The Lord’s plan and timeline are often slower and longer than our own. Long-View Christianity is a call to patient, yet expectant, endurance of faith.

Communion with God is essential to our fight for joy.

We can rejoice in suffering b/c our foundation is in Christ and we have a community of believers around us.

Jesus gives the Christian the hope of joy, even in the midst of pain and difficult circumstances.

Lasting joy is in looking forward to being with Jesus forever while living for others now. Lasting joy is found in Jesus.

If justification is by faith, then clarifying the nature of faith, and how we grow strong in our faith is crucial.

Justification is the hinge upon which Christianity turns. Unless we grasp it foundationally, we’ll have no foundation. It is, therefore, essential for us to understand and internalize how justification works. And further to understand: anyone can get in on this.

Paul sums up our case: all have sinned, all are due God’s wrath. He sums it up by helping us see the pervasiveness of sin (i.e. total depravity) as well as the universality of sin; and therefore, our universal need for salvation.