Scars From Romans

• The Cross shows the love of God for what it is...It is gracious, merciful (for us), longsuffering and abundant and/or overflowing from the Fountainhead of Love itself -- God.
• The Cross also shows sin and evil for what it is...It took the death of the Son of Man to put it away forever
• The Cross tells us as Christians that we do not live defeated lives but are victorious in the Lord.
• We were once children of wrath but we are now saved by the blood of the Lamb.
• The Lamb who is the Son of God.

• A promise to Abraham [and us] or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
• More specifically through righteousness of faith - διὰ δικαιοσύνης πίστεως
• Righteousness...that had to have been given to us from a righteous source
• A source that cared enough to do so...
• Because we are not righteous--no, not one.
• Faith or trust that God does what He promises.
• Ultimately, what He promised is righteousness-holy like He is holy.
• Without which there is no eternal life.
• Faith, not an act of seeing but rather the eye that believes without seeing.
• Faith or the belief given to us by God.
• Given through grace
• So we may remain obedient to the faith
• Those that are righteous will live by this faith
• Without Christ...none of this is possible
• Because Jesus Christ was the promise
• More specifically He was the "Promised One"
• Of which both the Law and the Prophets spoke of all those ages before.

• Having been justified by faith- we have peace through Jesus Christ.
• We are no longer under His wrath.
• By which we have been introduced by faith into this [God's] grace where we now stand-and exult in the hope of the glory of God

God is not this distant and cold object in the sky but is close and loves us. It is from this love which grace and mercy spring forth--in salvation. There can be no boasting! None! None are righteous. It is imputed to us. The dead cannot hear and they cannot see. The dead can have no faith unless it is given to them.


I am so wretched.