In Romans 1:16,17 Paul sets the stage for the rest of the next chapter and essentially the rest of his letter to the Romans. He does this by talking about "the gospel" or good news of Jesus Christ. Paul here defines the gospel as the salvation of everyone who believes (16) and a righteousness that is by faith (17). As you can see from these passages, the good news of Christ is received by believing in it, not any actions, you can't earn salvation. No, Paul says you simply must believe in Jesus' death for the sins of mankind. Paul then continues to explain exactly why salvation can't be earned, and why we need saving and what we need saving from.
Romans 1:18 says The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Very simply, mankind needs saving from sin and from the just punishment that mankind deserves for its sin. You see, mankind is sinful, it has rebelled against God. If you read on the rest of chapter 1, Paul lists off a number of different sins, as simply actions, but also talks about how man rejected God and chose to worship other things, rather than the creator of the universe who rightfully deserves praise. This is the bad news of the gospel. You have sinned against God. I have sinned against God. Everyone who has ever lived has sinned against God, and because of that, we deserve to be punished for our sin.
A lot of people think that if they are good enough, or do enough good deeds, or only sin a little bit, they will earn God's favor and salvation. Let me tell you why that is wrong, or better yet, lets look at what Paul says in chapter 2 of Romans. Paul in this chapter talks about "the law" that was given to the Jews. If you have ever read Leviticus, you will realize there are a lot of rules which the people of Israel had to follow. The thing is, because the people had all of these rules to follow, it further showed how bad they were. Even if they did their best to follow every rule, at some point they would slip up, and at some point they would be sinful and under God's just punishment. People that try to be "good" to earn God's favor do the same thing. God is perfect and eternal; can 100 years of doing the right thing most of the time earn any favor or reward from an eternal and perfect God? That would be like if I went up to Bill Gates and showed him my bank statement or spun a basketball on my finger for like 2 seconds to try to impress a Harlem Globetrotter. They wouldn't be impressed at all! Neither is God when we try to be "good" enough to gain eternal life.
You see, we are all under God's wrath and judgement as sinners, and that is bad news. But the good news of Jesus is that Jesus died on the cross in our place. He took the punishment for us! We don't need to be "good", we don't need to never sin, we just need to believe that Jesus did this and give our lives to him in faith! That is all. Just repent of your sins and believe in Jesus! That is why it is good news, you once were dead in your transgressions, but now you are free in Christ.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Weekly Meditations: Romans 1:8-15; The Family of Christ
In this short section of Paul's letter to the Romans, we hear Paul's personal voice as he shares his desire to meet with his friends and fellow Christians in Rome. I think that Paul's words and attitude also show three ways that Christians should interact with each other. As the family of Christ, we must pray for each other, encourage each other, and preach to each other.
Paul starts this passage by letting the Romans know that he has been praying for them. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you (vs 8), constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times (vs 9, 10). Paul was fervently praying for his friends and brothers in Christ. I think that this is something that we should be doing also as Christians. Can you think of a time when someone told you that they had been praying for you? If nothing else, I think it is comforting to know that someone was thinking of you at sometime during their week.
I think practically, we should pray for our friends like Paul, but also be praying for our church leadership and missionaries. I have two quiet times during the day. In the morning I pray through the book "Operation World"; I highly recommend this book or another one like it. Each day I pray for a different country, for its physical and social needs, for the church in the country and for the evangelization of the country. At night when I pray it is more personal and I lift up friends, family, missionaries and church leaders during this time. I think we need to take Paul's example and diligently pray for our fellow Christians.
Our church family also encourages us. That is that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith (vs 12). I think that as Christians, our talk and our sharing of God moving in our lives can be of great encouragement to one another. What do you talk about with your friends after church? I'm not saying that you shouldn't share personal things like how school or work or kids are going, but do you talk about what you are reading in scripture? Do you share prayer requests? These are important things that we can talk about to encourage each other in Christ. Missionary's monthly letters are another way to be encouraged by the work of people around the world. It is a great way to encourage someone and also use your money for the Kingdom by supporting a missionary. If you do this, than you can use the missionary letters to stay up to date on the person or family that you are supporting as they share Jesus with others.
Lastly, we should be preaching to one another. I don't mean preparing a sermon and going around in a circle sharing what we came up with, but I do think that we can preach to each other by sharing scripture and what we thought of it, or what it made us see about God. We can encourage others during rough times with the truth of the gospel. I think this brings up the question of do you know the gospel of Jesus Christ? This is an important thing to know, so make sure that you could confidently share with someone if they asked you right at this moment, how to become a Christian.
Quite simply, the gospel is that there is a perfect, just God who created man. However, man became sinful and rebelled against God. God in his perfectness and justness must judge and punish man for this sin and rebellion but, God in his great love made a way for man to be reconciled with him. By sending Jesus Christ, the son of God, to earth; Jesus lived a perfect life and died as a sacrifice for the sins of man. Jesus literally took on all of the punishment that we deserved in his death, then rose from the grave, so that anyone that responds to this and puts their faith in Jesus can be reconciled with God, forgiven by God and have eternal life through God.
That is a truly wonderful message of hope and it is also a great encouragement to our fellow Christians.
Lastly, I think I should note the truly global view that Paul has in this section. He talks about preaching the gospel and sharing the gospel a few times in the passage and also says he is obligated to Greeks and non-Greeks (in sharing the gospel). I think that we too as Christians and as churches need to make sure that we our keeping a global mind set. Do simple things like praying for missionaries, take it a step further and support a missionary or even take it a step further and be like Paul, going places to share the gospel with others as we have been commanded by Christ.
Paul starts this passage by letting the Romans know that he has been praying for them. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you (vs 8), constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times (vs 9, 10). Paul was fervently praying for his friends and brothers in Christ. I think that this is something that we should be doing also as Christians. Can you think of a time when someone told you that they had been praying for you? If nothing else, I think it is comforting to know that someone was thinking of you at sometime during their week.
I think practically, we should pray for our friends like Paul, but also be praying for our church leadership and missionaries. I have two quiet times during the day. In the morning I pray through the book "Operation World"; I highly recommend this book or another one like it. Each day I pray for a different country, for its physical and social needs, for the church in the country and for the evangelization of the country. At night when I pray it is more personal and I lift up friends, family, missionaries and church leaders during this time. I think we need to take Paul's example and diligently pray for our fellow Christians.
Our church family also encourages us. That is that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith (vs 12). I think that as Christians, our talk and our sharing of God moving in our lives can be of great encouragement to one another. What do you talk about with your friends after church? I'm not saying that you shouldn't share personal things like how school or work or kids are going, but do you talk about what you are reading in scripture? Do you share prayer requests? These are important things that we can talk about to encourage each other in Christ. Missionary's monthly letters are another way to be encouraged by the work of people around the world. It is a great way to encourage someone and also use your money for the Kingdom by supporting a missionary. If you do this, than you can use the missionary letters to stay up to date on the person or family that you are supporting as they share Jesus with others.
Lastly, we should be preaching to one another. I don't mean preparing a sermon and going around in a circle sharing what we came up with, but I do think that we can preach to each other by sharing scripture and what we thought of it, or what it made us see about God. We can encourage others during rough times with the truth of the gospel. I think this brings up the question of do you know the gospel of Jesus Christ? This is an important thing to know, so make sure that you could confidently share with someone if they asked you right at this moment, how to become a Christian.
Quite simply, the gospel is that there is a perfect, just God who created man. However, man became sinful and rebelled against God. God in his perfectness and justness must judge and punish man for this sin and rebellion but, God in his great love made a way for man to be reconciled with him. By sending Jesus Christ, the son of God, to earth; Jesus lived a perfect life and died as a sacrifice for the sins of man. Jesus literally took on all of the punishment that we deserved in his death, then rose from the grave, so that anyone that responds to this and puts their faith in Jesus can be reconciled with God, forgiven by God and have eternal life through God.
That is a truly wonderful message of hope and it is also a great encouragement to our fellow Christians.
Lastly, I think I should note the truly global view that Paul has in this section. He talks about preaching the gospel and sharing the gospel a few times in the passage and also says he is obligated to Greeks and non-Greeks (in sharing the gospel). I think that we too as Christians and as churches need to make sure that we our keeping a global mind set. Do simple things like praying for missionaries, take it a step further and support a missionary or even take it a step further and be like Paul, going places to share the gospel with others as we have been commanded by Christ.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Weekly Meditations: Romans 1:1-7; "A Slave of Christ"
Over the next several weeks, I want to look at Paul's letter to the Romans. To start off, I want to start right where Paul starts with his statement "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus" (Rom 1:1). Now, in the NIV translation, we see the word servant, however, the Greek word doulos is better translated to mean slave or bondservant. This is important in my opinion for two reasons. First, the metaphor of a slave is used by Paul later in the letter and thus is important to be noticed now. Second, (and what we will talk about today) is the fact that Paul is calling himself a slave of Christ. Now, it should not be forgotten that in Christ, Christians are the children of God, we are heirs to God's inheritance of eternal life and good gifts, we are a friend of Jesus and we are truly loved and cherished by him. However, the image Paul is getting at here isn't saying we aren't any of those things, but rather, putting us humans and our purposes in life in perspective compared to Jesus, the Lord of everything. That said, I think having a similar attitude can be beneficial in our lives. I think it is very important to remember that we are in fact children of God, loved by God and a friend of God, but nonetheless, he is God, and we were made to serve him. So how then do we act as a "slave of Christ"? Well I think these first 7 verses can be summed up in one statement: "To be a slave of Christ means you obey his commands, and you are a part of his people".
"To be a slave of Christ"; verses 1-4.
In verse 1, Paul introduces himself as a "slave of Christ". So why should we think of ourselves this way? Well simply put, because Jesus is God and we are mere man. But Paul takes this a step further in the next three verses by saying three things about Jesus.
In verse 2 Paul says that the gospel regarding God's son (Jesus), was foretold by the prophets. The prophets in the Old Testament predicted that a Messiah would come to save the Israelites, and also the nations. What Paul is saying here is that first off, Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the savior of the world and all of its people.
In verse 3 Paul says that Jesus was a descendant of King David, therefore in his earthly form, Jesus is royalty. Not only that but in verse 4 Paul calls Jesus "our Lord". Not only is Jesus our savior, but he is also our King.
Lastly, in Verse 4, Paul calls Jesus the son of God and explains that he has proven himself to be the son of God by raising from the dead. So Jesus then is savior, king and God. If that is not enough reason for us to serve him, I'm not sure what is. While Jesus is our friend, he is also our God, and because of this, he deserves our worship, our service and our lives, which he bought with his own blood on the cross.
"Means you obey his commands"; verse 5.
In verse 5, Paul writes that through Jesus, we have been called to call others to Christ. Paul continues to say that we do this because of "the obedience that comes from faith". I think both points are important. First off, we who have faith in Christ are to be obedient to him. This means we should obey his commands, two of which are to love God and love your neighbor. Another command of Christ is what Paul focuses on in this passage, sharing the gospel with other people from every nation. Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:18-20 are two times when Jesus gives this command.
So if we are to act as slaves of Jesus Christ, first we must follow his commands. This means that we must love God by obeying him. I think this not only means "being good" and staying away from sin as actions, but I also think we need to love God by having a growing relationship with him. He doesn't want us to simply follow rules, he wants us to literally love him, like a husband and wife love each other. He wants us to need him, to trust him and to choose him on a daily basis. We also should love others, including our enemies or those that are different than us. Last, I'll add that we should share the gospel; Paul notes it here and it is a command of Christ.
"and you are a part of his people"; verses 6-7.
As I stated earlier, while we should be serving God, we are part of his holy people. Verse 6 starts: "And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ." We belong to him, we are set apart by him, we are his. Verse 7 says that as Christians we are "loved by God" and that he gives us "grace and peace". When we follow Christ, we are set apart and we are part of his people, a chosen people whom he loves.
For Christians, Jesus is our savior, our king and our God, therefore he deserves our praise, our worship and our lives. Let us try to be like Paul in our giving over our lives to Jesus as a slave would give up his life. Let us act as slaves to Christ by obeying his commands and let us understand more and more what it means to be a part of God's chosen people.
"To be a slave of Christ"; verses 1-4.
In verse 1, Paul introduces himself as a "slave of Christ". So why should we think of ourselves this way? Well simply put, because Jesus is God and we are mere man. But Paul takes this a step further in the next three verses by saying three things about Jesus.
In verse 2 Paul says that the gospel regarding God's son (Jesus), was foretold by the prophets. The prophets in the Old Testament predicted that a Messiah would come to save the Israelites, and also the nations. What Paul is saying here is that first off, Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the savior of the world and all of its people.
In verse 3 Paul says that Jesus was a descendant of King David, therefore in his earthly form, Jesus is royalty. Not only that but in verse 4 Paul calls Jesus "our Lord". Not only is Jesus our savior, but he is also our King.
Lastly, in Verse 4, Paul calls Jesus the son of God and explains that he has proven himself to be the son of God by raising from the dead. So Jesus then is savior, king and God. If that is not enough reason for us to serve him, I'm not sure what is. While Jesus is our friend, he is also our God, and because of this, he deserves our worship, our service and our lives, which he bought with his own blood on the cross.
"Means you obey his commands"; verse 5.
In verse 5, Paul writes that through Jesus, we have been called to call others to Christ. Paul continues to say that we do this because of "the obedience that comes from faith". I think both points are important. First off, we who have faith in Christ are to be obedient to him. This means we should obey his commands, two of which are to love God and love your neighbor. Another command of Christ is what Paul focuses on in this passage, sharing the gospel with other people from every nation. Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:18-20 are two times when Jesus gives this command.
So if we are to act as slaves of Jesus Christ, first we must follow his commands. This means that we must love God by obeying him. I think this not only means "being good" and staying away from sin as actions, but I also think we need to love God by having a growing relationship with him. He doesn't want us to simply follow rules, he wants us to literally love him, like a husband and wife love each other. He wants us to need him, to trust him and to choose him on a daily basis. We also should love others, including our enemies or those that are different than us. Last, I'll add that we should share the gospel; Paul notes it here and it is a command of Christ.
"and you are a part of his people"; verses 6-7.
As I stated earlier, while we should be serving God, we are part of his holy people. Verse 6 starts: "And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ." We belong to him, we are set apart by him, we are his. Verse 7 says that as Christians we are "loved by God" and that he gives us "grace and peace". When we follow Christ, we are set apart and we are part of his people, a chosen people whom he loves.
For Christians, Jesus is our savior, our king and our God, therefore he deserves our praise, our worship and our lives. Let us try to be like Paul in our giving over our lives to Jesus as a slave would give up his life. Let us act as slaves to Christ by obeying his commands and let us understand more and more what it means to be a part of God's chosen people.
What I've been up to...
To be honest, not much. I've had a mini-cough for a little while now, so did some resting. I also took a trip to Disney Sea in the rain. It was wet but fun. On Tuesday I'll be going to Disneyland. The tickets are really cheap right now so people in my group want to go now while we can get in cheap. Other than that, my grades came out and (honestly, to my surprise) I got straight A's. My SILS classes (english ones) were a little... I'm not sure how to explain... but I wasn't quite sure what grade I was going to get so it was a nice surprise to see A's.
All for now!
All for now!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Weekly Meditations: Ecclesiastes 12:9-14; Jesus Gives Life Meaning
If you've been reading along in Ecclesiastes with me these last several weeks, or even simply have seen the titles of my posts, you likely are aware that Ecclesiastes is a somewhat depressing book of the Bible. Or at least most of it is. Solomon throughout much of the book seems to have hit a patch in his life that I'm sure all of us have hit at one point or another. We ask ourselves the impossible questions of "where is my life going" or "what am I doing on this earth, what is the meaning of my life?". I think as humans we also try to find meaning in our lives through things like sports, or a clothing style. We often even go as far as to label whatever plan or place we have in our lives as "God's calling". "You know, I really think God is calling me to this six figure job, and I'm pretty sure he wants me to buy direct TV because he wanted me to buy that flat screen and watch football instead of going to church". Thats a little bit silly, but how often do we justify our desires by playing the "God Card"? As Solomon concludes his writings however, he answers his initial question of life's meaning with a very simple answer. In verse 13 he writes: Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. So there you have it, what I am convinced the meaning of life is. We were placed on this earth to worship God.
As Christians, we can find meaning in our lives, even fulfill God's will for our lives by obeying him. What are his commands? Well, we are to love God, so basically that means to worship him with how we live our lives. We are also called to love each other. If your life was lived in a way that followed those two commands at all times, what would need to change? Is the way you use your time worshiping God? Is the way you use your possessions worshiping God? How do you interact with others? Do you love people that are similar to you but not associate with others? How do you interact with those who don't like you, or who you don't like? In love or hate?
I'll close simply by talking about a time, probably about a month ago, when I questioned like Solomon, what the meaning of life is. It really hit me thinking about the future how fast life moves. As I fast-forwarded from the present, to my return home, to finishing school etc.. I was suddenly a senior citizen. I literally played through my life in like 30 seconds (a hypothetical, pretty much outline that is). It made me think, why does life matter? After a little thought, I realized that nothing I do in this life really matters all that much, but I knew that I was placed here by God, I believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the sins of mankind, and I knew that sharing that and making disciples of the nations was what I was supposed to do. My purpose is simply to obey God, to follow Christ, to grow deeper and deeper in love with Jesus, and to share that love and good news with others.
I guess to end this time in Ecclesiastes, I would challenge you to think about where your life is headed. What is your purpose, your end goal? Is it a job or a relationship that will someday fade away, or is it in eternal things?
As Christians, we can find meaning in our lives, even fulfill God's will for our lives by obeying him. What are his commands? Well, we are to love God, so basically that means to worship him with how we live our lives. We are also called to love each other. If your life was lived in a way that followed those two commands at all times, what would need to change? Is the way you use your time worshiping God? Is the way you use your possessions worshiping God? How do you interact with others? Do you love people that are similar to you but not associate with others? How do you interact with those who don't like you, or who you don't like? In love or hate?
I'll close simply by talking about a time, probably about a month ago, when I questioned like Solomon, what the meaning of life is. It really hit me thinking about the future how fast life moves. As I fast-forwarded from the present, to my return home, to finishing school etc.. I was suddenly a senior citizen. I literally played through my life in like 30 seconds (a hypothetical, pretty much outline that is). It made me think, why does life matter? After a little thought, I realized that nothing I do in this life really matters all that much, but I knew that I was placed here by God, I believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the sins of mankind, and I knew that sharing that and making disciples of the nations was what I was supposed to do. My purpose is simply to obey God, to follow Christ, to grow deeper and deeper in love with Jesus, and to share that love and good news with others.
I guess to end this time in Ecclesiastes, I would challenge you to think about where your life is headed. What is your purpose, your end goal? Is it a job or a relationship that will someday fade away, or is it in eternal things?
To Be Honest...
... I haven't been up to much these last few days. My goal since my Kyoto trip was simply to rest up as I had a bit of a cough. Other than resting, I played basketball on Thursday and today I went to an art gallery and looked at poems by famous poets, who's writings are beautifully written in a calligraphy style. Kaneko Misuzu and Aita Mitu(w)o are the two artists if you want to try to find their work to see what it looks like. You will likely recognize the style. Other than that, I haven't been up to much and don't have much planned at the time. Tomorrow I'm going to Disney Sea but it will also be raining tomorrow so I'm hoping there aren't many people (relatively speaking) and I can be in buildings on rides most of the day.
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