Today, I am reading and commenting on  Romans 15-16.

Today’s passage begins with Paul’s conclusion to what he wrote in chapter fourteen.  Those who are strong in faith ought to bear with the failings of the weak in order to please the weak and thus build them up.  As we do so we should seek to imitate the way in which Christ did so.  I always struggle with explaining my understanding of this, but there is a story about my father from my childhood which sums it up.  I grew up in the Mennonite Church.  When I was very little, the Mennonite Church taught that men should wear a “plain coat” rather than a more standard suit.  While I was still little it moved away from that teaching, but many men continued to wear a plain suit.  My father was one of the last in our part of the Mennonite Church to stop doing so.  When asked by one of my siblings why he still wore it, he explained to us that as long as there were men in the local church (and for him that was somewhat broader than just our congregation) who felt that it would be a sin to not wear the plain suit, he would continue to wear it so as to not encourage them to do that which they thought was wrong.

Now, I have written the above and one could easily see it as obligating us to keep silent when others teach objectionable things.  However, in Paul’s conclusion to his letter, he tells us that we should keep way from those who cause divisions and teach things contrary to the teaching we have learned.  Paul writes that the people he is warning us against use smooth talk and flattery in order to deceive naive people.  Throughout my life I have seen those who take advantage of Paul’s teaching about maintaining unity in the Church in order to undermine his teachings about human sexuality and holding our fellow believers accountable.  And not just Paul’s teaching, but Christ’s (as recounted in the Gospels) and other New Testament writers.  So, combining the two, we should not seek to convince people to do that which they think is a sin, and we should keep away from those who seek to convince us to do that which we believe it is a sin for us to do.

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

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

My title for today’s blog highlights what strikes me as a needed reminder for Christians today and I will discuss its implications.  But first there are a few other important points I want to touch on.  Chapter eleven explains why one cannot be a faithful follower of Jesus while harboring hate against the Jewish people.  In fact, we should pray that they come to salvation and, in the meantime, lovingly engage with them.  Paul tells us that we have been blessed because of their rejection of Christ, but that we will be doubly blessed when they turn to Him.  In chapter twelve Paul tells us not to conform to the patterns of this world.  We must strive to avoid allowing the world around us to shape the way we think about people and issues.  We must not allow the world around us to shape our thinking.  Instead we should seek the transformation of our minds which the Holy Spirit is constantly implementing.  We can recognize the transformation inspired by the Holy Spirit by the way it encourages us to humbly value others above our own desires.  This will lead us to resist the efforts of the world to cause us to lump individuals into groups where we stop viewing the worth of the individual, only valuing them as a member of whichever groups they are a part.

Which brings me to what Paul writes in chapter thirteen.  He tells us that we should submit to the governing authorities because they have been established by God, that no one holds the authority of government unless God gave it to them.  Ultimately those who wield the levers of power do so only because God has chosen for them to do so.  Despite the fact that some leaders are chosen by the election of the people and some leaders are chosen by military might, all of them serve at the pleasure and will of God.  So, those who were worried during this recent election that the wrong people would end up governing us, their worries were in vain.  Those who are governing us, and those who will be governing us, have that authority because it was given to them by God.

I am not going to write about chapter fourteen, but I humbly ask that you read it for yourself and think about what it means for you.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Romans 8-10.

I do not fully comprehend the message which Paul has for us in today’s passage.  As I have said previously, Paul is trying to communicate the truths about an infinite God to people with finite minds, and Paul himself had a finite mind.  However, there is one point about which I am sure.  I have no basis to claim to be better than anyone else.  I was not saved because of anything I have done.  I have been reconciled to God because of His mercy, not because of my desire or effort.  My action can bring me no closer to God, only by God drawing me to Him can I approach Him.  Which brings me to another point which I see in this passage. We, who love the Lord, need to tell others about what He has done for us so that they also might come to know Him.  In today’s passage, Paul writes that God has mercy on who He would have mercy, and hardens those whom He wishes to harden against Him.  Yet he ends today’s passage by telling us that held out His hands to those who were disobedient.  As I said, I have no basis to claim to be better than anyone else, because all that I do with any good to it results from what God has done in and to me.  And if I were to pursue sin and wickedness I would have no basis to claim to be worse than others because there also I would be constrained by what God chose to make of me.

Really, there are two messages in today’s passage.  First, we are saved by God’s mercy and the faith which it inspires within us.  Second, that faith comes from hearing the message, so once we have been brought to God through the faith He gives us by His mercy, we are obligated to preach that message to others so that they too might come to put their faith in Him.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Romans 4-7.

I really like the first three chapters of Romans, but starting with chapter four I often find it difficult to follow Paul’s logic.  I am not saying that it is not logical, just that the case he is making is convoluted enough that I struggle to follow it.  And for all the difficulty I have following the logic arguments which Paul makes, I am pretty sure I understand the conclusion which his logic is designed to support.  Part of the reason it is so hard to follow the argument which Paul is making here is because we, as humans with finite minds, are trying to wrap our heads around God’s infinite wisdom.  Which brings me to what I want to write about from today’s passage.  At the end of chapter three Paul had made the claim that our righteousness, our reconciliation with God, comes through faith, not through any action of which we may boast.  Here in chapter four he begins to make the case supporting this claim starting with Abraham.  Paul argues that the Old Testament told us that Abraham was considered righteous, not because of anything he had done, but because of his faith.  In the same way, we have righteousness solely because of our faith, not because of anything we have done.  As part of the case he is making, Paul illustrates Abraham’s faith by telling us that Abraham’s faith did not weaken when God made the promise even though he was already almost one hundred years old, and Sarah was already past her childbearing years.  Paul tells us that Abraham’s faith did not weaken and was sufficient to be counted as righteousness, even though Abraham had taken Hagar to his bed in order to have a child with her, despite the fact that God had told him the promise would be fulfilled through a child he would have with Sarah.  And earlier, Abraham had, on two separate occasions, told people that Sarah was his sister because he was afraid that if they knew she was his wife they would kill him in order to take her for their own.  Despite these things, Paul tells us that he did not waver in his faith.  Which puts in perspective what it means to have faith in God.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Romans 1-3.

After introducing himself and laying out his desire to visit the believers in Rome, Paul lays out his theology.  I find it interesting that he segues into it from talking about the faith of the believers in Rome.  Paul tells us that the gospel, the good news, is the power of God which brings salvation to everyone who believes.  The gospel reveals the righteousness of God, a righteousness which exists solely through faith.  That leads Paul to write that God’s wrath against wickedness is being revealed.  In particular, God’s anger is directed at those who suppress the truth in order to hide their wickedness.  Paul tells us that they suppress the truth because God has made His eternal power and divine nature plain to be seen and understood from what He made.  When it comes to knowing God we have no excuse.  One thing that struck me as I read this is that while Paul says “they” about those who knew God but chose not to glorify Him as God, he really means all of us, a point he makes later when he references where David in Psalms said that everyone has sinned, that all have turned away from God.  Paul writes that we exchanged the truth about God for a lie and instead of serving and worshiping God we worshiped and served created things.  So, since we did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, which He made plain in His creation, He gave us over to our depraved minds, leading us to do that which ought not be done.  If we condemn others, we judge ourselves because we have made the same mistake.  Just like those who we see wallowing in wickedness, we too rejected knowledge of God, but somehow, through His grace, we have been led to repentance.  We are in position to condemn others because we are just as guilty.  Our salvation results from our faith.  That faith will be credited to us as righteousness, and God will work through that to cause us to good works.  We have nothing to boast about because everything we do of value comes because God reached through our depraved minds and redeemed us.  It is through God’s grace that we gain understanding and learn to love, have mercy, and live with fidelity.  Before God’s grace we were full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice, with God’s grace we learn to love and have mercy, and gain understanding.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Romans 15-16.

Today’s passage starts with Paul wrapping up his teaching that those who are strong in faith and in spirit should bear with the failings of the weak.  We should seek to please our neighbors in ways which build them up in faith in Christ.  Just as Christ accepted us and died serving us, so we should accept our fellow believers and be willing to die to bring salvation to our neighbors (and when Paul refers to our neighbors he is using the definition which Jesus gave us in the Parable of the Good Samaritan).

Paul then concludes his letter with a few more points worth remembering.  He writes that he will speak of nothing except what Christ has accomplished through Him.  In the same way, we should seek to give glory and credit to God for everything positive which has happened in our lives.  If you think that I have done something praiseworthy, even in writing this blog, the credit goes to God, Whose Spirit should be given credit for anything of value which might be contained in my writings (or other actions).

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Romans 8-10.

Today’s passage contains a lot of things to which we should give careful thought.  It also contains a thread of thought which I want to follow.  Paul continues his thoughts about what it means to saved by faith in Christ.  He writes that those who have faith in Christ have been set free from the law of sin and death by the Spirit.  Some might interpret this to mean that we can act in anyway which we choose because the Law which specifies how we should act has been nullified.  However, Paul says that those who interpret what he said in that way are still living according to the flesh.  He writes that now that we have been saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ we should no longer live according to the flesh but instead live according to the Spirit.

Which brings us back once more to questioning if we are truly saved when we sin again after having accepted Christ as our Savior.  Once again, Paul addresses this by telling us that we struggle in our weakness, but that the Spirit will help us.  After telling us that we should live according to the Spirit and be dead to the flesh, he reminds us that this is what our faith is about.  Our faith gives us hope that the Spirit will transform us into beings who live according to the Spirit.  Then he reminds us that hope is about what we look forward to, not what we already have.  So, we strive to be brought into the freedom and glory of God, living according to His Spirit.

Paul goes on to quote Joel who said that everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved.  From there Paul goes on to make some points which should influence the way we practice “Church” today.

• People can only call on the Lord if they believe in Him
• People can only believe in the Lord if they have hear about Him
• People will only hear about the Lord if someone tells them about Him
• People will only tell others about the Lord if someone sends them to do so

So, each and every congregation of those who worship Jesus Christ should be sending people out to tell others about Him.  Church is not about getting our spiritual needs met.  It is about preparing ourselves or someone else to preach the good news about Jesus Christ to those who have not yet heard it.

There are many other things which Paul wrote in this passage that each of us should hear, but that is all I am going to write on today.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Romans 4-7.

Today’s passage is perhaps one of the more convoluted passages in Scripture.  This happens because Paul starts out to make what should be a few fairly basic statements about salvation, but then goes on to address the ways in which he knows that people will attempt to distort and misuse these basic principles.  So, the first basic principle which Paul speaks about is that we receive righteousness, not through what we do, but through our faith in Christ.  Paul points out that we all deserve death because of our sin, that none of us have lived lives where we have acted with righteousness.

However, if we cannot be saved, if we cannot obtain righteousness, by observing the law which God gave us, what purpose does that law serve?  Paul points out that the law makes us aware of our sin, and thus brings glory to God by showing the wonder of His grace to us.  Paul then addresses those who say that if our sin brings glory to God, then we should sin more so as to bring even more glory to God.  Paul disagrees with that conclusion, pointing out that we have died to sin through Christ.  Further, he echoes what Jesus said about serving two masters by saying that we must choose if we will be slaves to sin, or slaves to righteousness.  He tells us that Christ died and has been raised to life and now that He has been raised to life, He cannot die again.  In the same way, we have died with Christ, and been raised with Him.  We have died to sin and must not once more make ourselves subject to its mastery.

That last paragraph scares me, because I still sin from time to time.  Fortunately, Paul addresses this as well.  He says that he desires to do what is good, but fails to do so.  Instead of doing the good which he desires to do, he does evil.  Since he does not desire to do the wrong which he does, nor does he do the good which he does desire to do, this demonstrates that it is not he, but the sin living within him which does these things.  Paul tells us that if we desire to do good and to not do evil, doing as we desire is beyond our power.  However, it is not beyond God’s power.  We must seek in our minds to be slaves to righteousness, slaves to God while knowing that in our bodies, in our natural ,sinful selves, we are slaves to sin.  In our desire to do good we must trust, we must have faith, that God is willing and able to transform us, to release us from our slavery to sin.  When we do good, it is not because we are good and righteous people.  Rather, it is because God has exercised His power within us.  Credit for any good we doo does not belong to us.  Rather let us give credit to where it is due, to God’s wonderful power and grace.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Romans 1-3.

Today’s passage contains a lot which I would like to write about, probably more than I can fit into one entry.  So, I will start at the beginning and work through as far as I can get.  I will start with something which Paul says which we should feel the same way.  He was not ashamed of the Gospel, because by it God gives salvation to everyone who believes.  What Paul writes here can easily become just jargon which only communicates anything to those who already know what it means.  That is not Paul’s intention.  So, to understand this I want to go back to what Jesus said the Gospel was, what good news He instructed His disciples to preach.  Jesus told us that the good news is that the Kingdom of God is near, and that the righteous can enter into it.  Paul is expanding on that point by telling us that the Kingdom of God is here and we may enter into it now, if we choose to be righteous.  He then tells us that righteousness only comes from faith (Paul expands on this later).

Paul goes on to tell us why we must urgently speak God’s Gospel to those around us: God’s wrath against those who choose wickedness and evil is about to be revealed.  He then answers the arguments of those who say God’s wrath is not fair.  He makes the point that God created the world in such a way as to make His power and characteristics clear to anyone who chose to understand.  That only by deliberately choosing to misunderstand could people fail to understand God’s nature.  Paul then points out that most people have chosen to reject knowledge of God in order to embrace wickedness.  Further Paul tells us that rejecting the knowledge of God results in having a depraved mind and doing things that ought not to be done.  Those who reject God degrade their bodies and themselves.  However, Paul does not allow for us to look down upon others as wicked while viewing ourselves as righteous because  he points out that all have sinned.  We are all guilty of, at some point, of denying our knowledge of God in order to embrace some sort of wickedness.  So, none of us are better than anyone else.  I cannot boast of being better than anyone else because I am just as guilty before God as anyone else.  In order to enter the Kingdom of God, we must have faith that God can and will make us righteous.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Romans 15-16.

Paul concludes the treatise which was his letter to the Roman Church by  telling us that those who are strong in their faith should bear with the failings of the weak.  If you believe that you are weaker in faith than another person, so that they should bear with your failings rather than you bearing with their failings, you should not attempt to instruct them in faithfulness.  Paul tells us that we should accept each other as Christ accepted us.  Earlier in this letter Paul told us that Christ died for us when we were still sinners, which means that Christ accepted us, loved us, when we were still in opposition to Him.  Let us seek to be accepting of others in the same way.

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