FAITH PRECEDES WORKS
Romans 4:5-8
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”
Encouraging Words
It is not the things that we do to attempt to earn God's favor that produce righteousness in our lives. We have become a people that are focused so much on outward appearances, the ways that we worship, the rigor in following rubrics and traditions that are extreme and even radical, etc. Abraham was accounted as righteous before God because of his faith in God and his trust that God would fulfill
His covenant. David later learned that it was not his zealousness for God that earned the grace of God, but his faith in the living God that brought God's grace into his life. God's mercy comes to us through repentance, faith, and humility so that the works of Jesus Christ can cover us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
GOD'S GLORY
Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Personal Challenge
God created mankind in His image. He created us to walk with Him in the garden of Eden and to commune with Him on a regular basis. We sinned and broke that relationship with God and have been expelled from that garden. We live in a broken and fallen world and continue to sin. Yet God still loves us and desires to be in fellowship with us again, which is why Jesus became incarnate and died for us. Through Him we can once again be in God's presence and some day see His glory once again. Glory be to God!
Saint of the Week
St. Theodore the Studite
WE ALL NEED GOD
Romans 3:10-12
As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
Personal Challenge
None of us can be saved from death without Jesus Christ. None of us can live a good and godly life without Him. We cannot be righteous without Him. And
none of us will desire to seek after God or stop turning away from Him without
Jesus Christ calling out to us. We need Jesus to be our Lord so that He can be our Savior and bring us into His Kingdom. And then we do not do this alone. He gives us our community in our church to work out our salvation on our path to theosis. Glory be to God!
OUTWARD VERSUS INWARD
Romans 2:28-29
For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
Personal Challenge
Our Lord Jesus Christ had to confront the zealots of His day. These were not people outside of the Jewish nation telling them what to do, but within the body pushing for their perception of the perfect Jew. Many practiced this zealous beliefs as Pharisees and Sadducees. He called them whitewashed tombs because their practices on the outside looked all pristine and perfect, but their hearts were empty and dark. Paul picked this up in this letter to the Romans challenging the Judaizers for loving their faith with outward appearances and traditions but not being followers of God in their hearts. We are seeing similar zealots in the church today. People who believe and purport that we must return to some form of ritual practices and traditions that they call the true, historical church. Defined by whom? Practiced by whom? It is a zealous belief that has no problem trampling on the others around them who disagree. Where is the love of Christ? Where is the love for our neighbor? This love does not come in forcing others into doing what we want to do. It is not in the rhetoric of anger and arrogance that defends your perspective, our personal interpretations. It must be in our hearts and lovingly driving us to come alongside those who are different than us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
NO PARTIALITY
Romans 2:11
For there is no partiality with God.
Personal Challenge
We live in a day of extremes. Our world has become divided by the great purveyor of division and we have bought in to this lie, hook, line, and sinker. It is not only in the world, but is deeply enmeshed is our churches as well because we who profess to be Christians have brought it there. Democrat versus Republican. Mask verse no mask. Vaccinated verses anti-vaccinated. Pews versus no pews. What have we done. We rally our forces and often use the same scriptures to justify our positions. We make terse statements to justify our stand, hurting those on the other side, all the while proclaiming that it was not our intention to hurt anyone. God does not show partiality. He loves us all equally. The Church throughout history has suffered many divisions and yet still stands. Both Jesus and Paul knew this would happen because they prayed for unity. We cannot be unified if we continue to choose to be aligned with a side and jeer at the person on the other side. If we are truly followers of Christ, then we will love each other as He loved us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy on us sinners! Lord, have mercy on your broken church! Lord, have mercy!
JUDGING
Romans 2:1
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
Personal Challenge
I have heard it proclaimed by some well-meaning Christians that Christians have been given the authority to judge others for their non-Christian behaviors. This belief can not be found in the Scriptures. Jesus taught us to judge not that we be not judged. Here, Paul challenges us that if we judge others that we are condemning ourselves by that judgment. Christ left us with two basic commandments to live our lives by. We are to love our God and to love our neighbor. If we go through our life living by these two premises, we will not find room to be judgmental. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
