NUF SAID

NUF SAID

Friday, May 31, 2019

Psalm 19:9-14 The fear of the LORD is pure. It endures forever. The decisions of the LORD are true. They are completely fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even the drippings from a honeycomb. As your servant I am warned by them. There is a great reward in following them. Who can notice every mistake? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep me from sinning. Do not let anyone gain control over me. Then I will be blameless, and I will be free from any great offense. May the words from my mouth and the thoughts from my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my defender.

EXEMPT FROM SIFTING?

EXEMPT FROM SIFTING?

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Ephesians [MKJV] 2:1-7 And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins,  in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience; among whom we also had our way of life in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us (even when we were dead in sins) has made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved), and has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,

so that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

  Indeed the followers of Christ should never propagate the worldly advice of “Follow your heart.” for “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it” (Jer.17:9) As Christians professing the Word as our guide we are to think and speak according to, separating ourselves from this world’s hackneyed philosophies propagated by “the god of this world [that] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving ones, so that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ (who is the image of God) should not dawn on them. “ (2Cor.4:4) Yes, to think and speak contrary to Scripture is unbelief displeasing God (Rom.12:1-3) and leaving self and others vulnerably naked.

  Recently I heard another comforting false belief repeated: That God always protects us from Satan. But what of Adam an d Eve? What of Job? What of Simon Peter? (LK.22:31) And what of the constant Biblical reminder about personal responsibility, especially taught in Ephesians 6:10-18? God provides armor. God does not dress us protectively against the prince of the power of this world.

EBB4

MANY DOORS

MANY DOORS

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

  Proverbs [MKJV] 3:5-8 Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Jehovah and depart from evil. Healing shall be to your navel and marrow to your bones.

  Jeremiah 17:7-10 Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah, and Jehovah is his trust. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters; it sends out its roots by the river, and it shall not fear when the heat comes, but its foliage shall be green; and he is not worried in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I Jehovah search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

  Bryan Poole is my friend, friend to many, brother in Christ, acting out his 2Corinthians 5:14-20 ambassadorship in numerous ways, one of which is via his talent as a singer songwriter. One of my favorites other than the song he wrote to dear Ann, is one about the many doors in life. Recognizing the doors and opening or sealing Biblically being an edifying way to live; pleasingly constructive before God and man, beneficial to self and others.

  The first mention of such a portal is God speaking to Caine presenting him with understanding: “…the LORD asked Cain, "Why are you angry, and why do you look disappointed? If you do well, won't you be accepted? But if you don't do well, sin is lying outside your door ready to attack. It wants to control you, but you must master it.” (GW Gen.4) This same insight availably ours forever after as we read the story.

  Exactly what is the lesson here? Anger and disappointment dominating leaves us at a high risk threshold . . . and it is us that has the individual responsibility to master troublesome emotions, or not; and as throughout His Word thereafter, God directs How To, not acting as THE FIXER.

  The next to the last “door” in God’s Word is in Revelation (MKJV) 3:19-20 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me.”

  What is the lesson here? God again in love and mercy giving guidance that requires personal individual responsibility in accepting and implementing, or not.

  Bryan, I, and others I know are door people, knowing that life presents many accessible thresholds. This we hold in common. We also hold in common the lack of always recognizing portals in timely fashion, and at times not traversing in way pleasing to God when we do.

  One of the worst doors to traverse is the popular worldly philosophy “Follow your heart.”, for as God explains, the heart is untrustworthy above all things.

EBB4

GOD DEFINITELY ANSWERS PRAYER

GOD DEFINITELY ANSWERS PRAYER

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

  1Thessalonians [NLT] 5:16-21 Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.

  2Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

  God definitely answers prayer. But are we listening?

  “No.” is an answer, though we do prefer “Yes.” to our requests, especially if specifically spelled out plans are ours. The “God on my side.” syndrome as opposed to “Am I on God’s side?” position.

  Then there is “Wait.” and/or “When the time is right.” And/or “My time is not the same as your time.” That, if immature, tests our patience.

  Then there are the responses we’re exceptionally deaf to, “You’re not ready yet.” Or the variation “You are ready . . . they are not . . . all is not in place . . . or may never be.” Then there’s “I’ve already provided My Word that contains the answer. Have you taken time to search?”

  Here’s our challenge for today: There are Biblical life examples of all of the above responses to prayer. How many of them can you think of and match up? (Example: Galatians 4:4)  How many are we willing to personally accept?

EBB4

BIBLICALLY APPREHENDED

BIBLICALLY APPREHENDED

Monday, May 27, 2019

  Romans [MKJV] 12:1-3 I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to every one who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But set your mind to be right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.

  Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

  As a follower of the Word Living (Jn.1:1) and written (Ps.119), I am increasingly Biblically apprehended; striving to think and do all things in worshipful way pleasing to God. This position does not always make for pleasant comfortable thought or action (as in writing this truth). Memorial Day and my admiration of heroes is a case in point: Believing in the whole counsel of God, the Bible being His inspired Word . . . I know that that men and women dying while doing something heroic, if they had not trusted in Jesus as Redeemer, go to eternal suffering separated from Jehovah God Almighty.

  Definitely unpleasant to know, but reality it is. A actuality that should energize our responsibility as His 2Corinthians 5:17-20 ambassadors of reconciliation.

EBB4

!

John [Webster 1833] 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

A SINGLE THOUGHT OF WORSHIP

A SINGLE THOUGHT OF WORSHIP

Friday, May 24, 2019

Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” (Ps.90:2)

  There has been and will continue to be many words spoken and sung about God. We participate formally and informally, spontaneously at times. Yesterday I found myself singing our favorite Christian Service Brigade hiking song: “If the Lord is in your heart today, and has taken all your sins away. You can walk each mile with a happy smile, if the Lord is in your heart today.” (As the miles went by we’d change pitch, solo, et al.)  As then, worship comes down to a single thought impressing joy upon one’s soul. I’m sure you’ve experienced these wondrous moments.

  Reflecting on this powerful truth, consider that everything in the universe has a beginning and will eventually end.  Everything except Omni God as such rules of limitations don’t apply to Him, because He as Sovereign Creator and Sustainer made them.

  Before there was time, God was there; when time is no more, He will be there.

  Presently, He is here. 

EBB4

LIKE OUR FATHER?

LIKE OUR FATHER?

Thursday, May 23, 2019

  I’ve been thinking more about Jesus saying that we are to be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect. (Mt.5:48) “Father”, especially in light of the times I’ve emotionally sung “O’ to be like Him”.

(https://hymnary.org/text/o_to_be_like_him_tender_and_kind ) Then recently son Ben and I enjoyed an old Christian movie provided by a Christian purveyor.

  In the story the main character, a Pacific USMC combat vet, is presented as learning much from “Meeting God half-way.” keeping his end of the bargain. Once again a case of a Christian movie altering God’s Truth. Our Heavenly Father does not meet us halfway. Searching His Word makes this plain.

EBB4

PERFECTING SELF AS A MARKSMAN FOR OTHERS

PERFECTING SELF AS A MARKSMAN FOR OTHERS

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

  Matthew 5:48 [Jesus said] Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

  John 1:11-12 He [the John 1:1 Word, Jesus] came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

  2Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

  [Paul exhorted] … be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. [2Timothy chapter 2]

  Working at being a 2Timothy 2:2 believer is hollow without self examination accompanied by personal application when studying and passing on what I have learned /am learning. A great help in this is constantly reminding myself that ‘I’ am now and forever part of ‘we’; if not we then narrowly it is I. L

  To serve Him all our days.

EBB4

PERFECTLY?

PERFECTLY?

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

  “Yes, perfectly. That must be our goal. Scripture tells us, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ (Mt.5:48) ‘But as He who called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation [conduct]; because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy’ (1Pet.1:15-16) ‘Epaphras who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.’ (Col.4:12) This must be the believer’s goal.

  Is it attainable? No, not in perfection or completely. Then why make the effort? That may sound like a silly question for Biblical Christians believing that whatever they do, they are to do it to the glory of the Lord. (1Cor.10:31) Yet even the world gets it. The popular refrain of the self-help and motivational gurus is ‘Be the best you can be.’ They recognize that even an effort that falls short of the individual’s goal will nevertheless prove to be of benefit. Of course that’s all about self, and far removed from the believer’s motivation . . . hopefully.”

[Paragraphs 7 & 8 of Missing the Mark – Missing the Solution, T.A. McMahon, THE BEREAN CALL]

DIG A LITTLE DEEPER

DIG A LITTLE DEEPER

Genesis 5:1-32; 7:6

  Yep! That’s right for those of you that noticed it’s the same Scripture as last devotion [FILLING A COLANDER] – plus one more verse.

  I started something 8 or 9 years ago, after reading the Bible umpteen times I decided to dig a little deeper. Instead of just letting verses into my brain and out again I to a long strip of paper, divided it into evenly spaced sections and drew a time-line graph of the lives of these men. In so doing I learned that Methuselah died the year of the flood, 1659 years after Adam and Eve were created.

  Now that information may not be of particular value, but it taught me that if you try hard enough you will learn something that may not seem to be relevant at first glance.

  This holds true of people and situations in everyday life and makes my life much more interesting and fulfilling.

Leslie Nivens

PS. Let’s just say Leslie older than me. While traveling on vacation last October I met Leslie at breakfast, at the time living in that motel. We talked no more than 10 minutes, probably never to be seen again. The encounter and her devotions she gifted me with still affect my life . . . and yours. During my recent 5 day stay in the hospital I made many acquaintances. I was privileged to witness to some of them. I am writing thank you follow up letters to all of them. Will they be Leslie/Ed encounters? Not necessarily for me to know.  EBB4

OLD NATURE <<>> NEW NATURE

OLD NATURE ßà NEW NATURE

Friday, May 17, 2019

  John 14:15 [Jesus explained] If ye love me, keep my commandments.

  Romans 7:24-25; 2Corinthians 5:17 [Paul explaining] Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. . . . Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

  “How important is the struggle [between old nature and new nature]? Although our salvation doesn’t depend on it, since salvation was given to all who received it by faith as a free gift, it does relate to a host of things pertaining to our temporal life [here] in Christ. Such as? Our relationship with Jesus – in other words, our love for Him, our pleasing Him, our maturing in Him, our faithfulness, our obedience, our witness, our rewards in heaven. Such things and many others are dependent to a degree upon our not ‘missing the mark’. In other words, life must be handled God’s way.”

  Any questions?

EBB4

TRANSFORMED

TRANSFORMED

Thursday, May 16, 2019

What should we say then? Should we continue to sin so that God's kindness will increase? That's unthinkable! As far as sin is concerned, we have died. So how can we still live under sin's influence? Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? When we were baptized into his death, we were placed into the tomb with him. As Christ was brought back from death to life by the glorious power of the Father, so we, too, should live a new kind of life. If we've become united with him in a death like his, certainly we will also be united with him when we come back to life as he did. We know that the person we used to be was crucified with him to put an end to sin in our bodies. Because of this we are no longer slaves to sin. The person who has died has been freed from sin. If we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, who was brought back to life, will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once and for all to sin's power. But now he lives, and he lives for God. So consider yourselves dead to sin's power but living for God in the power Christ Jesus gives you. Therefore, never let sin rule your physical body so that you obey its desires. Never offer any part of your body to sin's power. No part of your body should ever be used to do any ungodly thing. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have come back from death and are now alive. Offer all the parts of your body to God. Use them to do everything that God approves of. Certainly, sin shouldn't have power over you because you're not controlled by laws, but by God's favor. Then what is the implication? Should we sin because we are not controlled by laws but by God's favor? That's unthinkable! Don't you know that if you offer to be someone's slave, you must obey that master? Either your master is sin, or your master is obedience. Letting sin be your master leads to death. Letting obedience be your master leads to God's approval. You were slaves to sin. … (GOD’S WORD version, Romans chapter 6)

“Once we are saved we are transformed – but not perfectly. Not yet. That takes place when we go [by death or rapture] to be with Jesus. Prior to the complete perfect transformation we are given a new nature, yet we still retain our old nature. We can sin, but we are no longer in bondage to or controlled by sin. As [2Corintians 5:17] new creatures in Christ, our lives are enabled to please God by His grace and the empowerment of His Holy Spirit that lives within us. (1Corinthians 3:16) Nevertheless, our new life in Christ involves the struggle between our old nature and our new nature.”  [Paragraph 5 of Missing the Mark – Missing the Solution, T.A. McMahon, THE BEREAN CALL]

  Any questions?

EBB4

WHO THEN CAN BE SAVED?

WHO THEN CAN BE SAVED?

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Jesus explained “… a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. …” Matthew chapter 19

  One might ask, as the disciples did on one occasion, “Who then can be saved?”when confronted with the fact that God’s judgment is to the standard of His perfection. (Rom.3:23) Jesus responding to their shock with the truth of God’s grace. Did they readily understand and accept? No. That developed later.

  I suspect that the most quoted words of Jesus is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Quoted, but understood and accepted? By comparatively few, yes. By the multitudes, no. At the core of it is the reality that only Jesus, God Incarnate (Jn.1:1), does redeem those who trust Him. For those who don’t trust Him as the only Redeemer, they remain condemned to everlasting suffering separated from God. (Jn.3:18-19)

  For although God has made provision for all people to be saved through Jesus, redemption has been and always will be a personal individual choice. Jesus’ salvation only being effectual for those trusting Him as Savior. He alone can save, and nothing else or additional will gain His deliverance. Not family or national birth, good works, compassionate care, community or church involvement, a denomination, religion, rituals, sacraments, baptism , canonized saints . . .  salvation present and eternal is only by trusting Jesus!(Eph. 2:8-10)

  Who then can be saved?

EBB4

GOD IS PERFECT - WE ARE NOT

GOD IS PERFECT – WE ARE NOT

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

  “God is perfect. Everything He does and says is perfect. Therefore, His standard is perfect. Anything that “comes short” of His standard must be sin. [Rom.3:23]As James tells us, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all.” [Jam.2:10] That’s God’s criterion for being with Him. We sin, we die. [Rom.6:23a] And we all have sinned. [Rom.3:23] Death [without accepting His gift of eternal life] involves physical and spiritual separation from God. Without repentance, it will last forever.” (Paragraph 2 of Missing the Mark – Missing the Solution, T.A. McMahon, THE BEREAN CALL)

  Any questions?

  Tomorrow we’ll be looking at Jesus’ disciples question “Who then can be saved?”

EBB4

PS. Biblical repentance is: μετάνοια

metanoia

met-an'-oy-ah

From G3340; (subjectively) compunction (for guilt, including reformation); by implication reversal (of [another’s] decision): - repentance.

STROKING ON

STROKING ON

Monday, May 13, 2019

John 21:18  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

  Sunday, May 5, 2019, 5:45 I suffered my # 8 cerebral stroke. The worst so far since the first one in 2015. After 5 days of wonderful hospitalization I’m home recovering with my visiting son plus other in and out family and neighbors in attendance. ASAP I’ll begin OT and PT out-patient therapy. After a weekend of rest I’m again stroking this keyboard.

  Though I didn’t feel like and did not read or watch TV, I am now slowly interested again. With this in mind I’ve decided to utilize verbatim paragraphs topically from the most recent THE BEREAN CALL, T.J. McMahon’s comprehensive Missing the Mark – Missing the Solution. Today I begin with paragraph 1:

  “MOST OF US understand that “‘missing the mark’” is one of the biblical definitions of sin. The Apostle Paul uses the Greek verb hamartano for sin in Romans 3:23 “‘For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.’” That may seem to some as a bit unfair, since rarely would we think that not measuring up to a goal or standard is sin. “’Missing the mark’” doesn’t seem like much of an offense, considering most sins that we’re aware of, especially the horrendous ones. An arrow that falls short of the target is sin? Seriously? To react in such a way reveals much about ourselves and the condition of our hearts in relationship to our Creator”

  Any questions?

EBB4

FILLING A COLANDER

FILLING A COLANDER

  I have read the Bible through at least once a year for many years and admit there are times when I read passages like Genesis 5:1-32 that I’m tempted to skim over and go on.

  They make me think of the little boy who told his mother it wouldn’t do him any good to memorize Bible verses because he couldn’t remember them very long. His mother gave him a colander she had been using and told him to fill it with water. He tried, but finally told her it wasn’t any use because the thing is full of holes and won’t hold water. She said “Yes, son, but look how clean it is now. This is how your heart and mind will be if you keep filling it with God’s Word.”

Leslie Nivens

DOES HELL EXIST?

Question: "Does hell exist?"

Answer: Yes, hell exists, according to the Bible. Note: in the remainder of this article, we will use the term hell to mean, broadly, “place of conscious torment after death.” We realize that hell is technically different from the lake of fire, but we will allow our other articles to describe the differences.

The Bible speaks of the reality of hell in the same terms as the reality of heaven (Revelation 20:14–15; 21:1–2). In fact, Jesus spent more time warning people about the dangers of hell than He did in comforting them with the hope of heaven. The concept of a real, conscious, forever-and-ever existence in hell is just as biblical as a real, conscious, forever-and-ever existence in heaven. Trying to separate them is simply not possible from a biblical standpoint.

Despite the Bible’s clear teaching of both heaven and hell, it is not unusual for people to believe in the reality of heaven while rejecting the reality of hell. In part, this is due to wishful thinking. It’s easier to accept the idea of a “nice” afterlife, but damnation isn’t quite so appealing. This is the same mistake human beings often make when it comes to substance abuse, dangerous behaviors, and so forth. The assumption that we will get what we want overrides the unpleasant (but rational) view that things might not end well.

Rejection of the existence of hell can also be blamed on inaccurate assumptions about what hell is. Hell is frequently imagined as a burning wasteland, a dungeon full of cauldrons and pitchforks, or an underground city filled with ghosts and goblins. Popular depictions of hell often involve a flaming torture chamber or a spiritual jail where evil things reside—and where good things travel to battle evil. This version of hell does not exist. There is a real place called hell, but it is not the Dante’s Inferno image most people think of. Certain details about hell are given in the Bible, but those details do not match the popular myths.

The Bible actually gives very few particulars about hell. We know that it was originally intended for demonic spiritual beings, not people (Matthew 25:41). The experience of being in hell is compared to burning (Mark 9:43; 9:48; Matthew 18:9; Luke 16:24). At the same time, hell is compared to darkness (Matthew 22:13) and associated with intense grief (Matthew 8:12) and horror (Mark 9:44).

In short, the Bible tells us only what being in hell is “like”; it does not explicitly say what hell is or how exactly it functions. What the Bible does make clear is that hell is real, eternal, and to be avoided at all costs (Matthew 5:29–30).

© Copyright 2002-2019 Got Questions Ministries.
www.GotQuestions.org

TESTING, TESTING, TESTING

TESTING, TESTING, TESTING

Thursday, May 02, 2019

1Corinthians [ESV] 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

  What I’ve been Biblically pondering lately is contrary to the popular pleasant wearing of “GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU”, the claim being an undeniable truth . . . but lacking in full comprehension and/or acceptance by many of the fact being that God does so but as it serves His plan and pleases Him. We intone “Thy will be done.” but often contradict in our thoughts and deeds. Beginning with Adam and Eve until the last word of Scripture it is obvious that God tests us on our submissive faithfulness; this lively activity being in various times and ways nonetheless inescapable.

  God tests people by design (Ex.16:4; 20:20; 2Cor.12:7-11) or allowance (Job).

  God’s testing always involves whether we trust Him or not. Adam did not. Job did. The apostle Paul was confronted with this issue with his motive being to better serve his Lord. In response God posed the question to Paul and for all of us: Is His grace sufficient?

  Watch for it, this day will be no different.

EBB4

PS. Note Ex.14. God gave specific orders directing 600,000 men plus women, children, flocks and possessions into a physically untenable place. Quite the test, wasn’t it? Should we expect to always be treated differently?

HOW GREAT IS GOD"S MERCY!

HOW GREAT GOD’S MERCY!

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

  As recorded in Psalm 5:5, David said to God “Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” Was David talking about other people as compared to his holiness? Reading the rest of his writings, we find the answer is not at all.

  How great is God’s mercy?

  Romans MKJV 5:1-21 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

  9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

  11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

  15 But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. 17 For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

  18 Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

  20 Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

  How great is God’s mercy! 

EBB4