On one side is death. On the other side is life. On one side is slavery to sin. On the other side is slavery to God. In both cases, there is service, allegiance, and submission. The question is not whether we will serve, but whom we will serve. As I read these verses, my mind […]

Earlier in the chapter, believers were described as slaves of sin. Sin was their master, and they lived under its authority and control. They belonged to one kingdom and served one ruler. But now Paul describes them differently. They have been handed over to a pattern of teaching. In other words, they have come under […]

What Paul is teaching goes way beyond a spiritual “pep-talk”. We are warriors in a cosmic battle. We have weapons. These weapons are the basic Christian disciplines – prayer, fellowship, meditation, etc. But it all begins with “…consider yourself…” It starts with a conscious decision on my part that I am a warrior. In Romans […]

“Since you have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection, continually regard that as your true identity. Consider yourself no longer under sin’s authority but living a new life toward God through Jesus Christ. Live as if sin had no power.” Paul is calling believers to align their thinking with the reality of […]

You died with Christ. You were buried with Christ. You were raised with Christ. Therefore, why would you continue living as though nothing happened? If you are truly a Christian, you should no longer be running with sin as a willing companion. Instead, you should be running AGAINST sin, pursuing Christ, learning day by day […]

Paul does not deny the reality of sin. He does not minimize its consequences. Sin is destructive. Sin corrupts. Sin enslaves. Sin kills. Everywhere we look, we see evidence of its reign. Broken relationships, shattered dreams, violence, suffering, disease, and death all testify to the presence of sin in our world. Yet no matter how […]

The true believer in Christ lives a life continually boasting in Who God is,  What God does, and what God is going to do. This aligns with the thought that we should be boasting about how God has justified us, how God is changing us, and how God has a place for us in Heaven. […]

Humanity had proven its need. Prophecy had reached fulfillment. History had prepared the world. The sacrificial system had pointed the way. And God’s grace would now be unmistakable. At that appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. It was the right time.   Here is the YouTube link: The Right Time Spotify Link: The Right […]

What is my hope? My hope is the confident assurance in the work of Christ on my behalf. On the only day that truly matters, I will stand before Him and be judged. The hope generated by the words  “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter now into the joy of your Lord” (Mt 5:23)  give […]

Paul has just declared something astonishing in the previous verses: because we have been justified by faith, we now have peace with God, and we stand in grace. The believer’s relationship with God has been fundamentally changed. Hostility has been replaced by peace; condemnation by acceptance. No longer our enemy, God is now our ally. […]

Standing in the grace of God has been hard for me to grasp. One image that has helped me think about it is this: imagine the grace of God as a great building. We have been personally ushered inside. Outside that building, a storm is raging—the chaotic storm of sin, rebellion, and all of sin’s […]

 My justification is not temporary, as though I were living under a kind of spiritual parole—constantly at risk that one failure would cancel it and send me back to prison. No, it is a permanent thing. Forever forgiven, forever pardoned, forever justified. That is the Gospel – the “Good News”. I am not on parole. […]

Chapters 1 – 4 focus on right standing with God (“righteousness,” “justification”), and chapters  5 – 8 describe the benefits that those who have attained this right standing enjoy. Paul’s argument in chs. 5–8 follows a general chiastic pattern (a-b-c / c´-b´-a´). “Chiastic pattern” is a new term for me. Here is what it means: […]

He believed the God who promised life where there was barrenness. He trusted the One who said an old man and an old woman would have a son, even though every biological possibility said otherwise. And when Abraham believed, God credited him with righteousness. That moment becomes the template. Think about it this way: when […]

When God told Abraham, “So shall your offspring be,” Abraham believed Him — and that believing response became the defining marker of belonging. Not ritual. Not ethnicity. Not possession of the Law. Faith. So when Paul says the promise comes by faith “so that it may be by grace and guaranteed,” he’s protecting the very […]

If inheritance comes through the Law, then inheritance depends on obedience to clearly defined commands. But the very nature of the Law is to expose violations, not to erase them. The Law reveals guilt; it does not remove it. It identifies transgression; it does not justify the transgressor. Abraham, however, was declared righteous long before […]

In a move that would have felt deeply unsettling—if not offensive—to many Jewish hearers, Paul declares that Abraham is also the father of believing Gentiles. Not by conversion to Judaism. Not by circumcision. Not by possession of the Law. But by faith. The very thing Israel had treated as an add-on to Israel, i.e., the […]

Romans 4 is not a side trail in Paul’s argument. It is the keystone. Remove it, and the entire structure collapses. If righteousness is credited by faith, then boasting is silenced, privilege is leveled, and salvation stands as grace from beginning to end. Paul’s entire argument can be distilled into a single sentence he would […]

“If salvation is really like this… then what do we do with the Law? What about covenant identity? What about obedience? What about… us?” Paul answers all of that with one devastating question: “Where, then, is boasting?” or “What are you looking to boast about?” I get it. For centuries, Israel was the sole caretaker […]

Paul has stated that God has a plan through which WE can be delivered. And this is God’s plan. As He is the judge, it is within His purview to grant any sentence He deems correct. There is a path forward from death to life. He can confer right-standing to whomever He desires. He alone […]

Paul emphasizes humanity’s universal condition before God by highlighting a state of being in which people are neither righteous, nor capable of true understanding, nor inclined to seek God. This is not merely a one-time failure but an ongoing, habitual reality. Paul underscores that this condition applies to everyone, Jew and Gentile alike. Taken together, […]

Paul anchors everything he has said in Israel’s own sacred texts, showing that this is not a theological detour but a faithful reading of the covenant story. From Moses through the prophets, God had made it clear that covenant membership was never confined to external markers such as ethnicity or circumcision. A circumcised heart – […]

People generally prefer the simplest explanation available, whether or not it is the most accurate one. It’s easier to place ideas into familiar categories than to wrestle with deeper truths that challenge our assumptions. In this passage, the easy conclusion is to say that Paul is dividing humanity into two ethnic or religious groups—Jews and […]

I am sure we have all known people like this. The attitude that says,  “My membership in this church—or this synagogue—comes with benefits and privileges.”  has appeared in every century of God’s people. It wears different clothing in different eras, but the assumption remains the same: proximity to holy things is mistaken for participation in […]

When I was growing up, truth was something solid. It was fixed, objective—something you discovered, not something you created. Truth stood outside of you. It didn’t bend to your preferences, your feelings, or your experiences. It simply was. If something was true, it was true whether you liked it or not, whether you agreed with […]

It is easy—and strangely comforting—to point out the faults and failings of others, so long as we quietly exclude ourselves from the indictment. Moral comparison gives the illusion of righteousness. As long as someone else appears worse, we feel justified, secure, and even validated. In Romans 2:1–2, Paul addresses Jewish believers who, having heard his […]

Here is an excerpt from my study in Romans 5:1. In Romans 5:1, Paul writes: “Because we are justified…εἰρήνην ἔχομεν — We have peace with God.” Peace is not merely calm — It Is the end of hostility. A preacher I once knew said that  “Peace is the cessation of againstness.” The Greek word Paul […]

Romans chapter 1 introduces Paul’s gospel and then lays out the fundamental problem of humanity: although God has clearly revealed Himself through creation, people suppress that truth, refuse to honor Him, and exchange His glory for substitutes. As a result, God’s wrath is revealed not primarily through sudden punishment, but by giving people over to […]

I grew up in Alaska, surrounded by mountains and trees, oceans and rivers, lakes that reflected the sky like mirrors. I watched bears move through the brush, deer step quietly along the tree line, salmon fill the streams, and halibut rise from the depths. Ducks and geese traced their ancient paths across the water and […]

The wrath of God is even now being revealed. Perhaps not in a way you might expect. God is addressing godlessness and wickedness – two different aspects of the sin problem we have in humanity. Godlessness is the vertical aspect – the relationship between man and God. Wickedness is the horizontal aspect of the sin […]

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven… A Hurricane The key to the sentence are the words “is being“. Another way of saying it might be to say the wrath of God is in the process of being revealed. It is not fully revealed… yet. If the wrath of God were a character […]

Paul’s declaration is striking: “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” That is not a throwaway line. It is a settled conviction. When do people usually feel shame? When their words and their lives do not line up. Shame creeps in when we are exposed—when what we claim to be and what we actually are […]

In this podcast, Paul is setting the stage for what is to come in the next three chapters. When it comes to the Gospel, the playing field is leveled. There is no difference in status or position when it comes to what he is about to share. Greeks and non-Greeks (think Gentiles and Jews) alike […]

The word “holy” in Paul’s greetings is applied to the recipients of this letter. 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy (ἅγιος  – hagios) people: What does it mean to be called “holy”? Paul says those believers in Rome are called “holy people”. By extension, that also […]

In this 4th episode of the Romans series, I look at verses 3-6 of chapter 1. Paul hints at several conversations to come concerning what “Being called” means, the relationship between Jewish and Gentile Believers, and the divinity and authority of Jesus. There will be several conversations Paul will be having in this letter. Convincing […]

A promise moves us from the realm of prediction to the realm of relationship. A promise is personal—a commitment made from one party to another, an assurance that something will indeed come to pass, and it comes with the declaration that the one who promises is personally guaranteeing it will come to pass. With a […]

Before Paul wrote his letter, the church in Rome was marked by both growth and tension. The Christian community there did not begin under apostolic leadership but developed organically through Jewish believers and early Christian travelers who carried the gospel to the capital of the empire. As a result, the church initially had a strong […]

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— The apostle Paul, the author of the letter to the Romans, stands as one of the most influential figures in early Christianity. Once a zealous Pharisee known as Saul of Tarsus, Paul was rigorously trained in […]

I am very excited to undertake this next project. Last year was the year of Revelation – this year is the season of Romans. Why not the YEAR of Romans? Simple – I will be presenting podcasts of my studies in this epic letter from Paul until late 2027 (maybe even into 2028)! This will […]

In the previous devotional, Paul tells the Ephesians to put on the “full armor of God” so that in the day of evil that is approaching, they will be able to stand. That “day of evil” in my opinion will be unleashed on the church and Israel around 67 A.D. when Rome sacks Jerusalem and […]

This passage gave me a lot to think about. Do I REALLY understand God’s love for me? Do I REALLY understand who I was without Him and who I am IN Him? There is a powerful message to me in these verses. I would love to know that you were blessed by these verses as […]

This is a VERY important passage. Here Paul emphasizes this incredibly NEW thing that is happening  – the creation a NEW people, a NEW thing called the Body of Christ wherein Gentiles and Jews are on equal footing. This is not an outgrowth of Judaism… this is new. The endgame of God’s choosing of Israel […]

Gentile believers, who used to be outsiders, not connected in any way to God, who did not know God’s house even existed, have now been moved into God’s house, adopted  by Him to become members of His family with all the rights and privileges of a son or daughter. You are not a “distant relative” […]

Quite possibly on ofmthe most powerful 10 verses I have read in a long time. Paul lays the foundation for what he believes about salvation. Every facet of our salvation is of God. If any part of our redemption belongs to us – then it is not grace. And we are not redeemed. We were […]

Right out of the chute, Paul brings up predestination. He says it is based on God’s love for us. Let’s chat a bit about it, shall we? Here is the video link Ephesians 1:1-6   Spotify and iTines podcast links are to the right. Blessings! Paige

Ephesians is really a letter to the church at Ephesus AND all the other churches in Asia Minor that were the result of the meteoric move of God in Ephesus during Paul’s three year tenure there. This letter has no recriminations – no church-specific doctrinal or behavioral issues. This letter was written approximately 10 years […]

What follows are a collection of thoughts from my podcast series on Galatians. As I closed the book on Galatians, these are the things I think about as a result of this study. They are more or less in the order that these thoughts appeared in my study of Galatians, but not necessarily. The Law […]

Paul does not pull his punches – not even a little – even in his concluding remarks. The video link to Youtube is here: Galatians 6:11-18 Spotify and iTunes links are to the right.   Blessings!!! Paige  

The Judaizers are trying to win the hearts of the Galatians from Paul. Are they succeeding? Do we see this type of behavior in today’s churches? Will truth win out – or will the popularity contest win folks over?   Here is the video link… Galatians 4:17-20 Click on the link to the right to […]

These are seven hard-hitting verses from Paul. He continues the discussion surrounding the “pedagogue and the ward” and what happens when the ward comes of age. …and something unexpected (to me) – a call to prayer. What if all it took to unleash God’s power in my life was prayer? What if all it took […]

In this episode, Paul continues his demolition of the Judaizer’s arguments, reminding the Galatians that the Judaizers are not offering them something they don’t already have – connection to Abraham. You can view the whole video here: Galatians 3:23-29 And as always, search for “Coffe, the Bible. and Paige” on Apple and Spotify podcast platforms […]

Paul begins to dismantle his opponents arguments by circling his wagons around the fact that before the Law came, Abraham “…believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness…”. You can watch the podcast here: Galatians 3:15-22 And as always, you can search Spotify and Apple Podcasts using “Coffee, the Bible, and Paige” for […]

In this episode we look at Galatians 3 v10-14. Paul explains WHY the Law can never bring justification. He will address this from three perspectives: 1. those who live under the law, are under the law’s curse. The law pronounces a curse upon everyone who fails to keep the law in its entirety. 2. no […]

Paul turns to the core theology of his Gospel – that Faith is enough. They were not saved by becoming circumcised – they were saved the instant they believed the Gospel. And this “believing” puts them in good company – Abraham!       You can view the video here: https://youtu.be/fp3fT5UERBE And the Audio-only version […]

In this passage, Paige discusses his experience in music composition and how understanding rules and theory did not enable him to compose like Mozart. The analogy is then applied to the first century, focusing on the Jewish nation’s reliance on rules derived from the examples and words of the  patriarchs. Paige then transitions to Paul’s […]

In this passage, the speaker continues discussing the conflict between Paul and the Judaizers in Galatia. The focus is on Peter’s actions in Antioch, where he initially associated with Gentiles but later withdrew due to pressure from the circumcision group. Paul confronts Peter publicly for his hypocrisy, emphasizing the truth of the gospel – that […]

I’ve got Galatians to thank for a couple things. It’s opening my eyes up on the dynamic of the early church leadership. Currently, I’m beginning to see that there were basically two parties in the early church, the Peter, James and John party and the Paul party. Or think of it as the Jerusalem church […]

“1 Then after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I am currently preaching among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure […]

Today we’re going to finish up chapter one. And we’re going to begin in verses 11 and 12 where Paul introduces a VERY important point. Previously Paul stated that there is only one gospel. There ARE no other gospels. There’s just one. And throughout the rest of this chapter and on into chapter two, Paul […]

  “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.”   Paul wastes no time. You can decline a friend’s invitation. But you do NOT decline a king’s summon – (or called, as it is translated […]

There’s something about Paul’s salutation in verses one through five that is kind of unique. Most ancient letters, Paul’s included, open with the salutation containing the author’s name, the name of those to whom he’s writing, and an expression of good wishes. Paul’s opening here does that. But in Paul’s other letters, he usually mentions […]

Paul has to fight a battle on two fronts. On the one hand, he has to confront some false teachers personally concerning the foundation of their message/gospel that they are bringing to Galatia in his absence. Their view of Grace and the Law was wrong, according to Paul. On the other hand, (and perhaps this […]

In this, part 3 of my four-part series on what I believe about Salvation, I address the apparent contradiction between the words of Jesus Who says “Whosoever will…” and the words of Paul in Romans where he basically says “No one will…” In other words – “Anybody CAN choose Jesus… but nobody WILL choose Jesus.” […]