Tag Archives: Romans 5:6-21

Daily Bible Study

July 19, 2015 Bible Study — Who May Enter God’s Presence?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 19:18-19

    Parents discipline your children. Otherwise you risk them facing an early death as a result of foolish behavior. If that happens, you will be responsible.
    Sooner or later, a person who does not control their temper will have to face the consequences of allowing their anger to control their actions. As long as someone bails them out, they will continue to repeat the same mistake.

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Psalm 15

    I hope this psalm strikes home with my readers. It tells us what sort of characteristics we need to have if we want to enter into God’s presence, and I pray that you want to enter into God’s presence. Here is the list (although the psalm is pretty clear):

  • Lead a blameless life
  • Do what is right
  • Sincerely speak the truth
  • Refuse to gossip
  • Refuse to harm their neighbors (and remember who Jesus says is our neighbor)
  • Refuse to speak evil of their friends (I suspect that Jesus would tell us something similar about who are friends are)
  • Despise flagrant sinners
  • Honor those who fear the Lord
  • Keep their promises, even when it hurts
  • Lend money to the poor without interest
  • Cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent>/li>

That is quite a list. I am not sure I can claim to successfully meet all of those, but I am seeking to do so. I wish for the Holy Spirit to transform me into someone who lives up to that standard (and it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that I would be able to do so).

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Romans 5:6-21

    Most people would not be willing to die for someone else, although a few would be willing to die for a good person, or someone they loved (husband, wife, parent, child, sibling). Jesus, however, died for us when we were sinners, enemies of God. Jesus did this in order to demonstrate that the enmity between God and us was on our side, not God’s. God was willing to pay any price to restore a relationship with us. As a result of Adam’s sin, sin was given entry into our lives and ruled over us. Through Christ, God demonstrated that He was willing to break sin’s power over us and bring us back into friendship with Him. Sin, which entered the world through Adam, brought death into the world. God’s grace, which was brought into the world through Jesus, replaces that death with life for those who are willing to believe.

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1 Chronicles 28-29

    In his advice to his son Solomon, King David told Solomon something all of us need to remember. If we seek God, we will find Him. This is true of each and every person, no matter where on earth they live, who their parents are, or what they have been taught about God. If they truly seek God, they will find Him. God will direct them. He will send people, events, and things into their lives which will show them the way to Him. However, David accompanies this with a warning. If we reject the guidance which God gives us, if we learn something about God and then reject that knowledge, if we forsake what God has taught us, God will in turn reject us.

Daily Bible Study

July 19, 2014 Bible Study — Who May Worship God?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 19:18-19

    Parents who fail to discipline their children are not doing them any favors, the lack of discipline will ruin the children’s lives. If you save someone from the consequences of losing their temper once, they will not learn and you will have to do it again and again.

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Psalm 15:1-5

    While the psalmist says that he is listing characteristics of those who will be allowed to worship God, the list is actually a list of the characteristics of those who do worship God.

  • blameless
  • lives righteous life
  • speaks the truth from the heart

    • Note that they do not just speak the truth, but speak it from the heart (which I take to mean that they speak it out of concern for those they speak to and about)

  • utter no slander
  • does not wrong their neighbor

    • Note Jesus’ definition of who is our neighbor in the story of the Good Samaritan

  • casts no slur on others
  • despises vile people
  • honours those who fear the Lord
  • keeps their promises, even when it is inconvenient, or causes pain
  • lends money without charging interest
  • will not accept a bribe to lie about the innocent

These are the characteristics of those who worship the Lord. These acts taken together as a whole are a significant part of what it means to worship God. We are worshiping God when we do these things and it is not possible to do the opposite of these things and worship God.

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Romans 5:6-21

    Paul points out that a few exceptional people might be willing to die for someone who they perceived as being exceptionally upright, exceptionally good. But Christ died for us when we were sinners, enemies of God. It was by Christ’s death that we were made right with God. If Christ was willing to die in order to make us right in God’s sight and restore us to friendship with God, surely He will bring us into life through His resurrection.
    This passage is such a wonderful account of God’s love and a challenge for us. Jesus was willing to suffer and die for us when we were living lives in conflict with God. We should be willing to follow His example and risk our lives in order to show those around us God’s love for them. All too often, we are not even willing to inconvenience ourselves to show God’s love to those around us. Oh, Lord let me follow your example and willingly risk myself in order to show others how to be made right with you!

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1 Chronicles 28-29:30

    David gave his son Solomon some advice that every father should give his son, and to which all of us should pay heed:

learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

God does indeed see every heart and know every plan and thought. We cannot fool God as we may fool our fellow-man. However, if we seek Him, we will find Him. Let us commit ourselves to worshiping and serving God with our whole being. Let us never be reluctant to do so. The consequences of forsaking God are too awful to bear.

Daily Bible Study

July 19, 2013 Bible Study — If You Seek Him, You Will Find Him

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

Don't feed the ostriches!
Don’t feed the ostriches!

1 Chronicles 28-29:30

     David summoned all of the leaders of Israel to give his final instructions to them and to Solomon. He told Solomon that God had chosen his family out of all of Judah to be kings over Israel, chosen David out of all of his father’s sons, and now chosen Solomon out of all of David’s sons. David gave Solomon an important piece of wisdom. He told him that if he seeks God, he will find Him. David then went on to give Solomon detailed instructions for building the Temple. David then turned to the leaders of Israel and told them what treasure he was giving from his personal wealth for the building of the Temple and asked them to do something similar. The leaders responded by giving a large amount of wealth. David gave over $3 billion worth of gold at today’s prices and the leaders of Israel all together gave over $5 billion worth. In addition, they, David and the leaders, gave silver and other metals for the construction.
     David then prayed a prayer of praise where he acknowledged that everything which he had had come from God. He refused to accept any credit for the wealth which he had donated to the Temple construction, since that wealth came from God in the first place. David tells us that we have nothing to give to God, because we have nothing that did not come from God.

***

     There are a couple of things in this passage I want to highlight as timeless messages. The first is what David tells Solomon, “If you seek Him, you will find Him.” That is as true today as it was in the time of Solomon. Anyone who truly, with all of their heart, seeks the Lord will find Him. Of course the rest of what David said to Solomon there is true as well, “But if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” I will continue to seek the Lord.
     There is a second message here that David gives in his prayer. Everything that we have comes from God. We have nothing that we can call our own to give to God. We are on this earth for a mere moment and all the joys and pleasures we experience are gifts from God. We have no basis to feel put upon when God asks us to give to His causes from the bounty He has provided us.

Watching baseball from the pool
Watching baseball from the pool

Romans 5:6-21

     Paul tells us that very few people would be willing to die for someone who was a “good person”, a few more might be willing to die for someone who was universally acknowledged as good. But Christ died for us when we were sinners, enemies of God. If we were reconciled to God through Christ’s death while we were still in opposition to God, how much more will His life bring us salvation? Jesus has made us friends with God, allowing us to rejoice in our new relationship with Him.
     Paul goes on to draw the comparison between Jesus and Adam. It was through Adam that sin and death entered the world. Adam’s one sin led to the sins of many. Christ’s obedience to God led to many being made righteous. Through Adam’s sin, sin came to rule over the earth, bringing death to everyone. Through Jesus’ obedience onto death, God’s grace wrested the rulership over the earth from sin resulting in eternal life through Jesus.

T-shirt canon
T-shirt canon

Psalm 15:1-5

     Today’s psalm gives us a list of how we should attempt our lives.

  1. speak the truth
  2. refuse to gossip
  3. refuse to harm our neighbors
  4. refuse to speak evil of our friends
  5. despise flagrant sinners
  6. honor those who faithfully follow the Lord
  7. keep our promises even when it hurts
  8. lend without interest
  9. do not accept bribes to lie about the innocent

If we do these things we will stand firm no matter what troubles come our way.

Mascot harasses an umpire
Mascot harasses an umpire

Proverbs 19:18-19

     I read the first of these proverbs and could not help but think of reports I have read concerning the youth in our country. So many parents want to be their children’s friends and don’t want to anger their children. So rather than disciplining their children they are becoming a willing party to their death. I have watched several families raise their children. The children of the strictest disciplinarians went through life knowing they were loved. The children of the most permissive spent their lives looking for love.
     The second proverb has a similar message. If you save someone who allowed anger to overcome their better judgment from the consequences of their actions, they will not learn their lesson and will repeat the mistake.

Daily Bible Study

July 19, 2012 Bible Study

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

1 Chronicles 28-29:30

     This passage tells us that David called together the leaders of Israel to tell them that Solomon would be king after him and that it would be Solomon who would build the Temple. David told them that he wanted to build the Temple, but God told him not to because he had shed too much blood. David instructed Solomon that if he served and worshiped God with his whole heart God would bless him. David told Solomon that if he sought God he would find Him, but if he forsook God, God would reject him forever. That applies today as well, those who seek God will find Him.
     This passage tells us that David gave Solomon plans for the Temple and the Temple furnishings. David then told the assembly that he had gathered materials for building the Temple and in addition to those materials, he was going to give resources from his private treasury. He then called on the leaders of Israel to follow his example and donate materials for the building of the Temple. We are told that they did as he requested and gave a large amount of materials for the building of the Temple. The passage tells us that the leaders gave 188 metric tons of gold. In 2009, a metric ton of gold was worth about $34 million. Today, it would be significantly more. And the leaders of Israel gave 188 metric tons of gold for the Temple. In addition they gave other precious materials in large quantities.
     The passage then records that the people rejoiced in what was given for the Temple. David prayed a prayer of praise in which he stated that all of the wealth which had been given was God’s to begin with. He said that we could not take credit for giving to God, since all that we have God gave to us. This is again something for us to remember today. All that we have is God’s to begin with, so we should be readily willing to give of our resources to help those in need.
     The passage tells us that the following day they offered a large number of burnt offerings and crowned Solomon as king to succeed David.

Romans 5:6-21

     Paul wrote that when we were sinners and completely helpless, Jesus died for us. He pointed out that very rarely will someone be willing to die for someone else they consider a good person. Yet Jesus died for us when we were sinners. Paul then wrote that if God was willing to sacrifice His Son for us while we were sinners, how much more will He provide for us now that we are reconciled to Him.
     Paul wrote that just as death came into the world through one man, Adam, so now life has come into the world through one man, Jesus. Adam’s disobedience to God brought separation from God and death to all who came after Him. Now Jesus’ obedience unto death, brings reconciliation to God and eternal life to all who follow after Him. Adam’s disobedience gave sin the power to rule over us, but now Jesus’ death allows God’s grace to rule over us breaking the power of sin.

Psalm 15:1-5

     The psalmist asks, who can live in God’s presence? Then he answers this question, only those who are blameless. We know from the passages we are studying in Romans that none are blameless, but that God’s grace covers our sins. This psalm still gives us the behaviors we should strive to emulate. The psalmist tells us that we should speak truth from our hearts. I think there are two ways to read that, both correct. The first is that truth should just naturally flow from us, that suggestion that we should say something other than the truth should strike us as odd. The second way to look at this is that we speak the truth in a manner that shows that we care about those we are speaking with.
     The next tells us more about how we speak. The New Living Translation reads that we should not gossip, other translations say that we should not speak slander. I think that looking at those two ways of translating this passage tells us a lot about the message here. We should not pass on information, factual or not, that makes others look bad, especially when the main purpose of communicating that information is to make others look bad. The psalmist goes on to tell us that we should keep our promises, even when it will hurt us to do so. We should lend to those in need without demanding interest. Finally, we should not lie about others, no matter what reward is offered. The psalmist tells us that if we follow these principles, we will be solidly rooted and nothing will disrupt us.

Proverbs 19:18-19

     The first proverb tells us that parents who do not discipline their children will ruin their children’s lives. It is certainly true that lack of discipline ruins lives. The second of today’s proverbs tells us that those who have hot tempers will suffer consequences. It tells us that if you bail them out of the situation that their temper got them into, their temper will soon get them into another situation that may be even worse.