Devotions

the next Adam

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Romans 5:12-17

¹² Because of this, in the same way that sin entered the world through one man and death entered as a consequence of that sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned–¹³ because before the law was given, sin was already in the world, but there is no judgment upon sin when there is no law.¹⁴ Yet death prevailed from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the next Adam) transgressed.¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the transgression in one way. That is, since the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many!¹⁶ And the gift is not like the one who sinned. Because judgment, resulting from the one transgression, led to condemnation, but the gracious gift led to justification from even the many failures.¹⁷ For if, by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!

the next Adam

Paul draws the great contrast between the two heads of humanity—Adam and Christ—and he does it with pastoral precision. Adam’s transgression brought condemnation to everyone “in him,” which is simply another way of saying the entire human race. His sin unleashed death into the world, and nothing Christ did on the cross reversed that physical consequence. We still die because we are children of Adam. The mortality we carry in our bodies is the lingering evidence of his rebellion.

So what, then, did Christ’s obedience accomplish? Paul’s answer is stunning. Christ did not remove the temporal effects of Adam’s sin; he transformed the eternal outcome for all who receive the gift of righteousness by faith. Adam’s act brought death; Christ’s act brings life. Adam’s disobedience made sinners; Christ’s obedience makes the believing sinner righteous. Adam’s legacy is the grave; Christ’s legacy is resurrection.

The wages of sin is still death. That truth applies to everyone in Adam—including us. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Christ is the “next Adam,” the head of a new humanity. And because he has been raised, we have the sure hope that we too will be raised into a sinless, eternal life. His resurrection is not merely a miracle; it is the beginning of a new creation, the first fruits of what will one day be true of all who belong to him.

In Adam, death reigns.
In Christ, life reigns.
In Adam, we inherit corruption.
In Christ, we inherit glory.

Thank you, Lord, for becoming the next Adam, giving us hope for a sinless eternity.

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resurrection reconciliation

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Romans 5:6-11

⁶ Because while we were still helpless, at just the right time Christ died on behalf of the ungodly.⁷ (Because rarely will anyone die even on behalf of a righteous person, though someone might possibly dare to die for a good person, perhaps.)⁸ But God proves his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.⁹ So he did so much more, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved by him from God’s wrath.¹⁰ For if while we were his enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?¹¹ Not only this, but we also delight in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received this reconciliation.

resurrection reconciliation

Paul draws a beautiful distinction here between what Christ accomplished and what Christ demonstrated. His death on the cross secured our reconciliation—he bore our sin, absorbed our judgment, and removed the barrier that stood between us and God. But it is his resurrection that reveals that reconciliation to the world. The empty tomb is God’s public declaration that the sacrifice worked, that sin’s penalty has been paid, and that death’s dominion has been broken.

Christ did for us what we could never do in our sinful state. We could not reconcile ourselves. We could not cleanse ourselves. We could not raise ourselves. But now, because he is raised, he gives us hope that we too will share in a resurrection unto eternal, sinless life. His resurrection is not merely proof of his victory—it is the preview of ours.

So when we feel helpless in our brokenness, when sin feels like a weight we cannot lift, we look to the cross. And what we see is not a crucified Savior still hanging there, but an empty cross—the work finished. And we look to the tomb, and we see an empty tomb—the victory secured. It was necessary that Christ die, but it was not necessary that he remain dead. His rising is the unveiling of God’s eternal plan for all who trust in him.

The empty cross tells us our sins are forgiven.
The empty tomb tells us our future is secure.

Thank you, Lord, for the empty cross and the empty tomb.

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admission into grace

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Romans 5:1-5

¹ Consequently, now that we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,² through whom we have also obtained admission by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we delight in the expectation of God’s glory.³ Not only this, but we also delight in the things that we suffer, knowing that the suffering produces endurance,⁴ and endurance, character, and character, more expectation.⁵ And what we expect does not disappoint us, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

admission into grace

Paul has just shown Abraham as the model of resurrection faith—faith that looks at what is dead and trusts God to bring life. Now he explains why that faith was effective. Abraham’s confidence was not grounded in his own strength or virtue. It was grounded in a future act of God that Abraham could only glimpse from afar: the death and resurrection of Christ. The cross was still centuries away, but its power was already flowing backward into Abraham’s story. His faith worked because it rested—however dimly—on the same saving work that now stands at the center of the gospel.

And what was true for Abraham is true for every believer in Rome, and every believer today. Because of Christ’s death, we can look beyond our sin. Because of Christ’s resurrection, we can expect God’s glory in our future. His obedience, not ours, opened the door into grace. His blood purchased our peace. His resurrection secured our hope. We stand in grace because Christ stood in our place.

Paul then turns to the reality of suffering. If we have been admitted into God’s grace through Christ, suffering cannot poison that joy. In fact, suffering intensifies our longing for the renewal of all things. It sharpens our hope. It reminds us that the world is not yet what God intends it to be—but it will be. The same God who raised Jesus from the dead will raise creation into glory. So suffering does not diminish our delight; it deepens it. It makes the coming glory more precious.

Lord, thank you for the price you paid for our admission into your grace, and for the expectation of your coming glory.

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resurrection faith

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Romans 4:18-25

¹⁸ Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of a crowd of nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.”¹⁹ Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.²⁰ He did not vacillate in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.²¹ He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do.²² So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness.²³ But the statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham’s sake,²⁴ but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.²⁵ He was sacrificed because we had transgressed and was raised because we had been declared righteous.

resurrection faith

Paul brings faith down from the clouds and anchors it in something concrete—something embodied in the life of Abraham. Faith is not vague optimism or religious sentiment. It is trust in God’s ability to bring life out of death. That is the essence of Abraham’s story.

When Paul describes Abraham’s faith, he does not point to Abraham’s courage, morality, or spiritual discipline. He points to Abraham’s confidence in God’s power to raise the dead. Abraham was not contemplating his own mortality; he was staring at the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Every natural indicator said the promise was impossible. Her body could not produce life. Yet God had promised that nations would come from her. Abraham believed that the God who calls things into existence could also bring life out of death. That is resurrection faith.

Then Paul turns to first‑century Rome. He looks at a community of believers—some Jewish, many Gentile—who faced their own impossible reality. Their Messiah had been crucified. Their hope had died on a Roman cross. But God raised him from the dead. And these believers dared to trust that resurrection. They believed that the God who gave life to Sarah’s barren womb had given life to Jesus’ lifeless body. Their faith was not abstract. It was resurrection-shaped, resurrection-rooted, resurrection-dependent.

This is the kind of faith God gives—and the kind he honors. It is the faith that looks at what is dead and trusts God to bring life. It is the faith that sees the impossible and believes the promise. It is the faith of Abraham, now alive in the people of Christ.

Lord, help us reflect the resurrection faith of our father Abraham.

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father of us all

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Romans 4:12-17

¹² And he is also the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed while he was still uncircumcised.¹³ Because the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled by keeping the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.¹⁴ Because if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified.¹⁵ Because the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either.¹⁶ For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants–not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.¹⁷ (Scripture states, “I have made you the father of a crowd of Gentiles”).[1] He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed–the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do.

father of us all

Paul talks about two groups of saPaul continues his careful, pastoral work of uniting the Roman church by returning to the shared spiritual ancestry of all believers. Abraham is not merely the father of the Jewish people; he is the father of all who walk in the footsteps of his faith. That means there are two groups of saved people, and both are saved by grace through faith in God’s promise.

First, there is the circumcised—Jewish believers—who follow in the spiritual footsteps of their natural ancestor. These believers do not trust in the outward sign or in their obedience to the law. They trust in the God of Abraham, the God who justifies the ungodly, the God who saves by promise rather than performance.

Next, there is the “crowd of Gentiles” who also walk in those same spiritual footsteps, even though they do not share Abraham’s bloodline and were never under the Mosaic covenant. They came to faith in Christ, and Paul insists they must be welcomed fully into the family of Abraham on the basis of that faith. Their inclusion is not a downgrade of Judaism but the fulfillment of what God promised—that Abraham would be the father of many nations.

Paul brings this up for at least two reasons.
He wants Jewish Christians to remain anchored in the gospel and not drift back into the legalism and ethnic pride that once defined their religious life. Such pride could tempt them to distance themselves from Gentile believers or even from Christ himself.
And he wants the entire Roman church—Jew and Gentile—to unite around one gospel: salvation by grace through faith, unpolluted by works‑based righteousness or cultural superiority. Only a gospel free from legalism and ethnic pride can create a unified people who reflect the heart of God.

Lord, help us keep the gospel we preach pure—free from the contamination of legalism and ethnic pride. May we walk together as children of Abraham, united by faith in your grace.

[1] Genesis 17:4 (from the Hebrew).

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the sign as a seal

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Romans 4:6-11

⁶ This is how even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness regardless of works:⁷ “Blessed are those whose lawless works are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;⁸ blessed is the one against whom the Lord will never count sin.”⁹ Is this blessedness then for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised? Because we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”¹⁰ On what basis was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised!¹¹ And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, so that he would become the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, that they too could have righteousness credited to them.

the sign as a seal

Paul addresses another deeply rooted assumption within the Judaism of his upbringing—the belief that circumcision was a work required to secure God’s favor. Many in his tradition viewed it as a decisive act that placed a person on God’s good side. Those who bore the sign were considered safe; those who did not were seen as hopelessly lost, regardless of their moral character or sincerity. Circumcision had become, in practice, a boundary marker dividing the “forgiven” from the “condemned,” a ritual believed to guarantee protection from judgment.

Paul dismantles this thinking by returning again to the story of Abraham. According to the Torah itself, Abraham was declared righteous long before he was circumcised. The sign did not produce forgiveness; it celebrated forgiveness already received. Circumcision was intended to be a seal—a visible reminder of the grace God had already shown. It was never meant to be a prerequisite for salvation, nor a ritual that forced God’s hand. Abraham’s relationship with God began with faith, not with a knife.

This truth has enormous implications for Paul’s mission. If Abraham was justified before circumcision, then the door of salvation stands wide open for the uncircumcised. The gospel can be preached freely to those who have never practiced Jewish rituals and never will. The sign pointed to grace; it did not restrict grace. What mattered was the promise of God and the faith that embraced that promise. Abraham becomes the spiritual forefather of all who believe—Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised—because he trusted God before any ritual marked his body.

Paul’s argument liberates the gospel from cultural boundaries. It shows that salvation has always been rooted in God’s initiative, not human performance. The sign of circumcision, rightly understood, becomes a testimony to grace, not a barrier to it. And the same grace that reached Abraham reaches all who believe today.

Lord, we celebrate the inheritance received from our spiritual forefather Abraham. We celebrate the forgiveness you granted him before he was circumcised. We celebrate the message of grace that the sign itself was meant to signify.

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demythologizing Abraham

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Romans 4:1-5

¹ What then should we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, concluded regarding this matter?² Because if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law, he has something to brag about–but not in God’s presence.³ Because what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”⁴ Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited as a result of grace but because of obligation.⁵ But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.

demythologizing Abraham

Paul confronts a deeply rooted assumption within the Judaism of his day—the belief that Abraham was accepted by God because he had perfectly kept the law, even before the law existed. This myth had shaped generations of religious thinking. It suggested that righteousness came through obedience, and that Abraham was the model of flawless law‑keeping. But Paul urges the Jewish Christians in Rome to return to the Torah itself. When they do, they discover something very different.

According to the Scriptures, God approved of Abraham long before Sinai, long before circumcision, long before any opportunity to perform works of the law. Abraham’s standing before God rested not on obedience but on trust. He believed the promise of the God of grace, and that faith—not performance—was counted to him as righteousness. Paul’s argument is simple but revolutionary: if Abraham was justified by faith, then faith—not law‑keeping—is the true foundation of salvation.

This truth exposes the myth, but it also exposes the human heart. The impulse to turn religious observances into a pathway for earning God’s approval is not limited to ancient Judaism. It persists in every age. Many still present Christianity as a system of moral achievement, a ladder climbed by spiritual effort. But Paul insists that this is not the gospel. In fact, he argues that it was never the message of the Torah either. The law was never designed to save. Salvation came first, and the law served as a guide for those already redeemed.

Grace through faith is the consistent message of both testaments. Abraham is the father of all who believe because he dared to trust God’s promise before he saw its fulfillment. His righteousness was a gift, not a wage. His story becomes the pattern for every believer—Jew or Gentile—who receives God’s righteousness by faith in Christ.

Paul’s goal is not merely theological correction. He wants the Roman believers to proclaim a gospel free from distortion. A gospel that does not burden hearers with impossible demands. A gospel that reveals salvation as God’s work from beginning to end. When the myth is stripped away, the beauty of grace shines clearly.

Lord, help us demythologize our presentation of the gospel so that those who hear understand that salvation is your work, not ours.

[1] Genesis 15:6.

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since God is one

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Romans 3:25-31

²⁵ God publicly displayed him at his death as the atoning sacrifice accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his restraint had passed over the sins previously committed.²⁶ This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.²⁷ Who, then, can boast? No one! Why? Because works make a difference? No, but faith does!²⁸ For we understand that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from keeping the works of the law.²⁹ Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too!³⁰ Since God is one, he will justify those who are circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised on account of faith.³¹ Do we then abolish the law by having faith? Absolutely not! Instead we uphold the law.

since God is one

Paul emphasizes that there is not one God for Jews and another for Gentiles, nor one path of salvation for one group and a different path for the other. The unity of God demands the unity of the gospel. The same Lord who made the covenant with Israel is the Lord who sent Christ into the world, and the same Christ who fulfilled the promises to Israel is the Savior offered to the nations. The plan of redemption, long anticipated in the Scriptures, reaches its fulfillment in Jesus, and now it is made clear that all come to salvation by faith in him alone.

This truth carries enormous weight for Paul’s argument. If there were two different ways of salvation, human distinctions might still matter. But because there is one God and one gospel, all stand on equal footing before him. Heritage, law, and tradition cannot rescue anyone; neither can ignorance, morality, or religious zeal. All are sinners, and all must come to Christ by faith. The unity of the gospel is the great equalizer.

Paul also looks ahead to the final judgment. On that day, unbelievers will bear the weight of their own sins. Scripture describes this as eternal destruction—not annihilation of existence, but the irreversible loss of life as God intended it. Sin’s final wage is death, and those who reject Christ must face that reality themselves. But believers, justified by faith, will enter eternal life. They will stand together—Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free—under the same banner of grace, worshiping the same God, living in the same kingdom, sharing the same inheritance. The unity of salvation becomes the unity of eternity.

This is the equality Paul celebrates: not sameness of background or experience, but sameness of standing before God. All are equally lost apart from Christ, and all are equally welcomed through Christ. The gospel removes every barrier that once divided humanity and gathers a single redeemed people around the throne of God.

Thank you, Lord, for the equality given in Christ, for the one gospel that saves all who believe, and for the one kingdom in which all your people will live forever.

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a way to God’s righteousness

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Romans 3:19-24

¹⁹ We have known that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.²⁰ Because no one is declared righteous before him by doing the works of the law, because through the law comes the knowledge of sin.²¹ But now apart from the law a way to the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed–²² namely, a way to the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction,²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.²⁴ But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

a way to God’s righteousness

Paul teaches that Scripture performs a necessary and painful mercy: it convicts. The Bible does not simply inform or inspire; it exposes. It reveals the depth of human depravity and the helplessness of the human condition. When the law speaks, every mouth is stopped. The illusion of moral adequacy collapses. The heart is confronted with the truth that the problem of sin is not superficial, not occasional, and not solvable by human effort. Sin is not a stain that can be scrubbed away by discipline or ritual. It is a power that enslaves, a corruption that reaches into motives, desires, and identity itself.

This is why the law, for all its goodness, cannot save. Its purpose is diagnostic, not curative. It reveals the sickness but cannot provide the cure. It shows the standard but cannot empower obedience. It declares what righteousness looks like but cannot produce righteousness in the sinner. The law leaves humanity silent, guilty, and unable to escape its verdict.

Into that hopelessness steps Christ. Where the law exposes, Christ heals. Where the law condemns, Christ justifies. Where the law reveals the penalty, Christ bears it. The gospel announces that God has done what humanity could never do. Christ took the full weight of sin’s judgment upon himself, satisfying the demands of the law and opening the way for sinners to receive God’s righteousness as a gift. This righteousness is not earned, achieved, or deserved. It is given—freely, graciously, and completely—to all who trust in Christ.

Thus the Bible’s convicting work is not cruelty but grace. It drives the sinner to the Savior. It strips away false hopes so that true hope may be found. It reveals the depth of the problem so that the magnitude of God’s solution may be seen. The law prepares the heart for the gospel, and the gospel brings the heart into the righteousness of God.

Lord, thank you for making a way for believers to enter into your righteousness.

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all under sin

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Romans 3:5-18

⁵ But if our unrighteousness demonstrates that God is righteous, what should we conclude? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? (I am speaking in human terms.)⁶ Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world?⁷ For if in contrast to my lie the truth of God enhances his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner?⁸ And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”?–as some who slander us allege that we say. (Their criticism is deserved!)⁹ What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin,¹⁰ just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one,¹¹ there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God.¹² All have turned away, together they have become of no value; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”¹³ “Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the venom of snakes is inside their lips.”¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood,¹⁶ ruin and misery are in their paths,¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.”¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

all under sin

Paul describes sin not merely as a collection of wrongful actions but as a dominating power—something humanity is born under, something that claims authority over every life. Sin is not simply what people do; it is a realm in which they live. Heritage cannot shield from it. Religious upbringing cannot neutralize it. Moral training cannot lift its weight. Sin hangs over humanity like a gathering storm, threatening to break at any moment. It is universal, impartial, and relentless.

This diagnosis sounds bleak, and Paul intends it to be sobering. The human condition is not a minor flaw or a series of unfortunate choices. It is a deep bondage that no amount of effort or tradition can undo. Whether raised in the synagogue or raised among idols, every person stands beneath the same dark cloud. The law cannot disperse it. Good intentions cannot weaken it. Sin’s power is too great, and its reach too wide.

But Paul never leaves the reader in despair. The gospel enters precisely where human ability ends. The same universality that makes sin so terrifying becomes the backdrop for the universality of God’s grace. If sin is the impending disaster that threatens all, then God’s righteousness through faith in Christ is the rescue offered to all. The gospel does not discriminate. It does not favor one heritage over another. It does not require a certain level of moral achievement. It simply announces that God has acted decisively in Christ to deliver those who trust him.

This is the good news: the storm is real, but so is the shelter. Sin’s dominion is powerful, but God’s righteousness is stronger. The threat is universal, but so is the invitation. Faith in Christ brings people out from under the shadow of sin and into the light of God’s saving grace. What humanity could never accomplish, God has accomplished. What the law could never produce, the gospel freely gives.

Lord, thank you for your solution to sin. The storm no longer terrifies because your grace extends to all sinners who seek it.

Posted in gospel, grace, sin | Tagged Romans 3 | Leave a comment