Romans 5 — Peace with God Through Faith, Life in Christ
Romans 6 — Dead to Sin, Alive to God, Slaves to Righteousness
Romans 7 — The Law and Sin
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
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Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
In the first “therefore” discourse of chapter 5, Paul include three ways for us to boast: hope, suffering and reconciliation.
1. “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). It is in this knowledge that we “boast in the hope of the glory of God” (5:2).
2. “We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (5:3-4).
3. This amazing truth is provided, a huge stumbling block for many through the ages: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8). God wants to be reconciled and he provided a way for all to come to him through Christ. “We also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (5:11).
Paul continues to address the atoning sacrifice of Christ through chapter 5 and into 6 where he carefully navigates the notion of sin more to get more grace, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!” (6:1-2a) and 6:15, “Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!” But for those who have truly accepted Christ, for those who fully embraced Jesus as Lord and Savior, “we should no longer be slaves to sin–because anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (6:7).
Here’s a profound directive: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body…do not offer any part of yourself to sin…sin shall no longer be your master” (6:12-14).
Chapter 7 provides a discourse on the bonds of sin and our sinful nature. This is quite a chunk of text to swallow, but I find comfort in this: “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (7:25a). Sin permeates our very being and without Christ we would be unable to stand before God. The discourse continues through chapter 8…stay tuned!
We watched “God’s Not Dead” last night and got a glimpse of how atheists are portraying theists, especially Christians. We have much work to do in this world, to help as many as possible to come to the knowledge of God’s grace. As the foundation for this movie reminded me, help us all to hear the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:32-33, “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” Expect this to be a battle. Recognize that Satan has nothing to lose and would like to continue to poke our sinful nature. God help me to realize you in new ways every day. Remind me that you win in the end, regardless of the arguments posed by those who see themselves above you. Praise be to the God of creation, the one and only God the Father.