““Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”” Romans 4:7-8 NIV
Today is Romans 4.
Blessed is also Happy in the Greek!
Happy- “Being in the enjoyment of agreeable sensations from the possession of good” (Webster’s 1828)
God has done great things for us! When we come to Jesus accepting His salvation, our sins are forgiven and covered. God does not count our sins against us any more!
The punishment we deserve we do not receive. Jesus took that upon Himself. We are given a blessed life— the life that Jesus gives us. We possess His goodness. We know that He is good to us and all that He does is good. Even when we experience troubles, we can experience His happiness.
““Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”” Romans 4:7-8 NIV
Today is Romans 4.
Blessed is also Happy in the Greek!
Happy- “Being in the enjoyment of agreeable sensations from the possession of good” (Webster’s 1828)
God has done great things for us! When we come to Jesus accepting His salvation, our sins are forgiven and covered. God does not count our sins against us any more!
The punishment we deserve we do not receive. Jesus took that upon Himself. We are given a blessed life— the life of Jesus. We possess His goodness. We know that He is good to us and all that He does is good. Even when we experience troubles, we can experience His happiness.
“What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”” Romans 4:3 NIV
Today is Romans 4.
Abraham was living an ordinary life. He was working his job and living close to his family. Then one day God spoke to Him. He told Him to “Go.” God then spoke to him a promise.
Abraham did something extraordinary. He believed! He believed the Word of God. He believed the Promises were true. Out of that belief, he acted — he obeyed. When Abraham believed God “credited to him as righteousness.” Righteousness is “Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law.” (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary) It is right standing with God.
When Abraham listened to what God was saying and believed God. He was in right standing with God. He entered a relationship with God that came through his faith.
It wasn’t all the good things that Abraham did that established this relationship of right standing with God. It was when he simply believed.
God blessed Abraham for his faith and God made him a blessing. Many years later, Jesus was born out of his lineage. This alone was a miracle for a man whose wife had been unable to have a child.
God is speaking to us today. He desires for us to take Him at His Word and believe what He says. Jesus came as the living Word (expression of God) that proclaims to us God’s desire for relationship. We too can believe. Our belief in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross and then raising from the dead places us in right standing. It makes us righteous.
Relationship with God does not start with our good deeds. It starts with our faith in His Word that we hear.
“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,” Romans 3:21-22 NIV
Today is Romans 3
We are all deeper in sin than any of us could ever imagine. When we finally see our condition, we should be very concerned. There is nothing we can do that will fix our sin problem.
The Jews of Pauls time thought that if they could work and work at it, they could become righteous and have the purity it takes to stand rightly before God. They had the attitude of “I’ll do it myself.” But none of us can “do it” on our own. Righteousness only comes through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. When we believe in Jesus and receive what He did for us on the cross, we are brought into right standing with God.
Jesus is God’s solution for everyone’s sin!
A few months ago my husband came across this video. It perfectly illustrates how we cannot clean ourselves up on our own. Only God is able to do the heart transformation we need to make us right — righteous.
Will we call our to Him? Will we accept through faith His great gift?
“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” Romans 3:20 NIV
Today is Romans 3.
One of the most impactful exercises I have ever done is taking the time to complete a “Spiritual Inventory” list. It is a check list of sins that are listed in the Scripture. Prayerfully considering the condition of my spiritual heart is of upmost importance.
I believe it is healthy for us to come to God with the same prayer that David did on a regular basis:
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalms 139:23-24 NIV
Sin numbs us. Our enemy would love for us to live unaware of the sin in our lives. He would love for us to blame all of our problems on others and our circumstances. He is aware that once we see the truth, we have a sin problem, we are close to freedom. Because it is the truth that sets us free from the chains of sin!
Romans 3 has a list that describes where we all are without God. It concludes that the Law of God, makes us “conscious of our sin.”
Knowing that we have a problem with sin is good! Then God can show us the answer for our sin problem, Jesus.
Even in the life of a believer, sin that we embrace separates us from that close and intimate relationship that God desires for us to have with Him. It clogs up the communication lines. It keeps us at a distance from Him.
Jesus has provided all that we need to deal with our sin problem. Once we become conscious of our sin all we need to do is go to Him in prayer. He promises us this:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 NIV
The Law served its purpose. It helped us to understand that we need Jesus! Jesus said that He didn’t abolish the law, or set it aside. He fulfilled it. What Jesus did on the cross is enough to deal with the sin in our lives.
“What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.” Romans 3:9 NIV
Today is Romans 3.
A few years ago, I was trapped in a sinful pattern. When I asked an older sister in the Lord if what I was struggling with was sin, she asked me a question that began a great change in me: “Why would you think it isn’t a sin?” My reply was, “Because I cannot control it…”
The truth is, I was not living my life totally surrendered to God. I had experienced His salvation, but I wanted to do things my ways, not His. I was choosing sin over obedience to His Word.
Sin wraps us in chains. What we think we can mess around with will control us. Without our total submission to Jesus as the LORD of our lives, we are all “under the power of sin.” We need salvation! We need the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work in our lives if we are going to live free!
Our enemy would love for us to think that sin is no big deal. The truth is sin destroys, and we are all under its control. “There is no one righteous, not even one”
Jesus has paid the price for us to be able to live free from sin’s death, darkness and destruction.
Is there a pattern of sin that is holding you chained up in its power? In Jesus there is freedom from the “power of sin.”
“What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.” Romans 3:1-2 NIV
I once heard it said that “history” is “His story.” We tend to think that everything before us, everything now, and everything that is to come is about US. But the first four words in the Bible indicate what everything is truly about, “In the Beginning, God…”
The Jews of Paul’s time thought they had the corner on God. They had the Law and the covenant of circumcision. They worked hard at doing all the right things, but their hearts were hard and far from God. They thought all the history and their heritage was about them and what they did. They thought their actions in their present proved how special they were. They thought their good works insured that their future was secure. Everything was about them…
What they forgot was that God chose them for a reason. They were “entrusted with the very Words of God.” . Not to show off how good they were at following a list of rules. God wanted them to display to the nations God, Himself. God desired them to receive His Word so they would humbly obey it. This obedience would bring blessing. That blessing would display to all the nations around them a God that was very different than the gods they worshipped.
We aren’t any different. We tend to think that “our” lives are about “us.” Through Jesus, we have been chosen. We are meant to display God, Himself, to everyone we come in contact with. God has given us His Word. He desires for us to humbly receive it and obey it! This obedience will bring blessing into our lives. When people around us see the difference God has made in our lives, they will realize that they need Him.
We have “been entrusted with the very Words of God” as well. May we live our lives centered on Jesus who is the living Word. When He comes to live within our hearts, our lives are to be all about Him!
“What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.” Romans 3:1-2 NIV
I once heard it said that “history” is “His story.” We tend to think that everything before us, everything now, and everything that is to come is about US. But the first four words in the Bible indicate what everything is truly about, “In the Beginning, God…”
The Jews of Paul’s time thought they had the corner on God. They had the Law and the covenant of circumcision. They worked hard at doing all the right things, but their hearts were hard and far from God. They thought all the history and their heritage was about them and what they did. They thought their actions in their present proved how special they were. They thought their good works insured that their future was secure. Everything was about them…
What they forgot was that God chose them for a reason. They were “entrusted with the very Words of God.” . Not to show off how good they were at following a list of rules. God wanted them to display to the nations God, Himself. God desired them to receive His Word so they would humbly obey it. This obedience would bring blessing. That blessing would display to all the nations around them a God that was very different than the gods they worshipped.
We aren’t any different. We tend to think that “our” lives are about us. But through Jesus we have been chosen. We are meant to display God, Himself, to everyone we come in contact with. God has given us His Word. He desires for us to humbly receive it and obey it! This obedience will bring blessing into our lives. When people around us see the difference God has made in our lives, they will realize that they need Him.
We have “been entrusted with the very Words of God” as well. May we live our lives centered on Jesus who is the living Word. When He comes to live within our hearts, our lives are to be all about Him!
“No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.” Romans 2:29 NIV
Today is Romans 2.
God’s desire since creation has been to have people who are His. (Jeremiah 31:33). We were created with a purpose. This purpose is for our spiritual hearts (the center of our being —our mind, will, and emotions) to be a reflection of Him.
When sin entered our world in the Garden of Eden, the sinful nature filled our hearts. Since that time, our minds have been filled with selfish thoughts. Our will- desires- have been for our own ways and not God’s. Our emotions have reflected this. We feel hatred, bitterness, anger, anxiousness, discontentedness. This is all because we need our spiritual hearts to be transformed!
At salvation, when we accept Jesus as Lord of our lives, we receive a new heart — one that desires to obey Him. BUT our old desires, our old thoughts, our old emotions need to be removed. This is a spiritual circumcision — cutting away — of our spiritual hearts. The Holy Spirit is the one working all this within our hearts as we submit to Him. Simply put, God wants to change us from our old way of living to His new way of living.
Where we had turmoil, He desires to give us peace. Where we had hatred, He longs to give us love. Where we have been angry, He offers to help us to forgive others. The list goes on and on.
When we allow God to transform our lives, we will experience Him in a close relationship like none other. We will know Him. This knowing of Him, or intimacy with Him, will change us. We will reflect Him more and more each day.
May we submit to the Holy Spirit as He circumcises our hearts!
“As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”” Romans 2:24 NIV
Today is Romans 2.
People are watching to see how we live. Paul warned the Jewish people of that. He told them that they were “relying on the law and boasting in God”, but then they would turn around and not practice what they were preaching. They were committing sins that were effecting the people around them. Non believes (the Gentiles) were watching and they blasphemed, were irreverent and spoke of God reproachfully.
When people hear us speaking of how we are so much better because of God, but cannot see any evidence of God in our lives because of our behavior, they have no reason to believe what they hear.
If we are living a double life (one that says all the right stuff, but does the opposite), It will eventually come out that we are a hypocrite, and unbelievers will take it as opportunity to speak against God.
May we live as ones desiring to follow Jesus with all our hearts and to reflect Him in all we say and do!
Your Love 