Introduction: So last week in class we didn't finish the lesson, so for those of you that only join us on the blog the first part of this lesson will be the same as the end of last weeks lesson. However we will be going on so hopefully the rest will be new.
So last week we talked about reading and studying the book of Romans on your own. I hope you enjoyed reading. I sure did!
Question of the Day: If you could go and spend a weekend with someone other than your family, someone who would uplift you, encourage you, where after the weekend you would feel refreshed and rejuvenated, who would it be?
READ: Romans 1:8-16
Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware,brothers and sisters,[d] that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[e] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”[f]
This section is at first glance just a greeting. It is the hello, I can't wait to see you and be with you statement. It is that but it is also so much more.
1. First he thanks God for them. I recently received a phone call from someone who was working with a family and trying to convince them to send their child to Pisgah. I can not begin to express how much gratitude I felt for them. It was like I had a partner in my quest to get students to Pisgah. I had someone working with me. Paul has committed his life to spreading the news and here he is writing to people who have heard and are spreading the word and growing and he hasn't even gotten there yet.
This past week I had a conversation with someone about their church's church plant. They were less than supportive for a variety of reasons. There was more a spirit of competition then of common goal and effort. We should all be working toward the same goal, spreading the Gospel to the entire world! We are not in competition with each other!
2. Second, "your faith is being reported all over the world". Wow is your faith being reported? Is our faith as a church being reported? Why was their faith being reported?
3. Paul let's them know he has been praying for them. Are we praying for each other? Seriously? This past week how often did you actually speak the name of someone in this church or in our daughter churches? Did you? Do we give lip service to prayer without actually praying? So today in you bible in your phone, I want you to write down the name or names of someone in this class that you are going to be praying for this week! Let's start having a culture of actual prayer for one another!
4. Paul talks about imparting spiritual gifts to the Romans and then he explains it. What does he say it is? Supporting one another is vital! Not just praying for each other but being together and encouraging one another is imparting spiritual gifts.?. How does that work? What do the spiritual gifts do for the Romans? "Mutually encouraged by each others faith."
Have you ever had your faith encouraged and strengthened because of the faith of a friend? Have you ever been around someone of "great faith" and the opposite happens? Why?
What can we practically do to strengthen each others faith?
5. This gospel, this good news is for everyone. It isn't just for those born in the right group, it is for the all of humanity! How do we make sure that we share the message with all?
6. We don't have to be ashamed of the Gospel, why? The good news is all about what Jesus has and will do! Recently I was on a plane and over heard a conversation between a Christian girl and a Muslim woman. The conversation was loud enough that everyone heard it. The young girl was trying to convince the Muslim woman that Christianity was the only right religion. I agreed with everything she was saying and yet I found myself feeling ashamed of it at the same time. As I sat their cringing at this conversation I kept questioning why I was so uncomfortable with the conversation. I tried to find fault in what the young girl was saying, maybe a wrong theology, but I couldn't find anything wrong. Then I started questioning my own commitment to the gospel. Was I not bold enough? As I struggled with cognitive dissonance I listened to this conversation that wasn't coming to an end. I then started praying, it was almost a prayer of apology for my unwillingness to be as bold as this girl was... but then I heard it. It was then that I realized what was wrong... Yes her theology was right, her knowledge, her scripture, all of it may have been right but none of it, NONE, was about what Jesus had done for her. Everything she was sharing was trying to prove facts. The last sentence in verse, "The righteous will LIVE by faith" says so much. It is the life that we live, it is what Jesus has done in our life, it is how we live, free, that is the answer. I can boldly share what Christ has done for me. What he has done in my life! How with Him I am free! It is in the "Gospel" the good news of what Jesus has done for me that God is revealed. We can argue all day about scripture and other religions but it is the gospel, it is Jesus in my heart, it is living a life that is forgiven that will reveal God. That story, our story, of what Jesus has done for us, we never need to be ashamed of. As the conversation on the plane came to an awkward end I found myself wondering what that conversation would have been like if it had been about her life lived with Jesus.
If you had that conversation on a plane, what would your experience with Jesus sound like? What has he done for you? How has the Gospel transformed you?
This afternoon I want to challenge you to write down what Jesus living in you looks like. Maybe you don't have much to write, or maybe it will be a book. Then when we finish the book of Romans I want you to rewrite it and compare.
It is my hope that this book will awaken the Good News in our lives!
READ: Romans 1: 18-32
READ: Romans 1: 18-32
God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearanceand patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
There is no question this is a tough section. Let's start at the beginning. The beginning and the end are so important!
Verse 18: Who is God angry at? Why?
How does our wickedness suppress the truth?
I'm sure there is an endless list to answer this question. Let's continue on because there is something quite simple that answers it.
Verse 21: At the root of it all, "they didn't glorify him or give him thanks".
Is it possible that even those of us that don't think we are in this list... fail at giving him glory or giving Him thanks?
This is a huge and extremely important concept. We must must must always give glory and thanks to God for what he has done for us and is doing and will do!
What other verses support the importance of giving God thanks?
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
This is just a few. How do we change this? How do we have a culture of thankfulness? How do we glorify God?
Is it possible that the great offense here is not glorifying God and not being thankful for the truth? Is that worse than the list? After all, there is an order, a reason for the list right?
It is interesting that Paul also reminds us that from the beginning the works of God are clearly seen.
This passage gives us a clear cause and effect. If we don't thank him, if we don't glorify him our hearts will be darkened and then the list.
So how do we stay out of being on this list?
1. Look for, seek God in your life and surroundings.
2. Listen to Him.
3. Give God the glory for what is happening in your life!
4. Write out your "I'm thankful list!"
5. Start every prayer, every day, with thanksgiving.
6. Read and reread passages that tell of His greatness.
7. Dwell on the His glory.
Now at the end of the list if you are like me, or if you are in anyway human, you probably at least once saw someone else, thought of our nation, or were putting names with each of the offenses. Right? That is why I decided that the chapter break that was put here was put in the wrong place. Paul knew that is what we would all be doing and so he addresses that. However with the chapter break we often don't combine the two but we must.
Let's reread chapter 2 verses 1-4.
These lists are simply to show us the degradation that happens because of our unwillingness to give God the glory, and to know that God's kindness is to lead us to repentance. If it is to lead us... ME to repentance, then I should not be putting names, or cultures, or an one else beside the list other than myself.
It is also important to note that we are called to glorify God, to give Him thanks and that dwelling on His goodness will lead us to repentance.
This whole passage is about that!
Give thanks, glorify God for His goodness and repent!
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