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Romans Such Were the Depths of Our Sin
Week 32 Day 1
Reading: Romans 1:20-21; 3:9-12; 22-24; 14:23 "His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived in the things made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God" "For all are under sin, "None is righteous, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good" "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," "What does not proceed from faith is sin." ESV Thought: In order to understand the salvation we have received we must first perceive the depths to which our sin goes, for no man can receive salvation until he has been convicted of it, confessed it and repented of it. As soon as man is born he is born into a world of sin, into sin, for the first thoughts of any child are of himself making demands, "Feed me" "Change me" "Play with me", he does not give glory to God. No person is excusable in this regard for all have done it. In life all sin because they do not glorify God in the creation, for He can be clearly perceived in all of the creation, yet He is rejected. There is none therefore who are not under sin. And all who are under sin cannot do any righteousness because they are not with God (14:23), and they do not, will not, and cannot seek God, for their desire is only sin, there is "not even one" earthly man who does good. For all sin and will be judged. If you now say in your heart, "my sin is not so deep", you prove your sin to be such, since you do not glorify God but yourself by seeking to raise yourself up. Only God raises up. There is no lower position we could be found in, for our sin produces death and separation from God. If this were not so the animal sacrifices of old would be sufficient to save a person and so Christ would have no purpose. But our sin produced death in us such that our hearts, minds and souls were corrupted, causing us to become blind to God. Thus it was of utmost necessity that God made the first move and came down from heaven to reconcile us to Him by giving us a new heart, a new mind and a new soul that new life would be given to us. Thus a Way was made, a Truth was found, and a Life was given. I will speak more on this. Prayer: Lord, though our sin produced all kinds of death in us and we rejected You, You did not reject us. Fill us with revelation of this to Your glory.
Yet Still He Died For Us
Day 2
Reading: Romans 5:7-8; 10 "For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life." ESV Thought: Taking into account how we had corrupted ourselves by welcoming sin and death, through which we rejected God; why should we receive any form of mercy? The truth is we were not worthy, there is no reason why God should have, for we had completely rejected
Him and there was nothing good to be found in us at all, but all came to sin and all to death. Few would choose to die for a righteous person, some might for a "good" person, but nobody would decide to die for a sinner, especially one that had rejected them, an enemy. Yet still He died for us! He had no reason to, yet still He chose to show us grace, that we should reconciled to the Father, and receive the gift of faith which is given to His people. We therefore have this hope, that since He chose to die for us whilst we were enemies sinners beyond compare, there is nothing which we can do which can ever cause us to lose that salvation, for we have been sovereignly elected by Him to receive it. For it was the will of the Father that we should receive adoption and justification through His Son. Prayer: Lord, even though we chose to hide ourselves from You, to reject You, You still chose us, Your people to be reconciled to You by sending Your Son in the embodiment of Your grace. Give us confidence in this, that we can never fall from our salvation.
Though We Could Not Keep His Commands
Day 3
Reading: Romans 7:7-8; 13; 15-17 "Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, seizing opportunity through the commandment, produced in me covetousness." "It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure." "For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. It is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ESV Thought: The Law did not change the means by which a person was saved, that is through faith in God and the promises of the Messiah, but gave instruction as to what was righteous. Consider the requirements of the Law, for if a person has sinned even once, they have failed the Law and are unworthy of God because they live in sin. Consider the greatest of the commandments, "You shall love the LORD your God, with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind", it is impossible to keep this for even a single day. The very thinking you can keep it can cause you to fail, since seeking to keep it does not proceed from faith but making an idol of yourself. This is what Paul speaks, by knowing the conditions of the Law sin will cause you to break it through the very act of trying to keep it. For instance; when visiting a house you remind yourself not to covet what they have, yet as a result of that thought covetousness will be produced in you and you will not be able to prevent yourself inspecting their home. The Law then teaches us these three things: how sin occurs, we cannot keep the Law, we are unable to prevent ourselves from sinning. How wonderful then that God did not give us the Law saying, "you must keep this" but as revelation of ourselves and of the Messiah, the one who would fulfil the whole of the Law. Prayer: Lord, thank You for the gift of the Law, for it was Your righteous purpose to reveal to us the nature of sin and Your plan to conquer it in the fulfilment of Your words by the life of Your Son. Therefore Lord I pray, fulfil the Law in me, put sin away and reveal Your purposes.
He Did Not Condemn Us
Day 4
Reading: Romans 8:1; 3-4; 16-18 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin " "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." ESV
Thought: Even though we have no ability to keep the Law, and without regard for how we have broken it, God still chose us to receive Him. He did not condemn us, He did not judge us, but completed that which the Law could not do, condemning sin and death in us that it should be replaced with righteousness and life. So we’re "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand" (Eph2:10), that we should do the Law; that is the sharing of the Gospel in body and word, out of gratitude for the work He completed. For faith is not about what we can do, but what He has already done. Not only did it please Him to show mercy, but also to adopt us into becoming His children, heirs to the kingdom. But we should expect to suffer for the name of Christ, for we are heirs of a kingdom not of the world. Strive forth righteously to be rewarded as good stewards. Prayer: Lord, it pleased You to show us mercy, not condemning us though you had the right to. Continue to reveal Your purposes, showing mercy and grace to us in every situation.
But Called Us According to His Purpose
Day 5
Reading: Romans 8:28-30; 10:20 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask." ESV Thought: The accumulation of what is written previously finds its centre here, for we have been predestined since the foundation of the world to receive the salvation so freely given, having been known by Christ before and chosen, not by merit or distinction but by God who has mercy, to be set free from sin and receive the life of His Son. For our sin and rebellion was such that without the intervention of God before all else nobody could be saved. Consider the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ given to Saul on the road to Damascus: he hated Jesus and His followers, agreeing to the stoning of Stephen. When Jesus showed up Saul recognized what was occurring and was humbled, calling Jesus “Lord”. Saul before the revelation was as we were, consumed by our sin, rejecting Jesus; it was not Saul who sought out Jesus, but Jesus who sought out Saul. Before Jesus showed up did Saul want His grace? No. Did he after Jesus showed up? Yes. Thus the grace of Christ affected Saul, causing him to desire it, thus it is Effectually Irresistible Grace. For it becomes desirable to you. What then of those who do not receive Christ and Christ does not receive? I will speak more on this. I must stress to remember that we were "called according to His purpose" not our own, this means that God chooses specifically who He calls to faith, repentance and redemption, it is not based on a characteristic of man, "but on God, who has mercy," for this is the narrative of the Bible. Therefore evangelism is not an attempt to bring all to faith, but to find those God is calling to, and calling you to, for they will receive the Christ with joyous praise. Prayer: Lord, lead us to Your people as You led others to us, for in all Your ways You came to us first in accordance with Your plan for our salvation. Be glorified as we go.
To Receive Mercy Apart From the World
Day 6
Reading: Romans 9:15-23 "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. So then he has mercy on whom he wills, and he hardens whom he wills. You will say then, "Why does he find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, to answer back to
God? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory" ESV Thought: Not all can receive Christ for to some He is not given, for all receive grace by the hand of the Lord but not all do so with glad-tidings. Pharaoh was blessed by the grace of the Lord when the curses ceased, for if it had been the plan of God to inflict the curse even until the day he died there would be no fault with God. When Pharaoh received this grace, he did not accept it but rejected God; hardening his heart. Yet it was for the glory of God to display His power. Richard Dawkins was recorded in an interview saying that if stood before the throne of God on Judgement Day and given one last opportunity to repent, he would not. God knows if His grace will bring us joy or not and so His grace accordingly works this, for what can be said of those in heaven except that they will enjoy being there? So there are people created for honourable use; to be given saving grace, and dishonourable use; to receive grace through God's patience, that in each case the glory of the grace of God might be made known. Do not think to question God regarding His design, what is man to instruct God? Only realize God is glorified in His love and His justice, otherwise a part has no use. But be in consideration of this that by nothing that could be attributed to us, He chose us, and justified us, pouring out mercy and compassion, even against our rejection of Him, and through His previous workings; that is our creation, brought us into His house.. Prayer: Lord, reveal Your ways to us, increase in giving us understanding and obedience in Your word that we should know how great Your involvement with this world is. Thank You Lord, that though I was far from You; You brought me into Your embrace, therefore make Your presence known to me each day for the glory of Your name.
And So Establish Us In His House Forever
Day 7
Reading: Romans 8:31-39 "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No. I am sure that neither death nor life, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." ESV Thought: If you cannot believe what has been written then you have no assurance that your salvation is secure, for your salvation depends on the will of man and not that of God, on he who sins and not He who saves. Your salvation would be based on your fallen strength, your flesh; which has only led you into sin, and continues to persuade you to sinful practices. But if you believe in these things, then you believe that there is no barrier that God cannot conquer, no force strong enough to defeat Him, no distance too great He will not travel, but you believe that you belong to God and He will never abandon you. For He chose you to be His own even before your conception and therefore nothing can separate you from Him. Therefore be convinced that God chose you even before He created you, called you to adoption in Christ, and has justified you to become His ambassador to reach others He is likewise calling. Being called from before the foundation of the world take encouragement that nothing can cause you to lose that salvation that was given to you as a gift of God. Prayer: Lord, You called us to be Your own, and we know that nothing can separate us from You or Your love, having then this salvation so secure send us out as Your instrument to reach those You are calling to Yourself.