I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Romans 15-16.

    In yesterday’s passage, Paul told us not to argue about whether or not it is OK to eat meat offered to idols. He continues his discussion on that point into today’s passage. I have always struggled somewhat with his point here, since elsewhere he talks about the importance of pointing out to people when they are sinning. However, I realized today that Paul’s main focus in this discussion is on those who recognize that there is nothing wrong with eating meat offered to idols (with several qualifications). It is offering meat to idols in the first place that is the sin. Here in today’s passage he tells us to be considerate of those who are sensitive about such things.
    Paul is pointing out here that those of us who believe that some rule of behavior does not apply (such as women covering their head, or Christians being teetotalers) should not argue with those who believe that it does. Further, we should be careful not to flaunt our belief in front of those who are on the other side. For example, I think it is OK for Christians to consume alcohol. However, I do not drink in front of those I know believe otherwise, nor do I talk about alcoholic drinks in front of them. There is no reason for me to argue with those who disagree with me on this issue. If they become aware of my position on this issue and confront me about it, I will explain why I believe what I do, but I will not attempt to convince them that they should drink alcohol.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Romans 11-14.

    Paul points out that while the rejection of the Gospel by so many of the Jews opened the door for Gentiles to hear the Gospel, the Jews were still eligible to receive God’s grace. Furthermore, we should desire that they turn to God and accept the free gift which He offers to all people. We as Gentiles benefited from the rejection of the Gospel by Jews, how much more will the entire world benefit if and when they accept it? It is not possible to be a faithful follower of Jesus and to harbor anti-Semitic attitudes. God did indeed trim off from His family tree those descended from Abraham who rejected his free gift. And yes, He did graft those of us not descended from Abraham in their place. However, we should not become arrogant because He could just as easily remove us once more in order to graft them back should their hearts embrace Him.

    I love chapter 12. Paul tells us that we should be willing to offer our bodies up as living sacrifices to God. We should be willing to experience whatever physical unpleasantness necessary to serve God’s will. We should not strive to fit into the world around us. Instead, we need to study God’s word and allow His Spirit to transform us fully into His image. Paul instructs us to evaluate our abilities clearly and soberly. We should neither overestimate our abilities, nor should we denigrate ourselves (which sometimes is a reverse form of puffing ourselves up). People have varied and different skills. Each and everyone of us is a unique creation who God placed in this world for a specific purpose. Let us embrace the purpose for which we were created without holding ourselves above others.
    In line with that, it is not our place to bring judgment or cause suffering on those who we believe deserve it. Rather, we should strive to live at peace with others. That will not always be possible, but let us strive to avoid being the reason why it is not possible. If others refuse to live at peace with us, that is beyond our control and not our responsibility. Rather than return the evil others do to us with evil, let us return that evil with good. If we do as God wills, either those who are currently our enemies will be transformed by God’s Holy Spirit, as we have been (we have been transformed by the Holy Spirit, haven’t we?), or God will bring the appropriate judgment upon them. If we do good to those who wrong us, those around us will see our good works and praise God.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Romans 8-10.

    In today’s passage Paul continues his discussion of following our sinful nature vs following the Spirit. Paul makes a very practical argument here, but because he words it as a theological argument it took me well into my adult years to understand it. If we allow the Holy Spirit to control our actions we will do the things we ought to do and we will not do the things we ought not do. On the other hand, if we allow our sinful nature to control our actions we will do the reverse. The key here is that if we spend our time doing the things which we know God desires us to do, we will quickly find that we do not have time to do the things which our sinful nature wants us to do. It is a decision each and every one of us must make, because the reverse is true as well. If we fill our time with activities which our purely for our own pleasure we will find that we do not have time for those volunteer activities to which God is calling us.

    One of the things I struggle with is prayer. I struggle with spending enough time praying. I struggle with what I should pray. I struggle with my faith that God answers prayer (which is, at least partially, related to my struggle about what I should pray). I know that if I can fully bring myself to understand and practice what Paul says about prayer in this passage God will resolve my struggles with prayer. If we allow Him to do so, the Holy Spirit will guide our prayers and, in some cases, pray for us. In this way the things we do not know how to present to God will be brought before Him and we will see Him answer these prayers we did not even know how to word.
    I was going to start a new section for this when I realized that it is really related to Paul’s message about prayer. Nothing is able to separate us from God’s love. Some people interpret this to mean that once a person has accepted God’s grace. no matter what that person chooses they will be with God forever. But that is not what Paul says. Rather, what Paul is saying is that no matter what we do, God loves us. He loves each and every person. So much so that He will allow those who want nothing to do with Him to experience the suffering which that inevitably entails. On the other hand, if we return God’s love, He manages everything that happens so that it works together for our good. No matter what we do in this life, God offers us the opportunity to be saved by believing in the depths of our being that Jesus was raised from the dead and publicly acknowledging that He is the One whom we obey.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Romans 4-7.

    Today’s passage starts with Paul giving evidence to support his claim that salvation comes through faith. He shows how Abraham was declared righteous before he did any of the things to which his faith inspired him. Paul’s example goes further because, as I just said, Paul points out that Abraham was inspired by his faith to do good works. However, it was not those works which made Abraham right with God. Rather, those works resulted from Abraham being made right with God by his faith. The same thing applies to us today. We are made right with God by our faith. Being made right with God results in us doing good works.
    From there Paul goes on to tell us that this saving faith will bring us joy, even in the face of the difficulties of this life and the persecution which our faith will bring us. These trials and tribulations will increase our endurance, our ability to withstand trouble. Learning to endure unpleasant experiences builds our character, makes us better people. As our character grows our hope in Christ is strengthened. While many people will belittle us for this hope, we know that God loves us and will bring that hope to fruition.

    Paul goes on to show us that sin highlights how wonderful God’s grace is. However, that grace does not excuse us to continue living in sin. More importantly, if we truly understand God’s love and grace we will desire to take advantage of the opportunity which God has given us to escape sin. Through God’s grace, we died with Christ. That death freed us from our bondage to sin and we have been raised from the dead with Christ to a new life, free from sin. As Paul points out a little later, being free from sin does not mean that we are without sin. We will continue to struggle with sin as long as we are in this world. However, we should desire NOT to sin. Paul sums up our situation in this world thus:

I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

As we strive to allow the Holy Spirit to control our thoughts and our actions, He will free us from the control by our sinful natures. The necessary step in this process is to want to do what is right and good and to want to not do what what is wrong. From that starting point the Holy Spirit can transform us into new creations.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Romans 1-3.

    As Paul starts his letter to the Christians in Rome he says that he desires to go to Rome in order to strengthen their faith and in order to have his faith strengthened by them. He follows this up by giving a quick synopsis of the Good News which he preached. There he sums it up by saying that God makes us right in His sight and that this is accomplished in its totality by faith. However, I want to point out that just a few days ago we read where Paul made his defense before King Agrippa and said that those who had been made right with God did good as a demonstration of the change they had undergone.

    Paul then moves on to discussing sin. Everyone has sinned and no one is able to make themselves right with God by their own effort. Paul points out that no one can claim ignorance as an excuse to sin. Anyone who cares to can know the truth because God has made it plain for anyone who chooses to look. However, for one reason or another, people did not want to know God, so they made up gods and chose to worship them instead. In their desire to prove themselves wiser than others, people became fools. Paul points out that as a result of their refusal to acknowledge God people have chosen to vile and degrading things to other people’s bodies. This here is a lesson all of us can use to evaluate our behavior, does our behavior degrade others?
    Having said this, Paul is quick to point out that we are in no position to condemn those who behave as Paul just described because we have all sinned and can only be made right by God’s grace. Those who keep on doing evil will suffer God’s condemnation. And here Paul says something which reminds us of what he told King Agrippa. God will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good. Paul says this just a short time after telling us that the start to finish of being made right with God is accomplished through faith. The good we do does not save us. It does not offset the sins we have committed. Rather, it is a reflection of our repentance and faith.