Romans 8 ( continued)

The war between our minds and flesh is finished, not by our own efforts, but by Jesus Christ our Lord.  He has set us free! He has given us His Spirit, to indwell us, to intercede for us, and to bring us to conformity with the image of Christ.

God foreknew us.  He who knit us together in our mother's wombs, who knows the number of our days before they even began, has known us since before the foundation of the earth.  There is nothing that He does not know about us.

He predestined us.  Our gracious God determined to bring us into the likeness of Jesus Christ, His own Son.  He has declared it and ordained it.  He can and will do it!

He called us.  Our merciful God has called our name... invited us personally into His family.

He justified us. Our wonderful Lord has rendered us innocent and declared us just.

He glorified us.  Our Mighty God and Heavenly Father has rendered us full of glory, honor, and dignity.

God is for us! "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" 

" For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  ( v38-39) 

Just think,  the God who created the universe, Who knows the beginning and the end, Who made you and knows you,  - is FOR you!  He did not spare His own Son, " but delivered Him up for us all"!
Christ Jesus died and rose again.. and " is at the right hand of God" interceding for us!
He says that we cannot be separated from His love.
He declares us conquerors!
In  Him we do not need to fear or worry or be filled with anxiety.

We simply need to keep believing and clinging to this truth!

Father, we praise and worship You!  You are so gracious and merciful, so kind in all Your ways, and so righteous in all Your deeds.  You are worthy of all praise.  Father, may Your Name be honored and Your will done on earth, even as it is in heaven.  Bring the kingdom here Lord. We eagerly wait for the coming of our King!  Help us to remember that nothing can separate us from Your Love. Help us to not lose hope in the light of this world's distresses, but to be convinced of Your abiding Love and Grace and Power and Glory! Fill our hearts and minds with Hope and Joy and Peace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

Romans 8   "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."   We have been set free from sin and from death.  We now have the "Spirit of life in Christ Jesus... "
The Law could not free us.
But, God did!  In sending His Son, Jesus as an "offering for sin", God:
"condemned sin in the flesh" ( v3)
fulfilled the "requirement of the Law" in us (v4)
 and, "gave life to (our) mortal bodies" (v11)

We are now " in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells" in us. (v9)
We walk " according to the Spirit" ( v4)
We "set our minds" on the "things of the Spirit" ( v5)
We find " life and peace" through setting our minds on the Spirit ( v6)
"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you." (v11)
By living according to the Spirit, we are " putting to death the deeds of the body" so we can live. (v13)
"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (v14)
We have received " a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out 'Abba! Father!'" ( v15)
"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." (v16)

Oh what marvelous grace that God has shown us!  Not only does He send Jesus Christ to be the payment for our sin,  not only does He do this while we were still sinners, but He gives to us His Spirit, to live in us - to walk and think and live as the children of God.  Our thoughts are no longer focused on the things of the flesh but on Him.  Our heritage becomes that of Christ - we will suffer with Him and be glorified with Him. We will count any suffering as nothing compared with what lies ahead for us with Him.  We are eagerly waiting for that day.  All creation is eagerly awaiting that day!

Thank You Father for the hope that You have set before us.  The hope that You have saved us for.
Set our minds on these things Holy Spirit. That we might walk according to Your Word.  Through Jesus our Lord we pray, amen.

Romans 7  Paul uses the illustration of marriage to show the complete change that we experience when we come to Christ.

 A woman who is married is bound by law to her husband.
The woman is released from the marriage when her husband dies.  She is then free to remarry.

We were "married" to the Law.
The Law, even though it was in itself good;  had jurisdiction over us (v1) and "aroused sinful passions" in us (v6).  It could not produce life nor bear fruit, but instead brought death.

But then Jesus Christ died for us and we die in Him.
We are "made to die to the Law through the body of Christ that (we) might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God." (v4)   We are released from the Law, "having died to that which we were bound so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." (v6). 

The problem was not the law, the problem is the sin that controls the flesh. There is a war, Paul says, between our minds which know what is right and wrong and wish to do good; and the flesh which is in bondage to sin and practices evil.   The only hope we have is in Jesus Christ!

And in Him.. " there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." (Romans 8:1-2)

Father in Heaven, Thank You for freeing us from the law of sin and death through Christ Jesus our Lord. Thank You for bringing us into new Life in Jesus that we might bear fruit for You.  Teach us the fulness of these truths. Spirit of God, illumine our minds and keep us walking in You. We pray and live in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Romans 6  Life in Christ begins after we die to sin.

We were slaves to sin, Paul says, we presented the "members of our body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness"; ourselves to "impurity and to lawlessness".  We were obedient to sin and the result was death. Every possible outcome for a slave of sin is death.

But then grace came! The free gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ came when He entered the world. And with Him we have hope! By faith we are justified and our faith is reckoned as righteousness.
Our baptism into Christ Jesus is a baptism into His death.
Our baptism is a burial with Him.
With Him we are raised up and we have new life.
United with Him in death and in life.
Our old self is crucified with Him.  Our slavery to sin is done away with and we are free.
We are to consider this true - we are dead to sin;  it is not to reign over us or be our master again;

In Christ we are alive to God.  Just as Jesus lives to God, so should we.
We are to present ourselves and the members of our bodies as alive from the dead; as instruments of righteousness.
We present ourselves as slaves, obedient to God.
We became slaves of righteousness;  the members of our bodies as slaves of righteousness.
This results in sanctification and the outcome is eternal life.

Father in heaven,  how we thank You!  We were hopeless and helpless, held captive by sin and slaves of unrighteousness, but You came and set us free.  It is in Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father, Who has taken us from the domain of darkness and set us free through His death on the cross. It is in Him that we have died to sin and are no longer slaves to its reign. It is in Christ that we are raised up from the dead to a whole new life!  It is in Christ that we come to You and present our bodies, souls, minds, and strength as bond servants to righteousness.  We are Your slaves, Lord God! We present ourselves to You willingly for obedience from our hearts.  Thank You for saving us and for sanctifying us and for giving us eternal life.  May Your Name be honored.  May Your will be done. May Your Kingdom come!  All glory and praise and blessing to You we pray.  Amen.

Romans 5 :1-11  Paul gives us 3 reasons to exult:
V2  We exult in hope of the glory of God
V3 We exult in our tribulations, because they will produce perseverance, proven character, and hope;
V11 We exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ;

The word exult means to rejoice, to glory in, to have joy - We rejoice because we now have hope! 
Paul says that we have been justified by faith - which has been reckoned - computed and declared as righteousness; gaining us admission ( an introduction) into this " grace in which we stand".  We stand "at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ".   So yes, we can rejoice!

We can rejoice in our tribulations because we know that God will use them to build our character and that gives us more hope.  " .. and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." ( v5)

We were helpless, ungodly sinners. We had no hope.  But God, " at the right time" sent Christ to die for us.  "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  And even more than that; " having now been justified by His blood we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him."  ( v9).  Once enemies, we are now reconciled.  Once condemned, we are now saved.  We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Verses 12-21 Paul compares the first man - Adam to the New Man - Jesus Christ.

In Adam - sin entered the world; death came because of sin; sin and death spread to all men;(v12)
               - judgement "arose from the one transgression resulting in condemnation"; ( v16)
               -  by this one transgression " death reigned" ( v17)
               - " through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men" ( v18)
               - Adam's one act of disobedience caused the many( all) to be made sinners ( v19)
The Law came and pointed out sin.  Sin increased. Sin reigned in death. ( v20-21)

In Jesus - the gift of grace, the Grace of God; " abounded to the many" (v15)
             - " the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification" ( v16)
             -  " much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ."  ( v17)
            - " so through one act of righteousness there  resulted justification of life to all men."  ( v18)
            - Jesus' obedience brings " the many to be made righteous" ( v19)
Grace came to "reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." ( v21)

Father in heaven, we exult in You. We leap for joy because of Your great Grace towards us while we were still sinners, helpless and condemned.  We rejoice in the hope You have given us through Jesus Christ our Lord! Thank You for saving us. Thank You for justifying us, for declaring us righteous, reckoning our faith in Jesus Christ as righteousness.  Thank You Jesus for abounding in grace towards us, freeing us from sin and death, and giving us eternal life in You.  Amen and amen!

Romans 4  "Reckon" - the Greek word is logizomai - to take inventory, estimate, count, impute, number, reason, suppose, think on... from the root word logos - something said, spoken, reasoning, account, cause, communication, utterance, word.  " And Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."  A wage is earned, not reckoned, Paul explains.  "But to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness." ( v5)

We cannot earn righteousness.  We can not be made innocent or just by working for it.  Abraham did not "earn" righteousness by his obedience or by his circumcision.  He was declared righteous because he believed God.  So, Paul argues, circumcision or uncircumcision, does not determine righteousness.  The only thing that God reckons as righteousness is faith.

Abraham is the model of faith that is reckoned as righteousness.   He believed God's promise that he would become of father of nations. Even when years passed and he was 100 years old and Sarah was well past child-bearing years - Abraham believed.  Even though hope was fading - he believed. In fact, Paul writes, " he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able to perform."  This was what God counted and declared to be righteous. 

This is the truth for us:  " those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who  was delivered up because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification." 
(v24-25)
"Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (5:1)

God declares us righteous- innocent, just.  He does not count our sins, but He counts our faith.  When we believe His promises, not wavering, being fully assured that " what He promised He was able to perform", we are from God's grace, declared righteous.  Our faith is what is reckoned as righteousness.

Father in Heaven,  Your Word, Your declaration to us that we who believe in You, who raised Jesus our Lord from the grave, that You will reckon as righteousness that faith... Oh what marvelous Grace!
Not that we have performed perfectly, not that we do all the works of the Law, not that we are strong or wise or successful or anything... but that we believe that You are able to do what You have promised... this is what counts to You!  Glorious Lord, Mighty God.  You are worthy of all our worship and praise and thanksgiving.  Thank You.  And Jesus, we thank You that we have this great salvation through You, who died for us. It is in Your Name that we pray. Amen

Romans 3

All the world, Paul writes, is made "accountable to God".  Whether they have the Law, as the Jews did, or whether they did not have the Law - " all are under sin".   The Law gives us " the knowledge of sin",  but it does not justify anyone.   There are no works that one can do on their own that can make them justified.  But , " now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested." 

The " righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe;"  has been manifested - declared, made evident, appeared.  
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."   No one can deny that statement and no one can justify himself.

"..being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; who God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." 

Paul's point here is that the only way that anyone can be justified is through faith in Jesus - whether Jew or Gentile.  Whether under the Law or not.  Whether you have done every jot and tittle of the Law or not, you can never be justified by what you have done.  You can only be justified by what Jesus Christ has done.  This, Paul declares, is the manifest righteousness of God.

The sacrifices of lambs and goats could only lay aside sin.  It was temporary and could not change the heart of a man.  But the redemption - the ransom paid, the deliverance guaranteed, the salvation provided - by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross - is the propitiation in His blood - the penalty is totally satisfied, paid in full, God's wrath appeased, atonement made.   Faith in Jesus then, can change our hearts and characters, make us holy and righteous, completely removes the sin, the guilt, and the power of sin over us.  We are transformed - and the image of God, like that of Adam before the fall - is regained.

Hallelujah! What a Saviour...

Father in Heaven,  we praise You and Worship You, the Righteous One Who has revealed Your grace and mercy to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Amen.