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© Copyright 2026 Tom Pennington
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Tom Pennington is Pastor-Teacher of Countryside Bible Church in Southlake, Texas and featured teacher on The Word Unleashed.
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For us as Christians, Justification offers stunning hope: God credits our sins to Christ—removing them from our account, where He bore them on the cross and suffered their penalty. Then God credits Christ's righteousness to us—His perfect obedience becomes ours. This is the great exchange: Jesus gets our sins, and we get His righteousness.
In Romans 4, Paul answers the crucial question: On what basis are we made right with God? Today, our teacher unveils five key truths about justification from King David's example—truths that clarify how a holy God can justify the ungodly without violating His own character. And therein lay a question: What can David's sin and forgiveness teach us about our own justification?
In Romans 4, the apostle Paul makes a stunning declaration: "God justifies the ungodly." Abraham received righteousness not because he earned it through works, but because he believed God's promise. King David experienced the same grace. And here's what's remarkable—the gospel Abraham believed 4,000 years ago, David believed 3,000 years ago, and Paul preached 2,000 years ago? It’s the same gospel, available to you today
Is salvation by faith alone a New Testament doctrine only—or does it span the entire Bible? In Romans 4, Paul defends the truth that justification comes through grace alone, not human works or merit.
Was Abraham justified by his good works and perfect righteousness? That's what first-century Jews believed—but Paul demolishes this false teaching with one devastating question: "What does the Scripture say?" Today, Tom shows us how Paul quotes Genesis to prove Abraham was made right with God through faith alone, not personal merit.
The book of Romans was written by the apostle Paul and it provides an in-depth explanation of The Gospel of God. The expression “gospel of God” comes from Romans 1:1 which says, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” So in his letter, Paul makes a logical argument for and presents his legal defense of the great doctrine of justification.
Understanding justification is not optional for followers of Christ—it's the very heart of the gospel. But a dangerous question persists: Doesn't salvation by faith alone make God's law irrelevant? Today, Tom exposes four deadly misinterpretations that lead people to conclude justification invalidates the law. Then he reveals six powerful ways the gospel actually validates God's law.
If we're justified by faith apart from works of the law, doesn't that render God's commands legally void and meaningless? It's a legitimate concern—but the answer is stunning. The great doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone doesn't invalidate the law of God—it actually validates it.
In Romans 3, Paul makes this clear: because there is only one God, He must be the God of all humanity—Jews and Gentiles—and there can be only one way to be reconciled to Him: justification by faith alone in Christ alone. This exclusivity challenges our pluralistic culture that claims all religions are equally valid paths to God.
As Paul unfolds the implications of justification in Romans 3:29–30, he makes a staggering claim: God is the God of both Jews and Gentiles. This isn't a casual statement—it's rooted in the foundational declaration of Israel's faith, the great Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one!" In other words, f there is only one God, then there can be only one way of salvation for all humanity.
One of the apostle Paul's most definitive statements about salvation is recorded in Romans 3:28: "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law." The implications are staggering—if any gospel presentation allows even the smallest place for human boasting, it is not the true gospel.
The Scriptural teaching on the doctrine of justification is that an unredeemed sinner is declared righteous before the bar of God’s justice by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, based on the work of Christ alone.
God gave Israel a powerful priestly benediction—and it wasn't just for them. This ancient prayer shows us today what it means to come before God's throne humbly and confidently, requesting the spiritual blessings He promises to give.
The great English puritan Thomas Watson wrote that “prayer is ... the soul’s breathing.” In that brief statement, Watson captures the seriousness of prayer: it is to your spiritual life what breathing is to your physical life! In other words, without prayer, your Christian life can’t survive.
The Bible teaches that God is one being in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But unfortunately, the Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood member of the Trinity. In this series, Pastor Tom seeks to shed light on the powerful working of the Spirit in the life of the believer, that the Spirit serves not only as our seal but also as God's down payment on our future inheritance.
The third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is the most misunderstood and neglected person of the Trinity—and there are several reasons that have contributed to a lack of care for the Spirit. But there is one particular aspect of His ministry that is often overlooked or even sometimes forgotten and that is His “sealing.”
The virgin birth of Jesus Christ is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith that must be embraced and never ignored or rejected. The fact that the eternal Son of God took to Himself human flesh is a nonnegotiable aspect of the gospel message and is absolutely necessary for the salvation of mankind.
As we continue studying Matthew's account of Jesus' birth, we have to ask a key question: Why, when announcing Jesus’ birth, does the angel Gabriel explicitly quote Isaiah 7:14? What does that Old Testament passage have to do with Jesus Christ? On today’s broadcast, Pastor Pennington helps us understand an important prophecy from Isaiah chapter 7 that describes the virgin birth of Christ 700 years before it happened.
What does it mean that Jesus will save His people from their sins, and what are the implications of that statement for Christians today? Today, Pastor Tom helps us understand what it means for Jesus to be the savior of the world.
In the gospel of Matthew we find an important verse that describes the angel Gabriel instructing Joseph to name Mary's child ""Jesus."" The name Jesus, however, isn't arbitrary. But rather, it is the Greek form of the Hebrew name for ""Joshua"" or ""Yeshua,"" which means ""Yahweh saves."" And that is the message of the gospel—that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners from their sin. And the virgin birth plays a crucial role in God’s eternal plan of redemption.
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