Archive for the ‘Romans’ Category

Spiritual Training 16 October 2012

Posted: October 16, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Romans, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Romans 1:14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 

“The wise and the foolish” refers to educated and uneducated people.  What was Paul’s obligation?  After his obligation by proclaiming Christ’s salvation to all people-both Jews and Gentiles, across all cultural, social, racial, and economic lines.

Lets Bring it Home: We also are obligated to Christ because he took on the punishment we deserve for our sin.  Although we cannot repay Christ for all he has done, we can demonstrate our gratitude by showing his love to others.

Spiritual Training 15 October 2012

Posted: October 14, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Romans, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Romans 1:11-13 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.  I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.     

A reading of the first few verses of Romans relates Paul’s ardent desire to visit Rome and the sovereign hand of God that had prevented him from getting there for quite some time.  The combination of these two factors – Paul’s impassioned desire to go to Rome and God’s severing “no” resulted in his sitting down to write this letter to the Romans.  This letter is a powerful exposition of the Christian faith and has helped countless millions of believers across the centuries since Paul first penned it to the group of believers in Rome.

Lets Bring it Home: Perhaps there are some “no’s” in our lives that God is planning to use greatly if we would just faithfully do what lies directly ahead of us instead of worrying about why we did’ get our way.

Spiritual Training 10 October 2012

Posted: October 10, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Romans, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Romans 1:1-5 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God – the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.  Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 

Paul states that Jesus is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, and the resurrected Lord.  Paul calls Jesus a descendant of King David to emphasize that Jesus truly had fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures predicting that the Messiah would come from David’s line.  With this statement of faith, Paul declares his agreement with the teaching of all Scripture and of the apostles.

Paul summarizes the Good News about Jesus Christ, who (1) came as a human by natural decent, (2) was part of the Jewish royal line through David, (3) died and was raised from the dead, and (4) opened the door for God’s grace and kindness to be poured out on us.  The book of Romans is an expansion of these themes.

Christians have both a privilege and a great responsibility.  Paul and the apostles received forgiveness (“grace”) as an underserved privilege.  But they also received the responsibility to share the message of Gods forgiveness with others.   God also graciously forgives our sins when we believe in him as Lord.  In doing this, we are committing ourselves to begin a new life.  Paul’s new life also involved a God-given responsibility to witness about God’s Good News to the world as a missionary.

Lets Bring it Home: God may or may not call you to be an overseas missionary, but he does call you (and all believers) to witness to and be an example of the changed life that Jesus Christ has begun in you.

Spiritual Training 09 October 2012

Posted: October 9, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Romans, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. 

Paul humbly calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ and an apostle (“one who is sent”). For Roman citizen – which Paul was – to choose to be a servant was unthinkable.  But Paul chose to be completely dependent on and obedient to his beloved Master.

 Lets bring it home:  What is our attitude toward Christ, our Master?  Our willingness to serve and obey Jesus Christ enables us to be useful and usable servants to do work for him – work that really matters.  Obedience begins as we renounce other masters, identify ourselves with Jesus, discover his will and live according to it, and consciously turn away from conflicting interest, even if these interests have been important to us in the past.

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