Tag: Romans

Heart Cry (Romans 9:1-29)

I wonder what kinds of things keep you awake at night. That’s one area where there’s no shortage now. Uncertain times caused by COVID an energy crisis and fuel and food shortages are enough to cause plenty of anxiety.  But I suspect there are even bigger and deeper things that trouble us, wake us up… Continue reading Heart Cry (Romans 9:1-29)

Which five Bible books have drawn you closer to Christ and encouraged you on in faith the most?

Ray Ortlund asked this question on Twitter the other day. We of course know that All Scripture is God breathed but I agree with Ray that in our experience most of us will find that there are specific books of the Bible that have particularly stood out for us and ones which we find ourselves… Continue reading Which five Bible books have drawn you closer to Christ and encouraged you on in faith the most?

Sheep and Goats: Are Paul and Jesus in conflict -a worked example

I got involved in a conversation the other day about what it means to say that Scripture, the whole of it is God’s Word.  It arose because some people were going back over that old question “are we as evangelicals guilty of Bible-olatry?” In other words do we end up worshipping our Bibles more than… Continue reading Sheep and Goats: Are Paul and Jesus in conflict -a worked example

Love and Hate, Sovereignty and Freedom: A Copernican revolution in Romans 9

A lot of people struggle with Romans 9. It isn’t the easiest of Bible passages to follow as Paul delves into some deep and complex reasoning. However I think the primary problem that people have with the passage are the following verses that we might find uncomfortable; not so much difficult to understand as hard… Continue reading Love and Hate, Sovereignty and Freedom: A Copernican revolution in Romans 9

How can I be free from sin?

One of the greatest blessings and greatest challenges of a Christian is that our conscience is re-awakened. This means that we are even more keenly alert to our own sinfulness.  We become more aware of how ugly and destructive lust, hate, greed, selfishness, pride, anger, gossip and slander are. And yet at the same time… Continue reading How can I be free from sin?

Under new management (Romans 7:1-6)

Near where we live is a restaurant. Whilst we’ve been living here, it has changed names a number of times.  There’s a reason for that. The original restaurant had a bad name for poor quality food and dodgy hygiene. However, I think that on a few occasions, the name change was merely cosmetic.  If you… Continue reading Under new management (Romans 7:1-6)

Hope in the midst of disappointment

I mentioned in a previous post about how God’s Word acts as the VAR that revises our otlook on what we are seeing and experiencing. This week has not been a good week for hope. We should have been preparing for the final lifting of restrictions this coming Monday. Instead we are likely to be… Continue reading Hope in the midst of disappointment

Sanctification Romans 6:15-22

Available to watch here I frequently say that our relationship with God means that we must allow him to disagree with us through his word.  In what ways has God challenged and disagreed with you through his word?  In my case I remember one specific challenge being that as a pastor, my responsibility is not… Continue reading Sanctification Romans 6:15-22

An excuse for sin? (Romans 6:1-14)

You can also watch this back (with discussion exercises) here When I started work after University, my workplace had a clocking in system. Each week we would collect a time card and then put it into a machine to be time stamped when we arrived in the morning, started and finished our lunchbreak and went… Continue reading An excuse for sin? (Romans 6:1-14)