Romans 5:2-7

Sometimes words in the Christian vocabulary have a different meaning than they have in ordinary usage. "Hope" is one of those words.

As far as the world is concerned, to hope often means to look forward to something unseen but with no certainty of fulfillment. A man in deep financial trouble may say, "I hope everything will turn out all right," but he has no assurance that it will. His hope may be nothing but wishful thinking. The Christian hope also looks forward to something unseen,...

Christ did not come to call the righteous nor did He die for good people. It was not for decent, respectable, refined people that He went to the Cross. He died for the ungodly.

Of course, from God's standpoint, all mankind is ungodly. We were all born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Like lost sheep, we have gone astray and turned to our own way. In God's pure eyes, we are depraved, unclean and rebellious. Our best efforts to do what is right are nothing but filthy rags.

The...

Alps on Alps arise, as the believer presses forward in his course. He beholds a summit, and exclaims, " My God will meet me there, and there will gainsayers be confounded." But when he reaches it, he receives not the expected testimony, and unbelievers make a mock of his disappointed hopes. He would be troubled; but in the absence of the external testimony, he receives an inward sweet assurance of the love and faithfulness of God, and in the very hour of his disappointment, his face shines...

Happy the soul that is able to find its joy in the indulgence of such a hope as this. Fallen man rejoices in hope of his own glory; not of his own true glory, but of a false and worldly glory, utterly disconnected with the glory of God. That soul is already largely redeemed that has learned to identify its own interests with the glory of God. And this hope shall be fulfilled; nothing is more certain. The glory of God must go forth triumphant one of these days, and conquer all the detestable...

Romans 5:1-11

Justification by faith is the starting point in the Christian life. There can be no tree without a root ; no stream without a fountain. The careless, unsaved ones may read about the blessings of redemption, as we have them here in our lesson, and may say, "Yes, they are very...

They weary themselves to commit iniquity. § I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. § Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which...

He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has given to...

I am the Lord … they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me. § Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. § You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength. § My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. § I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have...

Christ … has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. § Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious. § God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. § In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.If you love Me, keep My commandments. § The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. § The...