Tag Archives: Romans

Isaiah 49, Revelation 7-9

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Isaiah was told “the Lord, who is faithful…has chosen you.”  We too have been chosen by God, predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s son.  God constantly helped His people Israel, even when they turned their back on Him. Through Isaiah, God promised them “I will not forget you…I am the Lord your Saviour, and your redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.“

In Revelation we read of those who have responded to God’s calling, who have accepted God’s help. “They are before the throne of God…shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore…God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” We have the chance to be part of the “great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb”.

Let’s keep this vision of the future in our minds as we commence another week of battling against sin, and “stand firm in the faith“

Deuteronomy 16

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Today we read a summary of the Passover, feast of weeks and feast of booths. Events with highly specific instructions, “at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice.” Repeated again for other feasts.  Yet these were feasts designed to give the Israelites an opportunity to rejoice at their deliverance from slavery, from a life where every aspect was dictated and enforced, offering nothing but hard labour and death.

It would appear the Israelites had traded one form of slavery for another. But one was a slavery without hope, the other offered deliverance and a promised land.  We too have traded one form of slavery for another.  We “were the servants of sin, but… became the servants of righteousness.”  We have cause to rejoice, just as the Israelites did.  Freedom from a slavery that offers only death, instead a hope producing “fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life,” a motivating and encouraging hope that can help get us through the trials of life.

Exodus 13-14, Psalms 68

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It’s so easy for us to condemn the Israelites for their lack of faith, for making the same mistakes over and over again, even in the face of clear evidence that God was with them.  The Israelites were deliberately put into a situation in which their faith would be tried

“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt. But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea.”

We know that God does the same to us, so that our “faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  It’s a development process, one that I think we give up on too easily.  Whatever the situation in our life, God will work with us to develop us into people that reflect His character.  “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

David summarises this idea neatly when he wrote “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah. Our God is a God of salvation”.  God will help us, each and very day, if we rely on Him.  He is a God of salvation, not punishment.  The Israelites largely failed to realise this, viewing God only as a ruler intent on punishing.  Let’s learn from their mistake, and “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord”

Psalms 64-65, Romans 15-16

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“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

This statement of Paul’s is just as applicable to us today, as it was to his readers 2,000 years ago.  God has ensured that we have access to His word, so that we can be instructed regarding His character, and have hope of something better.

This future hope is a persistent theme throughout Paul’s writings.  He continues later in the chapter, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”  It was this hope that sustained Paul throughout the numerous trials of his discipleship, and it is the same hope that can sustain us in our daily warfare against sin.

Hope is what sustained Abraham, David, Ezekiel, Jesus, Paul, Mary, John, and so many others.  Through Christ, we have hope of an unimaginable future, and I can’t wait to experience that with you.

“O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas… those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.”

Psalms 62-63, Romans 13-14

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Paul summarises the basic underlying principle of the Law of Moses in this way:

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

It’s a concept that’s simple to understand, often repeated, yet quite profound.  We know from Jesus’ parables that our neighbour is anyone around us.  That homeless guy on the street. That smelly person on the train.  That annoying work colleague.  Yet somehow we are to love them just as much as we love ourselves.  To cater for their needs as readily and instinctively as we provide for ourselves.

That’s actually really really hard for us to do.  So hard in fact, that only one human ever succeeded.   But that doesn’t excuse us from not trying.  I think it helps to consider another of Paul’s statements in this section of Romans.

“For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.”

We have been redeemed from being servants of sin, and instead called to be servants of righteousness.  Our life is not ours to live, but God’s.  Jesus also felt the same way, when he said “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

That is our challenge.  To do God’s will, and not our own.

Even so, this is not something we can accomplish by ourselves.  We need God’s help, in order to be a servant of righteousness.  David highlights this reliance upon God when he wrote

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

 

Psalms 60-61,Romans 12

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Paul says “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Those 11 words summarise our lives completely.  No matter what happens to us, the ideas contained in those 11 words apply.

Of course, there are other things we should do as we strive to follow the example of Jesus.  Paul describes some of them too.   “Do not be conformed to this world”; “Love one another with brotherly affection”; “Bless those who persecute you”; “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep”.

So Romans 12 is essentially a roadmap for our life as Christians, neatly summarising the attitudes and principles involved.

David describes the essentials of life in a different way, but the principles are much the same.

“Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy…So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day.”

Exodus 5-6, Psalms 58-59, Romans 10-11

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It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking God is not listening to our prayers, or that He isn’t answering them soon enough.  But then we read Exodus 6 and realise that the Israelites waited hundreds of years to be delivered from the Egyptians.

“God spoke to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord.  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them.  I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan…I have remembered my covenant.  Say therefore to the people of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians,”

We don’t really know why God waited so long to deliver the Israelites, but He did keep His promise, and they were delivered.

By contrast, many of David’s prayers were answered quite quickly. Psalm 59 was written in reference to a time when Saul sent men to watch David’s house, so that they could kill him (at least, if the superscription is to be believed).  David prays

“Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me; deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men.”

And indeed he was delivered. For this reason David writes

“I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.”

I think the main point to get out of this is that God does answer prayers, but on His own timescale.  Meanwhile, it is up to us to rely on God, and trust that He knows best.  The ways of God are far above our ways, as Paul records

“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?  Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.”

Exodus 1-2, Psalms 53-55, Romans 7-8

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Today’s readings talk about hope.  In Exodus, the midwives feared God, and disobeyed Pharaoh by not killing the newborn males.  They had hope that Israel would be delivered from the Egyptians, and chose to risk their lives in order to serve God

In the Psalms, David writes about events in a difficult time in his life. He had been betrayed by a close friend, yet David doesn’t abandon his trust in God. “But I call to God, and the Lord will save me…he hears my voice. He redeems my soul in safety”.  And later, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved”.  Despite all the trouble in his life, David doesn’t abandon his trust in God.  I think it actually strengthens his trust in God, because he has no one else to turn to.  “I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. For he has delivered me from every trouble”.  David had hope that God would take care of him, provided that David trusted and relied upon God.

We have that same hope, as Paul writes “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”  God isn’t half-hearted about helping us towards salvation.  He allowed His own son to be sacrificed so that we could be saved.  So we have an incredible hope of salvation, knowing that God is for us, and we can rely on Him in times of difficulty.

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”

Psalms 51-52, Romans 5-6

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Today’s readings focus on the ideas of hope and forgiveness.  David says “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!”  This Psalm was written after David’s sin with Bathsheba, so the idea of God’s forgiveness was an important and relevant one.  David recognises that sin had the effect of separating him from God, and that forgiveness was an act of God’s love.

Paul describes the incredible gift of forgiveness that we have, through Christ.  “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God”.  We are reconciled to God through “the death of his son”, and now we have the chance to “walk in newness of life”.

As a result of this offer of reconciliation, Paul instructs his readers to “let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body”. Just because we can be forgiven doesn’t mean we should abandon our efforts to live in a Godly way.  Rather, Paul suggests we become “slaves to righteousness”.  I find this idea quite challenging, to be completely indentured to righteousness means has to affect our lives completely.  How will you be a slave of righteousness today?

Romans 3-4

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Paul writes about the blessings we have, and the faith that God requires of us.  “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered”.  We are part of that blessing, provided we have a faith in God’s word that matches the intensity of Abraham’s faith, “in faith he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations”.

Abraham had hope of a future that we’re also yet to experience, yet even in the face of massive obstacles, maintained that faith.”He grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised”.  The story of Abraham’s faith, and the promises that came by that faith, were “were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also”.  That righteousness through faith “will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord”.

This forgiveness we have is a gift, freely offered to us “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”.  As such, we have nothing to boast about.  The eternal inheritance we’ve been offered is based on our faith, shown in our lives.

We all know this information, heard it countless times. But converting this knowledge into something that actually impacts and affects our lives, is quite a challenge.  Abraham found a way, and so did Paul.  It is up to you and I to find a way to respond to God, and to develop such an intense faith that nothing in this world can stop us.