We are to obey governmental authorities because they derive their power from God. But there’s an exception to this rule: when obeying the authorities would require disobedience to God. (Exodus 1:17; Daniel 3:16–18; 6:7, 10.)

We have a responsibility, however, to turn our minds toward God—toward the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—and to consciously reorient ourselves with a passion for seeking after God.

There is unity in our diversity and we must each exercise our own gifts—prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership, and mercy—to the best of our ability, so that we might better serve the Church as a whole.

We must live as Christians twenty-four hours a day—in our interactions with others, in our jobs, in our families—and in all things, we must honor God.

For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

The “good” that God promises here may not always be what we think is in our best interest, but what God, in His infinite wisdom, deems will help transform us into Christ’s image and attain our future glory.11 No, God doesn’t bar all bad things from coming our way, but He uses them to benefit us. As R. C. Sproul declares, “God redeems the evil that

As believers who are declared righteous before God because of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice, we now live by the Spirit, not in the flesh. The Spirit indwells Christians, empowering them to walk with Christ and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit as they are sanctified.

The Law was given to make man conscious of his sin—and “loudly proclaims his need for the gospel.”

Does this mean Paul is rejecting the principle of salvation by faith alone? Clearly not, as he makes expressly clear in Romans 1:16–17; 3:20; 3:28, 9:30–10:4, and other Scriptures (Gal. 2:16; 3:11; Eph. 2:8–9; Philipp. 3:9; cf. Acts 13:39). Rather, He judges the reality of our faith based on how we actually live.42 “The good works of the redeemed,”