The Road to Romans!
Sin is a good thing??? “NOT”
Paul Chases a rabbit trail!!
I love that I’m no the
only person who sees the rabbit trail and follows it! Paul here takes a rabbit
trail and is very hard to understand! God, through Paul, sometimes makes the
bible a difficult thing to understand. I spent the better part of the week just
trying to figure out what Paul was saying here and why he took this hard right
turn!
Romans 3:1–8
(NLT)
1Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there
any value in the ceremony of circumcision?
2Yes, there are great benefits! First of all, the
Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.
3True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because
they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful?
4Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God
is true. As the Scriptures say about him, “You will be proved right in what you
say, and you will win your case in court.”
5“But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good
purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then,
for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.)
6Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how
would he be qualified to judge the world?
7“But,” someone might still argue, “how can God
condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings
him more glory?”
8And some people even slander us by claiming that we
say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to
be condemned.
First of all Paul was hard to
understand!
2 Peter 3:15–16 (NLT)
15And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.
This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God
gave him—
16speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his
comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have
twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with
other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.
And this led me to my own rabbit
trail!
Why is the bible some times so
hard to understand
·
Is it because of the sin in my own life
·
Do I need to repent
·
Am I missing something??
I came to
this conclusion!
There are 4 things that
should come out of hard to understand scripture
1.
Desperation (A sense of utter dependence on God's
enablement). I see this in 1 Corinthians
2:14, "A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit
of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because
they are spiritually appraised." The natural man (all of us without the
Spirit's work in our lives) should feel desperation before the revelation of
God. He needs God's help. Well the same thing is true of spiritual - but
limited and imperfect and sinful - people like us, when I meet difficult texts
of God's Word. I should feel desperation - a desperate dependence on God's
help. That is what God wants us to feel. That is something he has unleashed by
inspiring difficult texts.
2.
Supplication (Prayer to God for help). This follows
from desperation. If you feel dependent on God to help you see the meaning of a
text, then you will cry to him for help. I see this in Psalm 119:18, "Open
my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law. Or as Psalm 25:5 says,
"Lead me in thy truth, and teach me." By inspiring some things hard
to understand, God has unleashed in the world desperation which leads to
supplication - the crying out to God for help.
3.
Deliberation (Thinking hard about Biblical texts).
You might think, "No, you are confused,. You just said that God wants us
to pray for his help in understanding, not to think our way through to a
solution." But the answer to that concern is, No, praying and thinking are
not alternatives. I learn this especially from 2 Timothy 2:7, where Paul
says to Timothy, "Think over what I say, for the Lord will grant you understanding
in everything." So when God inspired texts like Romans 3:1-8, he unleashed
in the world an impulse toward hard thinking. Alongside desperation and
supplication there is deliberation. Which leads finally to . . .
44.
Education (Training young people and adults to
pray earnestly, read well and think hard).
It is our
Responsibility to learn and to teach other the hard to understand parts of the
bible. All the kids that leave this building to go to Kids church it is our
responsibility to learn and teach them! You must be engaged in learning what
God has to say in his word so that we can continue to teach others what God has to say! Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2, you have heard me
teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach
these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to
others.
To our text!
Paul
was often miss quoted and many of the Jewish leaders did not like what he was
saying, so they tried to twist his words to say what they wanted them mean. I
think he saw it coming and addressed it so he could continue with his letter
and clear up what he knew was coming! We to understand why he was saying this e
need to take a step back into chapter 2 a bit!
Romans 2:25 (NLT)
25The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey
God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an
uncircumcised Gentile.
Romans 2:29
(NLT)
29No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God.
And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it
is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed
heart seeks praise from God, not from people.
·
The Jews did not like to hear they where not special in the
eyes of God
·
They did not want to hear Gentile’s were their equal!
·
So Paul heads them off at the pass and confronts the issue!
Because
Paul had most likely offended the Jews in Chapter 2 he set them straight so he
can keep them engaged in his letter and in these 8 verses he lays out 4 solid
points!
The Jews were very and still are very important in
Gods plan!
Vs 1&2
1Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there
any value in the ceremony of circumcision?
2Yes, there
are great benefits! First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.
·
The Jews were
given the word of God through the old testament
·
The rest of the
list is in Chapter 9!
·
And now your
thinking great what does that mean for me, how does this effect my life
·
Because you
were entrusted as a Christian with the rest of the story
·
You as
Christians have the responsibility to teach and carry on the bible to the ends
of the earth!
Jesus said it himself!!
Matthew
28:19–20 (NLT)
19Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
20Teach these new disciples to
obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the
age.”
You have a huge responsibility!!
2. God is always faithful!
Vs 3&4
3True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful?
4Of course not! Even
if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him,
“You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in
court.”
·
God is always faithful even when we are not
·
God always shows us his faithfulness even when we
are disciplined
·
God shows his true righteousness not matter what we
do
·
And because of that we know if we have faith he will
show us grace!
David said it best!
Psalm 51:1–8 (NLT)
1Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great
compassion, blot out the stain of my
sins.
2Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from
my sin.
3For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and
night.
4Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have
done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.
5For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my
mother conceived me.
6But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me
wisdom even there.
7Purify me from
my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice.
David did a bad thing
but always knew he needed to chase God and seek forgiveness, he knew the only
Joy he would ever know was by following God and seeking to be more like him!
3. Continual unrepentant sin is not a good thing!
Vs 5-7
5“But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how
righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.)
6Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how
would he be qualified to judge the world?
7“But,” someone might still argue, “how can God
condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings
him more glory?”
·
Sin is a sign
of the world in us
·
Repentance is a
sign of the Jesus in us
·
Our sinfulness
serves no purpose but drive people away from Jesus
·
Are you being
Jesus with skin on
·
What kind of
advice are you giving to people you care about
·
Are you seeking
forgiveness trying to change?
·
What kind of
fruit are you producing??
James 2:17–21 (NLT)
17So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it
produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
18Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith;
others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you
don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
19You say you have faith, for you believe that there
is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in
terror.
20How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good
deeds is useless?
·
So where is
your faith, you see its by faith that we CHANGE!
·
So if your
still sinning and not repenting, changing, your not helping God your condemning
yourself…..that leads me to my 4th point!
4. Are you condemned for your actions??
Vs 8
8And some people even slander us by claiming that we
say, “The more we sin, the better it
is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.
·
Are you still living in the dark?
·
Are you still sinning when you know you shouldn’t?
·
Do you deserve condemnation??
1 John 2:2–5 (NLT)
2He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our
sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
3And we can be sure that we know him if
we obey his commandments.
4If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey
God’s commandments, that person is a
liar and is not living in the truth.
5But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is
how we know we are living in him.
·
If you love
God, you will try and change, try and follow his example
·
God know you
will fail sometimes but we must show the world we are trying
·
And be honest
when we don’t!
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