Faith at work

DEVOTION

ROMANS

FAITH AT WORK

Rom 10:1-4

10:1 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.   3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

NIV

It seems that some believers, even whole denominations, have not grasps this truth. Why do believers insist on trying to live according to the law? This is not to say we should be able to do whatever we want, or desire, but to set up law to abide by seems counterproductive. The fact is none of us can fully abide by the law that was given to Moses and in fact neither could the Israelites. It is also true none of us can fully abide by any set of rules we establish to live by. We have our statement of faith, or what we believe in as an agreement for membership in a church of some denomination.  Most of statements of faith are based on the interpretation of scripture that denomination has determined to be correct. The flaw in this system if believe is two-fold. First, if different denominations have a different statement of faith, or what we believe or a constitution, then which is right or all could be wrong. Secondly, no matter which one we choose to agree with, we still cannot abide by them one hundred percent. We are always going to fail to be perfect in whatever we choose to believe or adhere to any set of rules for living, even as established by the scripture. That fact is any kind of law, however we define law, has no value toward righteousness. Although it is true we do need to make every effort to live in a manner that pleases God, we cannot make that into a set of rules or lists of do’s and don’ts. What pleases God is that be believe in his Son Jesus Christ. Our salvation is dependent on faith in Jesus alone, and faith alone. Our salvation is not Jesus plus something. Our salvation is not dependent on faith plus works. Jesus is our righteousness. However, because we love the Lord and desire to please him, we endeavor to live a holy life with the help of the Spirit. The idea of being under the influence of the Spirit, or God’s grace, is what defines us as believers. Yet we cannot make up rules which we think how we should live, that would be like the Israelites having zeal for God, but is based on knowledge, but flawed knowledge. However, we study the scriptures and gain more insight into how we should conduct ourselves in our daily living. Yet, we cannot refute the idea that a new believer, who has no knowledge of scripture, is saved. Once a person accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior, acknowledging their sin, repenting of it and turning their live over to Jesus, they are as saved as a believer of fifty years who has read and studied the scriptures. This truth is revealed to us in the parable about the owner of a field who hires harvesters. The first who have worked all day agreed to a wage, and when he hired more latter in the day, he hired them at the same wage. Those who labored all day were upset about those who just were hired and only worked a couple of hours were getting the same wage for the day. That is all about salvation, it does not matter how much we know about scripture, or how great our understanding is, a newborn believer is as saved as we are. Now, do we attempt to educate them in the rules? Do we try to mold them into a rule following disciple? Is that not up to the Spirit to enlighten each believer? He leads us all into the truth. Let us remember our life is one of faith. We believe in Jesus, we believe he will lead us, guide us, instruct us and help us to live a life of faith, a life of bringing glory to him. The whole idea of living by faith is not about how well we can abide by any rule, it is about living in a manner that brings glory and praise to our Lord. This is faith at work.

What if or What then

DEVOTION

ROMANS

WHAT IF OR WHAT THEN

Rom 9:22-33

22 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath — prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he says in Hosea:

"I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one,"   26 and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"  

27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. 28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality."   29 It is just as Isaiah said previously: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."  

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." 33 As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  

NIV

So often people want to read this as God does choose some people to show his wrath to and they are prepared for destruction. Some people make this to mean that God chooses who he will save and who he will not. But this whole dissertation starts out with “What if God”. The point starts with “What then shall we say?” All that he said from the “What if God” to the “What then shall we say?” is a “What if” and if is not the “What is”. God does not choose who his objects of wrath are and who his objects of mercy are. When we get to the point, he makes it clear Israel was his chosen people, however that does not mean the gentiles are objects of wrath. What is being said is that a person becomes the object of mercy through faith in Jesus Christ. Whosoever pursues righteousness will find it through faith. Although Israel is God’s chosen people, they have not received mercy, but have received wrath because they pursued righteousness through the law. The gentiles who did not have the law, pursued righteousness through faith. The whole “What if” scenario was to bring to the truth that God desires all men be saved through faith in Jesus Christ and not by some set of laws or rules or bylaws, or denominationalism, or lists of do’s and don’ts, but by faith. Because it is by faith, then whosoever believes will not perish, will not become the object of his wrath. People who choose to refuse to believe, although they have the opportunity to believe and be saved, will be the objects of his wrath. It is not by God’s choosing who will be shown mercy or wrath, but by man’s choice. Even if we go back to the idea that God will show mercy on who he wants to have mercy and harden who he wants to harden, does not mean the opposite of what was just say about righteousness. God did not choose to harden Israel’s heart and decide to have mercy of the gentiles. Although he raised Pharaoh with a hardened heart does not mean he decided in advance Pharaoh is an object of his wrath. He said he raised him up that way so God’s power and might could be shown to the world.  Who is to say that Pharaoh was not later shown mercy? Certainly it seems the very people God showed his mercy to by delivering them out of the hands of Pharaoh, became objects of wrath by their refusal to accept his mercy in Christ Jesus, and those who were once objects of wrath, the gentiles, like Pharaoh, became objects of his mercy through faith. It all boils down to the fact that we are saved by faith, not by works. A person is either in or out and it is by the choice of that person. It’s man’s choice to live under the what if or the what then.

Lump of Clay

DEVOTION

ROMANS

LUMP OF CLAY

Rom 9:19-21

19 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'"   21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

NIV

This is almost impossible to just say in this portion for Paul keeps on making his point through the whole of this chapter and actually beyond. When he wrote it, and sent it to the church, or gathering, someone would have read the whole of the letter out loud. Many of the people may have been illiterate so any who could read would then read it for the rest of the people. But we have to take it in smaller sections and there are many truths to explore. Here we would understand God’s will is supreme. What exactly does that mean? Does it mean that we really do not have any say as to who we are, or what we do for a living, or where we live, or what kind of service we do for our Lord? When we review some of the men of faith in the Old Testament we see God working in their lives bringing them to a place of where he can use them to demonstrate his glory. He did call them to do something special. We look at Noah, Abraham and Lot, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, David, Solomon, and or course the prophets, and we see God using them for his glory. He made or fashioned them into pottery for noble purpose. We cannot even attempt to compare ourselves to that kind of pottery, as we would have to conclude we have been fashion for common use. We think about men of more modern times who surely were fashioned for noble purposes. Men such as Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley and even closer to our present age, D.L. Moody and Billy Graham. There are others but we get the picture that we are nowhere within being that kind of pottery. When we think about the local church and our place in the body, we must know God has fashioned us into just the right kind of pottery for his purpose. We are just a lump of clay, being molded by God into whatever kind of pottery he desires. It does depend on our willingness to be that lump of clay.  We can live according to our own will, even being a Christian. We could decide to become a preacher, but if it were by our will and not his, we might preach well, but all we would be doing is holding water, as any normal clay pot could do. Unless we submit to his choice for how he uses us, we simple are not living a life of clay in the hands of the potter. We think of the song “Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me. Melt me, mold me. Fill me, use me. Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me.” Then there is the more famous song about the potters hand that include the words, “Take me, mold me, use me, fill me, I give my live to the Potter’s hand. Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me, I give my life to the Potter’s hand.” We can choose to live a life of our making, or we can choose to be that lump of clay. Which is better?

Purpose

DEVOTION

ROMANS

PURPOSE

Rom 9:14-18

14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."   16 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."   18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

NIV

There is this question as to whether God is unjust. How could God be unjust as he is the very example of being just? When Paul uses a portion or rather quotes the words of God that he spoke to Moses, it is somewhat taken out of context, and Paul writes this as inspired by the Spirit. Yet what God told Moses was during that time Moses and God were having a conversation and Moses wanted God to prove he would be with the people he lead out of Egypt. The conversation was long, and we cannot include all of it, but finally Moses asks to see his glory. God answers him, telling him he will cause his goodness to pass in front of him.

Ex 33:18-20

18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."

19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

NIV

This mercy and compassion was about doing what Moses requested. It is not to be taken as God chooses who he will have compassion and mercy and who he will not. That would make him unjust, treating each person differently. We know he does not show favoritism, he does not give salvation to one, and keep it from another. Yet in this passage we also have the concept about God hardening Pharaoh’s heart. This sort of gives us the idea God does chose some to not have mercy on, that he hardens people hearts, they have no choice in the matter and predestination is right. However, if we look at what God actually said it might mean something else. When we read the actual account of this conversation the Lord told Moses to have with Pharaoh we can see God raised Pharaoh up, God created Pharaoh for the express purpose to be able to reveal all God’s power and might to the world. Yet Pharaoh still had a choice in the matter for included in this conversation God tells Pharaoh, “You still set yourself against my people”. Pharaoh set his own heart, but God raised him up. That does not mean God created him to be like he was, but that God saw a man who had hatred within himself and God caused this man to raise to power in Egypt and to be the Pharaoh at the time God called Moses to go there and lead the people out of Egypt. God made sure the right man, with a hardened heart was the Pharaoh. There have been people throughout the ages that have had harden or evil hearts. God may well use them in some way, such as the many times he disciplined his people because of their disobedience and had some evil king or ruler take them into captivity. It is always God purpose to bring people to repentance and belief. We just cannot comprehend God chooses some people to send to hell, or to perish, it still is up to the individual as to how he directs his heart. Is our heart directed to evil or to God? That is what it is always about. However, God will raise up those who have directed their heart toward evil for his purpose. He will put them in powerful places for the purpose of bringing people to him. He did not make them evil, they did, but he will use them for his purpose. What this should show us is that God has a purpose for all people, and that translates into what is his purpose for our life. How does God what to use us to show his power and might to the world. God has raised us up for his purpose, not so we can live for our own purpose. What purpose does God have for us? What is our purpose?

God's love

DEVOTION

ROMANS

GOD’S LOVE

Rom 9:6-13

6 It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."   8 In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."   

10 Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad — in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls — she was told, "The older will serve the younger."   13 Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."  

NIV

We have come to the place the reformers place all their election doctrine on. That means they believe God decides who will be saved and who will perish. This doctrine has been debated by the best of theologians throughout the years since it was written. To best understand it we first have to deal with the idea of the Jews saying they are the elect because of being the seed of Abraham. But Ishmael was also the seed of Abraham and so Paul is making the distinction between Ishmael and Isaac, and that Isaac is the seed by which they are descendants. This matters because Isaac is the son of the promise, while Ishmael was the son of human decision. But since Isaac also had two sons, Jacob and Esau there had to be a distinction by God as to what nation would be his chosen people and what nation would not, so he choose Jacob, or the nation of people who came from the loins of Jacob. It is evident God was not speaking about two people, but two nations of people. The prophet Malachi makes that clear.

Mal 1:1-5

:1 An oracle: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.  

2 "I have loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'How have you loved us?' "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" the LORD says. "Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals." 4 Edom may say, "Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins." But this is what the LORD Almighty says: "They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD. 5 You will see it with your own eyes and say, 'Great is the LORD-even beyond the borders of Israel!' 

NIV

The whole discourse of the prophet gives way to God using the names of Jacob and Esau as nations, the descendants of the two men. There is evidence that some of the nation of Esau served God and some of the nation of Jacob became reprobates. Just because the people were descendants of Jacob didn't mean they served God and were saved. This also bears out that Esau the older never served Jacob the younger as men. What this all boils down to is that God did determine that the descendants of Jacob would be his chosen people. It is not that he hated Esau the man, or loved Jacob the man. Consider Jacob was the deceiver, he lied with the help of his mother, to his father and stole the blessing of Esau the firstborn. If people want to hang their hat on the fact God loved the liar, the deceiver, rather than the rightful firstborn, they hang they hat on the wrong hat stand. This is all about nations not individual people and it is about God having chosen a nation to call his own, for the express reason to reveal who he is to the whole of his creation. We have to remember although God loved Jacob, chose the children of Jacob, the Jews as his people, they rejected him, killed his Son. Likewise as he said he hated Esau, or the gentiles, he offers his salvation, his Son to the descendants of Esau, the gentiles and we as gentiles accepted that salvation. So then Jacob rejects Jesus and Esau accepts Jesus. Who now does God love? Who is the real Israel? Who are the children of the promise? Because we are not from the line of Jacob, but rather Esau, being not Jewish, but gentile, we still are children of the promise made to Abraham and through the line of Isaac and his firstborn son Esau. Therefor it is not about God choosing a person, but a nation of people, Israel. But who is Israel? As we already know it is not by the circumcision of the flesh, for Abraham also circumcised Ishmael even before Isaac was born. Israel is made up of the people who have circumcised their heart. So a circumcised Jew may well not be Israel, and we who were born a gentile, uncircumcised in that sense, become Israel because of our heart being circumcised. We are the children of Abraham, the children of the promise, the children of faith, we believe God, as Abraham did, and because he believed it was credited onto him as righteousness. That is the story of people of faith, we believe God, we believe in Jesus and it is credited unto us as righteousness. We are the people God loves, even though we physically come through the line of Esau, not Jacob. So where is this election?  

Ancestry

DEVOTION

ROMANS

ANCESTRY

Rom 9:1-5

9:1 I speak the truth in Christ — I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

NIV

We are starting another long discourse which by rights we should include it all in order to justly view these words within the context of the whole. But then we would also righty just put the whole letter to the Romans in, for as with any letter, it is meant to be read all at once. If we received a long letter from a friend, several pages long, we would not just read one sentence and wait until another day to read one more sentence. That is the way it is with all the letters, the gospels and epistles. But there is truth all throughout these letters and so we will hang our hat on them as they stand out to us by the prompting of the Spirit. Paul was a Jew, and is filled with sorrow that so many of his fellow Jews have not seen Jesus as the Messiah. Here in the beginning of what someone determined to be chapter 9, we see Paul laying out the case that Jesus came into the world through Israel. Israel is the chosen people, being adopted as sons was there’s for the taking. They were given the covenant, the law, the temple, where the presence of God resided, and they had the promises of God. The whole purpose we have all the genealogy within the Old Testament and what Matthew includes it to show that Jesus came through the human line of Israel. We will see throughout scripture Israel claims to be the sons of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac. Isaac having the twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. But we know from reading ahead that just because of human ancestry they are not automatically given access to eternal life. They, like all mankind must accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in order to gain eternal life. But also that when the scripture declares that all of Israel will be saved, it is not talking about the human ancestry of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac, but rather those who are by faith the sons of Abraham whose faith was credited unto him as righteousness. What good is human ancestry other than to determine where in the world their ancestors came from? Today we call ourselves Americans, although many of us have ancestry that hails from all over the globe. There are a few who hyphenate there heritage, and there are those who although not born here, go through the process to become a naturalized citizen of this country. They basically are born again as a citizen of the United States of America. This is the truth of becoming Israel. It does not matter the human ancestry, but it matters who is born again into the promise given to Abraham. Although the nation of Israel was given it all, they refused and God is making the case through Paul that we all can be Israel just through faith in Jesus, having not our flesh circumcised but our heart. It is sad to think the nation of Israel was given everything so they might be in Christ and gain eternal life in the presence of God. Although Israel today still believes in Jehovah, they are still waiting for Messiah to come. We are so blessed to have the truth revealed to us and been able to see the truth of God in Jesus Christ. What our life would have been had we not seen and accepted Jesus is too much to even consider. Surely we would have been dead by now and dead in our sin, forever lost, condemned. But praise God he made sure we saw his truth, his Spirit broke through our hardened heart and opened our eyes so we could see. Through faith we have become the Israel with the promise. Instead of human ancestry defining who we are, it is our divine ancestry who declares we are the sons of God.

Never ending love

DEVOTION

ROMANS

NEVER ENDING LOVE

Rom 8:31-39

31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."  

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

NIV

Having dealt with God giving us all things, let’s turn our attention to the idea of being separated from the love of Christ. Nothing at all! However, Paul makes sure we understand what all is. First, the nothing includes the condition of life: trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword are all situations we could find ourselves in during the course of our lives. None of that would have any effect on how much Christ loves us. He does not stop loving us just because we are hungry, or experiencing hardship or trouble. We might be tempted to think Jesus doesn’t care about us when our life situation is not so good, but we would be wrong. Satan would want us to believe Jesus stopped loving us because we are without something we need, like food and clothing. But Jesus does not stop loving us. As humans it is difficult to understand a never ending love because so often we hear people say, “I Just don’t love you anymore”. Divorce is filled with love coming to an end. People loved each other when they were married, but then something happens and that love is revoked. Jesus never revokes his love for us. He is always there before the Father interceding on our behalf. There is not any power in the spiritual realm that can separate us from his love. This is so comforting to know Jesus will never stop loving us. Even when we fail him, he still loves us. People cannot say that. We have actually heard mothers threaten their children about not loving them if they continue to misbehave. We know they won’t, at least we hope they wouldn’t, but the idea of voicing that out loud is just plain nasty. Jesus would never tell us he would stop loving us just because we misbehave. He went to the cross and died a horrible death while we were yet sinners. That is how much he loves us. In fact, that is how much he loves everyone, even those who have not yet accepted him and are still living as sinners. This idea of the never ending love of Jesus is supposed to carry over into our lives. We are supposed to love the same way Jesus does. We always seem to quote the two greatest commands about loving God with our whole being and loving our neighbor as ourselves, but he also told us to love each other as he loves us.

John 13:34-35

34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." 

So then how much does Jesus love us? That is how much we are supposed to love each other, with a never ending love.

He gives

DEVOTION

ROMANS

HE GIVES

Rom 8:31-39

31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."  

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

NIV

We most likely should just use the first verse of the response and leave the rest for the next day. If God is for us, who can be against us says it all. Is there anything in this world that is more powerful that God? We just cannot come up with anything no matter how long we sit here and rack our brain. There is no one or anything which can overpower God. No wealth, no illness, no evil power, nothing can outwit or out strength God. He spoke everything into existence and if he choose, he could speak something out of existence. Throughout the scriptures we see Jesus speaking things out of existence. He even spoke death out of existence with the little girl and with Lazarus. Can any of us speak ourselves immortal? God can! Now he has given us some authority to speak certain things and something will happen. He has given us that authority to use his name against sickness and evil. But it is still by his authority. There is no one who can cure death, but Jesus can. It is by the power of God, Jesus was crucified. The Jews might have believed they caused Jesus to be crucified, but they were wrong for that was God’s plan all along, that is why Jesus came in the form of man, so he could die for our sin. It was by the power of God that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, to be the firstborn of many brothers, us. It is by the power of God that we are born again, and thus born as immortal beings. Oh death, where is thy sting? It is by the power of God we breathe, as he was the one who breathed the breath of life into man. Nothing can win the battle against God and that is final. But the wonderfulness of all his power is aimed right at us. Look at what is said. The fact that God did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us, how we he not, along with his son, graciously give us all things. What are all things? He has the power to give us all things. Could that mean both spiritually and materially? If it includes material things, why are some believers so poor? Why do that have nothing? Could the all things just mean immortality? Could it mean freedom from death? Because the next statement about who can bring any charges against us, it might mean God gives us power over sin. He declares, he speaks us innocent, he declares, he speaks, us holy and blameless in his sight. That could be the all things as it seems within the context. But, still all things could just mean all things. It might mean that if we have nothing it is because we do not believe God. We certainly do not have eternal life unless we believe God. But could that also apply to our health, or our wealth? The world spends enormous amount of time devoted to our health. Many people produce all sorts of products and services which are supposed to make us healthy. There is always something new that proves they can cure us of anything. There is also a multitude of people who can tell us how we can become wealthy, how we can save more money, how we can invest for our future. But it is God who can give us all things. The Greek word translated give is the middle voice of the Greek word translated as grace. This could mean he grants us favor, he pardons us. So then all things would be applied in only in the spiritual sense. But we know there is more. God declares he is the God that heals us. He is the God who provides for us. He is the God who protects us. He is the God who does it all. He brings about everything in our life within his authority. He graciously gives us all things. Is it possible the reason we have struggles in life because we simply do not believe God? There is no other meaning for the Greek word translated all things, other than the whole, everything, any, all. It bowls down to the fact that God gives, which means we receive, we cannot take, he gives.

A good work

DEVOTION

ROMANS

A GOOD WORK

Rom 8:28-30

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

NIV

This is one of those portions of scripture which may be used by the Calvinists in an attempt to prove only a select few who God decides will be saved. But that is not what this says. First we must look at the words about all things working for good for those who love God and who have been invited via the gospel which he set out before us, his purpose. The Greek word for purpose is the setting forth of a thing, putting in view. That is what he did with the gospel, he put it in view of people and invited them into his plan, his redemption of them. That is all pretty cool. God being all knowing knows who will accept his invitation and those who would not. Just as in the days of Noah, God knew Noah would answer his call, and he knew everyone else who would ignore his call and thus perish. He also knew ahead of time when he called Abram that Abram would heed the call and leave his home to come to a place he did not know. In the same way God knew that Moses would listen to him, even though Moses tried to talk God out of calling him, he did do what God planned for him. God knows everyone ahead of time who will answer the call, who will accept his redemption and believe in Jesus Christ. He knew all this even before the foundation of the earth, before he spoke anything into existence. We mere mortals cannot possible wrap our little finite brains around such an enormous concept as God knowing everything even before it happens in what we call time. However, another concept that is difficult to grasp is God is not in time, there is no such thing as time for God, and everything is present. So he knows ahead of time who will answer his invitation and for those of us who have, God predetermined to conform us to the image of his Son. That is when we accept his salvation, as he foreknew we would, he set about to do good work in us transforming us to be like Jesus. This is what God does in our life, he works for our good, so we will be like Jesus. Because we love God, we accept his working in our lives for our good. Verse 30 is where it gets a little dicey. But within the context it makes perfect sense. Those who God knew before hand, he would conform to the image of his Son, he invited. Here it is not that he just decided to invite only certain people, but that to all people the invitation goes out. God knows who will come in and who will be conformed into the image of his Son. For those who came in and are being transformed he rendered righteous, (justified) and to those he rendered righteous, he honors them, he imparts glory on them. We have to know God's will is that all should accept his call, which all should be conformed to the image of his Son, and none should perish.

1 Tim 2:2-4

 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

NIV

2 Peter 3:8-9

 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

NIV

The verses above should prove to us that God calls all men to repentance. Jesus came for all people, he died for the whole world, not just for a select few. Salvation is for everyone, the call of God is for all people and he wants everyone to know his truth. But the fact remains only some will come, will answer the call. Those who do, he knew ahead of time and he decided ahead of time that those who answered, he would transform into the likeness of his Son. That is us, we are being transformed. God is working in our lives, he is changing us little by little to be more like Jesus. It would be too much for us to make that transition all at once, we just could not handle it, and God knows that. So he is constantly at work in our lives, doing a good work.  

Ask for help

DEVOTION

ROMANS

ASK FOR HELP

Rom 8:26-27

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

NIV 

To ask for help can be difficult. Most often we might feel we can do it ourselves. If we do not know how to do something we try to figure it out, or learn so that we than can do it without asking someone to assist us. It is most likely a pride issue which keeps us from asking for help. There are times certain tasks are just beyond our abilities and we have to ask for help, praying perfectly within the will of God is one of them. Although we have the word of God and we know many of the desires God has for us, there are times we just do not know how to pray. We would think praying should be easy. We know we should pray for the sick, especially if we are one of the pastors or elders or deacons of the church. The word of God tells us about this being sick.

James 5:13-16

13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

NIV

So then we know any leader within the church should know how to pray for the sick. However, there is a condition attached to this type of prayer. It must be a prayer in faith otherwise the sick will not get well. Here is where faith meets with the Spirit. The Spirit helps us know how to pray perfectly within the will of God. Now about the sick getting healed also has something to do with confessed sin. We cannot go forward to ask to be anointed for a healing if we have any unconfessed sin in our life. So that confession should come before the prayer for healing. But the point is the Spirit is there to help us pray. The prayer for healing is just one kind of prayer. How do we pray for other aspects of our life? Do we pray about every aspect of our life? Do we just go about doing our own thing, making our own choices or decisions about what we should do until we find ourselves in some kind of trouble, then ask God for help? Why wouldn’t we ask God first what we should do? Do we know what he would say, or do we know how to ask with the right motives. We know if we ask with the wrong motives it is useless to ask. But the Spirit knows the perfect will of God and if we allow the Spirit to guide our prayer we will be right where we should be at all times and doing exactly what God desires for us. There are some denominations that would interpret this groaning of the Spirit with words that cannot expressed as speaking in tongues. That might be, but even then some kind of words are expressed. So then how does the Spirit pray? He prays through us, our words, but he guides those words. We need to ask the Spirit how to pray, what to pray. But what may also be the point of this truth is that because God searches our heart he also knows the mind of the Spirit because they are one. So then God prays for us to himself which then would always be perfectly within his will. Does the Spirit pray even when we are not? That would be interesting. Most likely it is the Spirit guiding our prayer, so we need to ask the Spirit what we should pray. Asking for help to pray within the will of God is a good thing. Pride has no place in prayer, so every prayer should be with the help of the Spirit. Ask for help.  

waiting

DEVOTION

ROMANS

WAITING

Rom 8:18-25

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

NIV

Sometimes we get impatient for whatever we are hoping will happen in our lives. As children we were hoping someday we would be adults, we couldn’t wait for the day we could, whatever it is that children can’t do until they are older. We couldn’t wait for the day we did not have to go to school. We could not wait for the day we met the right person. Then marriage, then more waiting for us men, waiting for our wives and our little girls to be ready for wherever we were going. We hope for the day we can buy our first home. We hope for the day we get that job, or position or career we always wanted. Then we hope for the day we retire. We are always hoping and waiting for something, it just seems that is the way of life. But here we are waiting for the day our bodies will be resurrected into the glory of the Lord. Although Jesus has said the Kingdom of God is near, he also talked about the kingdom of God as a place we are already in. We are no longer citizens of this world, but citizens of the kingdom of God.

Phil 3:19-21

 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

NIV

So now we spent our time eagerly waiting for the return of Jesus to call us home to be in glory with him. But the fact still remains that we are already in the kingdom of God. Just as every person lives within an earthly kingdom, we live in God’s kingdom. Those who live in the United States live within the kingdom of the United States, subject to the laws of the land. Foreign people who come to this country go through a process to become a naturalized citizen. Those born here are born as citizens of this country. When we become born again we become citizens of the kingdom of God. So in some sense it would seem we have dual citizenship. We are still subject to the laws of the land we live in, but we are now living here as foreigners or aliens.

1 Peter 2:11-12

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

NIV

So although we hope, we wait patiently for the day our bodies are resurrected, we are already living in the new creation, the kingdom of God, even if we cannot see it in the physical realm. Although we live in the physical realm of this world, we are no longer citizens of the world, but are rather ambassadors of the kingdom of God to this world. We speak for our sovereign Lord. In some sense we have diplomat immunity in this world, that is we are not subject to the laws of the physical realm, but live as children of God. The problem is when we are not living as children of God, when we are not eagerly waiting for that day we will be in the glory of God, we live as though we are in the world and take on the laws of the world as ours. What are the laws of the world? We know them well. These laws are based on self-centeredness, getting ahead, success, achievements, gaining power, wealth, fame and all the material goods we can accumulate. But we live by the laws of the kingdom of God, which is loving him we all our being and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Yet we wait, we wait and we wait patiently for the day of the redemption of our physical bodies, for our spirit is already with God.  

Son

DEVOTION

ROMANS

SON

Rom 8:12-17

12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation — but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba,  Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

 NIV

This is of a personal nature in which I write todays devotion instead of the third person I will write as a singular person. This being a son of God has great meaning to me and so I have considered this as who I am. You might have a similar story so ponder on yours as you read mine. I think of all the validation of our heritage we do, and the importance we place on our forefathers, such as my Grandfather Carl Frederick Saurbier, born in Bremen Germany, and my Grandfather David Westerwelle of the Westerwelles of Southern Germany. I am the son of my father and as my son is already in the presence of God, I stand at the last of the line of my family name here on this Earth, save some cousins. Yet as important as these past men were to whom I am today, the one Almighty Father has declared me to be His son. I have been claimed and named by God and as His son, and how powerful is that! Although only a limited amount of items were bequeathed to me by my Grandpa Saurbier and a few items passed on to me from my Grandpa Westerwelle, I have an untold fortune and future as a co-heir of Jesus Christ. I am a son of my Father, this now is my new identity, my new family name, my new heritage, my new lineage and it is this which I should place the greatest amount of importance upon. Yes, I have an Earthly beginning and history but I have a Heavenly ending and future as one of the sons of my Father, God Almighty, creator of all things made. I will share in his glory, Hallelujah!  You too have the same heritage as I do. 

It's superman

DEVOTION

ROMANS

IT’S SUPERMAN

Rom 8:5-11

5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. 9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

NIV

Again we deal with the contrast between the sinful natural and the spiritual nature, or the mind that is set what the sinful nature desires and the mind that is set of what the Spirit desires. This is the key to the whole issue of being saved or not. It is not about if we sin we are condemned, because although we have our mind set on what the Spirit desires, we mess things up or slip into some unrighteous thought, or react inappropriately, say a wrong thing, or act in manner that does not glorify God. However, our mind is not set on wanting what the sinful nature wants, in fact, we find it despicable when we have those moments which would be defined as sin. We are sickened by the fact that we failed to maintain control of our mind, or kept ourselves focused on what the Spirit desires. Just because the Spirit dwells within us, just because of having the Spirit of Christ and we belong to Christ does not mean we become overtaken like some mindless being, who can only think, speak and act by some mind-meld process by the Spirit, that he has taken control of our mind and we have no thoughts other than his. It is rather a process by which we yield to the prompting of the Spirit. We know the word of God, we have hidden much of it is our heart or mind. When faced with situations we have the free will to think on our own, or to allow the Spirit to prompt us to think another way. We do not want to yield to our sinful nature, but from time to time it rears its ugly head, and we fail to listen to the voice of the Spirit. Yet our mind is set to listen to the Spirit, we want to do what he prompts. We know this is the only way to live, and to life. That old sinful nature, if we live according to it, we will surely die, not just the body, but our spirit as well. But because we have our mind set on the Spirit’s desires we will live in that way and we will have life eternal. This eternal life is not just in the spirit, but in the body as well. God has promised that if we are in Christ and the Spirit of Christ is in us, because Jesus was resurrected from the dead, which is the death of his body, we too will be resurrected. Our bodies will be resurrected as Jesus’s was and we will be transformed from perishable to imperishable, from corruptible to incorruptible, from mortal to immortal. We will be in a glorified state as Jesus is. We will be able to travel faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a train, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, in that sense we will be superman, living in the presence of God.

No condemnation

DEVOTION

ROMANS

NO CONDEMNATION

Rom 8:1-4

8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,   2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,   4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

NIV

It is almost wrong to stop at any one place in this letter as in the way Paul writes, he just keeps on going with a thought for nearly the whole of the letter. He has what modern English majors would say, one large run on sentence. There are many, ‘wherefores’ , ‘therefores’ and ‘what shall we say then’ to count. However, there are also these nuggets all through the letter. The fact there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, is one of those nuggets. It is the law of the Spirit which has set us free from the law of sin and death. What does the law of the Spirit mean? But first we must deal with the no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The preceding chapter described sinful man, so to speak, and one who does what he does not want to do and does not do what he does what to do. This is almost carnal thinking, and we certainly could identify with that struggle. But that is not the same person who lives by the Spirit it would seem. Yet if we accept, which we have, Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are not condemned. We live without condemnation from God because we are in Christ Jesus. But living by the Spirit comes with being in Christ as the Spirit of Christ dwells within us. Because we are in Christ, Christ is in us. Therefor we are no longer under control of the law of sin and death, but are living by the law of Spirit and life. Again being in Christ makes us meet all the righteous requirements of the law. We are not under the law, but are in Christ. This should make us different then when before we accepted Christ. We are different. We do not want to sin, we try to not sin, we do not live to sin, but live in Christ. Yet, we still sin. We just don’t get it completely. Should we really be able to live without any sin because the Spirit lives in us? It seems the idea is that we don’t live to sin, but live to please God. But we fail from time to time, yet how can we fail if the Spirit lives in us? When we make a mistake and sin, are we squelching the Spirit? Is that what that means? But at the same time if we say we do not sin, we deceive ourselves for we are not perfect, but the Spirit is. Still we are confident we do not live according to the sinful nature and we do live according to the Spirit. We do not purpose in our heart to sin which is living according to the sinful nature. We purpose in our heart to live according to the Spirit. We rejoice because the Spirit is alive within us and reveals our failures, our sin, so we can repent.  When we think or act according to our fleshly desires, the Spirit is there revealing our wrong thought or action. Before accepting Jesus, we did not have the Spirit to reveal our sin, we just lived in sin and knew no better. But now we do and we want the Spirit to show us the errors within our thinking and behaving so we can change and be more like Christ. The self is always there wanting its way. We know the Spirit will help us overcome the self because we are in Christ. But the blessing is that even in our state of transition, changing from the old ways to the new ways, which is a constant state of evolution, we have no condemnation from God. He does not condemn us to death because we are not yet perfect. He sees us through Jesus and he has declared us holy and righteous in his sight, therefor he does not condemn us because we are not perfect in the flesh. That does not mean we should live to satisfy the flesh, it just means when we fail, he does not say, “Well, you had your chance, and you blew it, now you’re condemned”. We are in Christ and the Spirit lives within us and God sees us as his children whom he loves and desires to fellowship with. Jesus died for our sin, we are free from death because of Jesus. We are free from condemnation because of Jesus. Let us live in that freedom. Let us live according to the Spirit, allowing him to motivate our lives in a way that pleases God.

Angry but thankful

DEVOTION

ROMANS

ANGRY BUT THANKFUL

Rom 7:14-25

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

NIV

Again this seems as clear as mud. The idea which Paul is taking about is that although he is a born again believer in Christ Jesus and desires to do all the right things, he can’t help but see that he still sins. What’s up with that? How could we think we are any better the great Apostle Paul? All the desire in the world to keep ourselves from sinning is not going to help, we are still going to sin. The sin, however, is not the master of our spirit if we understand what Paul is saying. Our Spirit is in Christ and we desire to do all the right things, and not do any of the wrong things. But as long as we live in this body, we are going to find sin in ourselves. It almost sounds like Paul is making an excuse of being human and as such cannot stop from committing sin. Yet later in this letter Paul will say not to make any provision for the flesh. Is he contradicting himself? We think not, as he is saying his wants to do want is right, but fails and in failing he is upset with himself, but at the same time is thankful to God because of Jesus, who bears his and our sin. Saying that the reason we sin is because we are human and we cannot help ourselves is making an excuse. But to say I desire to not sin, but to do good should be our mindset. However, at the same time, sin in the body does not just happen by itself. Sin in the body seems to be a result of a decision of the mind.  However, Paul admits he is a wretched man and asks who will rescue him his body of death. Here we find the duel nature of humanism. The spirit and the body, and if we carry that through to being create in God’s image, our soul. Can the soul be defined as our personality or our mind? This leaves who we really are, our spirit who has a soul and lives in the body.  We, the spirit we, the true self, wants to live a sinless life because we want to imitate Christ. Yet the body is not willing to obey. The soul, the mind makes calls that the body listens to and sin happens. How wretched is that? But we too have to admit that we are so thankful that Jesus bears our sin and as the next sentence which Paul writes is therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We will spend more time on that latter, but we need to know as the members of our body seem to still be a slave to sin, our spirit wants to live with Christ and be holy and blameless. It is difficult to wrap our head around that, as if we have no control of our body. It like we keep going back and forth with this idea. Can we be saved and still sin? It seems that is the case, however back that sounds. We are never going to be perfect as long as we live in a body that has not been changed from corruptible to incorruptible, and that will not happen until we are taken up from this earth. So let us try our best to live rightly, not being pleased with our failures, but being thankful to God for Christ Jesus.