A REMINDER OF HOPE

Welcome

Well, good morning! It’s great to have all of you here. If you are a guest with us this morning thank you for being here. If you are joining us online, thank you for spending some time with us this morning!

Introduction

If you don’t know who I am, my name is Nathan Powell. I am the worship pastor here at CCF. And I tell ya, its a little strange standing before you this morning without a guitar and a microphone in front of me. If I’m being honest, those things are somewhat of a safety blanket for me, that’s definitely more of my comfort zone, but I really do appreciate being given the opportunity to speak to you this morning. Im hoping that the time that I have with you will prove to be encouraging and insightful.

Family

I realize that there may be some of you who have not really had an opportunity to get to know me outside of my role as a worship leader here on Sundays. So, I thought I would take a minute or two to introduce my family. Now, these pictures are wife-approved so I wouldn’t get into too much trouble.

The first picture here is of myself and my wife Amanda. We’ve been married for 11 years now this past March. Thats pretty incredible to think about and kind of hard to believe. We’ve actually known each other for over half our lives because we met when we are 14 and 15. She’s probably not going to like me pointing this out, but she is actually the one controlling these slides in the booth. So, in reality, she holds so much power over me right now. I mean, if she doesn’t like what i have to say, it just stakes one click of a button and we’re already headed to lunch!

This next picture is of our oldest daughter, Meredith. She’ll turn 9 later this year. I tell ya, she’s one of the sweetest girls you will ever meet. Notice I said “you” will ever meet. Amanda and I tend to get the sassy side of Meredith at home and let me tell ya, she is certainly not afraid to speak her mind. No, but seriously, she is beautiful & kind & caring. And I have no doubt will be able to handle her own if the need arises.

Next, we have our youngest, Emilia. She just turned 5 back in April. She is certainly… spirited to say the least. If you have ever met her, you would know just how fiercely independent she is and definitely wears her heart on her sleeve. And of course she is also kind and caring just like her big sister…when she wants to be.

And we certainly cant forget our furry family members. This next picture is of our oldest dog penny. We got her about 10 years ago. She is definitely the protector of the house. She likes to nap a lot and she can be a little grouchy sometimes.

And finally, this is Giulia. Well… she's pretty…she's very goofy, and floppy. But definitely loves our girls.

You know, as I was going through these pictures, and we were finding the right ones to use for this morning, I was flooded with so many memories, so many reminders of things that have happened throughout the years.

I was reminded of the first time I saw Amanda. I was 15 years old at the time and I can remember I was sitting in church with a few of my buddies. The service is about to start and one of them turns and says, “whoa! who is that?!” So, of course being the subtle teenage boys we were, all of is at the same time lean forward in our seats to see this beautiful, tall, red-headed girl. My first thought was that this was some college student that was in town to visit her family. Eventually, one of our friends who is a girl and was actually thinking properly at the time tells us, “oh yeah, thats Amanda! She is a freshman at my high school.” So, of course being the brave, courageous young man that I was, I got up, made my way down the row of chairs toward her…turned… and kept right on walking! Never said a word. I was absolutely terrified.

I remember the first time getting to actually meet her. A couple of weeks had gone by since the first time seeing Amanda, and I’m thinking that I totally missed my chance. But then she decides to come with her sister to an after church event. I remember standing in our fellowship hall taking with a friend and her sister (Ive never met her never talked to her) comes up to me and say’s “Hey, come with me! There is someone I want you to meet!” So, she literally grabs me, drags me to the other side of the fellowship hall and introduces me to Amanda. Britney, if you are watching this, I don’t know if I have ever said this before, but thank you! I’m sure my life would look a lot different if it had not been for that moment.

Well, a lot has happened since then…

I remember finally asking her to be my girlfriend

And of course, I remember when I saw her (with tears of joy filling my eyes) walking down the aisle to become my bride.

I remember when both of my girls came into this world - the sheer joy, fear, excitement, and humility that you feel all wrapped up in a single moment

As they have grown and we have been trying to teach them to be women of God, I am reminded of the conversations and experiences that I had with my parents. And the many, many utterances of the phrase “we’ll talk about this when we get home.” Mom and dad, you may be watching this now, or will some time later. I know I have said this before but I’ll say it again… I am so, so sorry. I totally understand now what I put you through!

Well, I don’t mean to go too deep into my personal backstory, but reminders…or remembrance is an incredibly powerful thing. The Bible is filled with the command to remember as well as to remind others of God’s truth. And that is certainly true of our text today.

Scripture Reading

So, without any further ado, I would like to invite you, if you are able and willing to stand for the reading of God’s Word and then remain standing for prayer.

2 Peter 1:12–18 CSB

12 Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, 14 since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. 15 And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure. 16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!” 18 We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.

Let’s Pray

PRAYER

Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you that you reveal yourself through your Word and we are given clear instruction and guidance on how we can become more and more like Christ. Father, we pray that our time spent in the Word this morning will be fruitful and that we would not only be hearers of your Word, but doers of your Word. Lord, remind of our your promises. Give us the hope and peace that you alone can so that we may share it with others. In Jesus name we pray, Amen

I WILL ALWAYS REMIND YOU (V 12)

Well, we are couple of weeks into this sermon series on 2 Peter and Jude. We’re into the thick of it now, and Peter begins verse 12 with “Therefore.” Now, anytime you see the word “therefore,” the golden rule is to always ask, “what is it there for?” You see, the word “therefore” is what is known as a causal conjunction. (Now, English teachers, be nice to me. There’s a reason I majored in Music education. I’m gonna do my best here.) Causal conjunctions , what they do is link two clauses or sentences, and show a cause-and-effect relationship between them. This tends to happen a lot in the Letters or Epistles of the New Testament. Paul uses conjunctions like this a lot in his letter where “if you do this…then this will happen, or “this is a key element in Jesus’ teaching…therefore, you should do this. And anytime passages does this, I am always reminded of a song that my dad used to sing to me all the time when I was little. Some of you may know it. It’s the story of an old lady who swallowed a fly. See, there’s a lot of cause and effect in the song. Because she swallows a fly, she decides to swallow a spider so that it will catch the fly that she previously swallowed. Eventually, she ends up swallowing a horse. You see, she swallowed the horse to catch the cow. She swallowed the cow to catch the goat. She swallowed the goat to catch the dog. She swallowed the dog to catch the cat. She swallowed the cat to catch the bird. She swallowed the bird to catch the spider that wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly but I don’t know why she swallowed the fly, perhaps she’ll die. (if you want the full performance of the song, you’ll have to come to the night of worship next Sunday.) Anyways, these conjunctions help us to peel back the layers and work our way back to the root or the core of what the author is trying to say. So, Peter is setting up this next part of chapter 1 saying, “THEREFORE.” “I am going to do this…because of this.” “I am going to do these things because of what we discussed last week and the week before.” Now, I know a few of us have slept since last Sunday… “therefore,” I’m gonna give a very brief review of what has been covered. And this will help us to further understand why Peter commits to what he says he is going to do.

REVIEW

So, when we first started of course we learned that Peter is the author of the text. We know him as Peter when in fact his real name is Simon or Shimon. It was Jesus that actually gave him the nickname Peter or Petras in Greek which means little rock or pebble. We believe that Peter is writing this letter in Rome around AD65 and he is writing with the full awareness that he is approaching the end of his days on earth. We also know that he is writing to fellow Christians. Verse 1 says:

2 Peter 1:1 (CSB)

1 Simeon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ: To those who have received a faith equal to ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

What an amazing thought! Pat said it this way a couple of weeks ago:

“that YOUR FAITH is just as PRECIOUS and POWERFUL and EFFICACIOUS as Peter’s – a man who knew Jesus personally! It is quantitatively and qualitatively equal.”

And we learned that we gain grace and peace through the knowledge of Jesus. And this is not just a head knowledge or understanding of who Jesus is. Yes, that’s important, but along with that there must be heart knowledge as well. Knowledge that comes from experience. Knowledge that only comes through being in personal, intimate connection with Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And through this knowledge and in God’s divine power, He gives us everything required for life and Godliness.

But we live in a corrupt world. A world filled with evil desires. So Peter encourages us - we need to diligently

2 Peter 1:5–7 (CSB)

5 … make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge,

6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness,

7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

Now, when we look at this list of qualities, it’s important to remember that this is not a self-help, do-it-yourself, step by step process on how to get to heaven. No, we don’t have the strength or ability to do it on our own. Remember what Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8–9 CSB

8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

So, God gives us the power and everything we need. We are saved by his grace and goodness through faith. And if we can make every effort to supplement this faith with goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, we can be useful and fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ - the application of these virtues will help to prevent the stumbling that can so easily occur in such a corrupt and fallen world.

So here we are…is everyone still with me?

So, “THEREFORE” - Peter understands God’s power- his goodness and his provision. He also understands the current worldly situation they are in and he wants to help prevent the followers of Christ from stumbling. He longs for them to supplement their faith so that they might be useful and fruitful! So, what does he do?

2 Peter 1:12 (CSB)

12 Therefore [BECAUSE OF ALL OF THIS] I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have.

If you are a Christian and have been for any amount of time. It is likely that you have sat through a Sunday service or a sermon at least once, if not many times and later in the week when you think back on Sunday, and your thinking, “man, what in the world did we talk about in church?.”

You know what I’m talking about. And it doesn’t even have to be on a Sunday. If you’re anything like me and you’re maybe doing a bible study or daily devotional and you’ll be reading along when all of a sudden you stop and think to yourself, “how in the world did I get here? I’ve been reading for five minutes and I don’t even remember what I read.”

Or maybe we hear something or read something and think to ourselves, “oh, well I already know this or yeah, I’ve heard this a thousand times…so we tune it out…we flip the page or shift our attention to something else that grabs our attention.

And it’s often things like we went over last week… supplement your faith with goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love.

Or, things like the fruit of the spirit. Many of us when asked can easily spout those off. You know, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control

But, let me ask you this: Let’s say you leave here and someone in a rush cuts you off on 412 and nearly runs you off the road. Are goodness and self control the first things that come to your mind? Or, maybe that one coworker who always tends to rub you the wrong way makes some snide remark about you or what your working on. Do you first consider in that moment brotherly affection or love? Or maybe you finally make it home after spending half an hour in the drive through line only to find out that they got your order completely wrong and didn’t give you the extra barbecue sauce that you specifically requested multiple times. I know for me, peace and patience are the last things on my mind.

These are fairly mild compared to many other scenarios that could be mentioned. But how easily we tend to forget when faced with even the slightest trial or inconvenience.

So, we must constantly be reminded of God’s truth and the things that are going to help us to be useful and fruitful.

So, Peter has made the commitment to do just that. To always remind us of these things

Continuing in verse 12: even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have.

The word ESTABLISHED here in the original Greek text is stērizō which means to be made solid or strengthened or to be made firm. Its where we get our word stereoscopic, a technique in which two images are taken of the same thing but at slightly different angles and are viewed together to create the illusion that it is a solid or 3D object. Or the word stereotype in which the impression of someone, something, or an idea is solidified or made constant.

So, you see, Peter wasn’t writing to baby Christians. He wasn’t directing this to new believers who may have heard these teaching a few times. No… they were strong, they were firm, they were resolute in their faith. This was actually a great complement given by Peter but still he was saying, it doesn’t matter how strong you think you are, how much you know, how many times you have heard it, or how many times you applied it. I am going to always, always, always remind you. It is that important.

I’m a big fan of golf and have been for a long time. I actually started playing golf with my dad when I was probably about 7 or 8. Now, if you have watched any golf within the last couple of years, you have probably heard the name, Scottie Scheffler. If not, let me tell you a little bit about him.

Scheffler has played 15 events this year, won six times, finished runner-up twice and made the top 10 in 13 of those tournaments.

What does that equate to in earnings? $27,696,858.

So that's around $1.8 million for every tournament he's played this year, and around $460,000 for every round he's teed it up.

So, I mean… he’s okay… I guess he’s a pretty good golfer. No, he is seriously good at what he does. He makes the game of Golf look easy and is currently sitting as the number 1 golfer in the world.

So do you want to know what the number one golfer in the world keeps in his golf bag at all times? A $13 grip trainer. If you’re not familiar with golf, this is something that a golf instructor may hand to a beginner who has never held a golf club. Its helps them to understand how to properly place their hands on the grip. Now, for any golfer who has been playing for a while, out of all the other elements of Golf that you have to think about to hit a shot or get it close to the pin, holding the club is probably not at the forefront of your mind. A $13 grip trainer… It’s something so simple, so rudimentary, yet the number one golfer in the world will use this in his warm-up routine before every round he plays to remind his brain and body how to hold a golf club properly.

Take a look at any other great athlete or team. The greatest players or teams in the world will practice the same fundamentals over and over and over again. Yes, they know the basics. But they aren’t out there just to play a game or casually compete. NO, they are there for one thing, for victory!

As Christians, we must be diligent in reminding ourselves of the truth. No matter how many times we’ve heard it. No matter how well we think we know it. These constant reminders of God’s promises, his provision, and the hope we have in Christ will help to keep us on the path that he has laid before us.

I WILL SOON LAY ASIDE MY TENT (V 13-15)

Continuing in verse 13, Peter says this:

2 Peter 1:13–15 CSB

13 I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, 14 since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. 15 And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.

So, we learned in week one, and we know that Peter is ultimately executed for his faith at the hands of King Nero. We know that his wife is executed before him and it is said that he requests to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy of being executed in the same way as his Lord. Peter knew the day of his departure from this earth was near. Verse 14 says

2 Peter 1:14 CSB

14 since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me.

Now it doesn’t say exactly how he knows this. It’s likely that in this verse, Peter is referring to what is written in John 21:18-19

John 21:18–19 CSB

18 “Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” 19 He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.”

Now, since it is believed that the Gospel of John was written after 2 Peter, Peter would have heard these word’s from Jesus but John confirmed their meaning after learning of Peters execution.

So Peter’s not waisting any time! He knows the time he has left is precious and he is gonna use every ounce of it to continue sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, moving forward the Kingdom and reminding Christians of the truth so they can continue doing the same.

There are a couple of words in these verses that I want to draw your attention to. I feel that they really paint a picture here and help to better shape our understanding of what Peter is saying.

The first word is found two times. Once in verse 13 and once in 14. The word in greek is skēnōma. Some of your translations in english might say body or it my say tent, or it might have both like we just read, “a bodily tent.” Its translation in Greek does mean tent or tabernacle but its used interchangeably quite often with body in the New Testament. In fact in 2 Corinthians 5:1, Paul says this:

2 Corinthians 5:1 CSB

1 For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands.

The second word is found in verse 15. It’s the word departure or decease which in Greek is exodos. Now that sounds pretty familiar. Peter carefully chose these terms and in doing so the recipients of this letter would have immediately thought of their ancestors and their departure, or Exodus from the land of Egypt. But not only would they have thought of their departure from Egypt. It would have brought to mind their eventual entrance into the Promised Land.

So Peter is saying: Listen, my temporary dwelling place, my tent; its tattered, its torn. I know soon it’s about to be thrown off. But when I depart; when I exodos and I finally make it to my eternal dwelling place. I want you to be able to recall all of these things so that you can be useful and fruitful. So that you can continue to do the work the Jesus has called us to and you will not easily stumble.

You know, our culture, in general, typically has a pretty difficult time dealing with the concept of death. In fact, instead of dealing with it, we often take the opposite approach and avoid the subject all together. Or, we do everything we can to prolong it. Take this new and improved medicine and add 20 plus years to your life. Or, be sure to do this and never look a day over 30. Now I’m not saying those are bad things. Being healthy, looking great, and staying fit are all great things. Taking steps to extend your life is certainly not a bad things because we have things we need to accomplish with our time here on this earth. Lord knows I could make a few changes to extend mine. Regardless, we tend to avoid the thought of our departure. Now, this may be different depending on your age. But, I would say that it’s actually quite healthy, no matter what our age, to be mindful of our mortality.

King Solomon in his wisdom says this in Ecclesiastes 7:2

Ecclesiastes 7:2 CSB

2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart.

Solomon says, its better to go to a funeral rather than a party. Now, don’t hear me say that we need to be thinking about death all the time in the negative sense with a “woe is me, life is fleeting” attitude. Yes, LIFE IS FLEETING! THAT’S THE POINT! You see, being mindful of our mortality isn’t about focusing on our departure as much as it is focusing on the time we have left and how we are going to use it. James tells us:

James 4:14 (CSB)

14 … you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.

No matter what age you are, you must understand that the time you have here on earth is precious and we must use it wisely.

Peter was keenly aware of this when writing this letter and was going to use every last second had left living a life in pursuit of God’s glory and reminding us of His Truth and the hope we have in Christ.

WE WERE EYE WITNESSES OF HIS MAJESTY (V 16-18)

Finally, in verses 16-18, Peter says this:

2 Peter 1:16–18 CSB

16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!” 18 We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.

Well here is another one of those conjunctions. “For.” Peter is now saying, “here is the reason for my constant reminders. Here is the reason I have committed to doing this for the rest o my life. Yes, its beneficial to you. But more importantly, IT’S TRUE! Its the truth, the whole , truth, and nothing but the truth! Peter’s like, “well if it wasn’t true, I wouldn’t be waisting my time. So, he’s taking the time now to assure those he is writing to that THIS IS REAL! You may hear people say that we made it all up. But I’m telling you IT’S TRUE! I was there! Of course, Peter is referring to his experience and witness of Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain. This experience is recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Matthew’s account says this:

Matthew 17:1–8 CSB

1 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good for us to be here. If you want, I will set up three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown and were terrified. 7 Jesus came up, touched them, and said, “Get up; don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up they saw no one except Jesus alone.

So, Peter is saying, I was there! I was on the mountain. I saw the cloud of smoke. I saw Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah. I heard the voice of God. I saw just a taste, a small glimpse of Jesus’ glory and it shone like the sun!

So, with Peter saying this, I think there are 3 things he is trying to convey:

Peter has the authority to say these things

Peter, the rock upon which Jesus built his church, the one who stepped out of the boat and walked on water, part of Jesus’s inner circle, the one who would deny Christ before his crucifixion is asserting his credibility

I was there and everything that Jesus proclaimed and my fellow disciples have recorded is true! We were eye witnesses to these thing!

Jesus is who he claimed to be and all power and authority belong to Him

Of the many miracles and observances of Jesus’ glory that claimed witness to, the occasion that he chose to recall was that of Jesus’ transfiguration.

With the voice of God still ringing clearly in his ear, Peter is drawing our attention to the fact that Jesus was not just a great teacher. He wasn’t just another law giver or prophet like Moses or Elijah. No.. God said, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well-pleased!” All power and authority belong to him!

And last but certainly not least - JESUS IS COMING BACK!

All of God’s Word, from cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation is constantly pointing to the triumphant return of Jesus Christ. If you could take all of Scripture and distill it down into a few words, I believe you would get the second half of what Peter says in verse 16. Those 8 words of hope: THE POWER AND COMING OR OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST! That’s what this is all about. It’s the Gospel, the good news, the message of hope for all creation. Jesus Christ has all power and all authority and He is coming back!

And so Peter, in full awareness of his coming departure, having witnessed the glory and majesty of Jesus, commits to always remind you of the promise, the provision, the truth, and the hope we have in Christ.

Wrap Up / Closing

Well to summarize, I believe there are three things that we need to remember as we leave this place and as we go out into our homes, our jobs, our community:

Remember to remember

No matter how many times we have heard or read them, we must allow the daily reminders of God’s eternal truths and promises to spur us on to be more and more like Christ. Allow them to shape the understanding and perception of our current circumstances so that we may remind others and have hope in the days to come.

Be mindful of your mortality

Our time here is precious and God has given us everything we need to be useful and fruitful in the time we have so that we can continue to join Him in advancing the Kingdom.

When we live with the end in mind, our mindset shifts from a place of “what can I get or how can I benefit?” to a place of “what can I give, or how can I be a benefit to others in need?”

Our hope is certain

Through the knowledge of our Lord and and savior Jesus Christ and the eyewitness accounts of those faithful to share the Good news of his death, resurrection and majesty, We have an unshakeable certainty of Christ’s power, his authority, and the hope of his triumphant return!

May we never forget the hope that we have in Christ and the certainty that no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we can stand on the firm foundation of His truth, power, and authority over our lives and all of creation!

ROMAN ROAD

Well, due to the nature of this message, I thought it would be foolish of me to let you walk out of here this morning without sharing with you a few reminders that I know will benefit us all. A few words that can always remind us of the hope we have in Christ.

For some of you, this will be your first time hearing these words- You have a choice to make, a decision between life and death.

Some of you who have never heard these words may choose to listen to them and immediately throw them away.

Some of you may hear them for the first time, and it will be the turning point in a life spent searching for something to fill this void that never seems to go away. A Jesus-shaped hole that you have tried to fill with so many other things, but nothing ever really seems to satisfy that longing.

Some of you have already heard these words and you have already made that life-changing decision…and that's great!... but you hear these words and you hold on to them. You lock them away and keep them to yourself, not sharing them with anyone else.

Some of you are hearing these words for the millionth time. And you have made that decision to follow Christ. And you are going to go out and immediately share them with anyone who will listen. I hope that is all of us! I hope that’s you! I hope that is me!

So, regardless of who you are, listen to these words. Open your ears, open your hearts. Don’t tune them out just because you have heard them a thousand times. Be reminded of God’s truth and his promises that he is forever faithful to keep.

Here goes:

Romans 3:23- For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 3:10- There is no one righteous, not even one

Romans 5:12- Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned

Romans 6:23- For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8- But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9-10- If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:11-13- For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, 12 since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 5:1- Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:1- Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus

Romans 8:38-39- For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:17- So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.