Chains to Godliness

Description: Acts 5 recounts the deception of Ananias and Sapphira and the serious consequences of lying to the Holy Spirit. As the apostles perform signs and wonders, increasing numbers believe in the Lord. After their arrest, an angel frees them and tells them to continue teaching in the temple. Brought before the council, Peter declares, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Following Gamalie...

Matthew 16 — Who Do You Say That I Am? Jesus warns His disciples about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and Jesus speaks of building His church. He then foretells His suffering, death, and resurrection and calls His followers to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. Listen to Matthew 16 and consider Je...

Matthew 15 — God’s Word, Faith, and Compassion Jesus confronts traditions that set aside God’s commandments and explains that what defiles a person comes from the heart. A Canaanite woman demonstrates great faith as she seeks healing for her daughter. Jesus also heals many people and feeds four thousand men, besides women and children, with seven loaves and a few small fish. Listen to Matthew 15 a...

Now, I know this may step on the toes of many women—and some men too. You may have followed a practice with a completely sincere heart. But sincerity should make us willing to examine Scripture , not unwilling to change when we see what it says. I cannot tell you how God will judge another person. I can ask each of us, myself included: Once we understand what God has said, will we obey Him?

Peter and John are arrested after speaking about Jesus’ resurrection. Before the rulers, Peter boldly declares that the man was healed through Jesus Christ and that salvation is found in Him. When ordered to stop speaking about Jesus, they refuse. The believers pray for boldness, and the church continues to share and care for one another.

Peter and John heal a man who had been unable to walk from birth at the temple gate. When the crowd gathers, Peter directs their attention to Jesus Christ, calls them to repent, and explains how God fulfilled His promises through Him.

The Gold Cord Fellowship is the hopeful beginning of men and women who want to study the bible in it's purest and most simplistic form, by just reading it, and accepting it per face value, like a child coming to God's word with simple trust and obedience.

he Holy Spirit comes upon the apostles on Pentecost, enabling them to speak in other languages and proclaim God’s works. Peter explains that this fulfills Joel’s prophecy and preaches Jesus as the crucified and risen Lord and Christ. The listeners are convicted and ask what they must do. Peter commands them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, promising...

Acts Chapter 1 Description: Acts 1 records Jesus’ final instructions to the apostles following Hisresurrection. After presenting Himself alive by many convincing proofs, Jesusteaches them about the kingdom of God and commands them to remain in Jerusalemuntil they receive power from the Holy Spirit. He commissions them to becomeHis witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the eart...

Romans Chapter 16 Description: Romans 16 concludes Paul’s letter with personal greetings to numerous faithfulChristians who had served, labored, and sometimes suffered for the gospel. Paulcommends Phoebe, honors Priscilla and Aquila, and demonstrates the importanceof fellowship and cooperation within the church. He warns believers to watchfor those who create divisions and teach doctrine contrary...

Romans Chapter 15 Description: Romans 15 teaches believers to bear with the weaknesses of others rather thanliving only to please themselves. Christ is presented as the supreme example ofselfless service, unity, and hope. Paul explains that Jesus fulfilled God’spromises to Israel while extending mercy and salvation to the Gentiles. Hedescribes his ministry of preaching the gospel where Christ had...

Romans Chapter 14 Description: Romans 14 teaches Christians how to live in fellowship when they hold differentconvictions about matters God has neither commanded nor forbidden. Believersmust not judge, despise, or place stumbling blocks before one another overfood, special days, or other matters of conscience. Each Christian belongs tothe Lord and will personally give an account to God. Paul urges...

Romans Chapter 13 Description: Romans 13 teaches Christians to respect governing authorities as servantspermitted by God to preserve order, punish wrongdoing, and commend goodconduct. Believers should fulfill their lawful obligations, including payingtaxes and showing proper respect, while recognizing that their highestallegiance remains with God. Paul explains that love fulfills the Law becausege...

Romans Chapter 12 Description: Romans 12 teaches believers to respond to God’s mercy by presenting themselvesas living sacrifices, refusing to conform to the world, and being transformedthrough the renewing of their minds. Paul explains that Christians are membersof one body with different gifts and responsibilities. He describes sincereChristian living through humility, diligent service, genuine...

Romans 11 explains that God has not completely rejected Israel. Paul himself, an Israelite, is evidence that a faithful remnant remains according to God’s grace. Israel’s failure was not final or universal: some received God’s righteousness through faith, while others were hardened because of unbelief. Through Israel’s rejection, the gospel came to the Gentiles, partly to provoke Israel to jealous...

Romans 10 explains that Israel possessed great religious zeal but lacked a correct understanding of God’s righteousness. Rather than submitting to God’s way of making people righteous, many attempted to establish righteousness through their own observance of the law. Christ is the goal and fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Paul teaches that the word of faith is nea...

Romans 9 explains God’s sovereign right to carry out His plan of salvation according to His will and promises. Paul expresses deep sorrow over Israel’s unbelief and shows that physical descent from Abraham does not automatically make someone a child of promise. Using Isaac, Jacob, Esau, and Pharaoh, Paul demonstrates that God is free to choose how His purposes will be fulfilled. Yet God’s sovereig...

Romans Chapter 8 proclaims the freedom, assurance, and hope believers have in Christ. Those who walk according to the Spirit are no longer condemned or controlled by the flesh. The Holy Spirit gives life, helps believers in weakness, and confirms their adoption as God’s children. Although Christians experience suffering, God works through all things for the good of those who love Him. Nothing in c...

Romans 7 explains the believer’s changed relationship to the Law through union with Jesus Christ. Using marriage as an illustration, Paul teaches that we have died to the former covenant relationship so that we may belong to the risen Christ and bear fruit for God. The Law is holy and reveals sin, but it cannot deliver us from sin’s power. Paul then describes the painful conflict between the inwar...

Romans 6 explains that God’s grace is never permission to continue living in sin. Through baptism, believers are united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, allowing the old life of sin to be put to death so that they may walk in newness of life. Paul calls Christians to reject sin’s rule, present themselves to God as instruments of righteousness, and live as obedient servants of Go...

Romans 5 explains the blessings of being justified by faith: peace with God, access to grace, and hope even in suffering. Paul reveals the depth of God’s love through Christ’s death for us while we were still sinners. He then contrasts Adam, through whom sin and death entered the world, with Jesus Christ, through whom grace, righteousness, reconciliation, and eternal life are offered to all.

Romans 4 — Faith, Righteousness, and the Promise Paul uses Abraham and David to show that righteousness is not earned by works of law but is accounted through faith. Abraham believed God before circumcision and trusted God's promise even when its fulfillment seemed impossible. His faith was accounted to him for righteousness. Paul concludes that this was written not for Abraham alone, but also...

Romans 3 establishes that all people are under sin and therefore accountable to God . Paul explains that possessing the Law does not make a person righteous, because no one perfectly keeps it. Both Jews and Gentiles stand guilty before God, and no one can be justified by the works of the Law. Paul then reveals God's answer to mankind's problem: the righteousness of God through faith in Jes...

Description: Romans 2 explains that God judges every person fairly and without favoritism. Paul warns against condemning others while practicing the same kinds of sins. Knowing God’s law is not enough; what matters is responding to and obeying what God has revealed. Paul also shows that outward religious identity and circumcision have no value when they are separated from obedience. What God seeks...

Romans 1 introduces Paul’s message concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ and declares that the gospel is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes. Paul states that the righteousness of God is revealed “from faith to faith” and that “the just shall live by faith.” He then explains that God has made evidence of Himself known through creation, leaving humanity without excuse. Although peopl...