Day 24: New Testament Commands

Today's Reading: Romans 12:9-21

What might make you uncomfortable:

The idea that there are standards in God's kingdom can be uncomfortable to those that misunderstand grace.

Today's Devotional:

There are those that read the Bible erroneously and claim that the New Testament never tells believers to "do" anything. These false teachers claim that because of grace that Christians are free from any commands and may simply do what they want and enjoy the benefits of salvation.

Of course, this is a partial truth. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Not only that...God really loves us AND He likes us! He is totally pleased with us despite our performance. We are totally accepted by the love of God.

God's family is a place of total acceptance. But have you ever seen a family without rules? Some parents, in the name of "love," let their children do whatever they want. Things rarely turn out well for children left to their own devices without proper God-ordained boundaries and leadership.

In the same way, God set up His family with some simple rules of how to act. Most simply, it is the law of love - we are to love our neighbor as ourselves because we are totally loved by God. When we fail, there is grace for the journey... but God's grace does not change God's standard.

Grace, then, does not simply mean God accepts us... but it also means God empowers us to obey His will, not by OUR works but HIS.

What are some of the standards in God's family? We see them in Romans 12:

• Love must be sincere
• Hate evil
• Hold fast to what is good
• Honor others
• Never be lacking in zeal
• Be joyful
• Be patient
• Pray
• Share with the needy
• Be hospitable
• Love your enemies
• Rejoice and mourn with others
• Live in harmony
• Be humble
• Don't take revenge
• Overcome evil with good

This is the law of love. This is what grace empowers us to do.

Application

Which of these areas of obedience is a growth area for you currently? Ask the Holy Spirit how you can obey today.

Day 23: Relentless Mind Renewal

Today's Reading: Romans 12:1-8

What might make you uncomfortable:

It can be uncomfortable to discover we have believed a lie.

Today's Devotional:

Earlier in the book of Romans we discussed sanctification. Sanctification is the process through which the Holy Spirit works out salvation in believers, making them holy like Jesus.

As we discovered in Romans 8, "the mind set on the spirit is life and peace." The main battle for sanctification occurs in the mind of the believer. The Bible describes satan as the "father of lies" (John 8:11). When satan causes a Christian to believe a lie, he has effectively stolen the power of the gospel in that Christian's daily life. Although we are saved by grace, many of us are still living under the power of darkness because we believe satan's lies.

Romans 12 says this:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

As followers of Jesus, we must commit to relentless mind renewal. Many of us need to break off the old patterns of our former lives - old ways of thinking, behaving, believing, and acting - and embrace the new life we have as new creations in Christ!

Romans 12 gives us a great template for mind renewal:

• Do not conform to the patterns of the world - We must actively choose to resist worldliness in our lives. 1 John 1 says that we are tempted by the lust of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life. The draw we have to lust, sinful desires, and pride must be fought by living differently than the way our culture presents.
• Be transformed by the renewing of your mind - The way to renew your mind is to begin thinking like God. I've got good news for you... God wrote a book! If you read it with faith, it will transform your mind to think like His. All Scripture is God-Breathed and profitable for all things (2 Tim 3:16). The Bible is our tool for mind renewal.
• Live in God's will - We are to test our lives to insure that we are in God's will. We are also to display God's will to the world. Our exploits of preaching and healing, the transformation we bring society, the joy and health of our families - these things prove and display God's will to the culture around us.

Application

There are many Bible resources that have been helpful to believers in the past desiring to renew their minds. One powerful tool, the "Who I Am in Christ" sheet has helpful thousands combat lies and discover God's truth about themselves.

Download the sheet here and declare it aloud in a time of prayer.

Day 22: Oh, the Depths!

Today's Reading: Romans 11:1-32

What might make you uncomfortable:

In the midst of understanding theological tension, we are called to pause, worship, and reflect upon the goodness of God.

Today's Devotional:

Romans is a pretty heavy doctrinal text. Paul lays out explanations for salvation by grace, the role of Israel, the nature of judgment, etc...

In the midst of discovering new insights about God it is important that we also take time to nurture our simple relationship with God through prayer.

Today, Paul writes:

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!

“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”

“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?”

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

Paul, in writing about God, was so overcome with God's goodness that he had to speak TO God. Today, too, we want to develop our personal relationship with God, rather than simply learning His principles.

Today's devotional is about application. Read below.

Application

Read today's passage, out-loud, three times. Do it in a private place, where you can pray and reflect on God's nature. After reading the passage, begin to pray and start to share your own heart with God.

Just as Paul paused to pray, this morning we pause as well.

Oh, the depths!

Day 21: Irrevocable Blessing

Today's Reading: Romans 11:1-32

What might make you uncomfortable:

The mystery of God's call upon Israel is a challenge to Bible students across the generations.

Today's Devotional:

The key passage of today's reading is found in Romans 11:29. God's gifts and callings are "irrevocable." When God gives us good things, He entrusts these things to us to manage. We see this reality in how God gave Adam the earth to manage and take dominion over.

God gave Israel a special blessing and trusted them to manage it. Paul reiterates in today's reading the special blessing on the Hebrew people.

Here are some of the amazing statements Paul makes regarding Israel in today's reading:

• God "foreknew" them (11:2). Before the foundation of the world He knew everything that would happen with Israel and He chose them anyway.
• A "remnant" remains (11:5). Even at the present time a small number of the Hebrew people are saved by Grace and entrusted with the message of the Gospel.
• God allowed Israel to be in a "stupor" and "darkened" their spiritual understanding because of their unbelief (11:8-10).
• Because of Israel's sin, salvation came to the Gentiles (11:11).
• God's grace amongst the Gentiles should make the Hebrew people envious.
• All the nations of the Gentiles must be reached before God will deal with Israel (11:25).

Isn't it amazing how the gifts and calls are God are irrevocable? God trusts us with amazing blessing. Our goal is the manage and steward what God gives us.

Because God is good, He will accomplish the promises He gave Israel, but because of Israel's unbelief, discipline came upon their nation. This Bible mystery can be hard to grasp but one thing is sure: He gives us gifts and callings freely, through grace.

Because our gifts and callings are given through grace we cannot lose them through performance. Love never fails. God never gives up. There are always second chances.

Application

Is there a blessing or calling in your life that you believe you have "lost?" How could you live differently today in light of today's passage?

Day 20: Go and Tell

Today's Reading: Romans 10:14-21</h1>

What Might Make You Uncomfortable

The responsibility we have as Christians to tell people about the love of Jesus is rarely comfortable or convenient.

Today's Devotional

Christians today have a plethora of resources available to them to grow in their understanding of God: podcasts, videos, websites, books, E-books, etc. inform us of current applications of Biblical teaching and encourage them to live out God's Word.

It can be tempting, in the midsts of all of this helpful information, to confuse our mission as Christians. Sometimes we confuse "Come and Learn" with "Go and Tell."

Consider some of Jesus' last words on the earth, recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke:

GO and make the disciples (Matthew 28:19)

PREACH the Gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15)

you will be my WITNESSES in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ENDS OF THE EARTH (Acts 1:8)

As the Father has sent me, I am sending you (John 20:21)

Jesus gave us the command to GO and TELL.

Paul, after exploring the simple Gospel message in Romans 10:1-13, now pivots to explain to the Roman church their role in bringing this message to the nations.

It's interesting that Paul follows up his previous passage in Romans 9 about God's sovereign choice and ability to distribute justice and mercy according to His own will with this passage regarding the personal responsibility of Christians to preach the Gospel.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (10:14-15)

True, God is sovereign and yet He has mysteriously chosen to entrust His message of mercy to us, the church. How will the world know this simple yet miraculous message unless we will them?

The message of the Gospel can create so many questions. What about people who die without hearing the message? What about those who don't respond? What is our role in the process? Paul speaks to us today saying, "how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" We must go and tell.

We have a responsibility to preach the good news. It's good to come and learn - but our goal must be to go and tell.

Application

The value of telling people about Jesus and His message starts in prayer. Today, adopt an individual in your life to pray for who does not know Christ.

Day 19: Keep it Simple, Saint

Today's Reading: Romans 10:1-13

What might make you uncomfortable:

The message of Jesus is simple and powerful. Sometimes we have a tendency to make it complicated. Have you?

Today's Devotional:

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” - da Vinci

Have you ever noticed that people have a tendency to well...complicate things? Life just gets more complex over time. More experiences and disappointments create more questions. Sometimes we can suffer from "analysis paralysis." Our desire to understand something from every angle can keep us from enjoying its simple and powerful truth.

Oftentimes we do this with the message of the Bible.

Our desire to understand Greek and Hebrew, coupled with the complexities of modern life, can sometimes cause us to read things into the text that aren't there. At times we have been guilty of editing God's message so it is more convenient for us and more advantageous to growing our churches and stroking our egos.

In the midst of complexity, Romans 10 stands as a powerful example of the simplicity of God's word. Romans 10 simplifies the message of the Gospel for us and reminds us of the basic truths of Christ's simple message.

In today's reading, Paul takes complex theological issues and simplifies them so we can all understand. Consider the following:

The Fate of Israel:
Many Bible students have asked questions about Israel. Because the Hebrews were God's chosen people, how do they stand in relationship with God today? Paul's answer is simple: He is praying that they would be saved, like the rest of us (10:1).

The State of the Law:
Do New Testament believers need to keep the laws and ordinances of the Old Testament? How are we to grapple with the special laws that God gave Israel?

Again, Paul's answer is simple: No. Christ is the end of the law (10:4).

The Requirements for Salvation:
Much of Romans describes the process of being saved through faith by grace. But how does someone actually receive grace? Must they join the church? Do they need to be baptized? Do they need to read a book or attend a special class?

Salvation is actually very simple. Paul tells us to 1) Believe with our hearts and 2) Confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead.

Those simple instructions have eternal consequences!

Sometimes in our desire for theological sophistication, we forget the simplicity of God's message. Don't forget to Keep it Simple, Saint!

Application

Is there a way you have put a barrier between yourself and God by making your relationship with Him complicated? Remember, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Day 18: Uncomfortable Tension

Today's Reading: Romans 9:5-33

What might make you uncomfortable:

Knowing God intimately means grappling with truths that stand in tension due to our limited human understanding. How we embrace God in this mystery can be a test or indicator of our Christian maturity.

Today's Devotional:

Two powerful truth's about God's nature are explored in today's reading in Romans: the mercy of God and the judgment of God.

Both of these attributes teach us something powerful about the God we serve. At the same time, at times these truths stand in tension before us. Sometimes our circumstances or personalities cause us to identify with the mercy of God. Other times we are drawn towards God's judgment. Occasionally, life events cause us to be offended with God's sovereign mercy or justice. In some ways, our spiritual maturity is tested as we learn to live in this tension.

Uncomfortable Mercy

The Epistle to the Romans stands as one of the most through and powerful theological explanations of the grace of God, but it's not until here in Romans 9 that Paul explores the mercy of God.

Grace is the "the free and unmerited favor of God...as manifested in the bestowal of blessings" (New Oxford American Dictionary). Essentially, when we experience grace, we receive something good when we don't deserve it.

Mercy is the "compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm" (New Oxford American Dictionary). We receive mercy when we deserve punishment but are forgiven without merit.

Grace is blessing without merit. Mercy is forgiveness without merit. Mercy is a powerful attribute of God's character. Moses himself heard God said "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy" (Exodus 33:19).

As Romans 9 explains, God in His sovereignty chose to show mercy to Israel. Israel was adopted by God, given the glory and covenants of God, chosen to establish temple worship, led by patriarchs, and entrusted with the ancestry of Christ (9:4-5). What did Israel do to earn this awesome responsibility? Nothing.

This is exactly Paul's point. God shows us mercy apart from our works. Paul goes forward to demonstrate how the patriarchs of the Hebrews, Abraham (9:8), Isaac, (9:9), and Jacob (9:13) were all unequally deserving of mercy but received it anyway.

It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy (9:16)

Mercy is given by God according to His choice, not ours.

Uncomfortable Judgment

God distributes mercy according to His will and His sovereign grace. In the same way, God delivers judgment according to His will. Justice is not given according to human logic or reason but according to the will of God.

As Paul appealed to the Hebrew patriarchs in regards to mercy, he also explains the concept of God's judgment through the example of Pharaoh, another important historical person to the Hebrew People.

We know from Exodus that God gave Pharaoh many chances to repent and release Israel from slavery. Two times Moses pleads with Pharaoh. Scripture says that in response to Moses, Pharaoh "hardened his heart" (Exodus 8:15, 8:31).

Pharaoh hardened his heart and chose not to respond to God. In response, God exercised His right to judge Pharaoh. As a result, God Himself hardens Pharaoh's heart. The hardening of Pharaoh's heart is attributed to God in Exodus 9:12; 10:20,27; 11:10; and 14:8.

Just like described in our devotional on Romans 1, there are times when God exercises judgment by leaving us to our own devices. He allows people to be turned over to the lust of the flesh and removes His leadership from their lives. He opposes them as a result of their pride, leaving them in a state of spiritual darkness.

Addressing Objections

Paul often wrote in a style known as "diatribe." Imagine if Paul were reading this letter aloud and being interrupted by a heckler. Paul anticipates the voice of this heckler and uses rhetorical questions to address arguments against God's word.

Two objections addressed by Paul in Romans 9:

1. The Objection to Mercy:God is not just. Paul uses the diatribe style to state this objection in 9:15. "Is God unjust?," Paul asks.
   
   
2. The Objection to Judgment:God is not fair. "Why does God blame us?," Paul demands.
   

In the style of the Book of Job, rather that specifically addressing the question, Paul attacks the pride behind the question itself. Paul reminds readers that...

• God has a sovereign choice to distribute mercy and wrath as He wishes (9:18).
• We are not in a position to question God's choice (9:21).
• Without wrath, Israel would not have been rescued from Egypt.
• God used wrath against Israel's enemies to prepare the nations to receive mercy (9:22-24).
• Without mercy, Israel would not know God (9:25-26).

Truly, we do not want God to be just. It was not perfectly just to Jesus to take on our punishment. But because God suspended justice, we now have mercy.

Furthermore, we do not want God to be fair. God chooses to not treat everyone equally not out of favoritism, but out of love. He custom crafts a plan for each of us to know Him better. He is intentional with each one of us. In God's Kingdom, we all get special treatment like Jacob.

Living in Tension

For some, God's sovereign choice can be a "stumbling block" (9:32). We can feel angry and afraid of God for being a judge, but also confused regarding mercy. Paul closes today's reading with this:

What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.”

Without the mercy of God we are all subject to God's judgment. We cannot work out way out of wrath nor can we earn our way into blessing. We are totally dependent on God for righteousness and live by faith.

Don't let God's sovereign wrath and mercy be a stumbling stone. Instead, chose to celebrate in His grace. The tension is simply beyond our comprehension.

A God we can't question simply isn't comfortable. What if He does something we don't understand..or worse...what if He does something we disagree with?

A God like that certainly isn't like us. But who wants a God like that?

Application

What is harder for your to grapple with emotionally, the mercy or the wrath of God? Explore the reason for that emotion in prayer.

Finally, relinquish your right to understand God's ways. It is often in our admission of powerlessness that God supplies the most revelation.

Day 17: Uncomfortable Compassion

Romans 9:1-8

What might make you uncomfortable:

Paul wishes himself cursed so that others could be blessed. His compassion for the people of Israel should strike our hearts with conviction for our own peoples and nations.

Today's Devotional:

Romans 9-11 begins another section of the book of Romans pertaining to Israel and God's plans for the Hebrew people. Paul grapples with some very uncomfortable theological questions about "election" (choices God makes) and justice (God's privilege to make the choice He wants). Readers won't find many easy answers in Romans 9-11. This challenging section of Romans confronts us with our pride and puts us face to face with God's sovereignty.

Paul begins this section in Romans with an interesting statement. Read it below:

I speak the truth in Christ–I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit– I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises..."

Did you catch that? Paul wishes himself CURSED so that His own people could be blessed. He even goes so far as to say that he wishes himself "cut off from Christ" for the sake of his brothers in Israel.

We end Romans 8 with joy and thanksgiving as Paul writes that "nothing can separate" him from the love of God. What a stark contrast Romans 9:1-4 presents us.

Our enjoyment of the benefits of salvation can never overshadow our compassion for those that do not know Jesus. Instead, followers of Jesus are called to live in the tension of rejoicing with those who rejoice and mourning with those who mourn (Romans 12:15). Sometimes our compassion for others will even cause us demonstrate a lifestyle of sacrifice before others as a mean of proving God's love for them (Colossians 1:24).

What we see in Paul's life is that as he dives into tough questions about God's justice and fairness, he frames these questions with compassion. His heart is broken for a dying world. Is yours?

Application

Is there a way you have been avoiding suffering your life? Could God be calling you to suffer so that others could live and meet Jesus? Ask yourself this uncomfortable question today throughout your day.

Day 16: The World's Greatest Prayer Meeting

Romans 8

What might make you uncomfortable:

Have you ever discovered that something incredible was going on right before your eyes, yet you were completely unaware? Although it's uncomfortable to think about the spiritual realm, it's also comforting to know God is working on our behalf.

Today's Devotional:

Perhaps you are reading this devotional in the morning.

You've woken up, grabbed some coffee or tea, and are now sitting in front of your computer or phone to begin a time of study and prayer.

I've got great news for you: you are not beginning a prayer time this morning. You are joining into a prayer meeting that is already in existence. All morning and all last night, prayer was happening on your behalf. God was working. Prayers were in the process of being answered.

Let me explain. Romans 8 introduces readers into life in and through the Holy Spirit. It teaches and demonstrates to us how we are to walk in accordance with God's Spirit, receive God's peace through the day, and bear fruit for God.

The primary way we connect with the Holy Spirit is through prayer and worship, our response to an acute awareness of His Presence. Romans 8 says that the mind set on the "flesh is death" but the mind set on the Spirit is "life and peace" (8:6). If we walk in the Spirit, in communion with God, we will have the peace we need.

The Good News that Romans 8 gives us today is that this life in the Spirit cannot be attained by works. We can't force our way into God's presence. Instead, God has been working on our behalf, preparing the spirit realm and setting up our lives for breakthrough and blessing.

Every morning when we rise, we are joining the greatest prayer meeting that ever existed. Who is praying? What is God doing? Romans 8 gives us some clues:

The Holy Spirit is Praying for Us

The Holy Spirit is already living in us and is... giving us physical life (8:11), helping control our actions (8:9), praying for us when we don't know what to pray (8:26-27).

the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will (Romans 8:27).

Creation is Groaning on our behalf

Paul writes, "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed (8:19). In some supernatural way, God's creation is praying and waiting for the people of God to released into their fullness.

Just like Jesus said,

if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out! (Luke 19:40).

Jesus is praying for us

Hebrews says that Jesus lives in heaven to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). Today, Jesus stands at the right hand of the Father, praying and crying out on our behalf - that we would spread the Good News and live the abundant life He died for.

Christ Jesus, who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us (8:34).

Jesus' prayers get answered! Have confidence today that Jesus is interceding for you!

Praying from Heaven to Earth

Whenever we rise to pray, we are entering into the greatest prayer meeting that ever existed. We can be confident that God is with us, for His word never returns void (Isaiah 55).

When we pray, rather than coming with our own agenda, it can be wise to listen to God and ask Him how He desires for us to pray. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and all creation are already praying. If we want to live "on earth as it is in heaven" the first step may be to PRAY what is already being decreed in Heaven!

Be encouraged. Someone is always praying for you... and you always having something to pray!

Application

Pray that God's Kingdom would come from heaven to earth today.

Ask God what is on His heart today in regards to prayer. What are Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and all creation crying out for regarding your life, your family and your city?

Day 15: Life in the Spirit - A New Message

Romans 8:1-39

What might make you uncomfortable:

Could the good news really be this good? Some readers will have trouble believing in the goodness of God after pondering today's devotional. Stop analyzing and start receiving. His goodness is amazing!

Today's Devotional:

There is a devotional translation of the Bible called "The Message" developed by theologian Eugene Peterson. Millions of Christians have found it encouraging and enlightening to read The Message because it puts the Bible in modern language. It re-phrases the Bible in contemporary language.

For today's devotional, we have simply reposted Romans 8 in "The Message." Enjoy! Make sure you read Romans 8 in your own translation first to grasp the full theological meaning of the text.

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

3-4 God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.

5-8 Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored.

9-11 But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!

12-14 So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

15-17 This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!

18-21 That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

22-25 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

29-30 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

31-39 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Author's Note: Most Bible translations were developed by teams of hundreds of scholars to insure theological accuracy and a balanced perspective. So, a drawback of "The Message" as an academic translation is that it just reflects one man's perspective. Never the less, many believers find it encouraging! I suggest reading "The Message" for devotional encouragement, but not as a the primary source of one's Bible doctrine.

Application

More than anything, today's reading reminds us that we are called not to a religion but to a VIBRANT relationship with God.

What can you do today that will creatively bring your heart into the presence of God?

Day 14: The Struggle of Sanctification

Romans 7:7-25

What might make you uncomfortable:

There is no "quick fix" to gain personal holiness or easy excuse out of the battle for sin.

Today's Devotional:

In today's devotional Paul tackles an important situation, our struggle for sanctification.

Remember, to "sanctify" means to "set apart or declare holy" (New Oxford American Dictionary). When we become followers of Jesus we are immediately justified (made righteous before God) but not sanctified (made immediately perfect and sinless).

The Purpose of the Old Covenant: to REVEAL sin

First, in today's reading Paul addresses the purpose of the Old Covenant made with Israel. Remember yesterday's devotional? God made a covenant with Israel and we read about it through the Old Testament.

Paul says that the Old Covenant was established so that "that sin might be recognized as sin" (7:13). Without knowing God's standard for holiness men would not be aware of sin and therefore not recognize the need for salvation.

Paul moves forward to answer some objections to this thought. Even though the law revealed sin, the law was holy (7:12) because God gave it. Furthermore, the law produced spiritual death (7:13), that being the result of sin. BUT it's not the law's fault that people are separated from God - sin is produced from our "covetous desires" (7:8). The law didn't make us sin - it was a mirror revealed a condition that was already there.

To reiterate, the law was God's diagnostic tool to show us our disease... a virus called sin. It's a fatal virus.

Jesus came with the cure for that virus!

The Purpose of the New Covenant: to REMOVE sin

As an aside, the reader should know that the purpose of the New Covenant between God and man is to remove our sin. The removal of sin sets us right with God and allows us into relationship with Him.

Explaining our Struggle With Sin

Here's the rub: The Old Covenant revealed sin. The New Covenant through Jesus removes sin.... so why do we still struggle with sin today?

To finish our devotional today, let us explore three possible answers:

1. Christians can't sin: If Jesus came to destroy sin and we are part of the "Grateful Dead"... dead to sin and alive to obeying God...I guess we can't sin, right?
   
   Wrong. Nearly every letter Paul wrote to New Testament Churches addressed some kind of sin (He was writing to Christians). Paul himself wrote to believers to teach them how to repent of sin (2 Corinthians). In another passage, the Apostle John warned Christians about sin (1 John 1:8).
   
   The Bible says that "if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves" (1 John 1:8).
   
   If you are a Christian, God has called you to holiness... but you are still going to sin. How you respond to that sin will effect the ongoing transformation in your life by the Holy Spirit.
   
   
2. Christians can't have victory over sin: A reader may say, "Well... if Christians can sin, then I guess I can't win. I am doomed to struggle and sin."
   
   Wrong. This is also an unbiblical approach to this passage and to sin in general.
   
   The Bible teaches that we can confess our sins and be healed (James 5:16). Jesus told a woman to "go and sin no more" (John 8:11). There are clear pictures in the Bible of totally transformed people, who after experiencing an encounter with God had huge victories over sin... the Apostle Paul being one such a person!
   
   
3. Christians live in a war against sin but can be victorious:We will sin, but we can also fight against the struggle of sin. Beyond fighting, we can also have victory!
   
   Consider the following Scripture:
   

   Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. (1 Peter 2:11)

   
   Paul writes to one church and mentions their previous sins, saying "some of you WERE" sexually immoral, idolaters, prostitutes, homosexuals, etc..." (1 Corinthians 6:11). We CAN be changed. Jesus IS powerful.
   

Today, we live in a war against sin.

Winning the War

How do we win the war against sin? The Bible gives us a great recipe:

• RECEIVE: Receive and understand your new identity in Christ... The past few chapters of Romans Paul has been teaching us that we are dead to sin. The first step to winning the war is knowing we already have the victory in Jesus!
• REBUKE: Rebuke the devil and his demons... Be active in prayer, knowing you are in a spiritual battle.
• REPAIR: Repair your brokenness through inner healing... Many of us are predisposed towards sin because of deep wounds in our heart. Jesus can heal these wounds!
  
• RESIST: Resist your sinful passions... We all have unhealthy desires that lead us into sin. It is our job to fast, get accountability, and fight these weaknesses with the power of the Spirit.
• RENEW: Renew your mind through the reading of Scripture.
• REPLACE: We are to replace our old life with a new life in Christ... Develop new and Godly behaviors by obeying what God is telling you to do.
• REJOICE: Rejoice that you have victory in God...He is bringing transformation into your life!

Application

The list above is a great way to practically think about your struggle against sin. What areas are missing from your own life?

Day 13: Understanding Covenant

Romans 7:1-6

What might make you uncomfortable:

The marriage covenant is intended to reflect God's un-ending covenant with man. We belong to our spouses permanently on earth in the marriage covenant. In the same way, we belong to God permanently in eternity.

Today's Devotional:

Covenant. It's an intense word, isn't it? Readers of this passage in Romans would have had a cultural background pertaining to the concept of "covenant." Therefore in order to fully explore today's reading we must delve into the idea of a covenants and how this affects our relationship with Jesus.

Covenants 101

Essentially, a covenant is an agreement. To covenant with someone means to agree or contract with another (New Oxford American Dictionary).

Covenant is a theme throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. One could even say that each Testament represents a different Covenant - a different way in which God chose to relate to man.

Here are three things to know about covenants:

1. They are permanent: A contract has an end date ones its terms are fulfilled by each party. Covenants are different - they are permanent unless a party alters the terms.

2. They are ratified by blood: Interestingly enough, the Hebrew word for covenant, bĕriyth has its root in another word, bereth. Bereth means "to cut." Covenants were always ratified by blood. The Old Covenant between God and the Hebrew people was ratified by the blood of sacrifice and circumcision (Leviticus 19:11). The new Covenant between God and all peoples is ratified by the blood of Jesus shed on the Cross.

3. The Old Testament is a story of God's Covenant with Israel: Essentially, here's what happened: God revealed Himself to Abraham and promised to give Abraham descendants. He said that Abraham's descendants would be blessed by God in order that all the other nations would be blessed (Genesis 12). Abraham's descendants were given a law after being rescued out of slavery and given the land promised to them through the covenant. God promised to bless them and give them life if the obeyed the law, but also told them that disobedience would have grave consequences.

Because of human wickedness, this law had to be very specific. It covered aspects of civil society, ceremonial acts of worship, and moral responsibility.

The Old Covenant and Romans

New Christians in Paul's time were asking the question, "Does this Old Covenant apply to us?" Because not only Jews were accepting Jesus but also Gentiles (those who weren't Jews), questions arose. Were people converting to Judaism or some other way of life? How much of the Old laws given to Israel were Christians supposed to follow?

Marriage as an example

Paul gives the example of marriage to answer this question. He says that the marriage covenant stands as long as both the husband and wife are alive (7:2). Only when one spouse dies is the other released from marriage (7:3).

Marriage is a covenant that is intended to stand as a prophetic example to the world of God's covenant with us today. When Paul speaks of marriage, he says:

This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32)

Marriage is permanent, and it is ratified by man and woman become "one flesh" - physically via sexual intimacy but also spiritually before God (Ephesians 5:30).

Author's note: This is obviously an uncomfortable topic today because of the common nature of divorce. If you have been through a divorce, there is grace from God to begin a new covenant before the Lord with your current spouse. But this is why God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) - it breaks a covenant that was supposed to represent God's covenant with us.

Now, a New Covenant

The example of marriage teaches us something: if one spouse dies, the covenant is null and void. Remember the devotional "The Grateful Dead?" Someone did die: the old "you!"

When our old life died, we became a new creation in Christ and God made a New Covenant with us. We don't have to obey the laws of Judaism. Today, we live in the law of love (James 2:8).

In the New Covenant we BELONG to Christ and we BEAR FRUIT for Christ (7:5). The nature of the relationship, however, is not one of law but of grace.

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code (Romans 7:6).

Application

Are you keeping your covenants? Your marriage covenant? Your covenant to God?

Ask God to show you any way you can keep the covenants He has brought into your life.

Day 12: The Headline

Romans 6:5-23

What might make you uncomfortable:

Many Christians avoid sharing their faith because they feel that describing God's love is too complicated. Today we learn an easy method of sharing the good news of Jesus.

Today's Devotional:

In the golden age of newspapers, salesmen would run through the streets of big cities declaring the headlines of the most recent story. What if we could communicate God's love in a similar way? Is there a simple, one-line phrase that could communicate the Gospel?

Today's reading continues some of the same themes addressed yesterday in the devotional titled "The Grateful Dead." Rather than exploring this topic further, we are going to focus on one verse. You might even say that this is a "Headline" verse. It's a simple sentence that could be a headline in a magazine or newspaper.

Here it is:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

This verse simply communicates what Jesus came to do by sharing the bad news regarding sin and the good news regarding salvation. Let's break it down:

First, the bad news.

• WAGE - When you go to work, you earn something. We call it a wage. A wage is something you earn for something you did.
• SIN - Sin is a theological word. It's origins are in a Greek word, AMARTIA, used to mean "miss the mark." Whenever we miss the mark of God's standard.
• DEATH - Death is the wage for our sin. When we sin there is a consequence - death. Death means eternal separation from God in hell. We have all sinned willfully and missed the mark of God's holiness.

Now, the good news...

• GIFT - A gift is different than a wage. A wage you earn, but a gift is free.
• GOD - God's holiness is the opposite of sin. God is totally Holy.
• ETERNAL LIFE - Although we deserve the wage of death because of sin...God has better plans. He wants to give us a free Gift - Eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We can't work for this eternal life...it's free! Eternal life means living in Heaven with God after we die. It means experiencing God's presence in the here-and-now.
  

What we must do to respond:

• CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD: To respond to this good news, we simply make Christ Jesus our Lord. Praying to Him, asking forgiveness, and believing in the cross & resurrection make a way for us to receive the free gift of eternal life. This is good news!

What a simple and powerful way to communicate the message of the Gospel. Many believers have found this to be a helpful verse to put to memory as they share Jesus with others.

Application

How could we continue to read this devotional about the good news and not share it? Tell a new person today what Jesus has done for them!

Day 11: The Grateful Dead

Romans 6:11-14

What might make you uncomfortable:

Today's Scripture challenges readers to think differently about themselves specifically that we, as followers of Jesus, are dead to sin and alive to obeying God.

What might make you uncomfortable is that, if we are dead to sin, then we have no excuse to blame our sin upon. It is up to us walk in the fullness of what Jesus paid for.

Today's Devotional:

Romans 6 through 8 begins a new section in Paul's letter regarding the "sanctification" of the believer. Sanctification is just a big doctrinal word that means, "to make holy." This section in Romans describes how God, by the Holy Spirit, grants the fullness of salvation to His sons and daughters.

Today's reading introduces readers to the doctrine of sanctification by answering three main questions:

1. Should we sin...since we can?
2. What happened at salvation that should keep us from sinning?
3. If this is true, how do we fight the temptation to sin today?

1. Should we sin?: Earlier in Romans we discussed justification - that God accepts us and saves us by grace through faith in Christ. We become justified by faith and God accepts us.

It could be easy for someone who has understood the free gift of God's salvation to ask the question, "If God has forgiven me, does that mean I can do what I want?" Probably every reader has thought along these times from time-to-time, as all people naturally are independent and sometimes struggle to submit to God's path.

Paul poses an interesting answer in response to this conundrum: "We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (6:2).

2. What happened at salvation that can keep us from sinning?

Paul's primary answer to the question posed above is simple: Believers are dead to sin.

Believers, when you decided to follow Jesus you entered into a new reality that could be humorously described as "The Grateful Dead." Your old spirit, bent towards sin and unrighteousness, was "united with him in death" (6:5). Jesus put a new spirit in you (Ezekiel 36:26) that provided you with spiritual life. You are now part of the Grateful Dead. God got rid of the old you, and His Spirit is creating something new!

Baptism, Paul explains, serves as a prophetic example of what happened at salvation. The old "you" was crucified with Jesus and buried under the water. We were baptized into His death and now are raised to walk in newness of life (6:4).

Theologian John Stott puts it this way:

Our biography is written in two volumes. Volume one is the story of the old man, the old self, of me before my conversion. Volume two is the story of the new man, the new self, of me after I was made a new creation in Christ. Volume one of my biography ended with the judicial death of the old self. I was a sinner. I deserved to die. I did die. I received my deserts in my Substitute with whom I have become one. Volume two of my biography opened with my resurrection. My old life having finished, a new life to God has begun"

Stott, John R. W., Men Made New: an exposition of Romans 5-8 (Downers Grove: IVP, 1966)

3. If this is true, how do we fight the temptation to sin today?

Reader, please note: Paul is NOT saying that Christians are sinless. If this were true he would have no reason to write "let not sin reign in your mortal bodies" (6:12) or "do not offer the parts of your body to sin" (6:13).

Empirically this stands true. If we are following Jesus then the Bible says that we are dead to sin. Yet, many of us still struggle with sin. How do we fight this temptation today?

The determining factor in our sanctification is, according to this passage, an issue of lordship.

Paul says that when we choose sin, we are letting sin "reign." We have the ability to actually "offer" ourselves to sin. When we live this way, sin is our "master." Although Jesus is always our Savior, sin can become our lord.

Sin becomes our lord when we choose a path that feeds our own evil desires rather than God's ways. When we come under the mastery of sin we are subject its degenerative power. Things in our life fall apart when God is not in charge.

Instead, Paul says that we are to live under "grace" (6:14). We live in relationship with God under Christ's Lordship. Romans 10:9 says that Jesus must be LORD of our lives, not just Savior of our sins. Like Paul, we have all become "devoted slaves" to Christ (Romans 1:1 - The Message). When Jesus is our Lord we obey Him and there is grace to walk in purity. Sin is not an issue, or an option. Its tyranny over our lives is broken. We stand pure, free, happy. We are the grateful dead.

In summary, Sam Storms states the main point of today's passage well in his online commentary of Romans:

YOU MUST NOT GO ON LIVING THE LIFE YOU USED TO LIVE, BECAUSE YOU ARE NO LONGER THE PERSON YOU USED TO BE.

We are part of the Grateful Dead! Let's remember the joy of our salvation, act like the old "me" has perished, and live a new life...set apart for God!

Application

Today's message should empower you to know that sin is not in control of your life. Jesus is.
Recite the following truths aloud to help facilitate a paradigm shift in this area:

• Jesus has power over my sin.
• The old "me" was bent towards sin, but Jesus has closed that chapter of my life
• The new "me" is not a victim of sin or the past.
• The new "me" is alive to obeying God.
• The new "me" submits to Jesus as Lord. Sin is no longer my master.
• Today, I will choose to be grateful, because I am a new creation in Christ!

Author's Note: The term Grateful Dead comes from a book called "The Supernatural Lifestyle" in which author Kris Valloton addresses this subject.

Day 10: Back to the Garden

Romans 5:12-21

What might make you uncomfortable:

According to Scripture, all people are born with an innate desire and predisposition to sin. We inherited this desire from our forefather, Adam.

Today's Devotional:

Author's Note: Have you read or heard the account the Bible gives regarding the beginning of mankind? If not, you may want to pause this devotional to read Genesis 1-3 in the Old Testament. Today's devotional and reading in Romans draws extensively on the Genesis account of creation.

This section of Romans 5 points readers back to the Garden of Eden, to God's creation of men and women. The creation story informs our view of salvation today because it's in the Garden of Eden that man fell, entering into sin and leaving God's original intent.

Paul's summary of Genesis 1-3 answers a few questions for readers: How did Jesus' death on the cross set right the sin that happened on the cross? What was the effect of Adam's fall into sin on mankind?

In order to answer these questions, Paul contrasts the effects of Adam's sin with the benefits of Christ's sacrifice.

What's the contrast? Through Adam, we all received death (5:12-14). We were born with a disposition towards sin. Adam's "original sin" effects us all and infected mankind like a virus - making all his descendants sinners by nature.

All of mankind needs a Savior because all humans live under the consequences of Adam's sin - being born into spiritual death apart from God.

Through Jesus, we all received life (5:17). When we follow Jesus we trade our disobedience against God with obedience towards God. Although we deserve judgment, we have received the free gift of God's grace. The law, which had the purpose of revealing our sin (5:20), was fulfilled by Jesus' perfect obedience.

The Bible describe Jesus as the "second Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45). He obeyed God when we couldn't to set right what happened in the Garden. We now live in "grace," "righteousness," and "eternal life" (5:21). Praise be to God!

Application

Have you ever considered that you were born with a disposition to sin? What sins have you naturally gravitated towards since birth? Have you brought those habits and behaviors under the authority of Christ? Jesus died to set you free!

Day 9: The Good News

Romans 5:1-11

What might make you uncomfortable:

There may be levels of God's peace and grace you have yet to access.

Today's Devotional:

Finally, we have reached the good news of Romans! The first three chapters of Romans serve as reminders of the unrighteousness of men. Chapter 4 reminds us that righteousness can only come from faith. And here, in Chapter 5, we began to see the good news attached to God's righteousness.

Psalm 103 says "Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul, and forget not all His benefits." There are truly many benefits attached to the awesome gift of salvation Jesus has given us. Read a few of them below as described in Romans 5:

• We have been made righteous by faith (5:1)
• We have peace with God (5:1)
• We have access to God (5:2)
• We have hope and joy beyond suffering and beyond difficult situations (5:3-4)
• We have endurance, character, and hope in God (5:4)
• We have been given the Holy Spirit (5:5)
• God's love has been poured on us through the Holy Spirit (5:5)
• Jesus is strong when we are weak (5:6)
• God doesn't wait until we are perfect to show His love to us (5:8)
• Christ died for us (5:8)
• We are saved from the wrath of God (5:9)
• We are no longer enemies with God (5:10)
• We have been reconciled to God (5:11)

What an incredible list of the benefits of our salvation.

Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits!

Application

Use this list as a prayer guide to thank God for the benefits of salvation today.

Day 8: Living By Faith

Romans 4:13-25

What might make you uncomfortable:

Followers of Jesus are not simply called to receive their salvation by faith, but also to live by faith in the midst of impossible circumstances.

Today's Devotional:

As we established in our devotional yesterday, "Ole Father Abraham," Abraham serves as an example to modern day believers of salvation by faith.

But Abraham's example does not stop there. Paul goes on in Romans 4:18-25 to describe Abraham's life in detail, writing of how he maintaining a high level of faith in the midst of impossible circumstances. We too, are called to live by faith not only when we think of heaven, but when we need a breakthrough from God in daily life.

Principles from living by faith that we can take from the life of Abraham include:

• Abraham began his faith journey with promises from God (4:13, 16). A life of faith is a life built on hearing God's voice for promises about the future.
• Abraham knew the character of God (4:17). Because God is a God who gives life to the dead and calls our future reality into existence, we can trust that His promises will come true.
• Abraham hoped against hope (4:18). Even when circumstances did not align with God's plan Abraham chose to hope in God's character. Faith must stand strong in the midst of impossibility.
• Abraham faced the facts (4:19). Abraham's faith was not religious hype. He knew the severity of his impossible situation.
• He did not waver in unbelief, was strengthened in faith, and gave glory to God (4:20). Abraham's lifestyle of thanksgiving and praise did not permit room for unbelief to enter his heart.
• Abraham knew the power of God (4:21). He knew that God has the "power to do what He had promised".

These principles were the key to Abraham's living by faith and they remain keys for living by faith today.

Paul closes Romans 4 with one verse that summarizes the entire Gospel message pertaining to justification:

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification (4:25)

.

We are justified (made righteous before God) by faith and today we live by faith. Later in Romans we will learn how we are sanctified (made holy by overcoming sin) by faith, too.

Application

Which of these principles do you need to incorporate into your spiritual journey today?

Day 7: Ole Father Abraham

Romans 4:1-12

What might make you uncomfortable:

Abraham's blind faith stands as a model and a challenge to modern day believers.

Today's Devotional:

Paul's rebuke of the religious Jews early in Romans 3 produces other questions about the Old Testament. What about Abraham, the father of God's chosen people, who lived before the law was given to Israel?

For a little background on Abraham, let's read the story Paul quotes from Genesis 15:

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”

And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.”

He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

The Bible says that Abraham believed God and through faith received righteousness. In this way, Abraham models the life of faith for present day followers of Jesus. We too are challenged to believe that God, "apart from works," is able to save and deliver us from sin (4:6).

Paul's commentary on Abraham showed the Jewish Christians of his time that God had already been saving people apart from works. Abraham, the father of the Jewish faith, was one who received salvation by faith through believing in God.

Some theologians say that just as Abraham was saved looking forward in future to the Cross, we now are saved looked backwards into the past at what Jesus did on the cross. However you look at it, one thing is true: Abraham models a life of faith for present-day believers. His response to the voice of God, by faith, is something present-day believers must strive to attain.

Romans 4 introduces the doctrine of justification into Romans. Justification is a big theological word that just means the forgiveness of sin. By faith, our sins are forgiven and we are made righteous in God's eyes. Later in Romans readers will discover the doctrine of sanctification, which is the process of working out that holiness and realizing it in our daily lives.

Application

Is it hard for you to believe that God sees you as "justified," or made righteous? Spend some time waiting on God today and ask Him how He feels about you. If this exercise challenges you, you have an opportunity to renew your mind according to Romans 4.

Day 6: And now for the punchline...

Romans 3:9-27

What might make you uncomfortable:

Our guiltiness before God is an uncomfortable truth.

Today's Devotional:

In Western culture, a legal concept call the "presumption of innocence" guides our courts and criminal justice system. The burden of proof falls on the prosecuting attorney in a case, meaning the prosecutor must prove, with facts, if a defendant is guilty.

This legal principle relates also to today's cultural concept of "fairness." Most of us expect others to treat us fairly and to assume that we have good intentions. When someone accuses us of wrongdoing we can be easily offended, feeling attacked and assumed upon. We feel that we should be presumed innocent.

Some of our philosophical questions reflect this core western belief as well. The question "why do bad things happen to good people?" makes an assumption - that there are good people. We believe that some people must be inherently good, that they are innocent of wrong-doing and for the most part, generally pure.

It's only natural for us to expect God to treat us the same way. A common objection to Romans 1-3 could be that God "isn't fair." "How could the whole world be accountable to God?", we wonder. Is it truly fair that we are subject to divine judgment?

All these questions lead us up to the punchline of Romans 3 and the conclusion of this first section of Romans. What's the punchline? We are not innocent until proven guilty. We are guilty until made innocent.

Paul makes this point in a variety of ways, saying...

• "No one is righteous, not even one"
• "There is no fear of God"
• "The whole world is accountable to God"
• "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"

This is the hard truth of the good news. We ask the question, "why do bad things happen to good people?," but, in light of God's holiness, there are no good people. We all stand guilty, falling short of the glory of God. Thankfully, the punchline doesn't end there! Romans 3:21 says this, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify." This is the beginning of the good news! The righteousness of God has been revealed through Jesus. In Romans 3:21 the focus on the book of Romans shifts, from revealing sin to revealing God's righteousness. The good news is that God's justice has been satifised because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished–he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus (3:25-26).

The blood of circumcision was not enough to purify us, but the blood of Jesus was. Boasting in our works does not save us, but boasting in Christ's work does. We cannot stand before righteously in judgment but Jesus could. This is the good news. Jesus is our sacrifice. He fulfilled the justice of God so that we could receive God's mercy.

Application

The only proper response to today's devotional is to search our hearts and ask, "Have we truly received the mercy of Christ?" Spend time thanking God today for His atoning sacrifice.

Day 5: Dangerous Questions

Romans 3:1-8

What might make you uncomfortable:

Paul examines the justice of God by posting dangerous and nearly blasphemous rhetorical questions about the nature of Israel.

Readers are reminded of the truth that God can handle our questions, no matter how uncomfortable they make us feel to ask them.

Today's Devotional:

In yesterday's devotional, "No Cultural Christians," we discussed how cultural religion cannot bring salvation to people. This truth begs the question, "What is the purpose of Israel?" If Israel is doomed without Christ, why would God go at such length to establish this holy nation?

Paul anticipates the offense of Jewish readers to Romans 2 and seeks to answer their objections to the Gospel. Using four rhetorical questions, Paul clarifies the New Testament view on Israel for readers. Let's explore these four questions below:

Question 1: What is the advantage to being a Jew, since Jews are guilty before God?

Paul writes, "what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?" (3:1-2). Paul swiftly answers this objection by stating one of the primary purposes of Israel, to be entrusted with the oracles of God. Israel was entrusted with passing down the stories of God's creation and the prophecies concerning Jesus to the next generation. This awesome stewardship was a privilege and part of God's special purpose for Israel.

Question 2: Are all of God's promises to Israel void because some were unfaithful?

The next rhetorical question is found in verse 3: "What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?" Paul wants to answer the Jewish concern that all of God's promises for Israel would expire after the ministry of Jesus.

When God establishes a covenant, He keeps His end of the bargain. Paul states God's promise to remain "true" to His words (3:4). His word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11). He will keep His promises to Israel.

Question 3: Could God be unjust for punishing the Israel?

Paul asks, is "God unjust for bringing His wrath upon us?" (3:5). He acknowledges that this is a worldly argument when he states that he is speaking in "human" terms.

The answer? "Certainly not!" (3:6). If God showed special favoritism to the Jews and ignored their need for judgment, God would not be impartial. This favoritism would prohibit God from being an impartial judge to all of mankind.

Since God is by nature a judge, He will judge all equally.

Question 4: If our unrighteousness shows God's holiness, is it fair to punish us?

3:7 contains the last rhetorical question, "If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?"

This question exposes the heart behind many of our questions regarding God's "fairness." We would rather do what we want and let God work it out for good rather than being held accountable for our actions. We are independent and lazy. We question God under a theological veneer of sophistication, but in the end would rather go our own way.

The ends does not justify the means. It is not righteous to "do evil that good may result" (3:8). Paul attacks this question head-on, saying that those who choose to live this way receive a just condemnation for their actions.

In summary, Paul does not shy way from the dangerous questions of his readers, but addresses them head-on. This form of dialogue way make readers uncomfortable, but notice its effectiveness. We find again that we are without excuse before God for our sin.

Truly, God is just.

Application

Are there questions regarding God's justice that you have been afraid to ask? It may be time to bring those questions to God and search out the answers in Scripture. The Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth (John 16:13) if you make yourself available.