"Here the apostle Paul brilliantly explained the foundations and truths of the Christian faith in all its simplicity, complexity and depth. Paul not only described God's plan for saving humanity, but he also made it clear why Jesus is our only hope and how life lived in Christ ought to be markedly different than life lived in the rest of the world."Amen to that! So, now that we have that established, let's take a look at these three chapters.
CHAPTER 4: This chapter is all about justification and how Abraham is the example of how we are justified through faith. The definition of justification in the Biblical sense is this:
Also called justification by faith . Theology . the act of God whereby humankind is made or accounted just, or free from guilt or penalty of sin.Paul makes it VERY clear in verse 10 that Abraham was credited with righteousness BEFORE he was circumcised. This issue of whether or not a Gentile had to be circumcised was a HUGE debate for the early churches at this time. It was a VERY divisive issue and one that Paul wanted to make crystal clear what the correct thinking on the matter should be. And crystal clear he makes it! There was one thing that Paul was, and that is that he was BOLD for the Lord! What a great example for US to follow. WE need to be bold and courageous for the Lord as well. That is why I believe EVERY Christian should have at least a basic understanding of Apologetics (this is a subject that Natalie so eloquently talked about in her post on Wednesday), or the defense of our faith. It is very difficult to be bold about something that you cannot defend.
CHAPTER 5: Paul then jumps into the subject of having peace and joy as a result of being justified through faith. Paul's teachings in the book of Romans builds precept upon precept. That is to say that he will build one concept onto the other and his teachings are a progression. That is why reading Scripture in context is so VERY critical. We really see this "building" in verses 3 and 4. And then we come to the REALLY amazing point of this:
"But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (verse 8)Paul then makes the point that just as sin entered the world through one man (Adam) and all men are therefore sinners so through one Man (Jesus) all will be justified through faith in this one Man. This seems so obvious and simple, yet it is so VERY profound! God's plan is incredibly perfect and amazing! And it is a free gift to us...all we have to do is receive it!
CHAPTER 6: Paul uses the terms "grace" and "sin" over and over in the book of Romans. What does repetition do for a human? Well, it does a few things: it drives the point home into our thick skulls, it gets our attention, it shows us that something is important, but it also causes us to become desensitized to what is being repeated. DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE INCREDIBLE CONCEPT OF GRACE OR HOW HORRIBLE OUR SIN IS TO GOD! Can we do whatever we want because we are saved under grace and we know we are going to heaven anyway? Paul says, "By no means!" (verses 2 and 15). I think if this is your line of thinking, you REALLY need to look at whether or not you are really saved or if you just had a great emotional experience. If we have truly been saved, we should no longer desire sinful, lustful pleasure as we did before. We should show some type of profound change in our lives! We should now be slaves to righteousness just as we were former slaves to sin. We should have a 180 degree change in the opposite direction!
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
~Romans 6:23
CHAPTER 7: I think this chapter really shows the human and struggling side of Paul. I have always related so well with his struggle with sin that he shares with us here. Can you hear his frustration in verses 15 through 20? He just seems to be having this little war with himself right on these pages. It makes me chuckle a little bit as I think about similar words going through my head as I am in a battle with my flesh and oftentimes lose. He even goes so far to say in verse 24, "What a wretched man I am!" Can't you just see him getting all irritated with himself? Can you relate to that? Listen to Paul...he knows what he is talking about...after all...it came straight from the Holy Spirit!
P.S. Sorry this is so late getting on here ladies and gentlemen! We had the state playoff game last night in the Georgia Dome and did not get home until the wee hours of the morning and then we had lots of stuff going on this morning, so this is the first chance I have had all week to get this done. We did not win the game, but the boys had an unbelievable season. Lovejoy has never been that far in all of school history!
Mindy - great post today. There are so many, many verses in these chapters that we all have committed to memory over the years. I agree with you - we must not become so familiar with them that they lose their meanings. There is so much here!
ReplyDeleteAnd congratulations to your Lovejoy team. We taped and watched the game - sorry they lost, but they should be so proud and we are proud of their coaches too!
Mindy you did a great job of breaking down some packed chapters! I also find myself reading and then re-reading just to try and absorb it all! Romans really lays out the basics of our faith very thoroughly.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to your team!! I know you had a great time- what an awesome experience.
Great points, Mindy! Yes, I can hear Paul's frustration coming through the words... seems familiar to me too. It is comforting to know that we are not alone and the reality is that on this earth we will struggle with our sin-nature. However, God's grace through Christ is sufficient and victorious.
ReplyDeleteThe passage about Abraham "being FULLY persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised" jumped out at me today. He was convinced of God's grace and trustworthiness. Lord, give me the faith of Abraham.