Author: SFJ Bible

Romans 13

Submission to the Authorities

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Fulfilling the Law Through Love

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

(ESV)

Romans 12

A Living Sacrifice

12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,¹ by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.² 2 Do not be conformed to this world,³ but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.⁴

Gifts of Grace

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members,⁵ and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,⁶ with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Marks of the True Christian

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,⁷ serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.⁸ Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it⁹ to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Footnotes

[1] 12:1 Or brothers and sisters

[2] 12:1 Or your rational service

[3] 12:2 Greek age

[4] 12:2 Or what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God

[5] 12:4 Greek parts; also verse 5

[6] 12:8 Or gives aid

[7] 12:11 Or fervent in the Spirit

[8] 12:16 Or give yourselves to humble tasks

[9] 12:19 Greek give place

(ESV)

Going Deeper

All Glory to God (11-22-14)

Grab your bible and let’s go deeper into Romans 11:33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ³⁴“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”
³⁵“Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”  ³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

This amazing passage gives us great insight into who God is.  Let’s use it to answer the question:  WHO IS GOD?

Let’s start at the end in

Romans 12:36

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

(ESV)

.

1. All things are from him and through him. 

• Paul says: “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)
• Ezra says: “You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you” ( 9:6)
• David says: “Whatever the Lord pleases he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps” ( 135:6)
• Solomon says: “The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly from the Lord” ( 16:33)
• Job says: “makes nations great, and he destroys them: he enlarges nations, and leads them away” (Job 12:23)
• Daniel says: “he removes kings and sets up kings” (Daniel 2:21)

All things are from him and through him!  He is GOD!  He is worthy.

 It gets better

Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!”

1. The riches and wisdom and knowledge of God are REALLY DEEP! 

That is what the OH means!  Ohhhhh = really Deep!

How deep is God?  How vast?  How rich?  In the first century, they would say, “The cattle on a thousand hills belongs to God.” Quoting Psalm 50:10.  I am from Orange County CA.  I’m a city guy.  So, I don’t know a lot about farming and agriculture, but here’s what I do know:

In this context, he who owns the cows drives the community.  You can’t plow up your land without them, you can’t fertilize stuff without them.  So in this agricultural society, to say, “A thousand hills and all the cattle on them belong to the Lord” is a way that communicates “this is the expanse of the riches of God.”

I could go on and on about “How deep is God?  How vast?  How rich is God?”, but we must move on.

Romans 11:35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”

1. Because he owns it all, no one can give a gift to God so that you are to be repaid by him and therefore put God in your debt.   You can’t give God something he doesn’t already own.  You can not put God in your debt.

If everything is his, you and I have nothing to give him that he doesn’t already own.  Which means, in the end, God owes no man anything.  He owes us nothing.  Your very existence has been gifted to you by his grace.  Every bit of laughter, every great morsel of food, every smile on your face is his grace, and he owes us nothing.

Romans 11:34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”


1. No one can counsel God and give him insight he doesn’t already have.

Let me ask you, what is the thing you tend to offer to God more than anything else?  More than worship, more than obedience, more than respect, more than trust, more than honor?  We offer him counsel! “God I think…you should…how could you… God, why would you…”

This is like when a four year old in the car seat is asking His dad if he knows where he’s going.  Or worse… tells him which way he should go.

Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.”

Nobody gets to counsel God.  Nobody gets to give God advice.  Nobody gets to straighten God’s path, no one.  He is God and we are not!

Romans 11:33 “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

1. His judgments are often unsearchable and his ways often inscrutable, unfathomable. Meaning they are understood by the mind of God and not the mind of man.

This doesn’t mean we cannot understand him.  It just means we understand what he wants us to.  He will remain to be God and we will remain his subjects.

Read Romans 9:13-23

In this passage that we read earlier this week we see Paul reminding us of these very truths.  Who are we (the clay) to say to the potter what he should do with us?  He is sovereign and holy in his choice and rule over all things.

Who are we to scrutinize God?  You and I can’t even comprehend and figure out our own shortcomings, our own failures! And yet, we’ll scrutinize God?  He is God and we are not!  This is truly Good News when we see it clearly!

There is so much to say about who God is, I could go on for days.  The Bible sure does! But we must move on and answer:

What is God alone due?  The Answer is:  GLORY! We use the phrase “glory of God “ so often that it can begin to lose its deserved awe.

God’s glory is like the sun in the sense that it is no less blazing and no less beneficial, just because people ignore it or go indoors to hide from it or put on sunglasses.

So, what is the glory of God? The glory of God is the holiness of God put on display. Ii is the infinite worth of God made manifest. His importance above all else.

Isaiah 6:3 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

When the holiness of God fills the earth for people to see, it is called glory. Holy means “set apart from what is common.”    In speaking of God’s glory, God’s infinite value shines.  God’s glory is the radiance of His holiness, the out-streaming of His infinite value.

“The glory of God” is a way to say that there is an objective, absolute reality to which all human wonder, awe, veneration, praise, honor, acclaim, and worship is pointing.   God alone is truly worthy of our worship and wonder forever!

This brings us back to Romans 11:36. To it’s perfect climax.

Romans 11:36 “For to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

1. To him are all things. To him be glory forever!

The Glory of God is the ultimate purpose of everything that Exists!

What is included in “all things”?

1. God is ultimately for God’s Glory

God is God-centered!  It is important that we see scripture teaches that the primary reason that God acts and saves is “ultimately” for His sake and His glory and not ours.

Read: Colossians 1:15-20

Everything that exists, including our lives, exists ultimately for the Glory of God.  Not only do we exist for God’s glory but we are “ultimately” saved for the Glory of God.

Isaiah 43:25 
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins”.

Ezekiel 20:44 “And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”

It is vital that we acknowledge that God is ultimately for God.  His eternal glory is the highest purpose in “ALL” that he does.

2. The universe and everything in it is ultimately for God’s Glory

The glory of God is the goal of all things.  Psalm 96:1-3 “Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. ³ Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!”

What this helps us to understand is that the things of life…the everyday things we have come to enjoy…. these things he has created and entrusted to us are to be enjoyed so that we will see him as central to it all and give him praise.

So when I say, God is Good …it isn’t just because he gave it to me …it is because that thing he gave me all points me back in satisfaction TO HIM!

How do we, practice daily, Glorifying God alone?   You Treasure Him above all else!

Glory to God alone means: God is the ultimate prize! So when we are looking for the best way TO GIVE GOD unceasing GLORY and PRAISE we don’t accomplish this by trying real hard to be a good Christian.  We accomplish this by feasting deeply in HIM and as a result we will overflow with praise and GLORY that will terminate not on us and our temporary pleasures but on HIM and his ETERNAL SUPREMACY!

The Apostle Paul got this when he said, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”  (Philippians 3:8)

How does Paul glorify God above all else?  By treasuring Christ above all else so that everything else in his life is as nothing by comparison. I count everything – money, as loss; food, as loss; beauty, as loss; friends, as loss; family, as loss; job and success, as loss; graduation, as loss in comparison with the treasure that Christ has become for me.

What does this practically look like in everyday life? 

• You steward the money entrusted to you in such a way that shows money is not your treasure, Christ is!
• You steward the food entrusted to you in such a way that it shows food is not your pleasure, Christ is!
• You steward the friends and family entrusted to you in such a way that it shows they are not your treasure, Christ is!
• You steward the computers, houses, motorcycles and patches entrusted to you in such a way that it shows these are not your treasure, Christ is!

The way we display the supreme worth of Jesus is by treasuring him above all things and then making choices which make the joy we have in his supreme worth clearly evident to the world around us.

I will conclude with this:  In the words of a great hymn, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face,

and the things of earth will grow strangely dim,  in the light of His glory and grace.”

By His grace and for His glory,

-Shepherd / Soldiers for Jesus MC / Bakersfield CA

Romans 11

The Remnant of Israel

11:1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,¹ a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,

  “God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes that would not see
    and ears that would not hear,
  down to this very day.”

9 And David says,

  “Let their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10   let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
    and bend their backs forever.”

Gentiles Grafted In

11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion² mean!

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root³ of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation

25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers:⁴ a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

  “The Deliverer will come from Zion,
    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27   “and this will be my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.”

28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now⁵ receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34   “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
    or who has been his counselor?”
35   “Or who has given a gift to him
    that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Footnotes

[1] 11:1 Or one of the offspring of Abraham

[2] 11:12 Greek their fullness

[3] 11:17 Greek root of richness; some manuscripts richness

[4] 11:25 Or brothers and sisters

[5] 11:31 Some manuscripts omit now

(ESV)

Romans 10

10:1 Brothers,¹ my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.²

The Message of Salvation to All

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?³ And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

  “Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
    and their words to the ends of the world.”

19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

  “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;
    with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

  “I have been found by those who did not seek me;
    I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

Footnotes

[1] 10:1 Or Brothers and sisters

[2] 10:4 Or end of the law, that everyone who believes may be justified

[3] 10:14 Or him whom they have never heard

(ESV)