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Scripture

Epistle

Romans 14

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

14:1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master1 that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,


  “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall confess2 to God.”

12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.3 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.4

Footnotes

[1] 14:4 Or lord

[2] 14:11 Or shall give praise

[3] 14:21 Some manuscripts add or be hindered or be weakened

[4] 14:23 Some manuscripts insert here 16:25–27

(ESV)

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Scripture

Epistle

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. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 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, 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. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 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

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 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)

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Scripture

Epistle

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 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

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. For as in one body we have many members,5 and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 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

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)

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Scripture

Epistle

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. 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? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 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.”

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)

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Scripture

Going Deeper

Going Deeper

Romans 6-10 (3.17.18)

In chapters 1-5, we read Paul’s detailed description of our reality as spiritually dead and enslaved to sin. In chapter 6, Paul turns to our identity and reality when we have submitted our lives to Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Right out of the door, Paul is saying, “If you have received the forgiving, life-changing grace of God which frees you from the bondage and condemnation of sin, why would you still live in it?” This is like the butterfly who decides to wake up every day and, instead of flying, he crawls into his old, stinky cocoon and lives bound to the ground like he was in his old state.

God’s grace has set us free from the bondage of sin. While we are still at war with sin and temptation while still in this life, we are NOT bound by it anymore.

Paul goes on to stress who we are in Christ and what that means for us every day God gives us under the sun after our salvation.

Romans 6:3-4 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

The imagery of believers’ baptism is never clearer than right here. This is the ordained imagery God calls every believer to put on display by being baptized after conversion. When one goes under the water, it is symbolic of joining Christ, who went into the grave on our behalf. It is symbolic of the death of our old sinful self. As we are raised out of the water, it is like joining Jesus in His resurrection, by which He rose as the first born of many who would believe in and follow Him. It is raising to “walk in the newness of life” in Christ, and to no longer be bound by sin and condemned to death. In Christ, we are bound to Christ and blessed with new and eternal life with God.

How are you doing at waking up every day and putting on who you are IN CHRIST and not who you were in your old, sinful self?
It is critical that we live out who we are. If we don’t, we lie about the gospel and fail to enjoy the privileges of life in Christ.

Romans 6:5-11 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Paul makes it abundantly clear that in Christ, we are no longer condemned by our sin and no longer enslaved to sin. We have been set free from sin. We are, as he says, “dead to sin.” Do you know this? Do you live this?

I know many people over the years who have said they know this is true, but their lives do not live it out.

If this is you, then I would argue you do not really know it to be true. You say you understand, but that understanding is not taking root in your life. You are either set free and trust and obey Jesus or you are not.

If we are bought by His blood, then He owns our life. That means we walk and talk in a way that glorifies Jesus; we live lives that honor God and that don’t give into sin and our flesh. This is where Paul goes next:

Romans 6:12-14 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 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. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Paul gets very practical here in saying that Christians “do not present [their] members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness.”  Our instruments are our minds (thoughts), our eyes, our hands… essentially our lives. We do not engage or enjoy unrighteousness like we did when we were enslaved to sin in our former state. Now, we have been bought and redeemed and set free to honor God with our thoughts, our eyes, and our actions. We fight sin and turn away from temptation to satisfy the flesh. We make war every day and all throughout the day. This means we reform our lives in order to not feast on the world. This means redeeming the music we listen to, the shows/movies we watch, and all the practices of our former way of living.

Things that are good that we made idols of we begin to steward in a righteous way. One of the great ways to be encouraged and accountable is to invite in others who are mature in the Lord to help you evaluate your practices and daily diet of life, with the aim of not presenting our members to sinful or tempting things any longer.

Instead, Paul says we are to “present [ourselves] to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and [our] members to God as instruments for righteousness.”  As one who is blood-bought by God through the costly atonement of His Son, what are each of us doing with our new lives in Christ? What are we doing with our days? We have been given new life in Christ for a reason: to honor and glorify God and to put on display the gospel and the new life that Christ alone brings.

These are huge motivations and reasons for reformation and redemption in our daily practices and habits. How are you doing at reforming and redeeming these things? What a joyful privilege it is to belong to our good God. May we count it a great blessing to make war with the things of the flesh and to steward our lives in ways that honor God and point others to Christ.

May we repent of sin when we discover it and take up new practices or paths in light of the gospel.

May we head Paul’s wise clarity and instruction here and be who we are:

dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

By His grace and for His glory,

-Shepherd

Soldiers for Jesus MC