“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:vv. 1-2, NLT)
Month: September 2021
Salvation is for Everyone
“”For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience in all of its commands. But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart,’ who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (bring Christ back to life again).” In fact, it says,
“The message is very close at hand; it is on you lips and in your heart.”*. (Deut. 30:12-114)
And that message is the very message about faith that we preach. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who give generously to all who call on Him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”*(Joel 2:32)
(Romans 10: vv. 5-13, NLT)
Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us., who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one – for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one- for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor ag God’s right hand, pleading for us. “(Romans 8: vv. 31-34, NLT)
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8: vv. 38-39, NlT)
The Future Glory
“Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later. For all creation is waitings eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, this creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. “
(Romans 8: vv. 18-21, NLT)
“We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We were given this hope when we were saved.”
(Romans 8: vv 23B-24A, NLT)
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” (Romans 8: vv. 26-28, NLT)
Life in the Spirit
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent His own Son in a body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. (Romans 8 vv. 1-4, NLT)
Struggling with Sin
“I have discovered this principle of life – that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. but there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still with me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.” (Romans 7: vv. 21-25, NLT)
Sin’s Power is Broken, Part II
“Do not let sin control the way you live, do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become and instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. (Romans 6: vv. 12-14, NLT)
“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. ” (Romans 6: vv. 20-23, NLT)
Sin’s Power is Broken, Part 1
“Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised to life as He was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives.We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with HIm. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and He will never die again. Death no longer has any power over Him. When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. So you should also consider yourselves be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6: vv. 5-11, NLT)
Adam and Christ Contrasted
“For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.
God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, given us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:vv.17-21, NLT)
Faith Brings Joy
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“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know the they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confidence hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.” (Romans 5: vv. 1-5, NLT)