Gravity

1 Corinthians 15:16-17 NIV [16] For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. [17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

A climbing vine exhibiting thigmotropism—growth in response to touch.The curling occurs because cells on one side grow faster than those on the other after contact, causing the stem to wrap around the wire.

Adam, Noah, Job, and Abraham lived before the giving of the Mosaic Law and therefore were not recipients of it. In contrast, from the time of Moses onward, the people of Israel—including figures such as David, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra, and Nehemiah—lived under the Law were responsible and to teach it. During the exile, Ezekiel was appointed as a watchman over Israel. He was commanded to warn the wicked, declaring, “You will surely die.” If he failed to speak and turn them from their evil ways, they would die in their sin, and God would hold him accountable for their blood. Yet in that place of loss, Ezekiel was granted the rare privilege of witnessing both the departure of the Shekinah glory and the Lord’s return to His temple. Afterward, the east gate was permanently shut because the Lord Himself had passed through it. Paul, too, was appointed as a witness on the road to Damascus. The Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is My chosen instrument to proclaim My name to the Gentiles, their kings, and the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” Though he was later imprisoned, Paul escaped assassination by appealing to Caesar. He then went on to defend the gospel before King Agrippa, declaring that “the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to His own people and to the Gentiles.” King Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great—who is remembered for the slaughter of thousands of the innocents near Bethlehem—responded to Paul’s challenge by saying, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” (Acts 26:28).

Even though the Gentiles did not receive the Mosaic Law—given specifically to Israel—Romans affirms that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. People do not fall because they learn about gravity; they fall because gravity exists. Likewise, the law does not make us sinful; it reveals the sin already at work within us. Its ultimate purpose was to lead us to the risen Christ, showing that we cannot save ourselves and making God’s offered grace our only hope. — Godfrey Ong

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Romans 3:23 NIV [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:2 NIV [2] Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.

Romans 7:9 NIV [9] Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

Materials obtained from open sources