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 BIBLE JOURNAL Book of Romans
Insights in Romans
Insights in Romans (45)Romans is a letter that stands out as one that has ignited the faith of believers throughout the centuries. Martin Luther's heart was revolutionized as he became acquainted with the doctrine of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone and then reintroduced it to the world. It ignited the mind of Jonathan Edwards, strangely warmed the heart of John Wesley and then fueled the revival fire with George Whitfield. We can see Paul as he is invigorated with an unusual strength as he passes the floor and dictates this letter to the penman, Tertius. From this writing we find the major themes of God and His salvation. 9 July 64Rome Burns 66The Jews revolt against Rome. Vast numbers also of those that were of the first rank among the Jews, were scourged with rods, and nailed upon the cross at Jerusalem, by Florus for he happened to be procurator of Judea at the commencement of the war, in the twelfth year of Nero's reign. "Then," he says, "throughout all Syria a tremendous commotion seized upon the inhabitants, in consequence of the revolt of the Jews. Every where did the inhabitants of the cities destroy the Jews without mercy. So that you could see the cities filled with unburied corpses, and the dead bodies of the aged mixed with those of children, and women not even having the necessary covering of their bodies. The whole province, indeed, was filled with indescribable distresses. But greater still than the crimes already endured, was the anticipation of those that threatened." Such is the statement of Josephus, and such was the condition of the Jews at this time. 68Paul is again in prison at Rome, he writes to Timothy. He is then beheaded on the orders Nero. 9 June 68"Emperor Nero, with the help of his secretary Epaphroditus, committed suicide by stabbing himself in the throat. He died at the age of 31 after he had reigned 14 years. He was of average height, with a pustular and malodorous body, light blond hair, with pretty, rather than handsome features. His eyes were blue and rather weak, and he had a squat neck, a protuberant belly and spindly legs. He was entirely shameless in the style of his appearance and dress but always had his hair set in rows of curls." 69Emperor Galba was hated by his troops. He was assassinated, being hacked to pieces by a party of his cavalrymen near the Curtian pool and left lying just where he fell. He died at the age of 72, before he had reigned 7 months. He was of medium height, bald, blue eyes, and a hooked nose. His hands and feet were twisted by gout, which made him unable to unroll or even hold a parchment scroll or wear shoes. His body was badly ruptured on the right side, requiring a truss for support. He was a heavy eater. He was a homosexual invert and showed a preference for mature and very sturdy men. 70Herod Agrippa II died. 8 September 70In the spring of 70, shortly before Passover, the Roman army under General Titus reached Jerusalem. A long siege, with assaults by battering rams, ended on September 8th when Roman troops entered the sanctuary of the temple and, intentionally or not, destroyed it by fire. Resistance continued in the upper city for another month, but the victory was complete. Exactly 40 years after Jesus' prophesy, Jerusalem and the temple were completely destroyed by Titus in the 2nd year of Emperor Vespasian's reign... and the Jews were scattered throughout the world. [Ezek 37: 1-14; Mark 13: 1-2] They remained scattered, persecuted, and without a country of their own for 1,878 years until 15 May 1948 when the nation of Israel was reborn. Keep your eyes on Israel! The first sign of the approaching end was the rebirth of the nation of Israel. The next will be the confirmation of a 7 year treaty between Israel and her Arab enemies... and there have already been many attempts by every U.S. President since Jimmy Carter in 1978. [Dan 9:27] The primary subject in Romans 8 is the Christian. The overall theme throughout Romans 5 – 8 is sanctification of the Redeemed and the faithfulness of God. Paul wants the Christian to understand why it is necessary for the believer to grow spiritually and how it is possible to grow in light of the power of the sin nature. The power of the flesh is the primary hindrance to our spiritual growth and so Paul draws for us a series of comparisons of the believer and the flesh and the unbeliever’s inability to see any other option than the flesh. Paul is primarily talking to the redeemed in Christ. These are men and women that have understood that Christ died for the sins of the world; we have repented of our self-sin and changed our allegiance to Christ our Lord. To describe who it is that Paul is speaking to we need to keep in mind the theme of sanctification, the process whereby the believer grows spiritually in making Christ Lord of all his life. If we were to graph the life process of this growth, the varieties are near infinite. The first person that Paul speaks of then is the Redeemed man in the sanctification process. Within that context you have the individual that is eager to grow and has primed his heart and mind to hear from God and is willing to obey him whatever the cost. He is eager to be weaned from the flesh as he yields to Christ. There is also the believer that has become trapped in a sin. Thanks be to God, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1). God is faithful to enable us through the Holy Spirit in us to bring freedom from the flesh and the sin that entangles us (Hebrews 12:1). The sin that traps us can be a great variety within the same area of the flesh. We may be trapped with the temptation of lust and satisfy this through pornography. Another great temptation in our society is materialism where we may find ourselves driven to satisfy our thirst by purchasing the best and biggest and devouring every lure that this world can produce. Each temptation has its price, one of which is our ability to follow Christ fully. Thus, the primary subject in Romans 8 is the believer in his varying degrees of spiritual growth and sanctification. How do we see the redeemed man / woman in Romans 8?
How do we see the unredeemed man / woman in Romans 8?
How different translation view Romans 8:5
Where is the Spirit in your life? Where is the Spirit in which we are to have a relationship with and listen to? Is he behind the flesh and so we see Him only through the prism of the fleshly worldview? In this setting you allow the flesh to translate what the Spirit is saying to you. Is he in the midst of the world? Or is he in clear view and in front of the world? In this final position, you are in the position to impact the world and the flesh for God. Many Christians have the perspective that the Spirit is in the midst of the flesh. That way they get the best of both worlds, as they see it. However, in that position, you have neutralized the Spirit and you become of no impact for Christ to those around you. You have positioned the Spirit so that He is one voice among many. Paul is doing his best to tell us that the Spirit needs to be in a position where we have a clear perspective and understanding what the Holy Spirit is teaching us. [1] Paul uses this prepositional phrase to describe the condition of an individual’s life. “According” is a function word that describes an individual’s relationship with the flesh. It is cannot say that this individual is dominated by the flesh nor can you say that this person simply walks beside the flesh. It is more likely to say that this person finds some qualities of the flesh that he regularly yields to. Christ has broken the chain that had us trapped us to the flesh, but in varying degrees we can still be live like those that actually live there.” You can see how this reference could be used for both the redeemed and unredeemed.
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Insights in Romans
Romans 16:1-27 The Story: Thirty six names. Often when we read this passage, that might be all that we get out it. Just a bunch of names. When we think a little longer we begin to see a list of team of committed believers that have given all for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not only that, these are the names of those that made it possible for Paul's ministry to succeed. In many cases, they put their own lives on the line so that Paul could escape from certain death. This is not just a list of names that have been added like an author would an appendix to his novel. "I need to give credit to..." Paul is providing the house churches in Rome what unity looks like and what it can accomplish. It wasn't just Paul. It was a team of believers that were united around the gospel. Paul describes this gospel as "my gospel" (Romans 16:25). Not that he was the author but that the gospel had been entrusted to him for the purpose of taking it to the known gentile world. Yes, the gospel became his on the road to Damascus when was confronted by Christ. It was his for salvation, but beyond that he took hold of it and proclaimed it his to bring to a spiritually dieing world. You could not separate the gospel and Paul. It seems as though Paul mentions these 36 names because they too lived with the life outlook that the gospel was theirs. That's where you found their unity. Paul warns that when we begin preaching our own bent of faith, you will fall into disunity. In fact, avoid those (Romans 16:17) that bring disunity concerning the gospel. Keep an innocence about you concerning this evil. Innocence here does not being naive about the evil world but without a mixture of evil and free from guile. Be very wise concerning the devil's schemes and devices (Romans 16:18, 19). The Key Truth: As believers we need to take ownership of the gospel. Consider it as though God presented to you, "This is not only the gospel that saves you but one that I have placed in your hands to take to the world. I entrust my plan for the world in your hands." The Application: So often we want people to be united around our plans and decisions. "Here's my vision. Let's unite around it and make it happen." Be careful, as a Church Board member or Pastor that you are not guilty of pushing your plans. By that I mean that you must make certain that you are encouraging unity around the gospel. Encourage all to embrace it. That becomes the focal point of the Church's vision and purpose. Never allow the gospel to take second place to what we want. During my ministry, a board member had the opinion that as a Pastor, I was to sign a document that stated that I would be in constant unity of the decisions of the board. As you can imagine, that relationship ended the day the board agreed to his opinion. That was not Biblical unity but a plan for the disunity that Paul talked about in Romans 16:17-19. We are to avoid these people. My Prayer: Thank you Lord for the gospel. The book of Romans has given me a fresh perspective of the truths of the gospel and its power to completely change who I am and where I'll spend eternity. Today I saw how I'm to see this gospel as mine. As Paul, I want to serve the gospel in the sense that Christ expected, to bring this gospel to those I know. I want to be effective in this. Free me from the obstacles of fear and complacency that will stand in the way others' salvation. Romans 15:23-33 The Story: From the outset of the Book of Romans, Paul let's us know that his desire is to come to Rome to instruct them in the gospel (Romans 1:10). He is currently in Corinth writing this letter to them. This letter is written to instruct them and prepare them for his visit. His ultimate goal is to go to Spain to introduce the gospel there. Along the way he wants to spend time in Rome. Did he ever get to Spain? Tradition says he does but there is no mention of it in Scripture. Fortunate for Paul, he was committed to the belief that God was Sovereign and that His plans would always trump his own. Even though he would eventually get to Rome, the circumstances and route were much different than he had expected. However, the burden and desire to go to Rome did not come from his own interest. God has led Paul and directed his paths from the first day of conversion. He must first return to Jerusalem and deliver a gift from the Macedonian and Achaean Churches for the needs of the persecuted believers there. Paul mentions that the believers there felt an obligation to the Jews. "Rightly so", adds Paul. All Gentile nations ought to have a sense of obligation to the Jews for it was from them that the gospel became theirs (Romans 15:22). The Jewish believers were the first martyrs because of their commitment to Christ's command to bring the gospel to the gentiles throughout the world. Paul also asks that they pray for his own safety. He's been sufficiently warned not to go there because of those that are determined to see him dead. God does preserve his life and allows a safe journey there. The Key Truth: Spiritual plans need first be directed by God, his voice and direction. Never plan God's work without God's guidance. The Key Application: What would be at the top of your desires and plans? Do God's plans for you have anything to do with your ambitions? If your best laid plans have to do only with your wants, then you are living the misguided life. Take time each day alone with God to learn from him. Read the Scriptures and listen to the Holy Spirit as he shows you want your primary ambitions should look like. Repentance means that you stop going in your current direction and make a turn back to where you were intended to go, whether it pertains to your thoughts, plans or ambitions.
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Insights in Romans
Romans 15:7-22 The Story: Paul begins Romans 15:7 with "Receive one another, then, just as Christ also received you, to God's glory." This begs the question, "how did Christ receive you?" Let me suggest that the answer is the story of the gospel. Christ first became a servant to the Jews and then to the gentiles. In Romans 15:14 Paul begins to describe how he has sought to imitate Christ in his own life. The answer is connected to his purpose in writing the Book of Romans. In Romans 15:16, I was interested to find who / what Paul's client is. Certainly, like Christ, he became a servant to the Jews and Gentiles for the sake of Christ. But more specifically, his client (that which he served) was the gospel. "I serve the gospel of God like a priest, so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." Do you see that? In Romans 1:16 Paul says that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God for the salvation to all that believe in Jesus Christ." It's easy to say that your purpose is to love God, but what does that mean. Paul drives right to the point by saying that the foremost message of God to man, the gospel, has become his client. He poured his life out to preach and teach this message of God. Jesus, in Matthew 28:19-20 described the essentially same thing when he gave his disciples their mandate. "Go and make disciples of all nations." That is holding the gospel eye level, recognizing that this is God's purpose for you, to take this message everywhere so that the world will know that they have the opportunity. The Key Truth: The purpose of our life needs to be directly connected to the gospel of Jesus Christ, to make it known to your community first and then the world beyond. The Key Application: We all have our primary clients. To some it is their home, car, their leisure life - basically themselves. If you are a Christian, it may be that your faith has been reduced to a social function. We all need to take a serious inventory of our lives as to what it is that you serve. Is the gospel anywhere in your list? Paul has been making it clear in the book of Romans that the gospel needs to be forefront of your life. He has allowed you abilities and provisions so that you will be able to invest in serving the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world. What do you need to do? As a Christian, examine your motives and goals for this life, repent to God and realign your life for the future. Make the Gospel a life priority. Extend love to your community, pray diligently for them and ask God to open doors for you to share with your neigbours the wonderful message of Jesus Christ.
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Insights in Romans
Thursday, 30 September 2010 08:32
Romans 15:1-6 The Christian, the Church and its UnityWritten by GerryRomans 15:1-6 The Story: Paul is coming to the close of his letter to the Romans. He has clearly described what the gospel looks like and what it doesn't. He has described the folly of religion opposed to the freedom in Christ. In these last chapters, Paul has been talking about the life of the mature and spirit filled Christian. Beginning in Romans 14, Paul has spoken of how the believer's life is to be the surrendered life. In Chapter 15, begins with the subject of unity. We often think that unity happens when we other people think like we do. In fact, we will go to extreme measures to have people agree with. In the last Church where I pastored, the Church board was upset because the congregation was not in agreement with some of their decisions. They decided to have the congregation sign a covenant that they would strive for unity and stop disagreeing with their decisions. That's not unity, not even close. Unity is to stop striving to please yourself first and others last. If you are the "mature" believer, it will show up in how we treat others. Are you concerned about others above yourself. Can you set aside your opinions and minister to those that are in need? The answer, Paul says, is our commitment to the Scriptures and our relationship with Jesus Christ. How is this different from what happens in a Church without unity? The dis-unified Church has people that lead with a commitment to themselves, their reputation and their power. The Key Truth: We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves (Romans 15:1). The Key Application: The mature believer has to daily put to death the self-nature in him that seeks only what benefits him and makes his plan easy. What are the areas of contention in your life. You need to step back and again seek personal revival. Make certain that you are not seeking your own success over the sake of unity. Make the Word of God your joint meeting place to search what is Jesus taught and make that your point of agreement. Don't compromise God's Word but don't hold tightly to your opinion.
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Romans 14:13-23 The Story: What does it look like when a Christian walks in love as Jesus commanded? To answer that question, Paul uses an example of the food we eat. In his day, there was a great debate among Christians concerning the eating of certain foods. The Jews had long held to rigid dietary rules while other Christians had no knowledge of this faith tradition. Some Jewish believers decided that they no longer had to abide by the long standing rules and so would begin having the occasional pork chop. In so doing they became judged by other Jewish believers. These same Jewish believers were also judging gentile Christians for some of their practices. Today, the debate would not be what we choose to eat, but could be our taste of music, dress, entertainment and etc. Certainly, we are not to involve our bodies and minds in immoral activities. However, wagging tongues seem to prevail concerning many other things. We quickly pass judgment on others concerning non essentials. There are two main lessons. First, don't judge others because that is exactly what causes you to step out of love for your brethren. Second, if a certain activity is causing your brethren to stumble, it is best to stop that activity. By continuing to do so is to step out of brotherly love. The Key Truth: We step outside Jesus command to love others and judge not when we do things of offense to a Christian brother or sister. The Application: Stop judging others. You are not the Holy Spirit. And stop being arrogant by saying that you will do what you want, even though others think it is sin even when it may actually be okay between you and God. Your arrogant action is not okay with God.
Friday, 24 September 2010 08:31
Romans 14:1-12 The Christian, Legalism and MaturityWritten by GerryRomans 14:1-12 The Story: Romans 12:1 started the theme of God's Righteousness and the surrendered life of the believer. In all things, Christ is supreme and our role is submission. We have looked at the Christian and his ego, his attitude toward the government, his neighbour and eternity. In Romans 14 Paul turns his attention to the Christian and those he might deem as the weaker brother. The primary issue is not who is right or wrong, the issue is the believer's maturity. Don't go around thinking that you are the only one that is right and then looking down or judging those that think differently. The issues that Paul brings to surface are not that of doctrinal deviation, rather he's talking about the expressions of faith: What to eat or not and what to celebrate or not. The primary issue is that of the believer's maturity. The primary issue should be our love and surrender of Christ. Make certain your life is surrendered to Christ and is pointing others to him and not your traditions. The surrendered believer will understand what Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself." Furthermore, it is God who will judge and not you. Stick to being what God has commanded of you. The Key Truth: Legalism takes your attention off of Christ and upon yourself. Make the #1 thing the #1 thing in faith and practice. Love God and love others. The Application: Do you have the opinion that you are the better believer? Do you regularly judge others because of their life? The chance is that you have lost your connection with Jesus Christ. Give Christ the attention and love he deserves. Rather than judging others, begin loving them and praying for them. Don't compromise on things of truth but we need to separate tradition from truth. Your tradition does not have to be your neighbour's practice.
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Wednesday, 22 September 2010 08:30
Romans 13:8-14 The Christian, Neighbors and EternityWritten by GerryRomans 13:8-14 The Story: In Romans 13, Paul talks about how the transformed life includes our obedience to the government's laws. He now adds to the list our love for our neighbors and eternity. As for the neighbors, Paul is not talking about those in near geographical nearness, rather, the question is to whom can you be a neighbor to. That includes when you are on an errand or journey. Remember the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-36) where Jesus teaches about your neighbor. The good Samaritan treated the one in need as his neighbor. Paul says that we are to treat that neighbor with love, the kind of love that you would generally extend to yourself. I think of the teaching of Jesus to his disciples in John 13:34-35 where he tells his disciples to love his neighbor as himself. In another passage, the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus by asking him which was the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37-40). Jesus' response was to love God above all else and then love your neighbor as yourself. The Pharisees were, of course, trying to find Jesus guilty of breaking or speaking contrary to the law. The Pharisees were silenced because, by loving others, you were in fact upholding the majority of the laws of Exodus 20. Try murdering if you love them. Next Paul says that we are to stop wasting time because we have already lost valuable time for loving God and bringing people to Jesus. It's time to wake up and stop spending your life in satisfying the flesh. The Key Truth: When we are neighborly to those around us we are demonstrating the transformed life. The Application: We need to stop living like it's our lives that counts the most. That attitude is living after the flesh. We're trying to satisfy every thirst and hunger that the flesh has. We need to start pursuing God and righteousness. We need to surrender our lives as living sacrifices to God. What does that look like? We'll start obeying the laws of the land and above that, loving God and loving others as ourselves. What's the motive? Christ is returning and as it is, we've already lost time. We need to wake up to the purposes of God for our lives. We need to stop wasting time. My Prayer: Lord, take my life. It's yours. I'm holding nothing back. My greatest desire is that my life is to count for you alone. I want that to be reflected in how love my family, those around me, and seek to bring people to you.
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Romans 13:1-7 The Story: The Theme of God throughout Romans 12:1-15:13 is Righteousness. God is righteous in all his ways and requires all people to present their bodies as living sacrifices, the surrendered life to Christ. In Romans 13, Paul tells his readers that God has actually ordained government - another righteous act of God. There had to be a reason why Paul writes these verses. Some have written that since men and women had received Christ and hence introduced to God's kingdom, they were thinking that they had no obligation to the civil government of this world. However, Paul is telling them that God has also instituted civil government, as he did with the institutions of the home and Church. Since it was ordained by God, the believer's response needs to be obedience. I suppose what Paul is saying that believers need to be the best citizens of the land. To cheat the government of due taxes is then the spirit of this world and not of Christ. By living the surrendered life to Christ, God may call upon us to make changes in government in the name of righteousness and justice. The Key Truth: The sacrificed life extends to our role as citizens of civil government, in the name of Christ. The Application: It is easy to embrace the world's spirit concerning the government. That being our outlook, we cheat the government in every way that is inconvenient to us. When you are cheating someone, it is difficult to pray for them or influence the government for good. Who is your Prime Minister or President? God has called the believer to demonstrate obedience to your government and be leaders in praying for them. These prayers are not for their
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