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Welcome!! This podcast is about "dividing the word one episode at a time" A real, relatable, and refreshing space for young and older adults seeking to grow in everyday life with Christ. Each episode dives into honest biblical teaching and conversations with life experiences that connect generations and deepen our walk with Christ. Whether you’re navigating adulthood or seasoned in your faith journey, there’s something here for you, thanks for being here!!
Christ & Me Podcast (00:12)
Welcome everyone to the Christ in Me podcast. I'm your host, Jamir, where we rightly divide the word one episode at a time. It's been a while. I know, I know. Today we're going to be starting the Roaming Through Rome series. We are in January, so happy new year I just pray that God will bless and guide your year for spiritual growth, for just allowing you to fall more in love with Him this year. May God be with you in that regard.
Before I really jump into the roaming through Rome series, I wanna take a time to repent.
I am trying my best to be extremely proactive in my social media or at least in the podcasts social media, how we go about podcasting, how we go about like trying to get clips and stuff to be on the Instagram and like other stuff like that. But I had told y'all that I was going to start this series December 5th. It is now January 17th that I am recording.
That is not good. The reality is I struggle with lust and then of course with the struggle of lust. I had also faced struggles like guilt and shame. And then on other things as well, school and other personal stuff had overtaken my life. And...
It was somewhat like a snowball effect. And in the honesty, I still take fault for the hand that I've had, but I pray for forgiveness as I'm coming to y'all with honesty because I pour into every single person who listens, regardless of gender, regardless of how equal we are, it doesn't matter. I'm still a person that teaches on this podcast and it is important that I am transparent.
about my struggles as a person who teaches. So I really want to just briefly talk about that and let's just try to get into the word. second Timothy chapter three, verse 16, it says all scriptures, God breath, and is useful for teaching.
rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. The letter of Rome is written by apostle Paul in 57 AD, about 57 years after the death and of course resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul's letter is an introduction to a Roman church that was a mixture of Roman and Jewish followers of Jesus.
Paul wrote this letter while he was in Corinth. I just want to give a little clarity of that. he was on his like third missionary journey as he is writing this letter. The church had begun with Jews and Gentiles. So then it's going to be facing a lot of Jew and Gentile problems. Like of course, how do we mix the law with the gospel? And if that's okay. And Paul really talks about it. But I want to just give clarity.
In this Roaming Through Rome series, I'm already seeing that the Lord wants me to take pauses to talk about things like holiness, talk about things like, Nourishing Devotion is totally gonna be the episode that comes after this one.
I at first really desired to do chapter by chapter, but God is wanting us to move verse by verse. Maybe there are times where the Lord wants us to move verse by verse in different chapters. So I don't have to constantly stay in one chapter, but God moves in the way he moves in. We bend to his will. We don't bend to our own. So we're to be looking at Romans one verse one to seven. I'm going to try to be brief, try to keep this episode at least 30 minutes max.
I'm still learning on what it means to teach and be mindful of other people's attention spans. So bear with me. So we're going to be looking at Romans 1 verse 1 to 7. I'm going to read it. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures regarding his son, who as his earthly life was descendant of David,
and who through the spirit of holiness was appointed the son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus Christ our Lord, through him we received grace and apostleship to call the Gentiles to the obedience that came from faith for his name sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called
to belong, to Jesus Christ, to all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people, grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. So of course, like I said, we wanna go verse by verse, line to line. I'm gonna be very brief about the points now because of course I'm trying to be mindful of time, but I also don't wanna rush because I want to give understanding. So if there are times where there...
are just cut within it, that's okay, that's alright, life is good, regardless, God will still be good. Yeah, so let's get into it. So Romans 1 verse 1 starts off, a Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel of God. So I really want to magnify Paul, a servant of Christ, Christ Jesus called to be an apostle. Firstly, who is Paul? Paul is an apostle of Christ who was stopped
in Damascus, he was a Pharisee who would persecute the church in Acts 8 and then in Acts 9 he would end up having a supernatural encounter with Christ that would change his life, blinding him and having him healed of his blindness so that he would declare Christ as God and the Lord of his life. But here I want us to look at how
Paul introduces himself. He was once known as Saul, but now he is known as Paul. The Lord changes us and makes us new. So I want us to highlight that within Paul's acknowledgement of the fact that he is writing this letter, he starts off showing humility. He is a servant of the Lord, but then he, he clarifies who he is in his assignment. He's living in his assignment and he's holy for the work of Christ. So he is a servant
of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, called, so he's talking about the assignment, and then of course set apart for the gospel of God. So I want us to be mindful of that.
Paul was a name used to gain familiarity among the Gentiles and symbolizing newness in Christ being divinely called to not self-appointed. So I want us to kind of get an understanding of that. Paul was a name that was given or that he would use to familiarize himself with Gentiles because he himself was a Roman citizen. He would conform to being viewed like a Gentile.
Highlighting the fact though that he is not someone who's self-appointed, but he's divinely appointed by God to be an apostle for the sake of the gospel. From Acts 1 to 9, we get to see the story of how Saul has his life completely turned around. And I would suggest and encourage you to read it. As I said, I am a little like skimped on time, so I want to be mindful of the amount of scripture I'm reading on top of the fact that I already explain a lot.
I'm really big on like making sure understanding is there. So we pray for understanding for you. Acts 9 verse 1 to 19, not 1 to 9, 1 to 19. So please excuse me for that. Romans 1 verse 2, the next line of it says, gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets and in the holy scriptures. So the two points that I want to kind of get us to get us off here is,
The gospel was designed from the beginning through the Old Testament prophets and the Holy Scriptures like Genesis 1 verse 1, which when you do a very deep dive in it, you'll see the beauty of that, of those scriptures and how like God kind of moves there. But I want y'all to understand that it is, it has always been since the time or since the fall of man, that the Lord was willing to die and that he would come to die for our sake.
Then it would be testified later down the line where like David who is under the Holy Spirit as he's crying out to the Lord for his own circumstances. He's crying out to the Lord though but under the Holy Spirit he writes a psalm. Psalm 22 which specifically highlights the feeling, the emotion and the circumstances that Jesus Christ goes through while he is on the cross.
Something I want to kind of magnify to you guys before I move on to the next verses is I want everyone to kind of get this in their head. The reality is, think about it like this. In the Jewish faith or people who were Jews or were brought up during this time would have to memorize the entire Torah, the Psalms, and of course the Proverbs. These and then basically,
The Holy Scriptures was everything they memorized. They memorized the prophets, they memorized the Psalms, they memorized the Proverbs, they memorized Genesis all the way to Deuteronomy, and Leviticus as well. They memorized a lot of these things because they were called to memorize this stuff. So oftentimes when someone is reciting something, it comes to mind. So I wanna kind of just pull up Psalm 22 for you guys so that we can kind of get that connection.
Psalm 22 starts off like what? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me? So far from my cries of anguish. My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One. You are the one Israel praises.
And I wanna move to verse six for a quick minute that says, but I am a worm and not a man scorned by everyone despised by the people. This is verse seven. All who see me mock me. They hurl insults, shaking their heads. He trusts in the Lord. Let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him since he delights in him. So here in this moment, David is actually in his own anguish.
but through the power of the Holy Spirit, he does not understand. See, this is why it's important for us to understand the beauty of why the Bible says that all scripture is God-breath, which means all scripture is influenced by the Holy Spirit. The Lord makes sure that we understand as followers of Christ that
even the things that Jesus faced would be testified about even in books that would not seem like they're prophetic.
I'm sorry guys, I'm mentally just trying to catch myself. Because it's like there's a beauty in understanding that Psalm 22 really talks about Christ. And when you read a little bit more of it, there's a saying that I want everybody to remember whether it's new or whether it's old to you. The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed and the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed.
I always suggest that new Christians, new Christians in general should always read the New Testament first. Why? Because we learn about the gospel of God, because of the fact, the gospels, we learn about how we conduct ourselves as Christians, we get to understand how the church moved in Acts, we get to understand what is to come in the future in Revelation.
There are numerous letters that teach us how to act, how we should view church, how we should go about dealing with church, how we should go about dealing with conflict. The gospels also speak about that as well through Jesus' teachings. When we go back to see some of the things that the gospels say about Jesus and what the letters say about Jesus, when we read them in the Old Testament,
and start to realize that Jesus is just the physical incarnation of God always throughout the scriptures. For example, like for example, I'm reading through the book of Exodus now because I'm doing the Bible in the year plan, which is awesome guys. The Bible in the year plan, quick side tangent, the Bible in the year plan that I'm doing right now is where you read four chapters of all the Old Testament, then you read the Psalms twice. So you read the Old Testament once, the Psalms twice, and then the New Testament twice.
I would totally suggest it to you guys, it's awesome. I think it's important that we just allow ourselves to run through the scriptures, but you do not have to do that. It's important that you take your time, but I really just want to complete the Bible. I have never read the Bible fully yet. I'm well versed in a lot of different aspects of scripture and of the Bible, whether in Old and in New Testament, but it's important that I know the entire scope because we want to know about the complete
story of Jesus and how he comes to create, how he comes to live, and then how he comes to die and then be resurrected for our sake. So let's move on to verse three to four. The good news, I'm now reading the verses, 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. I love that. When you read Matthew 1 verse 16 to 17,
It talks about Joseph being part of the family line who is under, David's like lineage. Basically he's under David's lineage and within him being under David's lineage, every man who is the head of his family is basically the lineage for the entire family. So even though Joseph was never the actual father,
of Jesus because of the fact that he is in the lineage and he submits to the man who is in that lineage and he is led by that family, by the man of that family, he is part of the lineage of David. So that's why it doesn't, oftentimes people would say stuff like that contradicts, but it doesn't contradict because it actually highlights the fact that God makes sure that those lines are different and clarified.
God the Father confirms his intimate relationship with Jesus as being the Son. So in Matthew chapter three, verse 16 to 17, something cool that you would notice is Jesus is being baptized by John the Baptist and after Jesus is baptized, the heavens open and the heavens speak. It's God the Father speaking saying, this is my Son of whom I am well pleased.
And this is God the Father testifying about who his son is. So it's highlighting the fact what Jesus came to do. I'm just drawing that back towards the son of God part so that we understand certain things. The next point I just want to highlight is that Jesus prophesied his resurrection and it came to pass and it shifted the authority and dominion that
Satan had over to Jesus. In Matthew 28 verse 18, he says, all authority has been given to me both on heaven and on earth. And then he says, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Right.
and of course for Philippians 2 verse 5 to 11 testify of Jesus being Lord the fact that he died and it just says that That every knee shall bow every tongue will confess that Christ Jesus is Lord
Romans one verse five to six and we're going to look it up because I accidentally do not have the verse here and you're going to give me grace because you love me. You're going to give me grace because you love me and if you don't don't worry you will.
Through him, we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith in his name's sake, and also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. Now, it's important that we understand what's being said here. Through him, through who? Jesus. Through him,
We receive grace and apostleship. This is saying those who have been called to Christ, who have been called to apostle, who have been called to lead churches, build churches, plant churches, have been called by God, who is Jesus Christ, to connect to the Gentiles, to all the Gentiles, which means it's saying the gospel is for everyone. This is important.
to the obedience that comes from faith for his namesake. So it's then saying, not only is this gospel for the Gentiles, but is also testifying that you should now live in obedience because this gospel is not only for Jews, but it is also for you. It is also for me.
a Something that it's important is Acts 10, when we kind of get an understanding of that. Peter is given a vision where the Lord puts out this cloth and he puts out all these different animals.
Peter's told by God, eat these animals, kill and eat. And Peter's like, yo, like Lord, you told us that we're not allowed to eat these animals. Like what's going on? And he goes, do not call unclean what I have called clean. But what we don't understand is not only does that testify of the freedom that we have in the foods that we can eat as Christians.
but it's actually testifying primarily about the fact that Gentiles have been called clean because of the blood that was spilled by Jesus Christ.
So it is important that we understand that we as Gentiles, we as those who are not part of the Jewish lineage, Jesus died on the cross for you. Jesus died on the cross for me. So this is testifying the message of Jesus. So Peter then has to go to a man called Cornelius who is a respected official. He is a respected official in a government.
and he goes to his house and he speaks the message of Christ to a man who was open to the gospel, to a man who was living for the Lord prior to when he met Peter. then him and his entire family and his friends are now taught the gospel and they receive the Holy Spirit.
In that moment, the Lord was trying to show Peter, have died for those who are clean and unclean
The importance that God was also trying to get between Peter's head is behavior, religious actions, and mentalities do not bring us closer to him.
Something I'm learning in my walk and something I really want everybody to understand is performance does not mean authenticity. Performance will never mean authenticity.
Jesus has broken you free of the shackles that you put on yourself to be perfect. Whether you're a drug addict, whether you're a person who struggles with lust, whether you're a person that struggles with pride, whatever it is, no matter how far or how close you are to God, He has washed you by His blood and all you gotta do is say, be my Lord, be my Savior. And live out.
the identity he has already given you. don't have to fit into it. Just live it out.
live it out. So then that moves me into my final verse for the episode and I'm only on 24 minutes right now let's go. Romans 1 verse 7 says I am writing to you to all of you we are we're wrapping it up because we want to understand the unity of all these verses. I am writing to you all 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. Pause. So I wanna just do this breakdown real quick. am so loved by God, God the Father,
So I want you guys to get an understanding of this. you are loved by God who are called to be his people, his own holy people, may God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. So two things, you are loved by God the father because there is one God, three persons, you are loved by God the father.
you are called by His Holy Spirit. Because the Bible says in John 16, where Jesus is speaking to His disciples, and He says, I will send an advocate who will convict the world of sin. So I want everyone to understand that the Holy Spirit's job isn't just to influence scripture. It is to convict you of sin. It is to push you to evangelize. It is to push you to understand who Christ is. Guys.
I am breaking down these verses to you because I want everyone to understand the beauty and the importance of why even in the dissecting of scripture, we can see Christ move and still share the gospel in our lives.
John 16 verse 8 says, when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin and of God's righteousness and of the coming judgment. Ladies and gentlemen, judgment is coming. And judgment doesn't really stem from all these things he can do. It's just the wrath of who he is. His holiness. And I want to say this with such a truth in my heart.
His holiness is that wrath.
His presence is that rap. There have been people who have seen his presence and died because they did not meet the standard physically to be in his presence.
1 Peter chapter 1 verse 13 to 16 says this it says therefore with minds that are alert and fully sober set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming as Obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance but you but just
As he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written, be holy because I am holy.
So everyone, here's my closing remarks. First of all, I'm gonna challenge all of you to read the first chapter of Romans 1. I've read it and I'm gonna continue reading it as I am teaching you all. But...
There's a lot of cross-referencing, rough, high, my goodness. There is a lot of cross-referencing in scripture and there's a lot of connections that scripture builds within itself. It is important for us as disciples to understand the scriptures and to be able to dissect the word of God and be able to see how Jesus has constantly spoken. Something that's beautiful is the scriptures also remind us that the word is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. So,
There's sometimes things that you, you may read the Bible 10 times and there are things that just may shock you because of those little connections that we may not have seen. So I challenge you all once again to read Romans 1 and allow the Holy Spirit to hold a mirror to you and reveal the big and little things to you that Jesus would love to share. So let me pray for you guys. Father God in the name of Jesus.
You alone have blessed us with scripture and you alone has kept this Bible on top of all bookshelves for the thousands of years that you've blessed us to have it. Father God, we thank you that you made your word accessible in this country for us to read and dissect your scriptures. We pray for those who do not have it, that those who do not have it may gain the beauty of your majesty and hold your scriptures in their
Bless every listener who has listened and draw people who have not listened to listen to the scripture.
May you continue to touch the hearts of those who do and do not believe. And may this podcast be a touch to their heart in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. All right, everyone. Thank you so much for listening to the Christ in Me podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I hope it blessed you. Once again, I'm your host, Jamir Hope to see you again at another episode when we divide that word one episode at a time. Be blessed.