Thomas was a little late to the party, but he was welcome when he finally joined in.

We’re going to look at Peter’s boast, and then at Peter’s failure, and then at Peter’s failure.  And then we’ll fast forward to Pentecost, and ask, “What happened to Peter?”  And we’ll discuss what the Holy Spirit does for a person.

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Abraham was as good as dead (15:19), Sarah’s womb was dead (15:19), but our faith is in the One who raised Jesus from the dead (15:24).  Faith works because our faith is in the One greater than death.

We can debate about the chicken or the egg, but it is clear that faith came before works.  Abraham is the father of the Jewish nation, but he is also the father of the faithful.

With the example of Abraham, the focus was on faith.  With David, it is forgiveness.

There's nothing wrong with good works, except they look kind of shabby compared to perfection.  Faith, on the other hand, declares us righteous.

There is no hierarchy in salvation, because we’re all saved the same way.  Therefore, there is no room for boasting between believers.

If God is going to judge us for unrighteousness, He must be righteous Himself.  Today’s passage says He is just that.

First, Romans demonstrated how lost in sin we are; now it shows that in Christ, God is satisfied with us.  This is truly good news.

It is not by the deeds we do, but by the works Jesus has done that we can be declared righteous; and this is available to us by faith.