Romans 6

Hope all of your Mondays weren’t too rough.  As I promised Romans six is starting the week of everyday posts.  Monday is my first day of the week, because I run on a school schedule. I apologize if you consider Sunday the first day, but it’s just not.

We left off with Paul telling the Christian in Rome about sin and we meet back with him talking about the same thing, sin.  However, this time Paul discusses freedom from sin.  The first few verses are summarized very nicely in verse 10: “For the death that He died, He died to sin once and for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.”  Or in lyrical words, “He became sin that knew no sin.”  When Jesus died sin died with Him.  Not in the sense that sin is no longer in this world, because that is definitely not true, but in the sense that sin can no longer find a home in us.  Having been freed from sin, we no longer have to be slaves to it. We are now slaves of righteousness (verse 18). 

We become slaves to whom or whatever we serve ahead of God. In verse 16 Paul says, “we are either slaves of sin resulting in death, or slaves of obedience resulting in righteousness.”  And in verse 12 Paul warns us to “not let sin reign in our mortal body so that we obey its lusts.”  All of these verses bring about one idea, freedom in eternal life.  I mean, seriously, what’s more freeing than living forever?  But of course with freedom comes responsibility.  Choosing to follow God could be one of the most difficult decisions we ever make.  I don’t mean accepting him in the way most of us do, with saying “yes Lord, I believe you died for my sins…etc.”  I mean giving yourself to Him wholeheartedly; giving up your old life and becoming new in Him.  “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus” (verse 23). 

One of the verses that I really think helps us realize what died from sin means is verse 13: “…present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead…” Although it is a bit weird I really love the way it puts it.  We are to give ourselves to God like brand new gifts, as a person dead in sin and new in God.  Once we give our lives over to God we become free in Him, in righteousness.  I feel like a lot of people think becoming a Christian mean that you have to give up all your fun, and I suppose for some that may be true, all depending on what their idea of “fun” is.  However for most it is not too big of a sacrifice, because when you think about it God isn’t asking you to kill your only child.  Yet He did that with out us even asking Him to.  The point I am trying to make here is that when we become more and more like Christ we gain more freedom because that life becomes what we want to live and God presents us with endless opportunities, but when we live in flesh all we have are the things of the world and things that will only last as long as we do.  Gods will and His gifts are better than Anything we could ever plan for ourselves or think up of on our own, and if you only take one thing from this post tonight I want it to be that. 

Gods will and His gifts are better than ANYTHING we could ever plan for ourselves or think up of on our own

Also, if you guys have any pray requests or whatever feel free to head over to this Facebook page and post 'em. 

Romans 4

Romans 4

This chapter focuses a lot on Abraham. No…not Lincoln (but he’s a cool guy). Father Abraham.  So, if you don’t know his story I highly encourage you to skim through Genesis 22, I belive the whole story is 12-25 though. Or if you’re lazy and don’t want to read all that you can go to this link http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/246612/jewish/Abraham.htm that summarizes Abrahams story, and it’s .org so you know it’s legit.

So, lets get into this. Romans 4. I didn’t find a lot that spoke to me in this chapter, but if you do, please share in the comments J

In verse 5: But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness; we are shown/told that our actions do not determine our faith. Whether we believe or not is up to us, but whether we are saved or not is up to God. In John 14:6 Jesus says “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Flowing into verses 6, 7, and 8 it goes into further detail. 6 – just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 – “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. 8 – Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” Verse 6 is referring to King David, who committed a ton of sins, he committed murder, adultery, and lied but he was still able to experience Gods forgiveness, and so can we. In order to do so though we need to recognize our sin, ask God for forgiveness, and let go of that sin and believe that God has forgiven us. By doing this we recognize the tremendous price He paid for us on the cross.  It is arrogant of us to think that any of our sins are too great for Him to cover. In 1 John 1:9 is says that any sin s confessed are sins forgiven.

Jumping into my 2 favorite parts of this chapter: verse 16 and verses 19 through 21! Verse 16: For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (see Genesis 17:5). In the previous verses we were told that Abraham received his promise while uncircumcised or while being a Gentile and circumcised himself as the Jews and sealed his righteousness in that way, in a weird way it was like a baptism. This is just really nice to hear, we are ALL saved! Jews and Gentiles, those that live by the Law and those who don’t. If we accept God he pours His grace over us. We are saved only through faith in Christ, trusting Him to forgive all our sins. I like how Hebrews 11:1 describes faith: “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.”

Verses 19 through 21!

19 – Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb;    20 – yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but he grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 – and being fully assured that what God had promised He was able to also preform.

In my Biblical Literature class last semester my professor, Dr. Love, told us a lot about covenants, basically a promise, and there are 4 (I think…) major ones and this is one of them. Basically God chose Abraham and made a promise that He would give him land, more of less, if he would trust Him. God doesn’t demand an answer right away, He first shows Abraham that His word is good, and then asks for an answer (or sacrifice) *wink*wink* but to know more go read Genesis.  Anyway…the thing I Love is that Abraham trusted God when most of us, especially today, would have just given up and been like ‘naa God, this isn’t worth it’. Abraham Trusted that God would follow through on His promise. 

I really love the way my footnotes evaluate verse 21: “Abraham never doubted that God would fulfill his promise. Abraham’s life was marked by mistakes, sins, and failures as well as by wisdom and goodness, but he consistently trusted God. His faith was strengthened by the obstacles he faced, and his life was an example of faith in action. If he had looked only at his own resources for subduing Cannan and founding a nation, he would have given up in despair. But Abraham looked to God, obeyed him, and waited for God to fulfill his word.” Abraham is inspiration at its finest. I doubt God all the time and I have a huge problem with trust. How am I supposed to sit around and wait for God to do something? If I look to Him it will become possible. We need to trust God, and I know I keep saying it, but I also know that it’s hard. Faith isn’t easy, being a Christian isn’t easy, and living in this world of sin with constant temptation doesn’t make any of it easier. But when we “Look To Go” He will make it easier! Trust Him! Trust His word, promise, and plan for you and put your faith into action. Look at the obstacles you face as a gift from God and use them to learn from and grow stronger in your faith! Alright…I’m done.

Take some time to thank God for the obstacles in your life today. Try to see if you can notice how they have helped you grow, or if you’re currently in them evaluate how God might be using this situation to help you.

Have an awesome day friends, and stay cool. ;)

Song of the day:

Upside Down, Jack Johnson 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqUdI4AIDF0