Archive for the ‘Romans’ Category

Scripture reading for July 24th: Romans 8:24-39

Winning teams are composed of outstanding individual players who work well together.  Paul describes our winning team that will enable us to be more than conquerors!  We know about this team by faith in what God has told us!  As we read about this team, let new faith arise in God’s wonderful care for you.

We have been adopted into God’s family and now are waiting in hope for the redemption of our bodies.  All of creation is awaiting this glorious change.  God has given us the Spirit to help us through this waiting time and the sufferings that we go through here on earth.  “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” (Romans 8:26-27)  The Holy Spirit is on our winning team!  He is helping us through prayer to see all things work for our good and God’s purposes!

Also on our winning team is God the Father.  “If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all–how will he not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32)  God is on our side, providing for all our needs.  Our greatest need was forgiveness of sins and God supplied this at the cost of His own Son!  We can trust Him to provide whatever we need and give us an eternal inheritance that He has promised as well!

We have not only the Father and Spirit on our winning team, but also the Son of God!  Jesus Christ has ascended to heaven and is at the Father’s right hand.  There He is praying for us and showering us with love!  What an amazing team we are a part of!  The Holy Trinity insures that we are more than conquerors in any battle we will face!  There is no trouble, persecution, sickness or demon from hell who can separate us from our winning team!  That should give us hope and make us shout!

Scripture reading for July 23rd: Romans 8:9-23

The Holy Spirit works within the believer to produce life and peace.  (Romans 8:6)  One of the first things that He does is help each person who trusts Jesus Christ to know that they are a child of God.  “because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.  And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” (Romans 8:14-16)

Before we were saved, we had an underlying fear of death.  We knew that those who sinned deserved to die and would be judged.  God made this evident to Jew and Gentile alike through the law and conscience.  But in Christ, the fear of death is removed by the Spirit of Life.  We are now adopted into God’s family through the Spirit and have an inner knowledge of God as our true Father in Heaven.  We can even call him “Abba”, the Aramaic word for “Daddy”!  We have two witnesses, our spirit and the Holy Spirit that we belong to God.  This brings great joy and peace!  Not only are we children, but heirs and co-heirs with Christ in the kingdom of our Father!

Suffering is in the package, however.  If we belong to Christ, we will share in His sufferings while here on this earth as we await our full redemption.  (Romans 8:17-18)  In fact, Paul tells the Roman believers and us that all of creation is awaiting this  future redemption.  It is groaning in pains like that of a woman giving birth.  “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:22-23)

This suffering is nothing compared to the glory that is to be revealed in us!  The best is yet to come!  The Spirit is helping us and leading us to this time of complete redemption.  He reassures us that we belong to God and encourages us in our suffering, revealing Christ’s glory and a vision of this glorious freedom when we receive our redeemed body!

Scripture reading for July 22nd: Romans 7:15-8:8

The Jewish way of life produced frustration for the godly Jew who sought obedience.  Paul knew what he was talking about as a Pharisee who was zealous for keeping the law.  He knew that the law was holy and he wanted to keep it.  But he found that the harder he tried, the more he broke that law that he had set out to keep!  His description of this is classic!

“So I find this law at work:  When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.  What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Paul’s experience was that of failure and frustration over the sin in his members.  If his experience ended here, there would be no hope. ” Thanks be to God–through Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans 7:25a)

It was Jesus Christ who set Paul and us free from sin in our members.  Jesus was made sin for us and bore that sin in His body on the cross on our behalf.  Those that have believed on Jesus Christ are no longer under condemnation or left in a wretched condition of helplessness.  The new law of the Spirit of life set us free from sin and death.  Now the requirements of the law are met in us through the Spirit.  We are free now to live by the Spirit and not be under condemnation from failing to keep God’s law.  We know God’s grace and forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice.

Our minds must be set on the Spirit, however. A mind set on the Spirit produces life and peace in our everyday walk.   We cannot set our minds back on the sinful nature.  If we do that, death will result.  The mind that is set on the sinful nature is hostile to God and cannot please God.  (Romans 8:6-8)  So we see that the Spirit gives freedom from condemnation, frustration, and a feeling of hopelessness.  Are you making the choice to set you mind on the Holy Spirit today?

Scripture reading for July 21st: Romans 7:1-14

Paul’s writing in chapter seven was directed now to his fellow Jews who were under the Law but had become Christians.  God’s law had been an object of attention and worthy of obedience.  They had embraced the law as Jews as their source of salvation and righteousness.

Paul used the analogy of marriage to help these new believers understand their new relationship with Christ.  In a sense, they had been ‘married’ to the law.  God’s law of marriage states that a husband is bound to his wife and a wife to her husband as long as they are alive.  When one dies, the other is free from the law of marriage and may remarry.  Now, Christ fulfilled the law by His perfect obedience and became the end or death of the law to all who would believe on Him for righteousness.  (Romans 7:4)

All the law could do was stimulate our sinful passions so that we broke the law by committing sin.  The law was a poor husband because we could not keep it due to our sinful nature.  It could only show us this nature and could not deliver us from it.  (Romans 7:5-6)  “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”

“What shall we say then?  Is the law sin?  Certainly not!  I would have not known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet’.” (Romans 7:7)  God’s law is holy but we have sin in our members.  We try to keep the commandments, but the sin in us will rise up and bring us death.  “The wages of sin is death!” (Romans 6:23a)

So the purpose of the law is to help us see sin in our members.  “But in order that  sin might be recognized as sin, it (the law) produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” (Romans 7:13b)  Sin can only bring death.  We died to the law through the body of Christ to be freed to be married to the resurrected Christ through the Holy Spirit!   Having been freed, we enjoy eternal life!

Scripture reading for July 20th: Romans 6:1-23

One of the questions that Paul knew would be asked concerned continuing in sin after salvation.   The human mind is always looking for ways to justify rebellion and sin.  These Romans were reasoning that since God’s grace was available without cost, why not allow God to show more of  His grace by sinning?  Paul put a quick end to that kind of thinking!  “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?  Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into  His death?  We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:2-4)   People who have died no longer sin!  We died with Christ and were raised with Him to a new life.  This is acted out through our baptism.

Christ’s death delivered Him from the possibility of sin, once for all time.  His resurrection was in the newness of eternal life, lived totally for God.  These facts should motivate each believer in Jesus to do some counting for themselves.   (Romans 6:11)  They should count themselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Sin should be done away with.  One of the ways to do this is to quit offering parts of your body to sin.  Remember to offer all your body and its parts to God to use for righteous purposes.  We can do this because of God’s grace.  We are no longer under the law.  We have been freed from condemnation through Jesus’ death!

So back to the question: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?  By no means!  Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which lead to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:15-16) We choose who we will obey and sell out.  If we obey sin, we reap the wages of death.  If we obey Christ, we obtain through grace the free gift of eternal life!  (Romans 6:23)  It’s a pretty simple choice that should not take a genius to make!  Why not do some godly counting today!

Scripture reading for July 19th: Romans 5:3-21

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)

We are in reality all ungodly people with no hope of saving ourselves.  Paul has clearly laid out his case for the universal depravity of men, both Jew and Gentile.  We are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God and need a savior!  (Romans 3:23)  But thanks be to God, He has sent His Son at just the right time to die for the ungodly!  This act of God sending Jesus Christ to die for us is the supreme act of love.

The shedding of Christ’s blood brought justification to sinners.  We have been declared righteous on the basis of Christ’s innocent blood shed for us.  (Romans 5:9)  We are no longer subject to God’s wrath against sin. “For we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!  Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:10-11)  We are not ‘barely’ saved, but fully brought back into relationship with God.  We can rejoice in our salvation and in God as our Father!  We are safe in His family.

Sin entered the world through one man, Adam.  Along with sin came death for all men–eternal separation from God.  Death reigned like a ‘king’ over all men from Adam’s time, bringing condemnation to all men.  The second ‘Adam’, Jesus Christ bought men back from death by an act of righteousness, His death on the cross in obedience to the plan of God!  “For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one Man the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)  “so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 5:21) Praise the Lord for his wonderful grace!

Scripture reading for July 18th: Romans 4:14-5:2

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.“  (Romans 5:1-2)

Paul’s great desire was to show his readers that it was by faith that God has justified men and women from Abraham’s time until the present.  Abraham was justified before the law was given.  Abraham simply believed God for a resurrection of his own dead body and for the dead womb of his wife and received the ability to have the promised son.  Abraham’s and Sarah’s faith was in God’s ability to fulfill what He had promised them!  (Romans 4:21)  The result was the birth of Isaac at an age when they were beyond the ability to have children!  God’s power resurrected their bodies and their faith was credited to them as righteousness.

In the same way, God is still crediting righteousness to those who believe.  “The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him (Abraham) alone, but for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:23-25)  It was never by works or religious activities that anyone was justified.

What does it mean to be ‘justified’?  This word means to be made righteous after being guilty of sin.  That is impossible for any man because all men are sinners.  Sin twists the soul and brings death to our relationship with God.  As it is impossible for a dead man to raise himself back to life, so it is impossible for a twisted sinner to restore a relationship with God on his own.  If man could do it through some religion or good works, he could boast of special ability.  (Romans 4:1-2)

But God took the initiative by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to come as a man and live a sinless life.  He then willingly offered His sinless life in our place, paying the price for our sins.  By faith alone,  we can be justified before God!  By our faith in Christ’s sacrifice, sin’s sentence of death is removed  through God’s gracious gift to us!  Praise the Lord!

Scripture reading for July 17th: Romans 4:1-13

“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?  If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about–but not before God.  What does the Scripture say?  “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”" (Romans 4:1-3)   (Genesis 15:6)  Paul begins to explain to the recipients of his letter that Abraham was not justified by works of the law.  He lived over 400 years before Moses and God simply credited righteous to Abraham for his faith.  When someone works, they earn wages and they are not a gift but what is due them.  God owed Abraham nothing and Abraham did nothing to get the credit except believe!

Paul then cites David who said the same thing in Psalm 32:1-2.  “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” Many commentators think that David wrote this Psalm to explain the righteousness that was granted to him in forgiving his sin against God through the incident with Bathsheba.  When he confessed his sin, God forgave him and covered his transgression.  It was a gift and the wages that were due David through the law was death!  David was thankful for the faith credit!

Abraham received the promise that he would be heir of the world and through his offspring all nations on the earth would be blessed.  Abraham had no children at the time and God told him to look at the stars and count them.  His offspring would be as numerous as the stars!  (Genesis 15:5)  It was this promise that Abraham believed.

You might say that our simple trust in God’s promises through Abraham’s offspring–Jesus Christ, guarantees our inheritance as well.  It is our faith in Jesus Christ that causes us to be born again in to the family of God.   It is through our faith that God credits righteousness to us as well.  (2nd Corinthians 5:21)  The righteous inherit the promises!   Isn’t it wonderful to have faith credits deposited in our heavenly account!   Thieves won’t break in and steal it.  We have true riches which we will enjoy for eternity!  Praise the Lord for His glorious grace!

Scripture reading for July 16th: Romans 3:9-31

I have heard it said that we all stand on level ground at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ!  There are no big “I’s” or little “You’s” when it comes to our need for salvation and finding the grace that comes from our Lord’s sacrifice.  In Paul’s letter to the Roman, he stresses that all are in need of this grace and explains why!

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.  The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.  Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.  There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18)

These verses from the Old Testament quoted here show the universal rule of sin in the lives of human beings.  Sin has permeated all men and is the cause of evil speech, violence, war, and rebellion against God.  Put another way, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)  There is no Jew who has kept the law of God and no Gentile who has not violated his conscience!  (Romans 2:14-15)

But thanks be to God that He has provided a remedy!  “But now a righteousness from God apart from law, has been made known, to which the law and prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” (Romans 3:21-22)  Faith is the great equalizer.  God has chosen to give the gift of His righteousness to all who will put their faith in what Jesus has done for them.

The real question for us today concerns whether we have come to understand and confess our sinfulness.  Repentance requires that we know our need to change our minds and hearts.  If we have a godly sorrow over our sins and turn from them to Christ for His cleansing, the gift of righteousness is ours by faith!  This is true for all men and women everywhere.  Faith is the level ground where the grace of God flows freely!

Scripture reading for July 15th: Romans 2:24-3:8

These were Paul’s words to his own people the Jews: “As it is written, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Isaiah 52:5, Romans 2:24)  He was trying to awaken an awareness that their religion was not having the effect God desired on the nations!  God had called them to be a light to the Gentiles and through Abraham’s Seed, all nations of the earth would be blessed!  (Genesis 12:3, Luke 2:30-32)  Instead, they boasted in their law and in the fact that God had made promises to them through Abraham.

Paul went on to tell them that circumcision in the flesh was only of value if they obeyed the law.  If they broke God’s law, then they would be no different in God’s eyes than the uncircumcised Gentiles!  (Romans 2:25-27)  Yet if the Gentile kept God’s laws, then they would be accepted as righteous in God’s sight.  True Jews were not just outwardly circumcised, but had their hearts circumcised!  This circumcision could only be done by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ!

Paul was a Jew and knew just how the Jews thought.  He thought that way himself until Jesus revealed Himself on the Damascus road.  He was a Pharisee who knew the law “thou shall not commit murder”,  (Exodus 20:13) yet he judged Christians as unfit to live and sought to murder them while claiming to have favor with God!  Because of his own law-breaking, God’s name was blasphemed among the Gentiles!  True Christians were afraid of Paul but prayed for him!

Jews had an advantage because of the very words of God that they had given to them by the patriarchs and prophets.  They were instructed in faith through those words.  They would be held accountable by God for this advantage!  God would be proved justified when He judged them!  (Romans 3:4)  Some might twist this around to blame God, but God would be true!

Let’s examine our own lives today!  Do we claim to have Christ as our Lord?  Do we claim to have special favor as Christians and yet live in sin?  Are we causing God’s name to be blasphemed because of our own hypocrisy?  Lets judge ourselves first and get our own lives in order with God’s word and receive His grace!