Category: Romans

Reading

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SAA Notes

These chapters contain many verses worth learning by heart. Find one and learn it. Paul is expounding his teaching that righteousness is by faith with a steady though intense and concentrated logic. He is worth following at a slow pace!

SJA Notes

* God of Light and Love, please teach us Your truth today.

“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”

We are a motley crew, a ragged and despicable legion from Adam till now and onwards until the last trumpet sounds.

You can see Paul building, pulling together scripture – Taking a solid foundation from the old testament.

The language Paul echoes is that of open grave throats and deceiving tongues, lips with venom and mouths of curses and bitterness. Further, the deep darkness of humanity rejecting God.

Paul sums up both our desperate need and the solution. That mind-boggling way for us to be saved.

“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”

More of Jesus, less of us. We cannot stake claim to anything in our salvation. Not one fragment, not a tiny whisper of import are we able to grab hold of.

We all fall short. We all have sinned.

BUT.

From 1 Corinthians 15 we have this, a great BUT,

“But thanks be to  God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Hallelujah, redemption (victory) is found in Jesus – What a God we have!

* Gracious Lord,

Thank You. You have saved us! We have victory through Jesus.

Thank You for redeeming us, justifying us through Your grace.

Thank You for this gift, given even though we do not deserve it.

Thank You Lord!

Amen.

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

There is a difference between exercising your judgment and taking God’s prerogative of judgment on someone else. This reading demands that you exercise your judgment (see 2:7, 25-29). The warning is: Don’t sit in our Father’s seat! That is treating Him with dishonour.

SJA Notes

* God Above, please shine the light of Your word into our lives today.

“The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

This is a hard word for us to hear today, to dwell on whether it could be said of us.

Church leadership is often given to hypocrisy, saying one thing and doing another. Given to partiality, treating some people one way and other people another way.

This is not the way of God.

He shows no partiality.

He has promised eternal life to those who believe in God the Son, Jesus the Christ.

He has promised a final judgement that will come, the day of wrath.

Does our behaviour cause unbelievers to take God seriously or not?

Because our behaviour shows out the truth of our heart.

True circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit not the letter.

Are our hearts hard and impenitent in sin or remade and humbled under the rule of Christ?

* Dear God,

Thank You for Your word, the law of the Spirit, that You write on our hearts.

May our hearts to be Yours today and onwards.

May our behaviour show the truth of Your work in us, of our love for You (because You first loved us).

Amen.

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

Righteousness is by faith! This is the Gospel key that helped Paul, that helped Luther. It will help you too. Faith leads you to following Christ, to obedience, to deeds that match your profession. “Faith without works is dead” is Paul’s teaching too!

SJA Notes

* Father God, please feed us with the bread of life, Christ Jesus, today – Your word written on our hearts.

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”

We do not follow a man-made god, one in fables an fairy-tales.

Our God is the Creator God whose attributes are clear for us to see in creation!

“So they are without excuse.”

This is a hard word, but is in keeping with all of scripture.

We choose to reject God.

We choose to exchange the truth of God for a lie, serving creature rather than Creator.

There is no excuse that carries us through Judgement Day. There is only Jesus.

There is no excuse that would have God welcome us into His arms. There is only Jesus.

We must worship Him and Him alone. We are to honor Him and give thanks to Him.

More of Jesus, less of us!

* Father God,

Thank You for Jesus, for Your saving grace, that though we were Your enemies You made us Your friends.

Please help us to be wise with Your wisdom.

Please save those around us.

Amen.