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75 illustrations — Lessons from history, biography, and world events
First, adoption grants believers the *huiothesia* (legal status of sons), while regeneration grants the nature of children—we possess both through faith.
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The Holy Spirit Himself is the source of all spiritual fruit, and this fruit does not admit of exhaustive classification, though three groups emerge: Christian states of mind in their general aspect; qualities affecting intercourse with neighbours; and principles guiding...
The investiture of Christ operates on two levels: the clothing of a garment and the clothing of a person.
Many drift through evil without defining it plainly; if compelled to articulate their actions honestly, they would recoil in horror.
Christ Himself proclaimed freedom from sin (John 8:33–36), while Paul proclaimed freedom from the law—both ceremonial and moral.
First, good actions performed for wrong motives corrupt their value.
First, it was a simple, child-like dependence on the naked *rhema* (spoken word) of God—not reasoned argument or sensory evidence.
This Jerusalem "above" is **not** the earthly city of David's throne, but the eternal communion of believers bound by grace.
Consider a man charged with trespass on his neighbor's property.
They spring from the same depraved original and partake of the same corrupt nature.
By grace, all believers become Abraham's descendants through three distinct mechanisms: *imitation* (walking in his faith's pattern), *succession* (inheriting his blessing), and *spiritual generation* (Abraham's believing reception of them as children, as Romans 9:8 confirms).
Remarkably, no other pursuit in the world generates such universal hostility.
Grace (*charis*) represents God's unmerited favor toward the elect through Christ alone (Romans 3:24), while peace encompasses multiple dimensions of restored harmony.
These ministers functioned as pillars in four essential ways: founded upon Christ Himself, supporting believers through sympathy, prayer, and preaching; presenting an example of stability; and adorning the edifice of Elohim's Church.
As the physical heart sends forth vital blood and spirits to enable the head's function, so a living principle of holiness within us enables genuine understanding of divine things.
First, the believer who imagines himself mature in Christ—perhaps believing he has attained "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13)—when in reality he remains a babe, deceives himself catastrophically.
The law permits no negotiation, no partial obedience, no appeals to good intention.
This geographical expansion reveals the sphere and nature of Christian service.
These cannot be mixed without destroying the efficacy of grace itself.
The legalists nullify grace by rejecting Christ as the sole means of salvation, seeking righteousness through works of the law—which can only intensify consciousness of sin rather than remove it.
First, that his word should not issue in conversions.
He possessed the intellect, courage, and ancestral fervor to become a leader of the Pharisaic faction—perhaps another Maccabeus or Gamaliel, rallying noble spirits against Rome's armies.
But by what standard shall we measure ourselves?
Growing old, Paul refuses further interference in his calling, appealing to the Master whom he serves and by whom alone he shall be judged.