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Romans 1
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
Perhaps Romans 1:16 is what one normally thinks about from Chapter 1 of this book, but there is much to discuss before we get to that part.
Paul encourages. He does this a lot. One can imagine why. Here is a group of Christians in the middle of hostile territory. Some of them were going through some tough times...well why don't we say that all of them were going through some tough times, because it was true. Just as it is in the Middle East and parts of Africa and other parts of the world where Christians are in the minority we know from what we read in the papers and online that many of them are being persecuted and tortured and even killed. In Paul's time it was no different. These people were being pounded day after day. Paul encourages them. However he does not encourage them with platitudes but with TRUTH.
Vs 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.
Paul says he thanks God for them through Jesus Christ. Not because they were in Rome, but because of their faith! It was a strong faith and a faith that was not shy. It was a faith that was being talked about and proclaimed,something that was lifted up as an example of faith. A faith that Paul says is being proclaimed, not only in Rome,but a faith that is being proclaimed throughout the whole known world! In due time, this faith would reach the whole world that we even know today.
Vs 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;
Paul is so impressed with their faith that he uses the Roman Christians as examples of how faith should be. He encourages them by saying is praying for them constantly and finally, he may even be able to visit them in person. He is stoked! He wishes that he could see them in person to impart some spiritual gift. What this gift was or would have been, he fails to mention. Maybe because it was not up to him which gift the Spirit would give them. That is best left to the Spirit, who decides what gift is needed to build up the body of Christ. At any rate, this gift would be used to "establish" them... To make them firm; to bolster their faith and to build them up even further.
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Paul was eager to come to visit the church at Rome. Interestingly, he states that he has been prevented from doing so. I reckon this perhaps in two different ways. 1) That the Spirit Himself prevented Paul from fulfilling his desire to visit. This is not unheard of even in Paul's ministry. Paul was very sensitive to the Spirit and His leading and he would not have wanted to go against what the Spirit said. If the door was not open, then he would have to be satisfied to wait. This even happens to us today. Many times I have been asked to travel to someplace to minister and my answer has always been, "If the Lord opens the door I will be there." One caveat in that...make sure you are willing to go if the door does open...don;t let it be an excuse for you NOT to go just because you are being stubborn. I too, speak with experience on this as there have been times, I have resisted the Spirit's leading just because I felt it would be a bad move. We all need practice what we preach and trust God more...me included!
2) The other way this could be looked at is that Satan was delaying his visiting the Romans. This too is echoed in Scripture for if you read Daniel 10:10-14 we see that when Daniel had prayed that an Angel of God was dispatched but he was stopped from seeing Daniel for 21 days until Michael came and interceded with the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" who was preventing the messenger in reaching Daniel. Scholars have conclude that this so-called prince was actually a demon who had dominion over Persia. Is it any wonder that there are problems in the Middle-East today? These demons still exist...and they still battle the Lord and His people.
Paul also makes it clear that he is ministering to ALL PEOPLE. Not just the Jews, but also the Gentiles...which is basically everyone else. In our own lives, we must be open and willing to minister and to tell our testimony to anyone and everyone. We do not have the right to with hold the keys of the kingdom, which is what we are doing when we refuse to give the good news to people we do not like or to people we don't think deserve to hear the Gospel. Open yourself up to the possibilities. God will do the rest.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
Here is these 2 verses is the crux of all of Romans. Verses 16 and 17 Lay the foundation of Paul's belief and practice of the Gospel message.
Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel! Why? Because it is the power of God!
For what purpose? For salvation to everyone who believes!
To whom does this apply? To the Jew first and also to everyone else!
What is the message? The righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel message!
How shall we grasp such a message of Salvation? By Faith! as it is written," But the righteous man shall live by faith."!
This stuff preaches itself! You do not need to add to it at all. Just ask the right questions and the answers are self-evident!
Blessings to you as you read through Romans!
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
Romans:The Beginning
Romans 1 (NASB)
1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures
Who is Paul? Why is he here? Why is he writing to the Romans?
3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,
Who is Jesus? Why has He come?
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
What have we Gained from Jesus? What are we to give back?
7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
To whom do these blessings pertain? What are we called by God? What do we receive?
Blessings all!
1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures
Who is Paul? Why is he here? Why is he writing to the Romans?
3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,
Who is Jesus? Why has He come?
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
What have we Gained from Jesus? What are we to give back?
7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
To whom do these blessings pertain? What are we called by God? What do we receive?
Blessings all!
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Romans Outline
We are studying the book of Romans in Sunday School. I will be blogging some points about the book here. Check back occasionally as the posts will probably not be regular,but rather when I have time. Blessings! --El
Romans Outline
Outline
- Commendation, Greetings and Doxology (ch. 16)
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
The Joy of Learning
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul
Learn from me!
1) God made us to love learning
a) Curious
b) Intelligent
2) God made us to share learning
These are how many times these words are used in Scripture...
Teach 123
teacher 68
teachers 73
taught 59
teaches 14
teaching 89
teachings 9
3) God made us to love sharing
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Monday, September 1, 2014
God is Light
[ God Is Light ] This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
John is very precise to tell us that God is light. In fact he also tells us that in HIM there is no darkness at all. And why should there be? Darkness has no substance; it occupies no space; it has not energy. Darkness is simply the absence of light.
But God is LIGHT! He has substance. He occupies space and time He has energy...and He is also beyond those limitations as well. God is the exact opposite of darkness God is LIGHT. He aggressively banishes darkness. Darkness cannot aggressively banish light, can it? Darkness relies on the LIGHT to even survive.
I am sure you have heard it said that a single candle cannot be extinguished by all the darkness in the Universe. This is true. Darkness only exists because light has not arrived. Once it arrives, darkness is destroyed.
That is the analogy that John wants us to grasp. Because there is no power beyond that which God is able to wield. God is light.
God also lives in YOU. Once you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, God sent his Holy Spirit to live in you as John has also stated: 1 John 4:4
You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
So be encouraged! You have a light within yourself, given to you by God which is able to stand. You cannot do this on your own or in your own strength, but with God's help, you can banish the darkness that threatens to overtake us every day. Go and Shine. You have God. God is light.
Blessings All!
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