Romans!! I'm excited to start this new book with you. We shall read for about 16 chapters in this book before we head back into the Old testament for Exodus. I really enjoy personally going back and forth from the Old to New testaments. There are so many things to glean from both. Romans can be very challenging. I believe that it is so important to wrestle in with God in scripture. If something is making you uncomfortable then stay there and wrestle it through with God in prayer until you are able to resolve it. There are temptations to not read or ignore things that we don't like but I'd like to challenge you to face it head on and allow it to shake you right out of complacency!! Speak your concerns to the Lord and seek after Him. I pray that today God's Word will fall fresh on your heart. Questions will follow...
Romans 1
1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4and 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. 5Through 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. 6And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
7To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul's Longing to Visit Rome
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
11I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. 13I 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.
14I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
God's Wrath Against Mankind
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Questions:
What does the apostle say in these verses about himself? See verses 1,5,and each verse from 9 to 16. With verse 14 see first 1 Cor. 4:1; 9:16-17.
1 Corinthians 4Apostles of Christ 1So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.
Corinthians 9:16-17
16Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.
What does Paul say about the gospel, its origin, content, purpose, power and propagation? Have you any eagerness or sense of obligation to preach it?
How does Paul show the sin of man to be:(a) deliberate, and (b) inexcusable? How did it begin, and what spiritual, mental, moral and physical effects does it have?
How is God's wrath said to manifest itself? Notice the three stages in verses 24,26 and 28. See first Psalms 81:12; Acts 7:42.
Psalm 81:12
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.
Acts 7:42
42But
God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly
bodies. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
" 'Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?
In what ways do you see God's wrath at work in the world of today? see first Rom. 12:19; 13:4
Romans 12:19
19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord.
Romans 13:4
4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
Blessings on your Journey Today,
Kris Munoz
Thank you Kris.
May God bless you also today, and every day.
Keith
Posted by: Keith Harris | June 19, 2009 at 12:19 PM