Our God Reigns

June 4, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ⁴for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ⁷Pay 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 13:1-7 ESV

At the heart of this passage is the sovereignty of God. That should not be overlooked or under-emphasized. All throughout his letter, Paul has been dealing with the subject of man’s justification before God. He has made it clear that this is the work of a sovereign God. He is the one who calls, justifies, sanctifies and ultimately glorifies all believers. And even in this section of his letter, where Paul is talking about the practical outflow of one’s faith in relationship to others, he keeps emphasizing God’s sovereignty. In chapter 12, Paul talked about spiritual gifts and their role in the body of Christ. Because they are given by God, there is no room for pride or boasting. Like salvation, they are a gift from God and have nothing to do with human merit. Paul wanted his readers to remember that they had “gifts that differ according to the grace given to us” (Romans 12:6 ESV).

Now, as Paul addresses the believer’s relationship with civil authority, he continues to emphasize God’s sovereignty, but it is important that we keep Paul’s words within their context. He is writing to believers in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, the world’s most powerful nation at the time. Both the Jews and the Gentiles who made up the church in Rome knew what it was like to live under the authority of an oppressive regime. And as far as the Romans were concerned, the Christians were little more than a break-off sect of the Hebrew religion. Their only real knowledge of Christianity was tied to the individual for whom it was named, Jesus Christ, who was crucified by Pontius Pilate for claiming to be King of the Jews.

The Christians, like the Jews, were tolerated by the Romans and given certain freedoms to practice their religion in peace. But the Jewish Christians would have had no affinity for the Romans, knowing full well that their people had lived under the weight of Roman rule for years.

Yet Paul tells his readers, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1 ESV). The word Paul uses is hypotassō, and it means “to subject oneself, obey” (Greek Lexicon :: G5293 (KJV). Blue Letter Bible. Web. 23 Dec, 2015). In this passage, Paul does not address what Christians should do when rulers overstep their God-given authority and begin persecuting their subjects; he simply encourages believers to submit to those in authority over them. And he was not alone in promoting this kind of behavior. The apostle Peter said something very similar.

For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. – 1 Peter 2:13-14 NLT

And Paul provides the “why” behind his call for submission to earthly authorities.

For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. – Romans 13:1 ESV

It is a case of God’s sovereignty. Jesus lived out this very idea, having submitted Himself to the Roman authorities, even allowing them to carry out their decision to put Him to death. But He knew that His submission was ultimately to God. During His trial, Pilate asked Him, “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?” (John 19:10 NLT), and Jesus responded, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above” (John 19:11 NLT).

The very existence of the Romans as a nation-state had been divinely decreed by God. Their presence in the land of Palestine and their rule over the people of Israel were not something that caught God off guard. Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-7 ESV). At just the right time, God sent His Son. When Roman rule was at its zenith and the Jewish people were living under their control, the Messiah appeared on the scene. The very existence of the Roman government in the land of Israel played a vital role in fulfilling God’s promises and plan. The death of Jesus, predicted in Isaiah 53, was fulfilled in detail because of the Romans and their practice of crucifixion.

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

Unjustly condemned,
    he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
    that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
    for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong
    and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
    he was put in a rich man’s grave. – Isaiah 53:8=9 NLT

Jesus’ submission to the Roman authorities was based on His understanding of God’s sovereign will for His life. So, when Paul encourages our subjection to governing authorities, he does so based on his understanding that all authority exists by God’s decree. For a believer to resist God-given authority is to resist God.

Again, Paul does not address what a Christian is to do when the government encourages disobedience to God. But if we follow the example of Paul, he submitted to the governmental authorities on many occasions and was willing to go to jail when their demands contradicted the will of God for his life. Ultimately, Paul found himself a prisoner in Rome because of his faith. His preaching of the gospel led to his arrest and imprisonment. So, there may come a time when the believer must resist and disobey civil authority, but we must always be willing to suffer the consequences of our disobedience, even if it means persecution.

Paul makes it clear that all governing authorities are appointed by God. They are “God’s servant for your good” (Romans 13:4 ESV) and “ministers of God” (Romans 13:6 ESV). Ultimately, our submission to civil authority is to be seen as submission to God because He is in control. We are to live our lives with the understanding that our God is sovereign and rules over all, including nations, governments, leaders, parliaments, presidents, dictators, senates, and all man-made institutions. He is in control at all times, and His plan for this world will be fulfilled regardless of who sits on a throne or rules the nations. He used the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans to accomplish His will for the nation of Israel, and He remains in authority over all the nations of the earth at this very moment. So, we are to live our lives in submission to and trust in His sovereign, providential power because our God reigns over all.

Our God is great and glorious
We put our trust in Your name, Jesus
Able to save and deliver us
We put our hope in Your name, Jesus

Blessing and honor
Glory and power
Unto our God forever and ever
All of the honor
All of the praise is Yours
Yours forever

Hallelujah
Hallelujah, our God reigns
Hallelujah
Hallelujah, our God reigns

Father, You rule and reign over all the nations of the earth. Your authority is absolute and Your will is always accomplished, regardless of who sits in the seats of power and claims to be in charge. No political party or government entity can resist Your will or operate outside Your control. This does not mean that You sanction evil or are complicit in the sinful activities of godless nations. But it does mean that their presence on this earth is not outside Your will. Dictators and despots have always existed. Pride, arrogance, and the allure of power have always driven sinful men to do wicked things. But You have the power and authority to use godless people to carry our Your righteous will. You used Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Ahab, Darius, and others to accomplish Your providential plan for the people of Israel. And You are still operating in undimished authority over the nations of the earth. Help us to see that You remain in control at all times. Despite what happens around us, never let us lose hope in Your redemptive plan for our lives and this world. 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 Wondrous Ways of God

May 31, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

³³Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

³⁴“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
³⁵“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”

³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. – Romans 11:33-36 ESV

Paul sums up the last three chapters regarding Israel’s rejection of God, their partial hardening, and their ultimate restoration as His chosen people with a statement about His incomparable character. He marvels at God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge. He confesses that God’s ways and judgments are unsearchable and inscrutable. But what is Paul’s point? What is he attempting to say about God?

I think the New American Standard Version has a more accurate rendering of Paul’s opening line: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” The word “riches” refers to abundance or fullness. Paul says that God is overflowing with wisdom and knowledge.

“God’s ‘wisdom’ is His ability to arrange His plan so it results in good for both Jews and Gentiles and His own glory. His ‘knowledge’ testifies to His ability to construct such a plan.” – Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Notes On Romans, 2009 Edition

We may not always understand what God is doing, but we can always trust that whatever He does is right and good. Paul goes on to say that God’s judgments are unsearchable. The Greek word “judgment” carries a judicial sense. It can mean “condemnation of wrong, the decision (whether severe or mild) which one passes on the faults of others” (Outline of Biblical Usage).

We have no right to judge God for what He does, including His judgment of mankind’s sins or His choosing to show mercy to some who deserve His judgment. His “ways” or actions are beyond our comprehension. His thought processes exceed our limited capacity of understanding. Isaiah confirmed this reality when he wrote, “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT).

Paul continues to quote Isaiah to support his point.

Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice? – Isaiah 40:13-14 NLT

In verse 35, Paul resorts to quoting Elihu, one of Job’s well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful friends.

“If you are good, is this some great gift to him [God]? What could you possibly give him?” – Job 35:7 NLT

He also quotes the words God spoke in response to Job’s questioning of His ways.

“Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine.” – Job 41:11 NLT

God is not to be questioned or placed under the microscope of our finite minds. While His ways may seem strange or even distasteful to us, they are always right, just, and good. There is always a method and a meaning behind what appears to us as madness. God doesn’t need our advice and does not seek our counsel. He doesn’t owe an explanation for His actions, and we certainly don’t deserve His.

God is not obligated to redeem anyone and is not required to extend His saving grace to any man or woman. That He does so at all should astound and amaze us. It should leave us in awe of His incredible love, patience, and faithfulness. When Paul wrote, “For God has consigned all to disobedience” (Romans 11:32 ESV), he was saying that God was justly passing sentence on all men for their sin and rebellion against Him “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV).

Every human being is guilty of disobedience or “obstinate opposition to the divine will” (Outline of Biblical Usage), and that includes both Jews and Gentiles. But God has decided to show mercy to some, but not because they deserved it. As Paul explains, God shows “mercy on whomever he will, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Romans 9:18 ESV). His mercy and compassion have nothing to do with human will or self-effort (Romans 9:16), but are His sole prerogative. Which is why Paul concludes, “For from him and through him and to him are all things” (Romans 11:36 ESV). The New Living Translation puts it this way: “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory.”

Salvation is a gift of God and is based solely on His mercy. It has nothing to do with anything inherently good in the one who receives it. No one deserves God’s mercy. What He chooses to do in regard to sinful mankind is completely up to Him. As God, He is free to do whatever He deems to be just and good, and all that He does, He does for His own glory. His actions always reveal His character in a way that illustrates and accentuates His glorious nature. Whenever He acts, He expresses His judgment, and He does so in a perfectly just and righteous manner. When He punishes, He never does so unjustly; it is always deserved. When He shows mercy, it is never at the expense of His justice. In other words, it is never unjust or unfair.

When God pardons the sins of those who believe in His Son, He doesn’t just turn His back on their sins and act as if they never happened; that would be unjust and unrighteous. Their sins deserve punishment. Their crimes require sentencing and payment of the penalty due. So God took care of the penalty with the death of His Son. He paid the price for our sins by sending His Son to die in our place. And as Paul declares, “How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable are His ways! How wonderful are the ways of God!”

Father, You are the just judge who always rules rightly and without partiality. You are the righteous Law-Giver and the flawless Law-Keeper. You are light and in You there is no hint of darkness (1 John 1:5). I may not always understand Your ways, but that gives me no right to question Your motives or character. You are always in control and Your plans are always perfect, righteous, and good. In the moment, when the circumstances of life appear difficult and even unbearable, I can sometimes question Your goodness and greatness. I can begin to doubt Your love for me. But Paul reminds me that all things come from You; they pass through Your sovereign hands and are intended for my good and Your glory.

“…everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory” (Romans 11:36 NLT).

Paul’s imprisonments were part of Your will for him. It was from those prison cells he penned the majority of his letters. Some of his most encouraging words came during what must have been his most discouraging moments. Yet, he didn’t allow his suffering to stifle his faith or keep Him from trusting Your will for his life. I want to make his prayer my own, asking that I might live my life in submission to Your marvelous, mind-boggling, and fully reliable will for my life.

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. – Philippians 1:20-22 NLT. Amen

Our Ready, Willing, and Able God

May 29, 2026May 29, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²⁵Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
²⁷“and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.” – Romans 11:25-27 ESV

Paul has been establishing the fact that God is not yet done with Israel. While the majority of Jews have rejected Jesus as their Messiah, a remnant has been shown mercy by God and placed their faith in His Son as their Savior. Paul was living proof of that reality, and there were other believing Jews in the church in Rome.

The Gentile believers had much for which to be grateful to the Hebrew nation. It was through the Jews that their Savior had come. Jesus was a descendant of Abraham and born into the line of King David, all in keeping with the promises made to both men. And while those Jews who refused to accept Jesus as their Savior were “broken off because of their unbelief” (Romans 11:20 ESV) and the Gentiles were grafted in, that did not mean that God had turned His back on His chosen people. If He was able to mercifully take Gentiles and graciously graft them into the root of Abraham, could He not do so with the Jews? Paul poses that very question.

And even they [the Jews], if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. – Romans 11:23 ESV

The important word here is “belief.” Faith in Christ is required for anyone, whether Jew or Gentile, to be grafted into the root of Abraham. Paul wrote the Gentile believers in Galatia, reminding them of their status as children of Abraham because of their faith in Jesus, the descendant of Abraham.

The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. – Galatians 3:7-9 NLT

He went on to clarify, “Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14 NLT).

It is through faith, our belief in the saving power of Jesus Christ, that we inherit the promises made to Abraham. We become part of God’s family through belief in His Son, and the same thing is true for God’s chosen people, the Jews. But Paul indicates that a “partial hardening has come upon Israel” (Romans 11:25 ESV). The term Paul used is interesting. It is pōrōsis, and it means “obtrusiveness of mental discernment, dulled perception” (Outline of Biblical Usage). The root word means “to grow hard, callous, become dull, lose the power of understanding.”

For the time being, the Jews, individually and collectively, are experiencing a callousness to the gospel message, but this was all part of God’s divine plan. As Paul wrote earlier, “their rejection means the reconciliation of the world” (Romans 11:15 ESV). It was their rejection of Christ that led to the gospel being taken to the rest of the nations of the world. But Paul indicates that there will be a point when “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25 ESV). Thomas L. Constable explains what this phrase means:

“When all the Gentiles whom God has chosen for salvation during the present age of Jewish rejection (setting aside) have experienced salvation, God will precipitate a revival of faith among the Jews. Even though some Jews trust Christ now, God is not presently working through them as Israel as He will in the future (i.e., in the Millennium), after multitudes of them turn to faith in Christ. He is now working through the church.” – Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Notes on Romans, 2009 Edition.

Paul writes, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins” (Romans 11:26-27 ESV). He is quoting the writings of the prophet Isaiah.

“And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.” – Isaiah 59:20 ESV

Paul understood this passage as a prophecy concerning the Messiah, which was partially fulfilled in the coming of Jesus. But upon His arrival, Jesus was met with opposition from His own people. The apostle John described the less-than-warm welcome Jesus received from His fellow Jews.

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. – John 1:10-12 NLT

The Jews didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet when Jesus appeared the first time. But God is far from done with them. He will still accomplish His will among the Jewish people and fulfill the promises He made to them, but it will not take place until He has completed His work among the Gentiles. There is a day coming when the number of Gentiles to be saved will be complete. Paul is not inferring that ALL Gentiles will be saved; he is indicating that there is a limited number of those who will place their faith in Christ, and when that number has been reached, God’s work among the Gentiles will have been fulfilled. He will then turn His attention to the Jews.

But when Paul says that “all Israel will be saved,” he does not mean that every single Israelite who has ever lived will become a believer in Jesus Christ. In the same way that not all Gentiles will come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, neither will all Jews. But when compared to the relatively small believing remnant of Jews that currently exists, the number that will come to faith in the future will be large, and there will be representatives from every tribe of Israel.

The prophet Zechariah predicted a future day when God would do a mighty work among the people of Israel. He quotes God’s promise to complete His divine plan for His chosen people.

“I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.” – Zechariah 12:10 NLT

The day will come when the people of Israel will grieve over their mistreatment and rejection of their Messiah. But their sorrow will be turned to joy.

“On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity.

“And on that day,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. I will remove from the land both the false prophets and the spirit of impurity that came with them.” – Zechariah 13:1-2 NLT

But not all Israel will be saved. The prophecy is very specific in indicating that God will redeem and restore a remnant of His chosen people.

“Two-thirds of the people in the land
    will be cut off and die,” says the Lord.
    “But one-third will be left in the land.
I will bring that group through the fire
    and make them pure.
I will refine them like silver
    and purify them like gold.
They will call on my name,
    and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” – Zechariah 13:8-9 NLT

God is ready, willing, and able to redeem Israel. He is not yet done with His chosen people, nor has He fully rejected them. He is simply waiting until the full number of Gentiles has come to faith in Christ, then He will turn His attention to the Jews. His plan is perfect, and His timeline is right on schedule. We don’t know when these things will take place, but we are to trust that they will, because our God is faithful, just, righteous, powerful, and fully capable of completing what He has started and fulfilling all that He has promised to the people of Israel and to us.

Father, as Paul has so persistently illustrated, You are a promise-keeping God. Your Word is filled with promises You made to the nation of Israel and You will fulfill every one of them. As Balaam said, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” (Numbers 23:19 NLT). You are good for Your word. You don’t renege on Your promises and You never change Your mind. You are faithful, true, and totally trustworthy. And the fact that You will keep Your promises to Israel is a powerful reminder that You will keep the promises You have made to me and every other Gentile believer. You are more reliable than the sun coming up in the morning or the changing of the seasons. I am reminded of the words Paul wrote to Titus, reminding him of Your faithfulness.

I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began. – Titus 1:1-2 NLT

Your plan is far from finished. Your will concerning the people of Israel is not yet complete. They remain hardhearted and incapable of accepting the truth concerning Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. But the day is coming when You will give them new hearts and a new capacity to see the error of their ways and return to a right relationship with You through faith alone in Christ alone, because You are faithful. Amen

The Improbable But Providential Plan of God

May 27, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹¹So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. ¹²Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

¹³Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. ¹⁵For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? ¹⁶If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. – Romans 11:11-16 ESV

At one time, the Jewish people had been the apple of God’s eye, His chosen possession, and the sole recipients of His favor. He even sovereignly ordained for His Son and their Messiah to be born as one of them, a descendant of Abraham and David. But as the apostle John noted, when Jesus came, His own rejected Him.

He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. – John 1:11-12 NLT

Using himself as an illustration, Paul noted that there had been a small remnant of Jews who accepted Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. However, most Jews had chosen to reject Him, refusing to acknowledge Him as God’s chosen deliverer and unwilling to admit their need for a Savior to rescue them from their sins.

We see this scenario illustrated by Jesus Himself in His parable about the two sons. In Chapter 15 of his gospel, Luke records a parable Jesus told about a rich man who had two sons. One day, the younger of the two brothers came to his father and demanded his inheritance. Graciously, his father gave the son what he asked for, and immediately, the younger son “packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living” (Luke 15:13 NLT).

In time, the son found himself living in abject poverty, trying to make ends meet by taking a lowly job feeding swine. But ultimately, the young man came to his senses and recognized the gravity of what he had done.

.“..he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant”’” – Luke 15:17-19 NLT

Upon his return home, he received an unexpected welcome. His father ran to him with open arms, embraced him, and welcomed him back with joy. His return was met with joy, love, and forgiveness, with his father responding, “We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found” (Luke 15:23-24 NLT). There was no anger, recriminations, or retribution.

But, in contrast, his brother responded with jealousy and anger, refusing to join in the festivities. When his father begged him to join the celebration, the older son angrily responded, “All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!” (Luke 15:29-30 NLT).

His response revealed his self-righteous attitude and his jealousy at seeing his rebellious younger brother receive unmerited forgiveness and mercy. Yet, his father assured him, “Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!” (Luke 15:31-32 NLT).

In His story, Jesus does not disclose what happened to the older brother. But it seems clear that the older son was meant to represent those Jews who were determined to place their hope in their own self-righteousness. They saw themselves as sinless and therefore, in no need of a Savior. The older brother responded with jealousy and indignation, the same reaction Paul refers to in his letter to the Romans. In this case, Paul explains that the Jews’ rejection of Jesus was necessary so that God could extend His offer of salvation to the Gentiles.

They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves. – Romans 11:11 NLT

For generations, the Jews had embraced their designation as God’s chosen people and believed themselves to be blessed because they were descendants of Abraham. They belonged to God, and He belonged to them. They viewed themselves as privileged and protected because of their unique relationship with God. But when Jesus came, He called them to repent.

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – Matthew 4:17 ESV

But what did Jesus mean by His call to repentance? What were they to repent of? The God’s Word® Translation renders verse 17 this way: From then on, Jesus began to tell people, “Turn to God and change the way you think and act, because the kingdom of heaven is near!”

In Greek, the word “repent” is metanoeō, and it means “to change one’s mind.” Jesus was demanding that they change their minds about God and how they viewed Him. They had long since lost their fear of God and their awe of His holiness. Jesus was also calling them to change their view of sin and their hope of achieving self-righteousness. They saw themselves as in no need of a Savior because they thought they were right with God because of their ethnic identity as descendants of Abraham. After all, they were heirs of the promises God had made to their patriarch. But Jesus said of them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor–sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Mark 2:17 NLT).

So when the “healthy” Jews rejected Jesus and demanded His death on the cross, God took His message of redemption to the Gentiles. And, as Paul noted, some Jews, himself included, embraced the good news of Jesus Christ as well. But the real objective behind God’s embracing of repentant Gentiles was to make His people jealous. Even Paul disclosed that his ministry to the Gentiles had an ulterior motive.

God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this, for I want somehow to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some of them. – Romans 11:13-14 NLT

Later in this chapter, Paul will explain how this God-produced jealousy among His chosen people will turn out in the end. As usual, God has a plan and a purpose behind all that He does. His efforts are never in vain. Which led Paul to exclaim, “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!” (Romans 11:33 NLT).

Father, Paul was right. Your decisions and ways are impossible for us to understand. I cannot even begin to fathom why You do the things You do. And who am I, a mere man, to question how You rule over the world You made? Yet, in our pride and arrogance, we humans are always quick to point out what we believe to be the flaws in Your logic and actions. Some things don’t make sense to us. Our finite minds can’t grasp the significance of Your sovereign will and the providential nature of Your plans for mankind. To us, the death of Jesus seems so unnecessary. The Jews’ rejection of Him comes across as inexplicable and illogical. But You were not surprised or caught off guard because it was all part of Your divine plan. Their failure to accept their own Savior made the gospel available to the Gentiles. And, as Paul points out, the inclusion of the Gentiles was always intended to produce a godly jealousy among Your chosen people. One day, it will serve as a wakeup call for those who refused to admit their need for a Savior. Your chosen people will recognize Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah and their only hope for being restored to a right relationship with You. As Paul points out, “if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree” (Romans 11:23 NLT). I don’t fully understand it, but I rejoice in it. Amen

Free For All

May 22, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁵For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. ⁶But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:5-13 ESV

In addressing the issue of how sinful man is justified or made right with God, Paul continues to contrast the difference between man-produced righteousness and righteousness based on faith. Because he was addressing some in the church in Rome who were Jewish believers, he draws on many Old Testament references to prove his point. In verse 5, he references the book of Leviticus, where Moses records the following words from God:

“I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 18:2-5 ESV

In his letter to the Galatian church, Paul clarified the meaning behind this passage.

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” – Galatians 3:10-12 ESV

When God spoke of living by them (the laws), He was not simply talking about life, but about right standing before God, or righteousness. Keeping God’s law completely was required for anyone to be justified or viewed as sinless before God. But God made it clear that if anyone wanted to be justified before Him according to the law, they would have to obey every single requirement. And Paul confirmed this by warning that failure to comply with all the law brought a curse, quoting from another Old Testament passage.

“Cursed is anyone who does not affirm and obey the terms of these instructions.” – Deuteronomy 27:26 NLT

But Paul also provides the good news regarding this curse.

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. – Galatians 3:13 NLT

Attempting to earn your way into God’s good graces through the stringent keeping of His law was a dead-end street that led nowhere. But God sent His Son to pay for man’s sins with His death on the cross.

Paul stresses that man’s salvation is to be based on faith in Christ, not on self-effort. It is not what man does that saves him, but belief in what Christ has done on his behalf. Paul summed up his belief with the following statement:

…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. – Romans 10:9 ESV

Nothing more was required for men to be saved. Again, using Old Testament Scriptures to prove his point, Paul quotes and paraphrases Deuteronomy 30:11-14.

“Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” – Romans 10:6-7 NLT

In other words, nobody has to earn their way into God’s presence and invite Jesus to come down. He came of his own volition and in compliance with the will of His Heavenly Father. He descended from heaven because no one could work their way there. And, secondly, nobody has to try to bring the crucified Christ back to life because He has already risen and sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Paul’s point is that human effort is unnecessary for salvation; it is based solely on belief.

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. – Romans 10:10 NLT

And Paul stresses that this believing faith is open to all.

Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:12-13 NLT

To call on the name of the Lord is to place your hope in Him rather than yourself. It is to recognize that your name or character is not enough to save you. Calling on the name of the Lord is an act of submission and dependence; it is an admission of need and a cry of help because we cannot save ourselves.

In Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the newly constructed Temple, he said, “If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors” (1 Kings 8:33-34 NLT).

Solomon stresses the need for repentance, a turning away from their sin and a returning to the Lord. Acknowledging His name was the same as acknowledging His holiness and righteousness. It was to admit that His power alone can save. It is our word of faith, our confession of Jesus Christ as our Savior, that brings about our justification or right standing before God. When we turn from trusting in ourselves and place all our hope in Him, He rescues and redeems us.

Father, we seemed to be wired to work our way into Your good graces. We are used to doing everything in our own strength and enjoy getting credit for our hard work. But when it comes to salvation, we are helpless and hopeless. We can’t work our way into Your favor. As Isaiah said, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT). And Paul echoed those wods when he wrote, “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2;9 NLT). Your plan for our redemption and restoration was never based on our ability to live up to Your righteous standards. Even Your law, through righteous and holy, was intended to show man His sinfulness and need for a Savior. “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are” (Romans 3:20 NLT).

Our inability to earn our way back into Your favor left us condemned and unclean before You. We deserved the penalty of death, but You provided a way for us to receive forgiveness and the gift of eternal life by sending Your Son as our sin substitute, and as the prophet Joel said, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32 NLT). No more curse or condemnation. No more fear of death or threat of eternal separation from You. And all it requires is faith. Amen

The Chosen

May 18, 2026May 18, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁸So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” ²⁰But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²²What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵As indeed he says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
²⁶“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” – Romans 9:18-26 ESV

In this section of Chapter 9, Paul continues to defend God’s sovereign prerogative to show mercy based on His will, not on any merits or worthiness of men. Paul has already declared that all men are under God’s divine wrath and subject to His holy judgment, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV) and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 NLT).

Sinful humanity is deserving of God’s righteous judgment of death, and yet, Paul reminds us that God continues to show mercy to some. Again, not because they deserve it, but simply because God, in His mercy and grace, decides to do so. And Paul knew that this merciful and gracious action of God would be misconstrued and misunderstood by some as unjust and unfair. Paul was fully aware of those in his audience who would question why God refuses to show mercy to everyone. Paul knew how their minds worked because he had probably struggled with the same question. He had likely pondered how God could find fault with Esau if God chose Jacob over Esau based on nothing more than His own will. As infants in Rebekah’s womb, neither son had done anything to earn God’s mercy and grace.

God chose Jacob, “though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls” (Romans 9:11 ESV).

But at this point in his relationship with God, Paul knew better than to question the sovereign will of God, which is why he warned his readers, “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’” (Romans 9:20 ESV). Paul was using the Old Testament Scriptures to argue his point, quoting from the prophet Isaiah.

“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator.
    Does a clay pot argue with its maker?
Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying,
    ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’
Does the pot exclaim,
    ‘How clumsy can you be?’ – Isaiah 45:9 NLT

This is all about God’s sovereign will. Yet, we have made man the center of our universe with everything revolving around us. We see ourselves as the pinnacle of creation and focus all our attention on our ability to accomplish great good, while always recognizing our capacity to commit all kinds of evil. We live in a merit-based society where the good we do gets rewarded, while the bad we do gets punished. And we expect God to judge us in the same way. But, thus far, Paul’s whole point has been to stress that salvation is based on faith alone. His thesis statement for his letter is found in the opening chapter.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” –Romans 1:16-17 ESV

From God’s divine perspective, all men are guilty and stand before Him worthy of His judgment and wrath. And yet, He chooses to show mercy on some. While we may see this as somehow unfair, Paul would have us consider God’s divine prerogative as the Creator of the universe.

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. – Romans 9:21-22 NLT

Can God, the Creator, not do what He wants to do with what He has made? Is He not free to show mercy on whomever He wants to show mercy? Paul is inviting us to see things from a different perspective. He is asking us to remove man from the center of our universe and put God back where He belongs. The fact is, all mankind is deserving of God’s judgment. Even Israel, God’s chosen nation, could not live in obedience to His law or remain faithful to Him. And while God would have been fully just in destroying them for their rebellion and unfaithfulness, He poured out His mercy on them. He could have exhibited His wrath and revealed His power in destructive judgment, but instead He repeatedly displayed patience.

…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 9:22-23 NLT

God had a plan, and He had promised Abraham that He would keep it. He would send His Son as the Messiah of the Jews and the Savior of the Gentiles. God was going to show mercy, allowing some to come to a saving knowledge of His Son, not on the basis of their own righteousness or human merit, but on their faith in His mercy as expressed in His Son’s sacrificial death on the cross.

God sent His Son to the Jews first, but most of them refused Him. And yet, there were some among the Jews who did believe. And there were Gentiles who placed their faith in Christ as their Savior. God showed His mercy on some, even though all deserved His wrath. He chose to forgive some, all in fulfillment of the prophecy found in the book of Hosea.

“I will show love
to those I called ‘Not loved.’
And to those I called ‘Not my people,’
I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’
And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’” – Hosea 2:23 NLT

Our problem is that we focus on God’s wrath and miss the unbelievable nature of His mercy. The fact that God shows mercy to anyone should amaze and astound us. None of us deserves His unmerited favor. As the prophet Isaiah puts it, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT).

It is only when we come to fully comprehend our guiltiness and the fact that we deserved God’s wrath, and yet, we were shown His mercy, that we can fully appreciate the magnitude of the gift we have received.

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
yonder on Calvary’s mount out-poured,
there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

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.

– “Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord,” Julia H. Johnston (1910)

Father, Your grace is greater than all our sin, and, without it, we would have no hope. Yet, in Your love and mercy, You have chosen to extend Your unmerited favor to some. None deserved it, yet some received it, due to nothing more than Your goodness and grace. In our finite form, we have a difficult time understanding how all this works. It comes across as arbitrary and unjust. But Your ways are not our ways and, because You are righteous, holy, and without sin, everything You do is right and just. You make no mistakes and are never guilty of doing anything that is contrary to Your righteous character. We may not understand it. We may even question it. But we can never accuse You of doing evil. As Moses wrote in his song of praise to You, You are the Rock; Your deeds are perfect. Everything You do is just and fair. You are a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright You are (Deuteronomy 32:4 NLT). Amen

Slaves of a Different Master

May 1, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁵What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. – Romans 6:15-19 ESV

Men have always had a habit of twisting God’s words and using them to justify all kinds of ungodly and unrighteous behavior. And Paul knew there were those who would take all his talk about the law and our freedom from it to rationalize their sin. According to their false interpretation and skewed logic, they might conclude that if “as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant” (Romans 5:20 ESV), then it just makes sense to keep on sinning. More sin, more grace.

That is why Paul asked and answered the following question: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1 ESV), and his answer was emphatic. “By no means!” (Romans 6:2 ESV). Because of our relationship with Christ, we have died to sin. We died alongside Him on the cross, and we were raised alongside Him to new life. That means, we are to consider ourselves dead to sin, but alive to Christ. As a result, we must no longer allow sin to reign and rule in our earthly bodies.

There was a time when sinning was inescapable; we had no choice. Before coming to faith in Christ, we were hopelessly enslaved by sin and totally incapable of doing anything about it. Jesus Himself said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34 ESV). In describing false teachers who were having a devastating influence on the local church, Peter wrote, “They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you” (2 Peter 2:19 NLT). Peter then went on to describe those who accept Christ as Savior but allow their lives to be controlled by sin.

And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. – 2 Peter 2:20-21 NLT

We are all controlled by someone or something, and we end up slaves to whoever or whatever controls us. Paul would have us consider ourslaves to righteousness and, ultimately, as slaves to God. Rather than presenting our members (our bodies) to sin as instruments or tools to accomplish unrighteousness, we should present ourselves to God as “those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness” (Romans 6:13 ESV). We have a choice, but there was a time when we didn’t. Paul vividly describes our pre-conversion condition.

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. – Ephesians 2:1-3 NLT

But all that changed when we came to know Christ. Paul emphatically and eagerly states, “Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living” (Romans 6:17-18 NLT). And just as there was a time in our lives when we willingly submitted ourselves to impurity and lawlessness (disobeying God’s law), now we can willingly present ourselves as slaves to righteousness. And living as a slave to righteousness is what leads to sanctification — our growth in spiritual maturity and increasing Christlikeness.

Paul gives thanks to God because all of this is a result of His grace. Even our ability to live obediently to righteousness is made possible by God. In the next chapter, Paul will describe what it is like to do battle with his own sin nature. He presents an all-too-familiar portrait of the Christian wrestling with his desire to please God and his fleshly impulse to disobey God. For Paul, this conflict was real and caused him to cry out in frustration, but also in gratitude for the victory Jesus had made possible.

Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. – Romans 7:24-25 NLT

The answer to his difficulties and despair was Jesus. It is the gift of Jesus, made possible by the grace of God, that provides freedom from sin’s power and control. This does not mean we won’t sin; it simply means we don’t have to sin. In fact, rather than sin, we can experience increasing holiness of character, which is what sanctification is all about.

As followers of Christ, we should be convicted by sin. That Spirit-induced conviction should produce confession. As we confess, we acknowledge our need to repent. Repentance is a willing decision to turn from sin to righteousness and Christ-likeness. We turn our back on the false promises of sin and renew our hope in God’s promise of new life made possible by faith in Christ.

In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul called them to mirror the life of Christ by taking on His mindset.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
   he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross. – Philippians 2:5-8 NLT

Though He was the Son of God, He did not use His esteemed position like a get-out-of-jail-free card to escape His Father’s will. He chose to have the mindset of a slave and submit to the will of His Master. He willingly subjugated His will to that of His Father. Even as He faced His pending death by crucifixion, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Luke 22:42 NLT).

Jesus was willing to “enslave” Himself to His Father’s will. He was committed to the pursuit of righteousness, even when tempted by Satan, tested by the Pharisees, turned on by His own people, and taunted by the Romans. He was a willing slave so that we might be released from captivity to sin and freed to serve a new master: righteousness.

Father, You have called us to live in obedience to Your will. But You didn’t leave it up to us to fulfill Your righteous standards. You didn’t raise the bar of expectation then demand that we jump high enough to clear it. Instead, You sent Your Son to do what none of us could have done. He became a man with “a body like the bodies we sinners have” (Romans 8:3 NLT) and lived a life free from sin and fully committed to doing Your will. And because He was faithful and fully compliant, He became the sinless sacrifice, the unblemished lamb who died for the sins of the world. And our faith in Him allows us to become increasingly more like Him. As we live in this life and submit to the Holy Spirit’s promptings, we become more like Jesus. And as we become more like Him, we take on His character, that of a willing and submissive slave to Your will. It isn’t easy and it doesn’t come naturally. But, thanks to Jesus and the power of Your indwelling Holy Spirit, we can lives as slaves to righteousness. Amen

The Only Righteousness That Matters

April 17, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²¹But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²²the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. – Romans 3:21-26 ESV

Inevitably, the book of Romans is about how man can be made right with God. The first few chapters build a case for man’s unrighteousness, proving that no man can live up to God’s holy standards because his sin nature prevents him from keeping God’s law. Even those parts he does manage to keep, he does so from the wrong motivation, out of a sense of obedience or obligation, not love. His law-keeping ways are insufficient to earn him any merit with God. His acts of goodness come across to God as worthless because they are tainted with sin. So Paul concludes, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV). That includes Jews and Gentiles, pagans and the pious, reprobates and the religious, and everyone in between.

But Paul contends that God’s brand of righteousness has been revealed apart from the law. In other words, God revealed His righteousness through the gift of His grace, not as a form of compensation for man’s efforts. In Chapter Four, Paul states, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due” (Romans 4:4 ESV). If our righteousness can be earned, then we are simply receiving what we are owed. If it is based on our efforts, then God is somehow obligated to pay us what we rightly deserve.

But Paul clarifies the truth about the gospel and the righteousness that God approves.

…people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. – Romans 4:5 NLT

In fact, the Scriptures point out that “Abraham believed god, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3 ESV). The kind of righteousness God is looking for is based on faith, not works; it is God-dependent, not self-dependent.

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. – Romans 3:24-25 ESV

Man-made righteousness is insufficient; it can’t measure up and falls far short of the goal that God has established. Augustine writes, “The Law was given, in order that we might seek after grace. Grace was given, in order that we might fulfill the Law. It was not the fault of the Law that it was not fulfilled, but the fault was man’s carnal mind. This guilt the Law must make manifest, in order that we may be healed by divine grace” (Augustine, Concerning the Spirit and the Letter).

We are justified through faith by grace. As Paul says, it is a gift, unearned and undeserved. Christ’s death solved our problem. He paid our debt, and redeemed us out of slavery to sin and propitiated or satisfied the holy demands of God. Until Jesus showed up on the scene, God had willingly overlooked (passed over) the sins committed by men.

…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. – Romans 3:25-26 NLT

This does not mean that He accepted or tolerated their sins. What Paul is inferring is that God restrained Himself from dealing with the sins of men according to His own justice. He put off the inevitable. He delayed His wrath so that He might reveal His righteousness through Christ.

As Paul says, “It was to show His righteousness at the present time” (Romans 3:26 ESV). God knew it was “impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4 ESV). So, the author of Hebrews writes, “when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book”’” (Hebrews 10:5-7 ESV).

God the Father sent Jesus Christ to do His will and die for the sins of men. The righteousness God demanded of men was only possible through faith in the sacrifice of His Son. The book of Hebrews reminds us that, “by that will [the will for Christ to die] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10 ESV).

In sending His Son to atone for the sins of men, God remained just. He was able to punish sin in the way that His holy standards required, while at the same time justifying those who, though sinners, placed their faith in His Son’s saving work. God provided the righteousness man needed. It was a gift, unearned, undeserved, and unmerited in any way. And this free gift assured that no one could boast about having earned his way into God’s good grace. No one could take credit for their salvation or claim to have played a part in their sanctification. And no one can say they had a hand in achieving a right standing before God. It was all done for us and in spite of us.

Father, Your grace truly is amazing and Your plan to atone for the sins of mankind is beyond comprehension. Paul said that when the crucifixion of Christ is preached, “the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense” (1 Corinthians 1:23 NLT). It makes no sense, sounds far-fetched, and comes across more like a fable than the truth. But we know it is the truth because our lives have been transformed by this remarkable gift of Your grace. We couldn’t have earned it and, most certainly, didn’t deserve it. But You showered sinful mankind with Your love, mercy, and grace in the form of Your Son’s sinless sacrifice on our behalf. It reminds me of that familiar old hymn, “Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord.”

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
yonder on Calvary’s mount out-poured,
there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord, Julia H. Johnston (1910)

Thank You for Your grace. Amen

It Is Never Wrong To Do What Is Right

March 30, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁵Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! ⁶I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. ⁷But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. ⁸For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. ¹⁰For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down. – 2 Corinthians 13:5-10 ESV

At first glance, it may appear that Paul is calling on the Corinthians to examine themselves to see if they are truly saved. But in reality, Paul is calling on them to do the right thing because they are saved. They have Christ within them and, therefore, they have all they need to do what God would have them do. The real issue here is sanctification, not salvation. Paul wants them to live out the reality of their position as children of God. He wants their behavior to match their confessed belief in Christ. He has no doubt that they have the capacity to do the right thing. It is more a matter of commitment. Are they willing to do what is right?

Paul is praying that they will be and assures them that he “cannot do anything against the truth, but on for the truth” (2 Corinthians 13:8 ESV). He is unwilling to act in a way that would be contrary or detrimental to the gospel.

It is essential to understand that much of what Paul has said throughout this letter has been in defense of his apostleship. There were those who cast doubts about his qualifications. So when he asked them to examine themselves, he was really challenging them to take a long, hard look at their lives to see whether they themselves are not the very proof they are looking for. In other words, their changed lives were the greatest testimony to Paul’s calling they would ever find. The gospel message he had brought to them had been effective, resulting in their conversions and proving his calling as a messenger of Jesus Christ.

But they had struggled in their sanctification and had hit some tough spots along the way. Since Paul’s initial visit, divisions and disunity had erupted in the church. There were some moral indiscretions that had gone unpunished and remained unconfessed. Paul had already told them that he feared he would find them still struggling with the same old issues of “quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder” (2 Corinthians 12:20 NLT). So he let them know that he was praying for their restoration. Not only that, he was writing in a very blunt, in-your-face style because, when he arrived, he didn’t want to have to spend all his time playing bad cop. His goal was to build them up, not tear them down. He wanted to see them continue to grow in their salvation, increasing in their knowledge of Jesus Christ and developing an ever-deeper dependence upon God, resulting in a desire to do His will, to do the right thing.

In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul reminded them that God’s will for them was their holiness or sanctification.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification… – 1 Thessalonians 4:3 ESV

In his first letter, the apostle Peter told his readers that it was God’s will that they do good.

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. – 1 Peter 2:15 ESV

Doing good (what is right) and holiness go hand in hand. Our sanctification or growth in Christlikeness should have an outward expression. It should manifest itself in godly living (doing what God would have us do). That is Paul’s prayer for the Corinthians. He wants them to live out their faith by stepping out in obedience to God’s will.

We do good, not to win God’s favor, but because we have been the recipients of His favor. We do what is right, not to make God love us, but because He loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. Doing what is right brings God’s blessing. Doing what is wrong brings His discipline. Both are motivated by His love for us. But Paul would prefer that we learn to live obediently, doing what God deems best, even when it makes no sense. Paul would have us enjoy the benefits of a life lived within the will of God, faithfully doing what He deems to be right and good.

Father, Your will is for my holiness, not my happiness. Your desire is that I live righteously, according to Your standards, not those of a fallen world. You’ve given me Your Spirit to guide, convict, and instruct me. His power makes obeying Your commands possible, and Your Word is “a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105 NLT). You’ve placed me within the body of Christ so that I might have enjoy the community of like-minded believers who comfort and challenge me in my walk and provide me with opportunities to use the gifts You have given me. Yet, I live in a world where the pursuit of personal satisfaction takes precedence over sanctification, happiness trumps holiness, and selfishness is more important than selflessness. Don’t let me give in to the temptation to make this life all about me. Continue to show me how to do what is good and right, because that is Your will for me, and You alone know what is best. Amen

The Weapon of Words in the War of Wills

March 20, 2026 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— ²I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. ³For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. ⁵We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, ⁶being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. – 2 Corinthians 10:1-6 ESV

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, but Paul’s experience was just the opposite. His long-distance relationship with the Corinthians had created some significant leadership issues for him. While he had been away, various individuals had shown up who questioned his apostolic authority, accused him of being heavy-handed, painted him as a coward, and labeled him weak. A good portion of this letter contains Paul’s defense of his actions and authority. He felt compelled to defend himself because, ultimately, an attack on him was an attack on the very gospel he preached. He viewed the battle as a spiritual one. For Paul, this wasn’t just a case of one man’s opinion over another’s; it was about the integrity of the gospel.

Paul uses military terms to describe what was happening, and he indicates that the conflict was taking place behind the scenes in the spiritual realm. Those who were raising doubts about Paul’s integrity and undermining his ministry were actually being used by Satan himself to damage the cause of Christ. He makes it clear that the attacks against him demanded more than a “fleshly” response. He was human (of the flesh), but his actions were anything but fleshly (according to human means). He says, “We do not wage war according to human standards” (2 Corinthians 10:3b NLT). He wasn’t going to resort to human means to fight a spiritual battle. Manipulation, deceit, slander, lying, self-promotion, power-grabbing, and hypocrisy had no place in a battle that was spiritual in nature.

Yet, Paul’s enemies were waging war according to the flesh. They were using any means possible to tear down Paul and destroy his influence among the Corinthians. They spread rumors about him and raised questions about his integrity. They insinuated his lack of trustworthiness and flatly denied his apostleship. They accused him of timidity when he was among them, but of being arrogantly bold when he was writing his letters from a safe distance.

But Paul used a different fighting technique. He says, “The weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4 NLT). He knew the source of his enemies’ attacks, and it was none other than Satan. Paul was facing more than a war of words and wits. He describes the verbal attacks of his enemies as “arguments and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5a NLT).

When these people attacked Paul and his ministry, they were really speaking against God Himself. These pawns of the enemy were causing people to doubt the reality of God and the veracity of His offer of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. The NET Bible translates verse five as, “we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.” Paul wasn’t going to let the false opinions and deceptive teachings of his enemies slide by. He was going to attack them and make them his captive, forcing them to surrender to the sovereignty and Lordship of Christ.

Paul was ready to come and clean house, but his primary concern was the Corinthians’ obedience to God’s will. Once that was taken care of, he would do business with the rebels in their midst, punishing their disobedience once and for all. Paul was anything but politically correct or tolerant. He did not operate on the notion that everyone is free to have their own opinion, at least not when it came to the gospel’s message. And since the gospel included man’s salvation, sanctification, and ultimate glorification, Paul was anything but tolerant of those who claimed to teach a different version of the gospel. He would not tolerate anyone who questioned his commission by Christ because there was too much at stake.

The phrase, “taking every thought captive,” has often been construed to mean that believers are to manage their thought lives. They are to think right thoughts and to control the inner workings of their minds. And while this is true, it would seem that Paul’s point has nothing to do with our thoughts, but with those of the enemies of God. We are to do battle with these false teachings and vain philosophies, taking them captive, like prisoners at the end of a victorious battle. We are to force those thoughts to submit to the Lordship of Christ, like captives kneeling before a conquering king. They have proven insufficient and inadequate to overthrow the King of kings and Lord of lords.

To stand for the truth, you must know it. If we are to do battle with the false teachings and the subtle lies of the enemy, it is essential that we know what the truth is. We can’t spot the counterfeit if we don’t know what the real thing looks like. Our familiarity with the truth enables us to recognize falsehood and stand against it. Our commitment to that truth motivates us to resist the lies, no matter what form they take.

Exposing the enemy’s lies is one of our primary functions as believers. Paul was at war, but he knew he was on the winning side. He was willing to go out swinging, never letting up or giving up, until the Lord called him home. Which is why he could write the following declaration of confidence to his young protegé, Timothy.

As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. 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 4:6-8 NLT

Father, I want to fight the good fight. But I know that means I have to know who my enemy is and what I am fighting for. We live in a confusing world that propogates lies and attempts to promote false versions of the truth. There are so many false gospels out there that offer alternative promises of hope but leave out the reality of sin and the need for a Savior. That was exactly what Paul was dealing with, and nothing has changed. Even among professing believers, there is an ongoing battle over what the truth is and how we are to live in a world where relativity and tolerance rule the day. We are in a spiritual war in which primary weapon of the enemy is words. In the garden, Satan got to Eve by saying, “Did God actually say?” (Genesis 3:1 ESV). By questioning the accuracy and reliability of Your words, he caused Eve to doubt Your authority, and, ultimately, Your goodness. Satan’s tactics have not changed, but his efforts have intensified. He is desperate to win the battle for the minds of men and will stop at nothing to obscure the truth of the gospel. Give me the strength and determination to stand for the truth to the bitter end. Don’t let me get distracted by the cares of this world. Don’t allow me to give up or grow weary. I want to stand for the truth until You call me home or Your Son returns. Amen

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the will of God