Tag: Romans

Both/And

Re:Verse reading–Romans 2:1-29 (day five) 

4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?  Many people have inaccurate pictures or views of God.   1) God is a “wise and loving patriarchal figure” (grandfather in the sky) filled with wisdom and knowledge, but not actively engaged in the lives of His children. He won’t challenge or confront sin, idleness, or apathy.   He’s too loving to do that sort of thing. 2) He’s a “genie in a bottle” ready to answer and fulfill all our requests and petitions at a moments notice.

Each of God’s character traits (Love, Kindness, Sovereignty, Righteousness, Holiness, etc.) exist for the purpose of His Glory AND our good. They both go together. To separate them is poor theology at best, and manipulative theology at worst. John Stott says, “For God’s kindness leads us towards repentance. That is its goal. It is intended to give us space in which to repent, not to give us an excuse for sinning.”

We must seek to find and understand both God’s Glory and our good as we worship, follow, serve, and grow.

Led by Character

Re:Verse reading–Romans 2:1-29 (day four)

The character of God is who He is…the very essence of His being.  Verse 4 says that the kindness (one of His character qualities) of God leads you to repentance.  Everything about God will draw you to Him…choose any character quality of God and it will inspire worship, lead to obedience, bring a sense of awe or confront with repentance.  God is in the business of changing lives.  Ezekiel says that God will take our heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.  He will change us so we can enter into a right relationship with Him.  We are without excuse when we stand before God.  How we have responded to His character through obedience will determine the outcome of our relationship with Him.  What does your character inspire?  Does it lead others to God?  Does it lead to repentance?  It will if our lives look like Jesus…we will give an accurate picture of the character of God.

Immaterial

Re: Verse reading–Romans 2:1-29 (day three) 

“As it is written: ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.'” That the character and behavior of Christians would invite the larger society to conclude God doesn’t really matter much is quite a serious charge. And yet, Paul declares, that’s exactly the circumstance we find ourselves in when what we say becomes disconnected from how we live. If we claim devotion to Christ, do we then organize our daily lives in the same way he did? Paul says earlier in Romans that a person can come to know of God’s existence by considering the physical realm. What can a person come to know of God’s personality by considering the way you live?

Truth from the Start

Re:Verse reading–Romans 2:1-29 (day two) 

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them..14-15

Man is without excuse, this is an echo of what Paul said in the first chapter of Romans. Even those who did not grow up under the Law, or, in our case, in church will have to give an account. C.S. Lewis in his landmark Mere Christianity puts it like this: “If no set of moral ideas were truer or better than any other, there would be no sense in preferring civilized morality to savage morality, or Christian morality to Nazi morality. In fact, of course, we all do believe that some moralities are better than others.”

God has wired everyone with a basic set of right and wrong. The struggle with that difference and the questions that are generated from the conflict naturally lead to looking to where this morality came from. We are without excuse.

Worship

Re:Verse reading–Romans 1:18-32 (day six)

The central theme to our rev:verse text is not primarily the wrath of God, nor is it the sinfulness of man, but rather it is the Glory of God. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of life.” The great “unrighteousness” that Paul writes about is the sin of the unguarded heart; we gave our heart to another. We were made in the image of God, designed to behold, enjoy, and find purpose in the Glory of God, and yet we did not. We did not “honor him, or give him thanks.” The results are self-evident, just turn on the news. Once we chose to worship creature over creator, all hell broke lose. The affections of our hearts have “determined the course of [our] lives”

Our hearts need realigning. “Oh, what wretched people we are! Who will free us from lives of sin and death? Thank God the answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:24-25

Different Vantage Points

Re:Verse reading–Romans 1:18-32 (day five)

Last summer I traveled to Alaska with our Chapel Singers. One of the highlights was a trip to Denali National Park. Our travel literally took us around what is now called Denali (formerly Mt. McKinley). There were several places to stop and see this magnificent landmark. Each one provided a different, yet amazing view of this mountain. The different vantage points when combined, gave me a better understanding and appreciation of the vastness and beauty of whole mountain. If I had only seen one side or perspective, it would have been spectacular, yet I would have missed seeing and experiencing SO much more.

In Romans chapter 1, Paul shares glimpses or snapshots of God’s character and nature. (Same Holy and Loving God- different vantage points) God’s Power (v. 16), God’s Righteousness (v. 17), God’s Wrath (v. 18), God’s Glory (v. 20).

If we don’t continue to observe and be in awe of the many facets of God’s Nature and Character, we will miss seeing and experiencing SO much more of Him.

Up Side Down Thinking

Re:Verse reading–Romans 1:18-32 (day four)

“Therefore, God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity…”  Often times we look at this passage and think it deals only with sexual perversion and God’s judgment against it by allowing the consequences of the sin to reign in the sinners.  I once heard a sermon by Dr. Roger Magnuson that explained that the corruption went far beyond just the sexual perversion.  Dr. Magnuson called it ‘upside down thinking.’  God allowed them to see the unnatural and call it natural…to see darkness and call it light…to see deception and call it truth…to see wickedness and call it goodness.  Everything about their thinking was upside down.  Have you seen it around you?  Everything seems to be based on false premises and flawed logic.  Even if they don’t practice the evil themselves, they are in hearty agreement with those who do. (verse 32)  Clear thinking or ‘right side up thinking’ comes only from God’s truth.  Use discernment according to God’s Word.

Dots

Re:Verse reading–Romans 1:18-32 (day three)

“…being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” The mind is capable, Paul declares, of figuring out that the universe had a beginning, because physical existence is non-self-creating. Therefore, a non-physical force must be responsible for that beginning. A non-physical force is, by definition, spiritual. Any critical examination of that reality will yield the realization–the revelation, if you will–that God exists, that God is the Creator, and that God has set the universe to function in one particular way. The mind can connect these dots. There is no validity, then, for us to claim that we could not possibly have known of God. The question is, now that we know, what are we going to do?

Without Excuse

Re:Verse reading–Romans 1:18-32 (day two)

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” vs. 20

One of the things I like about social media is the ability to share pictures. Pictures you have taken yourself, or ones you have found that capture your heart. A Texas sunset, mountains covered in snow, a colorful bird, and the babies-so many babies. Often the individual that posted the pictures will marvel at the beauty of creation. Design, form, structure, and artistry are all a part of this miracle we share.

This is why the architects of the great cathedrals would create such vast and grand structures to worship the Lord. They were designed to take your breath away and make you think how great our God truly is.

Man is without excuse. We need only step outside and look around to see evidence of the Lord. We can try to justify our desires and our actions, but the truth of creation will ultimately demand that we reconcile his plan against our own. Whatever it is, how could it measure up to God’s perfection? Let it go.

Deep Calls to Deep

Re: Verse reading–Romans 1:1–17 (day six)

On occasion someone will suggest to me that they need to swim away from the shallow shore of the Gospel into deeper theological waters. There is truth to that, of course. Both Paul and the writer of Hebrews write that Christians should move beyond spiritual milk to eating solid fare(Hebrews 5:2,1 Corinthians 3:2), although they seem far more concerned with Christians becoming fully discipled than having superior knowledge. From the beginning, Paul’s letter to the Romans makes it abundantly clear, once you have left the shore for deeper waters, when your toes can no longer touch the bottom, you discover that you haven’t moved beyond the Gospel at all, but are now submerged in its immeasurable depths. There is no part of life that the Gospel does not reach; it is our hermeneutic for all of life, the lens we peer through, the ocean in which we swim.

You don’t graduate from the Gospel, you dive into its depths. Will you join me? I can’t touch the bottom, but the water is just fine.