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.

    Paul tells us not to live to please ourselves, but to live to help our neighbors, those we meet and interact with on a daily basis, do what is right. I want to note that he gives this instruction immediately after making a final reference to his comments on not arguing over issues such as what is proper or improper to eat and what days are holy or not. So, this reference to helping others do what is right is not a reference to such things. Rather, Paul explains that we should strive to live in unity, with one mind and one spirit, but he points out that such is only possible if we allow God to work through us and strive to please each other.

    As Paul concludes his letter to the believers in Rome he explains why he wrote the letter, and why he wrote it now. Paul wrote this letter because he planned to visit Rome on his way to Iberia (Spain and Portugal) after he had delivered the monetary aid which the Gentile believers in Greece and Macedonia had collected for the believers in Jerusalem. The purpose of the letter was to introduce Paul’s approach to teaching about Christ. This served two purposes. First it gave the believers in Rome an in depth understanding of what Paul taught so they would not be caught off guard by anything he said once he got to Rome. Along with that it gave them a basis for interpreting what he said once he arrived, reducing the chances for misunderstanding. The second purpose was to give them a starting point for discussion once Paul arrived in Rome. Paul makes it clear that he does not think he is saying anything in this letter which the believers in Rome do not already know. This is not a letter designed to guide believers away from heresy and fault, as at least parts of Paul’s other letters do. Paul makes it clear that he does not think he has authority over the believers in Rome, unlike the believers in the cities where he was the first to bring the Gospel.

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 tells us that many of the Jews of his day had failed to accept God’s grace because they wished to attain salvation by their own good works. Many people today make the same mistake, both among those who call themselves Christian and in the world in general. However, salvation can only be obtained by accepting God’s free, and undeserved, grace. We can never do enough good works to earn our salvation, and trying to do so is a rejection of God’s freely offered grace. Those Jews who insisted on trying to earn salvation, and thus rejected God’s grace, were broken off from the vine which is God’s family and those Gentiles who accepted God’s freely offered gift were grafted on to that vine in their place. Fortunately, this is where that metaphor breaks down, there is room enough that should they, or any others, realize their mistake and accept God’s freely offered gift of salvation there is room for them to be grafted on to the vine, no matter how many have previously accepted God’s gift.

    The beginning of chapter twelve contains some of the best summations of how the followers of Christ should behave. We must not allow the thinking, habits, and practices of the world around us to shape the way that we think and act. Instead, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and transform us so that our thoughts and actions make our bodies into a living sacrifice to God. As part of that process we need to think of ourselves with sober judgment. God has given each and every person unique gifts. Each of these gifts are valuable and necessary to the Body of Christ. The gifts I have been given do not make me better, or more important, than you, and vice versa. As an aside I want to note that while Paul tells us not to think of ourselves more highly that we ought, he does tell us to think of ourselves with sober judgment. The implication being to not underrate ourselves either.

    Whatever gift we have been given we should exercise it to the fullest extent of that gift and not whine and refuse to use it because we have not been given some other gift which we consider more prestigious. If we truly love others, and Paul tells us that we ought to do so, we will use whatever gifts we have been given and not spend our time selfishly pining after gifts we have not been given. It is not enough to go through the motions of loving others, we must truly seek what is best for them. Paul instructs us not to be so proud that we are unwilling to associate with those who are “beneath us”, because the very idea that some people are beneath us is contrary to Christ’s teaching.

    I would really like to spend more time on chapter fourteen than I can because of what Paul says there about who is truly the strong in faith. If we demand that the Church change its doctrines and teachings according to our tastes we are declaring that our faith is too weak to survive if those of stronger faith continue to hold to their beliefs. Paul instructs those of stronger faith to temper their behavior so as to not damage the faith of those with a weaker faith. If another believer thinks that some action which you consider acceptable is a sin, you must not flaunt your belief in front of them. For example, I know Christians who believe that as followers of Christ we should abstain from all alcoholic beverages. I do not share that belief, but I do not try to convince them that they should drink (I may occasionally attempt to convince them that it is not wrong for others to consume alcohol) and I refrain from drinking or discussing alcoholic beverages which I enjoy in front of them.

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.

    Paul tells us that we have a choice. We can choose to be controlled by our sinful nature, or by the Holy Spirit. If we choose to be controlled by our sinful nature we can never please God and we will die. On the other hand, if we choose to allow the Holy Spirit to control us, He will help us to overcome our sinful nature and raise us from the dead just as He did Jesus Christ. It is not by our own power that we are able to overcome our sinful desires. If we allow Him to do so the Holy Spirit will put to death the deeds of our sinful nature. The Holy Spirit will help us in our weakness, even going so far as to teach us how to pray for that for which God desires us to pray.

    Paul tells us that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him. The translation notes offer an alternate translation which says that God works together with those who love Him to bring about what is good. I believe that both of these represent how God works in this world, the latter helps us understand what is meant by “good for those who love Him.” The more we love the Lord, the more we desire to suffer so that others will not. Further Paul tells us that nothing can separate us from God’s love. Even when we go through hardship and suffering God still loves us. No matter what we experience or do God will continue to love us. Even when we feel like God does not love us His love is there for us.

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.

    Paul tells us that Abraham’s faith never wavered, even when he was 100 years old and still had no son by Sarah. Yet, we know that he accepted Sarah’s suggestion and had a son with Hagar. So, despite the fact that Abraham had doubts, and even occasionally acted on those doubts, God considered that his faith never wavered. What we learn from Paul’s exposition is that it is natural that we some times doubt God’s promises. As we experience suffering, and the doubt that comes from it, we can learn to persevere. As we persevere in our faith through suffering and doubt our character will be built up. The building of our character will inspire us to ever greater hope in what the future holds. That hope is not in coming worldly good, but in doing God’s will and that hope will be fulfilled, and grow ever greater, by the Holy Spirit channeling God’s love through us.

    Paul tells us in this passage, and yesterday’s, that we are saved through faith by God’s grace, that no action or good work on our part contributes to our salvation, and that no sin we have committed impedes that salvation. Many people interpret this to mean that they can go on sinning with impudence. However, Paul addresses that very idea in this passage. Paul tells us that our salvation has freed us from sin and that if we choose to continue sinning we are allowing ourselves to become re-enslaved by sin. We are slaves to that which we do, if we do righteous deeds we will be slaves to righteousness, if we do sinful deeds we will be slaves to sin. Towards the end of this passage Paul explains how this works. We have been saved to desire not to sin. If we sin despite our desire not to do so, it shows us that we need more of God’s grace and we should seek for the Holy Spirit to enter us more fully. As the Holy Spirit fills us it will inspire us to undertake more acts which are righteous. The result will be that, as we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, our time will be filled with doing things which serve God and we will have no time left to succumb to sin. This is easier said than done. I want to reiterate a point which Paul made earlier and makes again later. The degree to which our time is filled doing good, and thus not sinning, is not to our credit. It is a product of the Holy Spirit filling us and does not make us better than those who find themselves more controlled by sin. I will state that some of my greatest victories over sin have been inspired by those who are just taking the first steps in overcoming sin in their lives.

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.

    This is perhaps one of the most complex messages in the Bible. Paul starts by telling us that we are made with God by faith. However, no sooner has Paul said this then he finds it necessary to preach a bit of fire and brimstone about sin. Before we can truly understand God’s glorious grace we must understand the depth of our depravity. In order to make the case for the depravity of those who do not have faith in God, Paul makes the case that looking at the created universe reveals God’s existence and His Law (the Law which the Law of Moses is just an expression, just as the Temple in Jerusalem was just an expression of the Temple in Heaven where God lives). No one has an excuse for not knowing God since He has revealed Himself through the Universe. Paul tells us that sexual depravity is the first of the moral failings which come from denying God, all other forms of depravity follow from there.

    In his description of the sexual depravity to which abandoned those who have chosen, against the evidence, to refuse to worship God, Paul pretty much lists the entirety of LGBTQA. However, before we become arrogant and start condemning those who travel that path, Paul reminds us of our own failings. We are just as guilty as those whose utter depravity Paul just described and we know that God has condemned the actions which we commit. Paul makes the very clear point that we are all guilty of sin, sin which makes us deserving of death. We have all sinned, every last one of us. As a result, we have no basis to boast about being better than others, because we are not.