Prairie Bible Church

The teaching of God’s election – God’s free and merciful choice of peoples (groups, nations) and people (individuals) for His purposes – should humble us. It reminds us that no one is righteous or deserving of salvation, making our redemption entirely an act of God’s mercy. When God elects, He is doing exactly what He said He would do: “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show...

Jesus was Jewish, and he loved the Jewish people. Before the gospel spread to the Gentiles, Jesus came “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Like Jesus, Paul was also Jewish. Though he was frequently accused of being an enemy of the Jews, his lament in Romans 9 makes clear that Israel’s rejection of the Messiah had broken his heart. Paul had to answer an important question: Did God fail with...

In Romans 8:31-39, Paul is applying the promises of Romans 8:1-30 to the lives of believers, and he applies these truths with five questions. He was writing to 1st-century Roman Christians who would face severe suffering, opposition, and persecution. If looking at their circumstances alone, they had every reason to be afraid and discouraged. Yet, Paul says, “No, in all these things we are more tha...

The Bible says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble,” and no one opposed to God ever wins. By the same token, if God is for us, who can be against us? Just as those fighting against God always lose, those whom God is fighting for always win. While followers of Jesus will experience affliction, we will not be fully and finally defeated. When doubts about God’s provision and goodne...

The promise of Romans 8:28, that all things work together for good, is built upon the Golden Chain of Salvation in Romans 8:29-30. This chain is made up of five divine actions– foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified– which connect God’s plan toward believers in eternity past (foreknew and predestined) with His bringing them to eternal glory (called, justified, and glorified). God...

The giants of church history stand out for their emphasis on God’s saving initiative rather than their own. Their testimonies tell of how God saved them on the basis of nothing in themselves. Paul’s emphasis is the same throughout his letters, where he states that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). Jesus highlighted His own choosing in John 15:16, telling his dis...

Romans 8:28 is universally esteemed by Christians. Yet, it is one of the grittiest verses in the Bible. It reminds us that God works all things together for good, even the circumstances that leave us saying "How can any good come from this?”  Romans 8:28 is easy to love until something difficult happens to us. But if we will believe its truth taken to its greatest extremes, we will have an un...

These verses combine two of the most misunderstood subjects in Christianity: The Holy Spirit and the will of God. The Holy Spirit is perhaps the most elusive member of the Trinity. And, if you ask Christians, “What is the will of God?” you will get many different answers. Romans 8:26-27 reminds us that God has not left us alone in our weakness and ignorance; rather, He sent His Holy Spirit to us w...

Sadly, many walk away from God when they begin to suffer. This betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of Jesus and what it means to follow Him. The Bible teaches us that we will suffer, but that our sufferings are labor pains leading to incomparable, eternal glory. Romans 8:18-25 reminds us to hope in God through suffering rather than walk away. For followers of Jesus, there is hope beyond sufferi...

We have a tendency to forget the reality that we are in a grave spiritual war. This war is against the passions of the flesh, which wage war against our soul (1 Peter 2:11). Jesus Himself used wartime language: “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand...

Hope is a core Christian Principal. Sometimes we use the word hope to indicate a desire or want like “I hope you feel better”. Christian hope is different; it is a confident expectation for the future. We have hope because God holds our future in His all-capable hands, what a great hope we have in Jesus Christ! Take-Home Message: Put your hope in the God of all hope. It’s easy to lose hope. Hope i...

God is a God that raises dead people. The Bible is filled with accounts of resurrection stories, and the entire Christian message is built upon Christ’s resurrection. The possibility of resurrection is a message that the world desperately needs, because many people are dead: despite all the world’s pleasures and technology, there is an emptiness that reigns in hearts. Sadly, even many Christians l...

The Bible presents two primary ways of life: in the flesh or in the Spirit. To be in the flesh means to live according to our sinful nature, following our appetites and desires and participating in the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19–21). All who do not know Jesus are “in the flesh.” When Christ indwells us through faith, we receive His promised Holy Spirit. Living “in the Spirit” means following Je...

As Christians, we worship the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the unity of the Godhead, these three Persons execute distinct but harmonious offices in our redemption. Romans 8:1–4 is one of the rare places in the Bible where we see all three Persons of the Trinity executing these roles together. In this message, we will focus on the role of the Father in the great work of redemption. ...

As Christians, we worship the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the unity of the Godhead, these three Persons execute distinct but harmonious offices in our redemption. Romans 8:1–4 is one of the rare places in all the Bible where we see all three Persons of the Trinity executing these roles together. In this message, we will focus on the role of the Son, Jesus Christ, in the great work...

As Christians, we worship the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the unity of the Godhead, these three Persons execute distinct but harmonious offices in our redemption. Romans 8:2–4 is one of the rare places in all the Bible where we see all three Persons of the Trinity executing these roles together. In this message, we will focus on the role of the Holy Spirit in the great work of rede...

Romans 8 is among the most famous chapters in all the Bible. Christians have hoped and found freedom in these words for centuries. This glorious chapter begins with a verse often quoted today: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (8:1) But what does that mean for followers of Jesus? In this message, we will define condemnation’s biblical meaning, trace its us...

Romans 6 held up the great victory we have over sin through our union with Christ. Because we have been crucified with Christ, we have been set free from sin (6:6–7). Now, Romans 7:14–25 deals with the reality of remaining sin. While believers are already justified in Christ, we are not yet fully delivered from indwelling sin. Three times in these verses, Paul speaks of sin still dwelling in us ev...

Romans 6 held up the great victory we have over sin through our union with Christ. Because we have been crucified with Christ, we have been set free from sin (6:6-7). Now, Romans 7 deals with the reality of remaining sin. While we are already justified in Christ, we are not yet fully delivered from indwelling sin. Three times in Romans 7, Paul speaks of sin still dwelling in us even after our conv...

After explaining the Gospel in Romans 1-5, Paul turns to dealing with distortions of its message. In Romans 6, he defended God’s grace. Now in Romans 7, he defends God’s Law. Paul knew that his statements about the Law in Romans may lead critics to suggest he thought the Law was bad. Yet he shouts in Romans 7:12, the Law is good! God’s Law serves His purposes by exposing sin, yet sin seeks to seiz...

The term “law” occurs eight times in Romans 7:1-6, and it is among the topics of greatest confusion for believers today. What is the believer in Jesus’ relationship to the Law of Moses and the entire Old Testament? What do we do with this giant first chunk of our Bibles? These verses show us that, while the law is good (Rom. 7:12), Jesus is better. In other words, the New Covenant is better than t...

From beginning to end, the Bible presents two paths, one leading to death and one to life. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). It is only in Christ Jesus that a person finds life, and the evidence that a person is in Christ is their spiritual “fruit.” What fruit are you producing, and what does it say about the path you...

Paul began his letter to the Romans in a rare way, calling himself a slave (doulos) of Christ. He does this only two other times in his letters (Phil 1:1 and Titus 1:1). Doulos (slave) means someone who belongs to another, without any ownership rights of their own. We American Christians love our freedom, and may bristle at the idea that we are slaves. Yet, doulos is used with the highest dignity...

John Owen famously said, “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” The war with sin connects us with all people of all times, because the sin problem is timeless and universal. None of our technological advances have fixed our sinful nature, guilty conscience, or separation from God. What makes Romans relevant today is that it speaks to this seemingly impossible issue. The key to killing sin l...

Paul spent the first several chapters in Romans laying out bedrock truths of Christianity. Now in Roman 6:11, he gives a strong imperative command: Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God. This is not a suggestion, but a “must.” Why is it so important? Because being alive to God is the entire purpose of our dying to sin. As one pastor put it, "The glory of Christian redemption is tha...