1 TIMOTHY+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.

GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, 

DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, 

1 SAMUEL, 2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS,  2 KINGS, 

1 CHRONICLES, 2 CHRONICLES, EZRA, 

NEHEMIAH, ESTHER, JOB, PSALMS, 

PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, 

SONG OF SOLOMON,  ISAIAH, JEREMIAH,

 LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, DANIEL, 

HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, 

MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH,  

HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI,

 MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, 

ACTS, ROMANS, 1 CORINTHIANS,

2 CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, 

PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, 1 THESSALONIANS,

2 THESSALONIANS, 1 TIMOTHY,  2 TIMOTHY, TITUS,

PHILEMON, HEBREWS, JAMES, 1 PETER, 2 PETER,

1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION

1 Timothy 1:11 "According to the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God." First Timothy is one of 3 pastoral letters (including 2 Timothy and Titus) that the aging apostle Paul sent to those who would continue his work. Timothy was Paul’s spiritual son. Young but gifted, Timothy had been assigned to lead the church at Ephesus. In this letter, Paul directs Timothy on matters of church leadership, including proper worship and qualifications for leaders. He also addresses confronting false teachers and respectfully treating the different kinds of people within a congregation. Paul urges Timothy to live a life beyond reproach, giving believers a Christ-like example to follow. He states, "The Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that it is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for ... those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, people who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is not in accord with the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God." God Himself lives in bliss and pure happiness. That is what He wishes for His creatures, but we who are made in His image need to trust and obey Him first. God mercifully helps us, as Paul experienced personally. He tells us, "Formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." Mercy like that helps us "fight the good fight, keeping the faith and a good conscience."

1 Timothy 2:1 "Supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgiving." The what, who, why, where, and how of prayer are the themes of this entire chapter. Supplications are requests expressing a need that all those offering them share, such as for spiritual cleansing and enablement. Prayers are distinct acts of worship in which the need, for the moment, is forgotten and the sense of God's majesty and mercy bring adoration. Intercessions are requests for others as an expression of love for them and God Himself. Thanksgivings are glad outpourings of grateful hearts remembering the Giver of all gifts. God's people are to pray this way for all people, especially for those "who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." Our Lord Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and man, "who gave himself as a ransom for all"—all kinds of people. Christian men are to lift "holy hands without anger or quarreling" and Christian women are to be modest and self controlled. The God who made us knows what each of us most needs to hear.

1 Timothy 3:5 "If a man does not know how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?" Paul in this part of his letter is giving instructions on the orderly government of the church. Their first application is to its leaders, but they contain a principle that applies to the whole field of Christian service. Picture around every believer a series of concentric circles in which his or her service and Christian witness operates: those of home, church, city, and nation. Necessarily one's influence is more evident in the first circle, but it will extend positively to the others only as the inner circles are managed well. Paul's question has a self-evident answer: If a man is not able to regulate the affairs of his own household, he cannot guide and guard the church to ensure its orderliness. His failure in his own house will negate any attempt he may make in the church, for people will obey only an authority evidenced by results. Fitness for the guidance of others in the home, church, or anywhere is created by control of one's own life as it is wholly under the sway of the Lord.

1 Timothy 4:12 "Let no man despise your youth, but show yourself an example to the believers in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity." The first meaning of this instruction is that Timothy should conduct himself with such excellence as to make it impossible for people of good will to despise him. Another way of saying this is, "See to it that—your youth notwithstanding—you are not despicable, but quite the opposite!" It may be that there is a tendency among older people to hold youth in contempt, but it is often as much the fault of youth as of age. A young man enamored by the dignity of his office and seeking to impress others with that dignity is always despicable and invariably despised. A man concerned about his character and seeking to realize in his life the ideals of his Lord gives a weight and dignity to his office, which is recognized and yielded to without any reference to his age. This injunction to Timothy is of perpetual application, and not alone to the young.

1 Timothy 5:8 "If anyone does not provide for his own, especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." Paul is instructing Timothy on the duty of the church to care for its most vulnerable members, especially widows. That the church has such a responsibility when there is no other recourse he makes perfectly clear in this chapter, but he also shows how it ought to be safeguarded. In all such matters responsibility first lays with the family (1 Timothy 5:4, 16). That principle is most clearly stated in 1 Timothy 5:8, above. It is characterized by the sane, practical common sense everywhere displayed in Paul's inspired teaching. A man's very first responsibility is that of his own, his own household. No call on him must be allowed to take precedence over that, not even that of the church, and certainly not his own pleasures. To neglect to make such provision is to deny the Christian faith, which is the way of love in all its most practical bearings. The believer who does so is worse than an unbeliever, for common human instincts prompt unbelievers to care for their own flesh and blood. Christianity is the transfiguration of the commonplace, and in proportion as it enables a man or woman to realize all human obligations on the highest level, he or she is thereby recommending it to others. Teaching like this presents serious rebuke for some and much comfort for others. The family is God's first circle of society, and it is a person's first sphere of responsibility.

1 Timothy 6:10 "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." Not money, but the love of it. Money is not a root of evil. Neither is it a root of good. It is non-moral. It may be the greatest curse that can come into a person's life; it may be the instrument of untold good. Much depends on how it is used, but even more important is the soul's attitude towards it. "Love of money," 3 words in English, translates just one Greek word meaning exactly that. Avarice is probably the closest one-word English equivalent because it describes a fierce love for money in and of itself, so is characterized by hoarding. Covetousness, by way of contrast, is an inordinate desire for things that Paul elsewhere equates with idolatry, so it also is a root of evil. Both vices dry up the springs of compassion in the soul. They lower the whole standard of morality and are the inspiration of all the basest things. Both arise from a wrong conception of life, for Jesus said, "One's life does not consist in the abundance of things he or she possesses" (Luke 12:15). Paul therefore concludes, "Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out.... If we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into ... many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.... Flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.... As for the rich in this present age, charge them not ... to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to ... be rich in good works ... and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life" (1 Timothy 6:6-19).

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GALATIANS+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.

GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, 

DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, 

1 SAMUEL, 2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS,  2 KINGS, 

1 CHRONICLES, 2 CHRONICLES, EZRA, 

NEHEMIAH, ESTHER, JOB, PSALMS, 

PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, 

SONG OF SOLOMON,  ISAIAH, JEREMIAH,

 LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, DANIEL, 

HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, 

MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH,  

HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI,

 MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, 

ACTS, ROMANS, 1 CORINTHIANS,

2 CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, 

PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, 1 THESSALONIANS,

2 THESSALONIANS, 1 TIMOTHY,  2 TIMOTHY, TITUS,

PHILEMON, HEBREWS, JAMES, 1 PETER, 2 PETER,

1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION

Galatians 1:16 "To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him." The apostle Paul gives fascinating background information about his calling that is revealed only here in his letter to the Galatians. They were the people he ministered to on his first missionary journey, and also visited on his second and third journeys, so Paul and the Galatians had significant ties to one another. He writes to correct a serious problem, which obliges him explain the inspiration of his preaching and the authority of the Gospel he proclaimed. The risen Christ from heaven uniquely called Paul to faith in Himself and to apostleship, literally turning Paul's life around. He went from persecutor of Christians to proclaimer of Christ's Gospel throughout the known world. Christ personally discipled Paul for 3 years before Paul's main time of service, and the other apostles affirmed Paul's teaching. God used this time of divine revelation in Paul's life to help him preach effectively. A person who knows much about Christ may talk about Him, but a person who knows Him can preach Him. That is the secret of preaching. The words God inspired Paul and the other apostles to write about the Lord Jesus Christ help us to know Him today.

Galatians 2:21 "If righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly!" Galatians has been rightly described as an explosive letter. Its force lies most in the truths it declares, but also in the powerful way they are stated. Here Paul hammers away at the main problem addressed in Galatians: the wrong idea that justification, being declared righteous by God, comes through human effort at Law keeping rather than by faith in the righteousness the Lord Jesus Christ purchased for His people on the cross. False teachers then and now who proudly hold that a person may earn righteousness through the Law are compelled, when pressed by logic, either to deny the atoning death of the Lord or to say God was mistaken, both of which contradict Isaiah 53 and other Scriptures. It is because His Law could not make sinful men and women righteous that our merciful triune God provided a way of salvation for His people through the Son of God taking on human flesh, perfectly obeying the Law, and paying the just penalty for our sins on the cross. That inaugurated the New Covenant, which enables His people by His Spirit to obey God's Law from the heart. This truth must be humbly embraced by faith in Christ alone.

Galatians 3:3 "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" With these questions Paul applies the saving truth he just affirmed to practical Christian living. If we embrace the biblical logic that righteousness comes only through faith in Christ alone, to avoid foolishness we must see the good sense that we cannot experience increasing personal holiness by relying on methods that could never confer righteousness. Sanctification necessarily involves a battle with one's fallen nature in this life (what Paul calls "the flesh" here), but through the power of the Holy Spirit within, a Christian can have victory over the flesh and be progressively changed into the likeness of Christ. God's Law, Paul goes on to explain in this chapter, shows us our need for a Savior; that is the first of three uses of God's Law. The Pilgrim's Progress famously likens that first use of the Law to a man with a broom in a stuffy room, stirring up the dust to make one choke. It takes the clean water of the Gospel to cleanse the room with ease, and the Holy Spirit of God to enable believers to benefit from the third use of the Law, which is guiding them into the good works God has planned for them. As Paul wrote elsewhere about justification and sanctification, "By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Galatians 4:19 "My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!" Here suddenly amid the anger, satire, and severity of this letter the heart of its author shines through. There we find tenderness, compassion, and love. Paul was angry, but why? Because the danger threatening these Christians jeopardized the highest and best things in their lives. Paul was satirical, but why? Because such a method was likely to arouse them from the false sense of security coming from superficial rituals replacing faith and trust in Christ. Paul was severe, but why? Because the practices they were pursuing under false teachers undermined their life and growth in Christ. All the anger, satire, and severity resulted from a love as fierce as that of a mother for her children's wellbeing. As Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians, the one next to Galatians in the New Testament, "The daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches" (11:28) was his most significant concern. That kind of love for the spiritual welfare of others is to govern our defense of the truth. Here is the primary truth Paul proclaimed: "Christ in you [is] the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me."

Galatians 5:14 "The whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" The Law is the revelation of God's way of life for humankind. In it are many words dealing with every significant phase of human life—personal, social, and religious. They cover all its relationships—political, economic, and family. They prescribe attitudes and activities regarding food, clothing, lodging, health, and sanitation. They arrange its worship, make its calendar, and define its responsibilities from cradle to grave. Behind all those words are ten: the Ten Commandments. They, in a sense, gather up all the other words and express them so perfectly in broad and general statements, that if people lived according to them personally and socially, they would taste the Kingdom of God. Paul knew that well, but here he reduces the ten words to one: love. He is saying what the Lord Jesus said before him, but here he takes for granted the first activity of love, which is Godward, and names only the resultant one, which is manward. Those who love God by His grace through Christ will, by His Spirit, love others as themselves when they submit to His leading. Paul devotes the rest of this chapter and part of the next to the work of the Holy Spirit in producing the types of fruit that reflect God's nature in His people.

Galatians 6:17 "From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus." Those words display a touch of independence, as if Paul were claiming exemption from interference—like if anyone broke in on his peace and quiet, the intruder would be guilty of a misdemeanor. After reading this letter with its clear logic and pure passion for the Gospel, we know he has won the right to write like this. Yet it is not upon that ground that Paul bases his claim. His ground is the wounds on his body, much like those of a slave, which were in a sense branded on him because of his association with Christ. Some have interpreted Paul's words in a mystical sense, thinking that the stigmata or 5 physical wounds Christ received on the cross, somehow appeared on Paul's body, but that is not what the historical records of the New Testament reveal. For example, Paul provided a numbered list of the many wounds he received in Christ's service. He had been repeatedly bruised and broken by the brutality of those who had opposed him. He carried actual scars from that, but they were precious signs of his love for the Lord Jesus and faithfulness to His Gospel. Paul was probably the inspiration for Mr. Valiant-for-truth in The Pilgrim's Progress, who says, "I am going to my Father's House, and though with great difficulty I have reached this point, yet now I do not repent of all the trouble I have been through to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him who shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him who can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me to be a witness that I have fought the battles of Him who now will be my Rewarder." What marks do we bear to show our love for our King?

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ROMANS+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.

GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, 

DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, 

1 SAMUEL, 2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS,  2 KINGS, 

1 CHRONICLES, 2 CHRONICLES, EZRA, 

NEHEMIAH, ESTHER, JOB, PSALMS, 

PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, 

SONG OF SOLOMON,  ISAIAH, JEREMIAH,

 LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, DANIEL, 

HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, 

MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH,  

HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI,

 MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, 

ACTS, ROMANS, 1 CORINTHIANS,

2 CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, 

PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, 1 THESSALONIANS,

2 THESSALONIANS, 1 TIMOTHY,  2 TIMOTHY, TITUS,

PHILEMON, HEBREWS, JAMES, 1 PETER, 2 PETER,

1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION

Romans 1:15 "As much as is in me." To begin to read this great letter of Paul is to find ourselves in the closing chapters of the Book of Acts. There we found Paul expressing his certainty that he would see Rome, and we followed him through the years of stress that at last brought him there. He wrote from Corinth in Greece toward the close of his third missionary journey, saying, "As much as in in me, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you who are in Rome also." Paul's qualifying phrase "as much as is in me" seems a recognition of both limitation and of resource. The sense of limitation comes from Paul's overwhelming consciousness of the greatness of the Gospel. He knew that no one man could fully explain its depths, but more lay within this devoted man than his natural capacities. Christ was formed within him; he was indwelt by the Spirit. That explains Paul's ability to preach the Gospel in all its fullness as he did in this inspired letter or Book of Romans. The measure in which a man is conscious of limitation is the measure to which he makes possible the operation of those powers that are his in Christ.

Romans 2:4 "God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my Gospel, by Jesus Christ." The phrase "according to my Gospel" is a parenthetical qualification to this statement: "God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." Here we have a merging of "the kindness and the severity of God" in the Gospel. The Gospel is the good news that God has made righteousness available to sinful men and women through Christ. But the Gospel is also the declaration that all people will be judged by the One through whom that grace has been made available. There we see the finality of the Gospel message: the Savior is to be the Judge. The reverse is just as true: the Judge is the Savior. He whose eternal right it is to sit as Judge has in His Son provided perfect redemption for fallen mankind. By doing so He has not relinquished His right as Judge, but has established it. All men and women must meet Him as Judge, but before they do so He comes to meet them with a righteous and just way of saving them from their sins. If they refuse that salvation, the Gospel declares that by so doing they have not escaped Him as Judge. The Gospel never lowers the standards of divine requirements; it makes them possible of realization. If it is refused, then the Savior as Judge condemns and punishes.

Romans 3:4 "As it is written." That is not the first time we read that phrase in this letter (see Romans 1:17 and 2:24); neither is it the last (see Romans 3:10-18; 4:17; 8:36; 9:13, 33; 10:15; 11:8, 26; 12:19; 14:11; 15:9, 21). Beyond those are many other quotations or allusions to the Hebrew Bible/Torah/Old Testament in the Book of Romans. It reveals the high place of the Holy Scriptures in the thinking of the apostle Paul. The first thing to notice is he never referred to any Old Testament Scripture to deny or correct its teaching. Every reference or allusion to the Sacred Writings is authoritative. All those quotations are from each section of the Hebrew Bible: the Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,  Deuteronomy), the Prophets (1 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, Habakkuk, Malachi), and the Writings (Psalms, Proverbs). Paul quoted generally from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), but sometimes from the Hebrew. He often varied the precise words, but never the essential meaning. A careful study of these facts will help us to a right attitude toward the Old Testament.

Romans 4:18 "Who in hope believed against hope." That is a description of Abraham's mental attitude toward God's miraculous promise that he would become the father of many nations. It also describes the experience of all who live by faith in the Lord God. Hope is the expectation of good things to come with a corresponding activity toward the realization of them. There can be no hope where there are no grounds of expectation. To elderly Abraham, there were no grounds of expectation in his circumstances that he should have an heir, for they denied the possibility. Nevertheless, he hoped. As Paul writes here, Abraham "did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about 100 years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb." Upon what grounds? "The promise of God." Therefore Abraham hoped and he ordered his life accordingly. That is the genius of the life of faith in God, who is utterly reliable. No Word of His can be void of power. Therefore we hope against hope. When there is no ground for expectation in circumstances, we find it in God and what He has promised in His Word.

Romans 5:5 "Hope does not put us to shame because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts." These words lead us a step further in understanding the nature of Christian hope. It triumphs because it knows and believes God, and also because it is not put to shame. That is, it is never overthrown or discredited in any way by the difficult circumstances through which we must pass for it to be realized. On the contrary, Paul explains, we rejoice in those very difficulties because we realize they are instrumental, "knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope." The secret of this victorious hope is that the love of God has been poured into those who have saving faith in Christ. Here the idea is not merely that God loves us, though necessarily that is involved. It is rather that He fills us with His love by His Spirit so that we love what He loves and as He loves. That self-emptying sacrificial love becomes the inspiration of all our thinking and doing. It is not only patient love that endures, but also mighty love that accomplishes. It is the secret of toil that never tires until its object is achieved. Where there is such love filling and mastering one's life, hope is never put to shame in the midst of any suffering, and will be ultimately saved from shame as all the toils are vindicated by the glory of the results.

Romans 6:13 "Present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead." Christianity is a living religion. The way of entrance is death, but it is the way that leads to life. This was so in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to save, He died. The salvation into which He brings repentant men and women through His death is that of life, and that more abundantly. God moves them to death in the form of self-denial, which is the ending of all confidence in self and all endeavor to win spiritual life by effort. When that occurs, life is received as a grace-gift of God. Then dedication begins. This is an important distinction. When the soul yields to Christ, it is not giving anything to God. It has nothing to give. It yields just as it is because it cannot make itself worthy. When this surrender of a sinful and unworthy being is made, God takes the polluted life and pardons, cleanses, and renews it. Now the renewed, cleansed, and pardoned one is called to present him or herself to God as alive from the dead. "Just As I Am," to quote the famous hymn title, I cannot dedicate myself to God, but I can yield myself to the Savior. In Him I am "accepted in the Beloved." Such dedication is implicit in my yielding to Christ. It must be explicit in my resulting life.

Romans 7:14 "The Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh." These words from the apostle Paul reveal at once the supremacy and inadequacy of the Law, helping us to understand the difference between it and grace. The Law is spiritual; "it is holy, righteous, and good," to quote Paul. It is not the result of human thought, for it is divine revelation from God that reveals His will. God's Law can be obeyed in material activities as it is accepted and yielded to in spirit. But that is its limit. It is a revelation, not an enablement. It tells man what to do, but does not help him do it. That would be sufficient for man were he living under the power of his spiritual nature, but he is not. Paul speaks for us all when he bluntly states, "But I am of flesh." He is living under the power of his flesh, which means even though he consents to the truth and beauty of God's Law, he is unable to realize it unaided by God Himself through Christ. That realization is the important first of three functions or uses of God's Law. Grace does not lower the standard of God's Law, but it does exactly what the Law cannot do: enables men and women to live according to that standard, fulfilling the New Covenant promise of writing the Law on the heart.

Romans 8:37 "More than conquerors." To conquer is to subdue, master, and overcome in the sense of defeating an attack. Following the list Paul gives at the end of this chapter, to conquer tribulation would put an end to it, to conquer anguish would replace it with joy, to conquer persecution would turn it into patronage or favor, to conquer famine would provide food, to conquer nakedness would provide clothing, to conquer peril would secure safety, and to conquer the sword would destroy the sword. In all these things, Paul says, "we are more than conquerors." This does not mean that, in the senses referred to, we conquer and more. On the contrary, it may mean we do not conquer at all in those senses, but that we do more: we wrest from defeat values that could never be gained by conquest. Indeed, as declared earlier in this chapter, "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). Enduring tribulation, we are brought through patience and testing to the hope that is not put to shame. Experiencing anguish, we are drawn into fellowship with the suffering that sanctifies. Bearing persecution, we demonstrate true godliness. Suffering hunger, we demonstrate that man does not live by bread alone. In nakedness we reveal the beauty of spiritual adornment. Living amid perils, we reveal the power of our Lord. Dying by the sword, we demonstrate the weakness of the sword. This is more-than-conquering, and is possible only through "Him who loved us."

Romans 9:16 "It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy." This does not mean we are not to will or to exert ourselves. Neither does it mean we enter into the blessings of salvation apart from willing and effort. We must will to do, and we must run well, allowing nothing to hinder. This text does clearly mean that no willing on our part, no exertions of our own, can procure for us the salvation we need. It also means that of ourselves, we shall have no will for salvation, and shall make no effort toward it. Everything of human salvation begins in God. His will is to have mercy. Those who enter into salvation shall do so only because of the everlasting mercy of God. There is neither merit nor cause for glorying in our choice or effort. If God had not willed our saving, neither should we. If God did not work within us, we should work nothing out. Even if we have labored much in His service, we shall have to add that it was not us, but the grace of God working in us.

Romans 10:14-15 "How...? How...? How...? How...?" That list of questions follows an important quote from the prophet Joel, cited not only by Paul here, but also by Peter at the birth of the church on Pentecost: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Paul is emphasizing man's responsibility concerning the salvation provided in Christ Jesus. Salvation comes to a person when he or she calls on the name of the Lord. The How questions reveal the place and nature of the call: the call follows belief, belief follows hearing, hearing follows preaching, and preaching follows sending. Paul traces that movement back to its origin. Let us trace it in the opposite direction to grasp the nature of man's calling on the name of the Lord. God has a message of salvation, and this He sends preachers to proclaim. The preachers proclaim that message. Men and women hear the preacher's message and believe it, but not all are saved by that belief. So far it is merely intellectual, a strong conviction that the message is true. That does not bring individual men and women into salvation. They must now "call upon the name of the Lord." At once we can see that the will of man, displayed in volitional surrender to the message believed, is a necessary part of salvation, by God's design. Everything begins with God, but this crucial responsibility lies with man.

Romans 11:23 "God is able to graft them in again." Paul's great subject in this section is the ultimate salvation of Israel after a lengthy period of unbelief that separated them from the root of spiritual life and health. He saw "some of the branches ... broken off," yet God's purpose through them and for them was not destroyed. The breaking off was very real, resulting from their unbelief, yet if they turned in repentant faith to Christ the Messiah, they would be grafted in again, for "God is able to graft them in again." This text is similar to what Jesus said about Himself as the true vine and true believers as branches abiding in the vine and bearing much fruit through His life in us. Jesus explains that His Father is the vinedresser who removes useless branches that do not bear fruit. That is a solemn truth we must take to heart, but the text here in Romans encourages us to take heart in the grace and power of God to graft back in again branches that have been broken off. But while we recognize that, we must not minimize the dreadful condition of fruitless unbelief. God will never graft in broken branches merely out of pity for them. He will do so only when they repent and return to the true vine, Jesus the Lord of life. Only then will they bear the fruit of good works that they were saved to bring forth.

Romans 12:9 "Let love be without hypocrisy." This twelfth chapter begins the apostolic life applications of the doctrines of salvation. Paul starts with this foundation: "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern the will of God: that which is good, acceptable, and perfect." The church he describes as the Body of Christ, each part having its own giftedness and usefulness. The first order given to the whole is for love to be without hypocrisy. Love is the most beautiful and enduring fruit of the Christian life. It must be without acting, for that is what hypocrisy really is. Mere words without corresponding deeds or deeds without corresponding heart attitudes are mere show. Also, to violate love by failing to abhor evil, even when the violation is in the guise of tender toleration, is itself evil. Love protects the beloved, so it is untrue to itself when it condones evil in any form. Love must cleave to good or be untrue to its deepest nature. This truth is rooted in God's own nature, for "God is love." We, in turn, are called to be "imitators of God" by walking "in love, as Christ loved us, and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant sacrifice and offering to God."

Romans 13:10 "Love therefore is the fulfillment of the Law." This is a simple statement of a profound truth that corrects many mistakes. Most people are inclined to think of law and love as being antagonistic. Some are confused by the declaration in John's Gospel that "the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." They mentally supply a but between the two statements and assume a radical difference between them, but that word is not there. The distinction is that God's Law tells us what to do, and grace enables us to do it, making Law an expression of love. That is the sense in which love is the fulfilling of Law. Paul illustrates that in this chapter with the Ten Commandments by showing it is impossible to sin against others if we truly love them. Who commits adultery against or murders someone whom we truly love? Every sin, therefore, arises from some cooling or failure of love. Love is the most vigilant and strict guard over all our actions. It is the only motive strong enough to make us true under all circumstances and at all times. Fear may carry us far, but under stress of fierce temptation, it will break down. Love will carry us all the way and leave us still desiring better things than we have ever attained.

Romans 14:5 "Let each man be fully assured in his own mind." This instruction is of great practical value. Its application in Paul's argument is to legitimately disputable matters such as whether one should observe certain days or abstain from certain foods. It is sad and strange how those and similarly unimportant matters have been, and continue to be, reasons for bitterness between fellow Christians. Paul instructs us otherwise by having us focus on our personal duty and our attitude toward others as they focus on theirs. The first is explicit, the second implicit. The personal duty is that a man must be fully assured in his own mind. That means he is to have an opinion. He has no right to unthinkingly adopt the opinions or habits of others. It may be that coming to full assurance on certain matters will demand time and thought, and in the process he may be helped by conferring with others, but at the last he must find his own stand. Going through that process naturally helps him recognize the right and obligation of every other man and woman to do the same. Therefore no one has the right to impose on any other his or her own personal convictions. This is important and reasonable because one person may be helped by observing particular days while another is not; one may find strength in abstinence from types of foods, while another experiences weakness. We each are servants of the Lord who make our choices to please Him, and are to encourage each other to do the same.

Romans 15:16 "The offering up of the Gentiles." This phrase expresses a beautiful idea we are in danger of forgetting: the priestly nature of all ministerial work. Paul was a chosen instrument of God to the Gentiles. We see in the Book of Acts that he was diligent in his calling to preach the Gospel to them and build them up in their faith. Here in Romans he describes that noble labor by God's enabling as an offering to God Himself. In doing his work Paul was exercising the priesthood of worship. What a radiant light that sheds on all Spirit-led evangelistic and pastoral effort! Every person won by the preaching of the Gospel is not only brought into a place of safety and blessing, but is also an offering to God, a gift that gives Him satisfaction, the very offering He is always seeking. Every soul carefully and patiently instructed in the things of Christ, and so made conformable to His likeness, is a soul in whom the Father takes pleasure. We continue working hard not only for the salvation and spiritual maturity of more people, but also to satisfy the heart of God. That is the most powerful motive. There may be times when we are tempted to think of individual men and women as not worthy of our sacrifice, but that temptation will fade when we remember that God is always worthy to receive such sacrifices.

Romans 16:19 "Be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil." This is one of Paul's last expressed wishes in this letter for the believers in Rome, as well as for Christians of all times. Rome, like every great city in human history, was full of wickedness. Evil lures people by its subtlety, its mystery, and its dark depths. The seduction of it is very powerful, for we are all desirous of knowing. Untold multitudes of men and women with many natural abilities have found destruction because, as they say, they desired to see life. What they experienced was not life, but death. Paul wants those of us who love Christ to remain simple in all those things. There are things in the underworld, the very knowledge of which pollutes the soul. It is better not to know. The children of God are permitted to know freely the mysteries of the good, which includes godliness, light, purity, and beauty. In this realm Paul urges us to be wise. By our relation with God in Christ, we Christians are admitted into this wonderful realm. We see life and share it, the more abundant life, the life eternal. In this world of the highest matters the soul is purified, ennobled, and eventually glorified. Here it is better to know. Let us come to full knowledge in these matters, for that is true wisdom. Let it be sought earnestly and persistently.

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