Living a Righteous Life in fellowship, in the Church, in life Romans XII Living a Righteous Life in fellowship, in the Church, in life

The story so far: God has a plan for all creation, and you’re a part of it, but not on your own; it’s not your actions that save you, it’s your faith in Jesus and what He accomplished through His sacrifice. “In the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith, from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17 Don’t think you are any better than anyone else! “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself because you who pass judgement do the same things.” 2:1

The story so far “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” 3:22-24 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God …” 5:1,2

The story so far “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope; And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” 5:3-5 We died through Adam (through sin); but now we are alive through Jesus’ death (for our sin) so we too are alive in God through Jesus: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” 6:11

The story so far “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 6:23 Read 7:18-25 – we are all subject to the struggle between our “sinful nature” and the newness of life that Jesus bought for us on the cross. BUT “Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” 8:1,2 So, we are in a good place! Chapter 12 onwards is a guide to living life in the light of that!

Romans 9,10,11 – Israel, the Law, and Jesus In these chapters of Romans, Paul investigates the nature of Israel’s role in God’s plan for the salvation of His creation. Pure and simple. Over the centuries, the Jews have been despised, persecuted, misunderstood. The Temple was destroyed by the Romans, who built a pagan temple in its place – where a mosque now stands. The Holy Land has been fought over – is being fought over. Theologians, evangelists, authors have wrangled over God’s Chosen People, the Jews who murdered Jesus, “the Land”, etc. Piety, politics, persecution and propaganda … wars, and rumours of wars … Paul’s concern was to explain the Jews’ part in God’s plan. Nothing more. And we will be looking at that in future weeks.