Habakkuk, the prophet, looks around his world and he is perplexed for the righteous are suffering while the wicked prosper. He can make no sense of it, so he asks God a series of questions. If Habakkuk was discouraged without such answers, he becomes even more discouraged when God answers. How should Habakkuk then live with this tension between the world as he wants it to be and the world as God has determined it will be? The name Habakkuk means “one who embraces” and the idea or concept Habakkuk ultimately decides to cling to is simply this… “the righteous will live by faith”. Three New Testament books quote Habakkuk 2:4 “The righteous will live by faith”. The book of Romans, the book of Galatians and the book of Hebrews. In Romans, the emphasis is on the first part of that declaration… “the righteous”. In Galatians, the emphasis is on the middle part of that declaration…“will live” and finally in Hebrews the emphasis is on the latter part of that declaration…“by faith”. This is the first part of the series...the Book of Romans.
Apr 8, 2019 2:59 PM America/Chicago
Romans 16 contains the closing words of Paul in what has been called the greatest piece of writing in existence and the greatest book of the New Testament. In the last chapter, Paul extends greetings to 26 individuals (24 by name) and gives special recogn
Mar 25, 2019 7:30 AM America/Chicago
In Romans 15, Paul continues to talk about building each other up. He goes over three things to consider about acceptance, three principles to consider before admonishing someone else, and his threefold priorities in serving others.
Mar 20, 2019 11:11 AM America/Chicago
The first half of chapter 14 addresses the importance of acceptance which on the flipside means to refrain from judging others. The second half of the chapter concerns itself with how to avoid offending each other and the flipside to not offending is to a
Mar 11, 2019 11:17 AM America/Chicago
Christians have differed over what is and what is not appropriate for Christians to participate in since the founding of the church. Consider the problems faced by new Christians in the Roman Empire. What if you were a stone mason who worked for a busines
Mar 5, 2019 5:59 AM America/Chicago
Here in Romans Paul discusses the ongoing debt of love that fulfills the law. He explains there how love seeks to make itself manifest.
Feb 18, 2019 11:29 AM America/Chicago
In these verses Paul instructs us on how to relate to people who are causing your grief in some way. He cautions we should avoid our natural instincts and leave any vengeance to God. Furthermore, somewhat counter-intuitively Paul exhorts us to not just re
Feb 11, 2019 1:45 PM America/Chicago
In chapter 12 of Romans, Paul looks at the different relationships of the Christian. First, he deals with our relationship to God in verses 1 and 2 which is to be one of sacrificial devotion, next he addresses our relationship to ourselves in verse 3 whic
Feb 4, 2019 1:16 PM America/Chicago
Paul, thus far has described the problem of righteousness which is condemnation because of sin (Romans 1-3:20), the provision of righteousness which is justification in Christ (Romans 3:21-5:21), the power of righteousness which is sanctification enabled
Jan 28, 2019 7:28 AM America/Chicago
Romans 11 is about Israel's future, but not everyone is agreed on who or what constitutes True Israel. Paul seems to suggest Israel has been temporarily set aside for now as God concentrates on the Gentile nations...or does he? What are we to learn from G
Jan 22, 2019 6:00 AM America/Chicago
In chapter 9 of Romans we learned about about Israel’s past; chapter 10 is about Israel’s present and what we find is that Israel has been set aside as God’s primary vehicle in revealing Himself to the world. Paul gives four reasons why they were se
Jan 14, 2019 10:14 AM America/Chicago
What is the real context of Romans 9? Is Paul making a defense of election or something else? Is it possible we don't see the forest for the trees when it comes to Romans 9? Romans 9 is actually a continued defense of grace over works. We tend to make it
Jan 7, 2019 5:59 AM America/Chicago
We're at the midpoint of our study of the book of Romans. Romans has been described as a book that has eight chapters of gospel in the beginning, four chapters of application at the end and three chapters of puzzlement in the middle. The absolute worst of
Dec 17, 2018 5:32 AM America/Chicago
In Romans 8:31-39, Paul asks six questions about adversaries and adversities which may threaten to try and separate from the love of God in Jesus Christ. Assurances are given that on one and nothing will be able to do that for in Christ there is no condem
Dec 10, 2018 6:06 AM America/Chicago
One of the main controversies in the evangelical world is the interplay of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Is everything in our lives predestined so that freewill is an illusion or are we truly free to choose our destiny? Perhaps, in the c
Dec 3, 2018 7:08 AM America/Chicago
Earlier in Romans 8, Paul said despite the fact that Christians presently suffer because of sin in the world, we are nevertheless assured of a glorious inheritance in a future world. Paul said suffering and glory are inseparable, but now he adds they’re
Nov 26, 2018 5:46 AM America/Chicago
In Romans 7 the key word was "I" -- 53 times in those verses Paul said "I ... me ... my ... myself". But the secret of Christian living is not living the Christian life on our own, but letting the Holy Spirit live through us and the key word of Romans 8 i
Nov 19, 2018 4:47 AM America/Chicago
If my old nature in Adam was crucified with Christ, according to Paul in both Romans 6 and Galatians 2, and I was given a new heart and a new spirit as a new creation in Christ, why do I still sin? The answer may surprise you.
Nov 11, 2018 9:17 AM America/Chicago
Sermon from Dove Creek Bible Church's Podcast
Nov 5, 2018 7:20 AM America/Chicago
Romans 6:1-14 begins the sanctification section of Romans. In order for sanctification to work we have to know what God says, believe what God says and then act like we believe what we know. If our knowledge is unclear, our belief will be hazy, and our fo
Oct 29, 2018 7:39 AM America/Chicago
When you’re a kid one of the first lessons in life you learn is that one person can ruin it for everyone else whether it is in the classroom or on the fields and courts of recreational sports. One kid can annoy the teacher so badly that the whole classr
Oct 22, 2018 7:04 AM America/Chicago
Sermon from Dove Creek Bible Church's Podcast
Oct 15, 2018 7:20 AM America/Chicago
In Romans 4:1-16, Paul illustrated the priority and pattern of Abraham’s faith. The author of Hebrews states by faith we are inwardly assured and outwardly certain that God will bring to reality the fulfillment of the promises that we hope for given in
Oct 8, 2018 6:01 AM America/Chicago
In Romans 3, Paul says the only way we can be declared righteous by God is by grace through faith in Christ. Romans 3 gave us the principle. Romans 4:1-16 now gives us the pattern of Abraham who was justified by faith apart from observing the law.
Sep 24, 2018 7:19 AM America/Chicago
In Romans 1-3:20, Paul explains the problem of righteousness and the problem is we do not have any righteousness. What we do have, however, is condemnation because of sin. In the next section of Romans, Romans 3:21-5:21. Paul explains the provision of rig