The Lord Jesus Christ tells us that men ought always to pray and not to faint. Actually, there are many things men ought always to do but by nature we cannot and will not do them. For example, we will not give God the honour, praise and love He is due from His creatures. We will not glorify His name. Far from loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength we hate Him by nature and despise His claims upon us. A long way down Paul has in this very chapter described our fallen nature as ‘enmity against God’. Enmity is mankind’s governing principle of aversion and hostility towards God in heart and mind. It is the state of all…

It is my plan, God willing, to spend a few weeks dwelling on some of the wonderful truths bound up in Romans 8:28-30. I appreciate we are here breaking into a larger section of Paul’s teaching but I trust the Holy Spirit will enable us to draw some spiritual benefit from holding up these diamonds to the light to marvel at the beauty they contain. These verses have been likened to a golden chain of salvation with each golden link precious in itself. A word in context The Apostle Paul begins by speaking of all things working together for good. This is not a stand-alone statement. It is actually the answer to a question anticipated by the apostle. He has been speaking of the great…