http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+9/
Paul says that he wishes, after living as a Christian, that things could go back to the way they were before when the Jewish people were automatically God's children through the first covenant. Life would be so much easier on him, since he was born Jewish. Now, God's children are those He chooses, and He choses those who put their faith in His Son Jesus. God gave Abraham a son in his old age when it shouldn't have been possible. When Isaac had his sons by Rebekah, God told Rebekah that her older son would serve the younger son. God made this so because He wanted to show that His plans are always dominant. In those times, the oldest son was the most important, but God wanted to say that the way humans thought things should be did not matter to Him. The Jewish people all came from that younger son, Jacob, so God proved He can choose who He wants. God made you in the exact way that you are supposed to be. Don't come to Him and point out things that aren't the way they're supposed to be. How can the created talk back to the creator. God can refine you, but He has made you how you are supposed to be.
Paul quotes the prophets, who wrote hundreds of years before Jesus that those who were not the chosen ones will become God's children, and although the descendants of Abraham are as numerous as the grains of sand on the shore, few of them will be saved in the end. Many of those who have found salvation through Christ are non-Jewish people who weren't looking to please God. But they found that they needed to place their faith in Jesus. Many of the Jewish people looked to please God by obeying Moses' Laws, but the corrupt nature keeps them from doing so, and they did so instead of placing their faith in Christ.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Romans 8
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+8/
Those of us who are believers are marked differently by God. Having the Holy Spirit in us frees us from sin and death. We, as humans, cannot live up to God's standards because of the way our nature is. The only way to reconcile this was for God to send Jesus to Earth as a human and take our corruption as His own. God condemned our corrupt and sinful nature without having to condemn us; therefore we do not live by the corrupt nature but by the spiritual nature. When we live in our Spiritual nature, we can meet God's standards because God's Spirit cannot go against God. People who live by the corrupt nature have that attitude because they cannot accept what God tells them. They cannot live in the way in which He has called them. This life ultimately leads to death. Those who live in the Spiritual nature will find life and peace. If the Holy Spirit lives in you, you live under the Spiritual nature. If you find your desires line up more and more with what you know God wants for you instead of what the world says is okay or what you want for you, the Holy Spirit lives in you. If you struggle with sin instead of coming to terms with what you're doing remorselessly, then the Holy Spirit is in you. It is possible for you to cast out the Holy Spirit and once again live by your corrupt nature, but if you do, you head back down the path that leads to death. Remember, it is not by force we have the Holy Spirit, like a slave might receive a sentence. We received it as an adoption by God to be His children. As His children, we will share the same inheritance that Christ received, everlasting life.
Any afflictions you suffer from now, you will consider insignificant when you finally get to see the glory of God. We wait for Him to reveal who His children are. This implies that some who claim to be His children do not have the faith they claim to have. In these cases, God does not accept them as His children. Ever since Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, all creation has groaned with the pain sin has cast down upon it. Even we believers continue to groan as we eagerly anticipate Heaven and the time when we will finally be freed from our Earthly bodies. We were saved thinking of this hope. It's not only acceptable but common to accept Christ because you want to go to Heaven. It is later that you find even more reasons to follow Him. You must grow in your faith and not stagnate at that stage. We must keep our hope forward on the things we have yet to see because how can you hope for something you've already seen? The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness because we don't know what to pray for. We don't know what's best for us, but the Holy Spirit is God's Spirit and therefore knows the things God knows. God knows what's best for us. The Holy Spirit intercedes inside of us the way God wants Him to.
All things work together for the good of those who love God. It is a fact that almost all believers know that God has the perfect plan for our lives. His Son is the firstborn among many. If God is for us, nothing can ever stand against us. God could have stopped Jesus from being killed, but He handed Him over to death in order to save all of us. Christ also intercedes for us from the highest position in Heaven, that is why He said that if we ask anything in His name, it shall be done for us. Christ died and came back to life for us. Nothing can separate us from His love.
Those of us who are believers are marked differently by God. Having the Holy Spirit in us frees us from sin and death. We, as humans, cannot live up to God's standards because of the way our nature is. The only way to reconcile this was for God to send Jesus to Earth as a human and take our corruption as His own. God condemned our corrupt and sinful nature without having to condemn us; therefore we do not live by the corrupt nature but by the spiritual nature. When we live in our Spiritual nature, we can meet God's standards because God's Spirit cannot go against God. People who live by the corrupt nature have that attitude because they cannot accept what God tells them. They cannot live in the way in which He has called them. This life ultimately leads to death. Those who live in the Spiritual nature will find life and peace. If the Holy Spirit lives in you, you live under the Spiritual nature. If you find your desires line up more and more with what you know God wants for you instead of what the world says is okay or what you want for you, the Holy Spirit lives in you. If you struggle with sin instead of coming to terms with what you're doing remorselessly, then the Holy Spirit is in you. It is possible for you to cast out the Holy Spirit and once again live by your corrupt nature, but if you do, you head back down the path that leads to death. Remember, it is not by force we have the Holy Spirit, like a slave might receive a sentence. We received it as an adoption by God to be His children. As His children, we will share the same inheritance that Christ received, everlasting life.
Any afflictions you suffer from now, you will consider insignificant when you finally get to see the glory of God. We wait for Him to reveal who His children are. This implies that some who claim to be His children do not have the faith they claim to have. In these cases, God does not accept them as His children. Ever since Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, all creation has groaned with the pain sin has cast down upon it. Even we believers continue to groan as we eagerly anticipate Heaven and the time when we will finally be freed from our Earthly bodies. We were saved thinking of this hope. It's not only acceptable but common to accept Christ because you want to go to Heaven. It is later that you find even more reasons to follow Him. You must grow in your faith and not stagnate at that stage. We must keep our hope forward on the things we have yet to see because how can you hope for something you've already seen? The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness because we don't know what to pray for. We don't know what's best for us, but the Holy Spirit is God's Spirit and therefore knows the things God knows. God knows what's best for us. The Holy Spirit intercedes inside of us the way God wants Him to.
All things work together for the good of those who love God. It is a fact that almost all believers know that God has the perfect plan for our lives. His Son is the firstborn among many. If God is for us, nothing can ever stand against us. God could have stopped Jesus from being killed, but He handed Him over to death in order to save all of us. Christ also intercedes for us from the highest position in Heaven, that is why He said that if we ask anything in His name, it shall be done for us. Christ died and came back to life for us. Nothing can separate us from His love.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Romans 7
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+7/
Laws are only binding as long as a person is alive. Paul gives the example of a married woman. She is only bound to stay true to her husband as long as he is alive. When he dies, she can get married to someone else, and she is not technically committing adultery. In this way, Moses' laws have died to us. We are not bound to them anymore. Now we have "remarried" the heart and desires of Jesus Christ. It is what God wants for us that should control what we do.
Moses' Teachings point out what sins are. For example, Paul says that he read not to have wrong desires (those outside of God's standards for us). After reading that, he found himself sinning in this way. Before he read it, he simply followed only what God dictated to him, and so this sin wasn't necessarily part of his life. On the flip side, there are sins that we commit that we don't know we're committing or don't know are sins. By a more careful study of the word of God, we can find and change these parts of our lives.
People are inherently sinful, and God's standards may seem hard to match for this reason. There are times that even when we try to do what is right, we do wrong. We do things that we hate ourselves for doing because we know that they are against God. But it is not us who does them but sin within our worldly desires. It is still sin that we need forgiveness for, but if you suffer because of your sins and feel awful after you do something like that, be encouraged. God is at work in you. If you didn't feel anything about your sins, you would be in trouble because that means you are not in the Spirit who points out right and wrong.
Laws are only binding as long as a person is alive. Paul gives the example of a married woman. She is only bound to stay true to her husband as long as he is alive. When he dies, she can get married to someone else, and she is not technically committing adultery. In this way, Moses' laws have died to us. We are not bound to them anymore. Now we have "remarried" the heart and desires of Jesus Christ. It is what God wants for us that should control what we do.
Moses' Teachings point out what sins are. For example, Paul says that he read not to have wrong desires (those outside of God's standards for us). After reading that, he found himself sinning in this way. Before he read it, he simply followed only what God dictated to him, and so this sin wasn't necessarily part of his life. On the flip side, there are sins that we commit that we don't know we're committing or don't know are sins. By a more careful study of the word of God, we can find and change these parts of our lives.
People are inherently sinful, and God's standards may seem hard to match for this reason. There are times that even when we try to do what is right, we do wrong. We do things that we hate ourselves for doing because we know that they are against God. But it is not us who does them but sin within our worldly desires. It is still sin that we need forgiveness for, but if you suffer because of your sins and feel awful after you do something like that, be encouraged. God is at work in you. If you didn't feel anything about your sins, you would be in trouble because that means you are not in the Spirit who points out right and wrong.
Romans 6
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+6/
God's grace can overcome any and all sin. Since that is the case, should we keep sinning? Of course not. Jesus Christ, who despite being part of the Trinity of God, felt every ache and pain of a normal person. He was killed in one of the most brutal ways possible after being severely beaten because He wanted to repair your relationship with God. You must understand that when you wholeheartedly put your faith in Jesus, you are no longer responsible for the punishments of your sin because you have personally placed Jesus on the cross to take your place. You were dead before you put your faith in Jesus; therefore, you were dead with Christ, and at your baptism, you were metaphorically buried with Him. When you raised from the water, you were brought to new life. The old you was gone. With this new life comes new ways. You need to pray about what the desires of God's heart is in order to act in accordance to His will for your life. If you truly place your faith in Him you should have new desires because after we died with Christ, we live with Him. Christ died, but only once, when all the sins of humanity rested on Him, but He only died once, and when He came back, He defeated sin. So take your victory over sin and remove yourself from it's power by standing with Jesus. You should only do the things God approves of and never let any part of your body succumb to sin. Christians should live differently than other people because of Christ and the Holy Spirit. We are not controlled by the sinful natures of our flesh like the rest of humans are. But just because we are not controlled by sin doesn't mean we should give into sin. A slave can only serve one master. For humans, that master is sin or obedience to God. Offer yourself to what God approves of just as you once offered yourself to all the things that sin made you do. If you live a life of sin, you pay for it with death, but if you live in accordance to Jesus, you receive everlasting life.
God's grace can overcome any and all sin. Since that is the case, should we keep sinning? Of course not. Jesus Christ, who despite being part of the Trinity of God, felt every ache and pain of a normal person. He was killed in one of the most brutal ways possible after being severely beaten because He wanted to repair your relationship with God. You must understand that when you wholeheartedly put your faith in Jesus, you are no longer responsible for the punishments of your sin because you have personally placed Jesus on the cross to take your place. You were dead before you put your faith in Jesus; therefore, you were dead with Christ, and at your baptism, you were metaphorically buried with Him. When you raised from the water, you were brought to new life. The old you was gone. With this new life comes new ways. You need to pray about what the desires of God's heart is in order to act in accordance to His will for your life. If you truly place your faith in Him you should have new desires because after we died with Christ, we live with Him. Christ died, but only once, when all the sins of humanity rested on Him, but He only died once, and when He came back, He defeated sin. So take your victory over sin and remove yourself from it's power by standing with Jesus. You should only do the things God approves of and never let any part of your body succumb to sin. Christians should live differently than other people because of Christ and the Holy Spirit. We are not controlled by the sinful natures of our flesh like the rest of humans are. But just because we are not controlled by sin doesn't mean we should give into sin. A slave can only serve one master. For humans, that master is sin or obedience to God. Offer yourself to what God approves of just as you once offered yourself to all the things that sin made you do. If you live a life of sin, you pay for it with death, but if you live in accordance to Jesus, you receive everlasting life.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Romans 5
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+5/
We have God's Approval! Again, we receive this favor through faith. When we brag, we do it because of what God has done for us. We brag about God. But don't just brag about God when things are going well, brag when you suffer because suffering builds endurance, which builds character, which builds confidence. We cannot be ashamed of what Christ has done for us. We must proclaim it and tell others about it. The next part puts the gospel in such a way that is truly unbelievable, but it really happened. Christ died at the perfect time. Why? He came to die for the evil, which is unheard of. You might give your life to save a good person if you knew it would cause them to survive, but never an evil person. You would just let them go and continue on about your business as before. Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Sin is the one thing that causes God anguish to watch people do. There is nothing remotely of God in it or about it. Still, Christ died to save us while we acted out against Him. So, if Jesus died for each of us to save us even when we were at the darkest moments when sin controlled our lives, how much more will He save us daily now that we have His Approval? Christ restored the relationship between humans and God.
Adam brought sin to the world, and sin brought death because death is the payment for sin. Sin existed even in a time before there were written laws about it from Moses, yet everybody from Abraham to Moses still died. We should not compare Adam's failure to God's gift. God is the one who controlled the fate. After Adam sinned, God condemned people to die, and all people became sinners because we all came from Adam. God also eventually gave the gift that brought people out of the hopeless fate. What we can compare is a one to one system. Each and every one of us committed sin, and Jesus died in place of us by taking that sin upon Himself. Sin cannot overtake God. Jesus rose from death. Even if you feel your sin is the worst (and no sin is worse than any other) or that you have committed more sins than others and we have all committed so many that it is pointless to try to count), God's grace will always overcome the sin.
We have God's Approval! Again, we receive this favor through faith. When we brag, we do it because of what God has done for us. We brag about God. But don't just brag about God when things are going well, brag when you suffer because suffering builds endurance, which builds character, which builds confidence. We cannot be ashamed of what Christ has done for us. We must proclaim it and tell others about it. The next part puts the gospel in such a way that is truly unbelievable, but it really happened. Christ died at the perfect time. Why? He came to die for the evil, which is unheard of. You might give your life to save a good person if you knew it would cause them to survive, but never an evil person. You would just let them go and continue on about your business as before. Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Sin is the one thing that causes God anguish to watch people do. There is nothing remotely of God in it or about it. Still, Christ died to save us while we acted out against Him. So, if Jesus died for each of us to save us even when we were at the darkest moments when sin controlled our lives, how much more will He save us daily now that we have His Approval? Christ restored the relationship between humans and God.
Adam brought sin to the world, and sin brought death because death is the payment for sin. Sin existed even in a time before there were written laws about it from Moses, yet everybody from Abraham to Moses still died. We should not compare Adam's failure to God's gift. God is the one who controlled the fate. After Adam sinned, God condemned people to die, and all people became sinners because we all came from Adam. God also eventually gave the gift that brought people out of the hopeless fate. What we can compare is a one to one system. Each and every one of us committed sin, and Jesus died in place of us by taking that sin upon Himself. Sin cannot overtake God. Jesus rose from death. Even if you feel your sin is the worst (and no sin is worse than any other) or that you have committed more sins than others and we have all committed so many that it is pointless to try to count), God's grace will always overcome the sin.
Romans 4
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+4/
Even if we look back as far as Abraham, we can see the effects that faith have had on God's Approval. When Abraham received God's promise, he did so through faith. He believed what God promised him. Through this promise, God bestowed His Approval upon Abraham. There is nothing about Moses' Law coming into it (because Moses hadn't lived yet) or any other set of rules for that matter. Abraham had faith in God. At the time, he was not even circumcised. People in the time that Paul wrote this letter were very hung up on circumcision because that had previously been what marked a Jewish man different from a gentile man. In the times before Jesus, the Jewish people were the ones who could have God's Approval, and the gentiles could not. If we looked to Moses' Teachings as the only way to Heaven, then faith would mean nothing. God would practically be taken out of the equation because it would come down to people doing works. This system would also be very bad for people who are not from a Jewish heritage because under Moses' Teachings, only Jewish people go to Heaven. David even knew God as the God who desired faith (probably one of the reasons God called him the "Man after God's own heart"). He wrote that the man whose sins are forgiven is blessed. He didn't say anything about the man who knew all the right things to do and always did them is blessed. We have already seen in romans that is an impossible feat. Abraham believed in God's promise that he would have a great many descendants even when he was one hundred years old and had yet to have a child, and his wife was considered barren. He still held on in faith to God's promise, and eventually, God blessed him with a son. Finally, when Paul says that Abraham's faith was regarded as God's Approval of him, that applies to us too. This is an example of the Bible indirectly talking about being a Living Word that can be prevalent to our lives thousands of years after it was written. The whole reason Jesus died was so that if we had faith in Him, we would have God's Approval. If we got to Heaven based on works, He would have died and been raised to life for no reason.
Even if we look back as far as Abraham, we can see the effects that faith have had on God's Approval. When Abraham received God's promise, he did so through faith. He believed what God promised him. Through this promise, God bestowed His Approval upon Abraham. There is nothing about Moses' Law coming into it (because Moses hadn't lived yet) or any other set of rules for that matter. Abraham had faith in God. At the time, he was not even circumcised. People in the time that Paul wrote this letter were very hung up on circumcision because that had previously been what marked a Jewish man different from a gentile man. In the times before Jesus, the Jewish people were the ones who could have God's Approval, and the gentiles could not. If we looked to Moses' Teachings as the only way to Heaven, then faith would mean nothing. God would practically be taken out of the equation because it would come down to people doing works. This system would also be very bad for people who are not from a Jewish heritage because under Moses' Teachings, only Jewish people go to Heaven. David even knew God as the God who desired faith (probably one of the reasons God called him the "Man after God's own heart"). He wrote that the man whose sins are forgiven is blessed. He didn't say anything about the man who knew all the right things to do and always did them is blessed. We have already seen in romans that is an impossible feat. Abraham believed in God's promise that he would have a great many descendants even when he was one hundred years old and had yet to have a child, and his wife was considered barren. He still held on in faith to God's promise, and eventually, God blessed him with a son. Finally, when Paul says that Abraham's faith was regarded as God's Approval of him, that applies to us too. This is an example of the Bible indirectly talking about being a Living Word that can be prevalent to our lives thousands of years after it was written. The whole reason Jesus died was so that if we had faith in Him, we would have God's Approval. If we got to Heaven based on works, He would have died and been raised to life for no reason.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Romans 3
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+3/
Paul asks if there is any advantage to being Jewish, and he says there is. After all, God entrusted the Jewish people first with His word. Paul makes an amazing remark that God is honest while everyone else is a liar. Can anyone honestly say that they have never in their entire lives told a lie at some point? People make all sorts of crazy excuses for why their sin is okay or why God punishes them unfairly. They think that if their sin shows that God is fair, they are alright. God is always fair when we sin through His judgement. If He took it easy on us when our sins proved He was fair, He would not judge anyone nor be fair at that point. Some say that the ends justify the means, but that simply is not true. If you sin, you sin. There is no reason for the sin that can be good enough to make it okay. No one truly has any advantage to who they are because everyone sins. Because of Adam and Eve, no one can have God's approval from birthrights. Everyone spends some part of their lives turning away from God. No one does good on their own. How many times have you seen a young child do something bad? Have you ever seen the parent teach that child to do bad? Doing what is wrong is in our nature. You cannot gain approval with God form following Moses' Teachings because Moses' Teachings only show what sin is.
There is a simple way to receive God's approval. Moses and all of the prophets even speak of it in their own form. Anyone who believes has God's approval through Jesus. Everyone is basically the same because everyone sins. No one is perfect. No one, save Jesus, walked this Earth and never sinned. In addition, all types of people freely receive God's approval through faith in Jesus. God is a God who sends His approval to those who believe in Jesus Christ. This should eliminate bragging because what do we have to brag about. We lived lives of sin, and God gave us His approval because we believe in Jesus. We are all the same. No variation in the story. Is this something from our own efforts? No because it is from faith. We all have one faith, whether we are circumcised or uncircumcised, Jewish or gentile.
Paul asks if there is any advantage to being Jewish, and he says there is. After all, God entrusted the Jewish people first with His word. Paul makes an amazing remark that God is honest while everyone else is a liar. Can anyone honestly say that they have never in their entire lives told a lie at some point? People make all sorts of crazy excuses for why their sin is okay or why God punishes them unfairly. They think that if their sin shows that God is fair, they are alright. God is always fair when we sin through His judgement. If He took it easy on us when our sins proved He was fair, He would not judge anyone nor be fair at that point. Some say that the ends justify the means, but that simply is not true. If you sin, you sin. There is no reason for the sin that can be good enough to make it okay. No one truly has any advantage to who they are because everyone sins. Because of Adam and Eve, no one can have God's approval from birthrights. Everyone spends some part of their lives turning away from God. No one does good on their own. How many times have you seen a young child do something bad? Have you ever seen the parent teach that child to do bad? Doing what is wrong is in our nature. You cannot gain approval with God form following Moses' Teachings because Moses' Teachings only show what sin is.
There is a simple way to receive God's approval. Moses and all of the prophets even speak of it in their own form. Anyone who believes has God's approval through Jesus. Everyone is basically the same because everyone sins. No one is perfect. No one, save Jesus, walked this Earth and never sinned. In addition, all types of people freely receive God's approval through faith in Jesus. God is a God who sends His approval to those who believe in Jesus Christ. This should eliminate bragging because what do we have to brag about. We lived lives of sin, and God gave us His approval because we believe in Jesus. We are all the same. No variation in the story. Is this something from our own efforts? No because it is from faith. We all have one faith, whether we are circumcised or uncircumcised, Jewish or gentile.
Romans 2
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+2/
We as mere people should not judge others. Who are we to judge people for their sins? We are equally huge sinners. We may have even committed the same sins. Do we honestly believe that if we point out the sins of others that God will go easy on us for our sins? It is God's place alone to pass judgement. If we judge, we are showing disdain for God because it shows that we don't think that He is doing a good enough job. God uses His grace and kindness to try and change the way you think and act. Out with the old and in with the new. Anyone can judge, but if we change the way we think and act, shouldn't that mean that we void our lives of judgement? If we do not change the way we think and act, we are not doing what God has called us to do; therefore, we only add to His anger on Judgement Day. At this time, He will give out His decisions that He can prove are fair. He will give eternal life to those who seek glory and honor and immortality by keeping close to God. He will punish with anger those who do evil. There are no exceptions.
Even for those who are not Jewish and are unfamiliar with Moses' Laws, there is something that they find inside of them that tells them right from wrong, even if they don't always listen. This is the Holy Spirit seeking after them. He brings only what is right. If the person still refuses the Holy Spirit, God will judge them for all of their secret thoughts and the things that they have done.
The Jewish people who converted to Christianity at the time thought that they were better because they had Moses' Teachings, so Paul addresses them. He says that they think they can guide people through the dark, instruct the ignorant, and teach children because they were taught Moses' Teachings all their lives. But how do they stack up against those who do not have Moses' Teachings if they preach against stealing and steal things themselves? How do they look to God when they preach against adultery and commit adultery? Moses' Teachings entail a lot of the things that God desires for us, but they are not the qualification for what brings God's grace to people. Someone who has no knowledge of Moses' Teachings who prays earnestly for forgiveness is in better with God than someone who thinks they can take it upon themselves to stick to Moses' Teachings when he or she will always fall short. Paul goes into a little about circumcision. A circumcision is very important in Moses' Teachings. All baby boys must be circumcised within a few days. But if the man who is circumcised does not follow the rest of the laws, he might as well be uncircumcised. It's not as if God looks at if we followed one of the rules He set out and determines that's good enough to make up for all of the times you didn't follow the laws. Under the new covenant signed with the blood of Jesus Christ, anyone can be God's chosen people, which was an honor that used to be reserved just for those of Jewish heritage. In a sense, anyone can be Jewish. You are Jewish inwardly. If you are circumcised, make sure you are circumcised in your heart. Use it as a reminder that you belong to God and should adhere to the standards He sets out over our own standards.
We as mere people should not judge others. Who are we to judge people for their sins? We are equally huge sinners. We may have even committed the same sins. Do we honestly believe that if we point out the sins of others that God will go easy on us for our sins? It is God's place alone to pass judgement. If we judge, we are showing disdain for God because it shows that we don't think that He is doing a good enough job. God uses His grace and kindness to try and change the way you think and act. Out with the old and in with the new. Anyone can judge, but if we change the way we think and act, shouldn't that mean that we void our lives of judgement? If we do not change the way we think and act, we are not doing what God has called us to do; therefore, we only add to His anger on Judgement Day. At this time, He will give out His decisions that He can prove are fair. He will give eternal life to those who seek glory and honor and immortality by keeping close to God. He will punish with anger those who do evil. There are no exceptions.
Even for those who are not Jewish and are unfamiliar with Moses' Laws, there is something that they find inside of them that tells them right from wrong, even if they don't always listen. This is the Holy Spirit seeking after them. He brings only what is right. If the person still refuses the Holy Spirit, God will judge them for all of their secret thoughts and the things that they have done.
The Jewish people who converted to Christianity at the time thought that they were better because they had Moses' Teachings, so Paul addresses them. He says that they think they can guide people through the dark, instruct the ignorant, and teach children because they were taught Moses' Teachings all their lives. But how do they stack up against those who do not have Moses' Teachings if they preach against stealing and steal things themselves? How do they look to God when they preach against adultery and commit adultery? Moses' Teachings entail a lot of the things that God desires for us, but they are not the qualification for what brings God's grace to people. Someone who has no knowledge of Moses' Teachings who prays earnestly for forgiveness is in better with God than someone who thinks they can take it upon themselves to stick to Moses' Teachings when he or she will always fall short. Paul goes into a little about circumcision. A circumcision is very important in Moses' Teachings. All baby boys must be circumcised within a few days. But if the man who is circumcised does not follow the rest of the laws, he might as well be uncircumcised. It's not as if God looks at if we followed one of the rules He set out and determines that's good enough to make up for all of the times you didn't follow the laws. Under the new covenant signed with the blood of Jesus Christ, anyone can be God's chosen people, which was an honor that used to be reserved just for those of Jewish heritage. In a sense, anyone can be Jewish. You are Jewish inwardly. If you are circumcised, make sure you are circumcised in your heart. Use it as a reminder that you belong to God and should adhere to the standards He sets out over our own standards.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Romans 1
Paul wrote the book of Romans to the people of Rome to teach them how to become Christians and how to live like Christians. This book serves to sort of explain the heart of Christianity. If you have questions about being a Christian, this is the place to turn. Romans has inspired many christian heros and even prompted Martin Luther to start the Protestant Reformation when he realized Christianity is about faith, not works. http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+1/
Paul identifies himself as the author of the letter, and that he wrote it to the believers in Rome. Something here that is not in most of the other letters is this parenthetical about who the person of Jesus was. He was a descendant of David, as God had promised the Messiah would be. In the spiritual things, He is the Son of God. Because of Him we have grace. Paul even says without Jesus, there would be no apostles because there would be no Good News to spread.
One of the things Paul says in almost every letter is that he prays for the people he is writing to every time he prays. Paul expresses his love in this way. He wants the people he loves to grow even more in Christ, so he prays for them. Similarly, he prays that he can visit them because he loves them. He hasn't recently been able to visit because God has called him to share the Good News with all peoples of every nation, but that includes Rome, which is why he hopes to visit. Some examples Paul sets is that he wants to share spiritual blessings, and we should all be encouraged by each other's faith. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel because it is God's power to save people, first the Jews then the gentiles. Jesus preached to the Jews and taught them what He had to teach, and then many turned to Him. When He left, he left to apostles in charge of carrying His message to the gentiles, so that we may also be saved. The Good News contins God's approval, and it says that the one who has God's approval will live by faith. Period. Bottom Line. Faith gives us God's approval. Nothing else.
God reveals truth about His anger against ungodly things. God has made clear to all people what they need to know of Him. His qualities, powers, and nature have all been on display, but some people still turn away from Him. These use ungodly pleasures and lusts to suppress the things they know to be true. They claim to know God, but their actions are against Him. They have traded their praises of Him, the Creator, for praises of things created. God allows these things to control them. Because of this, they dishonor themselves. Because they traded in the things of God for their own lusts, God allows their immoral minds to control them. They fill their lives with every kind of sin and hurt themselves and others because of it. Those who know who God is and what He does but choose to ignore it by giving into their sinful ways deserve to die. They not only partake in these things but approve of others who do. People who claim to be believers and know Christ should not approve when people use their lives to dishonor God.
Paul identifies himself as the author of the letter, and that he wrote it to the believers in Rome. Something here that is not in most of the other letters is this parenthetical about who the person of Jesus was. He was a descendant of David, as God had promised the Messiah would be. In the spiritual things, He is the Son of God. Because of Him we have grace. Paul even says without Jesus, there would be no apostles because there would be no Good News to spread.
One of the things Paul says in almost every letter is that he prays for the people he is writing to every time he prays. Paul expresses his love in this way. He wants the people he loves to grow even more in Christ, so he prays for them. Similarly, he prays that he can visit them because he loves them. He hasn't recently been able to visit because God has called him to share the Good News with all peoples of every nation, but that includes Rome, which is why he hopes to visit. Some examples Paul sets is that he wants to share spiritual blessings, and we should all be encouraged by each other's faith. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel because it is God's power to save people, first the Jews then the gentiles. Jesus preached to the Jews and taught them what He had to teach, and then many turned to Him. When He left, he left to apostles in charge of carrying His message to the gentiles, so that we may also be saved. The Good News contins God's approval, and it says that the one who has God's approval will live by faith. Period. Bottom Line. Faith gives us God's approval. Nothing else.
God reveals truth about His anger against ungodly things. God has made clear to all people what they need to know of Him. His qualities, powers, and nature have all been on display, but some people still turn away from Him. These use ungodly pleasures and lusts to suppress the things they know to be true. They claim to know God, but their actions are against Him. They have traded their praises of Him, the Creator, for praises of things created. God allows these things to control them. Because of this, they dishonor themselves. Because they traded in the things of God for their own lusts, God allows their immoral minds to control them. They fill their lives with every kind of sin and hurt themselves and others because of it. Those who know who God is and what He does but choose to ignore it by giving into their sinful ways deserve to die. They not only partake in these things but approve of others who do. People who claim to be believers and know Christ should not approve when people use their lives to dishonor God.
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