Lesson 26 - Romans

Today, I read the entire book of Romans. Last night, I found many passages throughout the text that lead back to something in Romans. Romans is a book of the Bible that was written by Paul and discusses a lot of topics like: faith and works, law and grace, sin and righteousness, and judgment and justification. While reading this book, I found a lot of things very interesting. The following are some of the verses that caught my eyes and spoke to me:

• 1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. (Romans 2:1, NIV)
• 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself ? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? (2: 21-23)
• 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (3:20)
• 15 because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. (4:15)
• 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. (5: 3-6) 
• 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- 13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. (5: 12-13)
• 20 The law was added 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. (5: 20-21)
• 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (6: 14)
• 7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."  9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. (7: 7&9)
• 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.  (7: 15-17)
• 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. (7: 22-25)  
• 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 with groans that words cannot express. (8: 25-26)
• 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (10:9)
• 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?  (10: 14)
• Chapter 12-13: Christian Conduct

When reading Romans, I realized a couple of things. First, if the laws of the world, not the laws of God, were not put out there for all to see, one might not think of doing something that was, by the worlds view, wrong. We are not to live by the laws of the world because then we are good only by the thing that defines us: the laws of the world. If we, however, live by the laws of God, as Jesus did, then we are living by the rules of the spirit. Jesus was crucified "unclean" by the laws of the world. He did not abide by the laws of man, but rather knew the laws of the spirit and lived through and by those laws. While I understood that Jesus was a "rebel" by the world's law, I really didn't respond to this as I should break the law if it it goes against the law of the spirit. Kind of like what we are talking about in my Business Ethics class; if you felt something was wrong would you go against the norm of society to do what you felt was right? Second, there are two parts to "human nature". First you have the evil side and then the image bearer of God side. Because there was sin, we have "all sinned, come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3: 23). So if there is two laws at work within me, how can you stop the side that is "evil"? Third, patience is something that I don't have (when it comes to certain things). I'm not patient with slow drivers, people who should understand what is going on, and those that are blissfully ignorant. I have patience with computers, senior citizens, and children. Finally, chapter 12 and 13 gave a true picture of how the Christian should act, and how most of us don't. I would encourage you to really study the following chapters of Romans. I know that it showed me that I've been doing things wrong. 

Chapter 12

Living Sacrifices

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Love

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, faithful in prayer. patient in affliction, 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Chapter 13

Submission to the Authorities

1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Love, for the Day Is Near

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Do you do what is considered "Christian Conduct", or do you do what you think you should do?  

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“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” -   Mahatma Gandhi

“Of all religions, Christianity is without a doubt the one that should inspire tolerance most, although, up to now, the Christians have been the most intolerant of all men” - Voltaire

 “Going to church does not make you a Christian anymore than going to the garage makes you a car.”

 -Dr. Laurence J. Peter

“God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons we could not learn in any other way. The way we learn those lessons is not to deny the feelings but to find the meanings underlying them." - Stanley Lindquist

“We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them.”  - Charles C. West