō means “to overcome, to carry off the victory, come off victorious” (Outline of Biblical Usage). In the end, we come off victorious in a big way. Why? Because God is for us. He has justified us, and one day He will glorify us. So, “these things” that happen to us in this life are nothing compared to God’s love and faithfulness and the future plans He has for us.

None of “these things” can prevent God from loving us, sanctifying us, and, one day, glorifying us. From our limited human perspectives, we tend to view things just as the psalmist did, whom Paul quotes.

Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. – Psalm 44:22 ESV

That same psalm contains the following words of encouragement concerning God’s faithful care and provision for His people.

O God, we have heard it with our own ears—
    our ancestors have told us
of all you did in their day,
    in days long ago:
You drove out the pagan nations by your power
    and gave all the land to our ancestors.
You crushed their enemies
    and set our ancestors free.
They did not conquer the land with their swords;
    it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory.
It was your right hand and strong arm
    and the blinding light from your face that helped them,
    for you loved them. – Psalm 44:1-3 NLT

The psalmist went on to talk of their need for continued dependence upon God.

I do not trust in my bow;
I do not count on my sword to save me.
You are the one who gives us victory over our enemies;
you disgrace those who hate us. – Psalm 44:6-7 NLT

Just as God had saved their ancestors in the past, the Israelites counted on God to defend and protect them from their enemies. The psalmist knew that the key to their ultimate victory was the presence and power of God, and Paul shared their viewpoint. Which is why he qualified his description of us as “more than conquerors“ by emphasizing the means of our victory: “through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37 ESV).

Our victory over the troubles and trials of this life is completely dependent upon the love of God as expressed in the sacrifice of His Son. God’s love for us is perfect and complete, and includes not only our salvation, but our ultimate glorification. Which is why Paul expresses his confident reliance upon his ever-faithful God.

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39 NLT

There are times we feel as if God has fallen out of love with us. Difficulties have a way of making us feel unloved and uncared for. In the midst of a trial, we wonder where God has gone or why He is doing nothing to remedy our problem. The psalmist knew exactly how that felt.

But now you have tossed us aside in dishonor.
    You no longer lead our armies to battle.
You make us retreat from our enemies
    and allow those who hate us to plunder our land.
You have butchered us like sheep
    and scattered us among the nations.
You sold your precious people for a pittance,
    making nothing on the sale. – Psalm 44:9-12 NLT

The psalmist even boldly asserts that their suffering is unmerited because they are innocent of any wrongdoing.

All this has happened though we have not forgotten you.
We have not violated your covenant.
Our hearts have not deserted you.
We have not strayed from your path. – Psalm 44:17-18 NLT

From his perspective, God was strangely silent and inactive. God was the key to their rescue, but He seemed distant and uninterested in their plight. So, the psalmist issued the Almighty a wakeup call.

Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep?

    Get up! Do not reject us forever.

Why do you look the other way?

    Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression?

We collapse in the dust,

    lying face down in the dirt.

Rise up! Help us!

    Ransom us because of your unfailing love. – Psalm 44:23-26 NLT

But Paul would have countered this view with the words of another psalm written by King David.
“…he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.” – Psalm 122:4 NLT
Pau understood that God had already provided the victory. That is why he could assure his audience that they were already super-overcomers. Why? Because their sins had been forgiven. They had been made right in God’s eyes and stood before Him as justified and fully assured of their future glorification. There was nothing that could happen to them in this life that would ever separate them from God’s love. He had already ransomed and redeemed them. They were His children and heirs to His kingdom.
In the latter years of his life, Paul was able to tell Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8 NLT).
His victory was assured, and so is ours. We will overcome. We will enjoy the full measure of the love of God, which will culminate in our glorification.
And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. – Romans 8:23 NLT

Father, this reminder of Your unfailing love and unassailable plan for my future is always needed. We live in difficult times when the world seems to be falling apart and the enemy appears to be winning the battle. Yet, as Paul reminds us, You are still large and in charge of all that You have created. You have never abdicated Your throne or relinquished Your right to rule and reign. Your will is being done at every moment of every day, and that includes in my life. There is nothing that can separate me from Your love and their is nothing that can deter or defeat Your plan for my future glorification. While I don’t always feel like a victorious conqueror in this life, Paul reminds me that our team wins in the end. And while this life may be filled with sorrow, suffering, and setbacks, You have already secured the final victory over sin and death through the sacrifice of Your Son. His resurrection and the promise of His ultimate return guarantees that my redemption will be fully realized one day. Never let me forget that reality. Amen

The Unrelenting Love of God

May 13, 2026May 14, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? – Romans 8:31-35 ESV

There is no longer any condemnation hanging over the heads of those who are in Christ. We now live according to the law of the Spirit, not the law of sin and death. As a result, we are free to say no to sin and walk according to the Spirit, in newness of life. We are now sons and daughters of God, awaiting the inheritance we will receive when Jesus returns to establish His earthly Kingdom. Paul reminds us that our future glorification awaits us, making any suffering we endure in this life pale in comparison.

So, Paul asks, “What then shall we say to these things?” (Romans 8:31 ESV). What should be our response to these marvelous truths? If God is the one who called us, justified us, and will one day glorify us, what do we have to fear in this life? If God refused to spare His own Son, but instead sent Him to die on the cross in our place, why would we ever think He would abandon us or turn His back on us?

We must constantly remind ourselves that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV). We didn’t earn God’s love; it was a gift of grace and mercy. And there is nothing we can do that will ever cause God to fall out of love with us. We can’t lose it or have it taken away from us. Our circumstances, no matter how bad they may be, are never an indication that God has fallen out of love with us.

According to Paul, nothing can ever separate us from the love of God, and no one can diminish or negate the love that Christ showed us by dying on the cross for us. There is nothing we will ever go through in this life that will ever lessen God’s love for us. Which means we should never allow anything that happens in this life to cause us to doubt His unconditional love.

Paul asks the rhetorical question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (Romans 8:35 ESV). The New Living Translation puts this verse in words we can understand: “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?”

When we view life from a temporal perspective, we risk misinterpreting God’s actions and involvement in our lives, leading us down a path that ends in doubt and disappointment. “After all,” we surmise, “if God really loved me, He would not have let this happen to me.” But if we keep our faith future-focused and recognize that God’s will for our lives culminates in our future glorification, we will realize that His love for us is unstoppable.

Present problems are no match for future-focused faith. Which is exactly what Paul meant when he wrote his second letter to the believers in Corinth.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT

Paul told the Philippians believers, “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:14 NLT). He lived his life with an attitude of expectation and intentionality, claiming, “I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me” (Philippians 3:12 NLT). So should we. Jesus died so that we might be saved, but also so that we might be glorified. That is the culmination of God’s glorious plan for us.

God has already justified us and declared us as righteous before Him, because of what Christ has done, and not because of anything we have or have not done. So if someone brings a charge against us, God’s response will always be, “They’re righteous!” If anyone attempts to condemn us, God will simply respond, “Their debt has been paid!” If something unexpected and unwanted happens to us, God will still declare His love for us.

We should not spend our lives seeking to experience our best life now; instead, we should keep our eyes set on the future reward that God has promised us. God’s best is yet to come. Any pain and suffering we experience in this life only enhances the glory of what awaits us in the future. God loved us enough to send His Son to die for us, and one day He will send Him back to get us. Jesus promised it.

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” – John 14:1-3 NLT

His work is not yet done. God’s plan is not yet complete. Our glorification has not yet happened, but it is as good as done because God is faithful and His Son will complete what He began. Which brings to mind the words of the hymn, “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go.”

O love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Joy that seekest me thru’ pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow thru’ the rain
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.

Father, Your unfailing love is hard to fathom. I seem to have the capacity to fall in and out of love all the time. My love ebbs and flows and is usually circumstantial in nature. If someone does what I like, I find it easy to love them. But if they disappoint me or do anything I find unloving, my love for them diminishes. Sometimes I don’t even know I am doing it. But Your love never fails. Your love is not fickle or based on my loveability. After all, You loved me when I was mired in sin, and You still love me after all the unloving things I have done. And Your love did not culminate at my salvation. You continue to love me and are graciously sanctifying me, and, one day. Your Son will return for me. Then I will experience the glorification You have promised. So, no matter how darks things might become in this life, You have a bright future in store for me. And like the hymn states, I am able to “trace the rainbow thru’ the rain and feel the promise is not in vain, that morn shall tearless be.” Amen

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 Is Getting What You Don’t Deserve

April 19, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

    and whose sins are covered;

8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” – Romans 4:1-8 ESV

God does not owe us anything. Our well-intentioned acts of self-produced righteousness do not score brownie points with God or put Him in our debt. Paul has made it perfectly clear that God’s declaration of our righteousness is based solely on faith in His gospel concerning His Son.
No man or woman can earn or merit favor from God. And yet, because of their sin and the death penalty it carries, they find themselves desperately needing to make things right with God. That explains man’s ongoing attempt to serve and satisfy the god of his choosing. Man is always attempting to gratify whatever god he has chosen to worship by sacrificing his time, talents, and treasures to that god. It could be the god of religion or recreation.
Every day, countless men and women sacrifice themselves to the gods of entertainment, work, pleasure, popularity, wealth, beauty, and power. They give everything they have to get whatever it is they are expecting their “god” to deliver. But there is only one God, and all stand before Him in the same condition. Despite their best efforts, they have failed to meet His righteous standards and have fallen short of the glory He demands. It doesn’t matter how religious or morally-minded you are. It doesn’t matter if you worship the right God or the wrong god. It matters if you worship the right God in the right way, and Paul says that way is by faith.
In his gospel, John describes the redemptive plan accessible only through faith in Jesus.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. – John 1:9-13 ESV
When Jesus came, most Gentiles didn’t recognize or accept Him, and even though He was a Jew and fulfilled all the prophecies concerning their coming Messiah, the Jews rejected Him. In doing so, they rejected the gospel of God, “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ESV). 
Paul has already shown that it was not enough to be a Jew. Their privileged position as God’s chosen people gave them access to God’s law and insight into His holy standards, but it did not equip them to live up to those standards. Despite their standing as God’s treasured possession, they were just as guilty as the Gentiles, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV). 
Knowing that any Jews in his audience would automatically appeal to their unique status as descendants of Abraham and attempt to use the patriarch as an example of works-based righteousness, Paul cuts the legs out from under their argument. He states, “if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God” (Romans 4:2 ESV). 
Abraham could have bragged about his righteous accomplishments before men, but not before God. His most fervent attempts at righteousness would have scored him no points with God. But Paul, quoting from the Old Testament book of Genesis, writes, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3, Genesis 16:6 ESV). 
God reminds any Jews reading his letter that God had promised to make of Abraham a mighty nation, and yet, Abraham was old, and his wife was barren. Both Abraham and Sarah began to question God’s promise. How could Abraham father a mighty nation if he couldn’t have a son? Already advanced in years and with a barren wife, Abraham assumed his heir would have to be one of his household servants. But God told Abraham, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 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 15:4-5 NLT). 
After this divine disclosure, God repeated His original promise to Abraham, and the Genesis account records, “he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6 ESV). 
It was Abraham’s faith in God’s promise that led to God’s declaration of his righteous standing before Him; it had nothing to do with Abraham’s works or efforts. In fact, Paul insists that when someone does labor, they deserve their wages as payment. Their wages are not a gift; they were earned. Then Paul points out the difference works worthy of remuneration and the gift of righteousness.
But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. – Romans 4:5 NLT
Again, Paul turns to the Hebrew Scriptures to prove his point. Quoting Psalm 32:1-2, he writes, “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin” (Romans 4:7-8 NLT). 
Our forgiveness from God is a gift, unearned and undeserved. Our salvation is made possible by His Son’s death, not by our good works. As Paul makes clear in Chapter Six, the only thing God owes man is death.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23 NLT
Our sins have earned us nothing but God’s wrath, and yet He chose to provide a way of escape, a solution to our sin problem. He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sins and, in so doing, Jesus satisfied the wrath of God. When anyone places their faith in God’s sole provision for salvation, the death and resurrection of His Son, they receive the gift of His righteousness. Their disobedience is forgiven, their sins are put out of sight, and their record of rebellion against God is cleared once and for all.
For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. – Romans 5:10-11 NLT

Father, what an incredible thought that we are now Your friends. Because of Jesus, we are no longer Your enemies, condemned by our sinfulness and incapable of doing anything to win back Your favor. Instead, we have placed our faith in Your Son’s death on our behalf and received the marvelous gift of salvation and restoration. We who were at one time deserving of death have been forgiven and offered the gift of eternal life. You owed us nothing but have given us everything. We deserved justice and judgment but received love, mercy, and grace instead. My prayer is the same as that of Paul. That we may have the power to understand, as all Your people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is. And that we may experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then we will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from You (Ephesians 3:18-19 NLT). Amen

Spirit-Empowered, Not Self-Motivated

March 31, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹¹Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. ¹²Greet one another with a holy kiss. ¹³All the saints greet you.

¹⁴The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. – 2 Corinthians 13:11-14 ESV

How do you close out a letter like this one? For 13 chapters, Paul has had to defend his ministry, confront the Corinthians about their lack of giving, encourage their continued spiritual growth, and expose the false apostles undermining his authority and hindering his work. Now, as he wraps up his letter, he does so with five simple statements.

First, he tells them to rejoice. He doesn’t explain what they are to rejoice about, but he most likely has their position in Christ in mind. They are children of God, heirs of His Kingdom, recipients of His grace, and possessors of His Holy Spirit, and they have much to rejoice about. Yet it is so easy to lose sight of all that God has done and to allow ourselves to live ungrateful, joyless lives. The life of the believer should be marked by joy and rejoicing, but it is a choice. We must decide to express our gratitude to God for all that He has done for us. Even if we find this life difficult and full of trials, we can rejoice that our future is secure and that all God has promised us is guaranteed. We have an eternity ahead of us, free from sin, pain, and sorrow. Even if we must suffer in this life, we face a suffering-free future because of our faith in Christ.

Secondly, Paul tells them to “aim for restoration.” This could actually be translated, “set things right” or “put things in order.” This interpretation seems more appropriate because Paul has been pointing out issues within the church that were not as they should have been. He was concerned about their reticence to give to the saints in Judea. He was worried about the impact the false apostles had had on their faith. Paul wanted them to get their proverbial act together and pursue spiritual maturity.

It is quite easy for believers in Christ to find themselves distracted from their primary God-given directive to pursue spiritual maturity. Yes, we are to witness and share the gospel with those who have not yet heard. But our transformed lives are one of the greatest testimonies we can give to the power of the gospel. Disorder and disunity in the church are antithetical to our calling as the children of God. Selfishness and self-centeredness are not to characterize our relationship with God. As Paul wrote in his first letter, the Corinthians had a habit of living as if they were still part of the world.

Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? – 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NLT

Paul wanted them to get their spiritual house in order and restore things to the way God wanted them.

Next, Paul told them to “comfort one another.” Actually, this might be better translated as “be encouraged” or “be comforted.” This seems to fit in with what Paul said earlier in his letter.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us. – 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ESV

Paul wanted his letter to bring them encouragement. He knew that their situation was far from perfect and realized that their pursuit of spiritual maturity was anything but easy. So he tried to encourage and comfort them by letting them know that God was not done with them yet. As they were comforted by God, they would be better able to live in unity and peace with one another.

It was a common practice in the early church to greet one another with a kiss as a sign of unity and their common bond in Christ. But Paul insists that they must greet one another with a holy kiss, without hypocrisy and not just for show. A holy kiss can only come from holy lips. You can’t verbally tear down a brother in Christ, then greet him with a kiss as if nothing is wrong. James writes, “Sometimes it [the tongue] praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” (James 3:9-10 NLT). Holiness is the key to true unity and peace.

Finally, Paul closes his letter with a salutation that alludes to all three members of the Trinity: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Grace, love, and fellowship. These three things are critical to the health and spiritual effectiveness of the church. We exist because of the grace or unmerited favor of Christ, made possible by His death on the cross, and we are to extend that grace to all those within the body of Christ.

In his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul confirms that Jesus’ death was the direct result of God’s love for sinful mankind.

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

God loved us so much that in spite of our sinfulness and rebellion, He sent His own Son to die on our behalf. And we are to love one another in the same selfless, sacrificial way.

Finally, as believers in Jesus Christ and recipients of God’s love, we have been given the Spirit of God. We are inhabited by the Holy Spirit, who makes our fellowship with one another possible. He has given each of us spiritual gifts designed to benefit the rest of the body. He empowers us to love as Christ loved, and produces within us fruit that is designed to minister to one another: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT).

Our unity is Spirit-empowered, not self-motivated. Our love for one another is made possible by the Spirit of God, not our own self-will. Grace, love, and fellowship, made possible by the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, are all we need for living together as the body of Christ, as sons and daughters of God.

Father, Peter said that Your “divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Petere 1:7 BSB). You loved us enough to send Your Son to pay our sin debt with His own sinless life. Jesus willingly died so that we might live and enjoy forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life. And the Holy Spirit took up residence in us the moment we placed our faith in Jesus, empowering us to live as Your sons and daughters in a broken and sin-damaged world. As a result, Paul calls us to be joyful, grow to maturity, encourage each other, and live in harmony and peace. While there are times when those lofty goals seem impossible and unachievable, You have graciously provided everything we need for life and godliness. At no point have you left us to fend for ourselves or to live godly lives in our own strength. Nothing is impossible for You and, therefore, nothing is impossible for us. May I embrace the attitude that Paul had: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13 BSB. Amen

Giving To Give God Glory

March 19, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁶The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. ¹²For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. ¹³By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, ¹⁴while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! – 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 ESV

There is a certain segment of Christendom today that operates on the “give-to-get” philosophy, which holds that God is somehow obligated to “pour out a blessing” on all who give. They use this very passage to teach that the more you give, the more God is obligated to pay you back for your generosity. But is that what Paul is teaching? Is he portraying giving as some kind of divine financial investment strategy that guarantees a low-risk, high-yield return? There is little doubt that Paul is implying that those who give sparingly shouldn’t expect God to bless them, and those who give generously will experience a bountiful return on their investment. But what is the nature of that return? Is it more money? Is Paul guaranteeing a high financial yield to the more generous among us? If he is, then the motivation behind the giving becomes based on greed and avarice.

Paul’s emphasis is on giving and doing so freely and liberally. But the motivation should be based on submission to the will of God and a recognition of His grace and generosity toward us. Anything we have to give has been given to us by Him, so our giving is to be out of gratitude, not greed. It is to be an expression of love for the saints, not a lust for increased wealth.

Paul emphasizes that our giving should be done cheerfully, not for a financial return, but to do the will of God and to participate in the care of the saints and the cause of His Kingdom. The motivation behind our giving is dependence upon God, not money. Paul says, “God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others” (2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT).

When we give, we are releasing our hold or dependence upon the very resources the world says are our source of hope and means of self-reliance. But Paul says that when we give, we show our dependence on God. We are submitting our care to His divine will and ability to meet our daily needs. When we give generously and cheerfully, we display our belief that God will not allow us to go hungry. It is His grace that He will pour out on us, and not necessarily in the form of money. According to Paul, God has a greater concern for us than our financial stability.

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. – 2 Corinthians 9:10 ESV

Notice what is being harvested: Your righteousness. The real benefit behind our giving is righteousness, not financial reward.

The other fruit produced from sowing generously is thanksgiving. And Paul extends the concept of giving beyond just the financial arena.

You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. – 2 Corinthians 9:11 ESV

When we willingly obey God’s prompting to give of our money, time, or talents, we will find that God enriches us with even more of those same resources so that we might continue to give. The point is not that we are giving to get more of whatever it is we just gave away, but that we might see the grace of God poured out on us and through us. That is what produces thanksgiving to Him. When we see God at work in our lives, using us and blessing us, we can’t help but be grateful to Him for His grace and goodness.

Paul goes on to say, “the service of this ministry is not only providing for the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God” (2 Corinthians 9:12 NLT). In other words, our generous giving produces a crop of thanksgiving from those who are the beneficiaries of our giving. They will be grateful to us, but more importantly, they will express gratitude to God. Not only that, “they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing with them and with everyone” (2 Corinthians 9:13 NLT).

Our giving results in their gratitude and God’s glory, and it all starts with our submission to God that comes as a result of our salvation by God. Our generosity, in whatever form it takes, is a byproduct of our salvation. We love because He first loved us. We give because He has so graciously given to us.

Paul would have us remember that our giving is an expression of God’s “surpassing grace” upon us. And like Paul, we should be able to say, “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15 ESV). We are the recipients of God’s grace, His unmerited favor. We are the beneficiaries of His benevolent, sacrificial gift of His own Son’s death as payment for our sins. Our debt was paid by His sacrifice. God gave the greatest thing He had to give so that we might have life, and it is because of that inexpressible gift that we are to give to others. And the return on investment? An increase in righteousness, thankfulness, and glory to God.

Father, I have to admit that this whole section of Paul’s letter seems to be like a broken record that keeps repeating itself. Part of me wants him to change subjects and move on to something less convicting and uncomfortable. But it is clear that generosity was important to Paul because it was important to You. He wasn’t a pastor trying to raise money for a new sanctuary or a parking lot expansion. He was a faithful shepherd encouraging his flock to see their God-given blessings as resources to serve one another. I can’t help but think about Paul’s words to the believers in Rome.

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly” – Romans 12:6-8 NLT

We live under the constant fear of never having enough. But You are a good and gracious God who has promised to supply all our needs. You did not promise us a life of ease, comfort, riches, and convenience. But You did promise to supply all our needs through Your glorious riches (Philippians 4:19), and all You ask is that we share what we have been given with others – for their good and Your glory. Amen

Devotionary

The Bible Made Accessible and Applicable

the love of God