Romans 13:8-14

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

Love Fulfills God’s Requirements

In these verses, we see that anger and bitterness are forbidden for Christians just as much as drunkenness and sexual immorality. Here we see not only what we are to avoid but how we are to avoid it. God’s desires us to live a life that fulfills his law and that doesn’t happen by passively trying not to break the law. These verses say that we can fulfill the law through love. Paul implores the Christians in Rome (and us) to live attractive lives of love. This isn’t referring to a flawless life, but to one in which we deny our own desires in order to do what’s best for our neighbors. It’s a life that mirrors the self-giving love of Jesus.

The imagery used here of “taking off dirty clothes and putting on shining armor” speaks volumes. Armor is not worn as casual attire; it is worn to acquire a victory. The ultimate victory has been accomplished on the cross for our sake. Now let us live victoriously in the light and new life that God provides.

QUESTIONS

1. Why would Paul think these matters were so urgent?  Do you see them as urgent matters in your life?  

2. What does ‘clothing yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ look like to you?  How can you make this part of your daily life?

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Romans 13:1-7

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.

Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.

Respect for Authority

In these verses Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declares that the civic rulers and authorities have been put in place by God himself. Because of this, Christians are called to believe that authorities great and small are there because the one true God wants His world to be ordered, not chaotic. This does not validate particular actions of leaders or governments. Paul is merely saying that some government is always necessary in a world where evil flourishes when unchecked. During the time this was written, Christians (and yes, even Paul), were likely to get in trouble for their beliefs, but made every effort to be good citizens. 

How we respond to earthly authority and heavenly authority are not mutually exclusive.  In most cases, the energy we use resisting earthly authority would be better used in intentionally working toward establishing more of the rulership of King Jesus in our lives and communities.

Throughout human history we can easily recognize how authority and power can become corrupted, leading to the oppression of the very people it was meant to serve. This is where we must initiate our faith in God’s supreme authority and sovereignty. As Paul alluded to in chapter 9, even the most oppressive authority can be a means for the Ultimate Authority to prevail. 

“For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, ‘I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread My fame throughout the earth.’”

QUESTIONS 

1. In what ways do you need to submit your life more to God’s authority? How will that affect the relationship with the authority you live under at school, home, or work?

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Romans 12:9-21

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.

Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

ACTIVE LOVE

For Paul, love is about what people do more than it is about how they feel. In fact, in the early church love was often connected directly to helping others in need rather than having warm feelings towards them. In the Christian experience we discover that when we love people through service, then to our surprise, love, care and concern for that person’s welfare quickly springs up. If we wait for a feeling or motivation to arise in our hearts, then way might never actually get around to doing anything at all.

Today’s reading finishes with an insight as to how we can live in the midst of our enemies and a charge to, “not let evil conquer us”. When we refuse to take revenge we are actually taking responsibility for our own emotional health. We are refusing to allow our future lives to be determined by the evil that someone else has done. This was written to Roman Christians that had enemies on every side, and as they “conquered evil by doing good,” it was a means of loving God, their enemy, and themselves. 

QUESTIONS 

1. As you read this passage, is your attention drawn more towards the things Paul is say “Don’t do...” or “Do...”? Which of these categories is most life giving and redemptive?

2. How have you dealt with your enemies in the past? In what ways can you “conquer evil by doing good”?

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Romans 12:3-8 (NLT)

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

NEW PURPOSE, NEW GIFTS

God gives different people different gifts that are needed for the work of the gospel to flourish. His grace often enhances the abilities and inclinations people already have; but sometimes, when God’s spirit takes over someone’s life, new gifts emerge that neither they nor anyone else imagined them having before.

It is vital for us to recognize the value of theses different gifts - and for those to whom they have been given to activate them as part of the sacrificial self-offering spoken of at the start the chapter. The passage has a "get-your-sleeves-rolled up” feel to it and it’s important to note that none of the gifts in this passages are designated for “ministry professionals only”. Everyone who has received a new life in Christ has these gifts available to them.

Ask the Lord to reveal which of these gifts He has graciously given you and get after it.  Expect the work to be hard and keep at it even when you’re not in the mood. Through it all, a grace, joy, and satisfaction will manifest in your life that honors Jesus and advances His Kingdom.

QUESTIONS

1. Which of these gifts do you think God has given you? Where in the church or the community can you activate them? 

2. What obstacle do you see hindering you from using that gift? Pray that God would remove it or give you the strength to overcome it.

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Romans 12:1-2 NLT

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

A NEW WAY OF THINKING & LIVING

Having our minds renewed by the Spirit is a vital part of the Christian life. Many believers today never come to terms with this. We hope we will be able to live up to Kingdom standards while still thinking the way the rest of the world thinks. It can’t be done.

 Sometimes people suggest that living a Christian life means not thinking things through for yourself, but rather by rules and regulations derived from ancient traditions. Of course, there are plenty of firm boundaries which Paul points to later in this chapter.  But at the center of genuine Christianity is a mind awake, alert, and determined to understand why human life is meant to be lived the King’s way rather than our way.  

 It is our way that looks around at the shallow culture, with all its silly patterns of behavior, and copies it unthinkingly. King Jesus’s way is filled with depth, purpose and humility. Is it a sacrifice to live this way? Yes. A Great Sacrifice made this new way of thinking and living available to us. What Christ has done now allows us to become who we were always meant to be.

QUESTIONS

1. Ask God what ways of thinking are present in your life that He wants to transform.  What are they? What can you replace them with?

2. How will this new way of thinking reshape your behaviors and customs?

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Romans 11:25-36

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written:

“The deliverer will come from Zion;
    he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.” 

28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
    How unsearchable his judgments,
    and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
    Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God,
    that God should repay them?”
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
    To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Interestingly and importantly, after the Jew and Gentile believers had been both encouraged and slightly reprimanded by Paul, he now refers to them all as brothers and sisters (acknowledging their union in the same family). It was probably needed and a great reminder that they were all in this thing together and that Paul’s heart (and the gospel) was for all of them.

Paul concludes this section by talking about a great mystery. We all love mysteries or are at least intrigued by them and the Romans reading this letter were no different. So Paul begins to finalize his thoughts regarding the kinship of the Jewish and Gentile believers by laying out the mystery of the gospel: the secret plan of God. This plan was now unveiled in and through Jesus the Messiah and answers the question of how God will save all His people, both Jew and Gentile. Paul uses a combination of Old Testament passages to show God working for the benefit of Gentiles through the fulfillment of the covenant with Israel. These same passages show God re-affirming that covenant itself not by pretending that all Jews do after all have a private path to salvation irrespective of the fact that they are sinners just like the Gentiles, but by declaring that, in the course of his continuing work in the world, he will also ‘turn away ungodliness from Jacob’ and ‘take away their sins.’ This was God’s path and plan all along as He worked within the world to save the world. 

This “plan” probably left some wondering “why did God have to do it that way?” or “wasn’t there a simpler way to accomplish His plan?” to which Paul responds with verses 33-36. Let us be reminded to not forget the wisdom and knowledge of God and our inability to search His judgments or fathom His ways.  He is God and from Him, to Him and through Him are all things. He will be glorified. God’s project of restoring creation through His image bearers will ultimately work itself out and we are to be filled with gratitude to share in the process and the plan.

Questions:

1. How does seeing fellow believers in Jesus as brothers and sisters change your thoughts and feelings regarding them?

2. In considering God’s plan of salvation and redemption for humans, do you find yourself questioning God’s methods or decision making (if so, how?) or does it fill you with gratitude? Express this gratitude to God in prayer.

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Romans 11:7-24

7 What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, 8 as it is written:

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes that could not see
    and ears that could not hear,
to this very day.” 

9 And David says:

“May their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
    and their backs be bent forever.” 

11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

Four things emerge very clearly from this section of Paul’s writing.  First, Paul makes clear that the Jews who have not believed the good news really are “cut out of the tree.” This explains his heartfelt pain at the prospect of his fellow Jews not turning to faith in Jesus. Second, Paul affirms that the people of God are one single family. We are now the children of Abraham redefined around faith in Jesus the Messiah. The church remains an essentially Jewish family into which non-Jews have been welcomed. Third, Paul insists that God will bring more Jews into His renewed family, which is their own true people. After all it is easier to graft Jews back into the tree to which they originally belonged. Finally, Paul addresses the Gentile Christians regarding their attitude toward the Jewish people. He issues them a serious warning that they must not suppose that they have replaced the Jews in God’s plan or that the church is now simply a place for Gentiles only or that God has chosen them simply because they are in fact Gentiles. He wants the believers in Rome to understand that the grace of God is not tied to a particular people group or ethnicity. There is nothing outside of grace through faith alone that provides entrance into the family of God and to believe otherwise would open them to the possibility of God reacting the same way He had with unbelieving Israel. 

Questions:

1. If only those who have given their allegiance to Jesus are members of God’s family and able to share in His promises how does this change your view of those not yet in relationship with Jesus?

2. In what ways have you or are you tempted to place boundaries on who is worthy of God’s grace?

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Romans 10:14-11:6

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 

16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 

18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.” 

19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
    I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”[j]

20 And Isaiah boldly says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;
    I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” 

21 But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands
    to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

Romans 11

1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

In these verses, Paul is wrestling with why his fellow Israelites are not turning to God and accepting Jesus as the promised Messiah. This isn’t simply a theological problem but a deeply personal one.  Paul is devastated to the point of grief and depression (so much so that he spoke earlier in Chapter 9 of his desire to be cut off from the Messiah if it would draw his fellows Jews to salvation) in his quest to let Jewish people know the gospel. He found himself in a position similar to Elijah and thus uses Elijah’s story as an analogy. He had worked, prayed, taught and suffered to share the good news of Jesus and it had expanded into the gentile world as they began to accept it and build their lives upon it. And, in the meantime, he looks over his shoulder only to see his own countrymen rejecting and rebelling against this very gospel in which all of their own traditions and laws are fulfilled. He uses this despair to cry out to those who will listen to accept the grace that God has for them as it is revealed in the Scriptures.  He encourages them to stop being obstinate but to become part of the remnant of God’s own people that choose to accept Christ and be grafted in to God’s family.  

Questions:

1. Who does your heart break for when you see them choosing to rebel against God? 

2. How does God want to use you to be the feet who bring good news?

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Romans 9:25-10:13

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,

“In the very place where it was said to them,
    ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘children 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 the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 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 people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall,
    and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

Romans 10 

1 Brothers and sisters, 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 of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

As we continue through Romans 9 and into 10, Paul is still painstakingly addressing his fellow Jews. He begins by quoting out of the book of Hosea a passage that references the relational journey of the Israelites with their God. The Israelites relationship with God was one of rebellion despite the faithfulness of God shown toward them. He quotes this prophecy of Hosea to reveal that only some of them will be rescued and that even those are simply a result of God’s graciousness. 

Paul then pivots to show that the gentiles were found right with God through faith but that the Israelites in their attempt to follow the law, as a way to be found righteous, had failed. They failed because they didn’t recognize that the law was to point them to the Messiah, Jesus.  They had stumbled over the foundation stone on which their lives were to be built. They didn’t recognize Jesus as the one who gave His life so that their hearts could be transformed, allowing them to be able to fulfill and follow the law they so desperately looked to for approval and righteousness.  

Jesus has already come to earth and lived a perfect life (fulfilling the law) and had already been raised from the dead (defeating all foes and rendering all people able to do the same). The message to both Jews and Gentiles alike was that they now could and should profess Jesus as Messiah and Lord, confess their allegiance to Him and allow Him to transform their hearts so that they would be able to obey and follow the ways of the Lord.

Questions:

1. In what ways do you find yourself working to meet God’s approval? 

2. How does the knowledge that God will change your heart when you choose to place Him first and follow Him affect how you view God?

3. God promises that anyone who believes in Him (chooses to follow Him) will never be put to shame.  What does this mean to you?

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Romans 9:1-24

1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through 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 people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; 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 the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised. Amen.

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 children by physical descent 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 were conceived at the same time by 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.” 

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 human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.17 For 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.

19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one 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 special purposes and some for common use?

22 What if God, although 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? 

As we begin Romans 9, Paul is attempting to do two things: (1) affirm that God did choose the Jews and equip them to be his people for the world, and (2) affirm that Jesus was and is Israel’s messiah. Paul is sad, even distraught, because he sees many of his fellow Jews rejecting Jesus as the promised Messiah. He emphasizes that the Jews are the people of the Messiah, but they are that “according to the flesh.” The Messiah really does belong to them, but only in the “fleshly” sense; and he also belongs to the whole world as its rightful Lord.

Paul takes his readers back through the ancient stories of the patriarchs and the promises God made to them to reveal a greater purpose to them.  God seems to have decided to have chosen a particular family to work with through history but also chose people within that family itself as He saw fit. The point of the grander story seems to be that God’s purpose was to act within history to deal with the problem of evil, but this could only be done by employing a people who were themselves part of the problem, until the time was set for God’s own son to emerge from their midst and, all alone, to take their destiny upon himself. 

Paul is determined to help the Jewish people see that they had an increased responsibility to honor God and carry forward his purposes due to their lineage rather than an automatic vested superiority. He uses the analogy of the potter and the clay to help them realize how God has been attempting to gently mold his people and work with and through them, but they failed to respond.  Much was expected of those to whom much was given. In fact, God designed His people to be vessels of mercy that would be used to bless and benefit all people. Paul finishes this portion of scripture by showing that God was now going to use both Jews and Gentiles to accomplish this great mission of pouring out His grace and glory on His image bearers as they work with him to restore all things to the way God intended and created them.

Questions

1. What expectations do you believe God has for those who choose to serve and follow Him?  

2. Are the expectations you listed based on following a set of rules or derived out of a relationship with Father God?  

3. Ask God how He wants to use you to be a blessing to other people today.  Listen. Then do it. ☺ 

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Romans 8:31-39 (NIV)

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? 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 then is the one who condemns? No one. 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.

It Keeps Getting Better

“If God be for us, who can be against us!?” We spend our lives yearning to experience love, purpose, and victory. God does not hold anything back from us. Nothing at all. In Christ Jesus our King, we have more than enough to stand up to the toughest internal and external challenges we face – and to thrive in the process.

Activation

Read this passage out loud – thoughtfully, confidently, joyfully, and (did we already say this?) loudly!

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Romans 8:18-30 (NIV)

 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children 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 freedom and glory 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 to sonship, 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 they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

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 through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

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 image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

A Better Kind of Environmentalism

Two of the toughest questions we humans face are “why is the world so broken?” and “why do we experience so much suffering?” In this passage, Paul lays out how the Gospel answers even those questions in a mysterious and profound good way.

Our planet experiences futility as a result of human sin. But that is not the end. Jesus not only forgives us of our sins, He also restores people to their rightful place as divine image bearers who bring restoration to the world. In our most difficult suffering, there is always an opportunity to be more fully transformed, and for our wills and actions to become more closely aligned with God. Our suffering can be more than worth it, as we are “glorified” into people who dynamically reflect God’s image – and also bring restoration to the whole creation.

Questions

1. What are you hoping for that you do not yet have?

2. Is there an area where you are suffering right now? How does this perspective change things for you? In your suffering, how can you “press in” by faith to God’s purpose for you, and for the world around you?

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Romans 8:1-17 (NIV)

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

5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life 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 because of his Spirit who lives in you.

12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to 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.

You’ve Got to Hear This

Talk about good news! After the frustrating realities in Chapter 7, now we can hear and focus on what God has done for us in Christ. And it is more than we can fathom.

Because of Jesus our King, we are not condemned, but sin’s power in us is broken. We have right standing with God… we can set our minds on what the Spirit desires… we can experience life and peace, even in our present physical bodies… we can put to death the misdeeds of our bodies… we are children of God… we have an intimate relationship with our Father… we are heirs… and as we share in His suffering, we can also share in His glory.

Questions

1. What is the difference between experiencing death and experiencing life and peace (v. 5-7)?

2. Read through this passage again. What one aspect the Good News stands out to you? Contemplate this truth throughout your day. 

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Romans 7:14-25 (NIV)

 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 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but 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: Although 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 me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my flesh a slave to the law of sin.

Battling Ourselves

Every honest person – including us – can relate to the seeming impossibility of living free from sin’s power. Even those who believe in God – from the nation of Israel to the apostle Paul to us – sometimes feels as if the evil that still resides in our flesh has the upper hand.

It often looks and feels hopeless – but when we authentically acknowledge our brokenness, we are in the right place for Jesus to bring us more of His ongoing transformation and victory.

Question

1. Where is your flesh giving you the toughest battle?

2. Take a minute to ask God to help you experience greater victory in this area today, as you actively place your trust in Christ.

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Romans 7:1-13 (NIV)

 1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

It’s Complicated: Our Relationship with the Law

How is a Christian supposed to relate to the Old Testament law – the commandments given to the nation of Israel? It was complicated for early believers to understand, and it is also complicated for us.

For the first century church in Rome, it was equally confusing. The Gentile believers were likely to appreciate and live out their freedom in Christ apart from following all the details of the Old Testament, while many Jewish believers saw the moral code of the Old Testament as still binding. Of course, that doesn’t mean they always kept it!

Paul explained that the Old Testament law has an important purpose. It is good, and shows us the power sin has over our lives. But the law does not have the power to set us free from sin’s power – no matter how much willpower we muster up. God’s moral law shows us our need for a Savior – who then releases us from the law so that we can “belong to another… and bear fruit to God” (verse 4). As we place our belief and allegiance in Jesus, His transforming power enables us to “serve in the new way of the Spirit.”

Questions

1. What does it look like when you try to earn a sense of right-standing with God by obeying His law? How does that work?

2. What will it look for you today to live “released from the Law” and “belonging to another?”

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Romans 6:15-23 (NIV)

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.  19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How Then Should We Live?

So how then shall we live this life of faith?  How do we relate to our new master, the Lord Jesus Christ?  We offer Him our full allegiance. Once sold out to sin, we are now sold out to Him.  Our lives become a thank you note to The One who died for us while we were still drowning in sin.  As Paul states, we become obedient slaves to God’s rule and reign. Either way, all of humanity is a slave to some master. It’s either sin or righteousness.  There is no middle ground. We all make our choice and then our choice makes us. Choosing Jesus through faith allows us to live in the power of the Holy Spirit with great awareness of our new identity.  We get to partner with God in putting the world back to rights. His grace propels our obedience, even when we don’t feel like it. His gift of repentance allows us to fall right back into our freedom when we choose otherwise.  A kite is free to fly only when it is a “slave” to the string. We too have maximum freedom when we are tethered to Christ, living in His sovereign narrative.

Questions

1. How does your church community help you live out your allegiance to Christ?  

2. Think of an area of your life that needs to be in further surrender to God’s rule and reign.  Will you pray about trusting God with this area?

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Romans 6:12-14 (NIV)

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

A New Master

One of the great privileges of putting our faith in Jesus is being adopted into His family and being a part of a new kingdom.  With a new kingdom, comes a new master. When united with Adam through sin, our master aligned with dark forces contrary to God’s rule and reign.  When we choose to unite with Christ through faith, we come up under a new master, a new way of living. This master is Christ Himself and He not only wants to direct our Sunday mornings but the entirety of our lives.  But there is a significant challenge in coming up under the voice of a new master. It’s the challenge of not superimposing the voice of our old, familiar master onto the voice of our new one. The master of sin is an indulgent, pleasing voice when you give it your allegiance.  It will convince you of anything and ask you to bring others with you. This same voice becomes very harsh and abusive when trying to align oneself with a far superior master. This voice that was once a “partner in crime,” now wants to condemn and shame the very behavior he so easily applauded.  The voice of sin and darkness will exaggerate the restrictiveness of God’s commands and make you feel as if your new allegiance is simply a right set of beliefs with no real power to change your mind, will and emotions and thus no real power to change your behavior. But this is the exact point that Paul is trying to counter in these verses.  We no longer have to obey the voice of darkness. It is no longer our master and it no longer reigns in our new identity. Not only do we no longer have to obey this voice, we don’t even have to listen to it in the first place. Our new master, Jesus, offers His righteousness through the free gift of grace. Grace frees us to devote ourselves fully to living God’s way.  We can devote our minds, eyes, tongues, hands and feet. We can devote our time, talents, energy and passions. We can surrender our relationships, careers, lifestyles and convictions. All of our lives can be wholly His because He is a trustworthy master who always has our best interest in mind. This is way more than just deciding not to sin (which simply leads to self-righteousness at best).  This is a lifestyle started by faith, sustained by faith and fully surrendered to the object of our faith.

Questions

1. How has God helped you with your desire to obey Him and not the voice of sin and darkness?

2. What would you tell a friend about your experience of putting your faith in Jesus and coming up under a new master?

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Romans 6:1-11 (NIV)

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Dead to Sin

Paul is so thorough in his letter to the Roman church that he anticipates the questions his audience might have and beats them to the inquisition.  He knows the human heart can justify anything! If following the law isn’t the answer to humanity’s problem, then by default, can’t we just ignore the law?  If grace’s response to sin is so powerful, why should we stop sinning? Doesn’t sin have to be at full strength in order for grace to have maximum results? Remember that Paul has shown us that God’s covenant through faith has always been about dealing with sin.  It’s about being set apart to a new master, a new way of living. Because we are no longer unified with sin, we are now unified with Christ. What is true of Him is true of His followers. He died and rose to life and we too die to our sin nature and rise to a new life, a new identity.  Even though we still sin, it is not our identity nor our ultimate reality. We are not under its power with no hope of escape. Do you remember the story of the Israelites escaping from Egypt to freedom? God gave them a new identity, freedom and a new address. However, it would take a lifetime of releasing Egypt’s influence from their thoughts, actions, emotions, etc.  The same is true for us. Through faith in Jesus, we receive a new identity (saint), freedom (removed from sin’s power) and a new address (God’s kingdom). But we too have patterns, thought processes and behaviors that are contrary to God’s law. If we’ll live in surrender to Him, He will piece by piece, season by season make our inward and outward lives reflect more and more of who we were actually made to be.

Questions

1. What happens when Christians minimize their sin and believe it does not matter?

2. Practically speaking, what does it look like to be dead to sin and alive to Christ?

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Romans 5:12-21 (NIV)

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.  15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!  18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

With Whom are You Unified?

In Romans chapter 4, Paul took us back to the story of Abraham to prove that God’s covenant family has always been on the basis of faith.  Now Paul is going to take us further back to the story Adam, the very first human God created. How was the power of sin even unleashed upon the earth?  Why did God have to create a covenant with humanity when He authored them in the first place? Because covenant is about freely choosing, God has always given humanity a say in whether or not they accept His offer of relationship through faith.  This same choice was given to Adam and Eve. When they no longer trusted God to do what He said He would do, they put their faith (their allegiance) in another kingdom. Upon eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam broke covenant with God and would therefore release the reign of sin and death over all of humanity.  Humanity’s natural allegiance would now fall under the power of sin. But Paul paints a very profound picture in these verses. The sin of Adam is no match for the grace of God. When we change our identity from sinner to saint through faith in Jesus, Paul is saying that not only does God restore us to our original intent, He actually rebuilds us to a higher position of reigning than that of Adam before the fall.  Grace does not simply match our sin one for one. Grace multiplies all the more, it’s more abundant than sin. Do you get that? As you see death and destruction all around you, God’s grace isn’t just an equal force to match it. It’s a force to obliterate it! There is more grace in Him than sin in you and around you.

Because we are not autonomous, everyone either remains unified with “Adamic humanity” (under the power of sin) or comes up under the power of grace to be unified with Christ.  We either stay condemned or become justified. These are the two options before every human being: to be in covenant with sin or to be in a covenant family with God through faith in Jesus.  One leads to death, the other to life.

Questions

1. What do you think the average person believes about humanity – that all people are born good, neutral or born sinners?  What do these verses show us?

2. How have you seen the power of God’s grace overshadow the power of sin in your life and the life of your community?

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Romans 5:1-11 (NIV)

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.  6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

The Peace of Reconciliation

Have you ever considered that on your very worst day and in your very worst moment, you are still at peace with God through faith in Jesus?  No circumstance can remove you from being at peace with the creator of the universe. This is Paul’s message as we move to Romans chapter 5. Peace with God is at the center of our faith, it is our foundation upon which we build our lives.  We stand in His grace free to be wholly ourselves, free to image God to the fullest. So why would Paul turn from the subject of peace to the subject of suffering? Don’t those ideas seem contradictory in our lives? Paul teaches us in this section that peace and suffering are not opposing words in the life of a believer.  Note that Paul doesn’t say that we have to celebrate our sufferings but glory “in” our sufferings.  In other words, during our suffering, we can have perspective to see its value and rest in the fact that our peace with God is never shaken.  It’s not denying the fact that suffering is hard. Rather, it’s having a quiet confidence that God is in its midst. God uses suffering in our lives to bring about perseverance, character and hope.  He uses it to transform us into the person He’s made us to be; to take us from Christian infancy to a more mature faith. And who is our model for suffering? Our model for resting in God’s peace in the midst of suffering?  Jesus Himself, who died for us while we were still sinners. He suffered emotionally, physically and spiritually as He went to the cross for His enemies, as he went to the cross for us! These eleven verses offer so much hope and perspective.  We have lasting access to God, we are never removed from being at peace with Him and nothing in this life can shake our security.

Questions

1. How is having peace with God superior to any circumstance you may face?

2. How do the ups and downs of life cause you to forget your security in Christ?

3. How has God used your suffering to produce perseverance, character and hope?

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