The North Church Women

Romans Pt. 1 Week 10: Grace Over the Power of the Law | Romans 7 | Pam Larson

We have been set free from the law and walk in the new way of the Spirit. The law is holy, righteous, and good, but it can’t make us holy, righteous, or good. Even though we struggle in the fight against sin (which is powerful), thanks to Jesus, his grace is stronger.

The focus shifts from the power of sin (Romans 6) to the powerlessness of the law. (Romans 7)

1–Romans 7:1–6 | Two husbands 

2–Romans 7:7–11 | Story #1: Is the law sin?

3–Romans 7:12-13 | The law and sin 

4–Romans 7:14–25 | Story #2: The Struggle and the Deliverer

Romans Pt. 1 Week 9: Grace Over the Power of Sin | Romans 6:12–23 | Kïrsten Christianson

This week in Romans 6:12–23, Paul reminds us that because of what Christ did, we are not slaves to sin and our passions anymore. Instead, we have a new master, a master Paul calls Obedience, Righteousness, and finally, God. And what a gracious master God is! 

Under this new master, we have become obedient from the heart, we devote ourselves to righteousness, and we bear the fruit of sanctification by living unto God—for eternity. When we believe God, this is our reality, and Paul entreats us to live out of that reality. Sinclair Ferguson says it this way, “This is how we want to grasp Roman 6, not so that we understand it up here (gestures to head), and it is a challenge to grasp it up here, but so that it will create in (us) gospel instincts, affections, and emotions that are driven by the fact that we live the whole of our lives in union with Jesus Christ.”

Romans Pt. 1 Week 8: Grace: New Life In Christ | Romans 6:1–11 | Charisse Compton

Paul offers a sustained argument debunking the outrageous idea that by saying that “when sin increased, grace abounded all the more,” he was suggesting that we should “continue in sin that grace may abound.” His chief argument is that the old, sinning, self has died giving rise to a new righteous life. Sinning is incompatible with this new life. It’s actually the transformation of sinners into righteous people that really highlights God’s grace. 

Such is God’s grace. Not only did he declare you righteous in Jesus, his amazing grace daily transforms you from the sin-ravaged, fearful of death old self into the image of Jesus. This grace is yours if you come to Jesus in faith; his grace is great enough to transform you no matter how great your sins.

Romans Pt. 1 Week 7: Grace: Abundant and Abounding | Romans 5:12–21 | Kristin Tabb

YouTube & Podbean DESCRIPTION:

 

Paul uses a “how much more” logic to show us how much better the free gift of righteousness is than the sin that necessitated it. 

 

• We have a better Man than ourselves. We are not saved by our understanding of the law or our ability to keep it, but by Christ’s act of obedience at the cross.  
• In Christ we have a better work than Adam’s. It is not our work of righteousness, or Adam’s work of sin, that defines us. It is Christ’s work alone that defines the believer in Jesus.
• We have a better gift. The gift of grace given to us in Christ’s righteous obedience reaps for us an eternal reward, impacting our future forever!
• Salvation has a better scope than we originally realized. It is for every tribe, tongue and nation on the earth—everyone who believes in Christ. Embrace the scope of this gift by offering it to those outside the church doors (as well as those inside).  

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Please note that at about 5:20 in the video, Kristin accidentally misspeaks, saying that some liberal scholars suggest that Paul was a mythical figure. She intended to follow up her previous correct statement that “Paul regards Adam as a historical person,” with the contrast of some liberal scholars who suggest that *Adam* was a mythical figure. 

 

Romans Pt. 1 Week 6: Grace: Peace With God & Assurance of Hope | Romans 5:1–11 | Pam Larson

In Romans 5:1–11, we learned that justification leads to a restored personal relationship with God. In Jesus, we are reconciled and can rejoice in our past redemption, even our present sufferings and our future in glory. Our past is redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Our present is increasingly becoming more like Jesus, and our future is secure.

* Remember and rejoice in all that Jesus has done for you. He died for you while you were still a sinner, declared you righteous, has given you peace with God. Reconciliation leads to rejoicing!

* Recognize and relish your present position: once his enemies, now his friends, given access to grace, joy even in suffering. Reconciliation leads to hope and rejoicing!

* Rest in grace and be reassured in your hope for future joy and glory. Reconciliation leads to eternal rejoicing!

Romans Pt. 1 Week 5: the Promise Rests On Grace | Romans 4 | Kïrsten Christianson

This week Paul offered Father Abraham as an example of how to obtain righteousness with God—through Christ by faith alone. We learned that Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness BEFORE he was circumcised. God made a promise to and covenant with Abraham to redeem the world—both the circumcised AND the uncircumcised—and it would be carried out by Abraham believing God and his promises, not by his own keeping the law. When we are under grace, believing God, then our sin is forgiven and our faith is counted to us as righteousness. Abraham’s faith was/is the model and the pointer to God’s plan for his people.

Romans Pt.1 Week 4: God's Saving Grace in the Death of Jesus | Romans 3:21–31 | Pam Larson

A jeweler puts a diamond on a black velvet background in order to highlight the stunning beauty of the diamond shining all the more brightly against the dark background. The gospel is the same way—it shines at its brightest when seen against the backdrop of the condemnation of sin and death that we deserve. Knowing our desperate condition—that we are under God’s wrath and hopeless without a Rescuer— makes God’s saving grace in the death of Jesus the sweetest news ever.

This week in Romans 3:21-31, we encountered the heart of the gospel. Because Jesus died in our place, those who trust in him are counted as righteous. And God, the Just and the Justifier, is satisfied. He can pardon us completely, so that when he looks at us, he sees the beautiful robe of righteousness that Jesus purchased for us (Isaiah 61:10). 

 

Hoping in God as He Writes Our Kids' Stories

The Jileks share some of the observations they’ve made over the years as college student ministers, providing some helpful considerations for parenting kids through the college transition, as well as how this impacts the parenting of little ones — all while keeping our eyes on Jesus, knowing that He holds our kids and is the author and sustainer of their faith.

Romans Pt.1 Week 3: None is Righteous | Charisse Compton | 2.12.25

No one gets a pass. Not the flagrantly immoral and not the private idolater. This is Paul’s argument so far: God judges each person—Jew or Gentile—according to his works. The standard for judging those works is God’s righteousness, explicitly stated in his laws. Both Jews and Gentiles have failed to keep God’s righteous standard. 

What should we do when we hear a word like this? Paul already told us. Stop our mouths. Make no more excuses. Hear the oracles of God as his mercy to us. Conviction over sin is such a gift. If you feel conviction, rejoice! That is a sign of life in you. God is so kind to expose the ugly hypocrisy in our hearts so that we can repent of it and be free of it. 

But next week we'll see that following this universally devastating revelation of God’s wrath on all unrighteousness comes the glorious revelation of a righteousness APART from the law. Your works will never measure up to the righteous standard of God’s law. But there is another way… the way of the gospel. It is the power of God for salvation from his just wrath, and it is the best news you could ever hear.

Romans Pt.1 Week 2: God's Wrath on Unrighteousness | Romans 1:18–32 | Amy Katterson

In God’s mysterious grace, the starting point for hope is to face our desperate, hopeless condition. Our problem is the stain of sin, which we can never scrub away. Sin of exchanging the glory of God for a love of ourselves—that terrible exchange, which trickles down into a hundred other fruits of wickedness.

But there was another exchange. The holy, almighty God we rejected, He made another exchange. The righteous Judge took all the eternal wrath and punishment that our sins deserve, and He poured it out, not on us, but on His beautiful, perfect Son. And the one Man who always treasured the glory of God–His perfect record is draped over us, if we receive Him.

Our sin for Christ’s righteousness. This is the breath-taking exchange of the gospel. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake, he [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin [Jesus], so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”