Opening Prayer: Pg.1
Father God, we gather here each week in the hope that we might learn more of your word and more about Your Son our Lord Jesus. Tonight we study the matter of our deliverance from bondage and our victory in Christ Jesus over sin and condemnation. Be with those of our group who are not here tonight, and share our blessing with them. Bless us now and give us understanding as we undertake this study. In Jesus name we pray AMEN
Deliverance from bondage
As we strive to obey God and walk in the Spirit, we will find ourselves falling short. It is at those critical times in our walk that we must remember that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Our sins and failures do not move the Lord to give up on us or to cast us out of the kingdom, for we are secure in Christ, and as such we live a life of faith and repentance, continually serving the Lord and putting sin to death.
Scripture study, Romans chapter 8: 1-9
Rom 8:1-9 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
Discussion
Before our conversion, sin is second nature to us because in this world that is who we came to be. But the Holy Spirit gives us a new heart in regeneration that hungers for the things of God (Psalm 42:1-2). Since the Holy Spirit at that point does not remove our free will or all the remnants of our fallen nature, we enter a lifelong struggle with our flesh. Humans were created by God to serve him and enjoy fellowship with him forever, and this was taken from us by our want to have our will take precedence over that which God willed for us. As Christians we reject all that is evil, envy, covetousness, pride, anger, selfishness, lying, stealing, and a great deal more as we travel our life’s road. But that rejection does not remove the temptation from us, it just clearly identifies our want to do it. Only as we understand the enemy of the flesh can we begin through Christ to offer ourselves, take up our cross, and live a life pleasing to God. The Lord is not content with our mere external holiness. He wants our hearts, and he measures holiness based on what lies within, not on how we appear, but on who we are. (Galatians 6:7-8)
Q.1 Does vs. 1 mean that, even if Christians sin, they will not be condemned? Why/why not?
Q.2 Does strict adherence to the 10 commandments prove our righteousness? Why or why not?
Q.3 What do you feel Paul means in verse 5, “minding the things of the flesh? Or of the Spirit?
Q.4 What motivated God to send his Son our Lord Jesus Christ to be a sin offering for us?
Q.5 Imagine God directing you to do that with one of your Children ?
Victory in Christ Pg.2
Repentance is a gift from God. We express contrition for our sins and their offense to our holy Creator, but the Holy Spirit must give us the ability to do this. Without His sovereign work, we do not care that we have offended the Lord by breaking His law. But when the Spirit works in our hearts, we see our sin and, hating it, turn to Christ. A life of repentance is a manifestation of an authentic conversion.
Scripture study, Romans chapter 8: 10-17
Rom 8:10-17 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation--but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Discussion
True conversion is necessary if we are to produce good works that please God. Such works are not done to secure our place in the kingdom, for nothing sinners do is good enough to merit a right standing before God. These good works prove that we have been justified in Christ alone through faith alone, demonstrating that we are citizens of heaven (Ephesians. 2:8–10). Moreover, genuine conversion involves a twofold turn—away from sin in repentance and unto Jesus in faith.
As we studied in our last session an authentic conversion involves death and resurrection. The
former slave to sin must die, and the new, free man in Christ must live (2 Corinthians. 5:17-18). Paul, in these verses, focuses more on the ongoing results of a genuine conversion than the decisive death to sin that happens when we first trust the Savior. Typically, we speak of conversion as a one-time event. In leaving the darkness for the light, we die to the power of sin and are raised to victory over evil in Christ. This act is effected by one person—the Holy Spirit of God.
On account of the Son’s work and the Father’s plan, the Spirit gives us the gift of repentance (John 3:5–7). Our once-for-all conversion happens in conjunction with our regeneration. The Spirit changes our hearts, creating in us a desire to repent and trust in Jesus. Sin’s power is broken in the Christian, but its presence remains. The sinful one that we were before we came to Jesus , which was dealt a mortal blow through the work of Christ and our union with Him, keeps trying to regain control. But do not lose faith. If our heart is true to our desire to repent, we will be glorified. We have to put sin down by the Holy Spirit through true repentance. Such repentance is sorrow for offending God. And even here the Spirit must give and strengthen such righteous desires. So let us pray that He would give us a yearning to follow after Jesus our Lord in a life of repentance (Ephesians. 3:14–19).
Q 1 What do you think Paul means by his words “His Spirit who dwells in you“ in vs.11?
Q.2 What does Paul mean by the words “debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh” vs.12?
Q.3 What do you think Paul means in verses 13 & 14
Q.4 Who Are The Children Of God, to whom Paul refers in: vs 14?
Q.5 What is the obligation To which Paul refers in vs.12?
Pg.3
Scripture Readings
Psalm 42:1 –2; As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Galatians 6:7-8; Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Ephesians 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
John 3:5-7 Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
Eph 3:14-19 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Closing Prayer
Father God, we thank you for the gift of Your Son Jesus, the Strong Deliverer of our salvation and for the Holy Spirit our Helper who leads us in our struggle against sin. We pray that You will enhance our desire and ability to learn more of what we can become by following the teachings of Jesus and through study of Your word as given to us in the gospel. We pray now for Your comfort and healing to be upon those who those who are suffering from health or other issues in this life___________We pray that Your peace and swift healing will comfort them in their time of trial.
This we pray in the name of Jesus AMEN.
Pg.4
Meditation
Paul is teaching us about our need to walk in the Spirit, to learn from Jesus how it is that we are to resist our self serving need to partake in the worlds offerings of sin and the evil desires that too often become reality. We often think of living in the Spirit in purely subjective terms. We conceive of such life as pertaining only to what the Holy Spirit does in us as we follow Him in our sanctification. Yet the subjective experience of living according to the Spirit—while true and important—is not all that Paul has in mind when he talks about living in the Spirit. We are in a battle for our very soul, and we must win the battle.
There is a reality that will dawn on each of us, that what we are living since we have been justified, is a spiritual awareness that will make our conscious efforts at living a more righteous life more vital to our very existence, a richness of life, a realization that Christ now is indwelling us, and in every thought , word, and deed, we are reminded of the world of sin to which we are no longer slaves. We simply are transformed into a different being. Born again into another more purposeful life. This new person now imbued with The Holy Spirit, (our helper), is characterized by freedom from sin’s power, an inner peace, knowing that now we are at peace with God, not from any conscious act of righteousness or any good that we have accomplished on our own, but because of Christ’s righteousness, which now dwells within us, and adds strength to our life’s struggle against the sin we have come to recognize as dying within us.
In any case, there has been a decisive change in us with the coming of Christ’s indwelling Spirit. Now that The Spirit of God has been joined to us, our former sinful spirit, is passing away as the new Spirit becomes ever more present through the growth of the indwelling of Christ’s righteousness. Our right standing before God is now established. When Paul says we are in the Spirit, He means that through our confession that Jesus is Lord and savior of our soul, He is our strength and our defender, and now is our righteousness, we have surrendered our rebellious sinful spirit to His leading.
Our study tonight helps us to understand that there is no Christian who does not possess the Holy Spirit. If Christ had not taken care of our sin by His sacrifice, and if our record had not been made one of righteousness because of Jesus’ perfect obedience, God never could have sent His Spirit to give us life. The Spirit can dwell within us to bring us new life because Jesus' righteousness has been credited to our accounts and we are declared righteous in Him, and from that, we have become obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we are “in the Spirit”
To belong to Christ Jesus is to possess His Spirit, so if you have rested in Christ alone for salvation, the Holy Spirit is a part of you now and He is at work in your life. That is a promise from God to all of mankind. Mat 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.
In Jesus’ Holy Name AMEN
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Pauls Letter to the Romans Ch.7 Session 12 &13
Pg.1
Opening Prayer
Father God, we gather here each week in the hope that we might learn more of your word and more about Your Son our Lord Jesus. Tonight we study the matter of our becoming united with Christ, in the battle to overcome our sinful nature. Be with those of our group who cannot be here tonight, we ask that you would share our blessing with them. Bless us now and give us understanding as we undertake this study. In Jesus name we pray AMEN
In this study, Paul makes reference to the law, the Torah, contained in the first five books of the bible, the books of Moses, or the Pentateuch as they are known, are much more than just the law. or a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws The books of the Pentateuch introduce Bible readers to God's divine purposes and plan, and explain how sin entered the world. In the Pentateuch we also see God's response to sin, his relationship with mankind, and we gain insight into the character and nature of God.
Romans 7:1-5….Believers are United with Christ
1 Or are you ignorant, brothers; for I speak to those who know the Law; that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 2 For the married woman was bound by law to the living husband. But if the husband is dead, she is set free from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband lives, she is married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress by becoming another man's wife. 4 So, my brothers, you also have become dead to the law by the body of Christ so that you should be married to Another, even to Him raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sin worked in our members through the law to bring forth fruit to death.
Discussion
Instead of seeking God’s will for our lives through his law, we tend to look for ways to justify our thoughts, our words, and our deeds by reframing God’s law in matters of morality, ethical behavior, and justice. We use the law in ways that are turned to our purposes.
Paul is here speaking to the Jewish leaders who know the law as given by Moses. He rightly states that the law cannot be applied after one is deceased, but is applied to those who are under the law. Paul uses the example of the married woman to illustrate what he means by how the law is applied.
Paul explains that those who believe that Jesus Christ justifies us before God by our faith, are alive to Christ. And being justified by our faith, we have died to sin with the death of Christ. And now we belong to Christ. Now instead of the law arousing our sinful passions, we develop a righteous nature to bear fruit for our God. Now because we are dead to sin we no longer seek to bend the law to our desire. We are no longer dependent upon the law to cite our boundaries or to keep us holy. We belong to Christ, who has set us free from the need to have the law as the gauge for our sin. Jesus came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. The Holy Spirit leads us in righteousness, Jesus Christ is our righteousness. He has become our law. We are spirit lead.
Q.1 What do you feel Paul meant when he said the Law is only over us while we live?
Q.2 How is it that we "died to the Law.” what does Paul mean? Galatians 2: 19-21
Q.3 Give an example of how a law can arouse sinful passions.
Q.4 Do you feel Paul is saying we are no longer bound by the Law? Why / why not?
Romans 7:6- 13…. The believers struggle
6 But now we having been set free from the Law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of the letter. 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Let it not be said! But I did not know sin except through the law. For also I did not know lust except the law said, You shall not lust.
8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, worked in me all kinds of lust. For apart from law sin was dead. 9 For I was alive without the law once. But when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to life, was found to be death to me. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. 12 So indeed the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. 13 Then has that which is good become death to me? Let it not be! But sin, that it might appear to be sin, working death in me by that which is good; in order that sin might become exceedingly sinful by the commandment.
Discussion
Often it seems as if sin is simply the violation of any of God's laws, including the Ten Commandments. Paul, however, puts this in perspective in Romans 3:20, when he says, "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."
God wanted us to recognize our sins. Even those who have not murdered or committed adultery will find themselves convicted of lying, or of worshipping false idols like wealth or power ahead of God. Tragically, sin in any amount will distance us from God.
"Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear," says Isaiah 59:1-2….We must resist the temptation to act as if we are righteous, especially by leaning on our good works. That too is sin. 1 John 1:8-10. We cannot be righteous on our own, “No one is righteous, no not one,” It must come through Jesus.
The good news in all of this is that, once we recognize ourselves as sinners, we need only to repent and embrace Jesus to be forgiven. Jesus can forgive us because he died and rose again three days later in victory over sin and death. The Apostle Paul refers to this process of recognizing sin and being responsible for it as "godly sorrow."
"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death," Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11.
Q.1 How do these verses compare with what you've been told about obeying the law
Q.2 Do you feel Paul is saying the Law brought about sin? Why / why not?
Q.3 Can you grasp the idea that one can recognize their sin through the law?
Q.4 Are there conscious acts of sin that we do, and yet do not recognize them as sin?
Q.5 Have you had times in your life when you have felt what Paul is describing?
Romans7:14-25… The conflict of two natures
Paul is clear that the Holy Spirit has transformed us, renewing our inner selves so that we have a true desire to please God. Nevertheless, our truest intentions still will sometimes fail us as we forget that we are in Christ and go back to our old self serving ways. Thus, there is no one who is perfect in biblical Christianity except Jesus. Before we are glorified, we will not attain a sinless nature.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do, I know not. For what I desire, that I do not do; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If then I do that which I do not desire, I consent to the law that it is good. 17 But now it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I do not find. 19 For I do not do the good that I desire; but the evil which I do not will, that I do. 20 But if I do what I do not desire, it is no more I working it out, but sin dwelling in me. 21 I find then a law: when I will to do the right, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man; 23 but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin being in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then with the mind I myself serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin
Discussion
This ongoing struggle tells us something very important—even in our sanctification, we cannot rescue ourselves, even through our obedience. God’s law, the same law for which He gives us a true love in our regeneration, can serve as a guide to right and wrong, but it cannot guarantee that we will do the good. If the Spirit has done a work in our hearts, we can cry out to the Lord with the psalmist, “Oh how I love your law!” (Ps. 119:96-106), but even our most faithful keeping of the commandments will not rescue us from the ongoing presence and influence of sin.
Only Jesus Christ can save us. Though we cooperate with Him in our sanctification, It is He alone who will provide the final deliverance from sin’s corruption. As we grow in holiness, we will hate sin more and more, but we will also see just how sinful we remain. Keeping the law—though it is good and right to obey—is not going to get us out of the struggle with sin or give us the victory over it. It is Christ who sanctifies us by His Spirit. Making new rules for ourselves is not going to help us, but neither will treating the existing law as if it were irrelevant. Jesus must rescue us or we will not be rescued, and while He grants us strength to defeat sin by His Spirit in the present, our rescue will not be fully and finally achieved until we are in glory. Until then, our truest selves will love God’s law, but we will at times serve the flesh. (Gal 5:16-18 )We will need the law—working in concert with the Spirit—to convict us when this happens, that we might be pointed to Christ Jesus as our only hope of finally reaching our true sanctification.
Q.1 Do you feel that Paul is speaking here for the benefit of those justified or unjustified?
Q.2 Was Paul admitting he couldn't avoid sinning? Why / why not?
Q.3 How is it that sin can still live in someone who is dead to sin, who belongs to Jesus?
Q.4 What are some examples of “what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do?”
Q.5 Can you identify such matters in your life which relate to these verses?
Q.6 How does someone serve the “law of sin”?
Scripture References
Galatians 2:19-21 "For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
Isaiah 59:1-2. "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."
1 John 1:8-10. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives"
2 Corinthians 7:10-11. "See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter."
Psalm 119:96-106 To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless. 97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. 100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. 101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. 102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. 105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. 106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.
Colossians 3:1-5atians If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Be mindful of things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ our Life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness (which is idolatry),
Galatiians 5:16-26 I say, then, Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another; lest whatever you may will, these things you do.18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Meditation
As a Christian we still in a sense, are of the flesh, however, Jesus Christ through his Spirit has transformed who we are at the core of our being so that we now rejoice in His law. However we still experience our own personal sin nature. That will not leave us until we become glorified. We will have the desire to please God and the fleshly desire to sin—but only the desire to please Him can properly describe who we truly are in Christ. There will always be times when we give in to our old sin nature and sin against the Lord, but if we are alive to Christ, our true, renewed nature will ultimately prevail.
Still our minds, emotions, bodies, wants, needs, and desires are tainted by our flesh, and as such we are still sinners. God has yet to perfect us through His Son Our Lord Jesus. And God does not eliminate our flaws fully until He glorifies us. The battle between the new self and what remains of the old is real and fierce, and we will have no final victory before our deaths. But in Christ, we will ultimately win this battle.
Freedom from sin does not mean we will be perfect before God . That Moment is reserved for our arrival on day one to our Heavenly home. Because we have been justified in Christ—declared righteous in Him alone. That day we will be glorified. So as we struggle to live free of sin in this life, and the Holy Spirit conforms us to Christ, we strive to live in accord with the Holy Spirit’s leading and yet we are still susceptible to our old nature, and freedom from its presence is not yet complete. We are not yet complete, Sometimes we slip and the sin nature has it's way, but in Christ Jesus our Lord, we will win this battle.
We have a role to play in these matters, freedom from sin is not on automatic pilot. We will (if we are serious about desiring our salvation), cooperate with the Spirit to grow daily in holiness and please God in our daily life. But lest we boast, our good works have no part in attaining the righteousness we need for our salvation. Nevertheless, in the end, sanctification is a work that Christ by His Spirit (our promised helper), initiates, sustains, and brings to completion. The struggle will go on.
There are ways to fight sin. Paul says the way to grow in strength against sin is to properly seek Jesus and identify with his help how it is that we are so bent on sinning. Our relationship with Christ should grow while starving our desires for sin. We starve our desires for sin by identifying what our sins are. Although sin is sometimes so subtle as to even become attractive to us, but we are to continue in repenting, and searching out our sinful nature, thereby building resistance.
We feed our relationship with Christ by studying the Bible, filling our minds with biblical truth from scripture, by a planned study of the bible, regular and dedicated church attendance, ceaseless prayer and supplication, and spending time searching out God. Discover what it is that God purposes for your life.
It is when we sincerely begin to focus on Christ and what He can do in our life to help us rid ourselves of our sinful ways, and understanding what those ways are that we find hope, but the success of our struggle will still come only from what Christ can do in our lives. Without Christ we are quite simply and unequivocally lost. Only He can rescue us from sin, and it is to Him alone that we are to look for our transformation from a sinful nature to a nature that is at war with sin, struggling to gain our sanctification. Amen.
This study of the agony of Romans 7 is a prerequisite for the study of our next session, the ecstasy of Romans chapter 8.
Opening Prayer
Father God, we gather here each week in the hope that we might learn more of your word and more about Your Son our Lord Jesus. Tonight we study the matter of our becoming united with Christ, in the battle to overcome our sinful nature. Be with those of our group who cannot be here tonight, we ask that you would share our blessing with them. Bless us now and give us understanding as we undertake this study. In Jesus name we pray AMEN
In this study, Paul makes reference to the law, the Torah, contained in the first five books of the bible, the books of Moses, or the Pentateuch as they are known, are much more than just the law. or a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws The books of the Pentateuch introduce Bible readers to God's divine purposes and plan, and explain how sin entered the world. In the Pentateuch we also see God's response to sin, his relationship with mankind, and we gain insight into the character and nature of God.
Romans 7:1-5….Believers are United with Christ
1 Or are you ignorant, brothers; for I speak to those who know the Law; that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 2 For the married woman was bound by law to the living husband. But if the husband is dead, she is set free from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband lives, she is married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress by becoming another man's wife. 4 So, my brothers, you also have become dead to the law by the body of Christ so that you should be married to Another, even to Him raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sin worked in our members through the law to bring forth fruit to death.
Discussion
Instead of seeking God’s will for our lives through his law, we tend to look for ways to justify our thoughts, our words, and our deeds by reframing God’s law in matters of morality, ethical behavior, and justice. We use the law in ways that are turned to our purposes.
Paul is here speaking to the Jewish leaders who know the law as given by Moses. He rightly states that the law cannot be applied after one is deceased, but is applied to those who are under the law. Paul uses the example of the married woman to illustrate what he means by how the law is applied.
Paul explains that those who believe that Jesus Christ justifies us before God by our faith, are alive to Christ. And being justified by our faith, we have died to sin with the death of Christ. And now we belong to Christ. Now instead of the law arousing our sinful passions, we develop a righteous nature to bear fruit for our God. Now because we are dead to sin we no longer seek to bend the law to our desire. We are no longer dependent upon the law to cite our boundaries or to keep us holy. We belong to Christ, who has set us free from the need to have the law as the gauge for our sin. Jesus came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. The Holy Spirit leads us in righteousness, Jesus Christ is our righteousness. He has become our law. We are spirit lead.
Q.1 What do you feel Paul meant when he said the Law is only over us while we live?
Q.2 How is it that we "died to the Law.” what does Paul mean? Galatians 2: 19-21
Q.3 Give an example of how a law can arouse sinful passions.
Q.4 Do you feel Paul is saying we are no longer bound by the Law? Why / why not?
Romans 7:6- 13…. The believers struggle
6 But now we having been set free from the Law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of the letter. 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Let it not be said! But I did not know sin except through the law. For also I did not know lust except the law said, You shall not lust.
8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, worked in me all kinds of lust. For apart from law sin was dead. 9 For I was alive without the law once. But when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to life, was found to be death to me. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. 12 So indeed the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. 13 Then has that which is good become death to me? Let it not be! But sin, that it might appear to be sin, working death in me by that which is good; in order that sin might become exceedingly sinful by the commandment.
Discussion
Often it seems as if sin is simply the violation of any of God's laws, including the Ten Commandments. Paul, however, puts this in perspective in Romans 3:20, when he says, "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."
God wanted us to recognize our sins. Even those who have not murdered or committed adultery will find themselves convicted of lying, or of worshipping false idols like wealth or power ahead of God. Tragically, sin in any amount will distance us from God.
"Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear," says Isaiah 59:1-2….We must resist the temptation to act as if we are righteous, especially by leaning on our good works. That too is sin. 1 John 1:8-10. We cannot be righteous on our own, “No one is righteous, no not one,” It must come through Jesus.
The good news in all of this is that, once we recognize ourselves as sinners, we need only to repent and embrace Jesus to be forgiven. Jesus can forgive us because he died and rose again three days later in victory over sin and death. The Apostle Paul refers to this process of recognizing sin and being responsible for it as "godly sorrow."
"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death," Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11.
Q.1 How do these verses compare with what you've been told about obeying the law
Q.2 Do you feel Paul is saying the Law brought about sin? Why / why not?
Q.3 Can you grasp the idea that one can recognize their sin through the law?
Q.4 Are there conscious acts of sin that we do, and yet do not recognize them as sin?
Q.5 Have you had times in your life when you have felt what Paul is describing?
Romans7:14-25… The conflict of two natures
Paul is clear that the Holy Spirit has transformed us, renewing our inner selves so that we have a true desire to please God. Nevertheless, our truest intentions still will sometimes fail us as we forget that we are in Christ and go back to our old self serving ways. Thus, there is no one who is perfect in biblical Christianity except Jesus. Before we are glorified, we will not attain a sinless nature.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do, I know not. For what I desire, that I do not do; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If then I do that which I do not desire, I consent to the law that it is good. 17 But now it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I do not find. 19 For I do not do the good that I desire; but the evil which I do not will, that I do. 20 But if I do what I do not desire, it is no more I working it out, but sin dwelling in me. 21 I find then a law: when I will to do the right, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man; 23 but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin being in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then with the mind I myself serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin
Discussion
This ongoing struggle tells us something very important—even in our sanctification, we cannot rescue ourselves, even through our obedience. God’s law, the same law for which He gives us a true love in our regeneration, can serve as a guide to right and wrong, but it cannot guarantee that we will do the good. If the Spirit has done a work in our hearts, we can cry out to the Lord with the psalmist, “Oh how I love your law!” (Ps. 119:96-106), but even our most faithful keeping of the commandments will not rescue us from the ongoing presence and influence of sin.
Only Jesus Christ can save us. Though we cooperate with Him in our sanctification, It is He alone who will provide the final deliverance from sin’s corruption. As we grow in holiness, we will hate sin more and more, but we will also see just how sinful we remain. Keeping the law—though it is good and right to obey—is not going to get us out of the struggle with sin or give us the victory over it. It is Christ who sanctifies us by His Spirit. Making new rules for ourselves is not going to help us, but neither will treating the existing law as if it were irrelevant. Jesus must rescue us or we will not be rescued, and while He grants us strength to defeat sin by His Spirit in the present, our rescue will not be fully and finally achieved until we are in glory. Until then, our truest selves will love God’s law, but we will at times serve the flesh. (Gal 5:16-18 )We will need the law—working in concert with the Spirit—to convict us when this happens, that we might be pointed to Christ Jesus as our only hope of finally reaching our true sanctification.
Q.1 Do you feel that Paul is speaking here for the benefit of those justified or unjustified?
Q.2 Was Paul admitting he couldn't avoid sinning? Why / why not?
Q.3 How is it that sin can still live in someone who is dead to sin, who belongs to Jesus?
Q.4 What are some examples of “what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do?”
Q.5 Can you identify such matters in your life which relate to these verses?
Q.6 How does someone serve the “law of sin”?
Scripture References
Galatians 2:19-21 "For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
Isaiah 59:1-2. "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."
1 John 1:8-10. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives"
2 Corinthians 7:10-11. "See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter."
Psalm 119:96-106 To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless. 97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. 100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. 101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. 102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. 105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. 106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.
Colossians 3:1-5atians If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Be mindful of things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ our Life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness (which is idolatry),
Galatiians 5:16-26 I say, then, Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another; lest whatever you may will, these things you do.18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Meditation
As a Christian we still in a sense, are of the flesh, however, Jesus Christ through his Spirit has transformed who we are at the core of our being so that we now rejoice in His law. However we still experience our own personal sin nature. That will not leave us until we become glorified. We will have the desire to please God and the fleshly desire to sin—but only the desire to please Him can properly describe who we truly are in Christ. There will always be times when we give in to our old sin nature and sin against the Lord, but if we are alive to Christ, our true, renewed nature will ultimately prevail.
Still our minds, emotions, bodies, wants, needs, and desires are tainted by our flesh, and as such we are still sinners. God has yet to perfect us through His Son Our Lord Jesus. And God does not eliminate our flaws fully until He glorifies us. The battle between the new self and what remains of the old is real and fierce, and we will have no final victory before our deaths. But in Christ, we will ultimately win this battle.
Freedom from sin does not mean we will be perfect before God . That Moment is reserved for our arrival on day one to our Heavenly home. Because we have been justified in Christ—declared righteous in Him alone. That day we will be glorified. So as we struggle to live free of sin in this life, and the Holy Spirit conforms us to Christ, we strive to live in accord with the Holy Spirit’s leading and yet we are still susceptible to our old nature, and freedom from its presence is not yet complete. We are not yet complete, Sometimes we slip and the sin nature has it's way, but in Christ Jesus our Lord, we will win this battle.
We have a role to play in these matters, freedom from sin is not on automatic pilot. We will (if we are serious about desiring our salvation), cooperate with the Spirit to grow daily in holiness and please God in our daily life. But lest we boast, our good works have no part in attaining the righteousness we need for our salvation. Nevertheless, in the end, sanctification is a work that Christ by His Spirit (our promised helper), initiates, sustains, and brings to completion. The struggle will go on.
There are ways to fight sin. Paul says the way to grow in strength against sin is to properly seek Jesus and identify with his help how it is that we are so bent on sinning. Our relationship with Christ should grow while starving our desires for sin. We starve our desires for sin by identifying what our sins are. Although sin is sometimes so subtle as to even become attractive to us, but we are to continue in repenting, and searching out our sinful nature, thereby building resistance.
We feed our relationship with Christ by studying the Bible, filling our minds with biblical truth from scripture, by a planned study of the bible, regular and dedicated church attendance, ceaseless prayer and supplication, and spending time searching out God. Discover what it is that God purposes for your life.
It is when we sincerely begin to focus on Christ and what He can do in our life to help us rid ourselves of our sinful ways, and understanding what those ways are that we find hope, but the success of our struggle will still come only from what Christ can do in our lives. Without Christ we are quite simply and unequivocally lost. Only He can rescue us from sin, and it is to Him alone that we are to look for our transformation from a sinful nature to a nature that is at war with sin, struggling to gain our sanctification. Amen.
This study of the agony of Romans 7 is a prerequisite for the study of our next session, the ecstasy of Romans chapter 8.
Pauls Letter to the Romans Ch.6 Session 11
Pg.1
Opening Prayer
Dear God, You have offered to a sinful world by Your sufficient Grace, our Salvation, and that by the life, death, and resurrection of Your Son our Lord Jesus. Your Son paid the price for our sin, with his life, and as believers we too have died to sin, and raised to new life with Christ, Thank you God for our salvation, made real in this life by His resurrection. Bless us now with understanding as we study more about Jesus from Your word. We pray this in the name of Your Son our Lord Jesus, AMEN
Romans 6: 1-14… The believer is dead to sin, alive in Christ.
Rom 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Discussion
In these verses Paul tells us that in every believer, having now been justified before God, sin no longer rules. We have been relieved of the power of sin over our lives. (1 John 5:1-4) Because of our faith in what Jesus Christ has done in our lives, we are made new, we are dead to sin. The Grace of God abounds because of the sin of man. Thus God’s Grace has made forgiveness a continuous blessing for those who have been justified. And from the knowledge that has been given to us through the study of God’s word, we know that in death, we have been set free from sin. Therefore as Christians we have been Baptized into Christ’s death, we know that we can be associated with sin no longer. We are no longer slaves to sin. and therefore sin is no longer an obstacle to our salvation, (Titus 2:11-14). We have become alive to God by the Grace of God. We now have as representative of our sinful self, Christ’s Righteousness. Our old self has been redefined. We are now crucified to sin and raised anew to a justification before God by the act of one, who before we believed was not, but who now is, our righteousness… Jesus Christ.
Q.1 What do you feel it means to be baptized into His death?
Q.2 What does Paul mean in verse 6 by our "old self' being "crucified" with Christ?
Q.3 What is your opinion of the phrase, "dead to sin, alive to God."
Q.4 How do these Scriptures relate as to what you have believed about sin.
Pg.2
Romans 6:15- 23… Slaves to righteousness
6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul clearly teaches that we can obey God only if we are under grace. Contrary to the Judaism of the Apostle’s day, God’s law—be it the Mosaic law or the law of God revealed in nature—does not solve the problem of sin.
Paul’s point in these verses is that to be human is to serve a master. We are mortally bound to an owner, and that owner is either sin and death or God Himself. God has allowed sin to reign over those who are in Adam, those who reject Christ. And as we discussed last week, it is our choice, we will serve God or we will serve sin, (Galatians 4:8–9). True freedom from sin is not liberation to serve ourselves but liberation to serve God. In Christ, we belong to God And through Christ, God’s Grace grants us freedom from sin, and we cannot help but pursue sanctification and its end, eternal life.
But we must be careful, for we are never to see ourselves as meriting eternal life because of our sanctification. Eternal death is earned as a wage we deserve and will surely receive for our sin, if we continue to follow the path Satan has paved for us. But eternal life is a gift. Growth in holiness inevitably follows our justification, but this growth is not the basis upon which the Lord grants us eternal life. Obedience to God’s law is the consequence of our redemption, but this redemption is secured by grace alone, (Ephesians 2:8-10) God is the owner and sole proprietor of our destiny, We make the choice, death through sin, the choice of Adam, or life through Christ, The choice of the justified. Choose wisely, the choice is for eternity.
Q.1 Can you recall a time when any act you might have committed or considered would be called disobedient? What was the result of the matter?
Q.2 What does the phrase "obedient slave " mean to you?
Q.3 What does the phrase “slave to righteousness”, mean to you?
Q.4 Paul tells us that we cannot earn salvation, but isn’t our choice to believe in Christ’s finished work earning our salvation? How is it not earning our salvation?
Q.5 What does obedience to God’s law mean to you? Aren’t there too many laws already?
Q.6 In some descriptions, the way of sin has been stated as wide and easy, and in other descriptions it has been called a slippery slope. Can we explain the reason for the difference?
Q.7 What does The Doctrine Of Salvation, stated in Romans 6: vs 23, mean to you?
Pg.3
Scripture references
1 John 5:1-4 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith
Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Galatians 4:8–9 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles
Ephesians 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Closing Prayer
Father God It is through Your Son our Lord Jesus Christ that You have given us our life eternal. You have accomplished what we over a lifetime cannot do. You have absolved us of our sins. Both now and forevermore we remain Christ’s righteousness. And for that we are eternally grateful. We pray now for those of our loved ones who need your strength and comfort. __________ We pray that You would give these mentioned, and those who remain in our thoughts and prayers your strength and comfort to bear the burden they now are going through. Heal them and bring them closer to you is our prayer. In Jesus Name we pray AMEN
Pg.4
Meditation
In justification by faith, we have God’s legal declaration that we are righteous in His sight by the finished work of Christ which establishes our heavenly citizenship and guarantees eternal life. We are granted peace with God and are secure in salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone, and we are confident that the Lord will preserve His justified people forever.
In justification, we look only to what Jesus has done in our behalf. However, justification is not the entirety of our salvation, which also includes the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is right with God that those who have been justified begin to serve God truly, but this service is never the basis for our right standing with our Creator.
Sanctification, occurs when we first trust Christ, It is then when we are set apart as holy unto Christ once and for all. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. You have died to sin, you have been set free from sin and made holy, God did not leave us to ourselves to create a legal status of righteousness before Him, and He does not call us to make ourselves holy, The Holy Spirit works in our behalf as our helper in our effort to live a righteous life. We are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling, but it is God who works in us to will and to work for his good pleasure.
In our sanctification, God sets us apart as holy, then He commands us to be holy and grants us the power and inclination to strive for holiness. Sin’s power has been broken, and its final destruction is assured, but sin does not give up its hold on us easily. Until our glorification, sin will ever attempt to reestablish its rule over us and make us obey its passions once more (Rom. 6:12). Of course, given the perfection of the work of Christ, it is not possible that sin will ever fully and finally succeed. But if we are not very discerning, sin can regain its hold over us. Thus, we must do all that we know how, to keep sin as far from our life as we possibly can.
We accomplish this by not presenting ourselves to sin as vessels of unrighteousness but to God as vessels of righteousness. As Christians, our call is not to allow any thought word or deed to become subject to what sin would have us do. Instead, we must continually give all things over to God, putting them in His service for His glory. No matter who we are or what we are doing, if we seek to subject ourselves to God’s rule, we can find victory over sin.
Because He has made us holy, we are to become holy by presenting ourselves unto the Lord for righteousness’ sake, relying on the means of grace such as Bible study and preaching, the sacraments, and prayer to draw on the strength we need to obey Him even when things get tough. We will not be perfect, but we will grow in conformity to Christ. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1Corinthians 10:31). AMEN
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Paul's Letter to the Romans Ch.5 Session 10
We are dead in sin Pg.1
Opening Prayer
Father God , we ask for Your guidance as we gather here tonight to study Your plan for our salvation as given to us in Paul’s letter to the Romans, We pray that you will help us to focus on those things that you would have us learn from these verses. We also ask your blessing on those of our group who cannot be here tonight, we pray that you will share our blessing with them, and bring them back into our midst soon. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
In this session Paul returns to the doctrine of justification by faith alone and focuses on two main issues that he has not yet explored in great detail. First, given that justification by faith alone is necessary to remedy the problem of our enmity with God, and why are all people apart from Christ, rebels against the Lord to begin with. Second, given that justification by faith alone puts people into a new legal status of righteousness, how does God constitute that righteousness? Please read 1Corinthians 1: 30… pg.3
Scripture study
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned. 13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone's account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. 15 but the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Discussion
Our scripture study tonight addresses the matter of sin, which is a reality in our world today because of the act of one man, Adam. And through sin, death is then also a part of the inheritance. And the death that was brought into the world by this sin did not affect Adam and Eve alone, it spread to all mankind. Since death is the punishment for all sin, then it (death) is a part of the human condition. Even Jesus Christ ( he who was without sin) had to die, because the one sin of the first man had condemned all men. Please read 2 Corinthians 5:21…pg.3
The fact that death entered the world at a point in history shows that death was not then, nor is it now, part of the natural order of things as God originally made them. We were not created to die, rather, we were created to Glorify God in all that we do. Death is an invader, a consequence of poor judgment, a mistake made because of mans desire to be equal with God. or as some would say, “in control”. As we study God’s word through the gospel, we come to an understanding that things are not as they should be in our relationship with God, nor in our relationship with each other, We are a world of lost sinners without hope except for the Grace of God. Please read Ephesians 1:7 & 2:8…pg3
Q.1 What message do these verses say about how sin came into the world?
Q.2 What is the meaning conveyed to us in vs.13?
Q.3 Why does verse 14 refer to the period of time from Adam to Moses?
Q.4 In these verses what do you see (besides death) as the consequence of Adam’s sin?
Q.5 To the believer, what is the Gift to which these verses refer?
Pg.2
Scripture study
Rom 5:16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was brought in 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.
Discussion
Because of the one single sin of one man the curse of death was made to fall on us all. This was simply an act of one man disobeying God, and the condemnation of all followed as an act of God. Death was not in the original plan of creation but was brought about by this one man Adam.
This all happened before the law was given. Before the law there was no definition of the sin of man. Before the law death was rampant not affecting one only, but affecting all of mankind, and there was no good in man whatsoever, and no hope of good to come.( here we have a long interim of about 2600 years in which God destroys mankind except for Noah and his family)Then God gave his law to Moses and after the law, sin was made to increase.
For by the introduction of the law man was made acutely aware of his many sins, and his conscience was awakened. Since our sin was so rampant and became even more so after the law, God made a plan for our salvation. And because God gave His Son as the sacrifice for our sins, the gift of righteousness will reign throughout mankind in a greater increase, for those who will receive him into their hearts.
So if sin increased under the law, then grace increased much more under Jesus. The reign of grace is marked by righteousness and eternal life through Jesus. Grace reigns through righteousness. Paul wrote in another letter what grace teaches us. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. Please read Titus 2:11-12… pg.3. Grace reigns through righteousness, and grace teaches righteousness.
So as believers, through the knowledge given to us in the Gospel, we can claim our justification because of the act of the one man Jesus. Please read John 11:25….pg3
Q.1 If death was not in God’s original plan of creation, why did sin occur?
Q.2 What is the difference in sin after God gave the law to Moses?
Q.3 What made it necessary for God to give us his Son for our salvation?
Q.4 What meaning can we derive from vs 20 and 21?
Pg.3
Scripture reference
1Corinthians 1: 30, It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
2 Corinthians 5:21, For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace and 2:8, "By grace are ye saved, through faith and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
Titus 2:11-12, For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
John 11:25, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Our salvation is a FREE GIFT
A closing thought:
Grace is the way of Christian salvation. It is so because man stands before God dead in sin and under judgment in himself. Only God's grace and mercy can and does save us. In His grace God sends Jesus Christ to save his people from their sins. By the power of His grace, God in Christ works through His Holy Spirit in our hearts the way of salvation in us, by repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation, eternal life and eternal joy is from beginning to end God's great wonder of Grace. Our sins forgiven, our debts paid, our inheritance assured. And that, not of our own doing, for God destined it such that it is the finished work of Christ that eternal life belongs to the believer. It is God’s Gift, that our sins do not own us, and through Christ’s finished work that we are justified. Praise God for his Merciful Grace.
Closing Prayer
God of our salvation we are so thankful for Your Gift to us of Your Son Jesus. Your Gift of the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of this world. And we do accept and claim Your Gift as our justification before You. Bless us now as we go our separate ways and bring us back together next week. We pray now for our brothers and sisters in Christ who need your healing touch____________ Bring to these we have named, and to those who are in our thoughts and prayers, Your strength and comfort to sustain them in their time of need. Amen
Pg.4
Meditation
By Adams one sin, God condemned all mankind forever to be guilty of sin, and deserving of death because of the act of one man. You may say then that you had nothing to do with the sin of Adam, and you prefer to stand on your own, and be judged on your own actions. And logically that seems right to many in our world today. “I am a good person, I do not blaspheme nor do I steal, I help others and I clothe and feed the destitute, and I give to charity, and to my church, and those in need. Besides that, which offenses of mine am I to be judged on. I should be fairly judged on my own life’s worth, my goodness far outweighs my sin. I do not want to be judged on someone else’s acts, I stand or fall based on my own worth”.
If then you stand on your own, does that imply also that your salvation is to be passed to you based on your own goodness. Are you sure that your goodness outweighs your sin? Do you want to make that choice, your righteousness or Jesus’ righteousness? We are all subject to God’s law, and that is condemnation for our sins, and not one of us can justify self. The one Gift from God justifies the many, which also includes you. But God allows that you are the one who makes the decision to accept that Gift. It is your choice to accept or reject Christ’s sacrifice for your salvation. Eternal life is in the balance.
It is absolutely true that we were born into our identification with Adam, but we also choose it with our individual acts of sin. The sin we commit results in condemnation. And the free gift of God results in justification: The outcome of this choice, self or Jesus - means everything. If we choose self we receive judgment and condemnation. If we choose Jesus we receive a free gift of God's grace and justification.
The free gift came to all men. Does this mean that all men are justified by the free gift without making a personal choice? Every person has received the curse of Adam's offense. Is it therefore true that every person, even apart from their own personal choice, will receive the benefits of Jesus' obedience? Not at all. First, Paul makes it clear that the free gift is not like the offense - they are not identical in their application or in their result. Second, Paul calls the work of Jesus a free gift, and the sin of Adam is simply an imputation, we are all guilty because of Adam’s sin, It is not a gift, it is a curse, the curse of sin, Sin affected everybody for all time, the moment Adam did it.
This is the only way for the work of Jesus to benefit us in any way. If every man must stand for himself, without the representation of Jesus, then we will all perish. None would be saved, because each of us sins and falls short of the glory of God. Only a sinless person, (The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world), acting on our behalf can save us, and it is God’s will that He act on our behalf.
The person who says, "I don't want to be represented by Jesus; I want to represent myself" doesn't understand two things. First, they don't understand that it really isn't up to the individual. We didn't make the rules, God did. We simply have to deal with it. Secondly, they don't understand that our personal righteousness before God is of no more account than if it were filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). To God, our personal righteousness is an offensive counterfeit. So standing for yourself only guarantees your condemnation to continue with you into hell.
Praise the Lord for giving us the free Gift of His Son Jesus and praise God for the Gospel that teaches us to accept that Gift, and by so doing our salvation is assured and our righteousness shall abound, because of Jesus. Amen
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Pauls letter to the Romans, Ch 5, Session 9
Pg1
While we were yet sinners
Opening Prayer
Father God, we come here tonight to Study the words of Paul as given to us in his letter to the church in Rome. We pray that no word be spoken here tonight that is not in accordance with your will and that you will impart to us those matters You would have us learn from this study. We pray that your peace and comfort be with those of us who are sick or disabled and cannot be here tonight. We ask that you share our blessing with them. Lead us now and give us understanding as we study the teachings of Paul, The word of God.. In Jesus Name we pray Amen
Because , while we were yet still captive in our sins, the wrath that God has against our sins has been satiated because Jesus Christ died as retribution for our sins. And for those of a repentant heart and a true belief, Jesus has provided a way for our salvation. There is a peace for our souls promised by God who has redeemed us. Isaiah 44:22
Scripture reading
Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Discussion
Being forgiven and set free from bondage to sin are not the only benefits we receive from being justified in the sight of God; we also receive peace with Him. If you have trusted in Christ alone for salvation, the Lord will discipline you as His child (Heb. 12:5–6), but His wrath has been turned away from you.
God’s justification of sinners through His Son, brings to our relationship with God a peace that surpasses all understanding. The promises of God to His people have been brought about because of Jesus’ sacrifice. His shed blood has made our peace with God possible.
This peace that Jesus Christ gives to us leads us to partake fully of spiritual blessings “in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3–4). But it is not a merely spiritual peace. There is rest and a physical peace, and the absence of anxiety about our sins which, try as we might, cannot be atoned without we accept the shed blood of Christ as our only path to salvation. And yet we still suffer this world.
But we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance is needed for our battles against the evil one who exists for the time we spend here on this earth. We Christians are not so great as to be whisked into Heaven the moment we believe, We are still here to continue in fighting the battle, to save the souls of our lost brothers and sisters. To bring those souls back from the abyss.
Q.1 Have you ever done anything that you just knew God would get you for? Were you afraid ?
Q.2 What is your concept of being at peace with God? Do you have peace with God?
Q.3 What is meant by boasting in the hope of the glory of God?
Q.4 In our world today, is there much reason to boast in the hope of the glory of God?
Q.5 Many have preached about sufferings and troubles, and our perseverance, How do you feel about that?
Pg.2
Scripture reading
Romans 5:6-11 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation
There is no hope for the lost soul, although we may desire to be just and good, we are still lost, we cannot save ourselves from our sins, except we become Christ’s child, we must become “converted”, become “saved” God brought this into our lives and makes it known to us.
It is his plan for our eternal life in His Kingdom. (John 3:16-18) He truly wants us to be there with him.
God loves us, and does not want us to perish because of our ungodliness. So what did he do to ensure that? He sacrificed the life of His Son. Who do we know that would do that for us? There are heroes indeed, someone who has died for another out of love for their fellow man. We know of many instances where that has happened. But who would sacrifice the life of their Son for our sake? We know the story of Abraham and Isaac, but Abraham was just obeying what God had directed him to do, and he did not have to sacrifice Isaac because God worked a miracle and gave Abraham a sacrificial lamb. Jesus is our sacrificial Lamb.
Of course there is that reference in time when we remember giving our life over to Christ, but that is just a moment in time, just a memory, What is it about that time that is so important to the Christian now, in this present moment? What has it changed about us? (James 2:1-26).
Just like the thief on the cross. You recall that there were two of them, two thieves being crucified with Jesus. They were there, representing us, one an indignant non believer with an attitude, representing many in our world today, and another who asked only that Jesus remember him at that last moment. Both were sinners, deserving of their punishment. Jesus died with, and for both of them (us) but only one of them Joined Christ for eternity in paradise. And he now is spending eternity with Christ. And When you accepted Christ as your Savior you were saved at that moment. Being saved is not a one time event. It is a forever event. It started the moment You asked Jesus into your life.
Q.1 How do you feel verses 6-8 reveal how much God values us?
Q.2 Does Jesus Christ giving his life for the ungodly have negative connotations?
Q.3 Some people have always been good, are they included in Jesus Dying for the ungodly?
Q.4 Why is there evil in our world today?
Q.5 Did God start creation with the intent of having sin enter the world?
Q.6 What attitudes prevent one from accepting what God has done through Christ, for us?
Q.7 What is meant by the phrase” we exult in our tribulations”?
Q.8 What does God develop in our lives during difficult times?
Pg.3
Scripture references
Isaiah 44:22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."
Hebrews 12:5-8 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son." 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined--and everyone undergoes discipline--then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.
Ephesians 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love
John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
James 2:1-26 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? ...
Pg.4
Meditation
Peace with God speaks of our need, which in our natural born state we lack. This presupposes the fact that, as we are naturally born into this world, God is not reconciled with us. All other ills in life stem from the fact that we do not naturally acquire this Peace with God. Further our temporal life though seeming to be long, especially when we are young, is only a speck in eternity, and we need to be safe for eternity. So Peace with God is our deepest human need, and should be every hearts desire.
The need for Peace with God is a paramount because without it we are under the wrath of God and condemnation of God, and this means that eternity will be spent separated from God and all that is good, and under the eternal just punishment of God for sin. Lacking Peace with God also means that we are without God and his love, care and protection throughout our lives, but we are yet under the care of the Devil
Furthermore, peace with God means that we are reconciled to God. Our enmity with God is removed and God becomes our friend. Peace with God means that we are saved from the wrath of God, and all that follows from that wrath. We are saved from death and eternal hell, and we possess eternal life. Peace with God means that God says he will be our God forever and he will bless us forever. From this follows every other blessing because now God is for us and not against us. And this means that The Almighty Creator has our best interests at heart.
How do we satisfy our need for peace with God? The great blessing of the Gospel is that humanity does have the message of peace with God, that being the Gospel message. Through the Gospel message the cause of conflict with God can be dealt with. God has given to us His Son Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This then is the place in our lives when we must make the choice. We must choose Jesus to have Peace with God. It means the forgiveness of all our sins, and that they are blotted out of the sight of God forever. This means not only the sins we have committed in the past, but also all sins which we will ever commit throughout our lives. God’s forgiveness is all encompassing and eternal because of Christ, and that forgiveness, and peace with God is ours the moment we choose to let Jesus come into our heart and rule in our lives.
Rom 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Let us take hold of this blessing and live in the light of it. We have now and forever in completeness - Peace with God. We now are friends with God. We are now, through faith, reconciled to God. Where does this Peace with God come from and what is its assurance? Our peace with God is because we have been justified by our faith. This is something that has occurred in our lives when we believed in Jesus. It is a legal and just declaration by God that we are just We are justified in God’s eyes as he can no longer look on us as sinners. He sees us only as the redeemed of Christ. He sees us only as the righteousness of His Son Jesus. No devil, nor sin, can ever take this blessing away, because it is a blessing that has been won by Christ alone, and on account of his perfect finished work for us. It is assured for eternity. All that is necessary is that we ask for and receive the promise of Peace with God by believing God’s word and promise that he gives it to all who place their hope and need of salvation in the hands of Jesus. We have peace with God through faith in the sacrificial life death and resurrection of the Son of God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN
Closing Prayer:
Father God, be with us now as we leave this place. May we carry with us your blessing as we continue in our efforts to live the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ. We pray for your continued watch over our loved ones and those among us who need your healing hand to touch them in their time of distress. ____________Give those mentioned here tonight the strength and comfort to endure, and continue to watch over each of us as we strive to live a just and righteous life.. It is in Jesus name we pray, AMEN
While we were yet sinners
Opening Prayer
Father God, we come here tonight to Study the words of Paul as given to us in his letter to the church in Rome. We pray that no word be spoken here tonight that is not in accordance with your will and that you will impart to us those matters You would have us learn from this study. We pray that your peace and comfort be with those of us who are sick or disabled and cannot be here tonight. We ask that you share our blessing with them. Lead us now and give us understanding as we study the teachings of Paul, The word of God.. In Jesus Name we pray Amen
Scripture reading
Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Discussion
Being forgiven and set free from bondage to sin are not the only benefits we receive from being justified in the sight of God; we also receive peace with Him. If you have trusted in Christ alone for salvation, the Lord will discipline you as His child (Heb. 12:5–6), but His wrath has been turned away from you.
God’s justification of sinners through His Son, brings to our relationship with God a peace that surpasses all understanding. The promises of God to His people have been brought about because of Jesus’ sacrifice. His shed blood has made our peace with God possible.
This peace that Jesus Christ gives to us leads us to partake fully of spiritual blessings “in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3–4). But it is not a merely spiritual peace. There is rest and a physical peace, and the absence of anxiety about our sins which, try as we might, cannot be atoned without we accept the shed blood of Christ as our only path to salvation. And yet we still suffer this world.
But we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance is needed for our battles against the evil one who exists for the time we spend here on this earth. We Christians are not so great as to be whisked into Heaven the moment we believe, We are still here to continue in fighting the battle, to save the souls of our lost brothers and sisters. To bring those souls back from the abyss.
Q.1 Have you ever done anything that you just knew God would get you for? Were you afraid ?
Q.2 What is your concept of being at peace with God? Do you have peace with God?
Q.3 What is meant by boasting in the hope of the glory of God?
Q.4 In our world today, is there much reason to boast in the hope of the glory of God?
Q.5 Many have preached about sufferings and troubles, and our perseverance, How do you feel about that?
Pg.2
Scripture reading
Romans 5:6-11 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation
There is no hope for the lost soul, although we may desire to be just and good, we are still lost, we cannot save ourselves from our sins, except we become Christ’s child, we must become “converted”, become “saved” God brought this into our lives and makes it known to us.
It is his plan for our eternal life in His Kingdom. (John 3:16-18) He truly wants us to be there with him.
God loves us, and does not want us to perish because of our ungodliness. So what did he do to ensure that? He sacrificed the life of His Son. Who do we know that would do that for us? There are heroes indeed, someone who has died for another out of love for their fellow man. We know of many instances where that has happened. But who would sacrifice the life of their Son for our sake? We know the story of Abraham and Isaac, but Abraham was just obeying what God had directed him to do, and he did not have to sacrifice Isaac because God worked a miracle and gave Abraham a sacrificial lamb. Jesus is our sacrificial Lamb.
Of course there is that reference in time when we remember giving our life over to Christ, but that is just a moment in time, just a memory, What is it about that time that is so important to the Christian now, in this present moment? What has it changed about us? (James 2:1-26).
Just like the thief on the cross. You recall that there were two of them, two thieves being crucified with Jesus. They were there, representing us, one an indignant non believer with an attitude, representing many in our world today, and another who asked only that Jesus remember him at that last moment. Both were sinners, deserving of their punishment. Jesus died with, and for both of them (us) but only one of them Joined Christ for eternity in paradise. And he now is spending eternity with Christ. And When you accepted Christ as your Savior you were saved at that moment. Being saved is not a one time event. It is a forever event. It started the moment You asked Jesus into your life.
Q.1 How do you feel verses 6-8 reveal how much God values us?
Q.2 Does Jesus Christ giving his life for the ungodly have negative connotations?
Q.3 Some people have always been good, are they included in Jesus Dying for the ungodly?
Q.4 Why is there evil in our world today?
Q.5 Did God start creation with the intent of having sin enter the world?
Q.6 What attitudes prevent one from accepting what God has done through Christ, for us?
Q.7 What is meant by the phrase” we exult in our tribulations”?
Q.8 What does God develop in our lives during difficult times?
Pg.3
Scripture references
Isaiah 44:22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."
Hebrews 12:5-8 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son." 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined--and everyone undergoes discipline--then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.
Ephesians 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love
John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
James 2:1-26 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? ...
Pg.4
Meditation
Peace with God speaks of our need, which in our natural born state we lack. This presupposes the fact that, as we are naturally born into this world, God is not reconciled with us. All other ills in life stem from the fact that we do not naturally acquire this Peace with God. Further our temporal life though seeming to be long, especially when we are young, is only a speck in eternity, and we need to be safe for eternity. So Peace with God is our deepest human need, and should be every hearts desire.
The need for Peace with God is a paramount because without it we are under the wrath of God and condemnation of God, and this means that eternity will be spent separated from God and all that is good, and under the eternal just punishment of God for sin. Lacking Peace with God also means that we are without God and his love, care and protection throughout our lives, but we are yet under the care of the Devil
Furthermore, peace with God means that we are reconciled to God. Our enmity with God is removed and God becomes our friend. Peace with God means that we are saved from the wrath of God, and all that follows from that wrath. We are saved from death and eternal hell, and we possess eternal life. Peace with God means that God says he will be our God forever and he will bless us forever. From this follows every other blessing because now God is for us and not against us. And this means that The Almighty Creator has our best interests at heart.
How do we satisfy our need for peace with God? The great blessing of the Gospel is that humanity does have the message of peace with God, that being the Gospel message. Through the Gospel message the cause of conflict with God can be dealt with. God has given to us His Son Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This then is the place in our lives when we must make the choice. We must choose Jesus to have Peace with God. It means the forgiveness of all our sins, and that they are blotted out of the sight of God forever. This means not only the sins we have committed in the past, but also all sins which we will ever commit throughout our lives. God’s forgiveness is all encompassing and eternal because of Christ, and that forgiveness, and peace with God is ours the moment we choose to let Jesus come into our heart and rule in our lives.
Rom 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Let us take hold of this blessing and live in the light of it. We have now and forever in completeness - Peace with God. We now are friends with God. We are now, through faith, reconciled to God. Where does this Peace with God come from and what is its assurance? Our peace with God is because we have been justified by our faith. This is something that has occurred in our lives when we believed in Jesus. It is a legal and just declaration by God that we are just We are justified in God’s eyes as he can no longer look on us as sinners. He sees us only as the redeemed of Christ. He sees us only as the righteousness of His Son Jesus. No devil, nor sin, can ever take this blessing away, because it is a blessing that has been won by Christ alone, and on account of his perfect finished work for us. It is assured for eternity. All that is necessary is that we ask for and receive the promise of Peace with God by believing God’s word and promise that he gives it to all who place their hope and need of salvation in the hands of Jesus. We have peace with God through faith in the sacrificial life death and resurrection of the Son of God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN
Closing Prayer:
Father God, be with us now as we leave this place. May we carry with us your blessing as we continue in our efforts to live the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ. We pray for your continued watch over our loved ones and those among us who need your healing hand to touch them in their time of distress. ____________Give those mentioned here tonight the strength and comfort to endure, and continue to watch over each of us as we strive to live a just and righteous life.. It is in Jesus name we pray, AMEN
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Paul's Letter to the Romans Ch.4 Session 8
Pg.1
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, We ask that you will bless this study tonight and use it to enlighten our understanding of our faith, and help us to put into action the faith that we profess. Let us become living examples of the faith that your word conveys to our world. We are truly thankful for the gift of Your Son Jesus who made a way for our salvation, for there is nothing we can do to make ourselves righteous in your sight. We pray also for those of our group who cannot be here tonight, and that you will share our blessing with them. Bless us now, we pray as we study your word as given to us by Your servant Paul. AMEN
Opening Words
Faith is something we exercise, but Paul does not consider it a work in the same way that obedience to the law is. Works involve the bringing of what we do to God and saying that we deserve justification. Faith involves the admission that nothing we can do makes us deserving of salvation. It is all on Jesus, and he only is the linchpin of our salvation, without him even our own efforts at righteousness fail us, and we are lost sinners seeking help for our souls.
Scripture Reading
13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed-17b-the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
Discussion
Abraham’s faith led to his being justified before God. God’s promise of Justification comes from God’s grace. The promise of salvation for the true believer is not ordered by God’s law, God does not promise one justification if they comply with his laws, as if following the rules of righteousness would earn our justification. It is by the faith one exhibits in the life one lives that God recognizes as true faith and with the living of the faithful life God sees only the righteousness of Jesus in us. If salvation was simply obeying the law, one might even fool oneself into thinking they were justified by righteously obeying the law. That is how putting our faith in our works can deceive us so easily Justification by faith is a choice one makes that changes ones life path. That is a choice one is free to accept or reject.
Q.1 Why is justification achieved by faith instead of by the Law?
Q.2 In what way has this caused me to rely on faith in Christ alone?
Q.3 What is the first characteristic of faith that Paul alludes to in Romans 4:17b?
Q.4 How does a proper understanding of the Creator and creation affect one’s daily life?
Q.5 What is the concept that the Jews were practicing in those days?
Pg.2
In this next scripture, Paul tells us what faith is. Paul says Abraham believed God. God is the object of our faith. The quality of our faith depends upon the object in which that faith has placed its trust. The amount of faith you have has nothing to do with it. That is why Jesus told us that even if we have faith, as small as a grain of mustard seed, it will produce results. The object of your faith is the important thing. It is not a question of how little or how big our faith is; it is a question of how gracious our God is! God has set no measure of faith as a goal to be reached. But he has precisely stated what even a very small faith can do.
18. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23 The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
There are times when one must realize that whenever we are called to exercise our faith, (which for some can be minute by minute) there will be obstacles to that faith. Abraham teaches us this. First, there were the circumstances of He and his wife and family and all their kin, slaves, and livestock, just picking up their entire life’s work, even at an old age, and moving. God had not even told them where their new home would be. Then there is their age, both were past the age of having children. And then there’s the problem of the promise from God, to make a great nation of Abraham and his descendents . It was a promise for them that seemed too good to be true. Hard to believe if we examine the circumstances. They had been trying to have a child for years with no success It is also interesting that Abraham and Sarah tried to take the situation into their own hands by Abraham having a child with Hagar, Sarah’s slave. This did not fare well, as God’s Angel said in Gen 16:12
Q.1 Are there situations in life that seem outside the realm of possibility?
Q.2 Do you think there may have been times when Abraham struggled with doubt ?
Q.3 Are there times in every day life when doubts are more reasonable than faith?
Q.4 Abraham must have felt, that the promise from God was too good to be true, yes or no?
Q.5 Have you ever gone through a “Too good to be true experience”?
Q.6 How does the resurrection serve as the bedrock for the Christian faith?
Q.7 In your opinion, is there a measure of faith one must maintain?
Who Are The Justified ? Pg.3
A. THE JUSTIFIED ARE SINNERS
We must be repentant true believers. That makes us recipients of God’s free grace, because we rely on the finished work of Jesus to provide for our justification. Otherwise, our sin would prevent our salvation. Romans 10:10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved…… Q. Who are the true believers?
B. THE JUSTIFIED SHARE CHRISTS BLOOD AS SALVATION .
Faith means that “while we were yet sinners, at the right time Christ died for us. Then it is our faith in what Christ’s shedding his blood has done for us, that saves us. Gal 3:26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, Gal 3:27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ…… Q. What meaning does sharing communion have for you?
C. THE JUSTIFIED ARE JUDGED BY GOD THROUGH CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS.
We need Christ’s perfect righteousness credited to our account. That transaction takes place the instant that we become a true believer in Jesus’ finished work of our salvation. John 3:18
If justification were based on how righteous we actually are, measured by our own set of laws, we might well be righteous by earthly standards. We might have a spectacular record of accomplishments denoting our righteous service to God. But does that make us righteous in God’s eyes? The answer is found in Isaiah 64:6. We need our sin put on Christ’s account.
2 Corinthians 5:21 …... Q. What has Jesus done for us lately?
Scripture references
Gen 16:12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."
John 3:18, Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the faith that Paul so avidly professes. We thank You that you so loved us that You gave your Son Jesus to be sin for us so that none should perish, We thank You that Your Grace is such that You have chosen to let Your Son’s righteousness be credited to our account. And we thank You as so great a God as to be sensitive to our needs and to offer your healing touch to those who suffer in this life__________ Bless those mentioned here tonight and offer to them Your healing touch. In Jesus name we pray AMEN
Pg.4
Meditation
Q. What has the finished work of Jesus done for you ?
Psalm 119:66 Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.
68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.
69 Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart.
70 Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law. 71 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.
72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
73 Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.
74 May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.
75 I know, LORD, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
Psa 119:76 May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.
Psa 119:77 Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.
Psa 119:78 May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause; but I will meditate on your precepts.
Psa 119:79 May those who fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes.
Psa 119:80 May I wholeheartedly follow your decrees, that I may not be put to shame.
Dear Lord, May the faith of our fathers be made manifest in us throughout this year, and may we indeed practice what we believe to such and extent that it becomes a way of life for each of us. And may we become living examples of the Justified True Believer that Christ’s life was sacrificed to save. Amen
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, We ask that you will bless this study tonight and use it to enlighten our understanding of our faith, and help us to put into action the faith that we profess. Let us become living examples of the faith that your word conveys to our world. We are truly thankful for the gift of Your Son Jesus who made a way for our salvation, for there is nothing we can do to make ourselves righteous in your sight. We pray also for those of our group who cannot be here tonight, and that you will share our blessing with them. Bless us now, we pray as we study your word as given to us by Your servant Paul. AMEN
Opening Words
Faith is something we exercise, but Paul does not consider it a work in the same way that obedience to the law is. Works involve the bringing of what we do to God and saying that we deserve justification. Faith involves the admission that nothing we can do makes us deserving of salvation. It is all on Jesus, and he only is the linchpin of our salvation, without him even our own efforts at righteousness fail us, and we are lost sinners seeking help for our souls.
Scripture Reading
13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed-17b-the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
Discussion
Abraham’s faith led to his being justified before God. God’s promise of Justification comes from God’s grace. The promise of salvation for the true believer is not ordered by God’s law, God does not promise one justification if they comply with his laws, as if following the rules of righteousness would earn our justification. It is by the faith one exhibits in the life one lives that God recognizes as true faith and with the living of the faithful life God sees only the righteousness of Jesus in us. If salvation was simply obeying the law, one might even fool oneself into thinking they were justified by righteously obeying the law. That is how putting our faith in our works can deceive us so easily Justification by faith is a choice one makes that changes ones life path. That is a choice one is free to accept or reject.
Q.1 Why is justification achieved by faith instead of by the Law?
Q.2 In what way has this caused me to rely on faith in Christ alone?
Q.3 What is the first characteristic of faith that Paul alludes to in Romans 4:17b?
Q.4 How does a proper understanding of the Creator and creation affect one’s daily life?
Q.5 What is the concept that the Jews were practicing in those days?
Pg.2
In this next scripture, Paul tells us what faith is. Paul says Abraham believed God. God is the object of our faith. The quality of our faith depends upon the object in which that faith has placed its trust. The amount of faith you have has nothing to do with it. That is why Jesus told us that even if we have faith, as small as a grain of mustard seed, it will produce results. The object of your faith is the important thing. It is not a question of how little or how big our faith is; it is a question of how gracious our God is! God has set no measure of faith as a goal to be reached. But he has precisely stated what even a very small faith can do.
18. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23 The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
There are times when one must realize that whenever we are called to exercise our faith, (which for some can be minute by minute) there will be obstacles to that faith. Abraham teaches us this. First, there were the circumstances of He and his wife and family and all their kin, slaves, and livestock, just picking up their entire life’s work, even at an old age, and moving. God had not even told them where their new home would be. Then there is their age, both were past the age of having children. And then there’s the problem of the promise from God, to make a great nation of Abraham and his descendents . It was a promise for them that seemed too good to be true. Hard to believe if we examine the circumstances. They had been trying to have a child for years with no success It is also interesting that Abraham and Sarah tried to take the situation into their own hands by Abraham having a child with Hagar, Sarah’s slave. This did not fare well, as God’s Angel said in Gen 16:12
Q.1 Are there situations in life that seem outside the realm of possibility?
Q.2 Do you think there may have been times when Abraham struggled with doubt ?
Q.3 Are there times in every day life when doubts are more reasonable than faith?
Q.4 Abraham must have felt, that the promise from God was too good to be true, yes or no?
Q.5 Have you ever gone through a “Too good to be true experience”?
Q.6 How does the resurrection serve as the bedrock for the Christian faith?
Q.7 In your opinion, is there a measure of faith one must maintain?
Who Are The Justified ? Pg.3
A. THE JUSTIFIED ARE SINNERS
We must be repentant true believers. That makes us recipients of God’s free grace, because we rely on the finished work of Jesus to provide for our justification. Otherwise, our sin would prevent our salvation. Romans 10:10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved…… Q. Who are the true believers?
B. THE JUSTIFIED SHARE CHRISTS BLOOD AS SALVATION .
Faith means that “while we were yet sinners, at the right time Christ died for us. Then it is our faith in what Christ’s shedding his blood has done for us, that saves us. Gal 3:26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, Gal 3:27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ…… Q. What meaning does sharing communion have for you?
C. THE JUSTIFIED ARE JUDGED BY GOD THROUGH CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS.
We need Christ’s perfect righteousness credited to our account. That transaction takes place the instant that we become a true believer in Jesus’ finished work of our salvation. John 3:18
If justification were based on how righteous we actually are, measured by our own set of laws, we might well be righteous by earthly standards. We might have a spectacular record of accomplishments denoting our righteous service to God. But does that make us righteous in God’s eyes? The answer is found in Isaiah 64:6. We need our sin put on Christ’s account.
2 Corinthians 5:21 …... Q. What has Jesus done for us lately?
Scripture references
Gen 16:12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."
John 3:18, Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the faith that Paul so avidly professes. We thank You that you so loved us that You gave your Son Jesus to be sin for us so that none should perish, We thank You that Your Grace is such that You have chosen to let Your Son’s righteousness be credited to our account. And we thank You as so great a God as to be sensitive to our needs and to offer your healing touch to those who suffer in this life__________ Bless those mentioned here tonight and offer to them Your healing touch. In Jesus name we pray AMEN
Pg.4
Meditation
Q. What has the finished work of Jesus done for you ?
Psalm 119:66 Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.
68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.
69 Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart.
70 Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law. 71 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.
72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
73 Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.
74 May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.
75 I know, LORD, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
Psa 119:76 May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.
Psa 119:77 Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.
Psa 119:78 May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause; but I will meditate on your precepts.
Psa 119:79 May those who fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes.
Psa 119:80 May I wholeheartedly follow your decrees, that I may not be put to shame.
Dear Lord, May the faith of our fathers be made manifest in us throughout this year, and may we indeed practice what we believe to such and extent that it becomes a way of life for each of us. And may we become living examples of the Justified True Believer that Christ’s life was sacrificed to save. Amen
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