Main Point: When God lets guilty people go free, he exposes himself to the charge that he is an unrighteous judge.

Outline:

1. Pristine Perfection

2. Purity Provokes a Price

3. Pardon Presents a Problem

Main Point: God‘s people have received everything we need, body and soul. Therefore giving all of ourselves and all that we have to God is a natural and joyful reflex.

Outline:

1. Give Responsively

2. Give Joyfully

3. Give Intentionally

Main Point: God pours out gifts on people who receive his blessings gladly, even as they easily forget the very Giver himself.

Outline:

1. God Who Gives

2. Gifts We Enjoy

3. Gratitude We Owe

Main Point: The only way any person can enjoy the benefits of Christ is by embracing the whole Christ and who he is for sinners.

Outline:

1. Redemption “In Christ”

2. The Whole Christ

Main Point: The glory of God is seen in the humiliating, denigrating death of His only begotten Son, so that we also might not trust in superficial wisdom and power.

Outline:

1. The Apparent Weakness of the Crucified Lord

2. The Seeming Weakness of Preaching

3. The Powerful Resting Place of the Cross

Main Point: The law of God is good because it is an expression of God’s own good character, but it was not given to justify sinners, since only Christ can do that.

Outline:

1. The Goodness of the Law

2. The Limits of the Law

Main point: As God’s redemptive plan unfolds, he judges wickedness and raises up faithful servants like Samuel, who prefigure Christ, the ultimate Prophet, Priest, and King; calling us to repent of sin, place our faith in him, and revere his holiness.

Outline

Main Idea: Despite the distressing circumstances, God has not abandoned His people. God is always holy, sovereign, and faithful to his promises.

Outline:

Main Point: The Scriptures teach that all people are under the power of sin, regardless of social or ethnic boundaries; therefore, all people are in desperate need of the grace of God in Christ.

Outline:

1. The Conclusion (concerning human sin)

2. The Catalog (of human sin)

3. The Conviction (for human sin)

Main Point: God is consistent, not arbitrary. He is fair, and never unjust. He is good and holy, and no human efforts or objections can overturn the steadfast goodness, mercy, and character of God.

Outline:

1. The Faithfulness of God in the Face of Unfaithfulness (3:1-2)

2. Sin and the Promotion of God’s Righteousness (3:3-8)