Results tagged “Romans”

Romans 15:1-7 - Paul speaks of peace and harmony and of bearing with those who are weak, assuming (as most of us would) that we are those "who are strong" (verse 1).

This made me think of Jesus and the disciples. They were knuckleheads, selfish, power hungry and prideful. For about 99% of His time with them, they didn't understand at all what he was doing. Only at the end, after he arose and just before he left, did they really get it.

Yet Jesus never once threw anyone out for not believing the right things or the right way. He was surrounded by folks who's faith in him was incomplete or even misguided, yet he called them brothers,welcomed them and brought them along.

We, on the other hand, won't fellowship with those down the street because they don't get this doctrine or that. We stay in our little group of (mostly) like minded folks, or worse, we stay out of any group all together. We stand up and leave if things aren't the way we think they ought to be. How unlike Jesus who was patient with their misunderstanding and did not turn them away.

The splintering of God's church into hundreds of small like-minded groups has always troubled me. I'm not sure what can be done, but I want to do something. we ought to live out verse 7:

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Romans 15:14 - Paul spent 14 chapters challenging the Romans on how they live and ought to live. Yet here in verse 14 he says "I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another." Too often I stop and the challenge and the rebuke, even if it is only in own mind, resulting in feeling dissatisfied and that folks are not full of goodness.

Romans 16:3-16 - There's a story behind each of these names of their relationship to Paul and of their walk with the Lord and service to his church. Wouldn't it be great to know them all?

Romans 14:1-4 - I wonder, how would broader Christianity be different if we simply followed verse 1: "As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions."

Verse 4 reminds us that we each must stand before God. What we believe is important in the faith, outside of the core of the gospel (yea, I know), we should explain, even try to persuade (while open to being persuaded), but ultimately it's between the person and God as to whether he stands or not.

But look in verse 4 - who make them able to stand? It doesn't say that they are able to stand before the Lord, rather that the Lord will make them able to stand.

Romans 14:8 - "For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's." (emphasis mine) Doug gave a great message this week on living by the spirit, framing it in terms of God owning us. (Look for it here, hopefully soon.) This reminds me of that concept, not only in the terms of ownership or even slavery and submission, which are true, but even more so in terms of belonging. We belong to Him that created it all, who is over all and in all. We are His.

Amen and hallelujah.

One could argue that that truth is not the point of the passage, and I guess they'd be right. I'd argue, however, that it's the point that underscores the truth of the passage. We belong to God, we are His, so we have no standing to judge each other. I often remind my girls, when they want to correct their sisters, that they are not the parent. Here Paul is reminding us, when we want to correct and judge other Christians, that we are not the master. It is not our place to police the fellowship.

Romans 14:13-23 - A case could be made here that Paul is teaching a DIY Christianity. If it's acceptable to you, it's acceptable, if it violates your conscience, it's sin. Certainly, not everything is good or righteous, yet I have a feeling for most of us, we restrict more than God would. Yet, here the Bible teaches us that even though it's OK for another, it may not be OK for us. It's hard for us to fathom, isn't it? We want black and white, dos and don'ts, clear cut and simple.

If we think about it, it makes sense, Even if we see other we respect doing something, if we cannot imagine God accepting it, how can we do it? We should seek understanding from them and provide them with our own convictions, but in the end we both must stand before God.

Such an open ended, even vague, faith is unsettling, but that's what God has given us. Who are we to argue?

Romans 13:1 - I wonder how scandalous these words were to the church in Rome, especially as they remembered them as the Roman government ramped up it's persecutions of the Christians? Submit to those who had no regard for them or their rights? The Jews among them must have also bristled at submission to what they say as an invading power.

Romans 13:7 - This was the theme of our annual Hero Service last Sunday (specifcally the 'respect' and 'honor' phrases) where we make a special effort to invite those who serve our community - teachers, police, firemen, health care workers. We had a great crowd and Jesus was preached. I'm looking forward to hearing reactions this Wednesday.

Romans 13:8-10 - Love fulfills the law. To love completely and perfectly is a tall order, and as Paul states in verse 8, the debt to love is never fulfilled. We can always grow in love and find new ways of showing it.

Romans 13:11-14 - Considering the previous chapters of Romans, i read this section in a different light. Paul is not urging them to good moral behavior, but reminding them yet again that, because they have been connected with Jesus' death and resurrection, they live not in the darkness that surrounds them, but in the light of God. So act like it.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

I heard in a promo for the local Christian radio station a statement like this: "I love [radio station] because I can worship on days other than Sunday." My immediate thought was that they don't understand what worship is and these verses from Romans 12 back that up. We are to offer ourselves each day in sacrifice to Him. It's the daily living of our lives that show our worship, but emotional music and waving our hands in the air.

If we allow ourselves to meditate on these two verses, it will convict our hearts. I know it does mine. If I think back on my day, my week and this month and year, I find that mostly I do what I want. I act as I decide best, within the framework of biblical morality. That sounds well and good, but Jesus demanded our complete surrender and submission to His will over ours, not that we would simply restrict our will to the boundaries of the law.

I've come to realize that means that I will act in ways that frequently make me uncomfortable, that are outside what I want to do and that it takes vigilance and a constant view of the savior and his sacrifice to motivate me to act as a living sacrifice every day. I haven't done well at this at all in recent years, frankly.

Romans 12:3-8 - So, take what you've been given and offer it to God. If you can teach, teach, if you can serve serve. God did not give these gifts that you would spend them on bettering yourselves, rather that they would better the church and in turn the world.

Romans 12:10 - "Outdo one another in showing honor." - Oh that this characterized every group that calls itself a church.

Romans 12:14-21 - Paul tells us here how we should act towards each other and the world. It does not come naturally. Refer to verses1-2.

Romans 11:1-6 - More evidence, direct statements frankly, that God chooses at least some, setting them aside for his purpose. What does that look like, I wonder? it's tempting to say that God has somewhat randomly and arbitrarily picked some to be his and that means that they do not have to wrestle with sin or dedicate themselves to Him. But that's reading into the text. God, through Paul, simply says that he has a remnant set aside. We don't know how they were chosen as a remnant nor what that means for them and their faith.

The mystery of God's choosing is profound, deep and complex and I think we do Him, and us, a disservice when we try to simplify it.

Romans 11:11-16 - The preceding verses talk about some in Israel who were hardened, but this passage indicates that the ministry outside of Israel holds hope even for them that out of jealousy they might be moved to seek God and be saved. So hardened does not equal rejected or dismissed or discarded.

Romans 11:20 - "They were broken off because of their unbelief." An arbitrary hardening of some of Israel? No.

Romans 11:17-20 - This passage puts the preceding chapters and verses describing God's choosing in the light of how he chooses. Some are hardened and cut off, some are grafted in. Yet, even those who were ct off can be re-grafted if they come to faith. So, God looks to our faith in His choosing, at least in part

Romans 11:25-32 - This seems to muddy the waters a bit again, indicating that God is up to something, a grand plan that involves hardening some to drawing in others which in turn will draw back those who he hardened. In fact, he has given us all over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on all. (v. 32)

I think that this verse sums it up for me:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Romans 11:33

He's up to something alright and I can only understand it in part, but I'm grateful that I can take part in it.

I'm nearing that 'Place Where I Can Stand' mentioned in my last (non-FfF) post. More on that later, first, on with my study of Romans.

Romans 9:30-33 - See here, the Gentiles attained something they did not pursue. How? One answer is simply that God gave it to them, and that is true. They didn't earn it. But, that's not what this passage says. It says that they attained it by faith, and Israel didn't because they didn't pursue with faith. So, yes, it is God that grants righteousness, but our faith plays a role.

Romans 10:1-4 - This passage nicely merges the two seemingly divergent topics. It is God who offers up righteousness, on His terms and His terms alone. We can then choose to submit to it,in faith, or try to achieve our own. Israel chose the latter, a path that is doomed to fail as it has from the day Adam and Eve left the garden (actually, from the bite of the apple).

Romans 10:9 - In my experience, one of the most ill-used verses in the Bible. Many use it to justify a faith that is empty believe. Belief = salvation. This of course, ignores the rest of the new testament that expounds on the implications of this faith in the radical man, Jesus. True faith is transformative, true faith moves us off our course, true faith radically changes us, true faith has on going, life altering, dope-slap-like implications on what we do on a regular, never ending basis. Any faith that allows us to live just as we had been is faith in something other than Jesus.

The other side (and where I've been in recent years) tries to pretend that it doesn't say what it says - faith in Jesus saves us. They point out that the context is a discussion on the differences between Jew and Gentile, which is true but beside the point. They want to say "Yes, but ..." and add in all kinds of things. Faith and .. baptism, obedience, purity, holiness, zeal, conviction, righteousness, etc. All of those things are important, but they all - ALL - rise from the root of faith.

If you haven't read my prior post on Romans 9, you should do so for back ground on this.

To say that Romans 9 threw me for a loop is accurate, I'd guess, but not exactly fair to Romans. There was this pondering in the far back reaches of my consciousness, the dark corners of my mind, about election. It was brought on in no small part by discussions with and readings of Jared Wilson who I respect greatly and who is an unapologetic Calvinist. He hasn't spend many electrons on the subject in recent years, but it was a more active topic at his former blog.

So, the idea that perhaps I've misjudged the idea of election or predestination has been rattling around in my head for some time now. Romans 9 simply reached into the shadows and yanked it forward where I had to deal with it.

The comments on my post and Codepoke's writings on the subject (see this post about elephants. Really. Also, his series on the 5 points of Calvinism (read from the bottom up) which I'm not yet through). I'm not sure I'm on board with what he's saying, but they've helped in two ways.

First, I really appreciate how he steps away from the obvious interpretation, takes all the facts, shuffles them like a deck of cards and rearranges them into a new way that wasn't at all obvious going in. In other words, he makes it clear that from another perspective that I'm not able to see, things can make sense. Of course, God has a view that we cannot imagine and from where he sits, it makes perfect sense.

Second, He has illustrated plainly that God has in fact acted, with impunity, decisively and without concern for our sense of fairness to choose people at various points in time. Abraham, for example, was chosen to build God's nation with no chance for anyone else or any other people to apply for the job. Isreal was built from his flesh when his flesh had been well past the time for tit to be making any new flesh. And God intervened in history and created a nation for himself. Hard to argue that as anything but divine intervention.

And yet, my flesh rebels against the idea that God is choosing without respect to man's effort or desire. It feels disheartening. Makes me wonder, "Why bother?" If God is going to pick who He's going to pick, what does it matter if I ppreach or share or teach or even seek? It's up to God. Period.

Yet he also promises that he rewards those ho seek him and that those who seek will find. The world around us, which Romans also tells us teaches us about who God is, rewards men for their efforts. Hard work is rewarded and determination brings success. The Bible tells us that sin prevents us fom entering the kingdom. God looks at the heart, he said when choosing David, so clearly our efforts are not in vain.

So, there's this mysterious ying yang going on where man's effort and heart and God's sovereign choice work hand in hand. He ultimately in control, yet we influence, somehow, and at some times. At others, He simply acts decisively.

Which is which? When does God do what? How do we make sense of it? How can I possibly understand it?

Well, the one thing I see from the diverse comments left here is that while none of you completely agree with each other, and none can claim to explain it all, you have each found for yourselves an interpretation of the scriptures that you can live with. Something that either explains it enough or you've made peace with the mystery.

As I prayed tonight, I was tempted to ask God to understand it, to know all what went into it, I realized what a foolish thought that was. If I had a few lifetimes to research it and ponder it, I'd never understand the mystery of God's intervention in the world. I did not need the whole truth, although that would be nice. I simply needed to understand enough, to be able to imagine a possible resolution, to find a place where my faith and my understanding of the facts could co-exist.

What I needed is a place where I could stand with God.

A place where my limited understanding doesn't clash with his perfection. A place where my rationalizations don't negate his sovereignty. A place where I can believe something that I can live with but that doesn't contradict his divinity.

So that's my request of Him. Show me enough that I can make sense of it. Show me a way to look at it that I can accept. Give me just what I need so I can walk with you and know that you remain just and compassionate.

Is that a cop out? Maybe, but that's all I can do right now. The alternative is giving up on God, and there are far too many reasons not to do that. His love for me in Jesus is enough to not ever consider that. So, a cop out, a compromise, a set of blinders placed at the proper angle, whatever.

I just need a place where I can stand with God.

Wow, has it been over three weeks since my last Quiet Time Journal entry? Yep. I'm not a fan of the 'Quiet Time is your relationship with God' model, but over three weeks without sitting with your face in God's word isn't good either. Thanks to our minister, Doug Geyer, for his message on Sunday (unfortunately not recorded) that challenged me to get back on track.

Romans 8:1 - Three weeks later and this verse still is an amazing comfort to a weary soul. No condemnation.

Romans 8:2-8 - I always looked at this as those in the flesh are non-Christinas or perhaps Christians not living right and those in the spirit as those doing the right things. But now I see that Paul isn't contrasting the 'ins' verses the 'outs' here, but contrasting, as he has throughout Romans, two different mindsets.

The mindset of the flesh is to use law or rules of man to get close to God, the mindset of the spirit trusts in and relies on Jesus completely. The flesh says God expects me to do X, Y and Z to be with Him, the spirit says God longs to be with me and through Jesus I can be with him, so I'm going to do X, Y and Z because I know it pleases Him.

It's a radically different way of thinking. One works, the other simply can't.

Romans 8:15 confirms this: "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"" The way of the flesh is one of fear. If I don't live up to the demands of God, I will be punished, so I'll work to earn his favor. The spirit of sonship says I already have his favor, so I'll act like it.

Romans 8:28 - The ESV words this a little differently than the NIV that I've read for so long. The difference is small, but the change in meaning is profound:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

(ESV)

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.

(NIV)

The NIV seems to imply that God is behind the scenes, pulling the strings, working things out for out good. The ESV doesn't say that God is working, but that the things work for our good. When I read the ESV version, I think that perhaps it isn't that God is stacking the deck on our pehalf (which is how the standard NIV interpretation feels), but rather that because we love God, our mindset allows us to see things in a new light, a light that allows them to 'work together for good'.

Then again, maybe it's the closet deist in me coming out again. What do you make of this passage and the differences in translations?

Romans 8:31-39 - I love this passage, as many do. The contrast between the call to suffer earlier (Romans 8:17-18) and the certainties of Romans 8:38-39 is profound. He does not promise, as too many modern preachers will, that our lives will be free from pain. No, rather he tells us plainly that we will suffer more from following Christ, but the love that God has lavished on us through Jesus is incomparable to anything that we suffer here.

I had planned on reading much of Romans 8 today, but I stopped on Romans 8:1 and found that I needed to park there for a while. Maybe a long while.

Paul jsut spent the last two chapters explaining that because of Jesus' death and our participation in it through our baptism, we are free from the law and sin. We are subject to neither anymore, because of Jesus. After establishing those comes the therefore:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Note that he does not say no guilt, oh we are guilty as all get out, but - because of Jesus - there is no condemnation. I'm convinced that I don't get this. I don't fully comprehend all that Jesus has accomplished in me. I suspect most of us don't. No condemnation. Not some, not just a little, none.

I spend far too much of my life wondering what people think of me. It's somehow ingrained in my being. I wonder if I've let you down, if I've offended you, in fact, I pretty much assume that, absence of you actually saying that I've done good, that I screwed up and you're mad at or disappointed with me. Silence = condemnation as far as my messed up psyche is concerned. Any negative feeling about anything (the weather, your job, traffic, etc.) - it's somehow my responsibility.

That's a whole 'nother topic, but here, Paul says there is no condemnation for me. God isn't disappointed, he isn't checking off the many ways I've fallen short, he isn't considering what punishment might be suitable. He isn't, as I certainly might, looking for an opportunity to teach me a lesson.

Wow.

So, why then the long face or furrowed brow? Why, rather, aren't we dancing in the streets? Giggling with joy, foolish with this understanding? Because we forget who He is and the work He has done. We forget just how marvelous, improbable - no, impossible - and complete this transformation He has made in us is.

We should be doing pirouettes on our desks, dancing in the rain and singing at the top of our lungs.

Stop for a minute and contemplate the weight and the buoyancy of this one little verse, a single sentence, 13 little words:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Let it bring the kind of smile to your face that will make folks wonder what's gotten into you.

And then tell them.

Romans 7:1 - "Or do you not know, brothers ... that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?" Review Romans 6 (and Romans 7:4), through Christ we died and rose again. Since we are dead, the law no longer applies to us. Whoa.

Romans 7:4-6 - We were not set free from the law so that we could do whatever we want, we were set free to bear fruit for God. We are designed to bear fruit, without Christ, we bear fruit for death through sin, because of Jesus we can, and should, bear fruit for God.

Romans 7:10-11 - We like to believe that a set of rules will teach us to live and guide us along the way. This is true, to a point. The full reality, however, is that we are ill equipped to follow any set of rules completely. We fail, even at following our own pet peeves, let along the complete law of God. We frequently are offenders at that which we hate in others. So, what the law does ultimately is prove our inadequacies, showing us to be completely and utterly hopeless apart from Christ.

Romans 7:18-19 - "I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." Anyone else live here? So, if this was Paul's experience, and we can relate as well, how then should we treat those who fall short as they follow Christ? I'm not talking about the blatant sins of adultery, rape, murder, etc, certainly Paul wasn't saying that every now and then he falls back into hunting down those who disagree with him, as he had done with Christians. I imagine that he's talking about character sins - harshness, pride, judgmentalism, anger. Do you know any disciples like that (you're talking to one)? Do you dismiss them as ungodly, or treat them with love by mixing grace with frank honesty?

Romans 6:1-14 - The beginning of Romans 6 has always been a favorite passage of mine ebcasue of the way it illustrates what happens during baptism. Baptism has been an overlooked sacrament in much of the Evangelical world, and frankly over emphasized in Church of Christ circles.

The baptism that Paul describes is a powerful, transforming event:

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:4

In baptism, we participate with Christ in His death and resurection. Just as He laid His life down to take up another, more glorious one, we too lay down our own lives in baptism and take up a new, more glorious one made possible through Jesus.

But Paul's point was not instruction on baptism. Rather, he wanted to remind them of what it meant to be baptised into Jesus in regards to sin. As far as sin is concerned, we are dead. If we are dead, how can we participate in it?

Paul was convinced that they simply didn't understand what they had become a part of. they had died, voluntarily offering themselves in baptism just as Jesus had offered himself on the cross. And since he's already died, death has no more power of Him. Since, through Jesus and through baptism we have died as well, we are dead to sin.

Simply put, we are dead men with Christ through baptism and dead men can't sin.

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Romans 6:6-7

But we don't really get it, we find sin's power impossible to resist. We still live as though we are a part of this world and its rules. Paul says, when sin calls you can ignore it. It has no power over you, so don't grant it any. As dead men, we live under different rules.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:12-14

Amazing, heady stuff. Oh that I could grasp the reality of this resurrection in full! What if I could clear my head of the earthly fog and see me and my life's reality as God does? What would that life look like? How would live? What would I do?

Romans 6:15-18 - So, if we're under grace, then obedience isn't a big deal, right? What?! Did you hear what he just said? Don't you get what has happened to you?

Here's the thing - we cannot be simply free. We either involuntarily serve sin or, through the freeing sacrifice of Jesus, we are allowed to serve righteousness. Once Jesus has freed you, why would you choose sin?

Romans 5:1 - "... we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Now there's good news!

Romans 5:2-5 - Paul says more than rejoicing in the "hope of the glory of God", we rejoice in our sufferings. Rejoice in suffering more than in hope? What? But look at what he says though: Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, character produces what - hope. the suffering is important because it leads to a deeper realization of the hope that is already a reality.

Romans 5:8 - "While we were still sinners." We still run around trying to please God by our goodness when he was pleased to rescue us while we weren't worth rescuing. He declared through Christ that we were valuable to Him, whether we saw it or not, how are we going to somehow make ourselves more valuable after that?

Romans 5:17 - Much is made in this passage (Romans 5:12-21) in regards to sin entering the world. I think (not sure, actually) that this is one of the passages used to support original sin. Adam sinned, bringing sin to everyone. Yet verse 12 says that death spread because all sinned, not because Adam did. I guess one could say that Adam started it, not making all of us guilty but exposing us to something we could not master - sin.

In that regard, verse 17 says that death reigned because of what Adam did, and everyone who would come after him are subject to it. However, Jesus came and offered anew way of life and all who would follow him would no longer live under death's reign. Because of Jesus, we can escape the inescapable - death. Sin reigned through death, now grace reigns through righteousness (verse 18).

Romans 4:1-12 - Obedience to any law of God without faith is of no value. The power is in the faith, not the deed. Abraham was an example of this. He sought God and believed in him. He did not try to reason with Him or question Him, he simply believed Him.

Faith is about us worshiping God and acknowledging Him as almighty and we as subservient. The mindset of obedience says I'm am sufficient and God must accept me if I obey. The mindset of faith says that I am inadequate, but God has promised therefore I am accepted.

The reward of obedience is at the end of a long, difficult road that we cannot travel, the gift of faith is received at the start of the journey and makes straight the path ahead.

Romans 4:18-21 - The familiar story of Abraham believing God when told he would have many offspring at 100 years old. "Fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised" is what it says in verse 21.

What about us? Aren't we "as good as dead", broken by sin and defeated? Yet God primisses us new life, now and forever. Do we believe Him? Do we live like we do?

I for one am tired of living as if I am still shackled. I am not. Imagine a prisoner set free, yet he remains in his cell, staring at the open door, not feeling that he's ready to leave. Crazy? Yet that's how I too often live.

God promised me freedom, in fact it is already mine. Why am I content to stay in my cell? I refuse to act as if I am still tied down by sin.

Romans 3:1-2 - So, if we are all law breaker, is there any advantage in being a Jew? "Absolutely!" says Paul. The equivalent today would be, since we all need to go through a conversion experience, what advantage is there in growing up in a Christian family?

God's word is not without effect, even when imperfectly followed (thankfully). So, when it plays a role in our lives, we are blessed by whatever sin it helps us avoid. Just because it cannot make us whole, does not mean it cannot make us better.

Romans 3:20 - "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." This one gave me fits in my younger years, still does a bit. The law, the written commands of God, where we find the good that God wants us to do, ultimately just reveals us as sinners. Sure, with every command we follow, every good deed we do, we become more like God, but the more we study it and dig into it, the more ways we see that we have missed it.

It seems that for every new Godly discipline learned, there are multiple revelations of my sin. So, yes, I continue to learn and grow, yet in the process, ironically, I see myself more and more inadequate, in need of salvation.

Romans 3:23-24 - "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift" (emphasis mine) In view of the humbling and depressing knowledge that comes from the study of the law - namely that we are doomed to fail - the gift of grace, complete purity, absolute righteousness, total sanctification, ought to repeatedly both drop us to our knees in humble reverence and lift us to our feet in joyous celebration.

Romans 3:255 - The ESV says "[Jesus] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.' A what? So I looked up propitiation on dictionary.com and found this:

The act of appeasing the wrath and conciliating the favor of an offended person; the act of making propitious. (Websters)
the act of atoning for sin or wrongdoing (especially appeasing a deity) (WordNet)

So why then, Christian, are you unhappy? Do you really get what has been done for you?

I started Romans back at the end of February, but then shifted to read Nehemiah through March as my church studied it. Today I return to Romans.

Romans 2:1-5 - I can remember smugly reading this passage condemning the hypocrite who judges but assumes they won't be judged, as if Paul was claiming that Christians are perfect or that I somehow was. No, rather he's calling us to humility and repentance. Verse 4 says "Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" Of course we presume on God's kindness and forbearance, how else could we be saved? But, do we do so allowing it to humble us and lead us on that never ending journey towards repentance?

For too long I smugly counted on God's blessings without thinking too much about my need to repent. Then, when confronted with my arrogance, I flipped it around, striving hard to repent but refusing to presume that He's be kind to me.

No, the Gospel is both. We are constantly reminded that we sin, so we rely on Him to raise us and His grace in doing so prompts us to repent. With out the grace that we rely on, repentance is a never ending, ever faster treadmill, and grace that does not produce repentance is a hollow shell promising fulfillment yet delivering none.

Romans 2:12-16 - The law at one time divided the world into Jew and Gentile, those of the law of God and those not. Merely possessing the law, however, did not make the Jews righteous any more than lacking it made the Gentiles evil. it's the content of their hearts, expressed in how they lived, that will God judge them on.

Romans 2:17-29 - Paul here points out the elephant in the room for those Jews who boast in having the law - none of them follows it. It is essentially of no value to them because they all are law breakers. In fact, some apart form the law follow better than some who have it, and God will treat tehm accordingly.

He's setting them up to see that the law isn't what they need, they need Jesus. He's laying the foundation of the gospel, that we've all sinned

Romans 1:8 - Imagine the news of the faith of a single church being reported all over the world and being rejoiced about in every church. In our fractured Christianity today, one group has a success and those within it rejoice, but most of the rest don't even hear. Of those that do, some dismiss it because they aren't doing it right or whatever. Back in the heydays of the ICOC, when we still thought we were 'The Church', I can remember news of things like the multi-racial church in Johannesburg or the success of the Moscow church and having the feeling that he describes here. Of course, no one rejoiced with us and we wouldn't have rejoiced with anyone else either.

Romans 1:15 - He's eager to preach the gospel to them. I think we tend to think that 'preaching the gospel' means evangelism, preaching to those who don't know. But Paul is writing to a church, people who not only knew Jesus but who had already been converted. And Paul was eager to share the Gospel with them.

The Gospel isn't only for those who've never heard, it's needed for all of us. We shouldn't tire of hearing it nor should preachers tire of preaching it.

Romans 1:18-23 - Although I think Paul is speaking here of men who worship things other than God, I can't help thinking of Darwin and his deliberate exclusion of God from creation. Now, I'm not a young earth proponent, nor do I claim that evolution is non existent. In fact, I suspect that there's a lot more truth in Darwin's theories than most evangelicals would like to allow. (And I find a God who can create a system like evolution, where species adapt to changing conditions yet the adaptations do not unravel the system, perhaps more compelling and awe inspiring than the creation of the Earth as we know it in one swoop. But I digress.) What stuck me in these past few weeks where the anniversary of Darwin's birth was celebrated, and the story of his developing his theories was revealed, was how he seemed to set out, laser focused almost, to remove God from the story of creation. "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things."

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Romans 15:1 - "We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves." - ESV Do we truly 'bear with the failings of the weak'? That's not the standard I see lived out in so much of Christiandom. Harsh criticsm is more the rule. It is my nature to be the same way. I assume everyone should be like me, have my perspective and insight, my understanding, appreciate what I appreciate. When they are not, I have too little grace.

Romans 15:14 - My inability to trust that folks are "able to instruct one another" is discouraging to me. It's jsut another aspect of y pridefull, critical heart. I think that people need my opinion and insight, or jsut that something should not go forward without my inout. I keep praying that God will deliver me from the curse of my pride and judgemntal nature. Oe day, i do believe that I will look back and realize that he has.

Romans 16::3-16 - I wish we knew the story behind these reationsips. Behind each naem is a connection with Paul and a story, probably many. Epaenetus - the first convert in Asia, Androonicus and Junia - well known to the apostles, why? Apelles is approved, Rufus is chosen adn his Mom was like a Mom to Paul! I want to know these stories!

Romans 16:17 - A warning we would do well to pay more attention to. Avoid those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the gospel. There is plenty of that going around all over, and no, that is not another reference to the unity proposal.

Romans 16;22 - I wonder what it was like to be with Paul and to take down his thoughts as he wrote them. To watch him in his excitement in delivering them adn in his passion for the people they were prepared for.

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This may be one of the most ignored and most abused passages in scripture. Ignored by those who are mature so that they can continue to look down on, criticize and ridicule those who are not, and abused by the immature to force the mature to stoop to their level.

The mature ignore it because they would have to swallow their pride and their greater understanding of 'freedom in Christ' for the sake of their brother. They are right, not just in their own mind, but this passage implies that they do have a greater and deeper understanding of God's plan and heart. But they ignore this passage, written primarily to them, warning them not to use their greater understanding too freely. Consider this paraphrase of the ESV version of Romans 14:15:

For if your brother is grieved by what you [do], you are no longer walking in love. By what you [do], do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.

The immature abuse this passage by placing them in the seat of protection and throwing Romans 14 in the face of those with more liberal interpretations. "You need to accept me on this because of Romans 14!" They fail to recognize that they've just labeled themselves as "the one who is weak in faith". In doing so, do they seek deeper understanding form those who are stronger or more mature? Do they seek to grow? No, it is frequently used to entrench their position and to guarantee it's acceptance as valid & right. (Ironically, by putting themselves in the 'weaker' position in this passage, aren't they essentially admitting that they are wrong?) They do not seek to accept those who's faith is stronger or to grow in their own. They seem to say "I'm weak, I'm staying that way, and you need to deal with it." So, to those who are weak, or perhaps more conservative, are you willing to admit that you may have something to learn from the more liberal among us?

We are to welcome those who's faith is weak and requires external things to hold it up - like special days, abstinence from certain foods and other rules and regulations. There is no exception, no circumstance for not welcoming them. This is hard, because you and I can start talking about things that we think are big enough to say something like "Well, that now falls outside of Christianity." Maybe so, but that is for God to decide not us. We can discuss and debate if we like. We may even feel that the person has crossed the boundary of Christianity into something else, but we are told to 'welcome him'.

Are we doing so with each other within our own narrow fellowship? Think about issues like dating outside the church, giving levels, the level of importance assigned to evangelism, attendance expectations, Kip & Portland or even, dare I say, signing agreements. If we cannot respectfully welcome each other on these things, still welcoming each other, what hope is there for our relationship with the other COC's? If you're not in the ICOC, what about your tribe, be it COC, Baptist, Catholic, etc.

Usually my QT notes aren't' so 'preachy', but this is one of modern, divided Christianity's biggest downfalls, in my view. And I am not exempt. Recently, my brother Clarke posted here about the call of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for 10,000 disciples to pray for their fellowship. Clarke (not a member of a Disciples of Christ church) challenged "every COC, ICOC, and ICC blogger to sign up, commit to pray, and advertise the program on their blogs." I followed the link and found that their "General Minister and President" was a woman, which gave me pause. Based on my understanding of scripture, I don't believe that women should be ministers or in positions of authority, so I was hesitant to sign up for this. But Clarke and my friend Alan who have indicated that they feel the same way, have signed up, seemingly without hesitation. I am not being asked to validate their doctrine, but simply to pray for them. Why should that be hard to stomach? It should not, but it is. Even as I type this, I know that I ought to go, sign up and give them my heart, yet I remain hesitant. God help my prideful, judgmental heart!. I will commit to praying for these brothers and sisters.

As long as we refuse to accept those who's faith requires more rules and regulations or those who have a more liberal view, Christianity will remain deeply divided and each particular group will remain entrenched in the safety of their own convictions. And we will be no different than the world. And we will not grow.

Romans 12:1 - A living sacrifice. Living is ongoing, constant, consistent. The old sacrifices were one time, occasional. Who we are, what we do and how we live ought to be a continual sacrifice.

Romans 12:6 - "Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: ..." (ESV) We all have gifts that differ, therefore we will have service to God that differs, offerings that differ. Yet they all are pleasing to God. I heard it said once that in the old ICOC we favored one gift - evangelism - heavily over all others. Maybe 20% of our members had this gift, this person said. What that meant was that the other 80% felt that they never measured up, that they weren't good enough. I feel that we are finally getting to a place where we can honor the varying gifts in our membership. I am excited about what will be revealed as we do.

Romans 12:10 - The second half of this verse in the ESV says "Outdo one another in showing honor." Outdo one another. Go overboard to show honor. Whatever level I can go to to honor my brother, it is never too much. I wonder, do I have that spirit?

Romans 13:1-7 - I see nothing in this passage indicating that we are to agree with or support whoever is in power. We are to respect them and submit to their authority, but we do not have to agree. I'm not sure that I can see in this how it means that we are obligated to obey every law to the letter. Speed limits come to mind, but' that's just because it's my nature to want to drive fast (I generally do not, I stay within 5-10 MPH of the posted limit). But what of building codes? Other traffic laws? Laws regulating car maintenance and safety? There are laws dictating any number of things, some pretty ridiculous. Are we in sin each and every time we violate them? I think that this is more about respect and submission. That submission can be in the form of obedience and compliance, but that was not Paul's main point. His point was larger than that, to our hearts and our attitude to those in authority. Obedience can be made through clenched teeth and mumbling under our breath. Does that fulfill this passage?

Romans 11:4-6 - Does this mean, as it seems to imply, that God picked out some folks back in Elijah's day an kept them from sinning? And that, in Paul's day, God had picked out some Jews to be 'His'? The implication, at least in my mind, is that perhaps even those who had been picked didn't even know they had been picked. I guess that's not necessary from the text, just my mind's interpretation. Still, it seems to say that God sort of said "Just in case, I'll set aside these folks to be my people." I have to remember, though, in these passages that God sees the entirety of time in one viewing. He can look & know who will respond and choose them before they actually do. I also have to remember that Paul's point in Romans was not to explain God's choosing us and how that happens, but to explain that Jews and Gentiles are alike and that we are saved by God's grace. Still, trying to sort out God's choosing and man's choosing makes my head spin.

Romans 11:7-10 - I think that this can apply to all of us. If we are not earnestly seeking God, anywhere and in any way, our eyes may not be able to see Him or our ears hear Him, for our preconceived notions about who He is or where He is will blind and deafen us. I certainly think that my believing that I had God all figured out has blinded me to a greater vision of His being and His glory in the past.

Romans 11:17-24 - These verses clearly show that our choices influence God's choices in grafting us to cutting us off. God has not made it purely His choice alone, He has left it to us as well. The bottom line remains - had God not chosen to reach out to us, we would be doomed.

Romans 11:29 - "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." - ESV. How cool is that!