Posts Tagged ‘romans 4’

Spiritual Training 26 December 2012

Posted: December 26, 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 4:25: He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.   

When we believe, an exchange takes place.  We give Christ our sins, and he gives us his righteousness and forgiveness (2 Corinthians 5:21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God).  There is nothing we can do to earn this.  Only through Christ can we receive God’s righteousness.  What an incredible bargain this is for us!

Lets Bring it Home: But sadly, many still choose to pass up this gift to continue, “enjoying” their sin.

Spiritual Training 24 December 2012

Posted: December 24, 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 4:18-21-Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Abraham never doubted that God would fulfill his promise.  Abraham’s life was marked by mistakes, sins, and failures as well as by wisdom and goodness, but he consistently trusted God.  His faith was strengthened by the obstacles he face, and his life was an example of faith in action.  If he had looked only at his own resources for subduing Canaan and founding a nation, he would have given up in despair.  But Abraham looked to God, obeyed him, and waited for God to fulfill his word.

Lets Bring it Home: Are we waiting for God to fulfill his word in the issues of our lives, or are we only looking at our own resources for solving the problems in our life?  Have we been strengthen with the obstacles that we have faced in our life?  Are we putting Faith into action, or are we doing the same old thing, and leaning toward our own understanding?

Spiritual Training 20 December 2012

Posted: December 20, 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 4:16-17 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham.  He is the father of us all.  As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed –the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. 

Paul explains that Abraham had pleased God through Abraham’s faith alone, before he had ever heard about the rituals that would become so important to the Jewish people.

The promise (or covenant) God gave Abraham stated that Abraham would be the father of many nations (Genesis 17:2-4) and that the entire world would be blessed through him.  This promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  Jesus was from Abraham’s line, and truly the whole world was blessed through him.

Lets Bring it Home: We too are saved by faith plus nothing.  It is not by loving God and doing good that we are saved; neither is it by faith plus love or by faith plus good deeds. We are saved only through faith in Christ, trusting him to forgive all our sins.  For more on Abraham, see his Profile in Genesis 17.

Spiritual Training 19 December 2012

Posted: December 19, 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 4:09-12 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised?  We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.  Under what circumstances was it credited?  Was it after he was circumcised, or before?  It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.  So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.  And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. 

 Rituals did not earn any reward for Abraham; he had been blessed long before the circumcision ceremony was introduce,  Abraham found favor with God by faith alone, before he was circumcised.  Genesis 12:1-4 tells of God’s call to Abraham when he was 75 years old; the circumcision ceremony was introduced when he was 99 (Genesis 17:1-14).  Ceremonies and rituals serve as reminders of our faith, and they instruct new and younger believers.

Lets Bring it Home: But we should not think that they give us any special merit before God.  They are outward signs and seals that demonstrate inward belief and trust.  The focus of our faith should be on Christ and his saving actions, not on our own actions.  Are we walking in the footsteps of our baptism, or are we walking in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised?

 

Spiritual Training 18 December 2012

Posted: December 18, 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 4:6-8 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.  “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man shoes sin the Lord will never count against him.”  

What can we do to get rid of guilt? King David was guilty of terrible sins-adultery, murder, lying, and yet he experienced the joy of forgiveness.

Lets Bring it Home: We too can have this joy when we

(1) quit denying our guilt and recognize that we have sinned

(2) admit our guilt to God and ask for his forgiveness, and

(3) let go of our guilt and believe that God has forgiven us.

This can be difficult when a sin has taken root and grown over many years, when it is very serious, or when it involves others.  We must remember that Jesus is willing and able to forgive every sin.  In view of the tremendous price he paid on the cross, it is arrogant to think that any of our sins are too great for him to cover.  Even though our faith is weak, our conscience is sensitive, and our memory haunts us,

God’s Word declares that sins confessed are sins forgiven.

Spiritual Training 17 December 2012

Posted: December 17, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Romans 4:4-5 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.  However, to the man who does not work but trust God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.      

This verse means that it a person could earn right standing with God by being good, the granting of that gift wouldn’t be a free act; it would be an obligation.  Our self-reliance is futile; all we can do is cast ourselves on God’s mercy and grace.

When some people learn that they are saved by God through faith, they start to worry.  “Do I have enough faith?”  These people miss the point.  It is Jesus Christ who saves us, not our feelings or actions, and he is strong enough to save us no matter how weak our faith is.  Jesus offers us salvation as a gift because he loves us, not because we have earned it through our powerful faith.  What, then, is the role of faith?  Faith is believing and trusting in Jesus Christ, and reaching out to accept his wonderful gift of salvation.

 Lets Bring It Home: Where is our faith?  Who do we start trusting first when we are squeezed by the world?  Do we trust in God from the beginning, or do we lean towards are own understanding fist, and when that don’t work, we turn to God.  Well, God has an answer for that to.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.