Romans 7:12-16

THESE ARE THE TIMES that try men's souls. The Spirit has spoken expressly that in the latter times some should depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron. Those days are upon us and we cannot escape them; we must triumph in the midst of them, for such is the will of God concerning us.

Strange as it may seem, the danger today is greater for the fervent Christian than...

For Reading and Meditation:     Romans 7:14-8:4

Yesterday we ended by saying that God can impart purity as well as impute it, and He then helps us apply it in our daily life and experience. Permit me to share my own personal experience in this connection, not as a model for you to follow, but simply to illustrate how God revealed Himself to me. Following my...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 4:5-6

Boaz';s plans to redeem Ruth were temporarily thwarted when the nearest kinsman gave a definite "yes" to his proposal that he should buy the land. But now the love which burned in Boaz's heart gives energy to his thinking and he comes up with a powerful argument that wins the day. In the...

Beware of light thoughts of sin. At the time of conversion, the conscience is so tender, that we are afraid of the slightest sin. Young converts have a holy timidity, a godly fear lest they should offend against God. But alas! very soon the fine bloom upon these first ripe fruits is removed by the rough handling of the surrounding world: the sensitive plant of young piety turns into a willow in after life, too pliant, too easily yielding. It is sadly true, that even a Christian may grow by...

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? § Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.Dead in trespasses and sins … by nature children of wrath, just as the others. § I am carnal, sold under sin … What I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do … For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.Through one man sin entered the world … by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners. § If by the one...

But 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" (Rom. 7:23).

Self is the believer's indwelling enemy; its degrading bondage is his deepest heartache. However, the reign of self is overthrown...

For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law but under grace" (Rom 6:14)

The believer's attitude toward the law is that it is "holy...and just, and good" (Rom. 7:12). He does...