John 8
12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said,
“I am the light of the world.
If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness,
because you will have the light that leads to life.”
31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him,
“You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.
32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
Romans 6
12 Do not let sin control the way you live;
do not give in to sinful desires.
13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin.
Instead,
give yourselves completely to God,
for you were dead,
but now you have new life.
So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right
for the glory of God.
14 Sin is no longer your master,
for you no longer live under the requirements of the law.
Instead,
you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
Romans 5
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith,
we have peace with God
because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
2 Because of our faith,
Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege
where we now stand,
and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials,
for we know that they help us develop endurance.
4 And endurance develops strength of character,
and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment.
For we know how dearly God loves us,
because he has given us the Holy Spirit
to fill our hearts with his love.
6 When we were utterly helpless,
Christ came at just the right time
and died for us sinners.
7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person,
though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.
8 But God showed his great love for us
by sending Christ to die for us
while we were still sinners.
9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ,
he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.
10 For since our friendship with God was restored
by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies,
we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.
11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God
because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us
friends of God.
Romans 4
20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise.
In fact, his faith grew stronger,
and in this he brought glory to God.
21 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.
22 And because of Abraham’s faith,
God counted him as righteous.
23 And when God counted him as righteous,
it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit.
It was recorded 24 for our benefit, too,
assuring us that God will also count us as righteous
if we believe in him,
the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
25 He was handed over to die
because of our sins,
and he was raised to life to make us right with God.
Romans 3
21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him
without keeping the requirements of the law,
as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.
22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.
And this is true for everyone who believes,
no matter who we are or what we have done.
23 For everyone has sinned;
we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
24 Yet 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.
25 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.
This sacrifice shows that God was being fair
when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,
26 for he was looking ahead
and including them in what he would do in this present time.
God did this to demonstrate his righteousness,
for he himself is fair and just,
and he makes sinners right in his sight
when they believe in Jesus.
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God?
No,
because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law.
It is based on faith.
28 So we are made right with God through faith
and not by obeying the law.
29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only?
Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles?
Of course he is.
30 There is only one God,
and he makes people right with himself only by faith,
whether they are Jews or Gentiles.
31 Well then, if we emphasize faith,
does this mean that we can forget about the law?
Of course not!
In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
The first 2 verses in this passage are quoted often.
But I bet we seldom if ever hear the 4 verses that follow.
John 3
16 “For this is how God loved the world:
He gave his one and only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
will not perish
but have eternal life.
17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world,
but to save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him.
But anyone who does not believe in him
has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
19 And the judgment is based on this fact:
God’s light came into the world,
but people loved the darkness more than the light,
for their actions were evil.
20 All who do evil hate the light
and refuse to go near it
for fear their sins will be exposed.
21 But those who do what is right
come to the light
so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
Romans 1
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God
that brings salvation to everyone who believes:
first to the Jew,
then to the Gentile.
17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed;
a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,
just as it is written:
“The righteous will live by faith.”
Those last 6 words was what set Martin Luther on the pathway that led to the Protestant Reformation...
