The gospel is the perfect lens we need for everything. The danger is that sometimes we treat the gospel like we treat our glasses. We take it off when it’s inconvenient; we put it on when it seems to serve our purpose.

Paul is laying it out that we’re a mess. If you don’t understand that you’re fully a mess, you cannot fully surrender and fully accept the work Jesus Christ has done for you.

We all fall short—and we continue to fall short—of God’s brilliance, God’s standard, and God’s glory. By nature, we are opposed to him and never meet the standard. The beauty in Romans 3:24-25 is that we are justified by his grace through the gift of grace through Jesus.

Grace is not the license to do as we please but the power to do as we should. The struggle with sin is real, but we have security in Christ. If you didn't work your way into God's favor, you can't work your way out of it.

God's gift of the Holy Spirit to dwell in us gives us peace, a position of adoption into God's family, power to please God, help in our weakness, and he intercedes for us.

When people ask, "How can God allow suffering?" we can ask in return, "How can God give grace?" Try approaching this very difficult question from the other end: it's not "why do bad things happen?" but "God, I can't believe you allow so many good things to happen!"

God is saying to us, "I need you to trust me more than you distrust them. Even though authorities are fallen, broken, and they have their own agenda, do you trust me more? Are you rejecting the way of the world, being renewed in your mind, presenting yourself a living sacrifice, knowing my will, ...

If you have an unfulfilled hope, or you envision a certain life for yourself that hasn't come about yet, realize that those are not bad things, but God may put those longings on hold because there's a greater call on your life.