No Condemnation
 
        There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  Romans 8:1
 
    The Bible says that "the devils also believe, and tremble," but this is not faith (James 2:19).  Where there is not only a belief in God's word, but a submission of the will to Him; where the heart is yielded to Him, the affections fixed upon Him, there is faith--faith that works by love and purifies the soul.  Through this faith the heart is renewed in the image of God.  And the heart that in its unrenewed state is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, now delights in its holy precepts, exclaiming with the psalmist, "O how love I Thy law!  It is my meditation all the day" (Psalm 119:97).  And the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, "who walk not after the flesh. but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1).
 
    There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit.  To such I would say, Do not draw back in despair.  We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged. (Steps to Christ, 63)
 
Reflection:  Think of a toddler learning to walk.  If the toddler falls, we pick them up and they continue on towards their goal, which is to walk.  When we are in Christ, our goal is to always walk with Christ.  We may stumble, but when we do, Christ will pick  us up and say, "Continue towards your goal, I'm right here."  As we do this we will learn to not stumble.

Carnal
 
        For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.  Romans 7:14
 
    It is not enough to perceive the loving-kindness of God, to see the benevolence, the fatherly tenderness, of His character.  It is not enough to discern the wisdom and justice of His law, to see that it is founded upon the eternal principles of love.  Paul the apostle saw all this when he exclaimed, "I consent unto the law that it is good."  "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good."  But he added, in the bitterness of his soul-anguish and despair, "I am carnal, sold under sin" (Romans 7:16, 12, 14).  He longed for the purity, the righteousness, to which in himself he was powerless to attain, and cried out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24).  Such is the cry that has gone up from burdened hearts in all lands and in all ages.  To all, there is but one answer, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)....
 
    But in vain are men's dreams of progress, in vain all efforts for the uplifting of humanity, if they neglect the one Source of hope and help for the fallen race.  "Every good gift and every perfect gift" (James 1:17) is from God.  There is no true excellence of character apart from Him.  And the only way to God is Christ.  He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). (Steps to Christ, 19-21)
 
Reflection:  Left to ourselves, our situation is hopeless.  But Jesus offers the hope and help we need.  What a beautiful gift!

Wages of Sin is Death
 
        The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 6:23
 
    While life is the inheritance of the righteous, death is the portion of the wicked.  Moses declared to Israel: "I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil" (Deuteronomy 30:15).  The death referred to in these scriptures is not that pronounced upon Adam, for all mankind suffer the penalty of his transgression.  It is "the second death" that is placed in contrast with everlasting life.
 
    In consequence of Adam's sin, death passed upon the whole human race.  All alike go down into the grave.  And through the provisions of the plan of salvation, all are to be brought forth from their graves.  "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust;" "for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (Acts 24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:22).  But a distinction is made between the two classes that are brought forth.  "All that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:28, 29).  They who have been "accounted worthy" of the resurrection of life are "blessed and holy."  "On such the second death hath no power" (Revelation 20:6). (The Great Controversy, 544)
 
Reflection:  Eternal life cannot be earned, it's a gift.  "The gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23).  However, there is something we can earn that is opposite; that is eternal death.  This is why in Romans 6:23, the result of un-confessed sin is referred to as wages.  Wages are earned.

Servants of Righteousness
 
        But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.  Romans 6:22
 
    There was in Him nothing that responded to Satan's sophistry.  He did not consent to sin.  Not even by a thought did He yield to temptation.  So it may be with us.  Christ's humanity was united with divinity; He was fitted for the conflict by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  And He came to make us partakers of the divine nature.  So long as we are united to Him by faith, sin has no more dominion over us.  God reaches for the hand of faith in us to direct it to lay fast hold upon the divinity of Christ, that we may attain to perfection of character.
 
    And how this is accomplished, Christ has shown us.  By what means did He overcome in the conflict with Satan?  By the word of God.  Only by the word could He resist temptation.  "It is written," He said.  And unto us are given "exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4).  Every promise in God's word is ours.  "By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" are we to live.  When assailed by temptation, look not to circumstances or to the weakness of self, but to the power of the word.  All its strength is yours.  "Thy word," says the psalmist, "have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Psalm 119:11). (The Desire of Ages, 123)
 
Reflection:  When, by faith, we trust completely in God's Word and ask for His power, we will be overcomers.  Let's hide God's precious promises in our hearts.  We do not have to let sin be in charge of us.

He Died for Sinners
 
        But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8
 
    Not because we first loved Him did Christ love us; but "while we were yet sinners" He died for us.  He does not treat us according to our desert.  Although our sins have merited condemnation, He does not condemn us.  Year after year He has borne with our weaknesses and ignorance, with our ingratitude and waywardness.  Notwithstanding our wanderings, our hardness of heart, our neglect of His Holy Word, His hand is stretched out still.
 
 Grace is an attribute of God exercised toward underserving human beings.  We did not seek for it, but it was sent in search of us.  God rejoices to bestow His grace upon us, not because we are worthy, but because we are so utterly unworthy.  Our only claim to His mercy is our great need.
 
    The Lord God through Jesus Christ holds out His hand all the day long in invitation to the sinful and fallen.  He will receive all.  He welcomes all.  It is His glory to pardon the chief of sinners.  He will take the prey from the mighty, He will deliver the captive, He will pluck the brand from the burning.  He will lower the golden chain of His mercy to the lowest depths of human wretchedness, and lift up the debased soul contaminated with sin. (The Ministry of Healing, 161)
 
Reflection:  Let's show the same love and kindness to others that Christ showed toward us.

Peace with God
 
        Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:1
 
    Christ is "the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6), and it is His mission to restore to earth and heaven the peace that sin has broken.  "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).  Whoever consents to renounce sin and open his heart to the love of Christ, becomes a partaker of this heavenly peace.
 
    There is no other ground of peace than this.  The grace of Christ received into the heart, subdues enmity; it allays strife and fills the soul with love.  He who is at peace with God and his fellow men cannot be made miserable.  Envy will not be in his heart; evil surmisings will find no room there; hatred cannot exist.  The heart that is in harmony with God is a partaker of the peace of heaven and will diffuse its blessed influence on all around.  The spirit of peace will rest like dew upon hearts weary and troubled with worldly strife.
 
    Christ's followers are sent to the world with the message of peace.  Whoever, by the quiet, unconscious influence of a holy life, shall reveal the love of Christ; whoever, by word or deed, shall lead another to renounce sin and yield his heart to God, is a peacemaker. (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 27, 28)
 
Reflection:  A  spirit of peace is evidence that we have a connection with heaven.

 Abraham's Faith
 
        What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?  Romans 4:1
 
    All boasting of merit in ourselves is out of place.  "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in is riches; but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 9:23, 24).
 
    The reward is not of works, lest any man should boast; but it is all of grace.  "What shall we say than that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?  For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.  For what saith the scripture?  Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.  Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Romans 4:1-5).  Therefore there is no occasion for one to glory over another or to grudge against another.  No one is privileged above another, nor can anyone claim the reward as a right. (Christ Object Lessons, 401)
 
Reflection:  "He who grudges the reward to another forgets that he himself is saved by grace alone" (Christ Object Lessons, 402).  Our good works are a by-product of our love for Christ.  A famous preacher of the gospel explained it this way.  "A dog doesn't bark to become a dog, he barks because he is a dog."  Christians have good works because they are Christians, not to become Christians.

The Perfect Law
 
        Do we then make void the law through faith?  God forbid: yea, we establish the law.  Romans 3:31
 
    Because the law of the Lord is perfect, and therefore changeless, it is impossible for sinful men, in themselves, to meet the standard of its requirement.  This was why Jesus came as our Redeemer.  It was His mission, by making men partakers of the divine nature, to bring them into harmony with the principles of the law of heaven.  When we forsake our sins and receive Christ as our Saviour, the law is exalted.  The apostle Paul asks, "Do we then make void the law through faith?  God forbid: yea, we establish the law" (Romans 3:31).
 
    The new covenant promise is, "I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them" (Hebrews 10:16).  While the system of types which pointed to Christ as the Lamb of God that should take away the sin of the world was to pass away at His death, the principles of righteousness embodied in the Decalogue are as immutable as the eternal throne.  Not one command has been annulled, not a jot or tittle has been changed.  Those principles that were made known to man in Paradise as the great law of life will exist unchanged in Paradise restored.  When Eden shall bloom on earth again, God's law of love will be obeyed by all beneath the sun. (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 50)
 
Reflection:  God's law from the beginning of time through the eternal ages will always be the same.  It is the law of love.  Allow God to write His laws in your heart today, and every day.

By the Law the Knowledge of Sin
 
        Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.  Romans 3:20
 
    The first step in reconciliation to God is the conviction of sin.  "Sin is the transgression of the law."  "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (1 John 3:4; Romans 3:20).  In order to see his guilt, the sinner must test his character by God's great standard of righteousness.  It is a mirror which shows the perfection of a righteous character and enables him to discern the defects in his own.
 
    The law reveals to man his sins, but it provides no remedy.  While it promises life to the obedient, it declares that death is the portion of the transgressor.  The gospel of Christ alone can free him from the condemnation or the defilement of sin.  He must exercise repentance toward God, whose law has been transgressed; and faith in Christ, his atoning sacrifice.  Thus he obtains "remission of sins that are past" and becomes a partaker of he divine nature.  He is a child of God, having received the spirit of adoption, whereby he cries: "Abba, Father!"
 
    Is he now free to transgress God's law?  Says Paul: "Do we then make void the law through faith?  God forbid: yea, we establish the law."  "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 3:31; 6:2). (The Great Controversy, 467, 468)
 
Reflection:  In Romans 7:12 God's Word describes His law as holy, just, and good.  Some people say the law should be done away with.  Why would you do away with something that is holy, just, and good?  Paul says, "certainly not!"

No Respecter of Persons
 
        For there is no respect of persons with God.  Romans 2:11
 
    No distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste, is recognized by God.  He is the Maker of all mankind.  All men are of one family by creation, and all are one through redemption.  Christ came to demolish every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment of the temple courts, that every soul may have free access to God.  His love is so broad, so deep, so full, that it penetrates everywhere.  It lifts out of Satan's influence those who have been deluded by his deceptions, and places them within reach of the throne of God, the throne encircled by the rainbow of promise.  In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free.
 
    In the years that followed the occupation of the Promised Land, the beneficent designs of Jehovah for the salvation of the heathen were almost wholly lost sight of, and it became necessary for Him to set forth His plan anew.  "All the ends of the world," the psalmist was inspired to sing, "shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee."  "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God" (Psalm 22:27; 68:31). (Prophets and Kings, 369, 370)
 
Reflection:  Be sensitive to the needs of people, no matter what is their nationality or position in life.  Reach them for Christ.