Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 29.
immersed in Romans.
A woman named Phoebe stood to address the gathering of Jesus
followers in the city of Rome.
She was a respected leader of the church in Cria, the Port city for Corinth,
where the Apostle Paul was collecting an offering for the poor in Jerusalem.
It's likely that Phoebe had been about to travel to Rome and Paul had chosen her to
carry a letter from him to the believers.
There.
Paul had worked long and hard to announce the good news about Jesus to
the eastern part of the Roman Empire.
But now in AD 56 though, Paul had not even visited the church in Rome,
he writes to the believers there.
I have finished my work in these regions.
After all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you.
I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome.
And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide
for my journey in anticipation of a visit to Rome on his way to Spain.
Paul writes the longest of his letters in this letter to the Roman
believers, he makes the case for the world transforming news about Jesus.
News that welcomes both Jews and Gentiles together into God's family.
This good news is the plan God reveals through the entire story
of the Bible to bring his blessing and salvation to all nations.
The Roman Church, a mixed congregation of Jews and Gentiles exists
as a result of this good news.
And as Paul's letter is read, Dee's believers are invited to support the
continued expansion of the good news.
Paul's message to the Romans follows the usual pattern of his letters, including
the opening and closing greetings.
He starts with a clear and strong statement expressing the heart of
the royal gospel about Jesus and of his own mission as an apostle.
Following this, Paul presents a substantial teaching section in the first
part of the main body of the letter.
This section is as long and complex as anything we find in his letters.
So it's worth saying a little more about how Paul structures
the flow of his thought here.
Paul regularly taught his churches comprised of both Jews
and Gentiles, the story of God's people in the First Testament.
In this section, he builds his presentation of the good news directly on
the sequence of ancient Israel's calling captivity rescue and promised inheritance.
Paul writes that God created all people to worship him and to
serve his purposes in the world.
But this human vocation was disrupted by the intrusion of sin and death.
Abraham's family was chosen as the means by which God would
reclaim his original purpose.
Through Abraham's descendants, God sent his son as Israel's Messiah to
rescue them and fulfill their mission.
In his death and resurrection, Jesus is shown to be the savior of
the whole world, bringing life and restoration to all peoples on earth.
God's people look forward to receiving their promised inheritance when they
are raised from the dead, and all of creation is set free from death and decay.
The second part of the main body of the letter than follows, detailing what new
life in Christ should look like within a believing community of Jews and Gentiles.
For example, Paul explains how they should accommodate Jews who wish to continue
observing their Jewish dietary regulations and festivals while not requiring Gentiles
to participate in these activities.
Between the two major sections of the main body, Paul inserts a short hymn of praise.
The scope of God's restorative work through Jesus is stunning,
and Paul shows us that the only fitting response is worship.
Oh, how great are God's riches and wisdom and knowledge while concluding his letter?
Paul asks the Roman Church for help so he can continue to share
the good news with all people.
He both opens and closes his letter with the hope that all Gentiles everywhere
will hear the good news about Jesus, so that they too might believe and obey him.
The letter to the Romans.
This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen
by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his good news.
God promised this good news long ago through his prophets
in the Holy Scriptures.
The good news is about his son in his earthly life, he was born
into King David's family line and he was shown to be the son of God
when he was raised from the dead.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, he is Jesus Christ, our Lord, through Christ.
God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles
everywhere what God has done for them.
So that they will believe and obey him bringing glory to his name, and you are
included among those gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.
I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are
called to be his own holy people.
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,
because your faith in Him is being talked about all over the world.
God knows how often I pray for you day and night.
I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by
spreading the good news about his son.
One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing to come
at last to see you for I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual
gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord when we get together.
I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.
I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to
visit you, but I was prevented until now.
I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen
among other gentiles for I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the
civilized world and the rest of the world to the educated and uneducated alike.
So I'm to come to you in Rome too, to preach the good news for I am not
ashamed of this good news about Christ.
It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes the
Jew first and also the Gentile.
This good news tells us how God makes us right in his sight.
This is accomplished from start to finish by faith, as the scriptures say.
It is through faith that a righteous person has life, but God shows
his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress
the truth by their wickedness.
They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them forever.
Since the world was created, people have seen the earth and
sky through everything God made.
They can clearly see his invisible qualities, his eternal power,
and divine nature, so they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God
or even give him thanks.
And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like.
As a result, their minds became dark and confused, claiming to be wise.
They instead became utter fools and instead of worshiping the glorious
ever living God, they worshiped idols, made to look like mere people
and birds and animals and reptiles.
So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.
As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies.
They traded the truth about God for a lie, so they worshiped and served the
things God created instead of the creator himself who is worthy of eternal praise.
Amen.
That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires.
Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead
indulged in sex with each other and the men, instead of having normal sexual
relations with women, burned with lust for each other, men did shameful
things with other men, and as a result of this sin they suffered within
themselves the penalty they deserved.
Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned
them to their foolish thinking.
And let them do things that should never be done.
Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate,
envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
They are back.
Stabbers, haters of God, insole, proud and boastful.
They invent new ways of sinning and they disobey their parents.
They refuse to understand, break their promises are heartless and have no mercy.
They know God's justice requires that those who do these things deserve
to die, yet they do them anyway.
Worse yet they encourage others to do them too.
You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just
as bad and you have no excuse.
When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself.
For you who judge.
Others do these very same things and we know that God in his justice will
punish anyone who does such things.
Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think
you can avoid God's judgment when you do the same things?
Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant and patient God is with you?
Does this mean nothing to you?
Can't you see that?
His kindness is intended to turn you from your sin, but because you are stubborn
and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for
yourself for a day of anger is coming.
When God's righteous judgment will be revealed, he will judge everyone
according to what they have done.
He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good,
seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.
But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves,
who refuse to obey the truth, and instead live lives of wickedness.
There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps
on doing what is evil for the Jew first, and also for the Gentile.
But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good for
the Jew first, and also for the Gentile.
For God does not show favoritism.
When the Gentile sin, they will be destroyed even though they
never had God's written law.
And the Jews who do have God's law will be judged by that
law when they fail to obey it.
For merely listening to the law doesn't make us right with God.
It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.
Even Gentiles who do not have God's written law show that they know His
law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.
They demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts for their own
conscience and thoughts Either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.
And this is the message I proclaim that the day is coming when God through Christ,
Jesus will judge everyone's secret life.
You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God's law and you boast about
your special relationship with him.
You know what he wants.
You know what is right.
Because you have been taught his law.
You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for
people who are lost in darkness.
You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God for
you are certain that God's law gives you complete knowledge and truth?
Well then if you teach others, why don't you teach yourself?
You tell others not to steal, but do you steal?
You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery?
You condemn idolatry, but do you use items stolen from pagan temples?
You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it.
No wonder the scriptures say the Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.
The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God's law.
But if you don't obey God's law, you are no better off
than an uncircumcised gentile.
And if the Gentiles obey God's law, Won't God declare them to be his own people?
In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God's law will condemn you.
Jews who are circumcised and possess God's law, but don't obey it for you are not
a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone
through the ceremony of circumcision.
No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God.
And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law.
Rather, it is a change of heart produced by the spirit and a
person with a changed heart, seeks praise from God, not from people.
Then what's the advantage of being a Jew?
Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision?
Yes, there are great benefits.
First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.
True.
Some of them were unfaithful, but just because they were unfaithful,
does that mean God will be unfaithful?
Of course, not.
Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true.
As the scriptures say about him, you will be proved right in what you say
and you will win your case in court.
But some might say our sinfulness serves a good purpose for, it helps
people see how righteous God is.
Isn't it unfair then for him to punish us?
This is merely a human point of view.
Of course not.
If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world?
But some might still argue, how can God condemn me as a sinner
if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?
And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, the
more we sin, the better it is.
Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.
Well then should we conclude that we Jews are better than others?
No.
Not at all.
For, we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or gentiles,
are under the power of sin.
As the scriptures say, no one is righteous.
Not even one.
No one is truly wise.
No one is seeking God.
All have turned away, all have become useless.
No one does good, not a single one.
Their talk is foul.
Like the stench from an open grave, their tongues are filled with lies.
Snake venom drips from their lips.
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
They rush to commit murder, destruction, and misery.
Always follow them.
They don't know where to find peace.
They have no fear of God at all.
The obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given for
its purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to show that the
entire world is guilty before God.
For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands.
The law simply shows us how sinful we are, but now God has shown us a way to be
made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law as was promised
in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago, we are made right with God
by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.
And this is true for everyone who believes.
No matter who we are, for everyone has sinned.
We all fall short of God's glorious standard.
Yet God in his grace freely makes us right in his sight.
He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.
People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed
his life shedding his blood.
This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish
those who sinned in times past for He was looking ahead and including them in
what he would do in this present time.
God did this to demonstrate his righteousness for he himself is fair
and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Can we boast then?
That we have done anything to be accepted by God?
No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law.
It is based on faith.
So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
After all, is God the God of the Jews only.
Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles?
Of course he is.
There is only one God.
And he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether
they are Jews or Gentiles.
Well then if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law?
Of course not.
In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
Abraham was humanly speaking the founder of our Jewish nation.
What did he discover about being made right with God?
If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would've had something
to boast about, but that was not God's way for the scriptures tell us.
Abraham believed God and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.
When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned,
but people are counted as righteous.
Not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.
David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared
righteous without working for it.
Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose
sins are put out of sight?
Yes.
What joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin, now
is this blessing only for the Jews?
Or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles?
Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous
by God because of his faith.
But how did this happen?
Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was
it before he was circumcised?
Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised.
Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith.
And that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous
even before he was circumcised.
So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith
but have not been circumcised.
They're counted as righteous because of their faith.
And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but
only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.
Clearly God's promise to give the whole Earth to Abraham and his descendants was
based not on his obedience to God's law, but on a right relationship with God.
That comes by faith.
If God's promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not
necessary and the promise is pointless.
For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it.
The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break.
So the promise is received by faith.
It is given as a free gift, and we are all certain to receive it, whether or
not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham's
for Abraham is the father of all who believe that is what the scriptures mean.
When God told him, I have made you the father of many nations.
This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life.
And who creates new things out of nothing.
Even when there was no reason for hope.
Abraham kept hoping, believing that he would become the father of many nations.
For God had said to him, that's how many descendants you will have.
And Abraham's faith did not weaken, even though at about 100 years of
age he figured his body was as good as dead and so was Sarah's womb.
Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise.
In fact, his faith grew stronger and in this he brought glory to God.
He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises,
and because of Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous.
And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn't just for Abraham's benefit,
it was recorded for our benefit too.
Assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him.
The one who raised Jesus, our Lord from the dead.
He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to
life to make us right with God.
Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we
have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of
undeserved privilege where we now stand and we confidently and joyfully
look forward to sharing God's glory.
We can rejoice too when we run into problems and try for, we know that
they help us develop Endurance and endurance develops strength of character.
And character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
And this hope will not lead to disappointment.
For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit
to fill our hearts with his love.
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right
time and died for us sinners.
Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though
someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for
us while we were still sinners.
And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will
certainly save us from God's condemnation.
For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his son while we
were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his son.
So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord
Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
This concludes today's Immer reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.