Joe Barnett

The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.                                  —Romans 8:6 Your financial circumstances may be bleak, your schedule demanding, and your health dubious. Even so, you may be at peace. On the other hand, you may have […]

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.                  —Romans 8:1 You are a sinner, but you won’t be convicted because Jesus assumed your guilt and took your punishment. Justice demands that you pay the price for your transgressions. But in an act of

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.                                —Romans 5:8  Canadian drilling company employee Edward Leonard was kidnapped by ransom-seeking Colombian Marxist guerrillas in 1998. Norbert Reinhart, Leonard’s boss—whom he had never met—paid his ransom. Then he did something

Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.                               —Romans 5:4 From the standpoint of human injustice, the day that Jesus died could easily be labeled the worst day in history. Yet it was the day God’s greatest gift of grace

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.                            —Romans 4:25 The resurrection of Jesus was a “But God” moment. Peter on Pentecost: you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed.                           —Romans 4:18 You want to scream “No!” when you hear God order Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering. You see faith at its finest as you watch the heavyhearted patriarch pack his

The wrath of God is being revealed … against all the godlessness and wickedness of men.                                  —Romans 1:18 Don’t make the mistake of equating divine wrath with human wrath. They have little in common. Human anger is usually self-centered,

You also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.             —Romans 1:6 Think the world is in worse shape now than it has ever been? It isn’t. In Old Testament days parents murdered their own children, sacrificing them by fire to their gods. Fathers cold-heartedly decided

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus.               —Romans 1:1 When Paul wrote Romans, the first word he used to describe himself was “servant.” The Greek word for servant (doulos) is best translated “slave.” For a Roman citizen—which Paul was—to call himself a slave would shock his Roman readers out