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August 19, 2018 - May 3, 2020
The believer does not focus on today’s sufferings; she looks forward to tomorrow’s glory (Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:15–18).
I wish I could do that.
Ultimately, He will make us like Jesus Christ.
Predestination applies only to saved people. Nowhere are we taught that God predestines people to be eternally condemned.
Freedom from Fear—No Separation (8:31–39)
God will certainly not accuse us, since it is He who has justified us. For Him to accuse us would mean that His salvation was a failure and we are still in our sins.
God does not shelter us from the difficulties of life because we need them for our spiritual growth (Rom. 5:3–5).
We endure trials for His sake (Rom. 8:36),
This is not a promise with conditions attached: “If you do this, God will do that.”
The emphasis in Romans 9 is on Israel’s past election, in Romans 10 on Israel’s present rejection, and in Romans 11 on Israel’s future restoration.
God is holy and must punish sin, but God is loving and desires to save sinners. If everybody is saved, it would deny His holiness, but if everybody is lost, it would deny His love.
problem. “If God is sovereign, then who can resist Him? And if one does resist Him, what right does He have to judge?”
God prepares men for glory (Rom. 9:23), but sinners prepare themselves for judgment. In Moses and Israel, God revealed the riches of His mercy; in Pharaoh and Egypt, He revealed His power and wrath. Since neither deserved any mercy, God cannot be charged with injustice.
The Jews thought that the Gentiles had to come up to Israel’s level to be saved; when actually the Jews had to go down to the level of the Gentiles to be saved.
Instead of permitting their religious privileges (Rom. 9:1–5) to lead them to Christ, they used these privileges as a substitute for Christ.
Israel would have been happy for political salvation from Rome, but she did not feel she needed spiritual salvation from her own sin.
They think that their good works and religious deeds will save them, when actually these practices are keeping them from being saved.
"Praise and worship," speaking in "tongues," "signs following" ...
Israel was ignorant of God’s righteousness, not because they had never been told, but because they refused to learn. There is an ignorance that comes from lack of opportunity, but Israel had had many opportunities to be saved. In their case, it was an ignorance that stemmed from willful, stubborn resistance to the truth.
Christ is “the end of the law” in the sense that through His death and resurrection, He has terminated the ministry of the law for those who believe. The law is ended as far as Christians are concerned. The righteousness of the law is being fulfilled in the life of the believer through the power of the Spirit (Rom. 8:4), but the reign of the law has ended (see Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14). “For ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).
It is impossible to mix grace and works, for the one cancels the other.
Their very religious practices and observances became substitutes for the real experience of salvation. Sad to say, this same mistake is made today when people depend on religious rituals and practices instead of trusting in the Christ who is pictured in these activities.
It is worth noting that, according to Bible prophecy, the professing Gentile church will be “cut off” because of apostasy. First Timothy 4 and 2 Timothy 3, along with 2 Thessalonians 2, all indicate that the professing church in the last days will depart from the faith. There is no hope for the apostate church, but there is hope for apostate Israel! Why? Because of the roots of the olive tree. God will keep His promises to the patriarchs, but God will break off the Gentiles because of their unbelief.
Isaac “died” just the same—he died to self and willingly yielded himself to the will of God.
If the world controls your thinking, you are a conformer; if God controls your thinking, you are a transformer.
The one man constantly belittled his gifts and would not use them, and the other man constantly boasted about gifts that he did not possess. Actually, both of them were guilty of pride, because both of them refused to acknowledge God’s grace and let Him have the glory. Moses
It is tragic when any one gift is emphasized in a local church beyond all the other gifts. “Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?” (1 Cor. 12:29–30). The answer to all these questions is no!
They were using their gifts as ends in themselves and not as a means toward the end of building up the church.
They so emphasized their spiritual gifts that they lost their spiritual graces!
Serving Christ usually means satanic opposition and days of discouragement.
Our Lord ministered to the common people, and they heard Him gladly (Mark 12:37). When a local church decides it wants only a certain “high class” of people, it departs from the Christian ideal for ministry.
There is a difference between sharing in “the offense of the cross” (Gal. 5:11; 6:12–15) and being an offensive Christian!
If you defend yourself, then the Lord can’t defend you. Leave it in His hands.”
Our task is not to protect ourselves but to obey the Lord and leave the results with Him.
If each Christian had kept his convictions to himself, there would have been no problem, but they began to criticize and judge one another. The one group was sure the other group was not at all spiritual.
He explained how believers could disagree on nonessentials and still maintain unity in the church.
It is not our responsibility to decide the requirements for Christian fellowship in a church; only the Lord can do this. To set up man-made restrictions on the basis of personal prejudices (or even convictions) is to go beyond the Word of God.
Because God has received us, we must receive one another.
The weak must not condemn the strong and call them unspiritual. The strong must not despise the weak and call them immature.
What is it that makes a dish of food “holy” or a day “holy”? It is the fact that we relate it to the Lord.
The person who treats a special day as “holy” does so “unto the Lord.” The person who treats every day as sacred, does so “unto the Lord.” The Christian who eats meat gives thanks to the Lord, and the Christian who abstains from meat abstains “unto the Lord.”
“I have learned that God blesses people I disagree with!”
the issue is not “How does it affect me?” so much as “If I do this, how will it affect my brother?” Will it make him stumble? Will it grieve him or even destroy him by encouraging him to sin? Is it really worth it to harm a brother just so I can enjoy some food? No!
Both the strong believer and the weak believer need to grow. The strong believer needs to grow in love; the weak believer needs to grow in knowledge.
Young Christians need the kind of fellowship that will protect them and encourage them to grow. But we cannot treat them like babies all their lives!
If you have a sincere conviction from God about a matter, keep it to yourself and do not try to force everybody else to accept it.
a servant or service.
service in public office or in the temple.
“to perform sacred rites, to minister in a priestly service.”
We must remember that soul winning is a priestly ministry, a sacred obligation. And we must serve the Lord with dedication and devotion just as the priest served in the temple.
The miracles God gave Paul to do were “signs” in that they came from God and revealed Him to others. And they were “wonders” in that they aroused the wonder of the people. But their purpose was always to open the way for the preaching of the gospel.
Miracles by themselves can never save the lost. When Paul healed the crippled man at Lystra (Acts 14), the immediate response was pagan: The people called Paul and Barnabas gods and tried to worship them! When Paul shared the gospel with them, they did not respond so enthusiastically. Finally, the people stoned Paul and left him for dead outside the city walls.
