Romans Chapter 4

The story of Abraham makes it plain that salvation, righteous and restoration are all in God’s hands.  The Message says it this way, “the story we’re given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story.”

Nothing in Abraham’s story gives any indication that he did anything to achieve righteousness. Instead, God choose, Abraham believed, and it was reckoned (considered or esteemed) to him as righteousness.  How wonderful is that!

In this chapter Paul uses "believes" five times, "trusts" once and "faith" nine times.  All these verbs place Abraham’s response and actions not on himself or his doing but on God and what He has done and will do.  But that doesn’t mean that Abraham just sat around twiddling his thumbs.  He had to trust in a participatory way.  Abraham did not weaken in faith when he considered his circumstances (verse 19).  No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in the waiting and in the journey (verse 20).  

Abraham's part and my part is to believe and trust, trusting Him in the beginning for the work of restoration and continuously trusting that He will do His good work in me until the day of completion (Philippians 1:6).   Then to take hold of the grace that God extends each day as I journey along with Him as His disciple.

Romans Chapter 3

God Remains Faithful; All People are Sinners, and Christ Took Our Punishment, I could drop the microphone right now! 

Paul through the Holy Spirit has some amazing nuggets in Chapter 3. 

If you and I read this chapter with an ounce of piety or pride we will miss the blessing God has for us. Paul shows us how believers are freed from sin, law, and death through Jesus Christ.

23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  That means me.  I knew that about me, but did you know that about you?  There is no scale to weigh your sin against my sin.  Sin is sin.  You can think of the worst sin that a human has committed and my white lie, my doubt, my worry, my anger weighs the same.  Our sin put Jesus on the cross, but it was His love for us that brought Him there.

As believers do we become sinless?  Not at all, but we do sin less, or even differently.  For example, the closer we get to the heart of Jesus our heart and mind changes.  We don’t think like we used to.  We don’t talk the same way, our lives change through the help of The Holy Spirit. And here is where I/we need to take off our piety/pride hat, we can never be good enough, or do enough good to get to heaven.  If that was the case, why would God sacrifice His one and only Son?

There is so much more to chapter 3, but I will be forever thankful for this:  24Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.  People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood…

Romans Chapter 2

Paul is saying to the Jews & Gentiles who are you to judge someone else given our own sins and brokenness before God. Our/my failure to life up to God’s Law.  Paul doesn’t put much value in those people (Christian/Jew) that understand, knows, and study God’s law, are circumcised as the essence of righteous relationship with God.  It is only meaningful if you obey God’s law.  It’s the act of doing God’s law/ways that is pleasing to God.  Verse 14 and 28 makes this very clear.

14 Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.”

28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

There is a powerful simplicity in following Jesus. The cost is giving myself/yourself completely to God’s will.

Romans Chapter 1

What a powerful message that Paul has delivered to the Romans.

When I picture those times during the Roman Empire, I imagine a society filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice, gossips, slanderers, God haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent ways of doing evil, they disobey their parents, they are senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless.

But wait! These characteristics of the past can easily describe our world today.

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” 

I for one do not want to go down that same path as the Romans. What was true then is true today. Romans 1:21 for although they know God, they neither glorified Him as God, nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

We as God’s people must learn from the past, we must not have hardened hearts and we must give God all of the glory and praise, or we could face the lesson of Romans 1:28.

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to the depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

It would become a hopeless situation but through Jesus, we do have hope. Amen!

It’s at this juncture I have a choice to make. I can go down with the path of what society’s norms say are acceptable, or I can trust and have faith that the Bible is the Living Word of God and follow His directives. I need to make a choice of one or the other, I cannot straddle both worlds.

For me the choice is obvious.

Acts Chapter 28

All roads lead back to Rome.  Looking back over Paul’s life, it is interesting to me how Rome has such a central role in his story.  That doesn’t just include the fact he visited and preached there, but also that he was a Roman citizen.  Several times he used the fact he was a Roman citizen as leverage to avoid being jailed or killed so that he could continue to preach the gospel.  In fact, in Acts 28 he is under guard, but allowed to reach a large number of people and continue to preach.  

Many Christians often focus on the heavenly kingdom we are called to be a part of and want to withdraw from the world.  Paul’s example suggests the opposite.  We should be engaged in our world, reaching out to all that will listen in order to preach the good news.  I love how the chapter finishes – “He welcomed all who visited him boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ.  And no one tried to stop him.”  The author of Acts feels compelled to give this point at the end of the chapter to show the contrasting experience of being allowed to preach without constant threat of danger.  This does not suggest in any way that as Christians we will always be able to safely preach the gospel.  It just reminds us that we are called to preach it – no matter what the situation.

Acts Chapter 27

Wow. What an exciting chapter! I pulled up a map to get a sense of the places Luke writes about: departing from Sidon, sailing north of Cyprus to Crete and being blown all the way to Malta (which looks dinky in the vast blue sea). I’m immersed in the action by all the details—the decision to sail for a better winter harbor, the difficulty of hoisting the lifeboat aboard, the tactics of putting out sea anchors and jettisoning cargo. I can’t imagine the terror of enduring this for two weeks—too frightened (and probably too sick) to even eat. 

How good God is to reassure Paul that not only he would survive, but so would all 276 people on board! I’m not sure I would have found the promise of standing trial before Caesar to be a comfort, exactly—though perhaps it would seem a lot better (and less immediate) than being pitched into a cold, roiling sea. 

I’m struck by how focused on his mission Paul is. Being ordered to stand trial before Caesar sounds terrifying, but Paul is possibly acutely aware of what a platform this will be to share the gospel. Literally come hell or high water, he is focused. He comes across as almost serene. And his faith and special mission means that not only is he protected, but all aboard. How good of God to appear in dreams and provide prophecy to reveal himself to the cross-section of sailors, soldiers, and prisoners aboard. How much more weight would God’s provision and protection have carried because of enduring this horrible situation than if they’d all hunkered down in a harbor somewhere for the winter. Yes, that old chestnut: it is so often in the terrifying, rocking, sideways motion of the difficult things in life where we see God most clearly.

Lord, teach me to see you, to listen to your direction. Help me to be obedient beforethe storms of life knock some sense into me. 

Acts Chapter 26

How will we be seen by non believers when we give a testimony? Will we be labeled “crazy” as Paul was called by Festus, the governor? 

In Acts 26, Paul speaks at a pretrial query in front of King Agrippa II and other dignitaries on the charges that he disobeyed Roman and Jewish laws. Paul was innocent but, because of politics, the Roman governors Felix and Festus did not let him go free.

Paul explains his Jewish credentials as a Pharisee and how he persecuted Christians. He goes on to explain how he was met by Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul’s new mission as instructed by the Lord was to go to the Gentiles and “Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light” (26:18). In Acts 26:20, Paul explains that all must repent of their sins and turn to God, and prove they have changed by the good things they do. 

Like most of the Jews of Paul’s day, Agrippa did not accept Jesus as the Messiah and His resurrection. He could accept the words of the prophets who spoke of a coming Messiah, but accepting  Jesus required major life changes.  

When talking to non believers about our Savior, do we worry how we will appear to them and are we concerned how being a believer will affect our status? My mind definitely goes there. Do we typically only share our faith with known believers? Does fear silence us?

Paul’s example of speaking out for God’s purposes can illustrate how faith changes people.  Here was Paul chained, having been held in jail for two years, standing in front of pompous skeptics that mocked him and all he needed to be freed was say what they wanted to hear. Yet he spoke the truth about his beliefs. 

Should we risk our reputations by sharing our faith with others? “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel , by the power of God.” (2 Timothy 7-8)

Acts Chapter 25

Paul has been diligently proclaiming the Gospel throughout his many travels.  I saw somewhere that Paul logged land and sea travel to something  equivalent to 13,000 air miles.  In another time, he would have qualified for free checked baggage and priority boarding.

Amazing to me that the chief priests and Jewish leaders were so upset with their status quo and their ruthless administration of their many laws being challenged  that they would go to any extent to get rid of Paul.  They drum up bogus charges against him and even plot to get him sent to Jerusalem so they can ambush and kill him on the way.

It was fortunate for Paul that the Roman governor (Festus) realized Paul’s rights as a Roman citizen and did not go along with the Jewish leaders’ requests.

Paul was convicted in the work he was doing in spreading the Gospel and was not intimidated by the Jewish leaders, the Roman governor , King Agrippa or his wife.  Paul was not afraid to die (verse 11) but insisted that he had done nothing wrong and demanded that he be treated fairly by the Roman officials. Paul challenged the charges against him and left Festus in a quandary about how to send Paul to Rome without a specific set of charges to write up about him.

Paul knew he was doing God’s work and charged ahead fearlessly in spite of the forces at work against him and the threats against his continued existence.   It would be incredible to be able to stand your ground in such a definitive fashion regardless of the opposition you are facing.  There are times when I hesitate to get into a Bible discussion with people who I know are “professional arguers”  and are looking for an opportunity to get into a verbal debate. So, I dodge that debate.  Coward’s way out, I guess.  All the more reason to go forward well-armed and prepared to defend my faith.  Reading about Paul’s ministry convinces me that I have more reading, studying and understanding to do.

Acts Chapter 24

Acts 24 finds Paul detained, listening to the charges brought against him by Tertullus, a lawyer. I find it laughable yet smart as Tertullus begins his rant with praise for the judge by giving compliments referring to his reign.  Guess you could call it priming the pump among other things. The charges were, stirring up trouble and starting riots among the Jews.  When Paul was allowed to address the court, he spent the time proving that he was not guilty of what was said about him.  He gave specific accounts that could be verified where the charges against him could not. And so it goes today when we try to give testimony to others about the love of Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit.  It so scares others at times, so they start to share their beliefs which are contrary to the truth of who Jesus was and still is.  Felix must have been curious about Paul's testimony because he brought his wife in to listen to Paul as well.  Felix also kept bringing Paul to him to hear his words again and again.  Sounds as if Paul plead  his case well enough to plant a seed possibly in Felix???  Can we be as faithful to Christ when we are asked to explain our joy and belief in our faith?  I pray that we all show our love and loyalty for Jesus as we become spiritual seed planters as well.

Acts Chapter 23

I imagine the scene of Paul at the Sanhedrin surrounded by a large group of Sadducees and Pharisees must have been a bit overwhelming for him because at first, he seems friendly calling them "My Brothers",  but then he went to a place of trying to justify himself in their sight by saying "I have fulfilled my duty to GOD in all good conscience to this day". He was brought by the commander to face those accusing him and it didn't go the way he expected.  He was assaulted in a place that he thought he would be treated better.  This was his nation of people and he expected to be treated with fair and equal justice like we have today.......Innocent until proven Guilty.

A riot was created when he said "I stand on trial because of my hopes in the resurrection of the dead" which riled up the two parties who had differing views about the existence of the afterlife.

So the Commander had him taken safely away for his own protection, but can you imagine how Paul must have felt that night?  He was probably sitting in his protective room thinking "What just happened?" He had this opportunity to preach to a large crowd who generally were in agreement in their united opposition against Jesus and with all that went down, he pretty much blew the chances to preach to them the Gospel that he was so committed to spreading by creating a diversion,  angering the two parties and thereby essentially saving himself that night from being "torn to pieces" because the Commander ordered him to be removed before things escalated.

I wonder what Paul must have been thinking about that night after he was whisked away to safety to those barracks?  I know when I miss opportunity after opportunity to spread the Good News of Jesus by standing firm in my faith and belief that GOD will be by my side no matter the circumstances, I feel as if I've let him down.  And then one begins to have self doubt about not being worthy of GOD's love because of being weak in the moment.  It's an awful feeling of shame when that weakness takes over, but in Paul's case, even if he was feeling that way in his darkest hour, Jesus appeared before him and said "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome".  What an encouraging thing to happen after he thought he had let Jesus down!

What I was left with after reading this chapter is that even though Paul may have thought he was alone in the barracks that night feeling so isolated and ashamed and by himself...... he wasn't alone.  Jesus came to him where he was.....in the middle of what was basically a jail cell. Isn't it interesting how we so many times pray to our loving GOD to release us from our circumstances (like being in a jail cell) when all he wants, is to meet us IN the circumstance. We often times think we are surrendering to GOD when really, we are only looking for an escape....for him to help us escape the circumstance, but more than anything, what GOD wants, is to meet us in middle of what we are facing.  Our surrender to him is far more pleasing to him than to escape the circumstance which we think will solve everything because ultimately, GOD knows that if we believe in his promise that all will be well for those who love GOD because he will always protect us, no matter what.  He knows what is best for us and we can find comfort in knowing that his promise will sustain us.