I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Romans 11-14.

    Paul points out that while the rejection of the Gospel by so many of the Jews opened the door for Gentiles to hear the Gospel, the Jews were still eligible to receive God’s grace. Furthermore, we should desire that they turn to God and accept the free gift which He offers to all people. We as Gentiles benefited from the rejection of the Gospel by Jews, how much more will the entire world benefit if and when they accept it? It is not possible to be a faithful follower of Jesus and to harbor anti-Semitic attitudes. God did indeed trim off from His family tree those descended from Abraham who rejected his free gift. And yes, He did graft those of us not descended from Abraham in their place. However, we should not become arrogant because He could just as easily remove us once more in order to graft them back should their hearts embrace Him.

    I love chapter 12. Paul tells us that we should be willing to offer our bodies up as living sacrifices to God. We should be willing to experience whatever physical unpleasantness necessary to serve God’s will. We should not strive to fit into the world around us. Instead, we need to study God’s word and allow His Spirit to transform us fully into His image. Paul instructs us to evaluate our abilities clearly and soberly. We should neither overestimate our abilities, nor should we denigrate ourselves (which sometimes is a reverse form of puffing ourselves up). People have varied and different skills. Each and everyone of us is a unique creation who God placed in this world for a specific purpose. Let us embrace the purpose for which we were created without holding ourselves above others.
    In line with that, it is not our place to bring judgment or cause suffering on those who we believe deserve it. Rather, we should strive to live at peace with others. That will not always be possible, but let us strive to avoid being the reason why it is not possible. If others refuse to live at peace with us, that is beyond our control and not our responsibility. Rather than return the evil others do to us with evil, let us return that evil with good. If we do as God wills, either those who are currently our enemies will be transformed by God’s Holy Spirit, as we have been (we have been transformed by the Holy Spirit, haven’t we?), or God will bring the appropriate judgment upon them. If we do good to those who wrong us, those around us will see our good works and praise God.