As human beings under condemnation, we really do not want to think about reality, but God's Word forces us to. We have all been tainted by sin and exhibit hostility toward God. True peace was broken when Adam sinned, and his fall had both spiritual and physical consequences. Full reconciliation is necessary. As we continue our study in Colossians 1:20-21, we look at the correlation to what Paul is teaching in Ephesians 2:11-17. With reconciliation, we see how God transformed hostility to peace, making it possible to have fellowship with a Righteous God by the legal, forensic action accomplished once and for all by Jesus Christ on the cross. What was the distinction between how salvation was taught in the Old Testament compared to the New Testament? Where do atonement and reconciliation fit in?

And how does reconciliation relate to illegal immigrants? The difference between how the Jews had the Messianic hope, but the Gentiles were aliens to the commonwealth of Israel had to be addressed. This lesson reveals how Christ removed the barrier of hostility between Jews and Gentiles that had existed since the Mosaic Law.

"There is none righteous, no, not one." We have all heard of total depravity, but what does that really mean? Romans 3 is perhaps one of the most debated chapters in the Bible with regard to the beliefs associated with Calvinism. Many arguments come out of what Paul says about faith. In this lesson, we are introduced to how truth, faithfulness, and righteousness are connected, and how closely related faithfulness is to truth. The ten rhetorical questions Paul poses in the first ten verses of this chapter merit a lot of consideration and investigation.

This lesson on justification focuses on Abraham's 14 tests of faith. Was this testing the cause or the result of justification? As we study the doctrine of Justification, we learn that justification is always apart from works and is through faith alone.

This lesson also includes Genesis 15:6.

As we wrap up Paul's explanation of justification, we also take a look at what he had to say in Philippians 3. Are we made internally righteous? Does justification change us? This lesson reiterates what we have been studying in Romans 4 - that justification is always apart from works and is through faith alone.