“And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had provided for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.” (2 Chronicles 29:36 ESV). When King Hezekiah began to reign in Judah, the temple had been neglected, worship had ceased, and the nation had grown spiritually cold. But in the first month of his reign,
“But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” (2 Chronicles 26:16 ESV). Uzziah started out a great and godly king, but he didn’t finish well. Once humbly dependent
“Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.” (Psalm 22:30–31 ESV). This psalm of David began with a haunting cry of abandonment—“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”—words that
“Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place.” (2 Chronicles 21:1 ESV). Jehoshaphat was a godly king who led Judah in faithfulness to the Lord. He sought God’s guidance, removed idols, and taught the people God’s law. Yet his
“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” (Romans 11:6 ESV). Paul wrote to the Roman believers about God’s faithfulness to preserve a remnant of Israel, not based on merit but on grace. In this verse, Paul offered a clear, theological
“As it is written, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’” (Romans 9:33 ESV). The apostle Paul quoted from Isaiah to show that Christ, the promised “stone” laid by God in Zion, had become both a
“In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians.” (2 Chronicles 16:12 ESV) King Asa began his reign with wholehearted trust in the Lord. In his earlier years, he cried
“But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him.” (2 Chronicles 13:10a ESV). Abijah, king of Judah and great-grandson of David, faced overwhelming odds. Though outnumbered 2-to-1 by Jeroboam’s army, he declared Judah’s trust in the Lord. His name means “Yahweh is my Father”—and in this moment, he lived
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16 ESV). In this verse, Paul continues unfolding the privileges of those who are “in Christ Jesus.” One of the most precious is this: we are not only justified and adopted as God’s children, but we also have an inner
“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us….” (Romans 8:3–4 ESV). The law is righteous,